It wasn't like anything Nick had ever seen before.

It was a clay mannequin come to life, with wet looking, milky white skin and a long, thin torso supported by longer, thinner limbs. Kneeless legs didn't bend, but curved backwards like springs. Rail thin arms draped bonelessly over Nick's chest and shoulders while spidery hands with no thumbs and too many fingers ghosted over his face, almost, but not quite touching his fur.

The head was the worst. Lopsided and asymmetrical, it had no recognizable shape whatsoever. It truly resembled a lump of wet clay. Worse still, it shifted and morphed, slowly and grotesquely contorting about as though some invisible hand were kneading it.

In spite of the fact it had no eyes, or even sockets where eyes might go, Nick knew it was staring back at him with the same, bone-deep surety that he knew he existed.

How did he know? It told him. It was like someone was whispering in his ear, only, if someone asked to describe the voice, he couldn't have told them a single detail. It wasn't masculine or feminine, high or low, hard or soft, breathy or threatening or scratchy or smooth or anything. Words and images and sensations spilled into his mind as though he were reading a most engaging book.

Only, there was no book. The monster was in his head, burning its testament across the inside of his skull with no regard to the complete violation of its host's sense of self this caused.

After several hours, its work was finally done. Nick prayed to a God he had convinced himself didn't exist years ago that that would be the end of it.

Its presence remained.

When the face of his mother appeared in his mind's eye and stuck there, so vivid in detail that it was like she was standing in the room, Nick's mind stalled as he tried to figure out why. At first, she appeared as she did in his earliest memories, a beautiful and vivacious vixen with thick, gorgeous fur and a beatific smile. Rapidly, she began to age to the time after her husband died. She still smiled, but now it wasn't as lively and her fur wasn't as glossy. The process continued until she looked as he last remembered her: weary and thin and so worn down. Still, she smiled, even though she looked too tired to smile.

Then she disappeared, leaving Nick feeling empty and distressed. What was happening?

Then his father appeared. John Wilde was a little taller and broader shouldered than his son, with a darker coat of fur. He, too, aged, though much less dramatically. Nick had only known him a few years before he passed away, after all.

When his father disappeared, a terrible suspicion took root.

When Honey appeared and began to progress from the first day he met her to the last he had seen her, it went from suspicion to fact. The monster was digging through his past, learning about its host in the most direct method possible: picking apart his every memory.

Every triumph. Every defeat. Every lesson learned. Every mistake made. From the most treasured moments to his most shameful, from the fondest to the most desperately repressed. Nick Wilde was laid bare down to his very core.

All the while, he laid helpless beneath the faceless, ever shifting monster, unable to twitch a single muscle. He could not seek escape, or even the minute release of screaming.

If he could have, he would have screamed until his vocal cords tore.

Only a few miles away, at the edge of Downtown, one wolf felt as though he had done just that. Gmork swallowed painfully, his throat feeling as though it was lined with a thousand rusty needles. It wasn't just his throat. Every joint, tendon and muscle felt like they'd been through a grinder, his many hours of torment having taken its toll on his body. It even hurt to open his eyes, and it felt like the orbs were laying in sockets of sandpaper when he rolled them to his side, where Ruby stood.

Even in his pathetic state, he instantly noticed two things. First, she wasn't looking at him, instead staring at something beyond the foot of the bed he was currently laying on. Secondly, her ears were down, her head ducked, and she was shaking.

It took more than he thought he had, but the burly wolf managed to lift his head and look in the same direction.

The room was filled with dozens of soldiers. The smallest were the size of wolves, the largest being clearly identifiable as hippos due to their bulk, and between the two extremes a number of shapes and sizes representing a variety of species. Most wore identical uniforms, the grey jumpers, black boots, gloves, body armor and helmets, as well as the tactical masks and goggles, completely concealed their identities and even species. They all stood at attention, arms at their sides, staring straight over the wolves' heads at the back wall.

There were only two exceptions, both standing at the foot of his bed. The first was a pig, figuratively and literally. The portly swine was nearly spilling out of a red track suit, the stretchy material strained to bursting trying to contain his ponderous gut. His gaze was lowered, focusing on the large drumstick he held, the sheer size of which made it doubtful it came from any bird.

Where the pig was short and fat, his companion was tall and thin, his hat nearly brushing the ceiling. The long raincoat he wore looked like it was still hanging off a hanger, there was so little filling it out from within. The coat's collar was popped up, and combined with the low-hanging hat it conspired to hide most of its owner's features in shadows. The only visible elements were a pair of sickly yellow eyes, looking as though the pupils had rotted away, spilling putrid black ooze into the surrounding iris and sclera.

"Oh, good. Hnnk. You're awake," the hog said, messily tearing a hunk of meat off the bone. He talked as he chewed, spewing greasy flecks of meat all over the bed. "I was getting bored. Hnnk. Thought I'd run out of food. Hnnk."

That seemed unlikely, considering he had two soldiers behind him, each holding a large cardboard bucket filled with several more drumsticks identical to the one he was sloppily devouring.

"Anyway. Hnnk. I'm Kingmaker. This freak here is Hector," he indicated his companion with a slight jerk of his head. Whatever it was, it gave no indication that it minded being called a freak. In fact, it didn't move at all, not so much as a twitch. The pig then stopped feasting on his oversized drumstick just long enough to wave it vaguely at the anonymous soldiers behind him. "And the rest are my Fingers."

Then he brought the large bone back to his mouth and messily began to tear away the last few mouthfuls of flesh. For several long seconds, his loud chewing and snorting was the only sound in the room. As he polished off the last bit of meat, the soldier on his left stepped forward and presented his bucket for Kingmaker's convenience. The pig dropped the spent bone, not seeming to care at all that it bounced off his huge belly, leaving a greasy smear on his jump suit and fell to to the carpet with a muffled thump.

As he reached for another drumstick, the pig finally raised his gaze to the two wolves watching him. Eyes the color of the brightest vermilion twinkled shrewdly at them. "Now, while I eat- Hnnk!" He tore a great strip of juicy, pink flesh off the new bone, oinking and snorting as he sucked it into his fat mouth, porcine nosenoise twitching and jumping. "Why don't you tell me all about this delectable lioness. Mmm," he groaned in appreciation, dropping his eyes to hungrily gaze at his greasy prize, "Oh, and the fox and rabbit, too."

The paralysis and fear caused by the monster was akin to being trapped in a cage and constantly jabbed with a cattle prod. There wasn't anywhere to go, nor anything he could do to alleviate his suffering. There was just pain, with no end in sight.

He couldn't even tune it out. The monster was from within, holding his consciousness hostage while it dissected his every memory. It wasn't long before he had lost all rational thought, his mind reverting to a simpler, savage state in a final desperate bid to protect itself.

But all things must comes to an end. Memory was finite, and Nick's was finally running out. His thoughts were forced to the last mammal that had left an impression on him. She was strong and feminine, dangerous but attractive.

The last memory he saw before the clay creature released it's hold was Ms. Hertz, holding out a crystal glass, the liquid within stained the deepest blue.

Somewhere in the dark, Ms. Hertz' eyes snapped open. Instincts screaming, she threw herself off the side of the bed just as electrified claws swiped through the space her head had occupied, splitting her pillow open in a burst of feathers.

"Survive."

It might have been stars or the overhead lights reflecting off the droplets of blood and spittle Nick saw when her tightly balled fist crashed into his jaw.

Landing in a crouch, she spun to face whatever poor creature had just signed its death warrant, but the feathers still hung in the air, blocking her view. All she could see through them was a few sparks of bluish white light, the sound of electricity crackling ominously in the air.

Then something burst from the obscuring cloud, teeth flashing.

The lioness skipped to the side, easily dodging the wild attack. When she came to a stop, she raised a brow at the sight before her. Nick stood in the spot she had just vacated, a powerful current running from his chest down his arms, blue-white arcs crackling over his fur and between his curled fingers.

Behind savage green eyes, a flash of memory.

"You need more…" Holding him up with one paw, she brought her other one back, muscles coiling like a spring. "...stimulation."

Her fist rocketed forward, burying itself nearly to the wrist in his gut. Nick's jaws opened in a silent scream, his eyes rolled back until only the whites could be seen.

The fox's head snapped in her direction, his snout drawn back in a truly vicious snarl.

Ms. Hertz regarded him coolly, unruffled by his sudden aggression. "Well, the drugs seemed to have worked," she muttered. When the fox let out a savage growl and lowered himself into a predatory crouch, ears back and tail bushed out behind him, she was forced to revise the statement. "Sort of."

The savage animal lunged for her. The lioness avoided the crackling streak of white with a quick hop to the side, easily clearing the bed. Red thread had already spooled in her paw by the time she landed and, with a flick of the wrist, she sent it whipping at her attacker.

To her shock, the fox twisted his torso, swung out his arm and caught the filament in his outstretched paw.

Lightning bolted across the room, consuming the thread in a flash of light and leaving a trail of smoke. Both mammals screamed as they cradled their paws to their chests, Nick's palm a bloody mess and Ms. Hertz' a smoking ruin.

The predators winced as the lights came on, ruining their night vision and forcing them to adjust. Judy stood by the door, looking ruffled and scared and furious all at once. "What is going on!? What are you two doing!?"

Keeping her eyes on the suddenly dangerous fox, Ms. Hertz replied through gritted teeth, a growl threatening to drown out her words. "Something went wrong. Foxy here has gone full savage."

As though to prove her point, Nick snapped his jaws and growled in the lioness' direction, the very picture of a slavering beast.

The lioness reached forward and grabbed Nick by the scruff. The fox hollered and clutched at her wrist with his good paw, roused from his shock-addled stupor by the white hot agony of his ruined flesh being pulled taut.

Keeping his injured paw tucked in, he lowered himself to his other three, muscles coiling like a spring.

Judy saw the signs and tried to intervene. Stepping forward, she reached a paw towards him. "Nick, wait-"

The fox pounced, soaring over the bed with paws outstretched and crackling with murderous electric currents.

Ms. Hertz' good arm snapped to the side, snatched the lamp off the bedside table and swiped it forward, slamming the heavy base into the side of Nick's head with a bony thwack!

Thrown to the side, the fox bounced off the foot of the bed and crashed to the floor. He sprawled across the carpet, stunned. Ms. Hertz hefted the newly dented lamp and advanced, face stormy. She paused and looked down when Judy landed before her. The rabbit held her arms out to the side, paws open.

"Let me take care of him," she said.

The lioness narrowed her eyes at the interloper. "Excuse me?"

"I'll take care of Nick. There's no need to hurt him anymore."

"Oh, I disagree. I feel a potent need."

"I know he hurt you," Judy said, eyes flicking down to Ms. Hertz' burnt paw then back up to her eyes, "but it was because of the drugs you gave him."

Behind her, the savage Nick whined and drew himself into a loose ball. The movement drew Ms. Hertz' attention. Eyes darkening with intent, she took another step towards him. Judy was forced to back up to avoid getting stepped on, but she did not step aside.

"Wait!" she called, hopping up into the lioness' line of sight and frantically waving her arms. "Beating him won't make it better! Violence and stress makes savagery worse! The only solution is to de-escalate!"

"What do you want me to do?" was the hissed reply. "Hug it out and sing Kumbaya?"

"No, I want you to get out," Judy said plainly.

The suggestion was so preposterous that it actually froze Ms. Hertz up in surprise. For a fraction of a second, anyway. Then she narrowed her eyes down at the little rabbit. "He's savage. What makes you think he won't tear you apart?"

"We were asleep together," Judy pointed out without hesitation. "When he woke up like this, I was literally in his arms. If he was going to hurt me…" she trailed off and turned her head to look at the fox over her shoulder. It looked like he was recovering. As she watched him push himself to all fours, she softly finished the thought, "I would already be dead."

Ms. Hertz narrowed her eyes in equal parts annoyance and thought. On one paw, she was irritated and beating the fox- and the rabbit, too, for that matter- to death with a lamp would be quite cathartic. On the other, she would lose her investment, and all the time and effort she'd spent since coming to Zootopia would be wasted.

It was a close call, but she decided that she would rather have her weapon than break it, no matter how good the breaking would feel.

"Fine," she allowed, tossing the lamp on to the bed. "Take care of this. I want him in fighting shape in two hours."

Then she turned and walked out of the bedroom, slamming the door shut behind her.

The sound startled the still slightly dazed Nick, who tripped over his wobbly legs and fell over, sprawled out again. His head bounced off the carpeted floor, aggravating his injury. Green eyes clenched shut as pain lanced through his skull, the savage fox curling in on himself.

Unnoticed, a figure crouched silently nearby. It spoke his name, softly. "Nick."

Eyes snapping open, the fox scrambled to his feet and paws. He whirled towards the presence, hackles raised and tail bushed.

It was a rabbit, crouched on all fours. Ears and head down, it was clearly doing its best to appear small and unthreatening.

The first time he saw her. They were surrounded by elephants and the scent of sweet cream. She seemed harmless, but he saw through her. Holstered on her hip was something he had learned to despise: a little pink can, marked with his people's face slashed with red.

Slit green eyes narrowed on the threat. With bared teeth and a fierce growl, he took one step toward the little bunny, warning her away.

She didn't back away. Instead, she lowered herself down a little more. She said something, the tone clearly meant to placate him, the details of which were wasted on his savage mind. Then she slowly held her paw out -

The second time he saw her. It was dark and raining. She was slowly walking down the steps towards him, one paw held out in conciliation, but the other paw was hovering over the hated can still holstered on her waist. She grabbed it.

It happened so fast. One instant Judy was crouched down on all fours, trying to talk Nick down, the next she was on her back, one of his big paws pinning her chest down, claws digging painfully through her clothes. Violet eyes widened as they took in the snarling maw barely an inch from her face. He lunged.

"Nick! Stop-!"

"Okay! Okay! We have to- uh-" Her voice was frantic, nose twitching. The rabbit fumbled with clipping the radio back onto her belt with one paw, while she dug into a pouch with the other. "We have to apply first aid!"

Eyes widening, the fox froze, his jaws nestled around her throat. The doe… helped him?

Eyes clenched in fright, Judy whimpered.

"You're going to be okay. I'm- I'm going to make sure you get to a hospital and they- they-" The bunny was crying. For him.

The fox pulled his teeth back, careful of the delicate flesh beneath his fangs. He relaxed his hold on her chest as well, lessening the pressure on his claws. He stared down at the doe trapped beneath him. Slowly, her lids slid open, letting eyes of striking amethyst gaze back at him-

And he remembered.

"I guess I kind of freaked out, huh?"

"Keep it. I don't need it anymore."

"Thank you for saving my life."

"All in a day's work for a heroic knight in tight spandex."

"Well, I'm not like any 'small one' you've ever met!"

"What's this about me being your Liaison?"

"I wanted you to feel safe."

"Nick, I'm sorry, I swear I didn't know!"

"Do you trust me?"

"I took you away against orders!"

"I have to protect you!"

"I did not cuddle you."

"At least you would have tried."

"I couldn't live with myself if I didn't try..."

"Promise not to walk me into a pole?"

"I'm sorry you're hurting."

"Of course I was worried, you jerk!"

"That's my strong fox."

"Hey, it's alright. I know exactly what to do."

"Don't hurt him anymore!"

"It'll be alright."

Sharply slit pupils dilated, rounding out into soft circles. "Judy?"

The doe continued to stare up at him, eyes wide.

Suddenly confused, the fox quickly scanned the room before dropping his gaze back to her. "What…?" he trailed off, eyes widening in alarm as he saw how he had her pinned. Snatching his arm back, he threw himself backwards off of her and stood on two feet.

Confused and wary, Judy watched from her place on the floor as Nick's shocked expression melted away as his face went slack and his eyes fluttered. He rocked woozily, paws reaching out and groping at the air like he was trying to get a grip on something. Finally, he leaned too far back.

"What the f-" He muttered, then he hit the carpet with a muffled thump. There he laid on his back, arms spread out, unmoving.

Judy stayed where she was, the ghostly feeling of sharp teeth pressing around her throat freezing her in place. But, as several long seconds went by and Nick still did not move, not even to breathe, a different kind of fear began to grow inside her.

"Nick?" she whispered. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she tried again. "Nick?" It came out louder this time, but the fox did not twitch. Slowly, she pushed herself up into a sitting position. "Nick!" she called again, louder.

He didn't move.

Feeling sick to her stomach, Judy swallowed again and forced herself up. She took the few steps to his side on shaky legs and sank down next to him.

Green eyes, half lidded and sightless, seemed to stare off into forever and he could have been a statue with just how still he was.

Reaching out a trembling paw, she pressed it down on his cheek. "Nick?"

The fox came to life under her touch with a jerk and a gasp, startling her. Reeling back, she watched as green eyes frantically bounced around the room before finally landing on her. He flinched away from her, rolled onto his side, and curled up in a defensive ball.

Judy sat, frozen, staring at his back in bewilderment. After a moment, she slowly leaned forward and reached out to him. Surprise turned to concern when he flinched under her touch, whined and shrunk away, curling into an even tighter ball.

Afraid she was hurting him, Judy pulled her paw away. Instead, she scooted forward until she was right next to him. She leaned forward and softly spoke, "Nick? Can you talk to me? What's wrong?"

When he only trembled and whined, she decided to try touch again. Reaching into the ball of fur, she found his ears. Gently stroking the soft fur, she was glad to see his shaking slow to a stop.

Any relief was short-lived when Nick jerked away from her again, this time rolling away and pushing himself up to all fours.

"No! No! No!" he shouted, voice cracking. "This isn't real. It's not real, she's not real, it's just a memory-"

Judy stared at him, hurt warring with confusion. Why did he reject her touch? What did he mean she's not real? "Nick?"

The fox jerked his head in her direction, his face a mix of desperation and fear the likes of which she had never seen before. "NO!" he shouted. Raising himself up to his knees, he clenched a paw into a fist, the same one that had gripped Ms. Hertz' thread, one finger pointed accusingly at her. "You're not really here, you can't- Gah!"

He jerked and pulled the paw back. It shook and trembled as it slowly opened, revealing the bloody mess of his palm. He watched with horror as blood slowly dripped from between his fingers and down his arm, staining his artificially whitened fur crimson.

"No!" he yelled, closing his eyes and shaking his head, ears pressed low. "Memories don't hurt! Nothing can hurt me! It's not real!" He cradled the limb to his chest, placing his good paw over it so he couldn't see.

"Yes, it is," a soft, painfully familiar voice said.

Green eyes snapping open, Nick's head spun to face it. Standing before him was a little bunny doe, her fur dyed a dark, rich coal, and possessing the most brilliant purple eyes.

Judy's heart ached in her chest as Nick quailed from her, trembling like a leaf in a storm. "This isn't a memory."

"Yes it is!" he cried, a desperate fear in his voice. "That's all it ever was! A memory!"

"No, Nick. I'm here, with you. I'm real," she begged.

Tears welled up in his eyes and began to roll down his cheeks, wetting his fur. "No you're not!" he sobbed. "Dad, Ma, Honey, Finnick, they all leave! No one's real! I'm alone and it's all just a memory! You were never real, Judy!" he cried out, lost in a crisis of the soul.

Tears welled up in Judy's eyes as her heart broke for the tormented mammal that kneeled before her. Stepping forward, she ignored the way he shrunk from her, and reached out both paws to grab his wrists. Holding his good paw down, she slowly guided his injured one from beneath it. Then she pushed it up, so he was forced to look at the bloody palm.

"You said memories can't hurt you." She lowered his paw until the back of it rested on her shoulder. Then she pushed her paw into his, palm to palm, and pushed down until he gasped. "This hurts, doesn't it? That means it's real, Nick."

With his eyes still locked on their intertwined paws, he slowly shook his head. "Everyone leaves. It's all just a memory," he muttered morosely.

Judy reached up with her other paw and laid it on his cheek, using the touch to guide his gaze to hers. "Not me. I'm real," she promised, imploring him with her eyes to believe.

"...how can you know?" he asked, his voice small and afraid.

Judy tilted her head, giving him her most determined look. "I'll prove it to you."

Nick's gaze dropped to stare forlornly at their intertwined paws, now dirty with his blood. "How could you?"

Judy reached up, drawing his head down to rest on her shoulder. She held him close, pressed her face into his thick scruff, and said, "By never leaving you."

Author's Note: First and foremost, I'd like to thank BCRE8TVEfor busting his butt on getting this edited so fast, and so well! He improved the "Gmork awakens" scene by leaps and bounds, and he touched up the rest of the chapter, too! Guy's a champ, really helped me out. He even did the chapter title!

Many thanks to DrummerMax64 for adding his professional touch, also on short notice. Good luck with college, man!

A shout out to Starfang's Secrets! She did some editing too, and a whole lot of encouragement! Oh, and she's going to do my Zoosona! Thanks, Star!

P.S. I'm posting this again with a few extra revisions. Leroidatboi pointed out a couple errors, so those got fixed up. Thank you!