Time seemed to slow, the world not rotating with him but around him. The roar of the water fall was deafening on the bridge but now that he was in it he could feel his ear drums being pounded. He couldn't see, the water continuously splashed into his face as he fell. And lastly the burning sensation on his arm, he peeked over to see blood dripping out of a hole on his shirt, he couldn't tell in that moment if the bullet he was shot with had gone all the way through or not. But in that moment it didn't matter, what mattered was surviving the fall. Time sped up the moment he thought about where he was and before he knew it the pool was just beneath him. He pinched his legs together and plugged his nose to prepare for the inevitable. The water hit him like a bus, if his legs weren't together well let's just say that he would be feeling that for awhile. He was shocked by how cold the water was, it caused him to try breathing in filling his lungs with water. Out of instinct he began kicking towards the surface but because of how high the drop was he was far deeper than he was expecting. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't seem to get any closer to the air he so truly desired, and just as the world began to fade two paws grabbed him by the scruff and hoisted him the surface.
Nick bent over and coughed up all the water in his lungs before flipping onto his back and lying down. "Well Carrots I guessed you saved me twice today, is that a new record" Nick chuckled as he looked over at the rabbit next to him who was looking at him in anger. 'Uh oh' he thought.
'Yeah uh oh is right' Judy said back to him. Nick looked surprised before remembering the link she had created with him on the bridge.
"Nicholas Wilde you have some serious explaining to do" she said out loud to him pointing a finger in front of his face. It was then that the burning on his arm reminded him of the bullet that had gone through him.
Judy noticed him flinch and looked over, her eyes instantly softening when she saw his injury. "Oh gosh Nick were you shot?"
"No I was just racing a bullet and it won" he responded with pain lacing his voice. Using his good arm he pulled the string out of his hoodie and held it up to Judy. "Here tie this above the hole, and no matter how much I tell you to stop I want you to make sure its tight other wise I could bleed out okay?" He said seriously. Judy took the string and wrapped around his arm twice, she stopped just before making the knot looking into his eyes. Nick knew that she didn't want to hurt him so he nodded to prove he was serious. The pain shot through his arm causing him to whimper but he bit down on his scream so that she wouldn't stop. When she was done Nick looked over her work, it was tied on there very tight and the blood flow was already starting to slow. He reached over to Judy and pulled her into a hug,
"I will tell you everything later, right now we need to get to somewhere safe" he said into her ear. He pulled back just enough and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead before standing up. The pair started by walking away from the waterfall and into the surrounding forest. Nicks powers were still diminished but because of the fact that his exposure to the machine wasn't that long he could feel his body start to refuel. The forest they walked through was thick and prevented them from seeing the sky, luckily they had Judys phone, which somehow survived the dip in the water, the phone said it was roughly two in the morning.
"Heh, I guess if Magnus Mortem is good at one thing they picked a good day to mess up my life, because I get to sleep all day now" Nick said referring to the fact that it was now Saturday morning. Judy looked up at him confused, "you know because it's Friday?"
"No I got that but what did you say? What is a Magnus Mortem?" Judy asked, she had only ever referred to them as the masked mammal not knowing that they had an actual name.
"Oh the masked mammal is actually named Magnus Mortem" he said, "I have no idea what it means though" Judy thought back to her days of Latin in middle school trying to figure out what that phrase meant. Magnus is great and Mortem is death,
"Great Death, it means Great Death in Latin" she said.
"Well that makes se-"
"Quiet" Judy interrupted him, Nick looked at her as if she had grown a second head until he noticed her ears rotating around like a sonar, when he saw that he went quiet.
Footsteps, and a lot of them, were walking their way. Judy could hear them but couldn't see because it was too dark for her so Nick took advantage of his night vision and peeked around a tree to where he could hear the sound. Sure enough there was a group of three mammals walking in their direction. Nick quickly grabbed Judy and hid behind the nearest tree,
'Three mammals heading our way, they are pretty big' he thought to her, 'I'm gonna peak again'. He looked around the side to see the mammals walking closer, they were about thirty feet away and closing quickly. Nick could see that they were all wolves and they were all wearing night vision goggles, they also all had guns. 'They're all timberwolves and they have night vision and guns we need to let them pass' Judy nodded in response.
The footsteps got closer, the twigs and leaves cracking underneath their feet. Nicks senses were coming back now and he could sense where they roughly were.
"Oi! I have a scent here" one of the wolves said in an Australian accent. Nicks breath caught in his throat, 'they're gonna find us we need to move somewhere else' he thought to Judy. He used his night vision to look around for a place to hide. The only thing around them were trees except for about twenty feet away there was a small bush. 'There's a bush right over there I think if we sit in there we should be fine' he thought,
'Alright I am just gonna follow you because I can't see'
'Okay ready aaaannd go!' The pair took off running as quietly as they could, lucky for them the trees kept them hidden from the wolves. Judy held on tight to Nicks paw as they ran in the dark, she let out a surprised squeak when he picked her up and slid under the bush. Once comfortable he set her down next to him and looked out for where the wolves were. One rounded the tree where they originally were sitting sniffing closely trying to identify where the two were, the other two wolves following close behind.
The wolves continued to move closer and closer until it became inevitable that they were about to get caught. 'Judy listen were going to be okay, when these wolves see us I want you to run and get help. I'll be fine' he thought to her. He cared more about her safety then he did his, the wolf was just about ten feet away and with the night vision goggles he had he was going to see them any moment. 'Judy I love you' he thought, about to stand up and get their attention. Judy had other ideas as she leaned over grabbing a rock, she moved herself just enough to peak out of the bush, bringing her arm back and throwing the rock with all her might. The rock flew in the air hitting a tree with a loud thunk, instantly grabbing the attention of the three wolves.
"Over there get them" called one of the wolves, the three of them ran off while Judy and Nick looked at each other,
"Run" the two said at the same time. They took off running in the original direction they were headed being sure to avoid where the wolves were going. They didn't stop running, dashing between trees and bushes until they hit a clearing. Once there the two stopped, Nick having to bend over to catch his breath,
"What's the matter foxy, not built to be a super hero?" Came the teasing voice of Judy, laughter erupted from Nick which was then followed by a whimper as he grabbed at his arm the pain coming back as his adrenaline wore off.
"I would say being shocked, drained of my powers like someone squeezing a sponge, being shot, and then also the fact that its two in the morning gives me an excuse to be tired" Nick said looking up at Judy, but the rabbit didn't immediately catch his eye, what did was the looming skyscrapers in the distance, "Carrots look behind you" he said pointing with his good arm. The rabbit turned and gasped in surprise, the buildings reached into the sky with dazzling colors of orange, red, and green, contrasting greatly to the dark night sky behind it.
"You know" Nick said starting to stand up, "in all my years of living in Zootopia I think I've seen a view like this maybe twice"
"Nick its beautiful how could you not look at it, when I first came into the city it was during the day. Don't get me wrong it was nice but this is just amazing" she said. The two stood there for a moment until the sounds of howling in the distance alerted them that they were still being hunted.
"Let's move" Nick said taking Judys paw and walking in the direction of the skyscrapers. The walk wasn't so bad after that, they knew where they were going and the wolves were long gone. After another half hour of walking the time read three meaning it had been a whole hour since Nick had been shot. The fox could feel it, he was shivering and starting to stumble around a bit. And from Judy's view the fox was beginning to look a bit pale.
"Nick we have to get you to a hospital" she said, worry thick in her voice,
"No, we can't go to the hospital, I don't want my parents knowing about this whole thing. Otherwise they are going to freak out and probably lock me in my house or something, or worse they are going to be watching me as much as Magnus is now" he said, "do you know anyone who could possibly help us?"
Judy went silent as she thought about it, "actually yes I do know someone, although you may not like it" she said,
"I will get over it you just have to lead the way"
They forest eventually cleared out revealing the huge wall that surrounded the city. Inside. The wall was the climate control centers that monitored the temperature and other aspects of climate for each of the four main sections, but now they were just an obstacle that the duo had to pass. There were plenty of entrances for vehicles such as cars and trains but pedestrians was a different story. Luckily Nick knew some good entrances they could use from his hustling days.
"Before we go in can you tell me which section this mammal is that's going to help is?" He asked,
"He lives in Sahara Square" was all she said. Nick didn't like how fast she said that, he trusted Judy with his life but something about the way she said that made him feel unsettled. He shrugged it off for now as he led the way towards the entrance to Sahara Square which was pretty close considering Tundra Town was connected next Sahara Square. As they continued to walk Judy pulled out her phone and started typing away, when she finished she almost immediately got a ping back.
"Hmm" Nick said to himself knowing him and Judy were still linked.
"Alright he knows were coming" she said.
"Perfect", Nick responded. The pair were now next to the wall which dwarfed the two easily. It was at least 100 to 200 feet taller than them and would be impossible to scale without the right equipment. Thankfully they would be doing no such climbing because of Nicks entrance, which was a small door that was the perfect size for the both of them. There was a code lock on the door that didn't actually work and was only there to deter mammals from trying to get through, it still took a great deal of pulling to get the door open as it was rarely ever used. Once inside and with the door secure did Judy notice how incredibly hot it was inside.
"That heats coming from the climate heater, this passage way is for mechanical workers who need to repair it" Nick said seeing Judy fan herself with her paw. They walked with haste to get out of the heat, although it was nicer than the cold but still was uncomfortable. It was like a maze on the inside but Nick where he was going so Judy simply followed him. The lights inside provided a dull orange glow on everything, eventually they came up to another door which was much easier to open and led out to the city.
The air outside the wall was warm but not hot, it was probably the one nice temperature the two had felt all night. And the warm sand underneath their feet helped welcome them back into the city, like they had been gone for a long time when it had just been a few hours. Now it was Judy's turn to lead the way, they walked through empty streets being illuminated by streetlights and the large palm tree building that housed Zootopia's only casino. Passing by the building, the two noticed that even though it was now nearly four in the morning the casino was still bustling with rich mammals looking for a good time. The duo tried to act as natural as possible although it was difficult because of the fact that Nicks right arm was covered in blood and he was shivering and walking around clumsily because of blood loss. And it was when a giraffe gave them a weird look that they started to walk a little faster, or more like Judy having to pull Nick to go faster. But eventually they got past the bustling area and stopped in front of a house. Judy pulled out her phone and gave one last text to whoever was inside. Seconds later the door opened revealing none other than Clawhauser. As soon as his eyes landed on the injured fox he gasped putting his paws up to his mouth.
"O M Goodness, Nick are you okay? What happened?" The cheetah asked. Nick looked over at his bunny giving her a fake smile,
'Really?' He thought to Judy,
"Uh yeah Ben I'm alright just a little worse for wear" Nick said, "as far what happened I will tell you and Judy at the same time I just need to sit down" Nick said almost falling over, Judy ran around to the other side in order to keep him standing. Clawhauser led them inside and allowed Nick to lie down on the couch while he went to get some water for them all. It was while the cheetah was handing them water that Nick thought about why they were here.
"Wait Clawhauser, you have to power of healing?" He asked
"Yeah why?" Ben asked,
"Well we've sat at the same table for lunch everyday for a few months now and I had no idea" Nick said feeling a little bad that he never really payed attention to what he said.
"It's okay I don't talk about it that much" he said, the cheetah then clapped his hands together hoping to change the subject, "Anyways! Even though I have the power to heal it doesn't really take the pain away, and in some cases it may hurt while I do this so I'm gonna have Judy here put you too sleep okay?" He asked pulling up a seat and cracking his knuckles, Nick nodded in response taking a deep breath.
"It's gonna be okay Nick I won't leave your side and I'll be here when you wake up" Judy said rubbing a paw on top of Nicks head, "Now sleep", the moment she said that Nick went unconscious.
Judy watched as Nicks eyes fluttered closed and his breathing steadied as he fell asleep, sighing and closing her eyes once he was out, she didn't like doing it to him but she knew it was for the best.
"So can you tell me where he was hurt so I know where to focus?" Ben asked awkwardly as she saw Judy having a moment. She reopened her eyes and gave him a genuine smile,
"He was electrocuted, he was shot in the arm, and he had some of his powers drained by a machine" she said. Clawhauser's jaw dropped lower and lower as she told her all that had happened to him.
"Wow you two have certainly had one hell of a night, I will fix him up for you!" He said putting his paws over the bullet wound on his arm.
"Thank you Ben, he would do the same for you if he could" Judy said. The cheetah had his eyes closed focusing on his powers, but he still let out a chuckle at her words,
"Would he really? I didn't think he was the helpful type" he said,
"Well he isn't at first but as you get to know him he is a really sweet mammal" she said. Ben paused his work looking over at her,
"You really love him don't you?" He asked, ever since they had met Clawhauser they had gossiped about relationships, he figured out very quickly that the two were dating.
"Yes I really do" Judy said looking once again at her fox. Clawhauser turned back to his work, focusing on the wound on Nicks arm. He then realized that Judy was just standing there staring,
"Judy if you want to sleep you can take a seat over there" he said pointing to a comfy looking chair. It was then that Judy felt the sheer amount of exhaustion she had.
"Yeah that sounds like a good idea just wake me up when you are done" she said sitting down and closing her eyes falling asleep very quickly.
The smell of coffee woke him up, 'Hmm I didn't know my parents drank coffee' Nick thought to himself opening his eyes slowly. 'Wait a minute this is not my house', and he was right he was in an entirely different house, the memories of last night slowly coming back. His right arm was aching but not as bad as it was last night, he also felt a lot stronger. He looked over at the chair to his right to see Judy sleeping peacefully, her nose twitching slightly.
"Good morning sleepy head" came a cheery voice Nick was not expecting, he looked up to see Ben holding a cup of coffee in his hand.
"Thanks, what time is it?" He asked taking the cup from the cheetah.
"It's ten you guys have both been asleep for about six hours" Ben said, taking a seat on the couch next to him.
"Six hours that's a new record" came Judy's voice, both Ben and Nick looked at Judy confused while she let out a big yawn. As soon as she finished she noticed the stares she was getting, "What I don't get much sleep because of the amount of work I get at school" she said. Nick shrugged before taking a sip of his coffee, he never normally drank coffee but in that moment he didn't really care about flavor he just wanted to put something in his stomach.
"So Nick, I would say now is a good time don't you think?" Judy asked, she walked over to him crossed her arms and tapped her paw. Nick looked over at Ben and then went back to Judy taking a deep breath and then sighing.
"Yeah now is a good time, might as well get comfortable" he said patting the spot next to him for Judy, she sat down looking directly at him.
"This all started back at the beginning of school maybe the fourth or fifth day of school after we went to investigate that house. Oh it was when I had that weird pain attack in my head remember?" He asked Judy who nodded in response, "anyways I left your apartment and on the walk back I was attacked by who I thought at that time was just the masked mammal but they are much more than that, I thought I had the upper hand until they moved me without touching me. Then they told me that I would be working for them now and the only way to keep you from dying was by completing whatever they asked of me. So I said yes because I knew I wouldn't be able to live with myself if something I could have prevented happened to you" he said putting a paw on Judy's cheek, "that's also where I found out their name is actually Magnus Mortem. But anyways, a few months passed and I hadn't heard anything so I forgot about it until two nights ago when I got a phone call from them, I couldn't react because there was someone watching us with a gun at you Judy. And all they told me was that I needed to meet with them last night and then we all know how that went" Nick said with finality,
"Uh I still don't know what happened last night" Clawhauser said, the two then went on to explain what had happened describing how Magnus created the a way to remove mammals of their powers.
"Wow that is a really crazy night" Clawhauser said after the two told their story.
"Nick you could have just told me in the closet that one day" Judy said,
"I would have but I sa in there and I thought that they were there watching us, well now they know so I guess it doesn't matter" he said.
"Yeah but what if I didn't create a link with you Nick then I wouldn't have known that you were going to be captured or electrocuted. Hell if I didn't link with you, you wouldn't have your powers anymore!" She yelled getting into Nicks face, Nick looked away,
"You're right but I wasn't going to intentionally put you at risk" he said, "I am happy you created the link because if you didn't I wouldn't be here or maybe even alive at all. But I would rather die knowing that you are safe then have to live without you" he was speaking like he had already given up hope, his head hanging low and his eyes closed.
"Well did you ever think about how I would feel knowing you died and then I never know the reason why?" She asked more calmly, "Nick I love you, seeing you get electrocuted and tossed around like some rag doll physically hurt me. And its not because I think you can't take it, it's because I know you can. You keep it all bottled inside of you and even though we've been dating for months I feel like you still won't let me in. I get that you did all this to protect me, but remember our promise back in the beginning? We need to watch each other's backs" she said putting a paw on his back. Nick leaned in to her, nuzzling his chin against her head.
"I know Carrots, I know" a calm silence followed as the two sat there holding each other. That is until a high pitched squeeze startled them out of their embrace.
"Awwwwwwww you two are so darn cute" Clawhauser said, the cheetah then noticed the annoyed look that they were giving him, "oops did I kill the moment?"
"Absolutely massacred it Ben" Nick said, "don't worry about it though we need to get going, I'm sure my parents are freaking out right now"
The fox stood up stretching every part of his body forgetting about his still sore arm, hissing in pain when he moved it the wrong way.
"Yeah don't forget that the pain will still be there for a bit as well as a bit of bruising but other than that you have no chance of infection or anything like that happening" Ben said.
"Thanks for reminding me" Nick said. Judy elbowed him in the side, looking down at her as she mouthed the words 'say thank you'. The fox flinched at that, they had showed up at his door at three in the morning, he healed Nick and allowed them to sleep over yet he never said thank you other than for the coffee. Nick stopped just before grabbing the door and turned around.
"Ben in all seriousness, thank you so much for all of this" he said looking at the cheetah.
"Don't worry about it Nick, from what you've told me we really need a hero right now. And at this point you are that hero" Clawhauser said sincerely. Nick nodded in response not letting what Clawhauser's statement fully sink in as he walked out the door.
The two began their journey again this time not worried about being chased.
"Do you want me to bring you back to your place?" Nick asked as they started walking towards Savannah Central.
"Yeah that would be nice" she said. The walk was very relaxed, they weren't really in a rush to get anywhere because the future was such a big question mark, when would Magnus strike again?
Eventually they walked through city center where it seemed no one was in a rush either, probably because of the weekend, but considering how fast everything had gone last night it was a nice change in pace. The only noise disturbing the silence was the occasional firetruck, which seemed normal at that point.
"So what's your plan for the day?" Nick asked trying to create a conversation,
"Oh probably gonna lock every way into my apartment and then do my homework" she said,
"Gosh that sounds like fun" he said. It was then that he noticed a strange smell in the air, if it wasn't for his enhanced senses he probably wouldn't notice. It was a bitter smell, one that was reminiscent of camping or being outside. The smell reminded him of warmth like a nice camp… fire… it was then that another firetruck zoomed past turning onto Judy's block. "Oh no"
"What?" She asked confused not being able to smell it. Nick didn't respond, he just started to pick up the pace Judy following close behind. She eventually smelled the smoke, and noticed the sirens coming from her block. They turned the corner to see smoke billowing out of the top of her building. Mammals were surrounding the building while the firefighters sprayed the building down. By the time that the duo got close enough the fire was still roaring and the damage could be seen.
"Oh my gosh" was all that Judy could say, while Nick just stared with his jaw hanging. The worst part of it was that the entire wall was blown off on one part of the building, and that part was right where Judy's apartment was…
There we go another chapter, I hope you enjoyed this one as I enjoyed writing it. The schedule is still going I am writing up to 2000 words a day which is exciting and bizarre because it used to be a chapter every month, I guess thanks to the 'Rona am I right? Anyways it doesn't seem like this thing is gonna end anytime soon so I might actually get through this whole story by the time the school year should end. Can't wait to see how you like this chapter, leave a review I really enjoy reading them and two of the ideas from the reviews have been incorporated so thank you to who left those reviews it really means a lot! Stay safe, stay clean, if you have any story ideas you can pm me or leave a review and we can discuss how to incorporate it. Now go wash your hands and save the elderly!
