Zootopia belongs to Disney. Spider-Man belongs to Sony.
Warning: Nightmare fuel coming up.
Jonas peered at the clock on his phone again. He did not want to be unprepared for his superior's arrival. "Get that room ready!" shouted the wolf over the sound of heavy machinery.
"We-" he gagged before slurring, "We're almost done! A couple more boxes." The wolf drove the large box toward the wall of the massive storage room.
"Hurry. I don't want to be in his line of fire," he muttered as he went back upstairs to make sure everything was ready for him. Lukagi did not appreciate tardiness or laziness. As a former officer in the US navy, he had no intention of allowing any of his subordinates to draw outside the lines. His way, or a bullet.
Lord Zsander Lukagi had all the characteristics of a charismatic leader. He was articulate yet soft-spoken, a genius tactician and businessmammal. But one wrong word from someone under his charge and he was liable to spend every round in his Cougar on the moron. That had been the reason he'd been dishonorably discharged from the navy. Afterward, he discovered the lucrative drug business in the dark underground of Zootopia and decided to learn the trade.
D2 was the aging wolf's personal arsenal. Had been for nearly a decade as he built his empire. After paying for his son's college, he expanded his territory to every corner in Zootopia. It wasn't hard. There would always be mammals who looked for a quick fix. "An army of therapists is no threat to us," he would say when profits began to falter.
Despite the success, Jonas felt like he constantly walked on eggshells around Lukagi. There was no climbing the ladder, no room for questions. All he had to hold on to was the promise of power. And he wanted that power. Very, very much.
Jonas' nerves were shot. He needed a cigarette badly. Sticking the sweet stick in between his lips, he flicked his zippo to light it. At that very second, the door burst open. His bottom jaw dropped at the sight of the wolf, dressed in a shiny blue suit with a sparkling pattern on the front who smirked at seeing him. The cigarette hung from his bottom lip as he ran to greet him.
"Lord Lukagi!" He saluted him, causing the wolf to chuckle. The pretty, middle-aged female wolf hanging on his arm giggled at the sight of him.
"I think he may have had too much powder, what do you think?" she asked.
Lukagi looked at the woman with humor in his eyes before turning back to Jonas and deftly grabbing the cigarette off of his lip and sticking it back in his mouth. He eyed the cigarette before lifting them back up to Lukagi. "Calm down, son, I'm only here to see my production capacity." Jonas stepped aside to allow him to walk in. "Dear, stay upstairs while I go and examine my product, hm? Go and have a drink; I won't be long." She bowed her head slightly in a single nod before sauntering off toward the kitchen.
Jonas caught himself staring at her lithe body fitted perfectly into a red dress as she walked away. Lukagi cleared his throat.
"Oh, oh! Sorry, sir. Yes, everything is ready. Please, come downstairs so you can see it for yourself." Really! Ogling your superior's wife! he scolded himself.
Jonas fought to keep his tail swishing as if he were completely at ease. Some of the wolves here had forgotten that he was coming for an inspection today and had loaded themselves with whatever drug they preferred. He was absolutely a nervous wreck. He had ordered his team to not take part in the presentation, lest they say something stupid in their addled state. They all agreed.
Jonas pressed a button and a large door slid up to reveal what was inside. Metal squeaked against metal as the door came to a stop. Lukagi stepped in as if he were experiencing the wonder of a marvelous sunrise. Crate upon crate was stacked up against the walls around the whole room. He looked around with his teeth bared in eagerness. He grabbed the a crowbar against the wall and rushed to a box against the wall nearby to pry open the side. Innumerable cartridges spilled out onto the floor. "Oh yes, this is exactly what I ordered!"
Jonas sighed in relief. Now he could relax and get the rest of the inspection out of the way.
Lukagi held a cartridge under his nose like a cigar. "Mm, smell that!" said the wolf.
He held the cartridge up to the nose of Jonas, who immediately flinched. He had no choice. He lowered his nose onto it and inhaled profusely to sell it to the crime lord. He did his best to hide his cringe at the grizzly sulfuric aroma. A wolf's nose was strong enough to pick up the tiniest scents. More often than not in the modern era, it was a curse, especially now in a building stuffed to the moon and back with newly-minted ammunition cartridges. No more bb's. No more errant shots. These would be perfectly accurate. If only they didn't quite literally smell like Hell.
Lukagi exhaled in satisfaction. New bullets. It never got old whenever that old Chinese wolverine came up with better weapons.
"And how can it get old?" he said out loud, finishing his thought.
"Sir?" asked his number two guy.
"Ah! Thinking out loud. These things..." he held it up and turned it around his his fingers.
He turned and surveyed the boxes lining the walls. "All these long centuries of kneeling before the meek and innocent prey... finally, it only takes one sheep, of all mammals, to show their true colors. This is the path to restoration of what and where a predator should be." The smile had faded and replaced itself with a glare. "Prey have had the upper hand for too long. And now... now, they are the ones who are outgunned. This will show those prey..." he inhaled and shook his fist with the bullet grasped tightly in it "...they shouldn't make us angry, or we will fight back."
"Yes, sir!" he said with newfound confidence.
"Boss!" a voice yelled from the hallway. Both Lukagi and Jonas jumped at the voice. BOOM! Lukagi's gun fired into the hallway. The wolf in the hallway dodged to the side and hid behind the wall. Jonas ducked and covered his head hesitatingly. Both leaned toward the door and noticed the small hole that had been left in the wall. "Don't shoot!" he yelled. "It's me! It's Millard!"
"Oh. They shouldn't startle us, either," he muttered. "What do you need?" he called to Millard.
"The head Boss has been trying to reach you!" He was still hidden from sight.
"Son, get in here and look me in the eye!" There was no response for a few seconds. Then the shorter wolf appeared, his arms meekly up against his chest as he took short steps into the basement room. He stopped in front of Lukagi. "Eyes on me, I said! Square your shoulders!"
"Yes sir!" he belted out as he complied. His eyes snapped to those of the former drill sergeant.
"Now, what did Boss K have to tell me?" he asked slowly.
"He-he said he has a job for you."
"And what would that job be?"
The young wolf looked off to the side. He looked very nervous.
"Well?!"
"Uh, he didn't specify, s-sir. But he said that someone named Jamie would be stopping by the armory to get..."
"...get what?!" he snapped.
The wolf stood up straight. "Nighthowlers, sir!"
"Oh," replied Lukagi, genuinely piqued in his interest. Plenty of NH-Plus circulated in the city, but for the Shark to personally commission him to dispense it... He gazed down at the fellow wolf. He pulled out a card key from his pocket. "Take this and let Jamie gather as many Nighthowlers as he tells you."
"Sir."
Judy and Nick stepped out of their cruiser. The former was pepped up and ready for work; the other was not. He felt he could have used another day to be a lazy day of doing absolutely nothing but building up that belly of his alongside Judy. He looked at her from the side. Huh! She didn't have a belly at all. All she had was... more curves in her hips, maybe a slightly thicker neck. But that was about it. Oh well, what could he do?
He finished his third coffee for that morning and crushed the cup before tossing it in the trash bin in front of the precinct as they passed it.
"Another day another lepton, eh Carrots?"
"Hey, come on, be happy you have a job in the first place. Remember where you were before you met me?"
"All too well, Carrots." And he was glad to be out of that mess.
"Nick, do you think Arya will be ok?"
"Oh, she'll be fine. I went out to talk to Darby; she said she'll check on her periodically. Also, Nathan's out of the picture, but his sister Ava and her friends will keep her good company."
"Uhn... I just can't help but worry."
"Honey, she'll be fine! Just focus." He walked behind her and took her ears, adjusting them like a pair of antennae. Judy just smiled. "How we doing? We getting signal yet?"
"A little more to the left..."
"To the left, to the left..." Nick sang quietly, waving her ears back and forth to the simple beat. "To the left, to the left, everything you own in the box to the left..."
Judy giggled. "Stop it, Nick, that's embarrassing."
"Hey it's me," he said. "I'm one big embarrassment."
She gave him a hip check in response. Nick opened the door and waved her inside.
The station was busy as usual. Though a bit more crowded. New officers, new forensic research, a new department... Ever since firearms entered the market for both law enforcement and under-the-table business, a greater need for access to expertise on the new subject was sought after. Every officer had received firearms training at the academy but only as a precaution. Officers were not technically allowed to carry when Judy joined the force. It wasn't until the Lukagi drug trade epidemic grew out of control that firearms were driven into the public eye, especially after NH-Plus was introduced.
Strapping the thing around her waist made Judy feel much heavier. Nick was fine with the addition, but Judy... she hated it, the idea of taking another life even if she had to. But she was glad that she didn't have to use it. She still had the power in her frame to do the job in a non-lethal manner. To her, her gun was nothing more than a paperweight. Theoretically, at least.
"Howdy, Chief," said Nick tiredly, making it plain this was not the place he wanted to be at the moment.
"Wilde. Heh," he chuckled. "Sorry I couldn't give you a longer vacation; believe me, I know," he said with a knowing raise of the eyebrows. "I know I'd prefer spending time with my family than coming back to work so soon."
"Hey, when nature calls-"
"It's not an issue, sir," said Judy with her usual pluck. "Our job is to serve and protect and that's what we're going to do!"
"That's what I like to hear," he said with his usual scowl, though putting slightly more gusto into his grumbling voice. "Now don't forget your gear. Get to the morning briefing. You two get a special assignment... as usual," he finished with a mutter as he turned to walk toward the bullpen.
Judy turned to her husband and planted her hands on her hips. "You wanna stop feeling sorry for yourself and fight some crime now?"
He leaned closer to her, mimicking her posture. "You didn't let me finish, Sweetheart. I was going to say..."
She closed his mouth with her hand. "Yeah, I know, you said that the other day." She began to drag him by his muzzle toward the locker rooms.
"...'Mphen mayshew khaws, ih khaws!'" he finished through Judy's hand as he stumbled after her, followed by a muffled, "Ok, mmph, ow ow ow. OK!" She didn't let him go until they were right at the edge of the locker rooms where they diverged. There were scattered snickers as they passed.
"Ah!" he groaned when she released him. "Baby, that really hurts..." he massaged and stretched out his tender muzzle.
"Besides, you don't say that to your boss!" she said as she opened the door to the women's locker room.
"Fair point."
"Get your stuff. I'll meet you in there... Hey." Opening the door, he turned toward her. "We'll get another vacation. I promise," she said with a smile.
Nick smiled back at her before going into the locker room. As he changed, he found himself looking forward to his plan. He couldn't wait to ask her. It just... something was delaying him from asking her. Was it trying to find the right time? Was he scared she'd say no?...
Judy made it to the briefing room first and sat down. Nick followed immediately after and joined her.
He sat down with a sigh and patted the table with his paw.
Judy sat down next to him in her chair that was elevated slightly higher than his. Being only a fraction of the size of the next-largest mammal in the room, the two tiny officers required special seats raised to the height of the table. He thought about the prank that Francine pulled on the two of them a year into their partnership together.
Francine had worked an overtime shift for the express purpose of pulling this prank. She had removed their custom designed high chairs and replaced them with plastic, colorful high chairs for mid-size babies.
Tray. And. All.
When Nick and Judy came to the bullpen the next day, Francine was fighting so hard not to laugh that her cheeks were as big as beach balls. Judy and Nick were fully abreast of the situation; there was no reason for those chairs to be there, and no other chairs were available. Nick and Judy both demanded their real chairs be brought out, or at least a regular chair to stand on. But when the chief walked in, the only response he gave to the presence of the baby chairs was a double take. He proceeded to gruffly command them to sit in their chairs. Having no other chairs present, they protested, but the chief shouted at them to sit down. They begrudgingly obeyed and perched themselves glumly in the colorful seats, both of which were fitted to their size. There were even little holes to stick their legs and tails through. At least they were comfortable. Everyone could see that throughout role call, Bogo kept glancing at them, trying not to laugh.
"Assignments-s-s... nn-nn-nn-nn... Off-Officers Grizzoli, Fuh-Fang- (his voice cracked) Fangmeyer, Delgato-ho..." he grimaced in an attempt to keep himself from bursting. No one seemed to be listening, as everyone was fit to burst along with him, just waiting for the chief to crack. The breaking point happened when none other than Benjamin Clawhauser walked in carrying two baby bottles filled with milk and two bibs. The then-portly cheetah literally had no idea what was going on.
"I don't know why, but I was left a note saying there were a couple of babies in here who needed their bottles. Did someone lose their babies?" That was all it took.
The whole room exploded. Every officer, save two, was laughing at the top of their voice.
Chief Bogo had fallen onto the lectern, roaring with laughter, to the point that he slid to the floor. Some precinct staff stuck their heads in the room to see what the ruckus was all about.
Nick just slouched in his seat with his arms crossed. His eyebrows were a straight line across. Judy's ears and cheeks tinged a light pink. Her shoulders were locked in a tight shrug.
Ben had stood there with the supplies, not knowing why everyone was laughing so hard, until he saw the fox and rabbit in their seats, unmoving, painfully embarrassed. Suddenly, his paws went to his cheeks and the bottles and bibs fell to the floor. His sparkling eyes grew impossibly large as he squealed, "AAAAAAAW! You guys are so cute!" Anyone who was just getting their laughter under control lost it again as the whole room, once again, exploded. Judy's mouth tightened into a short, thin line, and her head smacked the tray. Then she jumped out of her chair and walked out the door, slamming it behind her.
Eventually, everyone calmed down enough for the chief to finish giving out assignments. But he still couldn't help letting out a few more chuckles, even taking a moment to silently battle the urge to laugh. The whole thing was about to start up all over again. Nick didn't move the whole time. He kept that scowl on his muzzle until he was given his assignment. It was still there when he clocked out that night. Judy fared a bit better, but not by much.
Their actual high chairs were brought out by early morning shift, and they were happy to see them the next day, though they would have been a lot happier had Francine not played her little prank.
Oh, Nick got her back. She had given herself away fully and would come to regret it. The next day, Francine was seen running from the gym near the precinct that most of the officers used, her pants split in the back. Nick, still inside the gym, had waltzed out of the locker room wearing his aviators and swinging a pair of scissors around his finger. Some of the officers gave wolf whistles on her next shift. Officer Delgato was stupid enough to give her a slap on the back and say, "Way to rock those polka-dotted knickers, Trunkaby!" to which she responded by angrily giving the lion a frontal super-wedgie with a loud snarl/trumpet blast. The hardened officer let out a high-pitched scream before being quite literally launched by the elephant across the room by the handful of underwear, face-first. He was ok aside from a couple bruises and a very tender groin, though the underpants didn't make it.
A battle of pranks would have ensued were it not for the chief to step in and put an end to it. He told them that while did appreciate a good prank every so often, they were colleagues charged to "uphold order." That had been the end of that, but they had left the office glaring at each other from the corner of their eye.
He looked around and noticed the room was a little emptier than usual. Where were that rhino and gray wolf who loved him so much? Oh well, maybe they got a day off. The one good thing about coming in to work today was taking a nice, hot shower when they get home would feel very refreshing... Maybe I should just... I should just see if she wants to talk about Lil-
"Atten-hut!"
Everyone in the bullpen, including Judy, began to pound on their desk and huff rhythmically as the old chief lumbered into the room. Only Nick refrained. He was still frozen in his thoughts, wishing he'd gotten out what he'd wanted to ask before he shrunk back from it, but... yeah, bad timing.
"All right, that's enough," the chief said with a chuckle. "We have some new items I want to discuss with all of you. First of all, Rhinowitz and Wolfard won't be joining us this morning, as they are currently receiving medical treatment. I wouldn't worry about them; they'll be back by their next shifts. And, as you all know..." he gestured with the glasses in his hand.
"You don't care," everyone finished.
"Well done," he said as he put the glasses on. "Now as many of you are aware, Rhinowitz sent out a 10-35 last night at about eight pm. If you have not read the message, I suggest reading his report to fill yourself in. Now then," he cleared his throat and tapped his zPad, "assignments. We have an apartment building burned down at around six-fifty this morning, about an hour ago. It was instantly ruled as an amateur act of arson and CSI has not changed that verdict with further investigation. Since Rhinowitz and Wolfard are out, McHorn, you're on your own for today." The rhino stood up and grabbed the file with the same grim expression he always wore, though it seemed a bit more... pronounced than usual. "Be careful out there." McHorn answered with a grunt.
"Officers Higgins, Trunkaby, Snarlov, patrol in Sahara Square; there's been a sharp increase in incidents of robbery and open assault and battery on the street during daylight hours. Keep an eye out for incidents and make sure you go prepared for any Nighthowler-related episodes. Mammals on that stuff, as all of you know all too well, can be excessively brutal." Judy's lips pressed together for a second. She was eager to get that drug off of the streets.
"Officers Clawhauser and Futsbauer. You will be taking over for Hopps and Wilde's case for the time being. They will be investigating Lukagi for the time being."
What? Really? thought Judy.
"The reason I'm having you two take a break from this assignment is because I have another job for you." Judy stayed seated. She actually had no problem with that. "I want you to look into this sharp increase in NH-Plus that has occurred. But first, talk to Rhinowitz; read his report. It turns out his wrists were worse off than we thought and he'll need surgery so it shouldn't be too hard to get in to see him. Find these mysterious mammals described in detail in his report. Find out if there's a connection between this incident and the case."
Nick looked at Judy, who looked back. They were convinced that Lukagi was the distributor, so... wouldn't those two investigations be one and the same?
He held up the folder. Judy and Nick got down from their chairs and retrieve the folder. "Now I know both of you have busted your bums trying to take down this Lukagi fella. But right now I need you elsewhere. You both know of of the 10-35 Rhinowitz sent out, yes? Find these cats. Bring them in."
"Yes, sir," said Judy. On the inside she was proud that Chief Bogo gave the two diminutive officers such high-caliber assignments. Now, they had less of a workload and could prioritize more easily. Thank you, coincidental convencience.
"Uh, sir?" asked Judy as she got down out of the chair along with Nick.
"Yes, Hopps?"
"What happened with Harry and John? Are they all right?"
"They're receiving mild medical treatment for injuries. Don't worry, Hopps, they'll be fine," he reassured her in response to her concerned expression. "That's why I'm putting two of my best on it. Because I know you'll get the job done."
"Er, with all due respect, sir, why are we splitting the investigation? It doesn't seem very practical."
Bogo thought for a moment. "I can see why you think that, but honestly... something's fishy here, Wilde. From what you've uncovered of Lukagi, I don't think we've gotten any closer to uncovering him. I'm sorry, but this just doesn't add up. I'd much rather put you two directly on the NH-Plus investigation - starting over, essentially - to see if we can't find any direct leads."
"And what does Rhinowitz have to do with it?" Nick continued.
"Consider it a side job," he answered. "Having my best officers on two very mysterious cases calms my nerves. Plus, you two being among the most effective tactical team besides Clawhauser and Futsbauer, I think it makes sense."
"Aw, I knew you cared, Chief," said Nick.
Chief smirked and rolled his eyes. "Or I could put you two on parking duty if you'd like."
"Ha! After the city threatened to sue thanks to this bunny's lightning-fast ticketing?" he joked while ruffling the top of Judy's head, causing her ears to flop around. "Good luck in court!"
Bogo smiled and shook his head as the three walked out to begin their respective jobs for the day.
"And..." Judy grunted while setting the box down on Ben's desk in his and Ellie's office cubicle "...here's the last of our notes."
"Oh good!" Ben leaned forward over his desk. "I thought it wouldn't end!" He looked around tepidly at the... six, seven... eight boxes that comprised Judy's notes concerning Zsander Lukagi. "Uh... Judy, did you write all of this?"
"No, not all of it." Nick tapped on his phone a couple times. Ben's phone chimed and he pulled it out to see that Nick had sent him a two-page description of Lukagi's drug business that was surprisingly detailed yet... concise. "Dig in," he said.
Judy and Nick left his cubicle. "Oh..." the cheetah whined quietly, looking at the innumerable packets of information on this Lukagi wolf. At least she was thorough. Pathologically thorough.
He missed his desk job. And donuts. Donuts were starting to look a lot more succulent this exact second.
"Well, better get started if we're gonna kick this guy's butt," said Ellie with a touch of resignation as she picked up the first box and began rifling through the pages.
"Yeah," he exhaled. To be fair, this wasn't much different from his desk job. With that thought, his job suddenly felt more like old times. He started reading with a smile and pantomimed eating a rich, sprinkled donut.
Meanwhile, Judy and Nick diverged - she to her desk and him to the coffee machine. The ZPD had just been granted access to the direct video recording of the incident in the hallway at the bank where the two robbers were last seen. She was eager to get started on a case that might actually lead somewhere.
She had been pleasantly surprised to hear from McHorn following roll call that the whole thing was caught on camera, courtesy of the elephant, Lorian Biggles. He had set up a series of tiny cameras in the hallway while setting up the sting, which she was very pleasantly surprised to learn. Ah, technology. She was just finishing pulling up Rhinowitz's report when Nick came back with two cups of coffee. She swiped the screen with her finger and sent the report to Nick's monitor across from her.
"Here's your coffee." He held out the cup to her.
"Thanks, Hon," she said. She took the cup and sipped, but nothing went in her mouth. She noticed the cup was cool and very light. There was nothing in it! She turned toward him and refused to break eye contact as she turned the cup upside down. Someone was rapidly becoming good friends with the couch, it seemed. He held the other cup nonchalantly. "What? I always drink two cups and only have two hands." A second later, he gave her his half-lidded smile and held out the other cup to her. "You know I'm only joking, Carrots."
She rolled her eyes with a smile and took the cup. He hadn't lost that eternal youth just yet. "You're treading on thin ice, Mister Fox. I'm still a little pissed about you wasting most of our vacation yesterday."
"Hey, you went out too, y'know! Plus, I may not be a hustler anymore but I still have to allow myself to be a free spirit from time to time. To keep this old thing up and running." He tapped his skull for emphasis.
"Hm, I think I heard an echo in this 'old thing,'" she said as she tapped his skull with her own knuckles. He shooed her with his hand.
"Oh ha ha, let's just see what we got here, shall we."
"I already sent it to your computer."
"Yeah, I got it. Ok, let's see. Naaa-naaaaaaa-nuuuuuuuh... stakeout..." he muttered as he went through the report. Judy kept her eyes on the three separate video feeds - one of Biggle's office, one at the end of the hallway outside facing the office door, and one of the room Wolfard and Rhinowitz staked out in, looking down. She skipped forward periodically every minute or so. But the video was about four days in length so the smallest skip went forward or backward about two hours. She had to place the slider in the general vicinity of the time at which the bank was broke in and hit the fast forward button. Even then, it would take some time.
Pretty soon, Nick's muttering faded. He just sat there reading silently. That was unusual.
"Nick? How's it going?"
"This is... one weird report. Interesting, but weird."
"How so?"
"Huh! Listen to this. 'As I stepped further out into the hallway, the door behind the two imploded, for lack of a better word. The larger of the unknown mammals ran into the office, which forced Wolfard and myself to take drastic action. The other stood guard at the door. As I stepped closer to him...' I swear, he should write a book," said Nick, peeking over his monitor. Judy snickered at the sudden remark. "'...he flinched, and my gun flew out of my hand almost as if by its own accord.' Now, that's weird, right, or did physics stop working all of a sudden?"
Judy shrugged and he continued. "'I panicked and ran into him to keep him from reaching the gun. Officer Wolfard ran to the office to deal with the second animal. Probably the strangest thing about the assailant I dealt with was his immense strength. He was so strong that I was simply unable to subdue him. What is even more disconcerting is that this was a child, whom I would estimate to be between the ages of ten and thirteen..." Nick paused and looked up at her with a confused look on his face. "'Upon further reflection, my guess is that he or she is of the panthera class due to the short muzzle and ear stubs visible through his mask.'"
Judy listened intently. Nick was very right. This was a strange case. A full-grown cat would be mowed over by a rhino, let alone a kitten. Rhinowitz was known to embellish stories, but not like this. "What else did he say?"
"Uh, let's see... they get into a brawl and... he got thrown out the window."
"He got... thrown out the window. From the third story."
"...that's what it says."
"By a kit? I don't know if I can believe that," she said.
"I don't know. A few years ago, you and I never believed that a bunny would trust a fox, much less marry one."
"Nick, that's different! I mean, how is it possible for a preteen cat to pick up a full-grown rhino? For all intents and purposes, that's physically impossible; even if his muscles were strong enough, his bones would snap under that pressure!" She sat back in her chair and rapidly tapped her foot in thought. "Maybe... maybe he made a typo?" she tried. Honestly it was a shot in the dark with a broken plastic dart gun.
"No..." he scrolled up and down the report. "Rhinowitz couldn't have been more specific. He insists that he got into a pretty heated brawl with a four-foot-tall feline and lost. My first thought is he's losing his mind. Or we could go with option B: we got a psychotic, Herculean child to deal with." Judy didn't know whether to laugh at that or not. He paused and looked at the report again. "And he said that when he was thrown out, he... 'stopped falling.' Those are his exact words." Nick squinted. "Yeah, that's confusing."
"He 'stopped falling'? How?"
"Doesn't say. He literally just stopped midair. It doesn't say whether something caught him, or he grabbed something; it doesn't go beyond that. Except... then he dropped the rest of the way and huffed it back upstairs."
Nick looked at Judy and shrugged.
"You know, I'm going to watch this video and see just what the heck happened."
"Ooh, Biggles guy, you genius! He should get a free pawpsicle."
Judy turned and smirked at him. "Really? A toothpick with a bare hint of ice on the end of it."
He smiled with his half-lidded grin. She shook her head and turned back to the computer screen.
Even speeding the video up by a multiple of four, the wait period was about ten minutes before Rhinowitz and Wolfard showed up, hiding in a dark room at the other end of the hallway from the office where Biggles had been. She slowed it down to X2. They sat so still that were it not for the recorded time passing on the video, Judy would have thought it had paused. Biggles appeared far too relaxed for the events that were about to unfold.
"Wow, they're dedicated."
"Shush," she chided.
A few seconds later, two black figures appeared in the hallway. Quickly, she paused the video and pulled out her notepad. Then she changed the speed to normal and hit the record button on a task bar at the side to save the stretch of video feed for further analysis. She pressed play.
The taller of the two ran toward the door, but it was closed before he reached it. He slapped it, apparently in frustration. He turned toward the smaller feline, who just stood there. His posture betrayed a certain nervousness.
At that moment, Rhinowitz and Wolfard ran from their hiding spot with their guns in hand. They appeared in the hallway. The kid ran to the larger burglar, who looked down at him for a second. The kid's arms tensed and he seemed to take a deep breath before whirling and punching the door. Exactly as Rhinowitz had written in his report, the door exploded inwardly, spraying wood everywhere. Both Judy and Nick's eyes widened. The report was taking shape before them, exactly as he had written it.
Through the office cam, Judy saw Biggles suddenly go from a confident businessman to a cowering mouse in the span of half a second. He seemed glued to his chair, mesmerized with terror and anticipation. It was clear to both of them that Biggles witnessed everything following the demise of his office door.
The taller feline ran into the room. At that second, Rhinowitz's gun flew forward and landed on the floor. Neither of them could tell what had happened from the video; all they could see was his back, but they saw the gun land off to the side. Suddenly, the rhino rushed forward and pressed the kid up against the wall with his forearm.
Wolfard rushed into the office and tackled the taller feline, who tried to retaliate with a swipe of his claws. Wolfard dodged and blocked before dealing a blow to a pressure point on his rib cage, stunning him for a moment, but not long enough for him to put him down for good. They proceeded to engage in combat. Wolfard fell back on his defense as the burglar attacked with far greater skill than could have been anticipated. This was no common thug. The elephant's eyes were locked open in terror.
Rhinowitz still held the boy against the wall. He wouldn't have done that hard enough to hurt him, but just to restrain him. He was reaching for his cuffs. But his body stiffened and he grasped his belly. The cuffs fell to the floor beside his foot. He tried to grasp the criminal again with one arm. The small cat grabbed his wrist and wrenched his arm from his shoulder, apparently restraining him. Rhinowitz tried to grab him with his other hand, but the burglar caught that one as well. Rhinowitz squirmed and jostled, but he could not free himself. Silently, Nick and Judy watch in fascination as he was slowly forced to his knees. The wall behind the cat's back snapped, leaving a long and vivid crack in the obviously-thick drywall.
After several cringe-worthy moments of watching the rhino struggle to get out of his grip, they saw the rhino's mouth moving, though they couldn't tell what he said. The cat suddenly let go of him and almost seemed to shrink. Rhinowitz slammed into his body and pinned him against the wall, once again reaching for his cuffs but realizing they weren't there. Judy gasped as Rhinowitz was launched backward. The kid was still up against his belly. Once they landed, she groaned as he elbowed him twice. He pulled inward in pain. The child... how could this be a child? He scrambled away and stood up. He was still hesitant, but clearly more ready than before.
Rhinowitz slowly stood up. It was clear he was in pain from the multiple blows to his thoracic cavity and abdomen. His radio - inexplicably - flew into the kid's hand. Without a single sign of great effort, he crushed it and dropped it to the floor.
Whether the rhino was intimidated, neither of them could tell. He unhesitatingly approached his quarry and began skillfully throwing punches, most of them landing. The kid tried to throw a few punches, but they were predictable to the point of being excessively repetitive. Simple punches - right and left hooks. This was the fighting strategy of someone who didn't know how to look past his own strength. She rolled her eyes. She'd practically sipped coffee while mopping the floor with violence-prone kids like that.
Wolfard, meanwhile, was having a hard time of his own. It was clear that both predators were evenly matched, even though they used different styles of combat. Both took blows from each other, but neither could pin the other down.
Back in the hallway, Rhinowitz managed to land a devastating blow to the kid's face that sent him flying back several feet. But the second he landed, he was right back up to prevent the officer from making it past him to the office. He shoved him back with enough force to cause him to slide on the carpet. Judy looked at Nick, who appeared both entranced and terrified. She couldn't help but feel the same. Neither of them had ever heard of anyone with such strength. Rhinos are famous even today for their toughness. Bruises are excessively rare in their case. This... this was very serious. Such a feline who could do that to him... Rhinowitz wasn't bluffing. The mammal who did this testified of strength unheard of in the Felidae family, or in any family for that matter.
Rhinowitz kept on trying to make it past him, but he just wasn't fast enough. He could put him down easily enough, but he wouldn't stay down, and he seemed only to get stronger and angrier by the second. Suddenly, the feline facing off against Wolfard flipped over the wolf and landed on the desk. He lifted his leg and smashed the desk phone, crushing it.
After several jabs, the kid got right where he needed him to be. He threw a punch with what was clearly as much force as he could muster. Nick, Judy, and Rhinowitz's jaws dropped simultaneously when his fist was caught by him - the momentum of the rhino's punch slid him across the floor a couple feet, but he halted his fist completely with no consequence. They stood still for what felt like the longest time. Then, he brought his own fist back and blasted it against the rhino's cheek, sending him spinning in a half-circle. He stumbled to stay upright. It was clear from his face that he was dazed by the blow. They couldn't see the kid. Rhinowitz's body was blocking him from view of the camera.
He was lifted off of the floor, and immediately the kid's feet were visible. His body was hoisted until he faced the ceiling, and then they saw the kid's black form - lifting a fully-grown, fifteen-hundred pound rhino off the floor with virtually no apparent strain. It was at that moment that Judy was able to more clearly see the assailant's eyes. Most of the picture was a grayish hue in the dim light, but against that gray, his irises shined a soft, sky blue, dimmed by the eyebrows that were angled down over them in fury.
Rhinowitz suddenly became obviously lucid as he focused on what was about to happen. His mouth opened wide in a silent shout. He lifted his arms to guard his head as he was chucked through the window, shattering it completely.
The boy approached the window and apparently watched the rhino fall. After taking a quick look around, he extended his hand and fingers, flexing his middle finger into his palm. Then he closed his fist around something they couldn't see and held onto it. For the briefest moment, Judy thought she saw light gleaming off a kind of string or rope. It appeared he was holding onto an object at the end of the nearly invisible string, swinging back toward the building. Then, he let it go and ran toward the office. The next thing he did was knock out the hapless wolf with a single punch.
After taking the money, they left, and that was that. Biggles was left sitting there in trauma as plain as his trunk.
Judy and Nick stared at the monitor for who knew how long. Open-mouthed and wide-eyed, they turned toward each other. They had never seen anything like that. They had never heard of anything like that in the history of civilization. Even two of Mr. Big's polar bear bodyguards wouldn't have been able to face Rhinowitz.
"At least we know he wasn't lying," said Nick succinctly.
Judy landed on the back of the chair in disbelief. "How? How is that possible?"
Nick tapped his finger on the table in thought. "Maybe..." She looked at him. "Maybe they've... found a way to make a compound of NH-Plus that makes predators stronger somehow."
"If that's what's happened, I'm not sure Nighthowlers would be involved. That wasn't really a frenzy. Even Dawn agreed with me."
"I got a couple other theories, but-"
"Theories can only help so much. We gotta find this guy if we want answers." Judy sat back down and typed rapidly on her computer. Three seconds later, the traffic cam database was at her fingertips. "Let's see where they went."
He may have been skilled at hiding it, but not very deep down, Nick was astounded that Judy was not as shocked as he was by this. No one in their right mind would just go after this guy willy nilly - even a rhino couldn't put him down head on.
In light of that, the thought of meeting this animal was scary. Even scarier was the thought that flashed through his head as a camera caught the two running across the street from the building with a large bag: Should they even bring a child into this?
On the screen, they saw a brief, brief encounter between Rhinowitz and the two cats. The former cautiously walked past them, and then the cats sprinted outside. As soon as they exited the field of view of the current camera, Judy clicked on the next one.
DATA NOT FOUND
"What?" Judy muttered, clicking on the camera before, then tried again. DATA NOT FOUND. "Ok, that's very weird."
"Are you clicking on the right camera?"
"Oh yes, silly me, that's your phone camera I'm clicking on," she gestured toward his pants pocket where his phone was.
"You offend me, Carrots," he said, tilting his head indulgently. "As if I was that ill-savvy with mobile photography. I'll have you know I have two hundred six-"
"Nick, I was being sarcastic," she huffed.
"I know, and I'm milking it."
Judy tried the next camera. DATA NOT FOUND. "I don't know why it won't..."
"Here..." He nudged her hand off of the trackpad and began clicking on the cameras surrounding the area, finding and highlighting the borders of the area where the cameras ceased to function.
It took her a moment to figure out what he was doing, but after a moment, she got it. "Well, look at you, master Detective. I knew you'd make a good cop."
"Huh, how dare you. We have an area of about... two miles in length, three blocks in width. Pretty dumb move," he slurred, "since all that does is broadens the search area and gives us a process of elimination. Easy enough."
"Great! Let's make that list! But before we start that process, I want to talk to Harry first and get his side of the story."
Nick got out his notebook and started to write down notes about the area they were to search. "Good idea. Might want to get to know the cat who will be our demise."
"Nick, stop it," she said with a mild tone covered by slightly heavier terseness. "Remember, we're not the only heroes at the ZPD. If we need help, we can always call for backup."
"Rhinowitz couldn't," he muttered. Judy didn't answer.
Danny saw a lot of mammals inside the coffee shop. He stopped and Sarah turned around. He shrunk back a little.
"Hey, it's ok. Don't be shy. They'll love you."
Danny had never done well around crowds. He wasn't by any means the outgoing type, especially after his dad's death. He did like sports, but that was about as far as he went. He dropped his eyes to the ground.
"Hey, Danny." She knelt to his level. He looked at her. "You're never gonna have a real friend until you get out of that room of yours," she said gently. "And I mean a real friend who you don't work with and who doesn't just use you to get free drinks. Give it a try. Don't worry, I won't let you look stupid."
He nodded reluctantly.
"Come on, bud." She patted his back and opened the door for him. Music immediately blasted his eardrums. He wondered whether these animals were deaf or just liked their music loud. He walked in, covering his ears until he was more used to the noise, but it may have just been permanent hearing loss. At least two dozen animals sat at small tables along the side of the large open area of the shop. Some just talked to each other, some stood, and others danced a little. It looked more like a dance parlor with a bar to boot rather than the other way around. Most of them were different species.
Already nervous, he began shuffling toward the wall. "Ah! No you don't." Sarah grabbed his hand, causing him to moan childishly. He was very uncomfortable. She dragged him to a circle of peers in the store. "Hey, y'all, this is Danny." The animals in the group looked down at him with a smile. She pointed to each of them and named them off. "Danny, this is Sheila (a wolf), that's Hunter (a bear), and the twins, Merrill, and Mary (both foxes)." The two foxes simultaneously greeted with an upward nod.
Danny looked around at them all timidly. "Hello..." he said quietly, though he was certain no one heard him over the music.
"Hey, Danny, look who's here," said Sarah. She directed for him to turn around.
He did, and his face lit up.
"Hey, what's up, buddy?" asked the albino jaguar, holding a can of soda.
"Duane!" he pulled him in for a hug. He felt much better now. He thought he'd been at a job or something. It was rare that he was with both of them. Duane joined with Sarah's circle and greeted them.
"So, Danny, we heard you took down a rhino. Is that true?" asked one of the twins.
He couldn't be sure, but he felt that he must have been blushing at that second. "Ahh..." he looked away. He felt on the spot.
"Oh come on, don't be modest! You're the first cat, heck, the first animal that I've ever heard of to do that without ending up in the ER."
"Or the morgue," his sister added.
"Hey, no need to be morbid." She shrugged in response.
Danny was glad Sarah and Duane were there. He was not used to being in a place like this. One-on-one time was much easier. But being in groups made him feel very... inept. He never really had the chance to make friends, since he was taken in by John at the age of four, and since the only mammals who lived close at that time were prey. Their parents never let them near him. Whether it was because of his strength or his species (or both), he didn't know. As time passed, however, he relaxed and found that he was actually capable of making conversation with Sarah's friends, who were actually really nice. And fun to talk to. He began to joke around with them, and at their request he put on a few displays of his strength by lifting up several of them at a time on his shoulders. Sarah and some of the others danced for a while. She tried to get him out on the floor with them, but he refused without negotiation.
He looked forward to the rest of the week at the Hill Plaza.
"This was a good idea."
Sarah finished pouring her drink and turned toward Duane with a somber look. She filled his cup as well. "What do you think's gonna happen now? You think we've expended all our strikes by this point?" She took a sip.
"Mm," he shrugged. "Not necessarily. I mean, I kinda already suffered my first one recently..." he pointed to his still-mildly-swollen black eye "...so I think it might look bad for business if both of Boss's best assets blow themselves up."
"We... kinda already have?" she cocked her head.
"Yeah, well..." he took a drink "...not like it's anything we haven't been through, y'know?"
"Yeah..."
Duane looked intently at her for a moment, taking her in. She looked back at him, having no more input but just standing there. Maybe now's a good time, he thought. You've seen plenty of signs. Given that they were putting their lives in jeopardy for this kid back there who was currently lifting the bear on his shoulders (Duane chuckled), they might need each other more than ever. Especially if John was selling his soul to the devil in charge of the whole thing.
"Y'know, Sarah... I..." he stammered. He looked down.
"Yeah?" she set down her cup and clasped her hands in front of her.
"Sarah?" Danny pulled on her sleeve, interrupting Duane, who looked at Danny with a subtle look of annoyance. She turned around and knelt down to him. "Are we still going to play more basketball today?"
"Oh! You know, I forgot about that. I'm sorry. Me and the guys have something to do here so we're going to spend the night. We can tomorrow, though. We'll all go and have some fun. How does that sound?"
Mm... he'd really wanted to go play some more. But he didn't argue. He could tell she was getting tired anyway, and he was too, actually. He'd been up for a full twenty hours.
Sarah stood back up to face Duane. "So... sorry, what were you going to say?" she asked.
"Oh, um," he rubbed the back of his neck. "Nothing, never mind." Duane began to back up. "I better go, gotta make sure our tracks are covered," he said with a stammer.
Sarah opened her mouth but she hesitated. The only thing that came out was, "Ok..."
As Duane turned around, he suddenly realized that the look on her face just as he turned was...
...disappointment.
He chuckled. "Maybe there is something to what Jean-Lucas said," he mouthed.
When 10 pm rolled around, Sarah brought Danny to the back of the shop.
"Are we allowed back here?" asked Danny.
"Yeah, of course. Hunter's the manager here. He said we could sleep here tonight." She turned on a lamp and pulled down the covers of a bed.
"Why here?"
She hesitated a moment before turning toward him. "Why not?"
She directed him to the bed and he got in. She tucked him in. As she got up to leave, she paused to remember that he still had some trouble sleeping alone. She sat back down at his side and scratched his neck for a minute, causing him to stretch, yawn, and purr - in that order.
"Did you have fun today?" she asked.
"Who didn't have fun today? I mean, the hustling thing was awkward but..."
"Eh, you get used to it. Besides I had a good teacher."
"Who?"
"Well, he's an officer now, unfortunately. I miss him; he was funny."
"Nng," he groaned. "Police officers are the worst."
"...They're not all bad. They do keep the city safe, even if the city that tells them what to do is messed up."
"They still suck."
She snickered. "Yeah, they suck."
They fell silent as she scratched his neck. He was asleep in minutes.
Sarah took a moment to admire the kitten, tilting her head as she observed him. He was so small, yet had such immense power. She knelt at the side of the bed, looking at him. "I'll keep you safe until you learn who you really are," she whispered.
She stood up to plant a kiss on his forehead and left the room. In the bathroom, she looked in the mirror with a determined expression. She changed out of her street clothes and pulled on a black, seamless silk robe. It was so soft that her Pacinian corpuscles failed to register the pressure of the fabric against her fur. She felt bare.
She silently descended the stairs into the basement to see that her companions were in the room. All four of them. They stood at equal distances around the edge of the room. She glided into her place. All of them hid their hands in their loose sleeves.
No one said a word. It was pure stillness. The only sound was the hum of the machinery in the underground space. The smell of laundry detergent soaked the air.
"Begin," said Mark with a deep voice. Simultaneously, all five of them approached one of five vertices of a pentagram carved into the floor. They stopped when their right foot touched their respective vertex. As one, they lowered themselves to the floor and sat still with their backs upright and legs crossed. Their right foots remained on their respective end.
Several minutes passed with no one moving. They all sat there with their eyes closed.
Sarah, though she couldn't see it, heard a rustling sound. She knew the ritual. Mark was unveiling a staff from within the sleeves of his robe. The staff tapped lightly against the floor as it was laid across the pentagram, from one vertex to the other. At that moment, Mark began chanting.
"Erdo se Oid azreuf al; ortseun olos sa redop esef..."
Sarah waited in anticipation. This part was always scary at first, but it was a sign to her that this was Oid responding to their call. At first, nothing happened. All she felt was the thick, humid air in the basement. But then, gradually, a sensation formed in her abdomen. The air cooled and her body felt weightless. She felt an exhilarating pull in her stomach that slowly increased in intensity. It rose, going from her stomach to her chest. It vibrated and forced her muscles to tense. Her chin lifted from the force of the pull. It continued from her chest to her throat where it squeezed her larynx. Lastly, it came to her mouth. Her mouth opened. Something took control of her and caused her to speak. She couldn't have stopped it if she wanted to.
"Erdo se Oid azreuf al; ortseun olos sa redop esef. Erdo se Oid azreuf al; ortseun olos sa redop esef. Erdo se Oid azreuf al; ortseun olos sa redop esef."
All thoughts faded into nonexistence as she continued chanting. Her voice warped and deepened until it settled into a baritone. All the others spoke simultaneously, all with the same voice. All she knew was power. She was one with power. And power was in her. Her heart burst with color, joy pouring from her at the sensation of utter bliss... being one with a god. All time had faded. There was only that bliss and nothing else. Oh, it was amazing. Now, maybe, they could keep him safe for the time being.
A stinging sensation on the side of her neck broke her out of her trance.
Gasping she put her hand on her neck. Now, there was numbness where the pain left off. When she looked at her paw, deep blue covered her palm.
Looking around, she saw everyone else had been wrenched from their trances as well and were checking their necks.
She realized... Not that... Danny!
She looked toward where they seemed to be coming from. There, on the stairs, aiming a rifle into the basement, was... "You. You are not touch-" She froze mid-sentence, cut off by the instantaneous fracturing of her consciousness. Her back arched and her hands flew to her head, grunting as she fell over and fought to keep her waning senses. She could not stop the growl that poured from her throat. Uncontrollable rage blazed its way through every neuron of grey matter. It drowned her self-control. Her frontal lobe was shutting down.
The figure holding the dart gun calmly watched as they all writhed in a futile attempt to delay their conversion by even a second. He smirked. Even the original dosage of NH was unstoppable. NH-plus... how much more? He casually walked back upstairs, making sure he didn't disturb the trail of bait leading to the kitten's room. Now, all he had to do was wait and watch.
Sarah fell on all fours and remained there, unmoving. That low growl vibrated from deep in her throat. Her head rose. Her eyes opened, revealing the pupils of vertical rhombi that had long since faded into evolutionary history... feral cat eyes.
He didn't know where he was. He didn't... think he'd ever seen it before. There were no windows. He could barely see anything in this room that smelled like mildew.
He looked around the room he was in, but all there was, was rotting wood and dust. A broken picture frame lay against the wall. He picked it up, coughing from the dust that flew around, and lifted it close to his face to examine it. It was hard to see, but his night vision helped him discern two individual figures in the photograph. Scratches covered the faces of the two animals. He couldn't tell who they were. But the clothing was... strangely familiar. There was a distant creaking that caused him to drop the frame. He cringed at the sound of it clattering against the floor. He stood still to see if he heard anything else. Once he was certain he was just on edge and hearing things, he looked around. Looking through the cracks in the wood, he saw there was nothing but pitch-black. Like a yawning void. He turned and searched for a way out. He turned in a slow circle several times, but there were no windows, no... nothing. Just a... room. Like, did someone build it around him while he was asleep? He punched the wood very hard to see if it would break, but it just made a very loud knock that echoed loudly off the walls. It wouldn't budge. He looked around once more - oh good, there was a door. How had he missed that? He didn't care; he just wanted out.
He tried the doorknob, but he immediately realized there was nothing to hold the door closed. He opened it, hoping that it would lead him out of this place. He slowly opened the door into a dark hallway. His breath hitched at the sight of the wall of black nothingness in front of him. It was almost as if all of reality stopped right here. If he stepped into the void, he'd fall into eternal blackness. He lifted his flashlight - where it came from, he didn't care - and turned it on with a click. The wall of blackness disappeared and revealed a long corridor fading into the distance. He sighed. Looking behind him, he gulped to control his fear. He wished Sarah were here. Or John. Or anybody.
Dad.
Stepping out into the hallway, he tried to control his breathing. Besides the muffled sound of his feet padding on the damp floor as he slowly shuffled down the hall, the only sound was his breath.
He heard a faint sound coming from behind him, almost like faint skittering, like nails lightly tapping on stone. Alarmed, he spun and swished the flashlight side to side. There was nothing there. His breathing was erratic. He turned around. Just more dark corridor. Everything had gone silent again, except for his breathing. He turned again and again, till he nearly forgot which way he was going. He forced his frozen feet to move.
One step at a time, he descended the hallway, turning his flashlight this way and that between the floor and his front to watch where he was going. The last thing he wanted was to step on a weak board or a nail. He could barely keep his eyes off the walls - peeling paint leaned from the walls and created jagged tendrils as if it were melting. It was ugly and unsettling. This whole place made no sense. How did he even get here? Where's Sarah?
"Danny..." a whisper broke through the silence. He turned with a gasp. He spun in a circle and aimed the flashlight in every direction. Nothing was there. His mouth had dried up. He trembled and licked his lips. He couldn't tell which direction the whisper had come from. It had sounded like it was everywhere. "Ok, ok, ok," he stammered to himself while breathing rapidly. He had to get out of here. The cold air leaned into him, causing him to shiver. Or was that a cold sweat?
"Danny..." the whisper came again. It was louder. Closer. He couldn't help the whimper that forced itself out of him. Terror engulfed him and fed off of every breath, every pore, every follicle. He was frozen in place. Something hit the back of his neck painfully. He whirled around with a shout. Nothing was there. He heard the skittering again. Except it was louder. Closer. He turned again. He hyperventilated and sobbed. Tears rolled down his cheeks. He couldn't move. The trembling beam of light wiggled from hall to hall. He pointed it down the other hall where he came from.
The flashlight fell to the floor with an echoing clatter. His wide eyes stared into the darkness. He had seen something. A dark silhouette right at the mouth of the door he'd come from.
"Danny..." whispered the same voice, even closer now. He stood completely still. Eyes wide enough for his eyeballs to pop out. Nearly driven to madness with absolute terror. The skittering came again. It was even louder. Closer. Diving for the flashlight, he jumped up and lifted it with both hands as if it were a weapon. The figure had halved the distance to him. He stumbled backward with a shout and fell onto his back. The flashlight jiggled back and forth frantically. Once again, it whispered his name. Panic overwhelmed his senses, every nerve flared. His mind fell to darkness as black as the void outside. The figure was getting closer.
Driven by panic, he forced himself up with a scream and sprinted down the corridor. He didn't look back. How close was the thing? Was it chasing him? Was it right behind him? He could feel jagged claws right at his feet, his back, his neck, about to slash him open. Where could he go?! Was there even a way out of here?!
He came to the end of the hallway, where there was a doorway. He ran into the wall at the end, using it to push himself through the door. He grabbed the door and slammed it shut.
Trembling, he turned and scanned the room he was in.
No.
No.
How is this possible? It can't be possible. He was just here! It was the same room he'd started in! There was no other door! How! Is! That! Possible! Maybe he passed a door down the hallway?! His heart sank at the thought. He couldn't go back out there. Not with that thing.
He slumped to the floor and began sobbing uncontrollably. He just wanted OUT!
He looked up and scanned the room again. It really was the same one - no windows, no other doors. The only difference was the large... box thing in the middle. It was longer than it was wide and seemed to have two doors in the top. His hand landed on something beside him. He picked it up and shone the light on it. It was the picture frame from before, except it was left unscratched. His blood ran cold.
It was his dad. His dad when he was alive. He looked so happy in the picture, holding his son on his shoulders. That was him. When he was a very small kitten. Happy and smiling. The memory of that joy he'd had from those little things was almost too distant to even think it ever happened, but it was enough to burn. A surge of grief waved in his chest to the rest of his body. He threw it to the other side of the room with a shout where it shattered like his heart. He sat back to wallow in his pain. He wished with everything he had that his dad was here right now.
Suddenly, the flashlight flickered and went out. His breath hitching, he pushed the button on it frantically and tapped it against his palm. It came back on, shining in his eyes. He shined it around the room.
The light settled on the box. One of the doors had... opened by itself. His breath stopped altogether. He knew what it was. It was a casket. Bright light flickered suddenly, illuminating the room for an instant. Thunder followed close by.
Trembling uncontrollably, tears falling from his eyes, he stood up and lumbered toward the casket. But when he looked into it, it was empty.
"...w-where'd he go?" whispered Danny quietly, tremulously.
"I'm over here, Danny." A jolt of electric shock stung his very flesh at the voice. He gasped and stumbled to the end of the room where he spun around and shined the light into the face of the speaker.
The remaining fur was tangled and matted, covered with dirt and mold. Part of his upper lip was decayed to produce an eternal sneer. His rotting flesh was gray and peeling, falling off in places - no covers for his wide, milky eyes. There was partially exposed bone on his lower jaw. From what he could tell, he wore the same clothes he did the day he died - faded blue shirt, stained with blood and with holes torn into it. The nightmarish thing stood on the other side of the room. The casket was the only thing between them. Somehow, there was another flash of lightning and the distant crack of thunder in the windowless room. It briefly illuminated the monster, making his features perfectly clear for one horrendous moment. Danny cried and whimpered at the sight. He held the flashlight with both trembling hands. The light danced across the monster's ghoulish face. He couldn't comprehend the corpse standing in front of him. His dad... how could that be his dad standing in front of him?
The beam of light flickered, threatening to put him into total darkness.
"I'm so glad you came. I've missed you," he said slowly with a voice that sounded as if two of him were speaking simultaneously, as if he were talking through a fan. The sound sent chilling tingles up his spine and down his limbs. He was petrified. His heart burst against his sternum, pounding in utter terror. He hoped that it would just stop and let him escape this torment. But it kept right on beating... beating... beating.
His dad stood still, his gaze boring into his. Deep in the faded scleras of his once-green eyes was a demented glint of madness. The flashlight flickered again. It was going to fail, Danny just knew it. The dim light barely illuminated his decaying face and left the rest in pitch darkness.
"I couldn't live without you... and... I can't die without you..." he said in that same demonic voice. A voice that perfectly matched this place. A voice straight from the pit of Hell.
The corpse took a limping step toward Danny, bobbing his head loosely on its neck. That emotionless expression was set on him. Danny flinched backward and sobbed loudly in fear. He whimpered as the monster inched closer and closer. Danny's back hit the back wall. Suddenly, there was another sharp sting on the back of his neck. "Owww!" he bawled. The flashlight failed again. Danny beat it as hard as he could against his hand until it came back on. He lifted it.
His dad was next to the casket, swaying back and forth as he approached. One of his eyes squelched out of its socket and swung by a bloody thread.
"AAAAAAAAAH!" he screamed as he tried to scramble backward. He was pressed up hard against the wall again. It seemed to hold him in place, forcing him to endure this torture. He was just a few feet away. What would he do to him? Would he kill him? Lock him in the casket wit him? Turn him into something like him? He couldn't bear to think about it.
It was coming closer. Closer. His fraying grin seemed to widen the closer he came.
He extended his moldy, rotten hands toward him. "Come here, my boy!" he said. He actually managed to lumber faster toward him.
Danny frantically dodged to the side to get to the door. He ran around the side of the room until he came to it. He grabbed the doorknob and tried to turn the knob. It didn't budge. He wrenched it, pulling on the door but it wouldn't open.
He almost fell backward as the doorknob broke loose in his hand.
No... he was trapped. The doorknob plummeted from his hand to the floor with a final, metallic clang.
"I love you, Danny." Right behind him. "Stay with me..."
Danny turned slowly toward the man that was once his beloved dad, only to come face to face with a horrible shell of what he once was - a monster. A monster holding a bloody baseball bat. He gasped when he saw the weapon tightly gripped in the revenant's decaying hand. It leaned into his face, grinning gleefully and showing off its blackened teeth. But behind the smile, plain as day, was rage. The other eye fell out and landed on the floor. Danny's throat tore as he screamed.
"Now we can be together forever," he said slowly. He lifted the bat and the flashlight went out. Danny screamed and screamed and screamed. But his screaming didn't sound like screaming. It sounded like snarling.
Something jostled him awake. His heart thundered in his chest. He tried to get himself untangled from the covers. Something knocked into him and he felt the fabric he was wrapped in slide against a flat surface. He hit another surface. A wall. He pulled the blanket off and looked up. Shaking the sleep from his eyes, he saw a figure before him on all fours. He looked up and saw the light switch. Grasping the wall, he pulled himself upward and turned on the light. He froze as he faced not a rotting corpse, but a living fox whose eyes were bent on tearing him apart.
The first thing to enter his mind was, At least I'm out of that place.
For the record, the chanting is actually Spanish backwards with some modifications to make it seem more authentic. That's all. Trust me, I'm not into the New Age; Christianity has been fighting the basic doctrines that define the New Age movement today since the first century. Back then, it was called Gnosticism.
The nightmare sequence is heavily based on the last scene of a Tales from the Crypt episode called None But the Lonely Heart. I saw it when I was in high school. I'll be 26 at the end of May and my memories of that episode still give me nightmares. So if you're a brave soul, be warned before you watch that episode. It's terrifying.
If I say, "Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night," even the darkness is not dark to You; the night is as bright as the day, for darkness is as light with You. Psalm 139:11,12