The subconscious is a mysterious place.

As he searched his surroundings, all he saw was darkness. Nothing but a black empty void surrounded him on all ends. He wasn't sure if he was walking forward or back, and if he was walking toward something or further from it. Nick wasn't afraid, not anymore. He was quite familiar with this dark place. It was part of a recurring nightmare he had every now and then, ever since he was a child.

It never used to bother him that much after a couple years. He'd grown accustomed to its strange occurrences, and it usually played out the same every time so there was hardly any surprises. Nothing scared him or stressed him out. He just dreaded it every time, mostly because of the voice that would speak to him. It sounded like him, but with a much deeper and more disturbing tone. He just assumed it was what most mammals called the "inner demon".

But this time he was a bit worried. He hadn't been in this place since meeting his girlfriend two years ago, so now he didn't know what was to come from this dream. Maybe it would just be the same old, same old. But Nick had a terrible feeling that wasn't the case.

"Alright, let's just get this over with." He said aloud to whoever was listening. "What do you want now?"

He heard a small chuckle that echoed around him, causing a slight breeze to pass by.

Well, it seems we meet again.

Nick sighed wearily, rolling his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. You say that every time. Let me guess, you're here to tell me everything that's wrong with me and that I'll never be good for anything so there's no use in trying."

Silence was followed.

He scoffed, feeling a bit smug now. The voice had never not had a response before. Perhaps this was a sign he was finally conquering it. "Yeah, that's right. You've said it all before, it doesn't bother me anymore."

You're a lot more confident this time. But your smell..it's off.

"My what?" Nick asked, raising a brow. What the hell did it mean by his 'smell'? Did he give off a scent that the voice was used to?

Yes, you reek of...rabbit.

Nick's face went blank. "Wh..what do you mean?" He dared to ask.

Oh, that's right. You have that little partner of yours now. I had forgotten about her. No wonder you seem softer now.

"Softer?" He asked, putting his paw on his hip. "You know what, it doesn't matter. Can you just get your little speech over with so I can wake up and get back to my life?"

It was true, there was nothing it could say that Nick wasn't used to hearing. Hopefully this was the end of this nightmare, for good. Now that it's words didn't affect him, it would no longer have power. And that would be it.

But it seemed the voice had other plans.

Mmm, no. I say let's make this a little more interesting.

Nick's brows furrowed in suspicion. But before he had the chance to ask questions, he saw the blackness beginning to crumble. It shook the area, but it wasn't enough to make him need to duck and cover.

As the walls fell down, a much different scenery appeared around him. It was brighter, greener, and calmer. Once all the debris was gone and faded, he looked around to see he was somewhere in Zootopia, somewhere he actually recognized almost right away. There was some grass patches and rocks, and above him was an old stone bridge with moss growing out of it.

"Ah, geez." He said dreadfully. "Look whatever you're planning isn't gonna work!" He pointed upward, assuming that's where the voice was hiding. "I'm onto you!"

"Nick?"

His ears jolted up as he heard that familiar voice. It wasn't his inner demon, that was for sure. This voice was softer and more gentle. He would know it anywhere.

"Carrots!" He said, turning around to find the bunny standing on the opposite side of the under bridge. She looked so real and lifelike, almost like he could actually touch her. And maybe he could, but he knew this was no doubt a trick, and he didn't want to fall for it.

"Nick, what's going on? Why are you standing over there?" Judy asked, gesturing for him to come closer to her. "Come over here."

Just as Nick took a step toward her, his suspicions rose again. What if he got too close and the inner demon hurt him again? What if this was just another trap set for him to fall in? Most twisted of all, it was using Judy as bait to lure him in.

"Uh, I'm sorry but I um, I can't." He said, reluctant to get any closer to her, so he kept his feet perfectly still on the ground.

Judy frowned, "Why not?"

Now he felt bad. That look on her face was all too real. It looked exactly like her actual frown. And he hated seeing her upset. "Normally any other time I would, but right now there's something going on and I just can't."

She sighed, "Why do you always do this?"

"Do what?" He asked, feeling his nerves starting to creep up on him.

"Distance yourself." She answered, holding her arms. "Whenever I think that you've finally gotten used to being around me, you go and push me away. I understand you need space sometimes, but you don't need to act like it's the worst thing to let me help you."

Nick could hardly form a sentence in response to what she said. It was her voice, and it sounded just like her. But it didn't seem like her at all. She wouldn't ever actually say that to him.

Would she?

"Wh-what are you talking about? I don't push you away." He said, making it clear how much more nervous he was feeling.

"Yes, you do." She said, turning away. "It's like you're afraid to get too close to me. I just don't know if I can take it anymore, Nick."

His breath hitched for a second. He feared letting out another exhale, as if somehow breathing was going to make her walk away and leave him. "Wait, what? What are you saying?"

Judy sighed again, relaxing her shoulders from the scrunched position they were in. "I'm sorry, Nick. But I need to be with someone who's not afraid to talk to me, someone who won't push me away when they need my help."

"Wait, Carrots, don't!" He said, becoming desperate. Now he knew where this was going, and he didn't care for it one bit. Why would she do this? He didn't push her away that much, did he?

Then again, it was pretty hard to get close to others ever since the incident with the junior ranger scouts when he was little. The mammals he thought were his friends ended up hurting him in more ways than one. But Judy would never do anything like that him. So why did he still not fully trust her?

You're not good enough for her, anyway.

There it was. The voice from before, the voice from all these years starting to torture him again. Why was he not surprised?

Nick ignored it and dared to take a step closer to the bunny. "Carrots, please. I promise I'll try harder. You just have understand that it's hard for me to trust others."

It's no use. She's gonna leave you just like everyone else.

"I know, I know. But you've been saying that for two years." Judy said, tugging on the sleeves of her shirt. "How much longer do I have to wait?"

She deserves better than you. After all, you're just a no-good, lying fox.

Nick groaned in frustration, trying to shake away its words the best he could. But the voice was getting louder and harder to tune out. "Ugh, just stay out of this." He gritted his teeth.

You were never good enough. You never will be. And it's clear that she knows it, too.

"Just stop! You're lying!" He exclaimed.

"I'm not lying, Nick." Judy said, catching him off-guard. He didn't realize she could hear him talking to the voice.

Nick shook his head and paws, "No, no, I didn't mean— I, look I don't know what to do, okay? This is just..it's really hard for me! I know it's hard for you too but if you give me a chance, I promise I'll do better."

Judy sighed sadly, lowering her head. "You've said that before. Now I just don't believe you." She turned around, facing her back toward him. "I'm sorry, Nick."

He felt his heart sink to his stomach as she started to walk away. With every step he took, he saw the ground beneath her turn darker, creating an unsettling path. Even the grass within close distance turned brown and crinkly.

It was never going to last. How could a bunny ever love a fox?

Nick couldn't bare to see her go. Tears started forming in his eyes as he stepped out from under the bridge. "Carrots, wait! Don't leave!" He called out in desperation. "Just give me one more chance, I promise it'll be different! Carrots!"

Don't bother. She's gone, as she should be.

"This is all your fault!" He said angrily, looking up at the sky. "If you didn't torment me all these years, I could've given her what she deserves! I wouldn't be so afraid of getting close to everyone! And now you've taken away the one thing I care about most!"

Oh, you thought that was me taking her away?

It laughed. Nick didn't like that sound, it was spine-chilling. It made him uncomfortable beyond description. He never heard the voice laugh before, and something told him he wasn't going to like whatever followed.

Then, something else caught his attention. He gasped as he looked up at the bridge, spotting a red fox—that looked exactly like him—on all fours, growling deeply. As if that wasn't disturbing enough to look at, he also noticed that the fox was staring at something in the distance. And Nick knew exactly what it was. Or, rather who it was.

"No.." He whispered, turning around to glance at Judy again.

Immediately, the fox leapt down from the bridge and bolted toward the bunny at lightning speed.

"Judy, RUN!" He shouted loudly, making a run for it toward the scene. If he couldn't stop Judy from breaking it off with him, at least he could try and save her from whatever savage clone this was.

Judy didn't hear him, though. In fact she only realized what was happening once she heard a loud growl from behind her. She turned around and gasped, coming face to face with an angry fox that was darting toward her faster than the speed of sound.

Before Nick could catch up in time, the clone pounced on the rabbit and raised its paw up to slash its nails right into her face. She let out a horrific scream, unable to do anything to stop its assault.

Nick had to force himself to keep running, even though he almost froze for a second. The sounds of her agony made both his heart stop and his blood boil. And seeing a clone of himself hurting her in such a way only made it worse. He quickened his pace and eventually caught up to them before any more harm was caused.

He jumped onto the clone, pushing it off of Judy and pinning it to the ground. It squirmed and snarled, but otherwise was unable to fight back. Honestly it barely tried. "You son of a bitch!" He spat angrily, keeping its head against the dirt. "Stay away from her!"

It bared its teeth in response, now going still beneath him. Nick wasn't sure why it wasn't trying to escape, or why it hadn't just somehow disappeared, since this was obviously just the inner demon's creation. But that didn't matter right now.

He turned to look at Judy, who was sitting up and holding her face where she had been scratched. "Carrots! Are you okay?" He asked worriedly.

Judy slowly removed her paw, revealing the large gashes of blood over her eye and on her cheek. Oh god, it was worse than he thought. How could three claws cause so much damage to another animal?

She sniffed, as if she was about to cry. But when she opened her eyes to look at him, all he saw was resentment, and a hint of fear. She tried to scoot away, keeping a distance between them with the little strength she had.

"You really are a monster!"

Her words hit hard, like a knife to his chest. They rang in his ears to a point where it was all he could hear. They repeated, over and over until they were the only words he knew existed. He felt his whole body go numb, and his entire world crashed. The once calm and peaceful landscape around them went dark, and eventually turned to blackness again.

"N-no." Nick whispered, his eyes becoming watery. "No, I-I'm not a monster!"

He glanced down to look at the clone again, only to see that it was no longer there. In fact, the place he was in had changed. As it turned out, he was the one on the ground in the pinned position. He was the savage fox now.

"No, no, no, no. Wait, I- I didn't mean it." He said, starting to feel panicked and afraid. Judy just turned away, her figure turning into a silhouette of his cruel imagination. "Judy, wait please! I would never hurt you! You know that! Come back!"

No amount of begging was able to stop her from fading away. Now he was alone yet again in the endless void of darkness and isolation. He tried to move, but he was stuck. It felt like there were invisible chains holding him down—which knowing his imagination, that was probably the case.

"Judy wait! Please!" Nick shouted, even though he knew it was pointless. He heard the voice laugh yet again, this time it was louder and painfully obvious that it was up to no good.

It said nothing. Just laughed and laughed in a sickening taunt. The laughter only grew louder the more Nick struggled and squirmed in place, trying to flee from whatever trap he was in. And most cruelly of all, a muzzle was somehow making its way onto his face, right over his snout.

"No! No!" He cried out, feeling the muzzle straps tighten behind his head, which was starting to prevent him from opening his mouth anymore. He was stuck, helpless, and alone with nothing to stop his suffering.

Before the muzzle was completely strapped on, he tried one last time to call out for help. Despite the voice's laugh being obnoxiously loud, he knew deep down someone would hear him, somehow.

"JUDY!"

...

"Nick?"

Nick opened his eyes, letting out a small gasp. He sat straight up, taking a look around him, and taking in the fact that he could actually move. He observed his surroundings as he came back to reality, realizing he was in the safety of his bedroom with Judy sitting next to him in bed.

Even though he knew it was a dream in the beginning, it gradually felt more and more real to him. That had to have been the most disturbingly twisted dream he ever had.

"Nick, what's wrong?" He heard Judy ask, sounding quite concerned. "You were talking in your sleep."

He nodded, rubbing the side of his head as he tried to grasp everything that just happened. It felt like a blur, yet it played out so vividly in his head as he recapped it all. "Yeah, yeah I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" She asked, scooting closer to him. "It sounded like you were having a nightmare. You were saying my name; my actual name. And you never do that."

Nick nodded again, keeping as little eye contact with her as he could. He honestly didn't want to get into it. Talking about the dream would just feel too weird. He never openly discussed his nightmares with anyone. And telling her that he heard a voice every now and then? She would think he was insane.

"Yeah, I'm good. Trust me." He said. But despite his efforts to hide it, he knew she didn't believe him.

Still, she didn't want to pry. If he wanted to talk about it, he would, at his own pace. She had to respect that.

"Okay, if you say so." She gave him a nod.

However, now that Judy had agreed to leave him be, something didn't feel right. He did tend to push this like this aside like it was nothing, when in fact it did bother him. Maybe he really did push her away when he needed her. Maybe he had this dream for a reason. His subconscious was trying to warn him.

He didn't want to be the reason Judy felt useless. He didn't want to push her away and make her feel like he didn't trust her. It was the opposite, actually. He trusted her more than anyone. She had to know that, right?

Before Judy could lay back down, Nick wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close against him. She was surprised at first, but didn't hesitate to give in and return the affection. As a matter of fact, she felt relieved that he was able to be more open with his actions.

"Actually I— I'd like to talk about it, if that's okay." He said quietly, resting his chin on top of her head.

Judy smiled softly, nuzzling her face against his fur. "Of course."