Zootopia belongs to Disney. Spider-Man belongs to Sony.
CRACK! Danny looked up at the old door, wondering how much longer it would last. He'd called the police under three minutes ago, but to him it had been closer to three hours. Ellie's intense growling could be heard clearly on the other side. It was getting louder. He began to tremble.
He didn't know why he was so scared. It was clear he was more durable than most mammals, even the toughest ones. It made him feel different, freakish. He'd always wanted to fit in. He never could, but Sarah and a select few others had all accepted him despite his nature. Especially her. She was one of only two whom he'd shown his webbing ability to. She had played with him, protected him, done everything with him that John didn't. And now she was trying to kill him for whatever reason. Why would she just do this all of a sudden?
Why would she go from that to this?
The wood cracked again. He pulled himself inward. A cold sense of dread had lain over him like a blanket, one that offered no protection from the horrors outside. There was only one way out of this room, which felt more and more like a tomb with every sound on the other side of the door that was so close to breaking. A piece of the door broke off and a small hand reached through, slashing at the air. It belonged to Sarah.
"Sarah, what did I do?" he yelled. "I didn't do anything! Why are you doing this to me?!" There was no response. Who is this? He didn't know.
The wood began to splinter. He tensed up. No no no no. Oh please, hurry, he thought. Moments ago, he abhorred the police. But now, he would give anything for the cops to get here.
"Please!" he shouted as the door gave way.
"Yeah, we'll need at least three ambulances," said Ellie into her radio as she checked her pistol.
"Got it. How close are you? Over."
"We're about a minute off. Over."
"Go faster. There's a kid in there with those things. Over."
"How many are there? Over." asked Ben as he turned down the street the coffee shop was on.
"He didn't say. So be careful. Over."
"Understood, over," answered Ben, his eyebrows angling with determination. "Hang on, little guy," he said as he floored the gas pedal. The car flew down the straight region of the street leading to the coffee shop. He hoped the kid would make it, maybe get out or hide. The incident that launched him from the front desk back onto the force was his greatest fear. Not for himself, but for whoever got in their way. NH-Plus provoked a significantly stronger reaction than its predecessor. He couldn't imagine that happening to anyone, and was thankful he couldn't, since he was caught before he himself hurt anyone when he had been infected with the serum. He'd pretended it didn't happen for the most part during the Crisis. He wasn't pretending anymore.
The door split in two. The half that wasn't hinged fell uselessly onto the stairs. The bear picked it up and threw it over the guardrail. The others flooded into the room behind him.
Danny stood up, backed into the corner. A cold sensation slithered down his spine as Sarah leapt down the stairs, along with her friends. She sniffed the air hungrily. Her red eyes madly flicked back and forth. Drool flung from her bottom lip as she frantically looked around for her quarry. Finally, they landed on him, and he was able to see clearly the madness in her eyes that made his muscles seize. Those eyes were not Sarah's. This wasn't Sarah at all. This was something else altogether. And he was trapped with her. It turned out he was still trapped in that place. This was just a different kind of monster.
She lunged at him and the rest followed. Reflexively, he jumped and performed a front flip like he'd done upstairs. He narrowly avoided Sarah and Merrill, but he landed right in front of the other twin. He froze, giving her enough time to knock him to the floor with a harsh smack. The monsters converged on him and latched onto various parts of him with their jaws.
The sounds they made stung his ears, like the sound of a chainsaw, loud enough to drown out his own screams. Pressing against the monster biting his shoulder, he frantically tried to wriggle out of their grasp. The bear's claws were ravaging his chest. "WHAT DID I DO!" he screamed. "STOP IT!" He grabbed the foxes and the wolf one by one and threw them off of himself. They slammed against the walls of the basement. Then, he punched the bear in the stomach and picked him up, throwing him to the other side of the room toward the stairs with a grunt. But the bear managed to land on all fours. The floor shook from the impact, startling the rest of the animals. But the bear hunched lower and stalked toward him again. Danny stepped backward away from them. Anxiety pulsed in his cranium. It began to invade the back of his neck like a rancid virus. His foot slipped out from under him and knocked something smooth off to the side but didn't know what it was.
Sarah took the opportunity and leapt toward him from behind. A roar escaped her lips. She was ready to tear into him like a ferocious beast.
Without thinking, he reached up and shot a web onto the ceiling to pull himself upward and stick to the ceiling. Sarah walked on all fours in a circle seven or eight feet below him. No way she'd be able to jump that high.
He let go of the breath he didn't know he'd been holding. He looked toward the door and took a step toward it. Then he felt a claw strafe his ear.
"Eee!" he squealed, hugging the ceiling with arms and legs extended like a trembling baby holding on to his mother. He kept his eye on her, looking down at her from the side. His cheek was smashed against the ceiling as he stared in terror at the ocelot. A smiling face that had once comforted him before was now twisted in primordial rage. She prowled below him, waiting for him to move or come down. His eyes met hers, and did not break from them.
The animals had all ceased their loud roars, but were now growling as they tried to find a way to reach him. The bear reached for him, his claws haphazardly swinging. His claws managed to scratch one of the others. Danny heard a yelp from the victim.
The door to the basement was right there, but he couldn't move. He was frozen in place. His muscles simply wouldn't respond. The humiliation of standing there in his underwear was awful. The pressure continued its invasion, spreading from his neck to his spine and chest.
He'd never felt this way around Sarah. His best friend. The only one he felt comfortable being different around, without having to hide his weirdness. The only one who understood him. Now she was trying to kill him. The feeling grew large enough to force tears to his eyes as if it was taking up too much room inside of him, strangling all of his organs.
The foxes and the wolf entered his field of vision. They'd recovered and were on the hunt below him as well.
He looked down at the savage ocelot below him.
A terrible idea entered his thoughts. He couldn't strike it down no matter what he thought. But seeing her now, so starkly different than what he'd seen yesterday and in all the time she'd known him...
Did she plan this all along? Bring him here just to kill him? If that was what she was doing, then... who did he have to count on? Could he trust her? Could he trust John? Anyone? She'd never given him any reason not to trust her.
And now this. Right out of the clear blue sky, she throws everything she can into attacking him as if she were possessed. Maybe she was. He couldn't stop looking at... those eyes... he'd never seen eyes like that before. Maybe she really was possessed. Maybe whatever they were doing down here had done something to them. Was it that god she was always going on about?
He gasped when a pair of massive, clawed hands reached his abdomen, clasping his body and tearing him from the ceiling and sending splintered wood careening to the floor along with him and the bear. Teeth bit his forearm and his neck, dragging his squirming form to the center of the room. He stood up and threw off the crazed ocelot. She crashed against the wall with a yowl. But she was getting right back up. She seemed to be gaining vigor and power with every passing second.
The fox was suddenly on him, mauling him. He tore her off and tossed her aside as well.
A large paw slammed into him and cut off the growl that was forming in Danny's throat. He grabbed the paw and held it tight, but the other paw smacked upside his head and knocked him down again.
He kicked the bear down. He got up and tried to make a run for it toward the door but he jumped in his way. He wouldn't be able to get out in this chaos. The bear's hand landed on the waistband of his underpants. There was a rip as they were torn away, leaving him totally naked. Reaching down to cover himself, he was knocked down once again.
The small kitten crawled away toward the stairs, only to be greeted by more creatures. He froze. They seemed even more angry, more insane with lust for blood.
He stood up and, closing his eyes, swung his arms around. He managed to knock some of them away, but as he opened his eyes to run, Sarah jumped right in front of him. He looked into her eyes, which came within inches from his face. Any strength he had evaporated like dew under the desert sun, replaced with despair. She followed him as he backed up until his back hit the wall where his legs collapsed under him, allowing him to be shoved onto his side by the cat.
He curled up as all the animals sprinted toward him. He had awoken from one nightmare right into another. Only he wouldn't wake up from this one. This was real.
The ocelot furiously tore at him as the others followed suit seconds later. Their bloodlust only seemed to intensify with every strike of their claws and their teeth. He was their food. It went on and on and on... they were driven further into hysterical fervor. He covered his face with his hands as he was ravaged from all sides. He squirmed, desperately making a meager attempt to get away, but there was no escape. They pulled at him with their teeth, jerked him back and forth as they fought over him in a frantic tug of war.
"HELP!" he screeched as he was dragged around by the vicious creatures.
He put the cruiser in park and depressed the button on his radio. "Where are we on that cavalry? Over."
"I'm trying; no one available. Looks like you're on your own for now. Over."
"Come on!" yelled Ben as he jumped out of the car and ran for the front door of the shop.
"Right behind you!" Ellie turned on her phone light. Like they would need the cavalry. She was a bunny, after all.
Ben tried the door and groaned. "It's locked. Hyah!" He kicked the door inward, shattering the glass. "Sorry," he said unapologetically before charging in and un-holstering his dart pistol.
"Hello!" shouted Ben, scanning the interior and gesturing for Ellie to move forward.
"Clear!" she said.
"Watch our three around this corner; we don't know what's in here." He halted for a moment and his nose wrinkled in disgust. "Yeah, that's Nighthowlers, all right."
Ellie stopped in front of him. Her ears raised high up. "Ben... you hear that?"
"What?"
She listened for a second and then looked at him. "Basement." Ellie ran forward and checked the hallway.
"Clear right and left. This way." Ellie led them down the left hallway. Ben could hear it now - primal sounds that caused deeply buried horrors to resurface. It was only made worse by the stronger smell that was far more familiar than was comfortable. He shook his head and readied himself. He suddenly realized that the surroundings had changed. They gave the impression that the cheetah and bunny had just gone through a portal and entered a log cabin from the nineteenth century. It was a little funny despite the circumstances. They came to the end of the hallway, where it turned left and right.
They came to a door that had been completely broken in half.
Now Ben could hear the shouting and growling noises. "ZPD!" he shouted, grabbing the remnants of the door. He noticed at that moment that it was covered from top to bottom with deep claw marks. He covered his mouth in horror, beginning to accept that even if the kid were still alive, he was crippled for life. He feared what he might find.
The roars grew louder and louder.
They both came to another door that was shattered beyond repair, where the sounds were most intense. Going in after Ellie, the noise became deafening. He looked down into the room and found himself staring at absolute chaos: between five and seven animals of various species and sizes ran over each other in the dark, as if they were madly expending energy as fiercely as they could with no purpose in mind. They crashed into each other, made cracks in the concrete walls, scattered various objects all over the floor... it was something to behold. It left Ben staring into the room that was devoid of sanity. His only hope for the child was that he'd managed to escape. Because no one could escape this.
"HELP!" a loud voice desperately screeched, causing Ben to flinch so hard he nearly stumbled. He looked down into the madness, but could discern nothing of sound mind. He turned to leave the room, thinking the voice had come from somewhere else.
"Ben!" Ellie screamed. "It's the panther!" Ellie screamed as loudly as she could to be heard over the relentless noise. "Hold on, kid, we gotcha!"
Ben turned back and focused on the chaos. He barely saw a small black form swatting at everything that came his way. It was him! His small body was practically consumed underneath it all. They had to get him out of there! But how would they do that without-
"Stay here, I got an idea!" she shouted as she leapt down the stairs. Ben began to follow, ignoring her command.
Ellie removed something from her belt and held it up high. hhHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONK! Ben closed his ears at the loud noise in the closed space. Even Ellie's own ears were pressed against the back of her skull to mitigate the painful noise.
The room had fallen silent. All eyes were on the bunny with the air-horn. "Over here!" she waved toward herself. "Come get me! Tasty bunny right here!" she slapped her chest emphatically. She honked the air-horn in spurts a few more times, beginning to back up toward the stairs.
As if they had forgotten all about their prey, they turned toward Ellie... they had a new target: the tasty bunny. Ben began to step toward the door, knowing they were about to cross his path. He knew it was crazy, what Ellie was doing, but it was just another record she'd be breaking today.
"Back up!" she commanded, tossing away the air horn. "Get the kid!" She turned the corner, closely followed by the savage beasts. Ben had stepped into the room across from the hall to allow them to follow her. She turned down the hallway and lured them into the service area of the coffee shop.
She stopped right in the middle of the room and turned to see them emerging from the doorway into the shop. Cracking her knuckles, she looked around. All eyes were set on her.
"Perfect," she said quietly with a smile as she stared them down. Her nose refused to twitch as she defiantly held her dart pistol in one hand and boldly faced the animals. "The only thing that's missing... is a little music to fit the occasion..."
The ocelot and bear converged on her. As soon as the ocelot pounced, she spun to the side and kicked her in the face, causing her to yelp. Ellie launched a pair of darts into her shoulder before using her body to knock her in the path of the bear. The bear stumbled, and Ellie leapt to kick him on the hip. He spun around from the force and within a second the rest of her clip was emptied into him.
"Come on!" Ellie growled with clenched teeth at the foxes and wolf beginning to circle her. The ocelot and bear had just fallen asleep. Three more. She jumped and flipped to dodge the foxes, at the same time reloading her weapon. "Give me a challenge, you white belt NH-Plussers!" She landed and turned toward them as they reengaged.
Ben jumped down the stairs and ran to the now-naked boy, whose arms covered his face. His body curled into a ball while his tail flitted every few seconds.
Looks pretty good for a victim of mauling, he thought as he neared him. Don't think that way, that's a good thing!
"...Give me a challenge, you white belt...!" he heard Ellie say faintly from another room. There were sounds of growls and yelps, but he had no anxiety concerning it; she had it under control. Bunnies were good that way.
The jaguar squirmed on the floor, turning his back to him. Hyperventilating. Trembling. Ben placed his hand on his shoulder. "You ok, buddy-"
There was a light squeak and the kitten made himself smaller. He shook profusely.
"I'm not going to-" he stammered. The boy got up to run on all fours to the nearby corner. He sat down and pulled his knees tight into his chest. He kept his eyes on the cheetah. His eyes were wide. Red, exhausted.
"It's ok," he said gently. "I'm not gonna hurt you." He stepped toward him slowly, holding his hands up. Taking slow steps toward him, the boy's head dropped, but his eyes stayed on him, his shoulders locked in a trembling shrug. "I'm not gonna hurt you," he repeated softly. This close, he could see that not only did the kitten look "pretty good" for a victim of mauling by Nighthowler-Plus-induced animals - he was completely unscathed. Aside from fur matted down with dirt and trace amounts of blood - and a lack of clothing - there wasn't a single hair out of place that he could see.
Kneeling down slowly to meet him, he reached out to put his hand on his shoulder, but hesitated when he shrunk back. The last thing he wanted was to set him off. He was still in fight-or-flight mode; he had to get him out of that first.
Ben knew just the thing. Taking the chance to reach out further, he carefully set his hand on his shoulder and scratched his neck. The boy tensed even further. He hyperventilated at the touch, but gradually he relaxed somewhat. After several long moments, he closed his eyes and began to purr, adjusting his head to give his hand more room.
Ben chuckled. "I know how it feels, buddy. A little neck scratch is all it takes sometimes when you're scared." His fur still bore the messy softness of a preadolescent kitten. Usually, cats shed their baby fur and gained a new, even coat around the age of nine, so this little guy had to be around that age.
He stayed there with him for a few more minutes to make sure he was ready to trust him. He could only get him so calm. He'd at least stopped trembling so that had to do. If only he had some string. That always helped when the vic was a kitten such as this. Actually, no, what he needed was something to cover himself with, which prompted him to consider going out to the cruiser - no, he shouldn't leave him alone. After a second or two, a light bulb went ding! Taking his shirt off, he held it out to the small kitten to wrap himself up in. He was left with a skin-tight white t-shirt. The boy eyed it in confusion for a few seconds before reaching out with a trembling hand and taking it. He slid his arms through the holes and wrapped it tightly around him like a blanket. Thankfully, he was short enough that the shirt covered his masculinity. He held each side of the button-up shirt, trying to figure out how to make the buttons in the shirt cohere. Ben gently moved his hands aside and proceeded to push the buttons through small holes in the other side until all but the last were buttoned.
"There we go! So now that we've got some clothing on you," he leaned in, "what say we get outta this creepy place?"
He didn't answer, so Ben reached out slowly. "I got you. You're safe." Doing his best to be gentle, he picked him up under his arms and stood up. His whole body tensed and his breath grew more erratic. He mewled in anxiety and wriggled briefly. "Hey, hey, it's ok. You're ok. We're the police. You're safe..." He petted his head and shushed him. "I'm Ben, by the way. What's your name?"
The kitten drew in a shaky breath. "D-" He gulped, forcing any saliva he could down his dry throat. He was numb. His thoughts merged incoherently. He tried again and his voice came out in a stilted whisper. "D-Danny."
"Danny? Nice to meet you." Danny slowly rested his head on Ben's shoulder and relaxed as if his exhaustion had suddenly landed on him, reminding him of how tired he really was. He rubbed his back as he brought him up the stairs. At least for the moment, Danny felt safe. He lay his chin on his shoulder and closed his eyes for a second. He perceived light through his eyelids suddenly and opened them to see that the officer had taken him into a bathroom. He set the boy down on the toilet and began wetting paper towels that he took from the dispenser to use to clean some of the dirt out of his fur.
"There, it's coming out," he said, looking at the dirt on the towels. Danny didn't say anything but let him continue, to Ben's silent surprise. "I would have thought you'd not like this. But you look like you're enjoying it," he chuckled.
"...Wat-...water never bothered me," he whispered with a light tremble.
"Well you're unique," he said. I still have to use dry conditioner to clean my fur.
"...Don't girls use that stuff?"
"Hey, guys use it too. It's good for keeping your fur soft."
Danny snickered. Ben decided to take it in stride. He was a kid after all; he'd understand when he was older.
The cheetah emerged from the labyrinth of rotten wood into the main atrium of the building where customers were served. He breathed deeply in relief to let fresh air drown out the bleachy smell of NH-Plus.
"I got all of 'em, no thanks to you," Ellie said to Ben as he stepped through the doorway.
Ben froze at the sight of the bunny checking her nails... surrounded by five unconscious animals. Each of them had darts sticking out of various parts of themselves. They all lay in positions that they would love to hate were they to ever see themselves. The bear had, let's see, one, two... Yikes!... nine darts shot into his rear end that stuck high up in the air as he snored somewhat loudly. Ben thought Judy was scary at times, but this woman didn't hold back quite like she did.
"Danny, this is Officer Futsbauer," he said, deciding to lighten the mood with some good news for once. "Ellie, this is Danny. Why not say a little hello?"
She lowered her face with a smirk. "You sure that's our vic? I saw what happened in there; I thought we'd need a body bag or two."
"Hey, don't be so... cynical," he said, trying to think of a "nice" word to describe her comment. "Besides, there's more than one way to get hurt, you know."
"That's why therapy exists; he looks fine to me, so we did our job. Anyway, we only got, like, an hour before they wake up. Thirty minutes for the bear. Any idea when those ambulances will be here?"
He nodded toward the door with a smile. "You tell me."
She turned around to see the first ambulance pull up, followed by two others. The kitten's head turned tiredly to see the ambulances. He still partially rested it on Ben's shoulder. His eyes were very droopy, as was his tail. Before he could begin investigating the building, he had to make sure he was safe first, either find someone to take him or wait until the animals were squared away, take him to the hospital, and then start his search. Whichever came first.
Danny turned away when he saw Sarah. He didn't want to see her in that state... a monster who had to be put down.
"Will she be ok?" he asked quietly.
"Hm?" asked Ben.
Ellie turned back toward him, but whatever he'd asked, it was now forgotten due to the kitten's adorable face, just visible over the collar of the blue shirt. The kitten yawned and stretched his arm. Lastly, he shook his head rapidly. Ben leaned his head back to keep from getting slapped by his ears. "Will-" he began, but he was cut off.
"Aw!" Ellie's hands went to her chest. "He's so small! Cute little thing!"
"Will she be ok?" he asked, ignoring Ellie's remark.
"Which one?" Danny lifted his arm to point at the ocelot. "Oh! Yeah, she'll be fine," he waved. "She'll need the antidote, but other than that... yeah, she'll recover."
"Antidote? What's that?"
At that moment the door opened. A pair of paramedics, a pig and a buffalo, stepped in.
"Er, I'll explain later."
"Hey, guys!" said the pig wearing an EMT outfit. Ben walked toward him. "Got yet another NH-plus incident on our hooves, eh?"
"Looks like it, unfortunately."
"I think we've seen enough of that drug. Get it off the streets, wouldja?"
Drug. Huh! Ben scoffed mentally. "Yeah, we're trying. Although..." The kitten stirred in Ben's arms and adjusted to a more comfortable position. Looked like he was falling asleep. "Oh, sorry guys. Can you try to keep it down? He's trying to sleep; been through a lot, you know?"
"So I heard. He's the victim?"
"Yeah."
"Looks pretty good for someone who was just attacked by NH-plus enthusiasts. How old is he anyway, like eight or nine?"
"I'm eleven," he muttered, though not loud enough for anyone to hear.
"Exactly what I said! It usually doesn't happen because science, apparently. Well I say, I never liked science anyway, so..."
As Ellie continued her conversation with the EMT, Ben walked over to a booth and got Danny's attention. "Now listen, I'm gonna put you here in this booth. You get yourself some shut eye. We're gonna take you to the hospital in a few minutes." The kitten nodded tiredly. He could barely keep his eyes open. Ben carefully set him in the booth, laying him down on his side. He rushed outside and grabbed a blanket and pillow from the ambulance to give to him. Covered by the blanket, and his head resting on the pillow, he closed his eyes and appeared to drift off almost immediately. Ellie was right. He really was a little dickens. He petted the back of his neck a couple times and turned around to help gather the gather the affected animals into the ambulances. Turning around, he realized his hand was beginning to feel numb. Looking down, he inhaled sharply at the sight of the blue residue that had stuck itself on his palm and fingers. Panic flared like a volcano in his head and surged down his spine.
"Argh..." he groaned at the memories that surfaced. The blooming inferno that exploded from his chest, saturating his cerebral cortex with blistering savage aggression... the growling that vibrated from his throat against the vicarious efforts of his fellow ZPD associates to keep him under wraps until he could be put under...
Opening his eyes, he realized he was still in control, though his heart was still pounding. And he felt like he was about to throw up. Exhaling sharply but shakily, the cheetah put his clean hand against his temple and calmed himself down with a few uneasy breaths. The bunny hadn't noticed anything; she was chattering with one of the EMTs about... something.
Reminding himself that he'd been inoculated brought him back to reality. You won't go savage. He took a deep breath. You won't go savage... Relief flushed out the fear he'd felt, allowing him to bury the horrendous trauma of his past experience under the hours of therapy he had undergone.
He gulped before turning his attention back to the matter at hand: exactly where this residue was and what to do about it. "Ellie?" his voice cracked.
"What?" When she didn't get a response, she looked up from her phone. Her eyes widened at the sight of his hand, at the vivid blue sheen that coated his palm and padded phalanges. "Where'd you get that?"
He pointed tepidly at the boy. "Back of his neck."
She ran toward the booth where the boy was sleeping fitfully. "Let me see that." Standing on the tips of her toes to see over the edge of the seat, she gently moved some fur aside from to better scan his neck. There was indeed a wide but thin layer covering the fur, but she wanted to make absolutely sure. She pulled out a small handkerchief from a fresh pack in her pocket.
"Mmnn!" he grumbled and pawed at the tissue when she wiped down the fur on the back of his neck, matting it down. "That's sticky!" he whined.
"Sorry," she said in thoughtless response. Her mind was far too preoccupied to care. Ben looked back at the drowsy kitten with wide eyes at the sight of the residue on the tissue. That can't be possible, he thought.
Dark blue. Nighthowler extract.
Seeing a pattern here? Danny isn't some confident super-panther who knows what he's doing, or some super powerful god; he's just a young kitten who happens to have certain abilities he doesn't understand, caught in the middle of something big. But he has no idea just how big. Heck, he doesn't even understand why his closest friend attacked him. How will that affect him further? What do you all think?
