Heroes of Zootopia

Chapter 3 "Stressed Out"

By DragonMan1997

Zootopia © Disney

"Loser."

Daniel Wolff's grip tightened on his pencil as he ignored the whispering zebra sitting in the desk directly behind him. The deer turned his attention the clock above the whiteboard that he swore was moving backwards.

"Loser." The zebra whispered a little louder.

Daniel silently groaned as his eyes rolled up beneath his eyelids which got heavier and heavier at the thought of how stupid it was for students to be seated alphabetically. Daniel hated the fact also that there were no students whose last names started with T, U, or V to separate him from his horrible backyard neighbor. The student behind him was like that neighbor. You know the one. They play loud music all night long, and the moment you call the cops, they're suddenly silent. Of course, when the cops are gone, the obnoxious music starts again preventing any form of sleep from ensuing. It was a cruel injustice.

"Loser!" The whisper was louder.

Daniel took deep breaths as he resisted the urge to knock the student's lights out. At least, he knew he could give him a black eye. He'd done it before at camp. Calm down, a voice in Daniel's head prompted more breaths to be taken. I know, he just really gets on my nerves. Daniel frowned at the spitball that had stricken the back of his head. Think pleasant thoughts, the voice came again, think about summer. Daniel nodded to the voice in agreement, I know. He tapped his pencil against the desk, trying to think of anything.

The teacher was sitting with her feet up on the desk with a book in her face. The old hippo obviously wasn't paying attention. Daniel didn't blame her. She was going to retire in a few minutes.

Daniel could see his friend Caleb Redd sitting a little ways up in the next row. His friend was just as anxiously waiting for the clock to strike three along with the rest of the class.

"Loser!" The zebra was at it again. "Still hanging around Caleb's slutty little sister?"

Daniel grit his teeth as the voice came into his head once more, I can't stop you. Daniel laughed internally. No, I don't suppose you can.

A gust of air followed by a scream alerted the teacher who slammed her book shut and stood up. "Mister Stripes! Why are you chewing on a jockstrap?!"

The whole class erupted into laughter as the zebra spat out the jockstrap. "No! I-" He looked at Daniel. "It was him! I know it was!"

Daniel looked at the name on the jockstrap and then to the teacher. "I didn't do it. This is Jerry Hamilton's." He pointed at the pig clear across the room. "There's no way I could have gotten up, walked over to Jerry's gym bag, and taken his jockstrap without him or you noticing." There was no way the teacher could ever deduce that this was a lie. It was a lie that had to be believed by anyone who didn't know Daniel's little secret.

Jerry quickly poked through his back. "Hey! It's gone."

Daniel waved to the pig. "It's over here Jerry. Billy was just cleaning it for ya."

"No!" The zebra shrunk at the second round of laughter from the class.

"Mister Stripes! I will see you after class!" The teacher plopped back down in her chair.

Billy Stripes stared daggers down at Daniel. "How'd you do it?"

"Do what?" Daniel held back a smirk. "It's not like I'm the quickster." That was another clever lie. The so called quickster was a phenomenon many animals claimed to have captured on security feeds and blurry phone footage. One image that caught the outline of an animal exploded as a meme that was constantly reposted. While it was sort of a trending topic, it was still most often dismissed as a popular conspiracy myth much like the theory that dinosaurs and dragons lived in the sewers. No one would ever really believe that the quickster was real or that Daniel was the quickster. He never told anyone, not even his parents.

Daniel thought for sure his parents would think he was a freak. He had often wondered about the vigilante from nearly a decade ago. Whiplash. Daniel imagined that he wouldn't call him a freak.

"Got it!" A giraffe proudly waved her phone in the air.

Daniel pulled out his phone and saw a mass group text with a two picture meme. The first picture was of Billy Stripes spitting out the jockstrap. Below that was the blurry outline of the quickster with the caption, THE QUICKSTER STRIKES AGAIN. The meme would have worried Daniel, but he knew it was an inside class joke that would die out, never to be taken seriously enough to connect him with the quickster.

The class began to howl as the teacher got up once more to order them all to sit down. The giggles eventually ceased when their attention was once again turned to the clock on the wall. Everyone readied their pencils, even Daniel. The countdown began.

Three…two...one…

As the bell rang, the students all chucked their pencils skyward into the ceiling panels before bolting for the door. Almost all the pencils stuck. Daniel looked back just in time to see a single pencil fall from the ceiling and hit Billy Stripes in the head.

Caleb excitedly shook Daniel's backpack. "Dude!" The red wolf did an awkward little dance as he walked backwards so he could fac Daniel. "Please tell me that was really you!"

"Sorry pal, I can't take any credit for that beautiful finale to junior year." The voice returned to Daniel's mind. You shouldn't take credit.

"Aw. Still, that was hilarious! His face, Jerry's, and ah!" Caleb did a short round of fistbumbs to the air as he turned back around.

Daniel went quiet as he remembered why he didn't shove Jerry Hamilton's jockstrap in Billy's mouth. "I'm worried about Sara."

Caleb's mood shifted at the mention of his sister. "Me too, but it's summer. Things have got to calm down by then."

"I can't believe he called her that." Daniel muttered. Caleb leaned in closer, eyes inquiring. "Billy called Sara a slut."

Caleb looked back towards the classroom they had left far behind them. "You should have punched him again."

Daniel shook his head. "What's it been, almost nine years since that day at camp? You'd think the guy could take a hint." He knew better. Animal's like Billy Stripes didn't take hints. They existed in the world for one reason, themselves. Daniel understood that concept. He found a little bit of that selfishness in himself, and it bothered him. A warm sensation bombarded the dark thoughts creeping into his brain. Daniel grabbed at the crystal that hung at his neck beneath his shirt as it's voice came back again. No. You're nothing like him. Everyone has flaws. Selfishness is universal above all mammal traits. Don't let it overcome you by comparing yourself to those that have given in to their flaws.

Caleb grabbed Daniel's shoulder. "Uh oh."

Daniel could see Caleb's sister, Sara Redd, looking down as she avoided the various snickers and loud mouthed jests that attacked her from every angle. "Come on." Daniel resisted the urge to zoom over to Sara and free her from her surroundings. His friends couldn't know his secret. "Sara!"

Sara finally looked up. Her emotions that she had been hiding back for so long almost flooded in at once as her brother and her friend came to her side.

"Sara." Before Daniel could reach her, he watched as an egg cracked against her head.

There was no pause. The moment the cold yolk shocked the skin beneath her fur, she turned tail and kicked the egg chucker between his legs. The polar bear collapsed on top of the box of eggs he had. Sara's breathing escaped in spastic intervals as other animals stopped to stare. "Why won't you leave me alone!?"

Daniel and Caleb both took a hold of Sara and lead her out of view of the spectators. Passing the polar bear, Daniel saw that it was one of the senior pawball kids. He understood completely what had happened.

From the moment Sara entered high school, there were a lot of wolves that noticed her. One in particular was Jason Wolford. He was a wolf with real talent and charisma. Being the oldest and largest of his siblings, he was more than a perfect candidate for the pawball team. He was big enough to compete and small enough to be swift and agile on the field. His two biggest personality flaws were his choice in friends and his pride. He had his eyes on Sara the moment she came into school. It wasn't until she was a sophomore that he asked her. Being a senior, he thought he could easily bag the the would be prize. Needless to say, Sara rejected him.

Jason told all his friends about it. They engaged in a palaver of trash talking to cheer their buddy up. These friends as Jason called them, wove lies of deceit and passed on the tar of gossip throughout the school. Everyone with an ear listened, and there were many ears willing to hear the story of Sara the cheating savage who slept around the school - so it was. The noxious weeds of rumors are impossible to uproot. To make matters worse, some wolves jokingly claimed to have lain with Sara. The passing jokes added to the wild fire as none recognised the difference between joke and fact. Jason never lifted so much as a finger to correct any of the slander. He refused to help the wolf who hurt his pride.

Daniel recognized the polar bear as Landon Grizzoli, one of Jason's friends. The entire pawball team seemed out to make Sara's life all the more miserable. When Daniel and Caleb went to the teachers, they did nothing. They were told the usual lies about the situation would calm down. If anything, they escalated from that point on. The very thought of the staff's incompetence stoked Daniel's rage.

"There goes the slut!"

Daniel and Caleb turned back in horror as the rest of the pawball team began to chase them.

"Run!" Caleb and Sara didn't have to think twice about Daniel's order. As the two took off for the exit, Daniel thought fast and tipped over the passing janitor's cart which he hoped would give them some time. He ran, and as he did so, he could hear the sound of the pawball team tripping up on toilet paper rolls, mops, and heavens know what else. He bolted through the door. A little ways ahead he could see Sara and Caleb. They had stopped running and were now backing away from another group of animals. It was Jason and the baseball team. "Seriously?" Daniel hated that this mess just kept on growing. "Leave them alone!" He skid to a stop between his friends and Jason.

"Well looky here guys. It's the Wolff with horns." Jason bared his teeth and snarled. "Stay out of this mutt. This doesn't involve you."

"Stay away from my friends or it will involve me." Daniel stood his ground.

Jason laughed. "Let's see how much of a wolf you really are, Wolff." As the wolf readied his arm for a swing at Daniel's face, Daniel instinctively ducked and swept his leg. "Gah!" Jason fell on his back and found himself staring up at Daniel.

"Whoops." Daniel shrugged his shoulders as he stepped away from Jason's reach. "It looks like you're a little slow today."

Jason snarled as he yelled, "Get them!"

Daniel, Sara and Caleb ran again. Though Sara and Caleb made it far, Daniel had been halted by a baseball thrown at his back. He tumbled, luckily, onto the softer part of the grass lawn next to one of the janitors who was raking up leaves. Daniel could see a cheetah running at him with a bat. "Can I borrow that." Daniel yanked the rake away from the janitor and held it just so in the nick of time to stop the aluminum bat from crashing down on his head. He managed to hook a leg over the bat and yank it out of the cheetah's grasp as he thrust the rake with both hands into the cheetah's face.

The rake made a loud thunk against the cheetah's head before he dizzily fell backwards into the grass.

Daniel barely had time to roll over as another baseball player, a goat, screamed as he sent his bat flying into the grass, almost crushing Daniel's leg. Daniel flicked the rake upwards between the goat's legs and got the chance to stand up. The goat, now on his knees, grabbed at the throbbing pain that left him momentarily paralyzed. Daniel barely pushed the goat and sent him falling over next to the cheetah. He was ready now as another came at him.

A badger turned his hat backwards as he held his bat in one hand. Though Daniel was taller, he knew better than to underestimate a badger that could do whatever he wanted. The badger swung his bat but not directly at Daniel. The bat collided with the head of the rake that promptly snapped off. Now Daniel knew he had to be careful. His instincts kept yelling at him to go fast, but his logic told him no. Then his brain settled for something in the middle.

While the badger was recovering from the swing, Daniel twirled the rake staff so as to wrench the bat from the badger's grasp. It worked, barely. But, a new problem arose as the badger got into a fighting stance. Daniel knew if he got too close the badger could tear him to shreds with either of his limbs. He planned his attack.

Daniel rushed forward with the rake staff horizontal, forcing the badger to block with both paws. The moment both of the badger's paws were on the rake, time seemed to slow down for Daniel. He used just enough of his speed to get the momentum he needed without revealing his true nature. Time sped up to normal speed as Daniel drop kicked the badger in the chest.

As the badger gasped for the air that had been knocked out from him, the rest of the baseball team backed off as they realised they were barking up the wrong tree. Daniel smiled triumphantly as the others and even the caught up pawball team turned tail. That smile would cost him as Jason tackled him to the ground while he was distracted.

"Freak!" The wolf brought his paw hurtling towards the downed Daniel.

Daniel managed to shield his face with his arm. That didn't stop Jason's claws from digging into him, though. "Ah!"

"Daniel!" Sara was stopped from running to him as her brother held her back at a safe distance.

Though the scratch marks seared in pain, Daniel's adrenalin allowed him to flip Jason over. Now on top of him, he elbowed the wolf in the gut and pressed his face into the grass with the rake. "Listen you! You're gonna tell the truth."

Jason muttered under the rake. "Bite me."

Daniel pressed the rake down even harder. "Tell the truth. Now!"

The wolf snarled as he muttered. "Sara's not a slut."

"What was that?" Rage shot through Daniel as his grip on the rake tightened.

"Sara is not a slut!" Jason finally yelled. "I lied."

Daniel's mind festered over the image of Sara crying with her fur covered in egg yolk. "Louder!"

"I lied! I lied!" With that confession, Daniel stood up and backed off from Jason who had started to shake. The senior shot flaming eyes at the junior who had bested him. His anger exploded when he saw that several other students had recorded the whole thing with their phones.

Daniel turned his back to Jason and found himself looking at Caleb and Sara who both looked at him like he was a complete stranger. His mind jolted to life as he heard a growl coming up on him. He could hear Caleb calling out his name as he was already turning with the rake in his grasp. It snapped in half against Jason's head. The moment Jason fell from the finishing blow that knocked him unconscious, Daniel found the face of his mother scowling at him. "Mom?"

"Daniel-Rutger-Wolff." Lily's frown deepened as she pointed to the silver minivan. "Get in the car. Now."

Adam could feel his paws digging into his hips as he stared down at his son whose arm was bandaged up. The bandages made his shoulder hurt more. "So, that's why you attacked these other boys? Because of a rumor?"

Daniel closed his eyes so his parents couldn't see them roll. "I was defending Sara and Caleb."

"Why didn't you just go to the principal?" Lily cried. "You didn't have to resort to violence."

Daniel held back every groan of frustration that billowed up inside him. "That didn't work."

Adam shook his head. "What do you mean that didn't work?"

Daniel couldn't take it anymore. "They're idiots! While Sara was crying her eyes out this whole school year, the principal didn't so much as lift a finger as the whole school called her a slut!"

Adam jabbed a digit near his son's face. "Don't raise your voice at us like that."

Daniel frowned as he trembled in anger that bottled up slowly. "I don't get how either of you are so calm. They attacked me when I stood up for my friends."

"I'm not saying that standing up for your friends is a bad thing." Adam groaned.

"Then what did I do wrong?" Daniel's voice grew again. "How can you tell me to stand up for my friends and expect me not to fight back?"

"Because fighting is not the answer to everything!" Adam pointed to his son's arm. "You're lucky you got out with just a scratch. What if you had been seriously injured?"

Lily chimed in. "Do you think Sara or Caleb would be happy if they knew you went and got your leg or arm broken because of them? You can't pick a fight and expect there to be no consequences."

Daniel's mouth dropped in protest. "Those others started it!"

"That doesn't mean you have to finish it, Daniel." Adam sighed as he saw something he was more afraid of than anything else; he was almost staring at a copy of his younger self. He could see a flickering spark similar to an orphaned wolf, from so long ago. Adam prayed that spark would never fan into the same flame that set him on the path he was now trapped on. "Sometimes you have to walk away. You can't stand up for others if you can't stand. I thought as your father that I would have taught you that by now."

"What would you know about standing up for others?! You've never stood up for anything in your life!" Daniel could feel the bottle burst. The deer looked up at the wolf. "You're not my father." Silence swept across the living room. "My real parents dumped me at a fire station."

"Daniel, wai-" Before Adam could say anything, Daniel was already running up to his room. Adam flinched as his son's door slammed shut. "Ugh." He grabbed at his stump ears. "This is my fault. This is all my fault."

"Don't say that." Lily sat down with her husband as she consoled him. "This is just a rough patch. I'm sure Daniel didn't really mean what he said."

Adam dug into his skull. "Did you see him fighting?"

"Yes." Lily shut her eyes at that question.

"And?" Adam had a hunch about what she would say. "The truth."

Lily shook her head as she remembered driving up and seeing her son take on the badger and wolf. The sight of the other animals on the ground left the worst to her imagination. "It was like seeing Whiplash fight."

Adam buried his face in his paws as he stifled a curse. "He really is my son."

Lily grabbed Adam's paw. "That's not entirely bad."

Thoughts of the past stung Adam's brain as memories flooded back into his sight. He remembered running as his brothers ordered him to. He ran as they all fell at the hands of their foes. He remembered the feeling of powerlessness that drove him to gain the strength to fight back. "He can't be like this in this world. He shouldn't have to fight. I should have been there more."

Lily pressed her forehead against his until both of their breath's calmed down. "Ada-"

"Mom?"

Lily wiped away her damp eyes for her daughter. "Yes, Katherine?"

The ten year old fox smiled as she ran up to Lily and hugged her. "I'm happy you're home."

"I'm happy to be home." Lily smiled despite what had transpired.

Daniel slammed his door shut as fiery breaths shot from his nose. Falling back against his door, he slid to the floor and cursed himself for saying what he said. He felt so powerless as tears began to seep into his eyes.

"Deerenger."

Daniel sniffled as he pulled the crystal out of his shirt. "Why are you calling me that again?"

A blue apparition of an otter clothed in white robes appeared before Daniel in the light that escaped from the crystal. The voice he heard in his head was hers. None could ever hear their conversation because neither had allowed it to leave the deer's mind. Daniel remembered when he first found himself in the lava dome that had been the crypt to this animal that had made herself known as an echo, so that's what he called her. "Are you not a Deerenger?"

Daniel remembered secretly looking through records and finding his biological parent's name.

"What is more important? Your ancestor's name, or your family's name? A trick question. Both are equally valuable."

"I know, Echo," Daniel stared at the floating otter that hovered in front of him, "I should know."

The otter smiled. "Of course you know. You're more like your father than you think."

"Which one?" Daniel asked.

"The one that matters most in this case."

Daniel scoffed. "He's nothing like me."

"At least you know which one matters most." The otter smiled.

Daniel wanted to run, now. It was thanks to the otter that he was able to use his power in the first place. She taught him how to do it to the best of her understanding. There were still plenty of unanswered questions. Sometimes Daniel couldn't tell if some of the answers were really answers or truths he already knew deep down. The question he never fully got the answer to was the mysterious grasshopper ring the otter claimed to have been protecting. Daniel kept that key in a puzzle box at the back of of his desk drawer. It didn't give him his power so much as it triggered it.

Power, the word radiated in his mind.

"Daniel. What are you thinking?"

Daniel retrieved a box from his closet. It was covered and dust and slightly burnt around the corners. Daniel never saw the fire that consumed the old house. He mostly remembered just being happy that some of his memories survived. The box was full of comics, news clippings, and drawings of one person, Whiplash. The very image of his childhood idol brought a trail of happy memories that welled up in Daniel. He looked at one comic in particular that featured the red and blue vigilante battling cartoon like thugs dressed in stereotypical black and white striped prison clothes and bandit hats. Daniel laughed at the corny title. "Villains! Prepare to be Whiplashed." Of course, the comical illustrations were nothing like the real thing.

Daniel had seen Whiplash with his own two eyes. He was only six, but he never forgot that feeling of being close to someone so heroic.

A news clipping towards the top caught his attention with the heading, Where Is Whiplash? It lead into an article that lamented the absence of the unsung hero whose part in the war against the Novus Purificatio army was drastically undermined by the Police Force that was praised for saving the city. The article went on into other details about Whiplash along with the disbanded Post Office Battalion had been forgotten and would most likely be lost to time and buried under fake news. None of it seemed fair to Daniel.

"My dad doesn't get it." Daniel spat out.

"You wish you were like Whiplash, don't you."

Daniel set the comic down and experimentally tapped into his power. He watched as his arm moved so fast side to side that it appeared transparent. "I wish I had a purpose. It feels awful to have this power and nothing to use it for. It seems like a waste. If my dad found out, he'd probably lock me up and never let me use it for anything."

"Is it wrong for a parent to be protective the children they love?"

"No." David admitted.

A knock at the door startled Daniel. He motioned for the otter to disappear. She didn't have to. She could very well appear in a way that no one else would be able to see her except Daniel. Daniel opted for her to leave when others were around because he found her distracting. He didn't want others thinking he was crazy for talking and looking at the air.

"Yeah?" Daniel shoved the box back into the closet.

"Hey, Daniel. It's us. Caleb and Sara."

He stood up and cracked the door open to make sure it was just them and not his parents as well. "Hey-" Daniel was cut off by Sara who shoved the door open and hugged him like a python.

Caleb slid in and shut the door behind them. "Hey, pal. Still with us?"

Daniel laughed as he returned Sara's relentless hug. "Still alive."

The moment Sara broke the hug, her eyes scanned the bandages on Daniel's arm. "Does it hurt?"

"Are you okay?" Daniel asked.

"What?" Sara shook her head. "Answer my question."

Daniel gently held his friend's shoulder and smiled at her. "Answer my question, and I'll answer yours. Are you okay?"

The wolf reluctantly did as he asked. "I'm fine."

Daniel's smile grew a little wider. "Then no, it doesn't hurt."

Caleb's paw shot up. "I have questions." Daniel cringed and the uttered phrase. He knew what came next. "How did you learn to fight like that? Because that was awesome!"

"My parents don't think so." Daniel tried to steer away from Caleb's question. "I probably just lost my summer."

Sara sighed as she cradled Daniel's bandaged arm. "Are you still helping at the camp?"

"Probably not." Daniel silently cheered as his tactic worked. But, now there was this problem. The previous year Daniel had registered as a volunteer to help at the camp he once attended with his friends when they were little. Caleb was with him that year as well. This was supposed to be Sara's first year volunteering. It was supposed to be the three of them at camp, just like old times. "Gosh, I'm sorry guys."

"Don't get all mopey on us like that." Caleb side hugged Daniel. "There's always next year."

Daniel Tried to ignore the fact of the new draft in his room. The deer tossed and turned under his covers to no avail. He thought his dad was kidding the one time he threatened to take his door off the hinges. He would have listened to music to get over the fact, but his mom took his phone. As for volunteering at camp, his dad said he would think about it. Daniel knew that really meant no.

It crushed him inside. He knew with what he had said to his father that he basically forfeited all rights and negotiative advantage. "Why me?" Daniel realized now he still hadn't apologized for what he said. In a way he meant it. The thought had been plaguing him more and more as of late. He wanted to know who his biological parents were. This was difficult since he lacked the resources to track them down. Even if he found them, what would he say to them? The part about being dropped off at the fire station was true. It was a detail deeply tucked in his files. Daniel even met the Chief that called child services when he appeared.

Daniel frowned at the idea of meeting the buck that could have been his father only to hear him say, "I thought I left you at the fire station." Suddenly he felt alone. Fatherless. He couldn't fight. His heart longed for the fight. He knew he would be lying if he said he didn't enjoy it a little. It wasn't the fight so much as the sense of justice that swelled up inside. When Jason confessed the truth, Daniel felt that he had really done something. If anything at all, it was better than nothing.

Daniel's train of thought was broken by the tapping at his window. He was glad for a distraction. Looking over he saw Sara Redd smiling and cautiously waving through the window. Throwing off his covers, Daniel quietly moved to unlock and open the window. He looked at the vines that conveniently hung close between their neighboring houses. Daniel whispered, "You probably shouldn't be going across those vines, they might break."

Sara frowned at that. "Are you calling me fat?"

Daniel couldn't stifle the laugh that came on. "No, of course not. I just don't want you to get hurt." He looked at his door. "Come in, but be really quiet. My dad took my door off the hinges."

Sara's mouth fell open at the sight of the doorless frame as she climbed over Daniel's desk. "I thought you were kidding."

Seeing that Sara was shivering from the cold night air, he took his blanket and wrapped it around her shoulders. "So, what brings you to this fortress of solitude?" Sara ignored that comment as she sat down at the edge of the bed. He joined her. "Couldn't sleep?"

Sara shook her head. "No. And you? You're not having nightmares about the Raven again are you?"

"No." Daniel remembered those dreams. They used to keep him up at night. He had been kidnapped when he was little by the Raven, a masked villain who once terrorized Zootopia enough to make everyone forget about the infamous Dawn Bellwether.

Reaching over Sara tugged on the wrist of Daniel's bandaged arm to look at it.

"It's not your fault." Daniel let out a sigh as he held Sara's paw. "You're my friend. And, I'll always be here to protect you." His eyes caught sight of a plastic baggie hanging out of Sara's pocket. "What's that?"

"Nothing!" Sara shoved the baggie deep into her pocket.

After a few hours of idle conversation passed away into the night. The wolf made her exit across the vines back to her home while Daniel settled back into his bed. He looked at the plastic baggie he had snatched from Sara's pocket. He was surprised she didn't notice. He did use his powers to swipe it, but still, she noticed everything.

"What is is?" The otter appeared again and examined the baggy with Daniel.

Daniel massaged the sky blue powder through the plastic. "I don't know."

"Nothing good."

Daniel pulled out a lock box from beneath his bed. Stashing the baggie in the box, he removed the key to place it beneath his pillow. Once the lock box was back under his bed, he stared up at the ceiling. Thoughts raced through his head. "What are you hiding, Sara?"