Heroes of Zootopia

Chapter 11 "Little Talks"

By DragonMan1997

Zootopia © Disney

Daniel could find no end to his joy as he saw his hero along with others by his side. He was texting Caleb and Sara who were on their way back from the mall with food. Daniel was stuck home today watching his sister while his parents were swamped with work. His mother, undoubtedly, was probably on top of the conference for work. His father, he didn't believe he cared about this stuff.

"Daniel. You listing?"

"Listening." He corrected his little fox sister. He peeled his eyes from the TV when Swinton started to talk. No one really paid attention to what she said anyway. "Yep. Explain it again." He looked at the bizarre drawings his sister had laid out. "Kitty, what's this green thing."

"That's just face paints. He's gaay." Katherine fished through crayons and continued to draw more pictures.

Daniel did a double take. "Uh, gray?"

"Yeah. Dat color." Katherine seemed to draw a lot of pictures that were all the same with some slight difference. "He's my bestest friend."

Daniel smiled at one which featured a recognizable pink fairy princess plastic tea set. "Does your imaginary friend have a name?'

"He's not imagery." Katherine frowned. "Im-agin-ary." She showed Daniel a crumpled drawing that was older than the rest. "I call him Dragon. See look. This was the first day we met. And he sav- uh, save-ed me from a stranger."

Daniel scratched the base of his antlers as he looked over the slightly morbid drawing of Dragon scratching away a ram. The red crayon made him uncomfortable. "Dragon isn't a homeless man is he?"

"No. He's not a hobo." Katherine's us of that word was strange. "He lives in the river, beetwin school and home."

"Between." Daniel softly corrected her. "Why is he scared in this drawing?" He convinced himself that it really was an imaginary friend. He entertained the idea, only because he knew what it was like. Daniel remembered scaring away monsters in his father's closet with a flashlight. That seemed so long ago for him now.

Katherine looked at the paper. "He didn't have any fwrends. His family didn't like him, so he left. I told him I would be his friend, so I visit him sometimes. And, I give him gifts."

Daniel set down the drawings as knocking came at the front door. He laughed as Sara rushed through the door, tackling him to the ground. "I guess I'm lunch." They both laughed as Caleb pushed the door shut with his foot, his paws full with food court grub.

"Geeze, Daniel. You're losing your touch." Caleb hung one bag on one of Daniel's antlers.

"Hey." As Daniel and Sara got up, Daniel quickly retrieved the bag from his antler. "You know how much it'd suck if my antler's broke?!"

The wolf shrugged his shoulders as he hopped onto the couch with his food. "Deer problems." Caleb popped open the white styrofoam vessel that preserved his food. "They look tough enough. I'd bet you could get hit by a car and your bones would break before your horns."

"Ant-ers." Katherine grumbled.

Sara sat next to the fox and put an arm around her shoulder. "Ant-lers."

Daniel couldn't help but admire that little moment. Outside of his family and the speech therapist, Sara was the only one that helped Katherine with her words. It was a nicer, more cheerful thought, than the darker one Daniel wished wasn't real. He had still yet to find out what the blue powder was that Sara had. There was something else too, Daniel noticed her eyes looked a little funny. She seemed tired. And the way she tackled him, it was odd. She seemed strong. That wasn't to say he believed she couldn't be strong. But rather, he felt that he needed his power to resist getting injured. Daniel wasn't sure if he had used his powers or not to take that tackle. Subtly using his powers in such a way had become instinct. So, he wasn't sure.

Nevertheless, Daniel smiled and sat down next to her. He returned his eyes to the TV.

Caleb crunched on his food slowly as he looked at his sister and his friend. "Hmm." He sniffed the air. Turning around he eyed a shirt hanging on the banister at the bottom of the stairs.

Daniel heard the sniffing and realized it was too late to stash the shirt since Caleb had already made eye contact with it.

Caleb set his food down and continued to chew his food as he walked over to the white under shirt. He grabbed it with both paws. He eyed Daniel as he buried his nose in the shirt.

Daniel frowned. "Seriously?"

Caleb's voice was muffled by the shirt and the food that was still in his mouth. "Hold on." He took a big whiff of the shirt. Swallowing his food he stared into blank space for a moment. "Oh-ho-ho!" Caleb twirled the shirt around on a finger. "That's girly perfume. I knew you were acting funny. You got yourself some poontang or something?"

"What?" Katherine squinted her eyes, trying to think of what pooterang was.

"What?" Sara's voice was more concerned.

Daniel buried his face in one hand, gesturing to the shirt with the other. "No. Listen Cale-."

Caleb took an even bigger whiff of the shirt. Batting his eyes jokingly, he shook his head. "The Gazelle number five doesn't lie."

Daniel folded his arms. His voice, he realized would betray him. But, he'd try it anyway. "It was like one kiss." His overnatural voice followed through in betraying him. Caleb cocked his brows and Daniel caved. "Twice! Fine. You happy?"

Caleb tossed the shirt. "Oooh! Daniel's got a girlfriend!"

"A girlfriend?" Sara asked.

Daniel raised his arms, ordering everything in the room to stop. "Guys, we haven't even been on a proper date for crying out loud." He looked at Sara, who's eyes seemed stranger than before. What kind of drugs did I take from you? She looked even more tired than before. It worried him. Why do you look so tired?

And just as everything seemed pretty bad so far, there was another knock at the door.

Daniel felt like tearing his eyelids off. What now?! He marched up to the door and yanked it open. He was about to yell some preprogrammed speal about no soliciting until he saw who it was. "Oh." Out of the frying pan…

"Oh, Hi Footloose." Daisy weakly smiled. "Your boss told me I could find you at this address.

...And into the fire. Daniel nervously smiled. He had just admitted to his friends and little sister that he kissed a doe twice. He knew Caleb would be all over it. Daisy kissed him as the Grasshopper, not Daniel. And if Caleb blabbed about it to Daisy, she'd think he was sick. Or worse, she'd find out who he really was. "Oh my, it's you."

Daniel was mortified when a certain little fox stepped up behind him and asked really loudly, "Are you my brother's pooterang?"

Daniel stepped outside and yanked the door shut behind him.

Daisy tried in vain to look around him. "What-erang?"

"Boomerang!" Daniel shouted which made Daisy back off slightly. He tempted a laugh as he could swear he was sweating buckets. "I think my sister is looking for her boomerang."

Daisy pointed toward the door. "You're sister has a boomerang? I thought those were only legal on Outback Island."

"Yeah." Daniel agreed. "That's why it's hidden."

Daisy's eyes grew as she looked up through the window at the top of the door.

Daniel looked up and scowled at caleb who was mouthing, "Oh my gaw-," before falling over.

Daisy looked back at Daniel. "Is this a bad time?"

"No." Daniel sighed. Then he got an idea. "My friends are here, and Caleb the window wolf likes to tease me anytime I'm around, uh, members of the opposite sex."

Daisy snorted and laughed. "Oh my." She pointed at the window. "He thinks? Us?"

"Yeah." Daniel smiled. "I mean, you probably got other guys you're more interested in. Right?"

Daisy's smile faded a bit. "There's one guy. But. Now that I think about it. I don't think he takes things slow enough."

Daniel felt his heart sink a bit. "Doesn't know what it's like to stand still for even a moment, like the rest of us."

"Yeah, that's-." Daisy didn't finish her thought. She just looked at Daniel. "Thanks though, for getting me that interview. I just wish they'd actually publish what I wrote."

Daniel blinked. "They won't publish it?"

"It's on hiatus. Apparently, they think it should wait till the terrorist thing and the Empire conference is done being blown up by the media. I don't know. I just wish-."

"It'll get published." Daniel cut her off. "I know it will."

Daisy smiled. "You really are something Footloose. It's too bad you're not the one running around, being a superhero." Daisy was about to walk away when Daniel grabbed her hand.

"Hey, Daisy." He was amazed that she didn't try to pull away. "You still want to do that review of Spanky's diner? I could score us some free food. Maybe we could-. Uh."

Daisy's smile gradually returned. "I think I'd like that."

Daniel was baffled that she actually went along with his clumsy attempt to ask her on a date. "Really?" He couldn't understand how he could be so bold behind the mask, and such a dork in real life.

Daisy nodded as she tightened her grasp on Daniel's hand. "As long as you don't move as fast as your friend." She leaned forward and gently kissed Daniel on the cheek. Then, she walked away containing smile after smile at the sight of Daniel's face.

Daniel felt like his face was going to fall off. "I'll text you, then." He turned back inside, unable to contain the stupid grin on his face." Waiting at the door was Caleb with his own stupid grin.

"My brudda! Nostrovia!" Caleb made a wave of clicking sounds.

As high on cloud nine as Daniel was, it made perfect sense. "Brudda, I have found a way."

Daniel and Caleb both squared their arms and slouched their necks while chanting, "For da Queen!" They let loose a round of clicking noises as they took their places by the TV.

Daniel sat next to Sara who moved over, away from him. He decided not to poke around. Sara seemed upset about something, and Daniel couldn't help but think about the blue powder. He had to figure out what it was, but until then, he hunkered down as the panel with the Empire came back on. He found some ounce of comfort in seeing his childhood hero, Whiplash, step out onto that stage.

"Unfortunately, Officer Wilde has left due to an allergy issue. Wish him the best. Now Whiplash, we've got a question just for you. This was sent in by someone named Daniel W."

Caleb pat Daniel on the shoulder. "Dude, is that your question?"

"Sh!" Daniel's eyes were glued to the screen.

"He asks, how do you balance life as a superhero and life with your family and friends?"

Whiplash looked over at his fellow super heroes. "I will say it's not easy. Especially if the blue and red suit gets mixed in with the whites." There was a laugh or two. "In all honesty though. Daniel."

Daniel felt his heart pound as Whiplash looked straight as the camera, as though he knew he was there.

"You find a way to bring balance. Everything seems like chaos at first. You try again and again to be two different people at the same time. And, it can feel like you're going mad. But, you find a reason to make it work. For me, it was my family. I love them. And, they're what inspires me to make it through the day. I know that by keeping the world as safe as I can, I make it safer for my family."

Daniel felt warmth travel down his face. He could feel the water from his eyes. Katherine crawled over and up to him to wipe away the tears. "Thanks, sis." Daniel's gaze wandered over to Sara, who didn't eat her food. She just seemed to stare at it.

The Grasshopper banged on the back doors of a baby poop orange van with the tacky image of a tribal fox holding a damsel. "{Open up!}"

A deep voice came from inside the van. "Who is it?" The doors burst open to reveal a small statured fox with giant ears in a bowling shirt. His novelty baseball bat looked normal sized for him. "Awe crap. I swear, I didn't do anything! Tell the Empire to leave me alone."

"{I'm not with the Empire.}" The Grasshopper pulled out a bag of blue powder. "{I need you to identify this substance.}"

The fennec fox looked at the bag. "Oh yeah? Why should I help you?"

"{Because, there's a young wolf who's hooked on this stuff. She's sick. And if I can't help her, anything that happens will be on your head.}"

The fox looked at the Grasshopper and grumbled. "Playing the guilt card?" The Grasshopper nodded. "Great. First it was Nick and his bunny broad, now this. Ugh. Let me see the stuff." He took the bag. Licking a nail of his paw, he dipped it in the blue powder and licked it again. Immediately he spit it out. "Yep! Thought so."

"{What is it?}"

The fox shoved the bag back in the Grasshopper's grasp. "It's nighthowler. Watered down too. I'd say that's Doug's work. He likes to make it this way, now."

"{What do you mean watered down?}"

The fox sighed as he was about to close the doors to his van. "Mixed with cheaper drugs. Listen, if you really want to know more about it. Talk to Doug. He's in the older subway systems now, buried his head deeper ever since that whole mess with the Mayor trying to make us preds go savage."

The Grasshopper shined his flashlight along the old tile and masonry. It was like stepping back in time. He could practically feel jazz and war time music in every crack and crevice that he passed. There was an actual rotting poster that read, "Loose Lips Sink Ships." There was a split in the tracks leading to a different direction. The Grasshopper followed until he saw the outline of a red train. It had brass trim and copper pipes that moved from the front along the sides. It was old, and creaky.

The train looked older than the station it resided in. How that was possible, the Grasshopper couldn't tell. He even would have gone so far as to say it was from the beginning of time, though he had seen some trains in this style. It was more industrial than the trains that sported ears and brighter colors. There was something else. There was a breeze that moved from and towards the red hulk, like it was breathing. Waiting. The Grasshopper reached to touch it.

"I wouldn't do that if I was you."

The Grasshopper spun around to face a line of sheep. The one in the middle had no horns, and obviously looked like he was in charge. "{Doug?}"

"Who wants to know, unitard?" The sheep held their ground, seeming afraid - and not - at the same time.

The Grasshopper realised the two, on either side of the head honcho, locked their sights on the train. "{What's wrong with the train.}"

"The ghost train. Twelve of my guys went missing when they tried looking through it for salvage. One came back, kept muttering about voices and light. Had to send him to a loony house. We don't mess with the darn thing." The sheep looked carefully at the Grasshopper. "Wait. I heard about you. You messed up some of my guys."

The Grasshopper felt a gust of wind behind him, and he didn't have to turn to see that the train was gone. He could feel the black emptiness behind his back. "{They were robbing a doe.}"

The sheep scoffed. "Doesn't sound like my guys."

"{Funny, because the only sheep I dealt with were cornering a young lady for her belongings. And if they were your boys, Doug, they've been getting a little side action.}" The Grasshopper felt the weight of his collapsible staff on his back. None of them were armed, but he wanted to be sure of his defenses.

The sheep whispered to one of the rams who took off. "Call me Ramses. So, what's your business here in my kingdom of broken progress?"

The Grasshopper threw the bag of blue powder to Ramses. "{Is that yours?}"

Just by looking at the contents, Ramses was able to come to a conclusion. "Judging by the costume, I'm guessing you're one of those Empire freaks."

"{No.}"

Ramses looked at the bag. "I assume there's a reason you've brought my merchandise back to me."

"{There's a red wolf by the name of Sara. I need you to stop supplying her with drugs.}" The Grasshopper pulled a bag from his shoulder. "{I imagine this should be enough to convince you.}" He zoomed forward, dropped the bag, and zoomed back.

Ramses gestured to the bag. The ram still with him opened the bag and pulled out a stack of hundred dollar bills. Ramses took the stack and examined it. "Counterfeit?" He saw the rest of the stacks all piled up in the bag by the dozens.

"{Yes.}" The Grasshopper confirmed. "{Broke up two lions trying to kill each other for that bag. I imagine you'll use it all the same.}"

Ramses nodded, a slight smile forming. "Done. We'll no longer supply Ms. Redd with her fix. And with the quality of this exchange, I'll make sure no harm comes to her."