Welcome everyone!

First, I'd like to thank you for pointing out the lack of space between the POVs. I'm still new to this system and it escaped my attention. I've already corrected it.

And again, thank you for your positive feedback, I'm so happy that you like the story!

Here's chapter three:

With their daily routine done and splitting up the profits was concluded, Nick and Finnick parted ways for the day. There was still a lot of time till midnight so that meant they had some free time before the special training that Finnick had in mind. The fennec probably had to do some preparations or maybe he just went to do something else. He never actually mentioned what he was doing during his spare time and Nick didn't pry. It suited him as he was pretty much the same and it worked for them.

Right now he was wandering aimlessly around the Savannah Central with a coffee in his hand and a lot of thoughts in his head. He didn't pay attention where he was going, living in Zootopia all his life and spending so much time in the streets practically engraved the map of the city on the bottom of his hindpaws. At the moment they were leading him through the main square, that was bustling with animals. Even though their owner was so caught up in his own thoughts that didn't even notice other mammals, they manoeuvred swiftly about the crowd, avoiding collisions with anyone.

During his walk Nick tried to define himself anew. He has been a hustler and a conmammal all his life since he was 9 and experienced that incident with the scouts. Had run ins with all types of gangsters, criminals and whole other bunch of low-life trash. Never committed himself to do anything with all his heart. Probably never said a sentence that was entirely true. Well, not until he met Judy, at least. He couldn't make out what exactly she was to him. Sure, she saved his life, that goes without saying, but he would never get into that mess if not for her blackmail.

*Still… * He thought.

Nick wasn't exactly unhappy about the whole Nighthowler case. Okay, he got hit with the serum, but he focused more on the brighter side of the whole situation. He couldn't recall when was the last time he took part in such a roller-coaster of events. Even if there were scary and dangerous moments, closing the case felt really good. Like the 48 hours of thrills, questions, doubts and chases had a final, satisfying conclusion. It just felt… right. And all of this because of one crazy bunny, vibrating with optimism and determination. He chuckled. It was a miracle that she won't explode with all that vigour and energy she has. She was still hopping around, even with the cut from that tusk… His mood went down immediately.

Nick sipped his coffee, feeling guilt washing over him. Serum or not, he should've at least visit her at the hospital they took her to.

*I hope it's nothing serious.*

Then he noticed that his heartbeat got faster. The fox panicked at first, thinking it was another one of serum attacks. Fortunately, nothing followed the hastened heartbeat. Nick sighed with relief. Still, it was a bit weird for him as he didn't see any reason for it. Nothing dangerous was happening nearby and since that was the only thing capable of moving his heart for more than last 20 years, Nick put it under possible weird side effects of the serum.

*And speaking of weird… this square isn't usually so loud.* He looked around, trying to identify the cause of this increased noise from the nearby area.

To his surprise nothing seemed out of ordinary. Usual, everyday life in Savannah Central. What was wrong? There was a kit elephant running around with a plane-shaped balloon, several business-female zebras exchanging the newest gossip and even an elderly couple of mice, arguing about their last dinner.

*Wait a minute. Dinner?* Nick thought.

The mice were pretty far away from him so how could he hear them so clearly? And not just the mice. When he actually focused, the usual indiscernible city buzz was now a complex weave of multitude strands of sounds and voices. With some effort it was possible single out particular ones and make them really audible. The fox tried it out several times, eavesdropping on nearby mammals and making out most of their conversations, which earlier was impossible for him. There was an ambulance signal several streets from his spot and a television's helicopter circled around the mayor's office a mile away.

"This… this is the serum effect?* This thought made him both excited and scared at the same time.

This discovery gave him such a range of opportunities that it almost made his head spin. The sheer amount of information he could gain by just listening! Not only that, Nick recalled the number of trouble he could have avoided in the past if he had such sharp hearing. But on the other paw, what other changes this serum made to his body? This one could prove useful but what about others? If they appear, will they be permanent? Maybe he should just inform the ZPD or some doctor about his condition?

Immediately an image of a muzzle came to his mind. Nick actually shivered, his childhood trauma once again creeping over his body. He shook his head. No muzzles, ever.

"Over my dead body." He growled. At the same moment Nick failed to notice that his paw clenched so hard that the coffee cup burst and remains of the drink spilled between his claws.

.

.

In the solitude of her flat Judy sat on the bed with the phone in her paw. She just finished a long call with her parents that were beside themselves after hearing of her injury. It took quite long to calm them down, especially her father, and explain the latest events. With a tired sigh she dropped on the uncomfortable mattress. She planned to go to sleep but wanted to check something first. Judy swiped through the call list in her phone and blinked.

"Right." She groaned, putting a forepaw over her eyes. "Of course he wouldn't call, I didn't give him my number." Judy said to herself – a habit that formed after spending so much time without anyone to talk to in the academy, as a valedictorian focused solely on her own results, and now in this apartment.

"Dumb fox." She muttered.

.

.

Time flied past and finally reached midnight. Nick avoided crowded spots for the rest of the evening and luckily managed to get through it without another attack. He started suspecting that it mostly triggered whenever he was scared or angry. In worst case – both.

Nick approached the fence surrounding the facility and checked if no one followed him. He climbed over the obstacle and landed on the other side. The Zootopian Junkyard was enormous in size and if Finnick didn't text him where exactly they're supposed to meet he would've spend the whole night just looking for the fennec. His enhanced hearing noticed the little fox much earlier than he could see him, accompanied by few metallic noises. Walking past the last pile of junk and metal scraps, Nick saw Finnick in the middle of a circular clearing between the garbage mountains, his van was parked nearby. There was a huge metal cage next to him.

"'Ere buddy!" He greeted Nick.

"O—kay, that's a cage." The fox said in uncertain voice, hands in his pockets. "You want to lock me up? That's your idea of training?"

Finnick gave him a smirk. "Yup!"

"How's that supposed to help?" Nick still wasn't convinced.

"Just get yer butt in there and I'll show ya."

"We—ll, I'm not so sure, you know…"

Fin picked up his baseball bat and glared at Nick.

The red fox raised his hands defensively. "Okay, okay!" He entered the cage, casting glances over his shoulder, in case Finnick really planned on using his weapon. As soon as he was in, the fennec closed the door and put a lock on it.

Nick sighed. "So what now?"

"We need to get ya angry." Came the reply as Finnick headed over to his car. He disappeared inside for a moment and came back, dragging a large sack behind him.

"I don't think I want to know what you have there." Nick was getting nervous. Still, apparently his friend came to a similar conclusion – his savage side was most likely drawn out with anger.

The fennec took out a cd player, a speaker and a pair of earmuffs, similar to those used at construction sites. He connected the cd player with the speaker.

"What are you doing Fin?"

"Remember tha ol' record we made for tha hustle with grey foxes on Cinnamon street?"

Nick's ears dropped down and his eyes went wide.

"You wouldn't..." He mumbled.

The little fox grinned and put on the ear protection. Only then he pressed the 'play' button. Nick covered his ears with paws, desperately trying to block the sounds he was about to hear. It was futile. The cacophony from the speaker hit him like a tsunami and almost swallowed. Few years back they needed something to make a group of delinquent foxes really pissed off and came up with the 'sound attack'. It was a mixture of various noises that would irritate their canine ears the most. Back then the effect was quite spectacular and now Nick fully understood why. The merciless onslaught tortured his hearing, now even more susceptible to this kind of attack.

And within himself, Nick started to feel a different kind of torrent stirring up. Heat started radiating from somewhere deep in his body. On the wave of annoyance about the 'music', Nick felt that right now the thing he'd like to do the most was ripping off Finnick's ears. As he submerged in that thought, his vision blurred and faded into a mist of bloody red colour.

Savagery took over.

.

.

When Nick woke up it was still dark outside. It was quiet again. His head was ringing and body ached all over. Rubbing his forehead with a paw, he managed to pull himself up with the help of the cage's bars. He noticed that they were scratched.

"Ya sane again?" A voice broke through the headache.

Nick blurred vision focused. Finnick was standing at a safe distance from the cage, baseball bat in his paws. He looked very disturbed.

"Yeah, somehow…" Nick mumbled. "What happened?"

"Ya freaked out, tha's what happened!" Fin exclaimed as he pointed the bat at his friend. "For a second I thought yer gonna' rip tha cage apart!"

Nick looked around and couldn't argue with that. The steel bars had claw marks everywhere.

*This… doesn't look good… * He thought gloomily.

Seeing his friend being calm and composed again Finnick approached the cage. "How do ya feel?"

"Like a pair of shorts after an intense ride in a washing machine." Nick snorted back, stretching his aching arms.

"Hah! At least yer head is workin' just fine." The fennec grinned at his friend.

"Not quite." Nick replied. "I had no control over it this time. Just pure anger and… and… nothing. There was nothing else… only the need to tear that damn speaker apart. And you as well, for coming up with this stupid idea." He pointed an accusing finger at the little fox.

"Hey, it worked."

The red fox sighed. "Maybe even too well." He looked at the claw marks again. "I had no chance to stop myself. There was… nothing I could have done. Maybe this whole thing is just pointless…"

A sudden thud made him jump. Finnick hit the metal cage with his bat.

"Ya wuss! Yer not givin' up only after one try!" He looked very angry. "Get yerself together!"

"I tried, Fin! But it didn't work!" Nick shouted back.

"Then try again! And again, and again and even dozen times more if ya have to!" Finnick snarled in response.

Nick's ears flattened at the small fox's fierce reaction. He was surprised how much this little guy was willing to push him forward. He felt a bit relieved. Knowing that there was a buddy who cared this much about him, in his own, loud twisted way, was a great comfort. Feeling refreshed and filled with renewed conviction, Nick took a deep breath.

"Play it again."