Hey everyone!
To keep it short today: thank you SO much for all the follows, favs and reviews, it gives such a huge motivational boost. :)
Please feel free to point out any issues that require fixing in your opinion, I'm always happy to know your thoughts.
And here's chapter 7:
On the ride home Judy was a messed up bundle of emotions. Although her heart has slowed down to a normal rhythm, her thoughts were still speeding like crazy. To start off, she never felt comfortable with nudity and suddenly Nick comes up with such a crazy idea. The feeling of his slightly coarse fur, with a fluffy and soft undercoat was so fresh in her mind. She felt her cheeks heating up again and shook her head to get rid of that memory.
"Where to?" Asked the driver. She told him the address.
„Miss?" The wolf called to her again. "Just for the record, if you're not wearing anything under the shirt, please keep it on, ok? I'm a bit too old for that stuff."
Judy's ears shot up hearing that. Enough was enough.
"Sir! I'll have you know that I'm a police officer and this is not a situation you thought it was!" She exclaimed, throwing off the fox's shirt.
The cab driver's eyes widened slightly when he saw the emblem on her t-shirt. And then he laughed out loud. "Hahahah! That's new! Never thought he'd do something like this!" Mr Bites wiped off a tear that appeared from too much laughter.
Judy wasn't expecting such a reaction and felt confused. "Sir?"
He waved his paw dismissively. "I'm no 'sir', young lady. Just call me Bites or Mr Bites, as that kid prefers." The wolf said cheerfully.
The shame and frustration she felt was suddenly replaced by curiosity. "Si- Mr Bites, for how long have you known Nick?" The bunny asked.
The cab took a right turn and went on towards Downtown. "Heh, I've known that kid since he was a pup. Been neighbors for many years. A sweet little boy, I tell you. But when he was about nine years old something happened and he drastically changed." Judy could hear the wolf's quiet sigh. She herself recalled what Nick told her about his muzzle incident. "From a cheerful and social boy to a real troublemaker. So many times I had to pick him up from school after he pulled off another one of his schemes."
"Um, you picked him up? What about his parents?" The elderly predator had her full attention.
Mr Bites let out another sigh. "His mom is a real diamond. Vivian is a true beauty and a wonderful mother. Worked herself half to death to provide for them. Shame about Nicky's father though…"
"Why? What happened?"
The wolf gave her a long silent stare in the rear-view mirror before he decided to continue. "Never met him. And from what I know, neither did Nicky." The cab driver said in a sad voice.
Judy's heart sunk. She wanted to know more about Nick, but now it felt like she was invading a very private part of his life. It was impossible for her to imagine what's it like to be brought up without a father, since she had her entire family next to her whenever she needed them. With a constantly working mother, fox discrimination at school and no father as a role model for a male fox, Nick was bound to end up emotionally battered. And to add that incident, at just nine years of age, on top of it all… Judy felt like crying for her friend. The bunny opened her mouth to say something, but words failed to come out. What on earth she could have said after hearing something like this? She just sat silent on the back seat, feeling ashamed for prying into the fox's past.
Mr Bites tried to cheer her up. "Don't be like that, miss. It was a long time ago and there's no need brooding over it now. At least the boy's a decent lad now and that's what counts, right?"
"I guess…" Judy mumbled.
"Hey, look on the bright side, at least you had your clothes on under that shirt."
The red blush returned to bunny's cheeks. "Mr Bites!"
The wolf laughed at her reaction and took a left turn. "Don't be mad, miss. It's just that this is something new for me. Normally, Nick's girls have a much different attire, if you know what I mean." He winked at her in the rear-view mirror.
Judy blinked. "Nick's… girls?"
"Yep, from time to time he asks me to give a ride to some lady. Interestingly, mostly vixens."
Pure and righteous Officer Hopps was close to letting out steam from her ears from embarrassment. "W-wait, you're saying that Nick…"
"Not what you're thinking, missy. We're talking about… working girls who have it really tough in that neighborhood. It's a nasty place at night. But when Nicky is around he picks them up from the crowd or pulls them away from more uncivil guys. In those situations, he always asks me to give them a ride home. His treat." There was an unmistakable proud smile on the elderly wolf's face. "For such a messed up start in life, he actually grew up just fine."
Judy experienced a complex mix of emotions. At the same time, she felt so sorry for her friend, embarrassed about her attitude in the alley, where Nick helped her and some sort of pride for the fox, as he could overcome his life's hurdles and become a fine fox she treasured as a friend. Judy glanced at the shirt she threw on the seat next to her. She picked it up and folded it properly on her lap.
"Yes, I suppose he did." She admitted with a soft smile.
.
.
That night Nick was very eager to get some real effects from their special training. But first he had to tease his little friend a bit.
"I've been to your doctor." He said to the fennec.
"Good, I'd kick yer butt if ya hadn't!"
"I must say, she's one fine woman." Nick continued in a laid-back manner, observing Finnick's reactions with the corner of his eye.
"Yeah… she is…" Fin agreed, eyeing his friend suspiciously.
"We're meeting for drink tomorrow evening. A really classy place." Nick chuckled. "I need to get myself a suit." He enjoyed the way Finnick froze over the cd player.
"Yer not…"
"Well, if all goes well we might form a different type of relationship." The red fox could barely contain his laughter, seeing fennec fidgeting frantically.
"Ya better not!" Finnick yelled and almost immediately clasped both paws over his muzzle, apparently surprised at his own reaction.
Nick turned to the small fox, wide grin plastered on his face. "And why is that, Fin?" He asked innocently. "It's not like she's your girlfriend."
The fennec squirmed, apparently trying to find an excuse for his outburst. But he couldn't. The red fox winked at him. "Then I guess I can go for her." This was too much for Finnick. He growled and grabbed his baseball bat with both paws. "Keep ya lecherous paws off her!" With an angry growl he took a swing at Nick. The red fox realized too late that he crossed the line and covered his head with paws in a desperate attempt to protect his head. There was a loud whack and Nick felt some pressure on his forepaw, but didn't feel his skull being cracked so he opened one eye to check the situation. He was welcomed by the sight of stupefied Finnick, the bat still in his paws, staring with his mouth ajar. Nick followed his gaze and noticed that the end of Fin's weapon landed squarely in his opened paw. They both stood like that for a couple of seconds, unsure what exactly happened. The obvious fact was that Nick stopped a baseball bat at full swing with bare effort, using only one paw.
"Tha heck?!" Finnick gasped when he finally regained his voice. He pulled back, most likely to take another swing. However, but Nick's paw instinctively closed on the wooden weapon, stopping the fennec from retrieving it.
"Fin, wait… hold on a moment…" The red fox tried to calm down his friend.
"Ya'll have yer moment when I whack you good!" Finnick struggled with great effort, but Nick's arm didn't budge.
„I was just messing with you! I'm not going out with her!" Nick yelled.
Finnick stopped. "What?"
"I don't even know her first name, Fin! I'm not interested in her, ok?" He held up his other paw in front of him in a defensive gesture.
That seemed to soothe the fennec's angry outburst. He squinted his eyes at Nick. "Wha, yer more into bunnies?" He teased back.
A spark ignited in Nick's mind, an image of Judy instantly appearing in his head. His face became flushed with red, the fox himself unsure whether from embarrassment or anger.
"No!" He exclaimed, clutching his paws. They heard a crunch. Both foxes stared at the baseball bat. Nick's fingers were dug deep into the material, crushing the wood.
Again, awkward silence fell between them. Finnick was the first to break it. "Mammal, ya seriously need to control it..."
.
.
Back at her apartment, Judy closed the door and left the crutches on the floor. She hopped into her chair, placing her phone and keys on the table. She also pulled a folded paper from her back pocket and stared at it for a while. With all that happened she forgot to give it to Nick. And even though she made up her mind to ask him to sign it, a part of her mind didn't want the fox to do it. Enrolling would mean spending eight months in the ZPD Academy and she won't be able to see Nick during that time. They just recently reconciled and the thought of getting separated from her friend for so long felt almost overbearing. The bunny unfolded the paper on the table, the formal application for the ZPD. It was already filled in, as she kept the paper from the time Nick gave it back to her after she messed up that press conference. Judy read it for the tenth time. She still wondered what 'P' in his name stood for, but what puzzled her the most was the checkbox from the question about earlier convictions. He checked 'Yes', but crossed it out and checked 'No' instead. Did this mean, that he had already been found guilty of something before? If so, did he go to jail? She also wandered what exactly did he do with all his money. Judy estimated, that if she would want to earn that much money then, considering her pay, it would take nearly 50 years – more than twice the time in which he did it. So where all that 'earnings' went, as Nick didn't strike her as the type to squander money? Not like he would ever tell her if she would ask.
With these unanswered questions in her head, Judy took the book she got from Nick and started reading a new chapter to keep her mind busy.
.
.
During this training the foxes decided to measure the time of Nick's savage states. Finnick had his watch ready when an attack of savagery started and took notes how long it would last. At the beginning it oscillated around 10 minutes, but as their training went on, it was down to 5 minutes at the end of the night.
"Now that's progress…" Nick wheezed when he was lying on his back outside the cage.
Finnick compared his notes. "I'll be damned, it sure is. Ya might actually pull it off by the end of next week." He chuckled.
Despite his tiredness Nick sat right up. "Too long, I need to control it by the end of this one."
Finnick raised a brow. "Beacause?"
"Because Carrots is getting back on duty the next Monday and I can bet any money on the fact, that she'll hunt me down to apply for ZPD." The red fox explained, but he wasn't sure how his friend will react to this statement. Nick knew that Finnick was still a bit edgy on this subject.
"Hmpf! It's yer problem." Chided the fennec, turning his back to Nick.
The red fox smiled, because now he knew that Finnick was still not happy with this situation, but at least was ready to accept it enough to not start a quarrel over it. After short rest they packed up and left. When the fennec dropped him off, Nick postponed going home for the purpose of testing the newly discovered feature of the Nighthowler serum. He tried lifting some crates or trash cans that were previously too heavy for him and still wasn't able to lift them. The side effect was a stinging pain running through his arm after few such experiments, but it still gave him something to think about.
*It worked when Fin attacked me… maybe that was the trigger?* Nick recalled a book he once read, which stated that mammals could exceed their physical limitations when placed in dire situations or under effects of an adrenaline rush. That could happen when one's life is directly threatened or someone very important to a mammal would be in danger.
*Hearing, eyesight, strength…* He counted in his mind. *Seems like all my senses and physical ability improves. That leaves agility, reflexes, smell and taste.* The last thought made him shiver. Why would he need an improved sense of taste? Maybe he'll never have to find out. Nick headed home with a slightly unsettled mind.
.
.
Thursday's workday went by in a flash. Finnick and Nick sold out their pawpsicles without any distractions. Finnick didn't comment on Nick's not-to-be-touched therapist and Nick didn't tease his little friend about their relationship. After splitting the money both went their separate ways, the red fox choosing to visit a place he knew very well – Zootopia's main library.
Located right next to the main square of Savannah Central, the library's building was distinguishably the same as other buildings nearby. The sign in front was the only thing telling mammals that there was a library inside. This was caused by the financial cuts made by the city and library was deemed as less important than other things. But to Nick, this was almost like a second home. He could find this building in his sleep and apparently on one occasion he did so. Being an almost every day visitor, the fox long ago memorized the entire layout of the building and placement of the books. The hippo at the reception desk just nodded when he saw Nick coming in. They saw each other frequently over the past 20 years. The fox reached the shelf he was looking for and picked a book. It had the title Mammal Anatomy: Canidae. Nick sat down at a free table and skimmed through the pages to find a chapter on foxes. Once there, he searched for red foxes and when got to it he began reading. Some mammals are considered fast readers and Nick was among them. He only scanned the page with his eyes and went on to the next one, repeating the process. Thanks to this, information was one of Nick's strongest points. And considering the fact he was coming here on almost daily basis, the red fox has already read almost half of the library. Which was no small achievement, as the number of available books totalled over 40 000. He was always fascinated by the mammals that avoided books or proudly claimed that they don't need them. To him it was like openly stating to be proud of one's stupidity or ignorance. In the end, it was just making his job easier. Ignorance is bliss, as once written by a famous wolf poet, Thomas Grey
Now solely focused on the pages before him, Nick intended to learn everything that could help him understand more of his savage side.
.
.
That night Nick achieved something he was willing to call a breakthrough. He remained conscious in his 'savage mode', as Finnick proposed to name it. It was still far from being in control, but now at least he was awake and could try to directly stop his savagery. Before he even knew it, the night ended and Finnick turned off the CD player.
Nick was also pleased to notice that gradually his fatigue after the training was becoming less and less severe. He was still out of breath, but the muscle pains were noticeably milder.
"Can't we go just one more time?"
Finnick narrowed his eyes. "No. It's 5 already and I need to get some sleep." He scolded his friend.
Nick waved his paw in the air. "Okay, okay. Just asking… But at least tell me the time."
The fennec checked his notes. " Two and a half minutes."
"Nice!" Nick raised his paw in the air in a victorious gesture.
"Ya made progress, that's for sure."
"Yep, we'll wrap it up before the week ends."
Finnick sighed. "We'll see. And what about yer therapy?" He asked, eyeing Nick suspiciously.
"We set up the next session on Tuesday."
"Okay, just don't mess it up. And remember…" The fennec smashed his clenched paw into the open palm of the other one.
Nick held up his paws in defence. "Yeah, yeah Mr. I'm-not-her-boyfriend-but-I-won't-let-anyone-touch-her."
"Ya-" Finnick started to growl but was cut off by Nick's paw landing on his head. The red fox ruffled his friend's fur a bit.
"Don't you worry, Fin. I wouldn't do something like that to my buddy." Said Nick.
The fennec still had his mouth opened but momentarily closed it and grumbled something under his nose, not pushing the topic further. Normally he'd whack the red fox for petting him like that, but the usually non-existent sincerity in Nick's voice refrained him from doing that.
.
.
On Friday Nick spent his entire free time in the library, digging through books about foxes and ancient times, when savage animals still roamed the earth. To his surprise those animals weren't purely aggressive. They had their instincts that drove them, but they were never only aggressive to other animals. It was as if they mostly reacted to potential threats to themselves or their pack. It was an interesting piece of information for Nick. He reached for the next book from the pile he gathered.
When the night came, he departed for the Junkyard, ready for facing a new wave of anger.
.
.
After training Nick did some quick math and it turned out that his condition will be under control before Monday. Today his savage mode time shortened to one minute. Also his mental state became more stable during those phases. He was awake during all stages of training, but still lacking something to stop his rampage, even with all the effort he put in it.
"If yer awake," Said Finnick during their late night snack after training. "why can't ya tell yerself to stop?"
Nick sighed between biting into sandwiches. "I wish I'd knew, Fin. I can feel it's almost there but I still can't grasp it!"
"Okay, but ya know… What it feels like, to be awake and not be able to control yerself?"
The red fox chewed his food and pondered a bit about the proper answer. " It's… it's like being a passenger in car, with an unpredictable madman at the wheel."
"Sounds tough."
Nick shrugged with a smirk. "Not really, I mean, I do ride with you every day."
"Buzz off, Grin Face!"
.
.
Saturday went down in Nick's and Finnick's memory as the day the fennec almost died.
Nothing special happened during the day and it soon became time for their training. At this point, Finnick was already so accustomed to their routine, that he even brought a few magazines to read while Nick rampaged in the cage.
The red fox already tried out several different methods to regain control of his body. He tried focusing on the muscles and forcing them to stop, another method meant changing his mental state from raw anger to a different, less violent emotion, but he ultimately failed, as well with the other ideas he had.
During the last try, Nick tried not as much as stopping, but altering his claws attacks. To let them have some purpose or pattern. If you can't stop a wave, try riding on top of it. Still, it didn't seem to work either. He was about to give up when his gaze fell on the cage's door.
*No use.* Thought Nick. *I'd have to bust the locker if I'd want to get out of here.*
At that exact moment Nick's body headed for the door. One of his paws shot forward and broke the lock with precision unthinkable for a savage mode. Inside his mind Nick froze with terror, when his savage body slammed the cage's door open and leapt outside.
*OH CRAP! FIN!*
The fennec was blissfully unaware of the dire situation, as he got earplugs to prevent the onslaught of the played noise. Now he had his nose deep in one of the magazines he brought. Therefore, he didn't even notice when the savage fox jumped at the speaker and ripped it apart.
Nick's mind was in panic. His friend was sitting right in front of him and there was nothing he could do to stop from tearing him into pieces. The red fox's body flexed and rushed towards the fennec on all fours. With the distance closing very fast, Nick kept thinking of a way out of this situation.
*What to do?! I already tried everything! If only something would happen to alarm Fin! For Nature's sake, stop! Run away! Trip over something!* As he screamed the last thought inwardly, the fox's hindpaw suddenly folded under him and he fell heavily on the dust. A large cloud erupted from this violent crash and it finally got Finnick's attention. The fennec sprung up to his feet with his bat in paw.
"THA HELL?!" He yelled, panic seeping through his voice. He started backing away from Nick, his weapon now in both paws, kept right in front of him.
The red fox got to his hindpaws and began approaching Finnick. Bloodshot eyes, fangs exposed and a feral growl rumbling in his throat, for any possible mammal to see this, it would like an embodiment of a nightmare. There were only a few feet between them now.
"Snap out of it dumbass!" Yelled Finnick and took a swing at the approaching fox. Nick's arm moved in a blur, there was a crack of wood and suddenly Finnick was holding only a handle of the bat. The fennec squinted at what remained of his weapon. He threw it at Nick at jumped under the van. Claws scratched the ground only inches from his hindpaws. Finnick rushed to the other side and jumped into the driver's seat, slamming the door behind him and closing both door locks. A second later claws scratched the glass of the passenger's window, making him jump. What was most terrifying for the fennec was not exactly the fact that he was attacked by a savage animal, rather it was that he was attacked by a savage animal with a purpose. It couldn't be called an instinct driven attack anymore. The mammal that was after him had a glint of consciousness in his eyes. This felt like being hunted by a beast with a plan. And said beast glared at him through the glass, before turning left and disappearing from his sight. It instantly occurred to Finnick that he hadn't locked the back door of the van. He jumped to the back, only to see the mechanism of the lock move. Desperation lead him to a new course of action as he ran at the door at full speed and hit it with his shoulder. The door slammed open, rewarding the fennec with a yelp of pain, when the steel hit something on the other side. Finnick jumped out and dashed forward to get away from Nick and gain some time. He only had to endure for a minute at most and the savageness should go away. At least, that's how it was till now…
Claws reached for his leg and cut deep into the flesh. Finnick collapsed to the ground, screaming in pain. But he didn't allow this to stop him and threw a pawful of dirt into Nick's eyes. The red fox whined and staggered backwards, allowing the fennec to hop away on one paw. A new idea popped up in his head and he turned to the nearest mountain of garbage. He started to clumsily climb upwards, the task being difficult but on the way he had the option of throwing stuff at his pursuer. With a short glance he confirmed that Nick was still after him, his ferocious eyes focused on his prey.
"Snap out of it already!"
Nick wished he could. His mind was raging over things he was doing to his friend. No amount of mental pressure or screams were able to stop this hunt.
*What else is there?! There has to be something that could work! Why can't I stop all this madness?!* Then it occurred to him. *All… If I can't stop it 'all', then maybe…*
His paw again reached out to the escaping fennec, but this time Nick focused all his attention on that single paw, pouring every single thought to stop it from touching Finnick. The claws almost reached for the little fox when the arm froze in mid-air. Fingers trembling, the paw stopped it's advance.
*Yes! That's it! No wonder I couldn't do it before – learn to walk before you learn to run! One step at the time.* He thought with a victorious, inward grin. *I got you now, Nicholas Wilde!* Once discovered, the principle was rather easy for him, as he could apply a similar method of control that he used over his emotions and facial expressions.
Lost in thought, Nick didn't notice that Finnick loosened a sink from the garbage pile and it was now speeding down to meet him. But his savage side didn't need time to think. With one arm swing from the side it knocked the trash out of the way.
Nick could hear cursing coming from above. He almost laughed, knowing that if Finnick was able to swear, he'll be alright. But then a yell came through as a large part of the trash wall loosened and a sort of a landslide caught the fennec and started dragging him down. The red fox jumped to the side and managed to grip something to steady himself and he could only watch as his friend fell down in an avalanche of trash.
"FIN!" He actually yelled with his own vocal cords, not just mentally. The care for Finnick overtook any other emotions or thoughts, as Nick sped down the garbage mountain to find the fennec.
To his relief, the pile of trash that landed on the ground was groaning and mumbling words no mammal would use in front of their dear mother. Still in his savage mode, Nick started digging through the garbage, using his enhanced strength to throw away anything, that was on his way to the wounded fox. He finally found him, stuck beneath an old wooden desk.
"Fin!"
"Nick?" Exhaled the little fox. "Yer sane again or I should worry?"
The 'savage' fox chuckled. "More than being buried alive in a pile of trash? Nah." He steered his hands to grab the piece of furniture. Claws dug into the wood and Nick's muscles flexed to move the heavy object. The red fox felt a little like a crane operator, being in the cabin and controlling the movement of the machine. A very efficient machine, that now lifted the whole table and threw it aside. Finnick groaned in pain and sat up.
"Mammal, I tell ya, this is the last time I agreed to get myself killed for yer sake!" He complained when Nick helped him up. Blood was flowing from the wounded leg, gluing fur to the skin.
The red fox's ears dropped down in shame. "I'm so sorry Fin, this shouldn't have happened…"
"You owe big time for this." Stated the fennec as they hobbled towards the van. "And I mean BIG time."
"You bet I do. But right now we need to get you to a hospital." Nick helped his friend to the passenger's seat, quickly grabbed the stuff they left and threw it to the back of the van.
"Nick…" Said the little fox as Nick hopped into the driver's seat. "What are ya now? Savage or normal?"
The red fox stared at his friend for a moment with the same, bloodshot eyes that were staring at him from the other side of the window just few minutes ago. "Right now I'm itching to bite you, but there's no way I'm letting that happen."
Finnick eyed him for few seconds. "Ya sure?" He asked.
Instead of answering that question directly, Nick reached out and patted him on the head. "Don't you worry your sweet little head." He quipped.
The fennec shoved his hand off. "Alright, stop it already! I get it!" He said in an annoyed, but slightly relieved voice.
Nick started the engine and they drove off.
"What are ya goin' to tell the quacks?"
"That we had a little fight."
"That doesn't sound like us…"
Nick grinned. "We fought over a girl."
Finnick considered this. "That sounds like us."