Zootopia: Grind To Halt (WildeHopps)

Chapter 3 - The Creatures are Everywhere

(Listen to the music if you had headphones to provide the right mood for the chapter. Song is
I'm With Stupid : Static-X)

Nick held the hard, rough fabric of his old Ranger Scouts uniform. It was so full of horrible memories of torture and violence. The color of the damned thing was still tainted with blood. He remembered the whole night like it was yesterday.

The lying red fox hadn't told Judy the full story of the night, he had left out the gory bits that the others had done to him. Shivers ran down his back, and took away from the rooms' magic. It now seemed like a nightmare coming back from a deathly grave.

* * *

"Come on Guys! Get this muzzle off!" The young fox screamed, a large hippopotamus child crushing him down. The children squealed with laughter, and only exploded laughing harder once the zebra smiled devilishly and brought a scalpel away from his pocket.

Nick shut his mouth like an iron trap, the cool steel of the blade glinting in the dim light. The zebra let his blunt flat teeth out in a smirk, inciting his heart to race at a million miles an hour. "Don't worry, we'll take that muzzle off," he eyed him evily. "I think I'll take a bit of that fur for some... financial comptation..."

"Uhh, Jake, I think it's compensation."
His friend poked his shoulder, but the crazed Zebra lashed around and sent the sharp edge into the giraffe's face.

"Shut up Nickolei, I know what I said,"

The zebra turned back with a menacing look, even the hippo holding Nick down was frightened.
"Jake, maybe that's a little too far-,"

"Can it fatty, I want a piece of his stupid pelt so he can go crying to his mommy on how he's bleeding to death and missing half of his FACE!"
The zebra really was psychotic, bringing the shiny knife close to his face. With a press, and long slash, he ripped off almost his entire muzzle, exposing teeth and gums, blood seeming to flow like a river.

The zebra held it up, laughing like a maniac at his prize. He looked back one last time, and quickly dashed the scalpel across his chest, ripping a clean slash in his uniform and flesh.

Screaming and crying in unrenting agony, the herbivores threw him out of the building, muzzle still on, and gigantic flab of flash missing from his muzzle.

* * *

Nick felt his snout, remembering the missing flab of fur and skin. At the hospital, they drilled holes in his bone, putting three button snaps on his bare skeleton, in the shape of a triangle. One on the end of his muzzle behind his nose, and two on each side of his cheek. Then they crafted an excellent swatch of faux fur his exact color shade, with the male end of the metal fasteners stitched to it.  Attatching the swatch, combing the fake fur in the right way, you could never tell it was fake.

He felt his lip, pushing up the fake section and sighing. He pushed against his chest to find a slight sharp pain from the slash that stupid kid caused.

"NICK!"

Judy's shriek woke him from his trance. The trance is in the motion, he remembered the quote his mother would always pester him with.

Nick ran outside, only to find the car was being rocked back and forth. What he saw rocking the car made his blood freeze in his own veins.

Then he bursted out laughing to see his buddy Finnick was playing a little practical prank on Judy was a hydraulic car jack.

"Finnick, long time no see you big eared twat!" Nick yelled, hitching his head back, howling with bubbling laughter.

The fox tried not to lose his marbles laughing, so he let out a chuckle served along side a goofy grin. "Hey there fox boy. See you're playing good guy now?"

The red fox shook his head with a toothy grin, and replied hastily, "Yeah, I'm working with scatterbrain in the car there."

The large eared fox let forth a laugh, pointing to his crank. "Pretty crafty eh? I've scored people crazy and they leave there cars and possessions inside. Made three hundred so far today, you're not gonna bust my hide eh?"

Nick shook his head. "Anything for an old pal."

Judy, still scorned inside the cruiser, smashed the door open and stomped her padded feet down to where the two idiot predators where.

"Don't think so Wilde," Judy puffed with popping fury, "That's a corrupt bargain, and that could land some cell time if you don't cool your jets."

Suddenly, a sharp pain on his neck became prominent, like someone had just shot him with a paintball. It stung, but fury suddenly overtook him.
Nick spat onto the pavement and retracted his claws, "Not shutting up could find you a life sentence in a body bag."

Finnick's back stood straight up. That was not something Nick would say. He tapped his leg, trying to reason with his partner. "Hey man, calm down. That's a little far for her trying-"

Nick growled. Like an animal.

Finnick scooted to the hare with unease.

"Judy, he's actin' real strange." The tan fox mumbled to her. Judy nodded then saw something disturbing happening in Nick. His back and spine began to pop like sticks, cracking into pieces. His teeth began to elongate awfully, into giant ivory fangs. His body contorted into awful shapes, while Judy and Finnick stared in shock. His claws sharpened into black razors, coarse red fur grew oily, thicker, and longer. His eyes turned a fiery green and seemed to radiate with hate.

Then he stopped midway, looking like an evil cross between fox and bipedal monster. The bunny was filled to the brim with terror, and with no second thought, sweeped her taser out clicked the surges of electricity to his chest. Nick roared with an Un-Godly pitch of malice, before collapsing on the floor. Judy sprinted to the collapsed body of his partner. He detransformed the same way he shape-shifted, exactly in reverse.

Something weird was going on, and she was going to get to the bottom of it.

At the ZPD clinic, of course.

* * *

"I'm afraid I have bad news Ms. Hopps." The tiger medic informed Judy, scratching the back of his head.

The bunny sighed, and stated flatly.
"Give me the bad news doc. Bluntly."

The tiger was hesitant, than sat down tried his best to explain it short.
"Nick is suffering from a form of mental psychosis. It can be triggered from past traumatic experiences reimerging. He can become increasingly violent or delusional. I'm glad you brought him in as earlier as you did so I could help treat him."

Judy's heart fell in her stomach, but her real question hadn't been answered.

What the hell happened to Nick?