With all the variations of alternate Nick and Judy in the pit stories out there, I had to do my own little version. Taking a more wild take on the effect and a rationalization to go with it. Not connected to any of my other stories, as I ignore most of the over-the-top action of the movie as just that. An over-dramatization that Nick and Judy were appalled to see on the big screen after their more mundane police investigation that actually broke the real case.

The twap of the blueberry was a lot sharper than Nick expected, but no matter. The fix was in, and that maniac Bellwether was bound to monolog her whole scheme. All they needed was a few good lines for her to hang herself.

Then Nick noticed an unfamiliar smell, and made a little covert swipe at the splat on his neck. Oh glob, that wasn't blueberry! And he tasted DMSO, made sense as a penetrating solvent and vehicle for the serum. But he had to keep to the act, at least ...

And where was the fox? This dusty, musty place? There was a food in here with it, and blood. But that wasn't important. The fox felt trapped and ran around the edge of the hole. No obvious way out. There was more food up and outside, and the fox felt menace and anger towards them. But the fox couldn't get at them either.

The food in there with it was making social sounds. Why was that? The fox took a moment to examine the food. It was an easy food, but it didn't act like food, and it kept making those social sounds. The fox felt like such should mean something. The food was already bleeding, and the fox could scent the fear in it. But the fox could scent other things, social things, and fox on the food, on the female food.

The fox shied away to the opposite end of the hole, still looking for any possible exit. The female food was too confusing to deal with at the moment. The fox needed out. And there was the matter of the bad food above.

Then there were scary things above, bigger than food, and hunters too. The fox became a bit frantic, trapped in a hole with such big and threatening things. And the female food still making social noises. In near panic, the fox went to the female food, and hesitated further. It was more than female food; there was something else to it, something familiar.

In an instant, the fox recognized Her. It couldn't be, it was just female food, but it was also Her. The fox was so confused and he hopped from foot to foot, wanting to approach, fearful of the wrong, and all too aware of the external threat. Then a sharp twinge in his back, and an unnatural sleep took him.

Judy was on crutches, insisting on such instead of a wheelchair to get used to them for the while it would take for her leg to heal up. For now, she was getting a bit of a briefing from Detective Post and Doctor Mumbai about the Night Howler case and Nick's condition.

"When we squeezed Doug a bit further, he confessed that he'd gotten the formula from a less than ethical research study by a now defunct pharmaceutical firm. They had found a range of reactions from extracts of the plant, the savage serum was one of them."

"Yes, it provokes a persistent psychotic rage, the atavistic animalistic behavior was more of a side effect. They aren't really wild in the normal sense; the behavior is too intensely and persistently violent. Normal relaxation or social behavior is entirely absent."

"But there where batches that tried some variations of the formula to economize the process."

"One only caused a hallucinogenic high. It wasn't until we got this information that we were able to diagnose the couple of victims we've found so far."

"Doug claims he only did a couple as it was clear that they were not going to do anything but look at the pretty pictures in their heads."

"The other type that was actually made and used didn't have the savage rage, but did revert the victim to a somewhat instinctual wild state."

"Doug claims he shot seven, and Wilde became the eighth. He said he assumed that they were going savage, but that they had an initial flight response. That there was no news of any subsequent incidents with the victims was a puzzler, but he wasn't worried, as he assumed it was only a matter of time."

"That reaction also caught us off guard, as they were dropping out of sight, a new missing mammal thing, and we were beginning to worry about a new attempt to contain the situation like Lionheart was doing. Then we got one as a pedestrian/vehicle victim and a couple sightings and complaints of 'wild animals' prowling around."

"That is the sort of good news/bad news part of this version of the chemistry. It does truly revert the victim to an approximation of an instinctual wild state. But as it is a different chemistry, will need a different treatment regimen." The Doctor made a face, "And we don't yet know how much of a recovery we can expect."

"So you don't know if you can get N - Mr. Wilde back?" Judy gulped.

The Doctor shrugged. "This is new to us, and involves some subtle brain chemistry. We'll have to see. The one bit of good news is that Wilde is calm and reacting as well as can be expected, given the circumstances."

He motioned to a door. "He's just inside there, in an isolation room, like you saw earlier with the original savage victims. Doesn't need any kind of restraints and is reacting well to folks entering the viewing area. You can go in alone."

And there was an empty containment room, a pile of blankets for a sleeping area and a shallow bin filled with gravel for - . But what froze Judy was Nick, naked, sitting at the far side of the room, licking himself. Judy had to laugh.

"Oh Nick, you're so lucky I'm not going to get my 'phone out." Mystic Springs had become something of a little joke between them, as Judy wasn't so adverse to practical nudity, just not ready or reacted well to the totally unexpected and all too public aspect.

The fox heard a voice, it was Her again, and he wagged his tail as he cautiously trotted up to the bothersome wall he could not properly see. The fox sniffed through the little holes, yes it was Her. The fox sat down and pawed at the wall he could not properly see, giving Her a little happy whine.

"Oh Nick, you are such a cute puppy of a thing now." Judy eased herself down to sit, leaning against the transparency, the one leg still hurt something fierce, sticking her paw up to one of the vent holes. Nick sniffed it then leaned into the clear wall that separated them. "What am I going to do with you?"