Friday came quick, and the energy in the school was surging as students prepared for the dance as well as well as the fact that school was going to be out for three weeks for winter break. The talk in the halls meandered away from the Phantom Fox and Violet Vigiliante and became more and more about who was going with who, as well what everyones winter plans were. Nick listened to what some of the mammals were saying, from heading to the mountains of Tundra Town with family to traveling with friends down south to the coast, everyone had their own plans. Nick was planning on just staying at home with his family, and he knew that Judy was planning on going back to BunnyBurrow, overall it was going to be a quiet Christmas.

But the winter holidays were not on the minds of Nick and Judy, they were thinking about the plan as well as keeping an eye out for a certain ewe. They hadn't seen Belleweather in school over the last two days, and whenever they asked other mammals they all said she had left early for winter break (a likely story), either way they continued to watch their back.

The day went on smoothly other than that, most of the classes consisted of midterm tests so they all flew quickly, the amount of energy certainly helped. And after three completed tests they now sat at their lunch table with the usual suspects.

"There's gonna be all my family there, we're all gonna stay in log cabins, and there is going to be soooo much food!" Clawhauser was explaining his plans for the break while everyone ate their lunch.

"Hmm sounds better than my vacation, I'm just staying with my family at home. At least you're going somewhere." Wolford said with his ears behind his head, he had nothing against his family but a whole three weeks with just them wasn't his favorite idea for winter break.

"Hey at least you have siblings I'm going to be with just my parents, so I win" Nick said, he wasn't actually upset about it, that's how he spent his winter break every year so it was nothing new.

"I couldn't even imagine a winter alone, I have 275 siblings waiting for me at home" Judy added in, both Clawhauser"s and Wolford's jaw dropped at the number that Judy said. Nick knew about the high number but could never remember it exactly so this was not news to him.

"I'm sorry you have how many?" Wolford asked still surprised.

"275, although supposedly there is another litter on the way" Judy said. Their amazement didn't fade while she returned to lunch, they then looked over at Nick who just shrugged in response before returning to his own lunch. Said fox occasionally looked up and around the cafeteria as if looking for something specific, he did it so sporadically that no one noticed, no one except the rabbit sitting next to him. But she knew what he was looking for and didn't pay it any mind as she was kind of looking for it too. It was around this time that Magnus said the group would enter the school to "make the repairs", now it wasn't part of the plan to confront them here as they were still students and didn't want to get in trouble for being where they weren't supposed to be. They still wanted to know when and if they arrived, just so they know that Magnus's plan was moving forward and lining up with theirs.

"My three o'clock, the five are moving with the cargo" Judy whispered to him. Nick glanced up quickly before looking back down, in that look he saw the five mammals being led by a janitor towards the room that would take them to the roof. The two mammals in the far back were carrying a box that Nick knew held the machine as well as the gas. They were disguised pretty well and if Nick didn't know who they were then he would just think that they were normal repairmen, all dressed up in coveralls and carrying bags and boxes. 'Well these are professionals' he thought to himself as they disappeared out of view. Nick pulled out his phone and typed out a text,

"They just arrived at the school, right on time" he sent the message out to the group and then put his phone away. There was something about knowing the danger that all these mammals were in that made Nick weary of who saw. No one was looking at him though, just enjoying the last lunch with their friends.

'If only they knew…'

"Aww, my handsome little fox is going to his first dance" Amelia said taking pictures, to Nicks embarrassment.

"Mom would you relax we're not even really going to the dance" he said pulling at his collar. He was dressed in a black suit with a white shirt, he wasn't used to dress clothes and these ones specifically made him feel claustrophobic, especially the purple bow tie that was slowly choking him out. It didn't help that his super suit beneath the dress suit made it feel like he was being weighed down by cloth.

They were standing out at the front of the house taking pictures, also they were waiting for Judy to finish getting ready. But in the mean time Amelia was moving Nick to different places and snapping pictures of him in different poses, to Nicks disgruntlement. Now they were standing by the front door and Amelia had Nick leaning against the door looking off into the distance like a model posing for a magazine. Suddenly, the door he was leaning on opened, causing him to fall back and into the house.

He could hear the laughter of his parents as well as another mammal who was standing just above him. The laughter was like music to his ears even if it was directed at him, he opened his eyes to see Judy standing above him covering her mouth to hide her laughter.

She was beautiful, she was wearing a violet, strapless, silky dress that matched her eyes. She was wearing make-up but it didn't change her, it simply made her look even better. Just the sight of her was enough to make Nick sweat, he could only watch from the ground with his jaw hanging open while she laughed above him. He eventually snapped out of his stupor and stood up, bring sure to brush himself clean of anything that might have stuck onto his suit,

"Yes laugh, go ahead. She didn't almost just ruin my suit or anything" Nick said in mock frustration.

"Well maybe next time you shouldn't lean on the door" Judy said brushing past him and out the door.

"B… But she… It wasn't… Ugh!" Nick was actually flustered now as Judy started laughing again.

Amelia led them around taking pictures wherever she saw fit until Nick and Judy were already tired and they hadn't even gotten to the dance yet. Once Amelia was satisfied wit her pictures the two left heading for the bus stop.

There were very few ways to get to the school as it was up in the air, so the school paid the drivers extra to drive students up and back down for the school dance. Students and parent chaperones went up at different times so that there were no awkward situations on the bus, so Nick and Judy waited at the stop with a bunch of other nicely dressed mammals. Anyone who drove by would be very confused seeing a bunch of random teens dressed up like they were ready for a night on the town.

Nick and Judy had yet to actually go public so tonight was going to be a show stopper in many different ways, they would do a bit of dancing to show that they were there so no one would think that they and the two hero's would have a connection. If the plan went perfectly then no one would even see the two hero's in action, but just in case they wanted to steer away any thoughts of connections between Nick and Judy, and the Phantom Fox and Violet Vigilante.

The bus ride was strange, normally they went up in the morning and afternoon but now it was the evening and as the bus crested over the clouds the sun could be seen setting causing everyone to let out "ooh's" and aww's". The bus landed gently on the front of the school and let everyone off, there were mammals all over the place, taking pictures with their friends or simply waiting to go in.

Nick looked at Judy one last time just before they got off the bus, he took her paw and gave it a squeeze bringing her attention up to him.

"You ready?" He asked, this night would change their lives forever, good or bad.

"Of course Slick, lets go have some fun" She said pulling him off the bus. It didn't take long for them to get looks as they stepped off the bus and walked around looking for their friends. Judy was the first to find what she was looking for as she pulled him towards a familiar cheetah.

"Clawhauser!" She called out gaining the attention of the cheetah.

"Hey Judy! Hey Nick! You two look great" he said happily.

"You look good too Ben, who did you end up coming with?" Judy asked. He was dressed in a blue shirt and black pants that suited him well.

"Oh I'm here by myself, but its okay I'll just bop around with some friends and have a good time. Now come on Wolford's over here too" Clawhauser said taking them towards a small group. The group consisted of Wolford, the rhino from Nicks first period as well as the leopard, and of course Wolford. Nick slowed when he saw the rhino, he wasn't exactly the biggest fan of him because of how close he was to figuring out Nicks super hero identity. Ben saw Nick slow down and looked over at the fox, connecting the dots quickly between the two.

"Nick don't worry about McHorn, he is a nice guy once you get to know him I promise, same with Pouncer." Ben said. Nick trusted Ben but was still going to keep his guard up around the two.

"Jarod McHorn and Sylvia Pouncer this is Judy Hopps and I'm sure you are familiar with Nick Wilde" the cheetah introduced the two.

"Oh if it isn't the Phantom Fox himself" McHorn said quickly getting elbowed by the leopard.

"Be nice will you? It's the last day before break and we're all here to have fun" Sylvia said. Wolford let out a laugh at the display, seeing the smaller mammal boss around the rhino was strange but somehow seemed familiar. He then turned back to Nick and Judy noticing their linked paws.

"Wow when did that happen?" He asked out loud. Everyone's eyes drifted to the two smallest mammals and were shocked to see the two holding paws, well all except Clawhauser.

"Awhile ago, just kept it hidden. You know for obvious reasons" Nick said, "That's not a problem is it?" If his own friends couldn't deal with it then this was going to be interesting. Instead of answering Wolford grabbed the Sylvia and pulled her close in a romantic way.

"No, that's not a problem at all"

Now it was everyone else's turn to be surprised, Nick had no idea that Wolford was in a relationship let alone an inter-species one. Clawhauser still wasn't surprised by it,

"Wait Ben you knew?" Nick asked. The cheetah nodded in response,

"Yeah I've known about both of your relationships for as long as you've had them"

"Well that makes things awkward for me, now I'm all alone because everyone here has a date. No Ben, I'm not looking for that kind of relationship" McHorn now spoke up. Everyone laughed and started walking towards the front door, all the cares of who saw or who knew disappeared. They were just here to have a fun night, and that's all that mattered.

"Ugh, I can't believe this is part of the plan" Amelia said to Edward. They were currently standing behind the refreshment table handing out snacks to sweaty students, they were nicely dressed but still sweaty. The two of them signed up to be chaperones when they created the plan, it was easy as not many parents wanted to impede on their kids night out, heck neither of them wanted to be there but were there watching out for anything suspicious. But all they saw right now was a gym with flashing lights full of mammals all dancing. Edward was watching the door waiting for a specific pair to enter, the dance started fifteen minutes ago and he had yet to see them. That is until he saw a group walk in, the two mammals in question being with that group.

Edward turned to face the wall and reached into his ear, he pushed the button on the tiny radio allowing communication to now happen.

"Check check, is this thing on?" Edward spoke.

"Yes we can hear you" came Judy's voice

"Alright time for roll call. Nick and Judy?" Edward went on to be sure everyone had their radios on.

"Check" Both mammals said.

"Bogo and Savage?"

"We are all set outside for surveillance" Bogo's voice came through. Getting them up there wasn't hard, there was always a police on the floating island for events like this, just in case anything happened.

"Alright we're all here and ready to go, Jack let us know when you see movement on the roof" Edward said before flipping off the audio on his radio.

The dance was great, the gym had been completely transformed into a dance floor. Snowflakes hung from the ceiling and colored lights shined from all over the place. The music was so loud that it was difficult to hear people yelling, but no one cared everyone was focused on dancing and getting intimate with their dates or anyone else they could find. Nick and Judy were near the middle of it all, being sure to avoid being stepped on by larger mammals, they enjoyed their intimate time being sure to stay close to the middle knowing Nick's parents were there. All the pent up lust that they had from not being able to do anything at the house finally being released as they held each other close. They didn't are who was looking they were just focused on each other, just how it should be. Eventually the sweat got to them and they decided to take a break. Making it out of the mass of mammals was easier said than down as they were almost trampled three times before making it to fresh air. They immediately headed towards the refreshment table looking for water. There were cups covering the table full of water as well as small snacks for everyone, of course the grabbed two cups each downing them quickly before reaching for more.

"Well looks like you two are having fun" came a voice from across the table. Nick lowered his cup just enough to see who it was, and of course it was his parents.

"Yeah, having a great time" Nick said grabbing another cup. Edward took in just how sweaty the two were, they actually looked like they had been dunked into a pool. Nicks once neat and sleek suit was now crumpled up and wrinkled, Judys once sleek dress was now a shade darker of purple and wrinkled as well.

"What about you two? You must be having a blast" Nick said sarcastically.

"Oh just ecstatic to be filling cups of water a bunch of high schoolers" Amelia said looking at her phone.

Once the two had their fill of water they said their goodbyes before returning to the dance floor, just in time for the slow dance.

"Alright everybody, grab that special someone and hold them close because we're gonna slow it down" the DJ said.

Nick gently grabbed Judy by the waist and pulled her close so that they were chest to chest. She smiled up to him with love in her eyes that Nick returned. It was as if they were spinning in a different world as they swayed back and forth only focusing on each other. It was perfect, a moment they truly never would forget.

But all good things must come to an end.

"We've got movement on the roof" came the hectic call of Jack through the radio. Nick couldn't help it as he let out a growl of frustration, but quickly tamped it down as he released Judy. He tapped his radio allowing the audio to feed through,

"Alright we're moving to get setup" Nick said. The two ran out of the mob and over to the table where Nick's parents were waiting with two bags. Nick grabbed the bag but couldn't pry it from Edwards grasp, Nick looked at him confused. Edward was looking at him with concern on his face,

"Stay safe Nick, please." Edward said quietly. Nick stared at him for a moment before pulling him into a hug.

"I will, I promise" Edward let go of his son and gave him the bag as he disappeared around the corner.

The two mammals went into their separate bathrooms and got ready.

Judy pulled her ears back and tied them down, her dress slid down revealing her violet suit that was waiting underneath. There was one thing left in her bag and that was her mask which she quickly donned on her face before stuffing her dress into the bag and leaving the bathroom.

Nick had to work on getting his suit off, starting with the jacket, then the shirt, then the pants until finally his suit was only thing to be seen. That and his orange fur. His bag only had one thing, a much more heavy duty silver fur dye that would last through rain, sweat, and getting shot (in case that happened). He sprayed every in of exposed fur, making sure that no red could be seen anywhere. It took him awhile to get his entire tail but the outcome was well worth it when Nick looked in the mirror. The only colors that could be seen were black on the tip of his ears and tail, and the black of his suit. He put every part of his dress suit into the bag and then left the bathroom. Judy was outside waiting for him,

"What took you so long?" She asked her voice having changed to its deeper and smoother version.

"It takes awhile to completely change fur color alright? Now lets go" the two took off, leaving their bags just outside the gym where Edward and Amelia would pick them up. "Jack whats happening?" Nick asked over the radio, his voice having changed into its deep and rough version.

"There are two on the roof, it looks like Sargent Grizz is on the roof with the tiger, he has the detonator with him but he looks like he is talking to someone over the radio. But I don't see anyone else moving in the whole school" Jack said.

"Alright just keep us updated". By now the due were at the ladder that would take them to the roof, Nick paused as he grabbed the first rung and looked at Judy. Before she could react he pulled her in and gave her a quick kiss on the lips, "I love you" he whispered out as his emerald eyes locked with her violet ones.

"I love you too, now let's go kick some ass"

Edward checked his watch, five minutes had passed since the call came so the bags must be ready for pick up. He tapped Amelia on the shoulder and signaled that he was going to go get them, she nodded in response. The hallways were empty, every other light was turned off casting the the whole hall in an eerie glow. The bags were right where he was expecting outside the bathroom and he scooped them up quickly before turning back to the guy.

"Alright remember, no casualties unless they start attacking we don't want to make the boss angry"

Just as Edward reentered the gym he heard a voice call out, he looked down the hall to see a group of masked mammals, all of whom had guns, walking his way.

"Oh shit" Edward said as he ran into the gym. Amelia was looking at her phone again, finding it much more interesting then the dance. She quickly noticed Edward running in with a panicked look on his face,

"What's the matter?" She asked,

"There is a group about to burst through the door and shut this whole thing down" He said quickly, almost too quick for Amelia to understand.

"That shouldn't be happening. Those two said that there were only going to be two mammals here on the roof" As she said that the doors burst open and in ran the group that Edward was talking about. The students didn't notice at first, they were too busy dancing or talking but when the music suddenly stopped it caused mammals to turn their heads to the stage.

"Nobody move!" The mammal said stealing the microphone, "if anyone tries to attack, or use their powers in any way we will open fire on you" it was then that everyone noticed that they were surrounded by mammals ready to shoot at any moment.

Edward and Amelia in the meantime ducked underneath the table and were hidden by the table cloth.

"Jack what is going on? where did these mammals come from?" Amelia whispered into her radio.

Silence

"Savage?"

Bogo considered himself an attentive mammal, and with Jacks cameras he thought that they had every angle covered. But apparently not, they were posted up outside the school inside one of the busses (they had quickly befriended the hippo driver who allowed them to sit in the bus without asking why they were there) when suddenly a large cargo plane landed on the front road. Soldiers ran off the bus moving with purpose, they had managed to sneak up on the bus and forced everyone off. So now they were lined up out front and given the orders "Speak or move and we will shoot" and Bogo was not one to test mammals who had a gun pointed at him.

There were five soldiers watching nine mammals, seven bus drivers alongside Bogo and Jack. And now two of them were going through Jack's bag of gadgets.

They could both hear Amelia calling over the mic but couldn't respond, they had been outplayed.

Or so they thought.

The hatch was already open on the roof and they knew they had the element of surprise they went up and out quietly. The cold winters night air was even colder this high up, as well as thinner, making it hard for the two to breath but not impossible.

Once they were up top they quickly hid behind the large AC vent, peeking around the side Nick saw the two mammals they were expecting. The brown bear as well as the tiger, the brown bear was still talking on the radio to someone.

"Jack what is going on? Where did these mammals come from?" Both Nick and Judy heard over the radio. They looked at each other in confusion, there shouldn't be anyone there except these two, how could there be more?

"Savage?" There was no response as Amelia called over the radio. Nick was getting worried, they must have gotten attacked as well and couldn't respond meaning that there were now mammals in the gym and out front that they didn't originally account for.

'Let's move in and take out these two, then we will figure out whats going below' Judy thought to Nick through the link. Nick nodded in response,

'I got the bear, you take the tiger. Ready go' and with that they were off. They split up Judy going left and Nick going right, the two large mammals had no idea they were there. Judy moved first Nick moving just after her as they went for the two.

Judy touched the tigers leg and forced him to sleep causing him to collapse to the ground, the move caught the attention of Sargent Grizz who turned before Nick could hit him.

"Hm I guess Magnus was right, thought you two would be coming around" he said, his voice sounding like a deep roar the whole time.

Grizz dove for Nick who dodged out of the way of the sharp claws but wasn't prepared for his hind legs to kick out and hit him right in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him and sending Nick to the ground. It didn't hurt but he couldn't catch his breath or get up, which gave Grizz the advantage as he quickly stood up and ran over to Nick. Said fox could feel the large paw surround his throat as he was lifted into the air, all chances of him catching his breath were gone as the paw tightened, blocking off his airway. Nick flailed his limbs trying to hit him in anyway, but the bear was holding him too far for any of his hits to land. The light began to fade for Nick and moving became difficult. Just before he blacked out the paw loosened and Nick fell to the ground, he heard a thud next to him but still couldn't see due to the thin air around him. It took a minute before Nicks view came back, the first thing he saw was the body of Sargent Grizz laying on the ground. A large figure stood over him, and Nicks fear spiked when he saw it was the tiger.

"It's okay Nick its just me" the tiger said before collapsing to the ground himself. Nick stood up slowly, being sure he didn't pass out from moving too quick. Judy walked over and put a paw on his back, "you okay?" She asked.

"Well aside from nearly having my throat crushed in, yeah I'm fine" Nick said. He went over to Grizz's body and reached for the remote, but before he could grab it a force pushed both him and Judy aside and into the AC unit. Nick knew that feeling anywhere and his blood ran cold because he knew who was here.

"How did I know you two would try and ruin this?" Came the usual voice of Magnus.

"Gosh if I had a dollar for every time you appear in the worst moments, I would have a few dollars." Nick said jokingly as he stood up and then helped Judy up.

Magnus ran for the remote as both Nick and Judy did, it was a foot race that he knew they could not lose. With a flick of her hand Judy flew back once again, instead of going for the remote Nick dove at Magnus sending her to the ground. This time he was on top as he started to swing his fists,

"This one is for my mother" hit, "this one is for my father" hit, "and this one is just because" hit. The blows weren't doing much other than knock her around because of the helmet she was wearing. He was fully expecting the control of his body to slip away from him as he was forced off of her and into a kneeling position with his arms out. He couldn't move no matter how hard he tried, he was stuck.

"You have been a pain in my side for too long!" She screamed before striking him in the face. Right when the fist hit him a familiar white fog filled his mind, as well as a spike of pain in his head.

"But soon you will not!" Another hit, more fog, more pain.

'No not now' Nick thought. It couldn't have been a worse time for another one of these surges to happen, and it had been months since his last one.

"And soon you will not be my god damn PROBLEM!" She screamed before kicking him directly in the gut, the control over him was released and he fell backward.

It was like he had plunged into a freezing body of water, his whole body was numb and all he wanted was to get to the surface and fill his lungs with air.

"Judy" he said out loud, as his physical eyes stared off into space and his body shivered and shook. Judy knew immediately what was going on as she watched Nicks body.

Magnus noticed but didn't care as she grabbed the fox by the cloth on his upper body and prepared for one last strike on him.

"STOP!" A voice screamed. Magnus looked over to see Judy holding the remote in her paws,

"Give me that remote!" Magnus screamed dropping Nick and using her powers to try and gain control over the remotes. Somehow getting control over it as hard as the rabbit held onto it firmly.

"Dawn, please stop!" Judy screamed holding firm against the telekinesis that was being used on her. At the mention of her true name she stopped, 'so they do know' she thought to herself.

"Look at him" Judy said. Dawn looked down at the fox who was still shaking on the ground, she began to get worried now as it had been thirty seconds since it started.

"What's wrong with him?" She asked confused at what was happening. Dawn thought that the fox was just reacting to getting hit too hard but it seemed to be something else.

"He's in trouble, this has happened before and I can help him. I will give you the remote if you just let me help him… please" Judy pleaded. Dawn thought about what the fox was needed for as well as who was truly coming for him,

'They need him alive' she thought.

"Alright but don't make any sudden movements" Magnus said stepping away from the fox. Judy walked over quickly sitting down just behind the foxes head, she carefully lifted his head up and onto her lap before putting her paws on the side of his head and focused her energy.

'It's alright Nick I gotcha' she thought into Nicks head.

Inside of his mind the cold water gave way into a frozen beach, he had washed up on there and was holding himself shivering, trying to save any heat he had left.

'It's alright Nick I gotcha' he heard echo around him.

"Judy?" He said, he stood up and started walking in the direction he thought he heard her voice emanating from. It was then that he noticed that any clothes he was wearing no longer existed as he walked through the blizzard nude, his fur was not thick enough for this weather either as the cold wind pierced directly through his skin.

'Nick you have to keep moving, I can't find you unless you keep moving' she sounded far away, and with how heavy the snow was falling he couldn't see what was directly in front of him, which is why it was a surprise when something his him directly in the stomach. The hit was enough to send him back and into the snow. He had fallen into this state twice and nether of those times had this happened. He closed his eyes while the pain slowly dulled away, the sound of the wind and snow falling suddenly stopped and was replaced by the sound of waves crashing on the beach. Upon opening his eyes he saw that the sun was out, he was still next to the body of water but there was no snow and now cold, instead it was hot, very hot.

"The forward progression of time is inevitable…" echoed a new voice around him, it was a strange voice, partly robotic but had clicks and creaking in it as if it wasn't from a mammal. "Almost like the change of seasons… mammals don't know what lies ahead… they are soft and easily destroyed… except you… what makes you special?…"

The sweat was now pouring down Nick as he walked into the forest that was just beyond the beach, hoping that the shade would protect him from the heat.

"We've been watching you… since we first discovered just how powerful you truly are… not even you can comprehend the abilities you will have… but we will meet… sooner than you think…"

Nick was walking through the forest when the sound of buzzing emanated from behind him. He glanced over his shoulder to see a swarm of bugs flying his way, it wasn't even like a swarm it was more like a cloud of blackness that was buzzing and moving towards him very quickly. Nick shielded his face just before it seemed like they were about to hit him, but instead of just plowing him down they parted into two groups and flew past him. When he put his hands down he was suddenly in a different place, he was in City Central where the central watering hole was, but it was full of bodies of mammals and the water ran red. There was fighting going on all around him, military mammals were shooting at some unforeseen enemy, screams could be heard in the distance as innocents were killed.

"This is what is coming… and it will be at your hand… but you already knew this…" The voice called. Nick was confused, he had never seen anything like this before, that is until something exploded behind him. He looked to see a fox rampaging around and destroying everything in his path. It was his nightmare, except now he could see outside himself for some reason. A bright light shining from above took his attention off the fox, he looked up to see a huge ship taking up the entire sky, the shining light was coming from an opening in the bottom. He then felt himself being lifted into the sky as if the ship was sucking him in.

"We will see you soon Nick…" the voice called getting gradually louder the closer he got to the ship. He was basically inside the ship surrounded by nothing but white when the hole that he came through slowly shut , his ears began to ring and the voice called out one last time, "Sooner then you think".

Darkness.

No matter where he looked he saw nothing and heard nothing.

Not even his own breathing could be heard.

'Boom… boom' a heart beat, it could have been his for all he knew. It was exceptionally slow, but picked up speed gradually as if his whole body had just hit a reset button.

He could hear something else, it was almost inaudible but Nick could hear it.

"Nick…" it was like a whisper, but he knew who it was.

The heart beat was picking up as well as the new sound of someone breathing,

"Nick!" The call was getting louder, he was giving all his efforts to wake up and help her but it was hard.

Feeling slowly returned to him as well as the knowledge of where he was, there was something new about everything but Nick couldn't quite tell what it was.

It was just like when he woke up from the hospital, he could sense all that was going on around him, he could see Judy holding him as well as some other mammal near the two, but it was difficult to tell who it was. He remembered that they were on the roof, they had just taken out two mammals, and there was…

"What's going on with him?" Came the voice he hated. All his memories flowed back and he suddenly remembered where he was and who was there as well as everything in between.

He jumped up and swung his fist with all the might he had in his body, connecting directly to Magnus's mask, the hit sent her flying across the roof, she stopped just before falling over the edge.

BOOM! Right when Nicks fist connected an explosion occurred out by the front of the school causing the whole floating platform to shake, being on top of the roof they had a clear view of it. All the buses that were originally lined up were now burst open like tin cans and pouring out flames.

"What the hell happened there?" Nick asked, Judy shrugged next to him.

"What is this some sort of drone?" The soldier said pulling out the drone as well as its control from inside Jacks bag. Most of the stuff was laid out but there were still a few things in the bag, one that Jack was waiting for them to grab.

The five guards were not in a much more relaxed position, two of them were going through the bag, two of them were leaning against the bus, leaving only one watching the nine mammals.

"Jeez why does a kid have so much tech? this makes all of our stuff look like children's toys. Like what even is this?" The soldier asked pulling out two black discs.

"Those are just high powered suction cups used to help climb buildings" Jack said gaining the attention of the soldiers.

"Okay then what is this?" He asked pulling out the last object. To any ordinary mammal it would look like just a white brick with a number pad on the front, but Jack knew exactly what he was looking at.

"It's just a safe where we store the most important of our tech" Jack said convincingly. The soldier then raised his gun at the rabbit,

"Tell me the combination, then smart guy" the soldier threatened.

"Sure it 0" Jack said preparing himself,

"Huh that's oddly easy" the soldier put down his gun and started to punch in the code, even the only soldier watching them went over to see what was inside. Once the code was punched in a beeping began that confused the soldiers but Jack knew that they had to move.

"RUN!" He yelled as he took off running. The rest took an extra moment to comprehend what was happening but soon took off after the rabbit knowing that he probably knew more than the rest of them. The soldiers turned and watched confused as all of their captives ran away. The one holding the brick looked back down at what he was holding, there was now some numbers on it that were counting down. 5… 4… He was confused but quickly understood what he was holding as the timer went down to 0.

"OH SHI-"

The explosion instantly destroyed the five soldiers as well as the bus the were next to, it caused a chain reaction as the other busses exploded.

The shockwave was powerful enough to knock all nine running mammals over. Jack turned over and looked at what destruction he had just caused, sure he felt bad but he also savored his own life more than a few busses, and he was sure that everyone else would agree.

"Good work Savage. Let's get in there and help" Bogo said as he walked over and held out a paw to the jack rabbit, which he took gratefully.

"Alright, but I have to warn you, I'm not the best fighter"

The gym was quiet, a stark contrast to what was originally going on. The mammals in the center whispered just quiet enough for the soldiers not to notice, and if they were caught they were screamed at to stop talking. Edward and Amelia were still seated beneath the table waiting for something to happen so that they could make a move, but if being hero's had taught them anything it was to wait until the time was right to strike, and right now was definitely not that time.

"Alright Grizz we're ready" the soldier at the front said into his radio.

Edward looked at Amelia knowing that it was too late to do anything now. It was silent again as they waited for students to start screaming, but it never came. They peeked out from under the table and looked at the closest AC vent, they expected to see the purple gas leaking through but there was none there.

"Uh… Grizz everything okay?" Unknown to the soldier, Grizz's radio was stuck under his unconscious body.

Edward and Amelia looked at each other knowing what this meant, Nick and Judy were doing it!

Their happiness was interrupted by the sound of an explosion as well as the whole building shaking. The suddenness of it caused many of the students to scream out in fear.

The two foxes were equally as scared but didn't let out screams,

"What is going on out there?" Edward whispered.

Nick turned away from the fire ball and looked back at Magnus to see her starting to get up.

"Call on the radio and be sure everyone is okay" he called out, "Oh no you don't" he said running towards her. He swung his arm which she easily blocked, she then flipped over him bringing down to the ground.

"I let your little bunny help you back up and this is how you repay me?" Magnus asked furiously. Nick kicked his legs out hitting Magnus's legs and causing her to fall in the process. He named on his feet and held onto her arm, bending it at an awkward angle.

"No, you take my parents power away, nearly kill me, and try to drain my powers and this is how I repay you!" He screamed as he took the arm and bent it until he heard a crack and Magnus screamed out in pain.

Her anger became too much for her so she used her back legs and flung the fox over the side of the building. Nick was shocked by the amount of power she still had even though he just broke her arm and barely let out a scream as he fell out of view. There was land beneath him but the height would still be enough to kill him, and that's what Judy feared as he fell.

"Nick!" She called out.

Magnus stood up but very carefully, taking her now broken arm and holding it with her other arm, the pain was obvious as all her movements were slow. She peaked over the edge not expecting to get hit by another strong punch sending her to the ground once again. Judy herself was in awe at what she saw, Nick was flying! He was hovering just over the edge of the building looking equally as surprised as she was. Magnus leaned up on her good elbow looking at the fox,

"How?" She let out, she had been watching him for months and had never seen him fly, how was he doing it now then?

"I'm not gonna lie. I have no idea" he said looking down and around him. Magnus looked at Judy and then back at Nick, letting out what sounded like a growl.

"Well let's see how good you are then" she said using her good arm to gain control over the rabbit and fling her off the roof past Nick. She screamed the whole way down knowing that if he didn't catch her that this would be it.

He had barely anytime to react as he flew after her, swooping back and down towards her. Once he was next to her he grabbed hold before changing his path, he couldn't quite control it yet because of the fact he just found out he had it, so instead of flying back up towards the roof he flew straight into the glass of the gym which instantly shattered.

Meanwhile Magnus stood up and felt for any damage on her suit, her visor was cracked but still hid most of face so she was safe.

'The remote' she thought to herself. She searched the roof for the device but couldn't find it anywhere. She then realized that she knew exactly where it was,

"The rabbit" she spat out. The masked mammal went up to the machine and used her telekinesis to rip it apart, taking out the flask full of liquid no bigger than a water bottle, the whole whole container dumped on a mammal could certainly strip them of their powers, a small amount wouldn't be enough to do anything so it would have to be a clean attack.

"Fine then I will do it myself"

Nick held on tightly to Judy, protecting her from the ground they were about to impact. The landing wasn't that bad, Nick simply slid on his back for a few feet before finally stopping. Nick let out a sigh of relief letting go of Judy, they finally get a small break after all that had happened. He looked down at the rabbit and smiled at her,

"You alright?" He asked his rough voice full of care. She up at him her eyes full of thanks and love.

"Yeah, thanks to you" She said back.

It was then that they noticed that they were being watched, by a lot of mammals. They had landed at the edge of the crowd just in front of the refreshment table where both Edward and Amelia were peeking over.

"Hey it's the Phantom Fox and Violet Vigilante" someone called out. The two scrambled to their feet and took in the sight around them, all the students were huddled up in the center being surrounded by soldiers, and there was one standing up by the DJ booth holding a radio. Little did anyone know a plan had been formed already in the students.

"David do it now!" Someone called out, a wolf stood up in the center of the group and held out his paws, instantly all the guns that the soldiers were holding were ripped from their grasp and flung out the now broken window.

The students now had the upper hand over the soldiers, that's all that mattered at that point.

The sound of a door breaking in distracted everyone. At the front of the gym the doors were hanging from their hinges and in walked both Chief Bogo and Jack Savage.

A sound outside the window then turned everyones attention that way, the sound was like a small jet engine taking off.

Magnus flew through the window and looked down on the mammals, quickly finding the two she was looking for as they stood out compared to everyone there.

"You two will pay! Attack!" She shouted as she flew down towards them.

With that one call everyone sprung into action, the soldiers ran in to the mass of students while the students themselves ran and attacked. It was like a great battle, good versus evil, dark versus light.

Nick was so distracted by the action that he didn't notice Magnus until she was right on top of him. She grabbed his throat and flew up into the air, she only had the one good arm so she couldn't hit him but could fly around and throw him into things. She flew through the gym driving him straight into the wall and then up towards the ceiling.

It didn't hurt as much as it should have because Nick braced for it, making the impact less damaging to him. Ever since he got up from the mind attack he had he felt almost invincible, pain was just a nuisance now. He kicked his leg out and straight into Magnus's chest causing her to let go of him, he floated in place while Magnus recovered. Suddenly an arm came around Magnus and threw her to the ground, it was Sylvia, the leopard apparently had the power to fly as well as she floated next to him.

"Are you alright Mr. Fox?" She asked concerned. It was strange he had never interacted with anyone close to him that didn't know his true identity, he had a character to play that he didn't even know who it was.

"Yeah I'm good, but don't call me Mr. Fox, that's what they call my dad. Either Phantom Fox or just Fox is fine. And thanks for the help" He said letting out a chuckle. Sylvia seemed surprised, she was expecting the fox to be serious and strict but he seemed to be very relaxed, almost like he was a teenager himself.

"Let's go help the others" he said as he flew towards the ground and into the battle.

The hero's had the upper hand over the soldiers, mammals of all sizes were using their powers to help others and take down the threat. It was a beautiful sight for Edward and Amelia who had joined the fray themselves, (they may not have powers but they knew how to fight). It was something they had often dreamed of, hero's joining together to fight for good. But it was the fox and bunny that stopped the show for them, they were fighting in tandem as if they were the same mammal fighting. Their movements were in sync as they took out the mammals in front of them, and even taking out the attackers who were behind the others back, it was strange. It reminded Edward of the teamwork between him and Amelia, maybe even better than them as they saw what couldn't be seen.

"They really are going to take care of the city" Amelia said putting a paw on Edwards shoulder as the battle died down. Edward looked over and smiled at her putting his paw on hers,

"Yeah they are" he said turning back to the two. Something caught his eye behind the two.

At the far side of the gym Magnus was standing back up, swaying as she did and clearly in pain. There was something broken on her suit and sparked out like it had short circuited. Once again her anger grew as well as her power.

"ENOUGH!" She yelled out, her voice echoed over the entire gym causing a holt in the fight as all heads turned toward her. Suddenly a force came over all mammals in the room except the two, and they were forced to the side and into the walls. It was like they were stuck in solid cement, all mammals were stuck both the soldiers and students as well as Edward and Amelia, leaving only Nick and Judy in the middle.

She reached out her hand and used her powers on the rabbit causing her to fly in her direction. The rabbit froze directly next to the tall masked figure, Judy was forced to her knee's and her head down.

"You all want to know what species these two are don't you?" Magnus called out although her voice changer was gone so it sounded just like Dawn, much to everyones surprise. Everyone knew the sound of their class president after all.

"Magnus don't" Nick called out, taking a step towards the two.

"Move any closer fox and I will kill her" She said pointing to Nick. He didn't want to test her and risk Judy's life so he stayed where he was.

"We all already know that the Phantom Fox is just that, a no good fox. But the big question on everybody's mind is what is the Violet Vigilante? Surely a predator or something like that, how else could they work so well together? Well here is the surprise" she then ripped Judy's hood off revealing the her ears and easily giving away her species. "She is a RABBIT!"

Gasps of shock rose up through the trapped students against the wall. Many of them didn't understand how a predator and a prey could work together let alone a pair of natural enemies.

"But that won't matter because soon she won't have any powers at all" Magnus said pulling out a container of purple liquid. Everyone was confused by it except Nick, he knew exactly what he was looking at. She was going to take her powers away, the power inside of him spiked as he watched the cap come off the container.

Everyone in the room could feel the tension rise, like a bomb was about to go off. It was a familiar feeling, something they had felt before. And it was coming from the fox.

Time slowed down, Magnus raised the flask over Judy, who's eyes were full of fear at her impending doom. She loved having her powers, it was her dream to help others and now it was going to be taken away.

Nicks powers were going on overdrive as it had done before when a loved one was at risk. And it happened like a snap, if anyone was watching the fox they didn't see him move, it was almost like he teleported.

Nick took off running so fast that he didn't seem to move, one moment he was across the gym the next he was right on top of the two. But Magnus knew this was going to happen and stopped him just before he could reach them. Something was different though, she couldn't control him, her powers just slowed his movement but didn't stop it.

'He's too strong' she thought. The feeling of fear washed over her as well as the aura from his powers causing her to lose all control. Nick dove straight into her knocking her to the ground, the impact was enough to make her drop the flask.

With her control being lost Judy could move and did so quickly out of the way of the container as it plummeted to the ground. It didn't break but some of the liquid spilled out onto the gym floor. All the mammals being held to the wall were now released and fell to the ground.

Nick held Magnus to the ground while she attempted to get control back but she was failing, his powers were overpowering her ability to take control of anything. She looked up at the fox holding her down and her breath caught in her throat, his eyes were slits and his teeth were bared back. Her fear was not one of how vulnerable she was, her fear was in the depths of her mind, of prey fearing predator.

"Fox!" Judy called to him distracting him from the ewe who he was about to rip apart. He looked over to see her holding the flask of liquid. Nick pulled Magnus so that she was standing in front of him with her back facing while he held her arms behind her back.

"Do it!" He yelled.

"Bu-"

"JUST DO IT!" He yelled, she was slowly gaining power back and he wanted it to be over now. Judy dumped the container onto Magnus, making sure to get it through the cracks in her visor. Nick hid behind her hoping that none of it would land on him, but his luck wasn't with him that day as the liquid dripped down the sides of her and onto Nicks head and hands. It wasn't much, about a half cup of the liquid, but he could feel the burn from it almost immediately. He felt like the parts with the liquid on it were on fire which caused him to release Magnus and fall to the ground in pain. Considering how little had gotten on him and it hurt this much he almost felt bad for the ewe who was practically drowning in it inside her suit. Her screams of pain could be heard echoing throughout the gym.

He could feel his powers being drained and his body growing weak from the pain. He stood on his hands and knees growling against the pain, his senses were going haywire as if everything was being short-circuited inside of him.

"Phantom" he could hear Judy call out to him, the sound of her voice spiking his fear. He quickly slid away from her opening his eyes to see her looking at him with fear in her eyes.

"Stay away from me" He snarled out unintentionally, he couldn't control the sounds he was making as the burning was simply too much for him.

Judy couldn't just stand there and do nothing, "can someone get me water right now!" She called out to the mammals around her. The sound of footsteps scrambling around him as mammals burst into motion.

"Here" it was his dad with his mom right by his side.

"Fox we are going to wash it off of you alright?" Amelia said. Nick nodded in response,

"Quick" was all he could let out. It was such a small amount but it felt like his skin was melting off his body. The idea was brilliant, they had already lost their powers so they weren't in any risk.

"Alright buddy we gotcha" his dad said soothingly.

The first cup they dumped on him was instant relief, the water was so cold that it soothed the burning sensation by a little, but the effect was easily noticed. He could feel their paws working through his fur while he lay down and let them work. Because they didn't have powers the liquid didn't burn them at all making the clean up easy.

They dumped cup after cup of water using their paws to scrub the purple liquid out of his silver fur until there was nothing left. The pain died away as it was cleaned off until all that was left was a dull pain, his breathing and growling simmered down with it.

"I think I'm okay" he said opening his eyes. The sight he saw startled him a little, he was surrounded on all sides by mammals and they were all looking at him.

"alright back it up, give the fox some space" another familiar voice called. Nick looked up to see Clawhauser step into the middle and start pushing mammals back, the cheetah looked back at Nick and gave him a nod, one that the fox quickly returned.

The mammals slowly backed up while Nick got up on his feet, he looked over at the crumpled form of Magnus who was lying on the ground, clearly unconscious from the pain.

"Don't worry about her Fox, I'll take care of it" came the rumbling voice of Chief Bogo. The Cape buffalo had come through the group as well as Jack, he walked over to the suited ewe and pulled out his handcuffs, quickly locking her paws together and hoisting her over his shoulder. He then walked towards the exit of the gym, the sight of the villain being taken away caused a roar of cheers and applause.

As soon as they were out the door the applause quickly shifted to the fox and rabbit, chants went out for both the Phantom Fox as well as the Violet Vigilante. Edward, Amelia, and Jack all stepped back allowing the pair to take in their applause.

'What do we do now?' Judy thought to Nicks head. The fox grabbed hold of her by the waist and pulled her close.

'We smile and wave' he said raising his hand and giving a wave to the group. Cameras flashed, hands clapped, and names were chanted.

They had won. They had taken down the villain. And they did it together.

Everything that happened after seemed like a flash to Nick.

Everyone boarded the cargo plane that was parked out front, students and soldiers together, and made it to the ground safely. The busses would be rebuilt and the school would be repaired before they got back from break.

Nick hadn't lost any of his powers, thankfully, because the dose of the liquid was far too small.

By the time they were all out of the plane it was roughly eleven at night. Everyone had had their fill of a night out and dispersed, many of whom wanted their picture with the legendary duo. No one seemed to care that they were different species or pred-prey, all that mattered was that they had saved their lives.

The police got there quickly, taking the soldiers away in busses and vans as well as putting Magnus into a high security truck so that she couldn't escape even if she tried.

They dispersed to their own homes, knowing that tomorrow there would be another press conference because the news would spread quickly about the attack. Sky High's location may have been a secret but the school itself was well known in all of Zootopia, and news that happened there still got out, normal citizens simply considered it a rumor.

But they left either way, the walk wasn't far but Nick and Judy flew back to avoid being seen while Edward and Amelia walked back. The shear amount of exhaustion hit them the moment they stepped through Nicks window, the day had been long and their bodies ached from the fighting as well as the falling.

As soon as they were inside and safe Nick pulled into a hug and squeezed tight.

"We did it" Judy whispered into Nicks chest.

"Yeah I guess we did" he whispered back.

Nick picked her up and brought her to the bed, any and all rules that his parents put in place were forgotten as the two quickly fell asleep in their embrace.

Edward and Amelia peeked in when they got home but didn't say anything, knowing that their day was much longer than theirs.

It was the best night sleep that either had gotten in a week…

"I'd like to thank you all for coming in for this press briefing on the incident that occurred at Sky High School. For those of you that don't know what it is, it is a high school where mammals of extraordinary ability are trained to become hero's all around the world. It's location is a closely guarded secret, and for good reason as we saw from the attack last night. There is no way for normal citizens to get to this location unless you have special permission such as myself, or if you break in there illegally."

The podium was occupied by Chief Bogo with Nick and Judy standing close by. Out of any press conference he had done, this had the most media mammals there that he had ever seen. And he knew that millions of people around the nation were tuning in as well to get a glimpse of the two hero's.

"I was there as security for the winter dance that the school was holding. I did not know of the chaos that would unfold, nor do I have the knowledge of what truly happened. And that is why I now pass the mic on to Zootopia's newest hero's, Phantom Fox and Violet Vigilante."

Cameras flashed, and chatter commenced as the two mammals stepped up to the podium. A stool was given so that they could stand and be seen over the large podium. Nick tapped the mic making sure that he was close enough to be heard, the sound also brought the chatter down bringing everyones attention up to the front.

"You're going to have to excuse me and my partner here, this is our first press conference and we're a little nervous" Nick said sarcastically, gaining a light chuckle from the audience. And although he seemed calm he actually was very nervous.

"So what happened last night at Sky High was a planned attack by the villain Magnus Mortem, who we now know is young ewe and student of the school Dawn Belleweather who is now in the custody of the ZPD." Nick went on, they had planned what parts of the story to tell in order to get equal time on the mic,

"We have been watching over Magnus for the past few months now and have known about the plan for the attack for a few weeks. But to get a grip on the whole story we must go back to the beginning. Back to August when the first attack happened on the Wilde's house when she tried to kill the family, this attack was only to strike fear in mammals but luckily we stepped in and prevented the family from being killed. The attack on the Houndson's later that night was also her, but we could not step in to that one as it happened well into the morning when we were back into hiding. She then went into hiding for quite sometime to avoid being tracked" Judy added in.

"During this time she was capturing innocent mammals with powers and using them to test different processes of taking their powers away from them" when Nick said this many mammals in the media gasped.

"Yes we know, we were as surprised as you are now. No one has ever been able to take powers away before, but we saw it used and that is where we explain the next part of her plan. It was this recent Monday, the same day that Wild One and Scarlet Fang announced their retirement, that she began her true plan. She captured the two after making a call to them pretending to be a mammal in need and took them to Cliffside, a closed hospital just outside of the main walls of Zootopia. She then held them in containment until we showed up and tried to save them. However, we were not able to save them and they lost their powers" More gasps as well as chatter rose after Nick spoke. "We got them out of there as well as all of the other mammals who had been captured, but sadly Magnus got away as well as some of her soldiers." Nick said.

"Now Wild One and Scarlet Fang were both upset with the outcome but are now enjoying retirement comfortably, knowing that they had left the city in our hands. They still don't want their identity to be known and we hope that they can continue to live their lives happily" Judy said.

"Now going into last night we knew that Magnus was planning something involving Sky High and the school dance, but didn't know exactly what it was. We now know that her goal was to take the powers away from all the students inside using a gas that can take mammals powers away. Luckily we were able to step in and stop that plan from happening, taking Magnus down in the process." Nick said

"And now Magnus or Dawn, as well as all of her soldiers are now in the custody of the ZPD where the justice system will decide her fate" Judy finished.

"Now we will take a few questions" the moment Nick said this all hell broke loose as everyone asked questions all at once. Nick looked over at Judy with a smirk who simply shrugged.

"Yes you up front" Nick pointed at a gopher sitting near the front.

"Was Dawn Belleweather a mammal of power?" He asked.

"Yes, she had the power of Telekinesis which allows her to control any object around her" Nick said, "you the deer" he pointed out another question.

"What powers do you two have?" she asked into her microphone. Judy was about to respond when Nick leaned into the mic.

"That's classified"

'Let's not tell them that just yet' he thought to Judy. The two had started to create links more often to continually have conversations in secret. The deer didn't seem satisfied with that answer but sat down anyways.

"Next question" Nick pointed to a cheetah standing near the middle of the group.

"Unlike hero's of Zootopia in the past you two already have your species out for the public to know. And in all the years that we have had superhero's there has never been a pred-prey duo. Do you think there will be backlash now that we all know that you are a fox, and you are a bunny?" The cheetah asked.

This time Judy spoke up, "of course there will be backlash, stereotypes never die for mammals like us. No matter what happens mammals will still see foxes as sly and mammals will always see me as weak. But we are willing to save any mammal no matter the bias or the stereotypes they may hold against us. As far as us working together, I never see myself working with anyone else for the rest of my life. Our relationship goes beyond the normal relationships of civilians."

"Wait, that brings me to another question. It is known that Wild One and Scarlet Fang are married, are you two in a relationship such as that yourselves?" The cheetah asked. The way she asked that Nick could tell she was trying to get the story rather then the true news, which is why he then stepped in.

"I'm sorry to butt in, but if we are in a relationship would any mammals here have a problem with it?" He asked to all the press, when no one reacted he scoffed in disbelief. "No please be honest, raise your hand if anyone here is discussed by inter species relationships" Slowly hands went up. It was roughly half of the reporters in the room who had their hands raised.

"Good, well here is your answer" Nick said turning to Judy and grabbing a hold of her.

'What are you doing?' She asked hectically.

Nick froze and smirked at her, 'giving them a show'.

He then pulled her in and kissed, ignoring the immense camera flashes and all out yells from the crowd.

'And this is the show stopper'

Thank you. That is what I want to say first and foremost. Thank you thank you thank you. I have truly enjoyed writing this story and I'm glad that you have enjoyed reading. This is the end of the first part, I'm debating whether to stop it here and create a new story or to just continue on in this story. I will solve that problem and you will see the outcome soon enough. Considering the story will pick up right after this I'm most likely going to just continue it here. In this chapter I have introduced the next problem that they will face, and boy is it a doozy. Anyways, I have been writing a lot lately because I have nothing better to do while in quarantine, but I will be taking a short break for now to just let people read the story and get up to this point. I hope you all stick around for the next part I promise that you will enjoy it more than this portion. This chapter is also exceptionally long so I hope you enjoyed that, they won't normally be that long. I really hope you enjoyed this portion of the story as well as this chapter. If you have any questions about the plot or if I left something wide open please let me know, I do work alone and at 3 in the morning so I miss some things.

Thank you once again. Go wash your hands and stay safe.

DAG