Disclaimer: A "Housepets!" fanfiction written by ZeroTheFated. "Housepets!" and all characters are in strict copyright of Rick Griffin and has not been use for profit purposes. However, "Zero Saint" is copyrighted by me (ZeroTheFated) Please support the offical release.
Prologue
"The town of Babylon Gardens, a nice quiet place for nice residence to get away from it all. A place where both humans and animals both live in happiness in our safe homes. That's what you might think, right? Well if you thought that, you were partially correct. There are some people who live and has accepted this ever changing town. It wasn't like this back then. They just chose to ignore those obvious changes. But there are some of us out there who lives by our code. We hide in plain sight. Not to be seen by the rest of the world. Swift as a butterfly, and if the situation calls for it, we sting like a bee. We live life on the edge even if it means we have to flip, skip, jump...or run. We survive. We are the Survivors...We are the Runners."
The moonlight sky shinned through the hole in the ceiling. It's gentle touched glazed over the desk and a three monitor computer system. The place was quiet, not a single noise was heard. That was until a huge snore came from in front of the computer. An orange feline with a purple collar and a tag with the initial "M" on it laid it's head upon the system's keyboard. That caused some complications on one of the screens. It seemed as if he was working on a document then suddenly collapsed out of exhaustion. It read:
"We are happy to announce that Team Suihg fhxfghjjlh jADBVNLD EVKSBVL ADBVL KLhvjgcvh"
On another monitor was a very detailed map of the down-town area of Babylon. It showed all the different types of skyscrapers. Different buildings that was either full or under construction. Everything really.
The feline moved his arm and accidentally swiped the wireless mouse from off the desk and onto the floor. The mouse had hit the surface with an average bam and a click following it. It wasn't enough to wake up the sleeping cat but to assure you what was next had the certain qualifications to do the job. The mouse had hit the floor, it clicked the mute icon and returned the music to it's original volume. With a loud burst, the speakers yelled.
"GET UP OFF THE GROUND!"
The orange cat woke up and immediately fell back from his seat and onto the floor. The music followed with a loud rhythmic tune of drums and guitar. Once again it yelled.
"SAVE YOURSELVES!"
With Marvin rising up from the floor he recognize the song from one of the computer screens. Marvin sighed to himself and swore under his breath. He was sure to turn a certain individual black cat inside out for putting this song on his playlist without his permission.
Marvin turned the volume down as he continued to whatever it was he was doing.
Meanwhile, not to far, a female purple feline moved through the night. She was nimble and fast. She knew the city as if it was implanted on the back of her brain. Everywhere and everything was a new pathway in which she could use to advance on. She took all risks that seemed impossible and kicked logic out to complete her task. It was her code. She never liked being tied down, and deep within her heart, even though it still hurts, she never liked being a pet either. It wasn't like she liked being a stray, and she was far from it. This cat just like to do things her way at her time. A very independent girl. In that place, it was clouded and cluttered. Now that she was out and about she felt free. The sky was the limit and she was able to live life on the edge.
The lavender cat came to, what seemed like a dead end on a top of a roof. But to her, just another route that could be taken. Quickly coming up to the 'dead end', she quickly glanced over to the building on her right. As if everything went in slow motion she was able to notice that the building was still under construction, had a bunch of unfinished brick walls, ply-wood wide enough to springboard off of lying on the floor, and most importantly a crane that was inactive because of the time of night it was. It covered between most of the huge gap between the two buildings. All she needed was a little boost.
The feline looked to her front and without the slightest hint of hesitation in her body she sprinted forward. As soon as she saw it, a sturdy enough billboard, her legs lifted from the surface of the roof to the billboard. With a couple of steps in, she leapt from the wall, soaring over the gap and landed on the very tip of the crane. She slid down the shaft and safely made it onto the roof of the other building. With a surprise look on her face, she turned back not believing in what just happened. Never in a million years she thought she was able to do that, let alone have the courage to. It showed her how much she grown from the days of sitting in that house. She shook her head facing forward and continued on her way.
Without missing a step she slid under a heating pole that connected a temporary portable heating system to the top of the apartment until the humans installed a boiler. It didn't just end there though. With an amazing boost of speed she had spring-boarded, grabbed ledges, slid down slanted roofs made of glass, even just for the hell of it, retried some of those things just to see if there could be some other outcome or alternative way.
But soon the fun had come to an end when she finally arrived to her destination. The place looked abandoned. Regardless of her just standing on the roof, it looked as if one wrong move and it would collapse under pressure. The building itself was a failed project that the humans decided to scrap and not go back to. It's crumbling walls, creaky floors, and broken steps were only some of the problems that was listed. But this place was her haven, her home for the time being. Coming to this place after a run like that was just soothing. It got her mind off thinking. Sure she had almost everything she could ask for as a pet but being free, there was something about it. No rules, more space, everything she could ask for. She wasn't abandoned, she left. Being loved wasn't the problem. She knew darn well it wasn't the love she was receiving from her owners, or parents in her case, that drove her away. At times even she doesn't know. But it must've had something to do with that day. The very day that made her into what she is today.
Back with Marvin, his eyes were glued to the middle screen of the computer as the moonlight was interrupted by a shadow. "Max I swear to Santa if that's you. I'm gonna..." He turned furiously to see the lavender cat smiling at him. "G-Grape! You're back!"
The purple feline jumped into the hole and approached Marvin. "Yep just got back. So how's my favourite kitty?" Grape said as she walked past him brushing her paw on the back of his computer lounge chair and to the fridge.
"He's not here. But when we does..."
"How do you know I'm not talking about you?" Grape questioned as she tossed him a water bottle. Marvin caught it looking at her with his eyelids half closed inspecting she knew the answer to that question.
Grape smiled. "Just teasin' ya. So what's new?"
The orange cat turned back around to face his computer, "You came back just at the right time. The new Underground: Edge Race Tournament is about to begin. You might want to get the team back together. Even though you might be able to win the whole thing yourself, considering."
"That's flattering. Did you get the info about the other teams and competitors yet?" The purple feline asked as she came behind the orange cat. She gazed over the three screens. The far right was the map of down-town Babylon, one that she didn't need, the middle had a document that related to the tournament. She thought, like every year, their entry form telling who's gonna be on who's team and whatnot. The left though caught her attention though. The teams were listed and bios of the competitors were right under them.
"As you can see I did my research while you were gone. This year brought out some tough and weird characters. Most, if not all of the teams consists of pets we know. And that's not all, since last year's been heavy, 'you know who' is gonna be there at every turn, and they're packing heat.
"Relax Marvin you worry to much. So whose the contestants this year?"
Marvin scrolled down for Grape could have access to the names of some of the teams.
"First we have Team Bino, pretty much self explanatory. With Bino as the Leader, Fox as his Wingman, and Rex as his Power House. Just in case you forgot, which I'm pretty sure you didn't. I'll explain the categories and what each type does."
Grape patted the orange feline on his head. "You don't have to do that. I know all of this already. Did you forget I'm not a newcomer."
Marvin didn't bother to look her way. "What does The Wingman do and why does every team need one?" He stopped typing on the keyboard just for a minute and looked to Grape. Her face was priceless. A smile that indicated that she might have been slacking on the actually intellectual part of this tourney, just a little. Knowing that he got one over on her Marvin chuckled and went back to his document.
"Alright, using Team Bino as an example. I'll explain the basics. You have three categories that are essential to win this contest. If you're in a group like us then you might have four classes instead of three. My job is the Support, or what everyone calls it Home Base. Like you know, I'm the one to make sure the team is qualified to enter the races. During the races I could find back roads and alternative pathways. Not much help to you, but during the races, you'll be wearing the locator bands on your arms. With that I can be able to locate the other team's players. But being that we're an all cat team you guys probably don't need me as much. But even we have flaws that could be fixed."
Grape grabbed a chair that was as luxurious as Marvin's. It didn't have speakers on the head rest, it didn't recline back, nothing. It was just a plain old chair. She faced the chair backwards and sat facing the computer. "So what's next?"
"The main three classes that are the key to winning this tourney. I'll try to explain it a little shorter. First up, the Power House. The name doesn't imply that the strongest member plays apart in it. You don;t have to be able to punch through somebody's spine in order to take this position. It just means that they can 'power' through the obstacles in their way. That's when we have the advantage over this team. They chose Rex, who is in fact strong and probably could bust a spine right open but he knows close to nothing of the streets. That's why we have Max as ours. His knowledge of the streets, all the shortcuts, and back alleyways of the entirety of Babylon Garden will surely give us an edge."
Grape smiled and chuckled. "Maxie's gonna abuse the mess out of that title."
Marvin continued with a roll of his eyes. "The next is the Wingman or in our case the Wing-Woman. This part of the race will get the most difficult and the most heavy. Originally we were going to have you be the Wing but remembering what happened last time. The alternate pathways would seem to expand and we would need somebody who can both be nimble and able to disappear from the sight of Peta and the cops, hence Sabrina.
"Hey last time wasn't my fault. PETA trained Runners to go after us."
"And you decide to challenge them to a race while in the middle of one already. Thank goodness for Max."
"That guy had it coming. Anyway, I guess I'm the last bit. A straight forward run to the goal. Using my skills I can get us a win in no time."
Marvin looked unsure for a brief moment. "Things have changed since you left Grape. Like I said earlier this year's gonna be more heavy and more heat will be on the runners. It's not gonna be that easy. Those people aren't trying to just capture us. They see us as a threat and are aiming to kill us...you especially. I mean they already..."
Grape immediately interrupted Marvin's remark as her paw slammed on his desk. "I know...that's why we have to win. I'm gonna show those bastards a piece of my mind. They won't have it their way...not again."
The orange feline sighed once more as they continued with the other teams. "Then there's Team Devastation." Marvin typed a command on this keyboard that made the third screen highlight the team's name and contenders.
"Wow even outside of duty those three are together." The purple cat looked in awe.
Marvin highlighted the German Shepard first. "You would think Ralph would be the Leader of the three but he's actually the Power House. Being inside the force for sometime he knows the place inside and out. And what I mean about inside is that he might go into buildings and use tunnels of some sort. That's how good he is. Every corner and crevice is an opportunity for him. Just like you but with experience, not as a runner but a cop. Watch out, this team might be working for them. I'd say that if Fido wasn't Fido."
"You know I would've thought Kevin would be the Power House." Grape stated.
"Remember what happened last year. They switch up every race. All I know is there formation for the first race and that's not even up against us. But not to say that Fido and Kevin aren't qualified but Ralph has been in the force for some time now, way longer than the other two, and he was able to achieve the level as Sergent. They have the advantage overall."
Grape folded her arms and laid her chin on them. "So it's pretty easy to guess the other two's positions."
"We were almost unprepared for them last year. This time we have to be extra careful." Marvin said as he gave a quick glance to Grape than back to his computer.
"So what about the other teams?"
"Well we have two other main teams that are competing. Team Backlash, and another that you might be shocked about."
"Then what about Backlash." Grape said as she pointed to their name. "I haven't heard anything about them before."
The orange cat did all he could with putting commands into the computer, but whatever he did the profiles haven't shown. He sighed in frustration. "I haven't had any luck with this team. Everything is incognito with this squad. I fear for the worst. They might be working with PETA."
Grape stood up from her chair with a fearless expression on her face. "If Backlash is working with those dirt bags then we'll just do what we do best." She started to head out until Marvin called out to her again.
She looked back with a face of sheer determination. Marvin couldn't help but give a smile. "Great to see you back again Grape."
"It's good to be back. Now get some sleep, you look like hell." Grape jumped, grabbed the ledge and elevated herself out of their little HQ as the hole closed causing a little light to come on from the inside.
Marvin's face, seeing as she left, fell flat. He didn't have the strength to tell her about what's to come. Grape had a surprise coming her way, a huge one.
The orange feline let his hands glide over the keys of the keyboard. His fingertips typed a code for the profiles of the next team. It ailed "Team Underdog." Pets that were well known all around Babylon were on this team. But his gaze went to just two pets. One, someone very close to himself. His brother, a dog by the name of Tiger. Someone who would rather eat than do anything else. Now he was in this situation, this very dangerous situation. His paws traced the outlines of his temples as he could feel a headache starting to bring it's pain toward his cranium. He looked at the profiles once again but this time saw a Canadian Pointer Mix, his smile as gentle as a butterfly's wings. His name...Peanut.