Chapter 1: City of Animals
I groaned as I woke up. My vision was blurry, but it managed to return. Seriously, what happened just now? Okay, I seriously need to take a break from reading fantasy stories. 'Cause it's really starting to affect my head. However, when I started to get up, everything seemed a little strange. I was in some kind of alley, but everything looked a little...big. Looking around, I found an exit that was lit by the sun. When I made my way towards it, I had to turn my head away for the moment from that bright light. As my eyes started to adjust, they widened while I gave a small gasp of complete shock of where I was…
Not only was I in some kind of big city, I was seeing animals! They looked and acted human as they were dressed in many different clothes, but every animal came in all different shapes and sizes. As I started walking on the sidewalk and passing by a porcupine, I sighed and said, "Okay, this is gotta be a very weird dream I'm having."
I wanted to think this was a dream so I could wake up from it, but reality managed to slap me in the face as I gasped and nearly bumped into a big male tiger as he said to me, "Hey, watch where you're going, cat."
Wait, did he just call me a cat?
I sighed as I turned my head, then I gave a small yelp as I jumped when I saw my reflection through the glass, knowing that it was only myself that I got spooked from. However, when I started to realize that it was me in that reflection, I became even more shocked by what I was seeing. Not only was that male tiger right about me, but I was a cat.
My form was that of an ordinary tabby cat while my fur was orange. My long blonde hair remained the same along with my sky-blue eyes, and my clothes that I just wore at school remained the same as it consisted of a dark-blue jacket with a grey hoodie, light-blue shirt, and blue jeans. I looked down and hoped that my brown boots would be there, but they weren't as I was barefoot, showing off my cat-like feet. As I returned to look at my reflection, something seemed off. I noticed a brown bag strapped on me as it hung diagonally on my left shoulder which was odd. "Don't remember you," I said. Looking at the bag, I opened it up and reached inside. When I felt something hard, I pulled it up, only to realize it was the same book from earlier. My eyes glared as I said in a hard tone, "You! You're the reason I'm in this mess. Why did you bring me here?"
It's gonna sound strange, but the book seemed to answer my question as it opened by itself and the pages moved on their own. I looked left and right, hoping nobody saw that as I turned my attention back to the book as words appeared as it said:
Seek out the rabbit who is clever and has a heart of a hero who will help you gather allies
Find a creature who is soft and looks innocent but has a heart filled with darkness
And find this
Below the words a weird looking image of a key appeared. There was no head as it only looked like a cylinder, and at the bottom there was a star symbol, but at the center of it had a paw symbol. More words appeared as the last of it showed me:
The road is treacherous so be on your guard
Darkness has already spread in this world and it may seek to destroy you
I was shocked at that last part. "What's that supposed to mean?"
It didn't give me a straight answer this time as the words disappeared, leaving only the image of that key I was supposed to find. Those words weren't cryptic, but at least I know two things. The first is that I need to find this "rabbit" this book told me about. The second is that I need to "find a creature who is soft and looks innocent but has a heart filled with darkness" so I could find this key that this creature has. That part looked more like a riddle to me as that one was going to be hard. What was even harder was finding the rabbit. So where was this rabbit in a big city like this?
Well, no use standing there as I sighed and put the book back in the bag as I started my search in finding this rabbit first. While I was walking on the streets, I couldn't help but admire this world. Speaking of which, where was I? This wasn't Glendale Town and what is the name of this city I was in? I had to put those questions on hold as I started asking around. I asked a female cheetah where I could find a rabbit, she told me if I wanted to meet rabbits, I had to take the train to Bunnyburrow. I even asked her if there are any rabbits here in this city and she told me she doesn't know.
I even asked another animal, this time another male tiger as I asked him if there were any rabbits. Better yet, did any of them serve the city like fire departments or something. He gave me an odd look and told me he doesn't know any rabbits here and again I was told if I wanted to find some. Go to Bunnyburrow.
This was getting me nowhere. How am I going to find a rabbit in a big city like this?
I bumped into a male fox as he said to me, "Excuse me, kid."
Wanting to give my luck a third time's the charm, I called out to him, "Excuse me, sir." He looked at me as I got a good look at him. The male fox wore a light-green Hawaiian shirt, dark-indigo necktie with red and blue stripes, and tan khakis. His eyes were green while his nose was dark purple. "I'm looking for a rabbit here in this city. Do you know where I could find one?"
He gives me an odd look and answers, "A rabbit?"
"Yeah. Not the ones in BunnyBurrow, but a rabbit who works here in this city. Something that's big and heroic-"
"Heroic?"
"I know it's gonna sound weird," I sighed. "Just bare with me. It has do with something heroic like: a doctor, a soldier, a firefighter maybe, or-"
"A Meter Maid," he smiled at me.
"Yes! A Meter Maid!" I said excited, but then I became confused after answering that. "Wait what? But I thought that-"
"Yeah, the 'heroic' thing is definitely not the right answer for you."
My eyes widened as this fox must know something. "Hold on. Do you know where the rabbit is?"
"No, but I have an idea where she might be."
"Can you show me?"
The fox shrugged and said, "Sure, why not. Follow me, kid."
Finally, now I'm getting somewhere! While the fox led me where the rabbit might be, I said to him, "Thank you so much for the help, Mr. Fox."
"Please kid, don't call me 'Mr. Fox', it's Nicholas Wilde, and it's a pleasure um…"
"Tracy Kaden, and it's nice to meet you." I offered my hand...well, uh, paw in a greetful manner as he shook it. While he continued to lead me, I looked at him as he seemed to not take his eyes off me. "What?"
"You're not from around here, are you?"
"No. What gave out that idea?"
"Well, for one, I've never seen a cat like you here in Zootopia. And two, you look like you just got here 'cause of that bag you're carrying."
Wow, nice deduction. I guess him being a fox doesn't mean he's blind to notice some things about me. I shrugged my shoulders and said to him, "I guess you're right about one thing, I am-" I stopped myself as I remembered him saying a name about this city. "Hold on. You said 'Zootopia'. Is that the name of this city I'm in?"
"Uh, yeah," he answered while giving me an odd look. Then he raises an eyebrow. "Are you telling me you don't know about this place?"
I nodded my head truthfully to him.
His eyes widened with shock. "Wow, you really must be new here." His shocked look changed back to normal. "So, where are you from?"
"Glendale Town."
"Glendale Town? Never heard of it."
"Yeah, like you said I'm not really from here. So can we please not talk about this?"
"Okay," Nick shrugged. "If you don't wanna talk about it, I won't pry."
That was good to hear and I'm glad he understands. Besides, how am I supposed to explain to him that I'm not from here? Better yet, how could I tell him that I'm not even a cat and I'm just a human girl. He'll probably laugh and think that I'm crazy. So for now, I'll just have to keep this to myself. Still, it's been one weird and screwed-up day so far.
We walked for about an hour now until we came to a street that had parking meters. Then Nick said to me, "Now, to find your meter maid rabbit, I suggest you follow these parking meters. She could be on shift if you're lucky, but she could be around here if you look for those."
"Alright, but why are you saying 'she'?"
"Yeah, I met her just yesterday, you'll know when you see her. Give my regards for the would-be cop. Hope she makes it big."
"O-kay," I said slowly. The way that he was acting seemed like he didn't like her. I shrugged it off and said to him, "Well, thanks for the help."
"Anytime kid," he pats me on the back. "Good luck on finding your rabbit."
I gave my nod as I ran off, but I turned around for a moment while Nick had his back turned as I said, "I appreciate it, Nick!"
He didn't look at me as he gave a backwards salute.
I started looking around the streets that had parking meters, hoping that I would find the she-rabbit that Nick spoke about. So far, I had no luck and thought maybe her shift was done and I missed out on her. My luck seemed to turn around when I finally spotted her. However, Nick wasn't kidding about her being a meter maid, she didn't look like she was part of the law enforcement and was instead in parking enforcement. I watched as she returned to the car and started to slowly bump her head on the steering wheel, clearly I could tell she was not liking this job. Honestly though, I thought the book described her to be the one that has the heroic heart and maybe she could help since she's a cop, but she didn't look the part. I sighed and nodded as I placed my back on the pole of a parking meter and said, "This is stupid." I placed a paw on my forehead. "Tracy, what were you thinking?"
I didn't know what to do. It felt completely hopeless and I wasn't even sure I could get out of here and back to where I came from…
Then it happened as I heard a door burst open and I only caught a glimpse of a weasel running out of a florist shop. A male pig comes out of the shop and goes to the rabbit. Getting a little curious, I decided to get a little closer since I couldn't hear what either of them were saying as I heard the pig yell, "My shop! It was just robbed! Look, he's getting away!"
I thought she was going to sit there and do nothing, thinking that I was right and she wasn't the one the book told me about. I was wrong when the next thing happened after the pig said to the rabbit while he shook her car, "Well, are you a cop or not?"
"Oh, yes! Yes! Don't worry, sir! I've got this!"
I watched as she got out of the car, then took off after the weasel while tossing aside her bowler hat and took off her orange vest. I couldn't see what else she was wearing, but I muttered, "That's her."
That's right everybody! I decided to start Tracy off in the world of Zootopia since I have prior experience to turning humans into animals. Don't worry though, she'll be human again once this part is over. Speaking about parts, why don't we get this title opening started while also showing off the plot summary!
(A twelve-pointed star manifests around a space of stars. A symbol of three circles that formed a mouse head is drawn in front of the said star, then glows golden. Right next to the symbol were words that were written in silver.)
Guardians of the Multiverse
(Below the title were more words that were also written in silver.)
Part 1: Savage Mammals (Summary):
Tracy Kaden, a young high-school student who lives in a boring town called: Glendale. Has her life completely changed forever when she finds a mysterious book in the library and a mysterious old man who lets her have it. The moment she opens it, she's immediately thrust into the world filled with walking and talking animals. What's even stranger, she's become a cat! Now, with the guidance of a simple magical book who gives her a cryptic riddle and a harrowing warning, she must now help a rabbit cop and a smooth-talking con fox solve the mystery of the predators going savage. While at the same time, they must solve an even bigger mystery of the Guardians of the Multiverse.
