Episode 17 – Big Things in Small Packages
"Alright kids, time for a math test!" The armadillo teacher said in a sing song voice.
There was a collective groan from the class of young mammals in front of her.
The teacher handed out the test papers, which contained very difficult things like multiplication and even beginner's division. This, of course, bored some of the students. A tiger near the front of the class began to doodle on his paper after just a few minutes.
"Timothy!" The teacher snapped. "No doodling until after you've finished!"
The tiger cub grunted, and reached into his desk for an eraser. He started erasing the doodle, but suddenly felt someone grip tightly onto his arm. In a split second, he was lifted into the air.
"I'll be taking that."
It was a cheetah in a tan longcoat and a pair of goggles, who quickly plucked the eraser from the tiger cub's hand, and threw him backwards.
"Who are you!?" The teacher said, getting up. "How did you get in here!?"
The cheetah glanced at the armadillo, and then back at the eraser, which he gripped tightly in his paw. "Buglers," He started, snapping his fingers. Suddenly, a series of purple, robotic monster began to burst out from under the desks, sending most of the children flying. He motioned around the room. "Dispose of them."
The buglers pulled out their large claw weapons. The armadillo, at the sight of this, immediately popped into her shell. The robots herded the children and teacher into the corner of the room, and prepared to execute them.
"STOP IT RIGHT THERE!"
The cheetah let out a groan, and turned to the entrance of the classroom as the three Zoorangers ran in.
"ZOORANGERS!" The children, and teacher, cheered, annoying the cheetah further.
"I know it's been a month," Red started with a bit of a chuckle. "But attacking a school is really the best you could think of?"
"Au contraire, mon amies!" He said slyly, holding up the eraser in one paw, and a card in the other. "I'm here to seal your final defeat."
He quickly jabbed the card into the eraser, and tossed it up into the air as it began to glow. The three stepped back, waiting for the monster to form.
The eraser quickly plummeted to the ground with a thud.
"Merde." Enter said, looking down at the eraser. "I don't even have a Megazord to make up for it this time." He rubbed his temples as everyone stared in silence. The faux-cheetah then turned to the Buglers. "Just distract them while I go work something else out." He said, sounding frustrated. Enter snapped his fingers, and vanished in a burst of red data particles.
Everyone in the room, including the Buglers, looked around, confused. "That was supposed to do something, right?" Silver asked, rubbing his neck.
"I'd… assume so." Blue said, also confused.
"So, are you going to save us or what?" Asked the curled-up teacher.
"Oh, yeah!" Blue let out. "Sorry about that."
She examined the setting. Six Buglers, surrounding a class of animals in the corner. "Alright, here's the plan," She started. "Red, take the left three, Silver, take the right three."
"Alright, sure." Red shrugged. She was leader, what she said goes. The wolf also nodded. The two quickly leaped into action, each pulling out their blades.
Red quickly twisted the blade around, and smacked the three Buglers aside. Silver quickly followed. This paved a way for Blue, as she ran towards the group of children. "Alright, it's safe to leave!" She said as she began escorting the group out of the corner. The kids quickly ran out of the classroom.
"Alright, everyone's safe!" She said, rubbing her paws together.
"Excuse me?"
Blue turned to face the armadillo, still rolled up. "Oh, sorry ma'am!" She apologized, quickly rushing behind her and kicking her towards the door. As she hit the wall next to the exit, she unrolled, and quickly crawled out of the room.
"Alright, NOW everyone's safe!" She said. She quickly whipped out her blasters, and fired on the Buglers, wiping them out in only a few seconds.
"Hilariously weak, as always." Red joked. "You'd think he'd get them upgraded at some point."
"Yeah, maybe go from an alpha to a beta." Silver followed up. Both of them looked at him, confused. "That's a computer joke."
"Ooooooh."
The class entered. "That was amazing!" One of the kids said.
"You saved our lives!" The teacher said, before she looked around the class. In the fight, most of the desks had been turned over, and the tests had been completely destroyed. She let out a sigh, and picked up a few scraps. "There goes the test." She muttered. Suddenly an idea hit her. "Okay class, instead of doing that math test, why don't we have the Zoo Rangers here give us a… a presentation?"
The three instantly jolted up, as the kids began to cheer.
The armadillo walked over to them. "Sorry if this is a bit sudden, but I need something to fill out the period, and a lot of the kids here really love you, so…"
"We'd love to!" Blue blurted out, much to the shock of Red and Silver.
"Actually, we'd like to discuss it a bit in private first." Red hastily interjected. "C'mon, Blue."
The three walked into the hall as the class began to set up the desks. "Alright, Carrots, what are you doing?" Red asked.
"What do you mean?"
"You're the one who's always worried about our secret identities getting out." He said. "And now you want to give a talk to a bunch of children?"
"Red, they're kids, it's not everyday they get to see real super heroes!" She argued.
He sighed. "So, who's doing this presentation anyway?" The fox asked. "Because I'm not."
"I have bad social anxiety, so I'm out." Silver said. "You should do it, Blue!"
"But, I don't have anything prepared." She said, a bit nervous.
"Well, you're the one who wanted to do this," Red interjected. "And you're our leader, so…"
"Alright, I will." The three stepped back into the class, which was still a bit messy, but the kids each had their own desks at least.
The teacher was sat at her own desk. "So, are you ready?" She asked.
The rabbit was about to say yes, but was interrupted by the fox. "Indeed, we are, and we couldn't think of anyone better to do it than our own leader." He slapped the rabbit on the back.
One of the kids, a young female leopard, raised her paw. Blue cleared her throat. "Um, yes, you have a question?"
"Are you really the Zoo Ranger's leader?" She asked.
"Uh, yes, I am!" Blue said proudly, but still a bit nervous. "Officially elected leader of the Zoo Rangers."
The leopard reached over to a female sheep next to her, and they high-fived.
A tiger cub raised his paw shortly after. Blue pointed towards him.
"I want to be a Zoo Ranger when I grow up, how did you guys get to become them?"
They three quickly looked at each other. "Kid's throwing out the hard questions already," Red jokingly whispered. "He'd make an excellent journalist."
"Well, um…" Blue started, a bit awkwardly. "We were specially picked to be the Zoo Rangers, because of our specialties." She explained. It wasn't exactly a lie, but it wasn't the whole truth either. "So, if you really want to be a Zoo Ranger when you grow up, then you need to work towards that goal!"
She was starting to sound a bit more confident. "You need to try and be the best mammal you can possibly be, you need to help others, you need to not judge. You might not always start off at your dream, but by working there. We didn't start out as Zoo Rangers, but its because of who we were that let us protect others. Not just our friends, our loved ones, but everyone."
There was a slight pause, everyone was looking at her, at how intense she had started to become.
"So, if you want to be a hero, not a super hero, but a real hero, you need to try. Stand up for those you love, protect those that are weak, but most importantly, be kind." Another pause. "I hope that answered your question, maybe?"
There was clapping. Had the incredibly impromptu, unprepared speech really been that good? "That was really good, Blue!" Silver complimented. Apparently, it had been.
Unbeknownst to the Zoorangers, hiding under the desks was a very tiny monster. It was shaped exactly like an eraser, but with small arms poking out of its sides, and large, for its size, feet poking out from the bottom. Most of its body was covered in an eraser sleeve, which was red with a white stripe through the middle. On one side, it had the words "DATA ERASER" written on it. In the top middle of the center stripe was a silver, heart shaped logo, with a red dot in the middle. It looked up at them with four red eyes, two shaped like blocks, and two slanted and surrounded by a circle.
"My master may have abandoned me… again, but this time I will not fail!" It squeaked. The blue one was still talking, looking directly towards where he was. He just needed a good opportunity to hitch a ride, and go to their secret base! "I'll have their data erased in no time, and Master Enter will love me for sure!" He laughed.
He quickly got bored as the talking continued for almost an hour. He wished he could erase their mouths. He wasn't even sure what they were talking about.
"Even we're not entirely sure how it works," Blue started, holding up a ZooTag. "But somehow, these ZooTags, as we call them, can summon equipment for us to fight monsters with! Like so!"
She quickly plugged in the ZooTag, summoning the Buster Boxers onto her paws, but not after it ended its quick bit of noise making.
"Are they always that loud?" The teacher asked, uncovering her ears.
"Unfortunately, yes." Red said.
"Mine aren't." Silver interjected.
A bit later, and the monster was starting to lose patience. "C'mon, just leave already!" it said. There was suddenly the sound of a bell ringing.
"Oh, that's all the time we have for today!" The teacher said, a collective groan going throughout the class. She turned to the Zoorangers and quickly shook each of their paws. "Thank you all so much for the speech, and for saving us!"
"It's absolutely no problem!" Blue said as the armadillo shook her paw. "It is kind of our job."
"We should probably be heading out now too." Red said. "We do have our own things to do." The other two nodded, and all three said their goodbyes.
"Alright, it's go time!" The eraser monster said, watching as the three started to exit. Using as much leg strength as it could muster, the robot quickly followed them out, barely seconds before the door slammed shut. He looked back at the door, and wiped his brow. "That was close."
He turned back to the Zoorangers, who were still walking off. "Oh, hey wait up!" He quickly hustled after them.
The three reached outside, and ran to a windowless side of the building, untransforming. "You know, that felt pretty good." Nick said. "Getting some actual recognition does an ego good."
"You didn't have to come up with a speech on the spot." Judy said. "That was horribly stressful."
"Oh, come on, the speech was great!"
The eraser monster quickly stumbled onto the grass. "Alright, time for my master plan to start!" He said to himself. He quickly ran at them, and leaped into the air, latching onto the back of Judy's police uniform.
"Ack!" She let out, not knowing the eraser monster had hit her. "Stupid mosquitos."
"Guess we should head back to the station now, huh?" Nick said, stretching out.
"Sorry, I'm supposed to be on patrol with Delgato." Max said. "I'll be seeing you later."
They watched as he walked off. "So, you gonna drive?" Nick asked.
"I have never, ever seen you drive before." She said. "So, what do you think the answer is?"
"Yes?"
She groaned.
The ride back was dreadful.
Not for the two officers, but for the eraser monster. For twenty minutes, his body was being pressed into a seat cushion. Thankfully, he didn't need to breath, but if he had, he would be dead. The music that was playing didn't help. Not a single good song had been played.
"Uggghh, why do we have to listen to your playlist?" Nick groaned.
"Well, maybe if you drove, you'd get to play your music." Judy explained.
"I have a perfectly good reason for not driving." He retorted.
"What is it?"
"Uh, I'll tell you later."
She rolled her eyes. In "Nick", that translated to "I don't actually have an excuse".
"So, did you think it was weird how Enter just kinda failed at making a monster?" He asked, trying to change the subject.
She decided to roll with it. "Yeah, it was odd." She said. "Maybe there's just a very slim failure chance?"
'Fools!' the monster thought to itself, face still pressed into the seat cushion. 'Your doom is coming, and you don't even realize it!'
The car stopped, and the two hopped out of the cruiser. The eraser could finally feel its face again! As they walked into the station, it quickly leaped down from the ground, and let out a small chuckle.
"They're secret base must be around her." It whispered, looking around. "Once I find it, I can delete all their important files, meaning they won't be able to do… heroic… things anymore!" It let out another small laugh. "Master Enter is going to be so proud of me!"
"Alright, hurry up, Bogo's gonna be upset if we don't get to work." Nick said. "Traffic duty won't handle itself." He paused for a second. "Why are we even at the station?"
"I, uh, forgot my notepad." Judy said, meekly. "We kinda had to rush out to fight the monsters, I didn't have time to grab it."
"You and your notepad, yeesh." He sighed. "Well, hurry up and get it, or else Bogo's going to be steaming mad."
She nodded, terrified of the prospect of an even angrier Bogo. She quickly rushed to grab her notepad, and then back to the main lobby, where the fox was playing with his phone. "Alright, time to roll!" She said, sticking the notepad into her pocket.
"You're still faster than I think you are." Nick said, putting his phone into his pocket.
The two started walking towards the exit, but Judy quickly paused as she stepped on something. Something that seemed to be making a very high pitched noise.
Oh god, had she just stepped on a mouse?
"Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry!" She cried, lifting her foot up.
"What, what's going on?" Nick said, turning to her.
"I think I just stepped on…" She leaned down. She could still hear the high-pitched scream, but all she could see was a small eraser on the ground.
An eraser with arms. And legs.
"Nick, I think we just found the monster." She said, looking up to him.
The fox leaned down, looking at the eraser, confused. "So, he made an inch-tall monster?" He said, the monster's screaming not seeming to hit his ears. "That was supposed to be our doom?"
The eraser quickly got up, and stared at the fox. "I am your doom!" It yelled.
"Yeah." The fox said, doubtful. He quickly poked the eraser, causing it to tip over. "And how were you expecting to do that?"
The eraser sprung up again. "I was going to find your secret base, and delete all of your data, so you wouldn't be able to do anything!" It explained, before letting out a laugh.
The two mammals looked at each other, unimpressed. "You do know we don't have a secret base, right?" Judy asked.
"W-what!?"
"We also don't have any data or anything you could've deleted." Nick continued for her. "Your plan was a failure as soon as it started."
The monster fell over onto its back. "Ugh. I'm such a failure." It moaned. "Enter doesn't even know I exist, just end me now."
"Uh, alright." Nick shrugged, raising his foot up, primed to squash the eraser.
"NICK!" Judy yelled. "Don't do that!"
"What?" The fox said, lowering his foot. "It's asking for the sweet release of death, so…"
"He hasn't done anything!" She said. "Remember my speech? You need to protect those weaker than you if you want to be a hero." She looked down at the eraser, who was still laying prone on the ground. "And he's definitely weaker than us. I don't even think he's able to hurt others."
The fox rolled his eyes. "So, what do you want to do, oh righteous one?"
"We'll, um…" She thought for a second. "We'll take him to the apartment. And then we'll work something out."
She stepped over, and picked the monster off the ground. "What are you doing?" The monster asked as she gently placed it into her palm.
"We're taking you home." She said softly.
The fox shook his head as the rabbit exited the station. "This is a horrible, horrible idea."
She placed the eraser robot down onto the table. "Welcome to our apartment!" She cheerfully said. "And no, there is no secret base here, either."
"This is basically our less than secret base." Nick chimed in from across the room.
"Um, thank you for bringing me here." The monster said, a bit awkwardly. "I've never had anyone treat me this nice before."
"I mean, you work with a guy like Enter…" Judy trailed off a bit. "Anyway, we need to figure out more about you. So, let's start with your name!"
"My name is Eraserroid." He said.
"Alright, off to a good start." She said. "Next, what are your evil monster powers?"
"I can erase data."
There was some silence.
"Aaaand…?"
"That's it."
The rabbit leaned back in her chair, a bit surprised. "Usually monsters have one or two different things they can do." She said.
"I guess I am a failure…" The monster said, falling on his back again. It let out a surprisingly loud sigh. "I just want to be useful, but I always get ignored and I always mess up."
Judy thought for a second. "Maybe… maybe you weren't meant to be a villain."
"What?" Both the monster and the fox yelled, confused.
"I have the perfect idea!" She said, ears perking up. "We'll get you a job! You can become a… a productive member of society!"
"You cannot be serious, Carrots." Nick sounded, baffled.
"I am one hundred percent, completely serious!" She said, standing up and stomping her foot against the chair. "I am going to find Era here a job!"
"Who's 'Era'?" He asked.
"It's um, what I'm going to call him now." She explained. "Eraserroid is kind of a mouthful, not very good for conversations."
"Era…" The eraser said to itself. "I like it."
"Alright, Era, let's go find you a job!" She yelled, pumping her fist. Era joined in as well.
"Sorry to burst your bubble, but you do know we have jobs ourselves, right?" Nick said. "We're supposed to be on traffic duty right now."
"Wrong," Judy started, hopping down from the chair and over to the fox. "YOU have traffic duty now!" She quickly poked him in the chest.
"You can't be serious." The fox said in utter disbelief. "If you want to find him a job, then you need a way to get around, and we only have one car."
"We can take the bus!"
The two locked eyes. Judy stared at the fox with a smug look, while he glared at her from over the couch cushions.
"Fine." He let out. "You win, I'll go do traffic duty… by myself."
"Great!" She said, ears raising. The rabbit rushed to the table, and picked up the eraser. "Alright, let's do this!" She pumped her fist, and the eraser followed suit.
She skipped towards the door of the apartment. "BUT!" Nick sounded from the couch. Her ears drooped, and she turned to him. "If something goes horribly wrong," He continued. "You can't blame me. This is all on you."
She gave him a glare, and the fox gave her a sly wave. She opened the door, and quickly slammed it behind her.
The fox laughed, and looked down at his phone, feeling proud of his trickery. His eyes widened and his grin turned to a slight frown. He smacked his phone against his muzzle.
"Well, guess I have to learn how to drive now." He sighed.
"Alright, Ms. Hopps, why did you come to see me?" Asked the rather large horse sitting in front of her.
"Well, Principal Neywey, I have a friend that's looking for employment, and I wanted to set up a bit of an impromptu job interview." She explained.
"Alright." The horse said, a bit skeptical. "What position are they looking for? A teaching position?"
"Um, no."
"A secondary position?"
"Nope."
He tapped a pen against the desk. "…A janitor?"
She shook her head. "This is a bit of an odd request, but, um…" She placed her paw out, revealing Era.
"Hello!" He greeted, waving a mechanical arm around.
The horse looked down at the robot, and then back at the rabbit. "You do know that there's a smaller scale school in Rodentia, don't you?"
"Oh, of course I do!" She said. "But Era here wants to be a professional eraser assistant."
"What."
"He wants to be payed to be used as an eraser!" She explained. "You know, if a kid doesn't have one, they can just get him to come and erase something!"
"Uh, yeah!" Era chimed in, sounding a bit unsure.
The horse snorted. "Ms. Hopps, I appreciate your creativity, but there are many things wrong with your idea." He started. "For one, it's far more practical to just bring an eraser to a class room. Your idea requires the children to wait even longer. Second, that basically amounts to slave labor."
Her ears lowered for a second, before they perked back up. "Watch, he's really good at it!" She said, pulling her carrot pen and her notepad out. She quickly scribbled on it. "He's even better than a normal eraser!"
"Whoa!" Era let out as he was suddenly lifted into the air by Judy. He felt himself being tipped upside down, and slammed back into the ground. She dragged him across the paper, causing the robot to let out a horrific high pitched scream of pain.
She awkwardly looked up at the horse as the dragging and screaming continued. She glanced down at the page. He wasn't actually erasing anything. She gave a sheepish grin.
In what felt like seconds, they were back on the bus.
"Probably should have told you I'm not actually an eraser." Era said from atop the rabbit's head.
"No, it's my fault." She responded. "I shouldn't have assumed. Also, sorry for that whole… eraser thing."
"It's cool, I know you were just trying to help."
"So!" She quickly clasped her paws together. "I have a few other places lined up. The next one should actually use your talents, and not one I just made up!"
"I get to actually erase data?" he asked. The rabbit nodded, causing Era to fall off of her head. She quickly caught him in her paws.
"Sorry, I'm not used to having really small things on my head." She apologized.
"It's alright!" Era said. "So, where are we going next?"
"To a friend's place." She explained. "I told him I was coming to visit, said he had some computer issues."
"Oh, I see!" The eraser started. "You want me to help him out with it?" Judy nodded in response.
"'Scuse me?"
She looked up, seeing a giraffe looking down on her. "Are you talking to an eraser?" He asked.
"Who are you calling 'an eraser'?" Era said, insulted. "I am a highly advanced mechanical creature called a Metalroid, and I-"
Judy quickly slammed her paws together, quieting the eraser. "Yes, a very overzealous eraser."
After a bit, the two walked into a rather rundown looking apartment building. "Who would ever want to live here?" Era asked as Judy walked down the dingy hall, him in her paw.
"Well, the wi-fi's good." Judy said. "And it has a certain… charm."
He looked up at the rabbit. "You lived here, didn't you?"
She reluctantly nodded. "I was new to the city, and it was cheap…" Her ears perked up as she walked past what used to be her apartment door. "But I made some good friends!"
"Are we meeting one of them here?" Era asked. She nodded, and stepped up to a rather tall door.
"I still talk with them sometimes," She continued. "It's always nice to stay in touch with friends, right?"
"I wouldn't know because I've never had a friend before you!"
"Oh."
She closed her paw around the eraser, and knocked on the door. After a second, it opened, revealing an antelope.
"Hey Pronk!" She greeted, giving a slight wave.
"Judy, long time no see!" He greeted in return. "Why'd you want to come over?"
"Well, I need some help with a bit of a problem," She started, paw still clenched. "And you need help with a problem, and the problems relate, so…"
"Wait, you're here to help with Bucky's computer?" He asked. She slowly nodded. "I didn't realize you were computer savvy." He said, inviting the rabbit in.
The apartment was much bigger than hers was, though not as big as her current apartment. It mostly needed to house the two much taller mammals, and as such, most of the furniture was much bigger than her. It was still very similar to her old one, very ragged and worn down, but the two seemed to keep decent care of it.
"Well, I'm not actually that computer savvy." She admitted, walking towards the desktop computer. The chair alone stood twice her height. Actually, looking at it, the seat seemed to stand around the height of the humans she had encountered. She turned back to the antelope. "But, I do have a friend that is!" She finished.
"Really? When're they gonna get here?" He asked.
"He's right here!" She held out her paw, revealing Era, who began dancing around.
Pronk craned his neck down to look at the dancing robot. "So, this guy knows how to fix Bucky's computer?"
"Depends on the problem, actually!" Era started. "I can erase data, so if you need me to get rid of something, I'm your bot!"
"Even a virus?"
The eraser nodded.
"Great!"
"Where is Bucky, anyway?" Judy asked.
"He's been on a trip for the last week." Pronk explained.
"So, when did it get infected?"
"About two days ago."
The rabbit and the eraser looked at the antelope, confused. "Listen," He started. "I may have done something stupid on his computer."
"And you want the virus gone before he gets back, right?" Era asked. "That I can do!"
He leaped out of the rabbit's hand, and landed on the hardwood floor. He then performed a series of surprisingly large jumps, before reaching the computer's tower. With a final jump, he lodged his lower body into the USB port, struggling a bit to push himself in fully.
"I'll have this finished in a second!" He assured, giving a small, barely visible thumbs-up.
"I really gotta thank you for this, Judy." Pronk said, looking down at the rabbit. "Bucky has a ton of work on there, he'd kill me if he found out."
"Hey, don't thank me!" She said, placing a paw to her chest. She motioned towards Era. "Thank Era, he's great at this stuff." She swallowed for a second, and started to whisper to Pronk. "Do… do you think people would pay for this?"
"Cop business not working out?"
"No, no, no!" She said, waving her hands. She looked over at Era. "Well, it's more… I want Era to be a part of Zootopia, but he needs a job for that." Judy explained. "I just want him to find somewhere he's happy."
"I'm sure this could work out." Pronk assured. "There's lots of mammals out there who aren't good with electronics. Might do better in Rodentia, better scale."
"Thanks, I-"
"Um," Sounded Era from the computer tower. "We might have a, uh, small, tiny, itsy-bitsy… massive problem."
Judy gritted her teeth. "What happened?" She said with a cringe.
"I think I just deleted everything off the computer."
Both mammal's eyes widened.
"I got rid of the virus, though!"
Judy quickly ran over to the table, and yanked the robot out. "What happened!?" She yelled at him.
"I'm… I'm not used to this really basic tech!" He said, a bit embarrassed. "I mostly deal with high-tech supercomputers!" He tapped his metallic fingers together. "I can't help what I was designed to do…"
Her ears fell, and she let out a loud sigh. "I'm really sorry about this, Pronk." She apologized.
The antelope also let out a sigh. "It's fine, I know you were just trying to help." He said. "Bucky's very careful about this stuff though, he probably has a back-up or something."
"Let's hope."
The three said their goodbyes, and the rabbit stepped out of the apartment, eraser robot in paw. "I'm sorry for ruining that." Era apologized as they headed down the hall.
"it's fine!" She assured, though she was a bit unsure herself. "Those two care about each other a lot, I'm sure it'll all be fine."
Her ears suddenly popped up. "Besides, we have a full day ahead of us, and a bunch of jobs for you to try!"
They quickly dashed out of the hall.
Max yawned as he sat in the cruiser. Delgato had headed into a Clawbucks to get something for their short break, and Max had decided to stay in the car. Must've been a long line-up, probably would've been quicker to head through the drive through.
He leaned back in his seat, and then jolted up as his phone buzzed. He pulled it out and looked at the called ID.
"Why is Nick calling me?" He asked himself. He shrugged, and answered, putting the phone to speaker mode. "Nick, why are you calling me?"
"Hello to you too, Wolfsbane." The fox responded over the phone. "Listen, I need some help."
"Couldn't you just get your actual partner to help?" Max asked.
"Ha ha, no." He said awkwardly. "This is a problem Judy absolutely cannot know about."
"But it's fine to tell me, of course."
"I'm having some… car… issues." Nick explained.
"I'm not a mechanic, Nick."
"It's not actually car problems, Max." He said, growing frustrated. "I'm supposed to be doing traffic duty, but I'm kind of… lost."
"I thought you knew the city like the back of your paw?" Max questioned.
"I do, I just…" He sighed. "I can't really figure out how traffic works."
"…And you're an officer how?"
"I passed the driver's test, alright?" He said, Max could tell he sounded a bit insulted. "It's just… actually doing it with all these other cars around… It's like my brain just shuts off."
"Alright," Max started. Let's take this from the top. Where are you?"
"Meadowlands."
"And where are you supposed to be patrolling?"
"Savannah Square."
Max flung his paw into his face. "Don't you live in Savannah Square?"
"Yes." Nick said. "Told you I need help."
"You somehow got from Savannah Square to the other side of the city without even knowing how?" The wolf was completely baffled by this. "Don't you drive on a bike perfectly fine?"
"Well, I don't need to follow traffic laws when I'm superhero… ing." The fox excused. "Besides, it's a push button system, I just have to steer!"
"So, how exactly do you want me to help you?" Max asked, a bit confused. "Because I'm in the middle of Savannah Square, and unlike you I don't have physics defying car driving powers."
There was a pause, the fox seemingly contemplating the question. "Alright, I need you to tell Bogo that I got injured and am currently out of commission for the day. Think you can do that, pal?" He asked.
The wolf sighed. "Alright, but you owe me something later, alright?" He demanded. "Like, maybe a ride, or…" he paused for a second to think. Probably didn't want a ride, come to think of it.
"Ooor…?" Nick trailed.
"Alright, if I do this for you, you have to let me use one of your weapons in the next fight." He said.
"Deal." Nick sounded almost instantly. "Thank you for doing this. Hope I can get home soon, I mean, I have to eventually, right?"
"The laws of probability say that yes, you should be able to drive home eventually." Max said, sarcastically. He quickly spotted the tiger coming out of the coffee store. "Okay, Delgato's coming back, I need to go, see you."
"See you, Wolfsbane." He quickly hung up as the tiger entered the car.
"Bad line in there?" Wolford asked, a bit smugly.
"God, you wouldn't even believe." The tiger growled. "I swear, there were three different old ladies who kept changing their orders."
"We could've just taken the drive through."
"Yeah." Delgato agreed. "Going into those places is restricted to bathroom breaks now."
"Sounds fine to me." Wolford chimed. He paused for a second. "Do you know if there's a way to get from here to the Meadowlands?"
"Yeah," Delgato said, taking a sip from his coffee. "By train."
"What about by car?"
"That's literally impossible."
"Yeah, that's what I thought."
Judy tapped her pen against the notepad. Her and Era were seated outside a small café, Era specifically seated at a smaller table on top of hers. She stared at the notepad, a list written on it. It was a list of possible jobs she had written out for the eraser. "Alright, let's start from the top." She said, picking the notepad up, and looking at the eraser. "Professional eraser assistant?"
"Can't actually erase words." Era said as she marked it off the notepad.
"Door to door computer repairman?"
"Too small, not used to most computers."
"Cashier?"
"Managed to delete everything off the register."
"Professional computer cleaner?"
"Still can't work with most computers!"
"Construction worker?"
"I have no idea why you thought I'd be good at that."
"I've run out of ideas, Era." She sighed. "I just can't find anywhere you'd fit, I'm sorry."
"No, it's entirely my fault." Era said. "I mean, I am supposed to be an evil monster who causes trouble. Maybe that's all I'm good at…"
"I know you can be more than that, Era." She assured. "We just need to keep trying."
"Excuse me?" The two looked up from their slump to see an otter, carrying a tray. "Your order's ready."
"Oh, thank you." Judy said as the otter placed a small sandwich onto the table. He then placed a glass onto the table, and poured an orange liquid into it. He then pulled a much smaller glass from his shirt pocket, and placed it on Era's smaller table, pouring the liquid very carefully into it.
"One smoked carrot sandwich and carrot juice, for you." He said, before walking away.
She took a drink from the juice. The day had been a relative disaster, aside from saving a school, of course. But everything else had been taxing, none of her job ideas had worked out for the poor monster. It actually seemed to be affecting her more than Era.
She watched as the eraser seemed to just fiddle with his glass. "Aren't you going to drink any?" She asked.
"I don't have a mouth."
"Then why did you order it?"
"It felt rude not to."
She sighed. He was an odd one, she could really tell that he was kind. He wanted to help, even if just to be recognized, but it was still genuine. How Enter of all villains had made a monster like this was beyond her.
What if not all the monster they fought were truly evil, just misdirected? She thought this to herself as she ate the sandwich. It was definitely a possibility, but the words of the mantis monster still rung in her ears.
"I keep doing it, rabbit… BECAUSE ITS FUN!"
This couldn't be the case for all of them, right? Era himself was a major contradiction to that notion, but deep down, she felt a guilt. What if they could've redeemed other monsters, but never gave them a chance? It was a haunting thought for her.
Her train of thought was suddenly broken by a very enthusiastic yell.
"HEY, JUDY!"
Her ears perked up, and she swivelled in her seat. There was Kyle, running towards her. He quickly stopped next to their table. "Oh, hey Kyle." She said, half-heartedly.
"What're you up to today?" He asked. "Is this a stakeout? Am I interrupting something?"
"No, you're not interrupting anything." She replied. "Just… taking a break from a busy day!"
The fox looked over at the small table, spotting the eraser. "Hey, uh, isn't that one of those monsters that's been attacking?" He asked, pointing towards Era.
"Former monster!" Era said, getting up and turning to the fox. "Name's Eraserroid, but my friends call me Era!"
"Why are you hanging out with a monster?" Kyle asked, a bit rudely.
"He's not a monster!" She yelled. "He's a member of our community now! I'm trying to find him a job."
"A job?" The fox seemed a bit dumbfounded. "Well, what can he do?"
"I can erase data from electronics." Era explained. "Hasn't really come in handy at all."
"We've tried everything I can think of." Judy bemoaned. "We just can't find anything that works."
Kyle looked at the monster. "Have you tried anything in Rodentia?" He asked.
"Um, not really."
"Well, he fits that size." Kyle said, placing his paw on top of the eraser's head. "You might be thinking too big, Judy." He quickly placed his paw to his chin, and scratched it. "Maybe he'd be a good data manager?"
"A what?" The rabbit asked.
"Someone who manages computer data." He explained. "It's a pretty useful job at software development centers."
Judy's eyes widened as she slowly got up. Her ears perked up, and a grin creeped onto her face. "That's perfect!" She yelled, grabbing Era. "That's the perfect job for you!"
"R-really?" The eraser said, a bit dizzy.
"Yeah, if we can find something like that in Rodentia," She explained enthusiastically. "You'd be all set! Let's go see if we can find anything!"
The two pumped their fists into the air, and then dashed off, leaving the fox behind. He gave a quick chuckle, before dashing off into a nearby alleyway.
His eyes glowed purple for a moment as he entered. "A monster betrayed us, hmm?" He said to himself. "And I thought that Enter said his monster creation failed…" He rubbed his paws together, and let out a laugh. "Oh, this is going to be interesting…"
The fox quickly vanished into a void of pure darkness.
"Are you sure about this, Judy?" Era asked as she placed him onto the pavement. "I don't know if I can do this by myself…"
"I would go in with you, but I kind of have a restraining order from the entire place." She explained. "I can't go within five feet of Rodentia."
"What did you do?"
She tilted her head and gritted her teeth. "I'll tell you later." She said. "But you'll be fine. I've called Rodentia's police station, and let them know to not shoot at you!" Her face turned from a smile to a look of worry as she finished. "Can't say what the citizens will think, though. Anyway, do you remember the address?"
"It was a bunch of numbers, that I remember!"
She chuckled, and kneeled down. "Just look for a glass building with a sign that says Minisoft." She patted him on the head with one of her digits. "And when you get in there, just be yourself. They'll love you."
He nodded, and rushed through the small hole in the fence, entering the small city. As he stepped through the gate, it was like everything had changed.
"Wow!" Era yelled, running over to a nearby tree, really a few small branches sticking out of the ground, leaves still normal size. He felt it, and then turned to a bench, a small mouse sitting on it, staring at him. "Is this what it's like to be normal sized?" Era asked himself, sitting on the bench, the mouse awkwardly shifting over.
He turned to the terrified mouse. "Hey, my name's Era!" He raised his metallic hand, which the mouse awkwardly shook. "Do you know the way to Minisoft?"
"Uh, it should be on Colony Street." The mouse squeaked. "Just head down this street, and take a right three blocks down."
"Thank you!" Era said, hopping up from the bench. He started his trot down the road.
Over the course of trying to find the building, Era managed to experience some things he never got to experience before, like what size cars are, and sitting at a normal table. It had turned into a bit of a tourism session, but eventually, Era reached the building.
He looked up, seeing the large, boxy building, nearly entirely made out of glass. There was a large sign outside, a block of cheese split into four segments, followed by the word "Minisoft" in rather standard blocky font.
Era braced himself, and headed into the building, walking up to a receptionist. "Excuse me." He said. "I'm here for a job interview."
The mouse receptionist looked up, and jolted back in surprise. "Oh, um, can I have your name?" She asked.
"Era!" He said, cheerfully. "My full name is Eraserroid, if you need that."
"Surprisingly, we actually have you in here." She said, a bit baffled. "Must have gotten a call earlier. I'll tell Mr. Gnaws you'll be right up!"
"Ohhh, thank you thank you thank you!" Era yelled enthusiastically, leaping up and down. He rushed over to a glass elevator.
"He's on floor five!" The receptionist yelled to the eraser as he entered. She pressed a button on the desk. "Mr. Gnaws, you have an odd guest coming to see you."
The elevator stopped, and Era stepped into an office surrounded by glass. At a desk was a rather thin mouse, dressed in a business suit and black rimmed glasses. "Uh, are you Mr. Gnaws?" Era asked, a bit nervous.
"Sure am!" He said cheerfully. "And you must be… Era?"
"Oh, you know my name!" Era said, a bit bashful.
"We got a request for you from a Ms. Hopps, and we are an equal opportunity business to all creatures under a foot tall, so…" He trailed off, and placed his paws to the desk. "Tell us about yourself."
"Well, I was created to be an evil robot that causes trouble, but I never really wanted to do that." Era started, only sort of lying. "I am dedicated, though! Just because I quit one job doesn't mean I'm not! I just wasn't cut out for it."
Gnaws seemed a bit nervous, and pushed up his glasses. "Well, what are your skills?"
"I have the power to interface with any machine, and erase data from it!" He extrapolated. "I can delete a yottabyte of data in under a second! At least, that's what my design specs say."
"That is incredibly impressive…" He paused for a second. "If you were to get a job as a data manager, what would you expect your pay to be like?"
"Pay?"
"Yes, your pay." Gnaw continued. "The money you earn."
"Oh, I don't need money!" Era said. "I'll do it for free!"
Gnaws' eyes widened.
"You, my friend, have just been hired." He stated. "How does data management sound?"
"Sounds like I was born to do it!"
Judy quickly kicked in the door to the apartment. "I DID IT!" She yelled as she entered. "I managed to get Era a job, you were wrong, I was right!"
No response.
"Nick?"
She looked around the room. Nick was nowhere to be seen. In fact, it was like nobody had been there all day, everything was exactly the same. "You better not have run into trouble…" She said as she pulled out her phone. She dialed up his number, and he thankfully answered.
As the screen turned on, he seemed to still be in the police cruiser. "Oh, hey Carrots." He said with a sheepish grin. "How'd everything go with the monster?"
"First, he's not a monster, his name is Era." She said, a bit ticked off at the comment. "Second, everything went perfectly, I managed to find him a perfect job."
"Wait, really?" He sounded genuinely surprised. "Your day is already sounding better than mine."
"Speaking of, where the heck are you?" She asked. "We were supposed to be off duty a while ago."
"Uh, I think I'm somewhere in…" He quickly glanced out the window. "I think I'm on Outback Island."
She glared at him. "How did you get there?"
"Uh, don't know, actually. I don't remember taking a boat…" He paused for a second. "Oh yeah, I told Bogo I wasn't available for duty for the rest of the day, so I don't have to deal with that."
She groaned. "Just get back here as soon as you can, I don't want to have and come pick you up."
"Gotcha." He said, before there was a bit of a pause. "I don't really mean to sound rude, but… I'm not sure I still trust Era."
"Nick, he's changed." She assured. "He's one of the nicest creatures I know."
"I just think that there might be something going on, alright?" He said. "Its one of Enter's monsters, and you know how that guy is."
He had a bit of a point, considering that most of Enter's attempts to defeat them had come from manipulation. But she had a feeling that this time, it was genuine. She just knew it.
"Now, I need to get out of here." Nick said. "Maybe I'll work whatever magic I have and somehow get the car into the apartment, who knows. See ya!"
He hung up.
She stuck the phone back into her jeans pocket, and sat on the couch. "Well," She said to herself. "I managed to do something good today! No, something GREAT!"
She laid on the couch, and started to think. What if she could do this for every monster they encounter? Zootopia was based around the intermingling of so many different creatures, why couldn't a handful of these monsters find a place to be peaceful?
If everything worked out, then maybe she could try it next time.
With the comforting thoughts ringing through her head, and an incredibly busy day behind her, she passed out on the couch.
After a bit, however, she was woken up by the door slamming open. She gazed up from the couch to see Nick walk in, still in his uniform. "Nick?" She said. "What…what time is it?"
"Its one." He said, sounding absolutely exhausted. He blinked his eyes, and yawned. "I think I'm just gonna…" He promptly fell to the ground, sound asleep.
She sighed, and got off of the bed. She helped the unconscious fox onto the couch, and got him a blanket from his room. "I guess I figured out why you don't drive." She chuckled quietly to herself. "Good night, you dumb fox."
"What an awful day." Enter said to himself as he walked around the outside of the mountain. "Absolutely nothing to show from it, other than a humiliating defeat."
It was twice he had tried to create the Eraserroid, and twice it had failed. He didn't know what had gone wrong, it worked every other time without flaw. The Eraserroid was supposed to be one of the most powerful Metalroid, perhaps that was it?
"Why couldn't I get that card to work?" He said to himself.
"You did, Enter."
He turned to face Kyuemon, who stepped forward. "Your monster was created." He stated.
"How come I haven't heard anything from it until now?" He asked.
"Because it appears to have had a malfunction." Kyuemon continued. "Your Eraserroid has gone rogue, and is attempting to become… normal."
Enter stared at him. "What does that mean?"
"The rabbit managed to get him a job." Kyuemon explained. "He's trying to integrate into that wretched city."
Enter burst into laughter. "That's completely ridiculous." He stated, a grin on his face. He then turned to face the city. "But, it gives me an excellent idea."
"Let me guess, something to do with Savage?" Kyuemon presumed.
"Bing bong!" Enter sounded. "If Savage is only summoned due to emotional turmoil, then I imagine the rabbit will be quite upset when her friend… betrays her."
"A rather devilish scheme." Kyuemon said, his tone not changing. "Exactly what I would expect from you."
"Je vous remercie!" He thanked. "And yes, I know that wasn't entirely a compliment."
There was a pause between the two.
"I know you're up to something."
Enter turned to the fox. "Oh, really?" He mocked. "How do you suppose that?"
"From one devious traitor to another, I can tell." Kyuemon waved his arm, and vanished in a burst of black smoke.
"Well, that just makes the game more interesting, doesn't it?"
"So, you hear about the new guy, Frank?" One mouse said as the entered the cubicle area. "Hear he's a bit odd."
"I've probably seen weirder, Joey." The other said. He immediately regretted his words as they spotted a large, blocky thing laying on the ground.
It awkwardly got up, and looked at the two. "Oh, hey!" He waved at them. "I'm Era, I'm the new guy! Nice to meet you!"
"Were you just… sleeping on the ground?" One of the mice asked.
"Where else would I?" Era said, like it was a no brainer. "Except I don't sleep, I just thought it'd be fun." The two mice awkwardly nodded, and backed away.
"Wait 'til Dean hears about this…" The eraser heard as they walked away.
Era turned to his cubicle, which had a very fancy looking computer prepared for him. "Time to get, uh, data… managing!" he said, sitting down at the chair. "Now, how exactly do I work this…" he placed a metallic hand onto the mouse-sized mouse, and began to move it around, moving the screen mouse. "Alright, that's one thing figured out."
A message popped up from the corner of the screen, a small letter. He clicked on it, receiving an email.
"We need you to delete this old version of our software, think you can handle it?" It read. Inside was an attachment, a rather massive file.
"No problem!" He said, before feeling his hand around the edge of the computer. He found the USB port, and jabbed one of his fingers into it. "I am interfaced!"
In a second, the file had been deleted. "Easy-peasy!" He said, wiping his hands together. "Guess I've gotten used to these less advanced computers…"
Suddenly, another message popped up. This one was a bit different, as it had a symbol on the letter. A grey, heart shaped symbol…
Oh no.
He contemplated for a second. Should he answer it? No, he shouldn't! But… but something was calling him too it. He wasn't sure if it was curiosity, or something wired into him. He clicked it open.
"Bonjour!"
The message opened, revealing Enter, in the form of a cheetah, staring right back at him. "How's it going, Eraserroid."
"E-Enter!" He shrieked, knocking him and his chair to the ground. "What are you doing here!?"
"I'm here to offer you a job."
"No thanks, I already have a job!" He said, getting up. "I'm not going back, I've made up my mind."
"Come now, Eraserroid-"
"THAT'S NOT MY NAME!" Era yelled. "My name is ERA! You AREN'T MY MASTER!"
Enter sighed. "I suppose you don't want to become one of the most famous beings ever…"
Eraserroid turned back to the screen. "What?"
"My job offer was going to have you become one of the most well known, powerful villains in the universe." Enter explained. "But, if you just want to sit around at a desk job all day…"
"Wait!" The eraser said. "Let me… think it over." He began to do that, two voices arguing in his head.
'What would Judy think?'
'He created you, so you should go with him!'
'She'll be so disappointed in you.'
'But you'll be powerful! Everyone will know who you are! You'll be a star among monsters, this is what you really wanted! Judy will be proud of you!'
He looked at the computer screen.
"What do you want me to do… Master?"
Enter chuckled. "Simple. Start by wrecking this place." He stated. "Wreck this tiny city. Then meet me outside." The screen flicked off.
He sighed, and grabbed at the computer, pulling it from the cord, and smashing it against the ground. He looked around, and headed over to the next cubicle. He plugged himself onto it, and soon enough, all the computers had been rendered completely useless.
"This… does feel good…" Eraserroid said solemnly to himself. "But… NO! No more self-doubting, Enter recognized you!" He quickly lifted up a chair, and threw it through a window.
"What in the world's going on in here!?" Shouted Gnaws as he entered the room. "What are you doing, Era!?"
"It's…" He paused for a moment. "It's ERASERROID!" He yelled. "I'm a monster, meant to destroy, and I'll… I'll destroy EVERYTHING!" He growled, and suddenly fired a laser from one of his eyes, causing the entire cubicle section to explode. The force of the sudden explosion in such a small area launched him out of the building, where he landed on the pavement, next to a broken chair.
"I… I can do that?" He said to himself as he got up, feeling his face. He tried to do it again, firing another laser into a nearby building. "Wow!"
He continued firing into buildings, laughing. After a few minutes, he looked around at the destruction he had caused. He had just done it almost instinctively, and he felt absolutely awful. "No!' He yelled at himself. "Don't think, just do! That's what Enter would want, right?"
But, what would Judy want?
"Forget her!" He yelled at himself as he broke into a run. "She'll understand, she's going to be proud of me!" He knew that wasn't true, but it was too late to go back.
If he could cry, he would be sobbing uncontrollably.
"You, freeze!"
He turned around to see a group of mice, dressed as police officers. "Stay back!" Eraserroid yelled at them. "If you come closer, I'll hurt you!"
The policemice stepped forward, and the monster fired a laser, launching them and their tiny vehicles backwards.
"I'm…!" He paused, and then turned around, and headed for the exit. After a few minutes of running, and a few stumbles to the ground, he exited.
He wasn't sure why he was running, maybe it was from fear of retribution, or maybe he was just running from himself. Maybe he was just running. Either way, his run was stopped as he ran into someone's foot.
"There you are."
He looked up to see Enter looking down at him. The eraser tried to back away, but the cheetah pinned him down by his feet.
"My, I didn't realize you had such capabilities." He said, nonchalantly. "Let's see if we can make them a bit more… potent."
He quickly pulled out a sharp, glowing red object, and tossed it directly into Eraserroid's chest. It seemed to absorb itself into his small body. He writhed as the cheetah raised his foot off.
With a scrunching noise, his arms and legs retracted into his body, and he raised into the air. He expanded outwards, becoming a roughly human sized eraser, slightly shorter than the cheetah. Then, the eraser began to shift around like a machine, revealing an inner body.
It was lithe, slick, its body trailing with red and grey patterns. The blockiest parts of it were several left overs form the eraser form, which had formed into armor around the chest, feet, and shoulders. In the middle of the chest, which resembled his chest in his previous form, now bore a chaos insignia rather than the grey heart.
His left arm had been replaced by a large, eraser-like weapon, while his other arm seemed to have grown two extra fingers, making a full five fingered hand, though they were still tube-like. Its head resembled how it looked before, but now much thicker, and with a metallic jaw.
"What…?" He said as he looked at himself. "What happened to me!?"
"I've made you stronger." Enter explained. "You are now Chaos Eraserroid!"
"I… I feel so powerful…" He said to himself.
"Now, for phase two of your job…" He turned and looked around. "They should be arriving any second."
"Wait, do you mean…?"
There was the roaring of motorcycle engines, and the two watched as the Zoorangers rode in on their bikes, ZooSilver riding on the back of Red's bike. They parked the bike, and headed towards Enter, who was standing directly in front of the monster.
"Alright Enter, what is it this time?" Red started, swinging his blade up on his shoulder. "Gonna take cheese from a baby mouse?"
"Oh, like I'd be so petty, Zoorangers." He started. "I just wanted to reintroduce you to my latest monster."
"'Reintroduce'?" Silver said, confused.
"Wait," Blue said, stepping forward. Her heart started racing. "You can't…"
"I believe you might know him as…" he snapped his claws, feigning thinking. "Oh, Era, was it?"
"NO!" Blue yelled, drawing her weapons. "Era is my friend, he wouldn't…"
"Introducing!" Enter interrupted, stepping out of the way to reveal the newly upgraded monster. "Chaos Eraserroid."
Eraserroid stepped forward, fully revealing himself to the three.
"This is impossible!" Blue yelled. "That isn't Era! Era isn't a monster!"
The eraser robot felt his mechanical heart sink. He had made a horrible mistake, he knew it, but it had gone too far.
"This was all a trick, Rangers." Enter started. "Eraserroid managed to gain your trust, and let him gain a vantage point where he could cause chaos. Isn't that right, Era?"
"Yes." He said, reluctantly. "It was a trick. I deceived you."
Blue fell to her knees, and clutched her head. She started to scream.
"Well, this isn't good." Red said, looking over to Silver.
"Show them how powerful you are now, Eraserroid!" Enter commanded. "Kill her!"
After a brief pause, he stepped up to the rabbit, and raised his eraser arm, which began to glow. He didn't want to do this, but did he have a choice? He shut his eyes, and slammed his fist down.
It was blocked.
He opened them, revealing that both Red and Silver had blocked the punch with their blades. The rabbit herself was still kneeling, but had gone silent.
They quickly pushed the fist back, and swung both of their blades into the monster's chest, launching him back.
"How dare you!?" Red growled at the monster. "How could you just betray her like that!?" SHE TRUSTED YOU!"
The eraser robot silently rose, and threw a punch forward, launching a blast at them and knocking them back. Red pulled out the Vickscannon, and fired at him, but he punched out each blast with the eraser fist, each fireball seeming to simply vanish.
"This is a bit of a problem, ain't it?" Red said, turning to the wolf.
"Let me see if I can do anything." Silver suggested, drawing his blade and rushing at the monster. The monster waved its arm, and suddenly, it was right in front of him.
"What the…?"
The wolf then received multiple swift punches to his gut, and was flung back with an uppercut, landing right next to the fox. "What just happened?" He asked.
"What just happened is that we're in big trouble." Red said. He dashed over to the rabbit, who was still kneeling, and grabbed her by the shoulders. "Judy, we could really use your help right now!" He yelled at her.
She remained silent.
"Judy?"
There was a sudden noise from her Zoolizer.
A sudden, awful, horrible noise.
"SAVAGE ON"
There was a burst of energy, launching the fox directly into the eraser monster, knocking them both to the ground. Enter remained standing, looking on as the monster known as Savage let out a horrible roar.
"Finally!" He yelled, utterly joyous at seeing the monster. "I suppose, you're Savage?" He asked, knowing the answer.
The monster looked at him, and gave a laugh. "What's it matter to you, spots?" It cackled.
"My name is Enter." He said, kneeling down to face the rabbit. "I have a feeling you and I will be far more acquainted in the future…"
"Oh, you have a great level of malice and hatred coming off you." Savage cooed. "I like you."
"I had a feeling you would." He rose. "Well, I'd love and see you all get ripped to shreds by Savage, or deleted by my Metalroid, but I have plans to get to."
"Oh, think you can tell me what to do, huh!?" Savage growled.
"Oh, like you weren't going to do that anyway." Enter snapped his claws, and began to disappear into a burst of red data. He gave a slight wave. "Ciao!"
"Guy has a point!" Savage laughed. "So, who wants to be slaughtered first!?" Claws burst from its paws, and brandished towards the fox and robot.
"What… what happened to her!?" The eraser robot yelled, pushing the fox off of him.
"Oh, you know, you just caused her to go completely berserk!" Red yelled at him.
"I… I did that…?"
He quickly stood, and headed towards Savage, arm prepared to strike. "Why do I always get stuck fighting robots?" Savage asked, sounding a bit frustrated. "None of you have the right amount of blood and guts in you to feel satisfying!"
The eraser robot rushed forward, and attempted to strike at Savage with his eraser fist, only for the rabbit to block it with a single paw. Savage threw it out of the way, and leaped up, delivering a series of scratches directly to the monster's chest, knocking him back.
Savage leaped through the air, and delivered a swift kick to the robot's face, knocking him back to the ground as he tried to get up. Eraserroid struggled as the crazed rabbit continued to claw into his face and just, but managed to land a lucky hit with his eraser fist, knocking the rabbit off.
The Metalroid got up and stared at the crazed rabbit. He then turned away, and waved his eraser hand, suddenly vanishing from sight.
"Aw, that wasn't fun at all!" Savage bemoaned, before turning to the two Zoorangers, who had managed to regroup. "Maybe you two will be better…"
Silver pointed his sword towards the rabbit. "Alright, Red, we just need to survive until Savage's power runs out." He explained to the fox.
"What?" Rd said. "How do you know that?"
"Really not important right now!" He yelled. "I'll distract him, you find a way to stop him. As in, literally stop moving."
With that, Silver rushed towards Savage, swinging his sword at the monster, they began to clash as Red looked around for something. He spotted the bikes, still parked.
Well, it was better than nothing!
He dashed to the Kitsunider, and hopped on, revving it up. He drove it straight towards the two fighting mammals. Silver spotted it quickly, and leaped out of the way as it drove directly into Savage. The rabbit stuck out its paws, and braced itself for the impact.
Suddenly, Red was sent flying, and crashed to the ground.
He looked over to see the rabbit, now underneath the bike, wheels still spinning. The rabbit had managed to stop the wheel, but the force had thrust the body of the bike on top of it.
"AUGH!" Savage cried out, flailing its small limbs. "Stupid rabbit body!"
Red sighed in relief as Silver ran over to help him up. "Now, what, do we just wait for her to go back to normal?"
"Well, if he keeps up like that, yeah." Silver answered.
The two were startled as Savage let out a startlingly animalistic roar, unlike anything they had heard before. It gripped the claws into the ground, as it suddenly began to glow with a black energy. With another roar, Savage jolted up violently, tossing the bike into the air.
The two watched as the bike flew through the air, and crashed into the ground, exploding.
"Oh, come on, seriously?"
Savage let out another roar, its jaw distending to let its full terror out. The noise, comparable to a rusted knife scraping against the sound of around twenty different animal cries, trailed into the distance, the Zoorangers having to cover their ears as its frequency was ear-splitting.
Savage turned its glassy stare directly to the fox, before letting out a laugh. "I'm coming for you, fox!" He yelled. "Soon enough, you will be MINE!"
There was another burst of black energy, nearly knocking the two down. They looked on as Judy untransformed, and passed out, falling to the ground.
"JUDY!"
Nick untransformed, and rushed up to the unconscious rabbit. She seemed mostly fine, fortunately. "We're taking her back home." He said as Max rushed over. He gave a nod, and lifted the rabbit up onto his shoulder.
The two hopped onto the Usagider, and drove off.
"How long has she been like this?" Max asked from over the phone.
Nick looked over at the rabbit. She was sitting on the couch, completely silent, completely motionless. "A few hours." He replied. "I don't know what to do, Max, she's completely out of it."
"Just… just let her be for a bit, alright?" He said. "She probably feels awful about all of this."
"Oh, you don't think I know that already!?" He yelled at the wolf.
"I didn't mean-"
"We've been partners for years." He started, his tone calming. "I should have done something to help her, but instead I was driving around the city like a lunatic."
"You still just need to let her rest her mind for a bit." Max continued. "If she isn't feeling up to it by the time it shows up again, we'll just have to do it ourselves."
"I don't think we can do it by ourselves, Max." Nick stated. "She is still the leader; her plans still work better than anything we try to do."
"Point." He sighed. "But its still best to let her mind clear before-"
There was a loud ringing from the phone. The rabbit's ears twitched.
"Please tell me that was someone calling you on your other phone."
"Nope, that was my Zoolizer." He sighed. "Looks like he's in the middle of a park in Savannah Square… Plains Park, apparently."
Nick groaned. "Alright, meet me here soon, and we'll-"
"ZOO ON!"
The fox's eyes widened as he looked over to the couch, watching as the rabbit, who had suddenly transformed, leaped out of the open window.
"Scratch that, meet me over here ASAP!"
"What happened?"
"Apparently, Judy's feeling fine enough to think she can go fight a monster on her own." He guessed.
"Let me guess, she probably took the bike." Wolford said. The fox cringed.
"Probably."
"So, how are we supposed to get over to the park in any decent time?" The wolf asked. "Your bike needs to repair itself, and the park is a while away…"
The fox paused for a second. "Hey, remember that favor I owe you?"
"What?"
"Wanna go for a ride?"
"No, I really don't."
"Well, we don't have a choice."
Max groaned. "Alright, but you're not using my car, got it?"
"What are you doing, Era?" The monster said to itself as it walked around the open field. "You just ruined everything you had going for you."
The only other being that had ever considered him a friend now almost definitely hated him, or had turned into some horrible monster. Either way, his chances of apologizing to her, and even getting anything back on track, had been crushed by his horrid mechanical hands.
But even still, he still had a horrible feeling. They would be coming for him, they would want to destroy him. To kill him.
Should he let it happen? Did he really matter in this world after what he had done? But… he didn't want to die. He wanted to live, but as he was now, there was nothing to truly live for.
He let out a yell. "Can someone help me already!?"
"I'll help."
He turned around to see ZooBlue, heading towards him. "I'll help end your traitorous existence!"
He quickly backed away. "J-Judy!?"
"Only my friends call me that." She said, stone cold. "And you aren't my friend."
"I…" He paused. "Alright, let's just finish this so you can get on with your life."
He quickly rushed at her as she pulled out a ZooTag, and plugged it into the Zoolizer.
"LET'S MORPHIN'!
GET FIGHTIN'!
DON DON BAM!
BUSTER BOXERS!"
The gloves appeared on her paws, and she rushed at the monster. Their fists clashed, causing a massive ripple of energy to fly through the park, causing benches to fly through the air and the grass to flatten.
They both stumbled back from the sheer force of the punch. Blue shook her paw as smoked steamed from her boxing glove. She looked over at the robot, his fist was smoking as well.
She quickly thrust her other paw forward rapidly, launching a series of energy blasts towards him. The robot quickly caught on, and began to shoot his own energy blasts in return. The blasts rapidly clashed and exploded.
The monster waved its hand, and suddenly it was right in front of Blue's twitching nose. With a punch, it knocked her up into the air, and then launched a punch right into her body, the size of the eraser fist making it take up nearly the entirety of her.
She flew backwards, and crashed into the ground, her gloves disappearing. The robot approached her, silently, as she drew the Rabblasters, firing them into his chest and sending him stumbling backwards.
She then drew her daggers, and rushed at the monster, leaping into the air to slash some more at its chest. It smacked her away with his eraser hand, and then fired a blast at her, causing her to fly back again.
He waved his arm again, and reappeared in front of her, quickly bringing the eraser down onto her, leaving a marking in the ground around her injured body.
She quickly thrust herself up, launching her legs into the monster's stomach area, knocking it back again. This time, she had no weapons, launching herself up to deliver a strong punch directly to the robot's face. The punch, even without the Buster Boxers, was surprisingly strong, like she had pushed all of her anger directly into a single punch.
The monster stumbled back, and fell to the ground.
"I THOUGHT YOU WERE MY FRIEND!" She yelled at him. "I THOUGHT I COULD HELP YOU BE MORE THAN THIS!"
The robot struggled to get up.
"I JUST WANTED TO HELP YOU, AND YOU BETRAYED ME!"
He silently rose, and quickly turned, rapidly throwing punches, and in turn energy blasts, in the rabbit's direction. It was sudden, and she barely had any time to dodge, so she fell to the ground. She looked up as the monster approached, raising its arm as it glowed. It prepared to strike her, and she braced herself.
Killed by someone she thought was a friend, after making a rash, impulsive decision. Seemed like a fitting series of ironic events to her.
Then, there was a honk. A really loud honk.
The two turned to the other side of the barren field, and watched as a police cruiser came speeding in. It drove straight into the monster, launching it off, before skidding to a halt. Nick leaped out of the driver's seat.
"Made it just in time!" He yelled. He turned back to the wolf in the car, who was clutching the seat, terrified.
"That was the worst experience I've had in my life." He wheezed.
"Nick, Max?" Blue said, standing up. "Took you guys long enough to get here!"
The passenger seat door opened, and Max fell to the ground, clawing his way up the side of the car in order to stand.
"What happened to you?" She asked the obviously shaken wolf.
"I drove him here." Nick said, a bit too nonchalantly.
"I wouldn't call that driving."
"Hey, I didn't break any traffic laws, so it's all fine."
"You probably broke at least three different types of laws." Max chided.
"I don't want to know." Blue said to herself. She stepped up to the two. "So, are you here to help me beat this guy?"
The two nodded, Nick assuredly, while Max nodded a bit oddly, still shaken up from the ride.
The three rushed to the front of the car, watching as the monster rose from its landing a few meters away. It turned to them, and watched as the other two transformed.
"DEFENDER OF THE MOON!" Blue twirled her daggers, and pointed them towards the monster. "ZOOBLUE!"
"CHAMPION OF THE SUN!" Red slashed his sword around, and spun around. "ZOORED!"
"WARRIOR OF THE ECLIPSE!" Silver thrust his blade forward a few times, before sheathing it. "ZOOSILVER!"
"ZYUMAN SENTAI! ZOORANGER!"
"Uh oh." The monster said to itself, placing its robotic hand to its mouth.
The three rushed forward. Red leaped into the air, and delivered a punch to the monster's face, before Silver ran up from the side and slashed at the eraserbot. It stumbled backwards, leading to Blue jumping up and jabbing it in the chest with her blades.
The robot stumbled back, but quickly got back into the fight, knocking the three away with a single swipe of its eraser arm. The three fell backwards, before Red and Blue drew their blasters and fired, blasting the monster back.
It quickly waved its eraser arm, and appeared in front of them, striking the rabbit with its normal arm. The robot soon found two swords jabbed into its side.
"SUN MODE"
Silver quickly whipped the sword forward, launching the monster backwards again. Red pulled out a red ZooTag, and plugged it into the Vickscannon.
"BRING THE HEAT!
BURNING HEART!
BOOM BOOM!
VICKSCANNON!"
A massive fireball fired at the monster, which struck it right in the chest, launching it back. The robot crawled back up, obviously dazed by the hit.
"Alright, Carrots, ready to finish this guy off?" Red asked, turning to the rabbit as she stepped up to them.
"Oh, you bet I am." She drew her blasters, and marched forward.
"Wait what are you doing."
The two watched as the rabbit continued. She pulled the blasters up, and fired at the weakened monster rapidly, the strikes causing it to fall to the ground. She paused, and put a ZooTag into the slot on her gun, before plugging the other gun on.
She pulled the trigger.
"CUTTING ON THROUGH!
SLICING THE SKY!
CHANBARA BAN!
RABBLASTERS!"
Energy gathered between the guns, and she blasted a blade of energy towards the robot. It sliced directly through his chest, cleaving a large hole right through it. She put the blasters away, and pulled out her daggers.
"Full Moon Slice."
She quickly began spinning around, turning into a whirling, thrashing tornado of blades. In a swift motion, she dashed forward, cutting through the robot, somehow phasing right through it. She stopped spinning, and went on one knee as the robot sparked.
"Wait, I-!" Before it could finish, the monster exploded, leaving behind a small card, and eraser, and a Chaos Badge.
The rabbit rose, and let out a sorrowful sigh.
"You know, when I said 'finish this guy off', I mean as a team." Red sounded, feeling a bit insulted by his exclusion.
"Don't mess in personal affairs, Red." Silver said.
"Sorry, I guess I got a bit… carried away." She apologized. "But, yeah, that kind of became pretty personal…"
The three suddenly turned to watch as the Chaos Badge flew off into the distance, forming the monster on the horizon.
"What!?" It cried out. "No, I don't want this!" He let out a cry of agony and clutched his head. "I just want to be dead! LET ME REST!"
"What!?" Blue cried out, shocked at what the monster had yelled. "What does he mean!?"
"I don't know, but if he wants to be scrapped, we should help him out." Red said, as they pulled out their ZooTags, Silver pulling out his ZooDisc
In a few moments, ZooRobo and ZooKami had appeared in front of the robot. "Please!" It cried out, reaching towards them. "Just… finish me! I don't deserve this!"
"What does that mean!?" Blue yelled, thrusting the controls forward. ZooRobo stepped forward, and slashed the monster with its sword, knocking him to the ground.
"I've ruined everything!" He cried. "I've ruined the only friendship I've had, I've ruined my chance at anything that could make me worthwhile!"
The mech stepped back in shock.
"No…" Blue whispered to herself. "Era, are you…?"
"I'm sorry, Judy." He said, standing up. "I'm sorry for betraying you. I was afraid of what Enter would do to me if I didn't play along, and now… I guess I am just a big failure."
The rabbit could feel tears.
"As your friend," He started, placing his mechanical hand to his chest. "Destroy me! Hit me with your strongest attack, I'm no good for anything anymore!"
The two mechs looked towards each other, and then back to the monster.
"Please. Trust me."
Blue took a deep breath, and held back the tears. "Silver, we're going to combine."
"Blue, we don't have to-"
"Just do it!" She yelled, interrupting the wolf.
He sighed, and placed the disc into the slot. Soon, ZooRobo Oh Kami had been formed.
"SOLAR ECLIPSE DESTROYER!"
The mech slowly raised its swords above its head, and then slashed them both down, launching two energy slashes towards the robot, which it fully embraced. The mech then slashed horizontally, launching two more slashes at the eraser robot. The four slashes clashed into the monster's body, clearly causing extreme pain. The lines turned read hot, and then exploded.
The explosion cleared, and the robot stepped forward. He began to spark with energy. "Thank you, Judy." He said. "Thank you for showing me what I should've been." He gave a thumbs-up towards her. "See you in the next life."
She returned the thumbs up, tears streaming from behind her mask. The robot fell over, and then exploded.
Like that, Era was no more.
The mechs vanished, and the three were suddenly back in the field.
Blue placed her paws to her mask, and fell to her knees, starting to let it all out. A friend, even if she had only known him for a day, had been killed by her hands. Some hero she was.
"You've been pretty quiet, Red." Silver said quietly to the fox.
"You're the one who said to not get involved with this stuff."
"At this point, you need to do something to help her."
The fox thought to himself. He hated seeing Judy like this, and she was probably going to be like this for a while. It was mourning, after all. Something he'd never really been good at dealing with.
He'd have to come up with something, it would only be right of him.
His ears perked up. He had come up with something.
The fox rushed over to where the monster had been destroyed the first time. He looked around. "There you are." He said to himself, picking up the eraser. He gripped it in his paw.
"What did you find?" Silver asked, startling the fox.
"Nothing!" He lied. "Just… nothing! At all!" He wanted it to be a surprise, couldn't risk telling Max.
"Alright then…" He looked over to the mourning rabbit. "You should probably get her home."
"Yeah, good idea." He laughed for a second. "She might not even notice my driving."
He promptly received a swift smack to the back of the head from the wolf.
"Not funny."
Judy hadn't gone in to work the next day. Probably would have been to tough on her after what had happened. She had calmed down, but was still incredibly distraught. She had spent the entire day wrapped in a blanket on the couch.
She had occasional bits of crying when she thought over everything that had happened. In no time, or at least, what felt like no time, Nick had come home.
"Hey." He said quietly as he entered the room. Judy looked up from the floor and at him. "How you feeling?"
"Better, I guess." She said solemnly as the fox sat down next to her. "I just feel so guilty about everything. I wanted to follow the example I set for those kids, but… I feel like I failed. I stood up for the weak, I tried to help, but it just ended the same way as it always does." She looked the fox in the eyes. "Do you think this is a cycle? Can we just never escape from killing now?"
"I… I don't know, Judy." He replied. "All I know, is that you are a hero." She stared at him. "You did do everything you said in your speech, you're the kindest mammal I've ever known. Even if you don't think it, you are a role model." He sighed. "You just… had to do what had to be done. I'm sorry, I'm really bad at this." He apologized.
She gave him a smile. "It was fine."
He smiled back, and reached for something in his uniform pocket. "So, I don't know if this will help, but I worked on a little something for you while I was at the station."
He held out his paw, revealing an eraser. It had four little red dot eyes drawn onto it, and four paperclips jabbed into its sides and bottom. It looked like Era. "It was made from his eraser. I thought it might make a good… memento."
She gently grabbed it from his paw. "It's wonderful, Nick." She said.
The rabbit quickly wrapped her arms around the fox, surprising him. After a split second of consideration, he returned the hug. "Thank you." She whispered to him.
"You're welcome."
Emotional episode, huh? Dunno if I did it well enough, but I tried. Anyway, welcome to arc 3, or what we in the Tokusatsu fandom call… the filler arc. Don't worry, there will be plot relevant stuff going on, but it'll mostly be just fun episode concepts I had and had nowhere else to place. Hey, when you're making a 50 episode series, you need some filler.
Anyway, I have a few things to say. First, on a more minor level, I found the perfect soundtrack for this. Kamen Rider OOO OST. It has the perfect mix of chill tracks, action packed tracks, and emotional tracks to fit what's going on most of the time. Maybe I just like ska, I don't know.
Second announcement is a bit more difficult. I would, honestly, like a Beta Reader to help me out (Again, a 50 episode series is tough to do by yourself)… but with that comes a bit of a problem. I haven't made it entirely clear so far, but I do have this entire thing planned from the beginning, straight to the end.
Beta Readers, of course, are helpful for input on this kind of stuff, but… could I really spoil what I have planned? Hmm. Still, it's something I want to do, so if anybody would be willing…
Anyway, next time, it's time for the most cliché Super Sentai episode trope ever. And if you don't know what that is…
Body swap episode.