AN: I do apologize for the lateness of this chapter. I had planned to release it a few days ago, but things got in the way.


Chapter Six

A Whole New World

A blue spark of lightning quickly flashed in the middle of a small forest. This forest was surrounded by a large suburban development that had consumed the landscape. A full moon loomed overhead, its faint light blocked by the thick canopy of leaves. A second spark came to life and died as soon as it had formed. A wind picked up out of nowhere and carried the fallen leaves of the forest floor upwards. A ball of blue light formed amongst the trees, several feet above the ground. Lightning sparking randomly from it, singeing the plant life. It exploded releasing a massive shockwave of energy that washed over the area. Scaring any of the inhabitants of the forest, causing them to scurry away from the disturbance. The explosion left no mark on the forest as a figure dropped from the center of the sphere to the forest floor. The white rabbit groaned in pain from the unceremonious deposit.

Jack bolted right up and looked to his surroundings. This was not Tundratown. It wasn't the rainforest. He knew this was not Zootopia. He stood up, "Ness what the hell just happened?"

No response came. He lifted up his wrist to see the watch had changed. It had shrunk from its enlarged size and looked like a normal watch. The screen was black and the waves of energy weren't present. He asked, "What happened?"

"Low power, please recharge." That was all that came, this more monotone. It wasn't a conversation like Ness spoke up at the mountain. This was the basic computer of the Nexus requesting a task.

Jack looked around at the forest. The trees were like those in the meadowlands. The forested areas that surrounded the outskirts of the urban jungle of Zootopia. The trees rose high above him, creating a thick canopy high above. There was very little light, making it hard for Jack to see that far in front of him. He cursed his poor night vision. He tried his phone.

It did illuminate the area a decent amount, but his hopes fell when he saw he had no service nor internet connection. He swore stashing the phone away. He grabbed the burner he still held. It too had no signal. In rage he snapped the flip phone in two and chucked the broken device into the forest. He heard the plastic pieces clatter. He heard the glass screen shatter. His ears perked up when they picked up another sound.

The sound of a twig snapping. He turned around trying to find the source of the sound. Yet he couldn't see anything. Out the corner of his vision he saw a figure creep around the trunk of a tree. He turned to see a red fox in the faint light. This one was walking on fours. Lacked clothes. Its teeth were bared in a snarl. It gave a low growl as it inched towards Jack. Jack took a tentative step back. He did not like this situation.

This was not like Nick or any fox from Zootopia. This fox was feral and savage. He saw its eyes. They were glassy and black, no sign of intelligence. It leaped forward. Jack dove under the fox as it soared above him and landed behind him. The fox gave a snarl as it turned and bolted towards Jack. The rabbit grabbed a twig from the ground and slammed it into the fox's face. It yipped in pain, backing off. The stick shattered to pieces, Jack didn't waste a second before bolting away from the fox, wanting to put as much distance between him and the predator far faster than him. He heard a growl come from behind him; he knew that the fox had given chase.

His ears picked up on another noise. He could hear cars. His ears swiveled towards the sound and Jack followed. He heard the fox on his heels and he jumped to the side, narrowly missing a swipe of its paws. It did hit a tree and left a nice fresh gash in the bark. Jack picked himself up and ran again, towards the cars. Cars meant civilization, and help with the vulpine chasing him.

Ahead Jack saw the forest thinning out. He could barely make out an asphalt stretch of road beyond. He heard the fox had gained on him again. Jack saw a car wiz past and down the road, completely oblivious to the bunny trying to outrun its death. Putting his all into one final push he broke the dense canopy of the forest and rushed into the middle of a desolate street. On the opposite side rested a small building with a sign stating Tutor Time in full display in front of it. Seeing it as a form of safety from the fox Jack headed towards it. He heard the fox exit the forest behind him. He dared a glance and saw it had stopped. It took a tentative step on the road, as if it was afraid of it.

Jack jumped up a hill that raised the building onto higher ground than the road. The fox saw Jack flee and forgot its fear and rushed after him again. Jack crossed a lawn of low cut grass towards an empty parking lot. The fox didn't struggle at all to climb the hill, but it did slow it down. Jack saw an entrance to the building, he tried the door made for mammals larger than him, yet it was locked. He figured as much. Not wanting to give the fox time to catch him, Jack ran across the lot towards a house beyond it. He heard the fox give another growl of annoyance. Jack spoke to it, "If you want me as food you are going to have to work for it buddy."

It just growled at the response and doubled its efforts to catch the white rabbit. Stepping off the asphalt Jack's feet met grass again. He spied a tipped over metal trash can at the end of the driveway. Trash was strewn about around it, as was the lid. Jack slid and dove for the lid. He looped his paw in the handle of the oversized shield and turn on the spot. The fox was right over him. He bashed the lid into the fox's face. It yipped in pain and back pedaled. Jack took a stance opposite the fox. It snarled and lowered its head. Its tail swished back and forth. Jack saw its back legs tensing, preparing to jump at him. Not wanting to give him the chance Jack moved first, he slipped his hand out of the handle. He grabbed the rim of the lid and slapped the fox across the face with it. It whimpered with the hit. Not giving him a chance to recover he brought the lid down and slammed the fox's face into the grass. It yelped as it turned tail. Jack smiled, "That's what I thought foxy!"

The fox gave no acknowledgement as it went back to the forest; there was food in there that was less of a challenge to capture than the clothed white rabbit. Jack tossed the lid back to the turned over can. As it nosily clattered another creature jumped from the bin. Jack looked to see a raccoon scurry away from him. It too was just like the fox, feral. It gave a hiss at the rabbit and ran away from it and up the street. Jack just stood still. He was worried.

He looked to the house he stood in front of. The lights inside were dark. He strode towards it. He spoke to himself as he neared, "If they are savage, then who built the house?"

"Please find power source." Jack stopped when he looked to the Nexus. He spied a telephone pole in front of the house towards where the raccoon went. He saw wires split from a different pole and towards the house. He figured one of them had to be a power line. He crossed the freshly cut lawn and turned around the side of the house. Here he saw an electric meter. He spoke to the Nexus, "How do I charge you?"

"Place hand on electrical device, power will be drawn automatically," a more Ness like voice said.

Jack figured he was safe so long as he had the Nexus. Before he touched the box he removed the watch and reattached it to his right hand. It felt more comfortable for him to have it there. He reached towards the box, still hesitant that he might get shocked. Getting out a deep breath he closed the gap and placed his hand on the electric meter. And nothing happened.

He was puzzled, but looked in awe as blue streams of energy emerged from the metal and towards his wrist. They were like wisps of mist in the wind, snaking their way towards his wrist. They made contact with the Nexus, which lit up instantly. And then the streams of electricity rushed into it. Jack felt his fur stand on end as more electricity was drawn from the source. He watched as the Nexus began to grow and shift in size. It returned to what it looked like when he first put it on and continued past that. The crystal like plates of it expanded outward, growing out of nowhere. It creeped down his arm forming what could be described as a gauntlet. It also expanded onto the back of his hand covering his paw.

A shock rang through Jack causing him to jump back. The wisps of energy slowly dissipated. The Nexus stopped glowing and returned to its state with the waves of energy moving across its entire surface. Ness then spoke, "It's good to be back Jack."

"What was that?" Jack asked standing up from the grass.

Ness answered Jacks question with another, "Do you know of the equation E equals M C squared?"

"Y-Yeah, everyone knows that one." Jack was confused with the randomness of the question.

"The Nexus' basic principle of operation is based on the equation." Ness explained. Jack didn't answer back. Ness took this as a means to continued, "The equation basically states that mass and energy are of the same thing. Two sides of the same coin. Mass can be seen as very very slow energy. And energy the reverse of matter. With this in mind the Nexus can take in energy and condense it down into a solid form for storage. This allows the ability for large reserves of storage for a small device. That is why I will shrink when energy is used and grow when it is stored. Do you understand?"

"Y-Yeah." Jack paused, "Is there a limit to your storage?"

"My limit is only the size of my controller. So for you I have a very small limit compared to the other inhabitants of Zootopia."

Jack gave a fake laugh at the statement. He checked around him, he was alone in the middle of the night with Ness. There would be no more disturbances like the fox…hopefully. He looked to the watch and asked, "So what exactly are you. I know you said back on the mountain, but now that we have the time I would like the whole spiel."

"Very well Jack," Ness responded without protest, "The Nexus has been a prototype for Summit since its inception. It is responsible for their formation as a company and creation of some of their more lucrative techs. It never reached a full model due to its inability to achieve its primary function."

"Primary, I thought it was to be a weapon?" Jack pondered.

"No, that was not the first goal with the Nexus' creation. It was designed with many functions in mind. It was to be a very versatile tool as well as weapon."

"Like the stuff you said on the mountain?"

"Yes. Those are its main weapon functions. Energy projection like beams and lightning. Levitation and matter manipulation. Construct creation like barriers and weapons. To say a few. Healing and neuro-connection were also sought for ease of use by user as well as field application. The energy storage was also applied for making a more portable device."

With Ness taking a pause Jack asked again, "What do you mean construct of weapons, you didn't say that on the mountain?"

"The construction creation ability was first created for creation of barriers for defensive purposes, but it was discovered that this ability could also be carried out to form rudimentary weapons. Like swords and other blades. Complicated moving weapons like guns were too intricate for any test, and weapons involving various chemicals like grenades and such were also impossible due to the fact the Nexus operated on energy and light manipulation and not matter creation."

"So what is your primary function?"

"It is what we did a few minutes ago; it is why I was low on energy. The primary focus draws most of the Nexus' stored energy. That is universal transportation."

"Universal what?"

"Transportation. The Nexus was first conceived on the idea of traveling between universes, through multiple realities."

"This all seems a bit too science fictiony."

"At first it seemed, but the many worlds theory does have it support in the scientific community."

"How so?" Jack questioned, expecting he wouldn't be able to follow the lecture he expected to follow. He always viewed himself as smart, more street than book. And this seemed like something far out of his forte.

Ness answered by lighting up and producing a hologram in front of Jack, of several blue bubbles. They floated in the air around him as Ness explained, "The best way to view it is like a series of bubbles you blow from a wand. You blow several at once not one. Each of these bubbles can be viewed as a separate reality. Each can be very similar, or very different. This all depends on how history played out in them. There could be one where I was never created. Or one where you never stole me. Another where you never killed Hoover and handed me over to him instead."

"I doubt that last one ever occurring," Jack added with a bit of annoyance.

The bubbles stopped moving and formed an ordered lattice. Ness continued, "The inside space of the bubble contains the reality it embodies. The wall is what protects the universe; this can be seen being as thick as several stars. It has to be very strong and thick. This is to protect it in the case of collisions."

To emphasize this two of the bubbles bounced together, but moved away without any visible damage to either. He continued, "It was hypothesized that if enough energy was focused on a single infinitesimal point on this wall it can be distorted."

The hologram shifted to two large bubbles. As he spoke the left one began to form a growth towards the right, "As this deformation progressed a neighboring reality would also deform," the bubbles demonstrated this process. They continued until the two bulges met and formed a bridge. Ness finished, "This would create a passage from one to the other, large enough for the bearer of the Nexus to pass through to a new reality. After through the energy focus would stop and the two realities would separate and return to normal as if it never happened. The only difference being an inhabitant of one is now in another. This is the primary function of the Nexus. And it was only a theory until today."

"Wouldn't it make more sense that we time traveled?" Jack countered after Ness' speech, "It does seem like we did, the fact that that fox and raccoon were both feral. They were unevolved, just like we were many years ago before predators and prey evolved to the society that we are in Zootopia."

"The counter to that," Ness asked, "If this is indeed time travel and all sentient animals are savage; then who build the house?"

The bubble hologram changed to a hand pointing right at the building Jack stood on the side of. The hologram faded as Jack realized he didn't have an answer for that question. It did make him fear what Ness just said was right. But he was also very afraid of who built the house. If he was the only intelligent animal, then who could have built it?

Wanting an answer to Ness' question Jack strode from the side of the house to the front. As he walked around the large assortment of bushes that blocked the front door he asked, "Why can't time travel be a thing. What if we went forward instead of back? Like we devolved to savages again and these are the ruins of what we built."

"Then what about the fact that there is still power and the cars we heard earlier?" Ness countered with another question. Jack didn't respond back seeing no way to further his side.

Jack stopped and looked at the front of the house. The door was hidden behind a screen one. A two car garage was off to the right, the driveway empty. The trash can was still on its side with the trash strewn about. The raccoon had not showed any sign of returning to its meal. The left half of the house was made of brick, while the right was made of white siding. All the windows were dark and closed. Jack hopped up the few steps to the door as he asked, "How is universal travel even possible?"

"It was mostly a theory, but it was built upon the fact that space can be easily manipulated. Far more than time could."

Jack looked to the handle to the screen door that loomed above. He jumped and grabbed hold of it. He slipped his paw through the small gap he opened in the door. He landed and pushed it aside. As he did he asked, "How is that so?"

"Space has been observed to be distorted by almost anything. Black holes are the most notable. Stars distort it as well. Even the Earth distorts space, only a little, but it does. Time on the other hand has only been observed to distort around black holes."

Jack jumped into the gap between the screen and the white painted wooden door. He let the screen lazily close behind him as he looked to the black painted knob to the real door. Ness continued, "With that information in mind the Nexus was made to distort space in such a way to break reality into another one."

"How did they even conceive the creation of it?" Jack asked as he was enclosed by the screen.

"Not sure," Ness answered as Jack jumped up and grabbed the knob. He held onto it, suspending himself above the ground. "I do not have the documentation on it stored in my memory. But it was the founder of Summit; Ajax Yax, who is credited with my creation."

Jack tried the knob, but it didn't budge. He cursed, "It's locked."

"I can unlock it." Ness stated.

"How?"

"Just focus the Nexus' energy on the lock, not too much. We don't want to melt the thing. You can simulate a key in the mechanism."

Following his direction Jack supported himself by his left paw and legs, pointing his right hand at the keyhole. A tendril of energy extended from his finger and into the mechanism. He heard the small tumblers inside move to the intrusion. He twisted his hand listening to the mechanism responding to his probing. It took a few seconds and multiple turns of his hand left and right, but the lock became undone. With a smile Jack jumped from the knob and landed softly. He pushed the door open into the dark house, the hinges giving no protest except a small squeak. The room inside was made for a mammal far larger than him. The furniture in the room loomed over him; the ceiling was high above it. He felt like he was a massive cavern room they show on tourist brochures of exotic places.

The only source of light allowing him to observe the room was the faint blue light of the moon coming through the door behind him. The floor inside was made of laminated wood, well-kept after. It showed very little signs of wear. The door closed behind him, cutting off his only source of light. In response, sensing his wish, the Nexus lit up to illuminate the area around him. Jack found himself in some sort of sitting room. He walked to the center to get a better look at the place.

There were two couches off to his left, and a flat screen TV along the far wall. A bay window lit this area up showing a rug as well. On the other side he saw two sets of stairs in the darkness. One went up, the other down. A few tables dressed with fake and real plants. As well as picture frames dotted this side. Around a corner Jack spied a long table with chairs for eight around it. There was an archway that opened to a tiled room, Jack guessed a kitchen. He was pulled from his observations when he heard a door open, and footsteps coming from the upstairs. Running fast Jack dove under one of the couches, the light of the Nexus dying as he ran. He laid against the coarse rug, it made his fur itch.

The lights in the room turned on with the flick of a switch and Jack watched a two legged creature descent the steps into the room he was in. He only spied the feet as they touched down, they were strange. They were pink and furless. He saw the ends of pajama pants as well; daring Jack scooted forward to get a better look at the creature. As he moved quietly the creature spoke in a male voice, "Whoever you are come out right now. I already called the cops they will be here soon."

At the edge of the shadow created by the couch Jack got a good look at the strange beast before him. It was not like any mammal he ever saw before. It was clothed in a shirt as well as pants. Its paws were hairless like its feet. It held a wooden bat with designs Jack couldn't make out in its right paw. Its face was flat, and atop it was the only hint of short cut black hair. It spoke again, Jack spied sharp teeth in its mouth, "I will find you. You can't hide," it walked towards the center of the room.

Jack held his breath as it neared him. It spoke, "Nothing can help you now, you chose the wrong house to break into buddy."

To emphasize this, the mammal slapped the bat into its other paw. Jack scooted away from the edge. Jack was not sure how to fight this one. He saw no claws, they seemed clipped, but he didn't know what tricks this mammal had. Like a skunk's spray, cheetah like reflexes, or rabbit like hearing. But if it had any why would it need a weapon?

Realizing this Jack moved to the other end of the couch as the mammal walked away and towards the staircases. It spoke, "I know you are still here."

Charging up a ball of energy in his paw Jack removed himself from underneath the couch, but stayed behind it out of sight of the creature. It began to descend the stairs, and Jack took this as his opportunity to escape unseen. He rushed to the kitchen, half bathed in light from the other room. He tried to be as quiet as possible as he ducked behind an island counter. The creature seemed to have detected Jack's motions and quickly rushed up the stairs. Jack saw its shadow loom in the archway, the bat lazily at its side. The sound of police sirens sprung up in the distance. The creature warned, "Come out, I may not be the one to find you, but the cops will shoot you. A bat is better than a bullet."

Bullet! Lethal force, the creature gave no hint of tranqs being an option. One bullet anywhere would surely kill him. Jack inched his way around the counter. He then spied and escape route, a glass back door. Jack looked to his paw where the ball of energy continued to spark. Guessing it was charged enough he launched it upwards and dove to the ground. He heard the creature ponder what just appeared before it detonated. It released a large pulse of energy, knocking the creature to the floor and taking out the lights in the room.

Not wasting a moment Jack sprung to his feet and ran straight for the door. He tucked himself into a ball as he crashed through it. Picking himself off the cobbled patio and broken glass he rushed into the trees behind the house. The overgrowth wasn't as thick as the forest before so he pushed up the hill and into the backyard of the next house over. The first thing he saw was a large swimming pool dominated most of the yard.

Jack heard the sirens finally arrive at the house he just left. The creature didn't give him chase, and must have gone to get the officers. They would mostly definitely head straight towards him. Jack stepped off to the side and behind a tree. Going on a hunch he figured the police would be looking for a creature just like it, and not a rabbit in a turtleneck. Settling in Jack looked to the Nexus and asked, "So the theory about other worlds is correct yes?"

"With the introduction of such a strange animal yes." Ness answered.

"I think I had enough adventure for today," Jack sighed, "Can we just head home?"

Ness didn't answer right away. He hesitated before answering, "N-No."

"No?" Jack asked wanting a better answer.

"I'm afraid that complications in the matter arise with the fact that the Nexus is still a prototype."

"And?"

"And the fact that it was never able to achieve its primary function while in the possession of Summit. Thus protocols and programming linked to this operation were never fully flushed out. This includes the ability to know where you came from or went."

"In other words?"

"I don't know how to send you to your home. If we jump we will end up in another reality. There is no guarantee it will be the one you came from."

"Well that's just bloody perfect!" Jack stood up from his spot, "So I have no hope of ever going back!"

"At this current time no. I'm sorry Jack."

"Sorry doesn't even come close. I killed Hoover with all intentions of killing whomever that Francis guy he was talking about. Even stopping Vincent if I had to. Now I can't and Judy, Nick, and everyone else will pay for that!"

"I wish there is more I can do Jack."

Letting out a heavy breath Jack sat back down next to the tree. He rubbed his eyes with a paw as he asked, "If we jump is there a possibility that we can go back to home?"

"There's about a ten percent chance that we can."

"What about multiple jumps?"

"Then that's more like a zero percent chance."

"It's not like I got much of a choice," Jack admitted as he heard the sounds of multiple footsteps heading his way. He stood up and asked, "Ready to jump?"

"When you are Jack."

Seeing no objection, and no need to stay, Jack channeled energy into the Nexus just like he did back in Tundratown. Lightning arched around him, singeing the tree and grass around him. He heard someone shout, "I've got something over here."

Not wasting time Jack released the energy and it formed a ball around him. It exploded shattering the trunk of the tree to timber sending it falling. The police that were heading in his direction were blasted off their feet and down the small hill. The grass around the area was burned in a spiral pattern. The surrounding trees were set on fire. More sirens rose in the distance and headed to the explosion.