The Zootopian Chronicles II: Darkness

by Menser

The Protectors: They came with promises of safety and protection from all the threats facing Zootopia but what if the greatest threat is The Protectors themselves? Nick, Judy and their Furless friend must forge an alliance with old friends and Legends from Zootopia's dark mysterious past to save their city and world against these invaders from within and new otherworldly threats.

14. Reynard's Story - Part 2

Reynard's Story – Part 2

Whew, this is the chapter of all chapters. I can't believe it is finished but I am thrilled with it. It is possibly a couple stories in one just by itself as this monster weighs in at almost 27k words. There was just so much to cover in this chapter that was vital to the upcoming plot. Reynard's story is so interesting it has at least six parts and we are just on Part 2. The 3rd part will appear in awhile and we will hear more of Reynard's tales in Vol 3. Also there is quite a lot of interesting dialog between Drudy and Reynard related to a whole other subplot that will reveal itself at the end of the chapter as well some more fascinating discussions about several what if scenarios from the past. The number of new characters as well as introductions to key Zootopian characters both old and new is massive. Well Reynard's story is a non-stop thrill ride full of drama, intrigue, romance, love in so many forms, brutal violence, torture, rape, sexual assault and disturbing imagery. It is not all kittens and rainbows as Reynard says. It is definitely rated M++ or higher so be warned. (Baby bunnies are called kittens for any objecting that kittens don't exist in Zootopia.)

---

Zoodates: (-52 Years to -34 Years) (50 to 32 years before the events of Zootopia The Movie), 117 P.C.

Zoodate: 117 P.C.

As Judy and Drew ended the first part of the story shortly before the assault on the government facility housing the dimensional transfer point on human Earth, Reynard seemed deep in thought, and broke his silence when it was clear the bunny and human had finished.

Reynard: "Judy dear, I can't imagine how difficult it was for you to be on another extremely hostile world seemingly alone and having to trust in creatures you didn't really understand or know."

Judy: looking at Drew "I could only trust in Drew and hope those he trusted in would come through for me. I was scared out of mind and had no idea what we would face as I was hopping into the den of those who wished me and my whole world harm as far as I knew."

Reynard: "What allowed you to believe you could succeed?"

Judy: "I knew the human here loved me. He was so very careful in every decision he made with regards to my safety. He never made any decisions without discussing all the risks and possible pitfalls with me and made sure I was completely comfortable with each choice."

Reynard: to Drew "How could you know the choices were the right ones?"

Drew: "Well taking any risks with Judy tore me up inside every time, but I knew I had to her get her back to her world because of the potential risks she faced every moment she remained on the human Earth. We had to weigh all the options and knew we had to trust in Mia and The Colonel or we had no chance. I could sense their motivations and didn't sense any threats, but it was extremely difficult as their reasons for helping were a great deal different than mine."

Reynard: to Drew "Was helping Judy or helping Zootopia more important to you?"

Drew: "Well at that point Zootopia was only a fairyland and very difficult to even conceive of, so it was mostly Judy at that point, but I could sense how important her world was to her and knew she believed in everything she had told me. The idea of an entire world of intelligent animals under threat certainly pushed up our timetable and motivated the risks we took. If that had not been a factor, I would have been more comfortable moving her to a more secure hiding place and then searching for a safer method of getting her home."

Reynard: to Drew "If she had remained with you on human Earth, do you think you would have eventually pursued a romantic relationship with her?"

Drew: "That is a very difficult question. It is difficult now for me even to think of not having that with her, but I am uncertain as it took me so long even being among the accepting Zootopians as I can be quite obstinate regarding certain things like that. However the longer I was around her, the stronger those feelings grew and the more I became bonded. But the other side of the coin is that once we got to Zootopia, we had a great deal of constant distractions as we ended up fighting the Covenant and I ended up spending so much time negotiating with humanity. So conceivably it may have happened much sooner once I realized I potentially had those feelings, and if Judy had begun to insist I follow up on them."

Reynard: to Judy "Is that true Judy?"

Judy: "I hadn't thought of that. I suppose he is right. If we hadn't had any of the other many diversions, I probably would have been a lot less subtle and more insistent that he recognize his feelings. Because we had so much else to focus on all that time, it wasn't that high a priority or focus, and just happened naturally once things finally calmed down. But I could tell his bond had been growing stronger and stronger, so I wonder how long it would have taken."

Reynard: "Fascinating… I suppose you did have quite a lot to distract you during that period. Well I am going to take a break before I start the second part of my story. I will be back shortly."

Reynard got up and left the area. Judy and Drew used the facilities and got some more refreshments and snacks and settled back down in the chair waiting for their host.

Judy: "Where would you have taken me if our timetable had not been so urgent?"

Drew: "Well I was thinking an isolated cabin in the wilderness. The only problem with that is potential wildlife in the area as predators on Earth would see you as an easy meal, and there would always be the potential of someone possibly wandering in and seeing you. But I hate the idea of keeping you trapped inside the entire time as you would be miserable as I know how much you missed the outdoors coming from the open fields and your farm in Bunnyburrow."

Judy: "Hmm, so you did give consideration to those options?"

Drew: laughing "You know me… I ran every possible scenario and each pro and con through my head."

Judy: laughing "You are a thinker."

Drew: "I suppose the best option would have been an isolated private island without any threatening wildlife and with outside threat monitoring. You could still hide from the remote chance of someone coming especially with your hearing. I could have arranged that, but it would have been quite expensive, but I could have acquired those kinds of funds if I was motivated to need them for you with my certain set of skills. I just have never been driven by avarice. I have instead been driven my entire life searching for you not worldly goods or fame."

Judy: tearing up and hugging Drew "I think that is the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me."

Drew: smiling "If we were alone I would like to do even nicer things to you."

Judy: giggling "Stop that. You haven't had too much alcohol have you? I am not sure how we could explain that to our host."

Drew: grinning "Knowing him we may be able to get his entire story for that."

Judy: lightly hitting him and grinning "You really are getting full of yourself tonight."

Drew: wrapping his arms around her "I think it is the idea of being alone with you on a private island that got my imagination going."

Judy: "That imagination of yours will get you into trouble. Ouch!" Judy puts her paw around something in the middle of Drew's pants pushing it a bit to the side and shifts over to sit on his leg.

Drew: "Sorry."

Judy: "It's okay… female bunnies always take that as a compliment. Happens to bucks all the time. Its just not so… well… pronounced."

Drew: curious "I wonder what will happen in the next part of Reynard's story."

Judy: concerned "I really hope Marion was okay. I can't imagine what must have been going through her head. I mean I thought it was tough just getting bullied as a child, but for something like that to happen to you at four years old. For that to happen to you at any age is nearly inconceivable, but for a little girl. I just don't know how she could recover."

Drew: "Well one thing I always wondered was why Reynard didn't just leave Marion. You realize the only reason they had problems with all the foster families and why they kept getting passed to worse and worse homes is because of Marion's mental problems. The families couldn't handle her outbursts. If he had been alone, he would have been fine and been able to stay with a much nicer foster family and would most likely have never been harmed at all."

Judy: aghast "She's his family. You would never abandon your family!"

Drew: "I guess it is hard for me to relate."

Judy: upset "Would you have left me or Tala if we had those mental problems?"

Drew: shocked "Of course not!"

Judy: satisfied "Well there's your answer."

Drew: "Hmmm… those with mental issues are commonly abused by those who don't understand them… it is very sad… especially children since they can't explain or defend themselves. They are abused and the problems become much worse. Children with autism, anxiety disorders, mood disorders, schizophrenia and similar conditions are commonly targeted for abuse by those that are frustrated by them, fear them and misunderstand them. The little girl most likely had an anxiety disorder which manifested itself after the loss of her mother and then multiplied each time she received further and further abuse. You need to recognize it early and provide a calming and loving environment. The wretched environment and extreme abhorrent abuse the little girl suffered would be incredibly traumatic for a normal child, but for it to happen to one afflicted as she was would be absolutely catastrophic on an apocalyptic scale.

Judy: "Could you have helped her… with your… gift?"

Drew: "Definitely early on, but I am not sure even I could get her back from such trauma, at least not in any reasonable amount of time. It would take a great deal of time and require an incredible environment full of love and understanding to even have any chance."

Judy: concerned "Could you get me or Tala back from something like that?"

Drew's heart dropped even thinking about either of the bunnies undergoing such torment and abuse, and he had to fight hard to even control himself. The emotions came flooding into his mind like a torrent of pain and despair overwhelming him. The pain and anguish both the small kits had experienced hit him like a massive tidal wave and multiplied ten fold thinking of them happening to his two bunnies. That was the problem with being an empath and having such a vivid imagination as he could fully imagine and completely experience such a situation, and he had to quickly slam a block on his mind to control himself or risk being swept away.

Drew closed his eyes and attempted to calm himself and control his breathing and heartbeat. He had been required to undergo such a block from time to time in the past, but not with such intense devastating emotions.

Judy: tearing up realizing her mistake and hugging him "I am so sorry for mentioning this Drew… I forgot what it did to you."

Drew: looking down into her watery eyes "It's okay, I just needed to have the block ready beforehand. When I get it sprung on me out of nowhere, it is difficult."

Judy: "You okay?"

Drew: "Yeah now I am. Well with someone bonded like you, and to a lesser extent Tala, it would be much easier as you are much more receptive to receiving comfort and assistance from me. For someone like Marion, it would be extremely difficult for her to even receive me. In that circumstance the only one who could conceivably get her back was Reynard. She would reject anyone else and would most likely become catatonic and essentially wall herself off into her own little world possibly forever."

Judy: "Do you think he was able to?"

Drew: "Well if it was anyone else, I would be quite dubious, but if anyone had a chance I believe it would be him. But it would take an incredible amount of time and patience."

Judy: tearing up again "I sure hope he was able to."

Drew: comforting her "I just hope she was able to remain in a loving environment. Without that, even he would have no chance."

Judy: "I am not sure living with an underground crime boss is exactly a loving environment."

Drew: "I suppose we will see."

At this point Reynard returned looking relaxed and poured himself some more of the scotch over ice. He gave his guests a sly grin and then got an inquisitive look on his face.

Reynard: curious "Before I begin I have a question to pose to you because of your situation. If you could change what mammal body you were in, what would you change to?"

Drew: "Hmm I suppose it would be a lot easier if I was a rabbit."

Judy: looking at him upset "I would not want that. I have been avoiding male rabbits my entire life."

Drew: "Wouldn't that make everything easier? We could freely be ourselves in public. Everything would work as nature intended... like with us physically and..."

Judy: "I was serious about not wanting kids."

Drew: "Oh… what if I was umm… fixed."

Judy: horrified "Do you have any idea what that does to a male bunny?"

Drew: "Umm… no… I never really looked into that."

Judy: "It completely changes who they are… it devastates them."

Drew: "There has to be a way to do it without affecting their hormones."

Judy: "Apparently it still affects them."

Drew: "What about for female rabbits?"

Judy: "What about what..." Judy starts to realize what he is referring and gets another horrified look on her face "You can't mean!"

Drew: "Umm… what does that do?"

Judy: "It also alters the female."

Drew: "Judy there has to be a way rabbits keep from having babies. Isn't there some kind of contraception or birth control prevention?"

Judy: "Well it exists, but it is not 100% effective and…"

Drew: "And if there is any chance of a bunny getting pregnant… she will."

Judy: "Yep. It is not just the chance of getting pregnant that concerns me. Being a rabbit will change who you are. Much of your identity is in being a human. Also having all the rabbit hormones and instincts will make things difficult for you."

Drew: "Is there any other animal that you would rather I was? Maybe a fox?"

Judy: laughing "You do realize I had been raised my whole life to fear and mistrust foxes."

Drew: "Hadn't you gotten over that with Nick?"

Judy: "With Nick specifically yes, but not with all foxes, especially with what happened with Ffion. It is also still difficult for my family and other rabbits to get over that."

Drew: "It is easier with a human?"

Judy: "Well we weren't raised believing humans were trying to eat us and trying to trick and deceive us."

Drew: "But if I was a fox, wouldn't you accept me the same way as you do Nick?"

Judy: "I suppose so, but I guess I have just gotten used to you the way you are."

Drew: considering "Hmmmm."

Reynard: amused "Judy, what about you?"

Judy: considering "Well I suppose it would be far easier if I was a female human."

Drew: upset "I told you do I don't care that you are a rabbit now."

Judy: "There are plenty of cute little human females."

Drew: "I thought you thought human females were weird and you were upset by their mammary glands."

Judy: "Well if I was smaller or they were small, they wouldn't get in my way."

Drew: "What about getting pregnant?"

Judy: "Humans can control pregnancy a whole lot easier than rabbits. Also you guys have actual pregnancy cycles so you don't get pregnant all the time like us."

Drew: "You don't want to go through those believe me. Human females get crazy hormones like male rabbits all over the place during those, and it is the male humans that suffer. Well… the females as well. It is very uncomfortable for human females during certain times."

Judy: "Hmm well we get many instincts based on hormones as well. We have a nesting instinct and snuggling/spooning instinct."

Drew: "Well I very much like your snuggling instinct. I thought you only got a nesting instinct if you were pregnant."

Judy: "Well sometimes we get false signals."

Drew: "Is that when you go on one of your cleaning binges? And when you pile all the clothes on the bed and hide in them? I come home and can't find you until I discover you hiding in the middle of the pile."

Judy: "Umm I suppose… you are embarrassing me. I thought you promised to never mention that to anyone."

Drew: "Oh sorry, I thought it was very cu… sweet."

Judy: "Wouldn't it be easier if I was a human female… you know..."

Drew: "Sure I can't deny it would be easier for the physical stuff, but I have gotten used to you being a bunny. Your identity is tied into that. It is part of your ties to your family and Bunnyburrow. Your being the first rabbit police officer. You love being super bunny able to leap over and speed past any obstacle in your way. I also could never see you being more adorable as a human than you are as a bunny."

Judy: snuggling next to Drew "Hmm, you really wouldn't want me to change?"

Drew: "Would I love you any less if you were human? No. But I love you just the way you are, and love how we use our imagination to solve every little issue. The challenges are what make it fun and exciting. And I know you love being a trailblazer and doing something no one else has the guts to do."

Judy: holding Drew's arm "Well… I suppose a bunny it is."

Reynard: grinning wide "Fascinating."

Drew: "You really use that word a lot with us."

Reynard: "Well it is quite exclusive to the pair of you. I have never seen such a dynamic as you two present."

Drew: "I hope you are not planning on writing some thesis on us."

Reynard: "What?" laughing "Oh no, I am just one who loves to examine relationships, and yours is definitely one of a kind."

Drew: smiling "Well we certainly never want to be boring or ordinary."

Judy: sticking her tongue out "Bleh! Who wants that." She then grins wide.

Reynard: "Well interesting, it seems you each wished to change for the other, but then your partner did not want you to change. It seems you are quite suited for one another."

Judy: "I told him that all along. He was just a bonehead not listening to me."

Drew: "Well I stand corrected. It is just that stupid human thinking that we are the only intelligent species thing. Being with a Hopps does expand your comprehension of the world around you just like Nick says."

Judy: grinning "We have our uses."

Drew: "Use me all you want. You know how much I enjoy it."

Judy: grinning "Darn addict."

Reynard: sighs "I suppose more subtleties with you two is par for the course."

Drew: "A golf reference?"

Reynard: "I am trying to bring that game to Zootopia. I am developing a course myself. I could use your help bringing some equipment for different sized mammals through if that is at all possible."

Drew: "But of course. See what I did there."

Reynard: grinning "Yes yes, you need not to be so obvious for my benefit."

Judy: anxious "Guys can we please get to the story? I have been waiting forever to find out about Marion. What is it with golf that every male of every species ignores the females when they start talking about it?"

Drew: "Females can like golf too."

Judy gives him a glare.

Drew: "Umm okay, well a few do. But just like my fuzzy soulmate here, I have been quite anxious to find out what happens to the two little fox kits."

Reynard: "Well I can tell you at least one of them grew up."

Judy gives him a very angry glare.

Reynard: putting his paws up "Okay, okay, I see you are not in the mood for levity."

Drew: "When I get that look, I find it is best to give her whatever she wants… fast."

Reynard: smiling "Very well."

---

Zoodate: (-52 Years to -49 Years) (50 to 47 Years before the events of Zootopia The Movie)

Reynard sat in his little sister's bed holding her head to his chest and holding her paws in his own. The little girl had not said a single word in recent memory. Once the sickness had been stopped, she had begun to regain some of her strength eating a healthy diet. The only sound he ever heard out the little ball of fur was when she would weep uncontrollably shaking and crying until she would tire herself out and finally go to sleep. In their many days in the many foster homes, Reynard would have to remain vigilant during these times as usually the caregivers would scream, kick or beat him as they tried to reach the little girl to shut her up. However in their current situation, typically the only thing that would happen is that Mrs. Barb would stick her head into the room with a sorrowful look and leave once she was sure the little kit was okay and was just having one of her episodes.

Her husband Xander would come by from time to time asking for a progress report. When Reynard could hear what they said, Mrs. Barb would tell her husband that the little girl was stable physically, but mentally she was dangerously unbalanced and had the potential to slip into a catatonic state. She told him that the only thing preventing this was Reynard's presence. Reynard had thanked the wolverine on many occasions for all his help, and had promised he would make up for his kindness many fold once he was sure Marion was okay. The problem was that she was not speaking, and would not let anyone touch her if he was not with her. Anytime he tried to leave her side, she would become violent potentially harming herself quite badly, and had already done so on a few occasions. Otherwise she would completely shut down and go into a tight ball regressing into a trancelike frozen state until he would return and gradually pull her out of it.

Reynard could tell the boss was becoming impatient and was sure he was questioning his decision to make this bargain with the little red kit. The little kit wanted to very much prove his worth to Xander, and make sure he knew his faith had not been misplaced. Reynard wanted to make sure Marion was offered a decent place to stay as the terms of their contract were quite vague, as the word 'safe' could be interpreted many ways. Reynard knew that if he proved himself valuable to the boss, Xander would be motivated to make sure 'safe' was at least a warm place with proper food and no beatings or abuse. But if he disappointed the wolverine, 'safe' could become an environment just short of death until the two kits were driven out. He had expressed hints at these concerns to Mrs. Barb, but she said he should not leave until his sister was mentally stable and not to worry about Xander. Reynard hadn't heard of any bosses who listened to their wives regarding business matters, as the code of the street said the regional boss was the final word on all matters and no one but a top lieutenant would even think to question their orders, and certainly not a spouse. The only way Reynard could make sense was that because he was in their home, Mrs. Barb held ultimate dominion in this arena.

The kits had been moved upstairs into a quiet section of the house and he shared a bed with his little sister as she seemed to do better sleeping and moving about when he was next to her. He sometimes could see slight glimpses in her eyes as if she recognized he was there, and then she would go back to being glassy eyed. If anyone made any sudden movements coming into the room, she would instantly jump and shiver curling into a ball and start to weep. Mrs. Barb's servants learned to be very careful when approaching the room now.

During the many moments of downtime, Mrs. Barb had provided Reynard books to read. His Mom had taught him to read when he was very young, and he had picked it up quite easily and could read at a level of one many years his senior. During his time in the foster homes he had continued to improve his skills, and he could still read at a reasonable level. He kept learning words based on the context they were used, but he had begun to write down a long list, and Mrs. Barb seemed to be very happy to let him know the meaning of each one. He kept a notebook and wrote the definition of each word down until he was very familiar with its meaning. He would spend most of his time reading to his little sister hoping at least his voice was comforting her.

It was several weeks after coming to the house that he noticed a change in the little girl one day as he sat in bed with the small red bundle lying next to him staring into space as he read to her. He felt her fidget and then he stopped as he saw her turn her head up and stare into his eyes. It was the first time since before they had been moved to the last foster family of pure hell nearly half a year ago, that he actually saw recognition and comprehension behind those eyes. Then he heard words he hadn't heard in so long as a tentative little voice asked hesitantly, "Renny?"

Reynard froze. He hadn't heard anyone call him that in a very long time. He very carefully put the book down and stared into his little sister's eyes. His own eyes began to water and tears filled them unbidden as he responded, "Marion?"

Marion began to get a slight smile on her face, something he hadn't seen in… well not in recent memory. She then asked concerned, "Renny, what's wrong?"

Reynard hugged her tightly letting her know, "Nothing is wrong. Everything is right now."

As he chatting with his little sister for the first time in over a half a year, he felt like he was in an other worldly dream. It wasn't until Mrs. Barb very quietly made an entrance and waved to Reynard trying not to startle the little girl, that it felt real for the first time.

He gently said to her, "Marion, I want you to meet someone."

He could immediately sense tension and concern in the little girl so he added, "She is a very good lady. She is the nicest lady I ever met since Mom."

He felt the tension release from the little kit when he mentioned their Mom, and she slowly looked into the face of Mrs. Francine Barb.

Mrs. Barb sat in a chair near the bed careful not to come too close or make any sudden movements. She gave Marion a very big kind smile and waved at her. She then gave the little girl the kindest and sweetest look possible asking her softly, "Hello my precious little kit. How are you doing?"

Marion then looked at Reynard for confirmation that it was okay to speak. Reynard nodded gently. She then turned to address the lady of the house, "I am feeling okay, Ma'am."

Her response got a warm smile from Fran who requested, "Please call me Fran little one."

"Mrs. Barb… Fran has been helping us. She has helped make you feel better." Reynard explained.

"Thank you Ma'am… Fran." Marion expressed her gratitude.

Fran smiled wide at that, "It is my great pleasure little one. I am so very happy you are back with us."

Marion looked confused, "Where was I? Renny?"

Reynard hugged his little sister to him tightly, "I am not really sure. I am just happy you came back."

Reynard could tell his host was very anxious about asking her the next question from her expression.

Fran then asked the little girl hesitantly, "What do you remember last Marion?"

Marion appeared confused thinking to herself, attempting to remember anything, finally responding, "I'm… I'm not sure. It is all just bits and pieces. I remember little flashes."

Mrs. Bard looked relieved, "Oh well, that is probably for the best little one. Just know you are safe now."

Marion slowly nods, "Thank you." She looks down and notices her clothes for the first time asking in wonder, "Where did I get this dress?"

Marion had been dressed in a hospital gown for the first week until her physical wounds had begun to heal, and then she had been dressed in soft pajamas. After a couple weeks Mrs. Barb had wanted to try having her wear normal clothes to see if that helped, and had begun dressing her with Reynard's help in soft comfortable dresses. The doctor had been checking on her progress several times a week, and had been pleased at her healing progress.

Reynard let his little sister know, "Mrs. Barb… I mean Fran let you borrow it."

Marion touched it carefully with her paws, "I have never seen anything so nice. I am getting it wrinkled." She starts to take it off.

Fran quickly put her paw out to stop her, "No no dear. It is fine. It is yours to keep. Please leave it on. It makes me happy you are wearing it."

Marion looked up in shock, "Are you sure? It is far too valuable to wear. Renny how much food can we get for it?"

Tears began welling up in Fran's eyes, "Oh baby..."

Mrs. Barb couldn't control herself and moved onto the bed hugging Marion to her chest weeping.

Marion looked in confusion at her brother, "Renny... what did I say wrong?"

Reynard smiled gently at her assuring her, "You did just fine. She is just happy you liked her gift."

Marion appeared skeptical, "You sure Renny? She doesn't seem happy."

Reynard nodding assuring her everything was okay, "I am sure. We are both just happy you are back with us."

It was several days since Marion seemed to have come back that Mrs. Barb relented and let him leave his sister's presence. Once his sister had come back, Reynard was very loathe to leave her side, but he knew he was long overdue from earning his keep and was desperate to show his boss what he could do. He wanted to make sure Marion could be kept in a place reasonably free of bugs and dirt so that she would not get sick again. He promised anything he earned he would give to them so she would be fed well. Mrs. Barb seemed quite upset by his offers though, and assured him that he need not concern himself so much about her care. She offered to house Marion at her house and treat her as part of her household. Reynard couldn't understand this, so he insisted that he and Marion earn their place and struck a bargain with her that they would earn their keep and both do chores and help in order to pay their way. She seemed to understand he was fiercely determined they pay for her hospitality, but she refused to accept his offer to pay for extra food for his sister. He then offered to pay for her education which she also refused. She finally told him he could instead get some nice things for her like maybe some toys. Reynard didn't know what a toy was.

Fran looked at the kit in disbelief, "You've never had a toy?"

Reynard thought a bit and responded, "I think I found some before, but traded them immediately."

Fran asked him, "Did they never have toys in the foster homes?"

Reynard explained, "I think some of the families with their own kids had them, but I never saw one. I was just happy to get a book to read every once in awhile."

Mrs. Barb showed Reynard some spinning things and some shapes and blocks she said you could build with. She also showed him animals stuffed with soft stuff. He didn't see the use in any of the things she showed him except as trade for food or a weapon, but she assured him they would be good for Marion to have for something she called playing. Reynard wasn't sure what this was, but thought his mother had mentioned it a long time ago. He didn't see the harm in it for Marion though, but he wanted her to be able to read as soon as possible. Mrs. Barb promised him she would help teach her to read when he was not there. She refused to bargain with him on this issue, but said it was a promise and didn't need to be negotiated. It was very difficult negotiating with Mrs. Barb as she was very confusing and did not seem to understand the rules of the street at all. How she could not know this married to Xander Barb was beyond him. If you didn't negotiate a strong deal for each side, you could not trust that the other party would keep their end of the bargain. She seemed to be way too much give and no take, so he was very concerned about her reneging on her word to him.

He had never met anyone like her in his entire life, but she said her own kits were grown and she missed having little ones underfoot. Reynard couldn't understand this as everyone seemed to despise having them anywhere near them, and if they were underfoot that usually meant a broken rib or bone for them. She finally convinced him that she would treat his sister like she was her own daughter… like she was family. Reynard understood that, but couldn't understand why she would want some little foxes as her family. She explained that no one liked wolverines either and that they needed to stick together.

That was when Reynard got an idea. He had a thought that would drive his ambitions and motivate him the rest of his life. Those that had been shit on, stepped on, and fucked their entire miserable lives needed to stick together and provide that much needed family for each other. If they couldn't look out for each other, then who would? He vowed then and there to make that happen. He knew it would take a great deal of time, and he was only a little kit, but he would do his part as much as he was able. But his first priority was to his new boss. For the man who had saved his little sister and brought her back to him, he would do anything.

The instant he was escorted to meet with his new boss Xander, he found out that anything encompassed something he had never expected in his wildest imagination.

Xander brightened looking up at the kits arrival, "Ah, finally my little protege arrives."

"I am very sorry sir. I came as soon as I was able." Reynard responded in apology.

Xander nodded, "Yes, my wife told me your were very persistent. She seems to have found a soft spot for both you kits."

"I offered her the very best terms sir." Reynard tried to explain his difficulties negotiating with the boss' wife.

Xander seemed to understand the issues the kit had, "I am sure you did, and I am sure she refused them."

Reynard seemed dumbfounded, "I don't understand sir. Why would she ignore the rules?"

The wolverine tried to explain, "She did not grow up on the street like you and I. She did not have to scrape and claw just to survive another day or even another hour as I know you and your sister have. I have had many such try to join my organization, but I would only trust someone like you to follow me. Only someone who has been through what you have, would know what there is to lose. Only someone like you who has starved never knowing where your next meal was coming from or knew that a single mistake could end your life, could appreciate what I offer you."

"Offer me sir?" Reynard asked in confusion.

"Why to carry on after I am gone." Xander responded.

Reynard stood still looking and feeling very bewildered. Why kind of bargain was the boss seeking now?

Xander attempted to explain, "I apologize Red. You must think I am angling for some kind of new deal. I am in a way, as I need someone to take over my position that I can trust to do right by the people. Someone who is clever, but also understands the street and understands that sometimes you have to make hard choices and hurt people in order to help others. The life you have led and the choices you have made, the sacrifices you have made for your family, tell me you are very likely that mammal."

"Sir, I am only a kit. I told you I would do anything for you and I stand ready to so immediately, but I am unsure how I can do what you ask." Reynard replied looking quite uncomfortable.

The wolverine began laughing hysterically as he now understood what the kit thought he meant, "Oh my… you thought I meant right now. No... No Red, I mean when I am ready to retire in many years. I only meant that I wished to train you how to do this to take over many years from now. It will take a great deal of work and a very long time for you to be ready. I only wanted you to know that it will require a great deal of extra work and sacrifice far above what is required from an ordinary member of my crew."

Reynard was still confused, "Why would you not do this for your lieutenants… why me sir?"

Xander smiled at his response, "Ah, from that question right there I know I have found the right mammal. The reason is that I don't see the potential in any of them that I see in you. Watching the patience and determination you had to heal your little sister never wavering in your devotion to your family against all odds, that is what truly convinced me. Your soul is a dichotomy, one of loving and complete uncompromising loyalty to those you care about, and the other side is ruthless, vicious and brutal to those that would stand in your way. My wife told me of your voracious appetite for knowledge as well as your desire to prove yourself worthy to me. You and I both share in that thirst for greater knowledge, and we also share that same soul. I see myself in you. I was in that same place at roughly your same age, although you beat me by several years on fulfilling retribution on those that wronged you, but your desperate circumstances came a bit sooner than mine. You are not the only one to know the blackness and hear her call."

Reynard looked at Xander in awe, "You worship my mistress? She did not tell me she had any other acolytes."

"Ah, you see her as a deity. She goes by many names. Azrael is one among many, and her message varies, but the results are the same. For one with her in their heart can accomplish things others can not conceive of as her power and love provide them strength of will and courage only an extremely scant few can imagine." Xander explained in reverence.

Reynard looked downcast staring at the floor in anguish, "I failed her the day of our bargain."

"Ah yes, Coal told me all about that. I can not argue her call to seek the marmot's life after what she did to your family, but there are rules of the street as you know. If you wish someones death, you have to make a proper case before our district court and provide proper justification before being allowed to carry out such retribution. I understand that is not normally how she works for you, but we must have order on the street, otherwise we would have anarchy and residents would find justification to kill anyone they wished if left to their own devices. That is the reason you lived as long as you did on the streets, as there was no order for your death as you had not done anything worthy of such an order." Xander attempted to clarify why it was necessary for him to stop the kit from killing.

Reynard became angry thinking of all the wrongs he had suffered, "But I was robbed, beaten and abused daily. The marmot cunt stole my sister!"

"The way of the street is harsh. There is no rule against doing that to the weak as that is the way of the world. That is how the weak learn to survive or perish based on their own faults. It may seem harsh, but it is the only way to make sure only the truly strong survive and flourish here. Your sister was a possession at the time as she was helpless and incapable of providing for herself." Xander attempted to elucidate.

Reynard furiously declared, "The marmot cunt wanted to sell her to people who would most likely rape her or abuse her alive or dead!"

Xander nodded in understanding, "Yes, I can see why your mistress called for her blood. But that was only a threat, and there was no proof of a misdeed unlike your former foster parents."

The kit fumed, "But what the fuck was she going to do with her other than victimize a helpless innocent!?"

Xander calmly attempted to clarify the situation, "I see your reading has paid off, and I very much appreciate your passion. If you had been able to obtain proof of her actions, you would rightly be able to call for her blood. I would never allow such atrocities to be committed in my realm. But simple theft of a possession is not justification for execution even if it is highly likely such an atrocity would be the motivation."

Reynarddemanded to know, "How can you allow a baby kit to be treated as a possession!?"

Xander nodded in commiseration, "A very good question, and one that seems to be part of the universal code of the street. Any child unable to provide for themselves on the street without a guardian is subject to being treated as a possession."

Reynard declared, "That should be changed!"

"Unfortunately that is out of my control. You would need to petition the court of King Nobel to do something like that." Xander explained.

"King Nobel?" Reynard wondered.

"Yes, the King of the underworld. His court controls all the gangs, crime, pick pockets, scam artists, thieves and denizens of the underworld, and we pay monthly tribute." Xander remarked.

Reynard immediately inquired, "How would I petition for such a change?"

"Well there is a great deal you need to learn about everything before attempting something like that." Xander explained.

Reynard grinned wide, "Well lets get started right away!"

Xander smiled seeing the vigor in his young protege, "I very much appreciate your enthusiasm, but that will take many years not days. You do not need to worry about your sister anymore. As one of us now, even at your age, you retain ownership and guardianship status over her, and she could not be taken from you."

Reynard was confused, "How can I own my sister?"

Xander clarified what he meant, "Well I don't mean to suggest she is your slave. It is just used as a legal term of the underworld court when talking about guardianship of a minor since possessions like minors have no rights on the street."

At that Reynard realized he had a lot to learn, "It is quite confusing. I suppose it may take awhile to understand."

And it did. Reynard spent part of his time studying the many books and knowledge his boss Xander had acquired on every subject imaginable. The majority of his time he spent learning the organization while training and working toward every skill he could possibly need. He would provide assistance on the many jobs which helped to pay for the expenses of running such a vast enterprise. He noticed Xander picked his targets quite carefully, and victimized only those who could afford such a cost. Initially Reynard acted as a lookout on most heists especially night jobs as his expert focused hearing, smell and night vision could spot any danger far in advance. But he practiced his skills in private on the test locks at the base and he found he could open them all in a matter of minutes. The bobcat trainer Lunard said he broke the previous record for opening every lock in order cutting the entire time of the former record in half. Xander had seemed quite shocked by this revelation and moved him to train on safe cracking. Reynard was pleased his boss admitted that he was beginning to get used to being surprised by what the little fox was capable of every day.

Xander instructed Lunard to give the little kit an impossible task they did as a joke to ambitious thieves like Reynard in order to humble them a bit as he was getting a bit too overconfident. He sent him to open a very difficult safe with no equipment at all. They chose a special rotary combination lock called 'The Iron Maiden' because of its extreme difficulty in being opened even with specialized equipment. This safe had special serrated wheels with false notches and a special clutch-type driver wheel. Xander, Lunard and three members of the larceny crew enjoyed a good laugh at his expense outside the room, and even had cameras in their paws ready to capture the frustrated and bewildered look on his face. They would hang those on the wall of failure next to the hundreds of others just for a laugh.

Reynard exited the room, but with a normal face.

The kit looked around at those waiting outside the room wondering, "What's with the cameras?"

Xander regarded him curiously, "You give up already?"

Reynard was confused, "Give up?"

Lunard looked down at his watch in consternation, "You were only in there for 3 minutes and 21 seconds."

Reynard looked up at the bobcat instructor apologetically, "I am really sorry sir. That driver wheel had a real kick I was not expecting. Otherwise I would been out a minute ago at least."

Lunard stared at the kit in shock, "You opened it?"

Lunard ran into the room staring in shock at the open safe with a note sitting inside that said, "If you are reading this you don't exist as no one has ever opened The Iron Maiden unassisted."

Lunard exited the room with a frightened look and stripped Reynard completely naked even checking his mouth, rear and every inch of his body and fur and then searched every square inch of the room.

Reynard looked very confused as did the three members of the team holding cameras.

Reynard then grinned at them, "Ah, so you guys are getting into child pornography now is that it?"

The three with cameras got disgusted looks on their faces and quickly put their cameras down.

Xander stood back with one arm crossed and one paw on his face with a perplexed yet slightly amused look on his face.

Lunard appeared panicked, and had closed the safe back and reset the lock checking it quite thoroughly. He then rushed out and pushed the stark naked kit back into the room.

The shaken instructor then requested the kit, "Try and do it again." He then started his stop watch.

All five waited with hushed breath staring at the closed door. After just over two minutes they heard a click and the door opened, and out stepped the naked red kit looking up at everyone with an amused look on his face. Everyone stared at him with gaping open mouths until Reynard realized he needed to say something.

"It was easier that time as I knew what to look for in the wheel. How did I do that time?" Reynard calmly asked.

Lunard looked very sick, "2 minutes 10 seconds". Lunard ran back in checking the safe over thoroughly and locking it again and attempted to open it himself.

The group waited outside in silence with Reynard looking around inquisitively not understanding what all the fuss was about. Since no one was talking, he grabbed a comb out of his pants pocket on the floor and spent his time combing his fur. He loved his red fur even if it made others look at him with disgust and hate.

After about five minutes, Lunard exited the room with a frustrated look and pulled the kit into the room, and told him to open the lock in front of him.

Reynard put his paw up in front of Lunard's mouth to quiet his breath, and he put his ear to the lock and closed his eyes and focused. Click click click cli false click click false… click cl.. good. He spun the wheel back and forth and got a smile on his face as he heard the final click and pulled the safe open.

Lunard just stood frozen with an ashen look.

An amused looking Xander requested, "Time?"

Lunard looked at him in confusion, "Huh?"

"Red's time?" Xander clarified.

Lunard nodded, "Oh… 1 minute 58."

Xander regarded the instructor asking, "Satisfied?"

The bobcat looked down in resignation, "Yes. He is the real deal."

Reynard was confused by what they meant, "Real deal?"

Xander explained, "We heard rumors years ago of someone able to do what you just did in the Tundratown district, but no one believed them. I would not have believed it unless I had just seen it with my own eyes."

Lunard looked at Reynard in wonder, "How… how did you do it?"

Reynard nonchalantly explained, "I just focused my hearing, and just sensed the false and clean notches. It is the wheel that throws you off, but once you know what to expect, you can remove it from the equation."

Xander nodded satisfied, "Well I think we have found our new chief locksmith. I have a few special jobs we would never have attempted before I would not mind setting up right away."

And that is how at just eleven years of age Reynard the Red became the chief locksmith for the Docks District Gang. As a chief he was given a substantial share of the take on each job, and Reynard began to acquire quite a sizable sum of credit with the organization. Prior to this, he spent most of his money buying things that made his little sister happy. He would also borrow certain books from Xander's vast library he knew she might like if only for the pictures. He would spend all his spare time reading to her and telling her of his adventures. He used to sleep with her every evening unless he was on a night job, but as they got older, Mrs. Barb insisted he stay in the room next door instead as she said Marion needed to learn to sleep on her own. Marion would still occasionally get night terrors and Reynard would go into her room and hold her rocking her to sleep. Mrs. Barb would come in the morning to find the two snuggled together in bed in each others arms and shake her head wondering if the little girl would ever really be okay.

Now that Reynard finally had some means, he decided to enact the other part of his plan, and found a sizable abandoned house close to the border of the Rainforest District with an owner that was quite motivated to sell, as he owed Sweet Lou the Jackal, who ran the Rainforest District, quite a sum of money. The owner was quite surprised to see a small fox kit asking about purchasing his property, but when he saw Xander's men standing outside guarding this little kit, the owner thought better of questioning his sincerity. Reynard sensed a great deal of desperation from the raccoon. The crutches he was using and the missing pinkie on his left paw confirmed the information Reynard had obtained, and why this particular owner was ideal. After several minutes of negotiation, Reynard could smell the desperation on him and knew the price he could get. He gave him his final offer and saw the owner ask for a great deal more, so he gave the raccoon a blank stare and started walking out the door.

"Wait!" He heard the raccoon say just as he had predicted. "Fine, you have a deal." The raccoon said with a resigned dejected voice.

Reynard turned to his colleagues and told them, "Pay the man and get the deed."

And with that Reynard bought his first property at a fraction of its value. He spent part of his remaining funds hiring help to repair all the serious deficiencies in order to make the house habitable again.

Xander watched with curiosity as his young protege did all this, helping with advice and arranging a very special rate for the repairs, but never once asking what the young kit was up to. It was after many weeks of searching Reynard found what he was looking for and visited two middle aged red wolf sisters who he knew had worked as nursemaids to some wealthier clients taking care of their kids, but who had been let go because they were wolves, and those families decided that predator nannies were quite unsavory. They had tried finding other similar work, but would eventually be let go for similar reasons. The two now worked in a garment shop sewing all day for slave wages. Reynard had one of his associates Tebor, give him an introduction to the two so they would know he was serious. They appeared to be quite frightened to meet a notorious underworld figure, and thought they had done something wrong.

The red wolves got a very curious look on their faces as an eleven year old kit walked through the door. He nodded to the ladies to sit down in the chairs in the room and sat across from them.

He introduced himself as just Red, and they introduced themselves as Silvia and Mabel.

Reynard began, "Ladies, I will get right to the point. I wish to hire your services for a very special project."

The two looked at each other with a bit of dread and gulped. They knew this little fox was not a joke as they had heard rumors of young fox in the Docks District who was a child yet was not a child at all, but a ruthless criminal. The fact that Tebor, a notorious mobster, and a large beefy jaguar waited outside the door guarding him, also helped to provide a great deal of weight to this notion.

A nervous Silvia addressed the kit, "Sir… I believe you have us confused. We have no skills you would be interested in."

An equally nervous Mabel echoed her sister, "We have never committed any crimes. I know the Ransons claimed we stole, but I assure you we would never steal anything from our employers."

Reynard calmly explained his intentions, "Ladies, I do not wish to hire you for a job for one of our operations. I wish to hire you personally to take care of my kids."

Silvia and Mabel looked at each other with shocked expressions.

Silvia blurted out, "Sir… how… I am confused."

"I do not have them yet, but I will shortly. Quite a lot of them." Reynard added.

Mabel stuttered in confusion, "How… how is that possible?"

Understanding came to Reynard as he attempted to clarify his request, "You misunderstand me. I am not talking about kits from my loins. I hope to have those someday, but not for awhile yet. I am talking about my foster kids. I wish to find all the kids living on the street with no place else to turn. I am talking about finding the worst of the worst, the children who have been abandoned, abused and rejected by everyone else. I am looking for the kids like myself from just a couple years ago who have no place else to turn."

The two sisters looked at each other again with shock. They could not imagine they were speaking to such a small young kit or to an underworld figure of some renown. What he was asking made no sense for either of those descriptors.

Silvia wondered, "But… where would you house them?"

"I own a recently renovated home with a large kitchen, ten rooms and three bathrooms, that could hold quite a number of smaller to medium mammals. Someday I would like to house some larger children, but at present the numbers are more important as space is at a premium. I would provide you housing and a stipend twice your current pay. I would provide you food and resources so that the children get proper medical care, education and learn skills to provide the means to survive on their own once they get old enough. I have found a handyman that will stop by daily to help with any repairs and deliver food and any other supplies you need." Reynard informed them.

An uncomfortable Mabel wondered, "And we would be employed by… your boss?" Neither sister had any desire to be employed by a criminal organization.

Reynard assured them, "No. You would be employed by me personally. My boss has nothing to do with this. You are free to reject the offer without any fear of recrimination."

Silvia and Mabel continued to look at each other with shocked expressions. Reynard gave them time to discuss their decision in private. They finally came back after a five minutes discussion.

Silvia hesitantly explained one of their chief concerns, "Sir… Red… we do not wish to insult you, but what assurance is there that the funding will be there if… say… something were to happen to you."

Reynard handed them a ledger with a complete operations budget for an entire year and a signed document showing the money was set aside in advance for full expenses and guaranteed by the dockside operation's bursar which was as good as cash in hand.

A surprised Mabel nodded, "Red… sir... you have a deal."

Reynard gave them a quick nod and slight smile, "Excellent… now I need your help to find my kids."

Within a week Reynard had paid informants to find twenty-four orphaned kids in the Docks and Rainforest Districts. The main problem was luring the kids out to believe what they were told. These children had been lied to, tricked, manipulated, abused, mistreated and generally fucked every day, so getting them to accept that someone wanted to offer them a safe home with food, clothing and safety for free with no catch was extremely difficult. Kids had fallen for such promises in the past and had ended up as sex slaves or slave labor.

It was Tebor who had the bright idea of calling them Red's Kids and spreading the word among the underworld in both the Docks and Rainforest Districts that they were recruiting for Red's Kids instead of trying to lure them with promises the kids would never believe. Kids on the street responded much better to a recruitment message than pie in the sky promises, and it was much easier after that finding kids who wished to join. Silvia, Mabel and some of Reynard's contacts on the street in both districts helped to weed through all the applicants and eliminate those that did not qualify based on their age, their need or unsuitability being around at risk children. Reynard did not tolerate anyone who would abuse any other children physically or sexually. He had a zero tolerance policy in this area, and the safety of his kids was his top priority. Kids who qualified for placement in normal foster homes were kept at the home until they could be placed in those homes that Red and his team were very sure would treat them well.

Once one of Xandar's top lieutenants, a brilliant leopard named Lezart, found out how much Reynard was spending on his project, he obtained a meeting with Xander to discuss the matter.

Lezart shook his head clearly concerned, "He is wasting his money. The amount is staggering for one small kit. It is an outrageous sum for almost anyone in our organization to handle on their own."

An amused Xander considered the leopard, "He is probably spending his money wiser than anyone I know."

Lezart stared at the boss in shock, "How can you say that?"

"He is investing in the future. He is a true visionary." Xander explained.

The confused leopard asked, "Huh? How... what do you mean?"

Xander smiled slyly at his lieutenant, "Who do you think all those kids will be loyal to in the future? He is making converts for life. He is investing in them like I invested in him."

Lezart continued shaking his head clearly not seeing what his boss saw, "He is just a little kit. How can he be thinking so far ahead?"

"I am sure he is only thinking that he is helping others like himself that no one else would aid. But what he doesn't realize is he is far more brilliant than he realizes. He will be someone whose worshipers would blindly follow into the very gates of hell itself." Xander remarked in awe.

Lezart stood staring blankly ahead considering these words.

Red's Kids were for those who would follow the rules and for those who had nowhere else to turn. Reynard would regularly visit them and talk to every kid and make sure they understood his motto that all the kids there were your family and you looked out for your family first. That if you didn't look out for your family, then you could never expect anyone to look out for you. It was also all the kids responsibility to look out for each other at all times. To stand by and watch someone harm your family, even if it was another kid in the house, and do nothing to help, made you as guilty as the one doing the act. Reynard was especially sensitive to any sexual abuse of the little girls as most of these kids had been abused constantly on the street, and he wanted them to be sure they were safe under his roof. Anyone committing a crime of this nature against them was subject to disciple by the law of the district boss himself which could lead to death or mutilation. It was well known on the street his kids were off limits to all who valued their lives. His anger and retribution to those who harmed his kids had become quite legendary. His mistress had called him twice more to seek retribution once he had properly applied for and gotten permission to execute two who had raped a little girl in his care. He had trained daily in weapons and combat for three years now since joining the gang, and could even now pose a threat to something as large as a bear. He had gained a good bit of muscle and strength, and he was now lightning fast and deadly with all types of blades.

Once execution was approved, many offered to perform the job for him as the crime they were guilty of angered many in Xander's organization. But Reynard knew that right now he needed to set an example to make sure something like this would never happen again. Coal had been quite worried about the kit as he knew his value to the organization, but Xander said it was something he needed to do on his own. In order for the gang to respect him, he needed to prove himself as one willing to get his paws dirty. Coal argued that he was still only an eleven year old kit and that the group would never expect a young kit to take on a full grown veteran of the street who was most likely armed and prepared. Coal contended that this was far different from killing unarmed weasels by surprise. Xander relented and told Coal to keep close and help him only if absolutely necessary.

Coal shadowed the little kit fully armed with throwing knives and daggers. Coal knew Reynard could sense his presence as the kit had amazing senses, but the kit didn't even bother acknowledging him and simply headed to the hideout Xander's agents had found. Coal had supervised quite a lot of the kits training, and he knew the kit was a very capable fighter especially for his age and size, by far the best he had ever seen, but Coal knew better than anyone that anything could happen in a fight, and it was impossible to be fully ready for anything. Xander said the kit had some special power when it was time for a real fight, and Coal had seen the kit in action three years ago, but that was against a far too overconfident unarmed idiot marmot. He was about to face a desperate cornered caracal. The cat would be incredible fast and agile and outweighed the kit by many times. The caracal could leap higher than three meters and could kill the kit just landing on him even if it was unarmed. The normally lighthearted kit was all business, and his eyes looked cold and deadly. He had politely listening to Coal's warning and advice earlier in the day, and had nodded and thanked him and then left. Coal signaled his men to surround the warehouse in which the caracal was hiding and he quietly followed Reynard in and watched from the shadows.

Reynard had listened to eyewitness accounts from another of his kids who had been acting as a guardian for the little girl, as none of his kids ever traveled the streets by themselves as was the rule. The little bear was held down and forced to watch the whole ordeal. The cries of the little bear as he recounted the horror brought back memories from three years earlier as Reynard knew that feeling of helplessness all too well. He then watched a tape of the little girl's account solicited by Silvia and Mabel as he did not want to traumatize the little girl further by asking her to recount the horror directly to himself, but instead he had her tell her new mothers exactly what had happened. He felt a familiar sensation in his veins, but this time the feeling was controlled and powerful. He could barely contain his anger and immediately prepared his case, calling a district council, and presented his evidence and received approval for the executions. The two accused had been known to have committed these kinds of crimes and many other types of abuse and cruelty quite frequently, but surprisingly this was the first time anyone sought approval for their deaths. Reynard had made it clear that his kids were off limits and anyone committing crimes against them would suffer the consequences.

Reynard easily found the caracal in a large room on the upper floor. There was no way the caracal could hide from the now expert nose and ears of the young fox. The caracal named Felinae appeared ready for him poised to pounce. The room was partially dark, but the little kit could see the cat quite clearly. He was gnarled and covered in scars from years of surviving on the streets. The cat was missing a fang and one ear. As Coal had warned, this cat had been in many fights and had survived. He was an extremely dangerous opponent. Reynard heard Coal behind him and he felt comforted having the panther nearby, but hoped to take care of this on his own.

He was a far different kit than the one that had faced the weasels. His education in a mere three years was the equivalent of six to nine years for a normal recruit as the kit picked up most skills in a fraction of time that it took others. The other factor was that he was driven by internal demons to master every skill, not just be proficient in their use. The one thing Reynard had not tried since that time several years back was bringing his new skills and presenting them to his mistress for inspection. He wondered if she was still with him, but after hearing the words from the little cheetah girl, he felt that familiar feeling he had not felt in quite awhile and knew his mistress had not abandoned him. He could sense her even now whispering in his ear and caressing his heart as he faced this true test. He only hoped he could provide her a proper offering and would not disappoint her. As he entered the room, he could see the caracal hiding in the corner and felt it prepare to pounce.

Reynard informed the cat in a stern voice, "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Felinae responded with a wicked laugh, "I can't believe you were fucking stupid enough to come yourself."

Reynard admonished the caracal, "I can't believe you were stupid enough to violate one of my kids."

The cackling Felinae derided the kit, "One of your kids? Who the fuck do you think you are? Half of your kids are around your same age or older."

Reynard glared at Felinae speaking in a cold voice, "Irregardless they are mine, and their safety is sacrosanct. You knew the consequences of such an action."

The cat snarled in response, "What the fuck do you care if I have some fun with them whenever I feel the need?"

Reynard felt blackness filling his veins and started to see an incandescent glow begin to surround the caracal.

Felinae cackled at the audacity of the upstart kit, "Do you want a confession? I don't give a fuck. Sure I stripped the little cunt bare and fucked her raw. So did Balor. She was a tight little piece of ass. I refuse to kowtow to the likes of a little shit like you. Who the fuck do you think you are? You are the same little red piece of shit that begged for a crumb of bread every day. Just because you have protection now doesn't mean you aren't the same little worthless piece of shit."

Reynard had to fight to control himself. He knew the carcal was intentionally trying to incite him in an attempt to cause him to make a mistake. He knew this was the strategy of a cunning street predator like this. But two could play that game.

Instead of rising to the bait, he instead mocked and ridiculed Felinae, "So that is it. You can't find a female who would go within twenty meters of you by choice, so you have to victimize a little girl for your pleasure. You can't satisfy a regular female so you have find a baby to fuck? Are you so fucking pathetic? Is your fucking dick that small?"

Felinae growling in fury, "Fucking pathetic. I will show you pathetic!"

The cat leaped from the corner onto Reynard.

The instant the cat left the ground, time stood still and Reynard closed his eyes and let the blackness consume him completely. His mistress entered him and he became her servant once more. He had become death, but he was now something more. He was an instrument of pain and earthly justice. He was a disciple of Azrael, now a trained killer and no longer a scared little kit hiding in the corner. He was alive and yet dead at the same time. He was Red. He was retribution. He wished his name spread all over the floor and walls in honor of his mistress. A blade flashed in darkness in each of his paws and the suddenly the red form was rolling forward and then leaping straight up spinning and slashing.

The cat realized his mistake while he was in midair as he was completely exposed, and tried to turn to halt his leap to the now empty spot, but he caught two large deep gashes across his chest as he rolled to the side. If he had not rolled, he would have likely been disemboweled. But even so, the damage was severe, yet he had been in worse fights before, and he was damned if a little red shit was going to do him in. The only problem was when he landed with a large blade in his paw, he couldn't see anything to attack until he felt something from behind.

Reynard had spun to follow the path of the cat waiting for the moment when the cat turned to search for him. He was behind and below him and he struck fast and mercilessly slashing lightning quick across the cats legs and belly ripping muscle, flesh and fur apart in fractions of a second, and then instantly rolling backward and coming up crouched down blades up and ready.

The cat had been surprised by the kit's movements and even more surprised by the viciousness of the brutal attack on his legs and belly. He instead turned to slash and claw the kit, but the as soon as he landed his blows, he realized nothing was there. By the time he turned to follow the red blur, something was rolling underneath him.

As soon as Reynard saw the cat miss his attack he was cartwheeling forward and rolling and slashing in two large arcs and felt the jarring contact as his blades met muscle and bone, but he used his momentum to continue sliding under the cat slicing the blades across the belly of the cat feeling the thuds as each blade bounced off each rib. Common sense would seem to suggest that a small opponent would not want to be within the reach of the much larger opponent, but against a fairly sizable cat with the leaping ability and agility of a caracal, close combat was preferred. You just had to be faster so the larger mammal couldn't get his paws around the smaller disabling his blades. At this point Reynard was having to fight against his mistresses' wishes demanding he go for a death blow, as he now had the advantage as the numerous deep cuts all over the cat would now begin to take a heavy toll.

The floor was now covered in blood and was slick and sticky. Blood covered his paws and fur, but he controlled the blackness and waited for his proper moment. He saw the movements of the cat were slightly slower, but Felinae was now desperate and more unpredictable. The cat growled in pain and hate spitting at him feinting a jump at him, but instead rolled into him attempting to knock him off his feet. A very smart move against a smaller opponent, but time stood still once again and the kit instead rolled backwards in response and then dove to the right twisting and slashing at the rolling cat cutting deeply along its back and continuing forward. He heard the cat scream and Reynard turned and stabbing into the sound of that scream with both blades not even looking and then immediately pulled the blades cartwheeling backwards.

His mistress was screaming in his ears for death. His ears bled from her screams, but he was no longer a mindless machine of death, but was instead a scalpel, and he still had more surgery to perform. The caracal was a complete bloody mess and crouched on floor waiting on Reynard now. The cat had learned from his mistakes and now realized it was a much better strategy to strike as Reynard came to him instead. The only problem was that the caracal was running out of time and Raynard could afford to be patient regardless of his mistress' screaming for death and bloody retribution.

Felinae spat at him screaming in fury, "Fucking finish it you little red cunt!"

Reynard did not respond, but looked at the bloody mess in front of him with a cold emotionless stare, and simply stood crouched waiting. Time passed and more blood flowed from the dozens of wounds, and the cat realized that the kit was ignoring all his cries and insults, and he cautiously advanced on the fox attempting to corner him and pin him for a last desperate mauling.

Then Reynard suddenly did the one thing the cat never expected. He was now completely one with the blackness as he ran forward directly into the cat, but then spun sideways slashing like circular rotary blade. As soon as the kit felt contact, he rolled across the back of Felinae digging both blades in deep and using his full weight and momentum to carry the blades down the cat's back, and as soon as hit the ground, he immediately stabbed upward and deep into the belly of cat pushing with all his might until both daggers were embedded to their hilts and then released them both at once leaving them embedded executing a backflip and then rolling back pulling out two smaller double sided razor sharp blades that had been strapped to his legs.

The caracal was gurgling holding his abdomen and fell forward to his side. Reynard casually walked over to the cat and jammed both blades into the cat's neck from both sides simultaneously then released them wide in the air and bathed himself in the spurting blood grinning and holding the bloody knives in the air as an offering to his mistress. He got down on his knees and thanked her for her patience and strength. He then casually pulled the large blades from the belly of the cat and watched as blood poured forth all over his feet. He then walked to the corner cleaning his four blades off on some clothes the caracal had stashed. He then put the blades back into their sheaths by his side and casually walked past the stunned panther and out the warehouse door without looking back acting as if he was out for a relaxing evening stroll.

The vicious brutal fight was lightning fast, and Coal had barely been able to follow the action. All he saw was a small red form and spinning blades. He stood in stunned silence as the baby assassin chopped up the much larger cat and then bathed in his blood offering it to some unknown force in reverence. Coal felt like he was going to be sick. He quickly decided to leave the room before he vomited all over the floor. He barely made any sense as he told his guys outside to send a cleanup crew when they had a chance, and then quickly tried to catch up to the red demon.

They found the badger Balor the next day hiding out in the Rainforest District as Sweet Lou's operatives knew a death order had been issued for the badger, and they took it as an insult that anyone would try and hide in their territory from such an order. Bordering districts would always assist each other, especially in these sorts of cases, in order to assure that peace was kept between districts. War and disputes were bad for business, and if The King's court had to become involved, both sides would suffer immensely.

Thus Sweet Lou's operatives delivered the badger in reasonable condition to Xander's agents promptly. Balor was brought before a council of Xander, the top lieutenants, a special guest and his small red accuser. The badger looked terrified beyond reason looking into the cold eyes of the tiny red monster in front of him.

Reynard spoke coldly as if something not quite alive, "Balor the Badger, you stand accused of crimes against my property. How do you plead?"

Balor managed to babble a response, "Ffff… Felinae. It was his idea."

A dispassionate Reynard inquired, "Did you participate in this act?"

The badger managed to whimper, "Yyyes… but I was only helping a friend."

Reynard countered furiously, "Even simply witnessing such a crime and doing nothing makes you guilty. But you actively aided the perpetrator in restraining one of my kids preventing them from aiding the victim. You then violated my other child in the worst possible way. Do you deny this?"

A dejected Balor answered with his head bowed, "No… but Felinae insisted."

The red monster callously informed him, "You should have found better friends. You should have stopped him instead. Balor you are guilty and sentenced to death. By rights I could simply slice your neck and let you bleed out on the floor, but no one, not even you, deserves to go out like that."

Reynard tossed him a dagger which the badger caught carefully.

A nervous Balor looked at Reynard with a hint of hope, "If I kill you… do… do I go free?"

Reynard chuckled in response, "No my dear Balor, you will die regardless. The order is given. But you will at least go out with some dignity."

The sniveling badger then prepared himself. Fighting a badger was quite a lot different than fighting the cat. The badger would fight from a defensive position and would present quite a challenge to find any exposed weaknesses. Reynard knew the badger may act like a sniveling weakling, but he knew he was anything but. He was an experienced defensive fighter who would crouch in the corner and use cover to protect his flanks. Anyone with any sense knew the danger of engaging a cornered badger. Insults and threats would not work on this creature as it fought for its life.

His mistress had been screaming for blood the instant her servant saw the creature and controlling her anger took all his will. She finally smiled realizing her time had arrived. Her disciple then displayed a pair of blades in each paw that he had specially designed for himself at great expense. Two short razor sharp doubled sided diamond shaped blades extended from between the digits of each of his paws. The two blades were connected to a metal tube covered in a gripping rubber so the paws could be curled tightly around the tube giving the appearance that two razor sharp claws extended from each of his paws. They were designed for his size and for close quarters fighting. A large blade could easily be knocked away, but these blades were perfect for slashing and for stabbing in quick jabs with a very low chance of being dislodged or becoming stuck inside the victim. Reynard had wanted to try these out for quite awhile, but they were far too dangerous to even spar with. He figured there was no better time to test them. The craftsman, an old skunk named Torun, offered to make them for his eleventh birthday. Just the offer to craft something from Torun even at a steep cost, was quite extraordinary as the expert craftsman had commissions already scheduled for years to come, and bosses from all districts including The King himself were the only ones that could even hope to gain such a commission. Reynard was truly honored by such a special gift, and gladly paid the steep price for their construction. He invited the skunk to attend this gathering to witness his master work in action. This was something the skunk had not witnessed in decades, and Torun gladly accepted the offer.

The badger snarled and held the knife close. Reynard slowly approached the corner with the deadly beast and decided to warmup first as he felt his mistress angrily screaming for her disciple to quit teasing her. He executed his normal warmup routine executing a series of forward and back flips, spins and cartwheels to his left and right. He had worked on his fighting style so that he was ambidextrous. Any time he noticed he was favoring one side or the other, he would focus on the weaker side such that he was equally comfortable attacking from any side and at any angle. He also kept a sharp eye watching the badger to see if he would take the bait and attack Reynard when he would seemingly be open and exposed. However Reynard was anything but, as he prepared counterattacks for every movement he executed. He veins were now ice cold with black liquid pumping through him with chilled calculated emotionless focus all directed for one purpose, at one point, for one single objective. He forgot where he was and only saw one thing illuminated in the room snarling in the corner. He prayed to his mistress and vowed to her to make his oblation a truly worthy one for her honor.

As he rolled near the badger attempting to bait him to extend his attack, he spun to the right suddenly rolling into it jabbing all four blades into its lower body ripping upward as he executed a backflip. The move completely took the badger off-guard, as it reflexively moved to protect its injured body, Reynard spun to the right kicking off the wall forward somersaulting off it and landing onto the back of the surprised badger digging all blades into the sides of its neck. But the badger quickly recovered and threw itself backwards slamming into Reynard so the blades instead sliced deep into both its shoulders instead. The move stunned Reynard for a second, as he was pinned to the back wall, but his mistress informed him the creature would pay for its insolence, and the kit extracted the blades and plunged them into the sides of the badger's collar. Against any other opponent this would have been devastating ,but badgers had very thick muscular necks and it threw the kit forward. Reynard rolled as he landed and instantly ran headlong into the startled creature with an impossibly instant recovery, but the badger somehow recovered immediately as well and moved to shield his front, but Reynard was not aiming for the front, but instead its flank as he spun to his left and at the last second jammed all four blades their full length into the soft exposed belly on the side and then kicked himself off the thighs of the badger rolling backwards and began walking sideways in front of the creature holding his arms and paws in front of his muzzle like a boxer glaring at the bloody creature.

Patience was now his friend as the deep brutal cuts would now do their job. He shuffled his feet carefully to adjust for slippage from the blood covering the floor. Because of his size and low center of gravity, the kit had an advantage in slippery conditions, and he waited just outside the reach of the badger waiting for the move he knew had to come soon. The creature was becoming desperate and knew it had to hope for a lucky strike before it was too late. The problem was the red devil was far too fast and his reflexes were too attuned for a simple attack. Balor decided his best chance was a desperate attempt to pin the far smaller kit against the wall pinning his paws so he could not strike. The badger crouched as low as it could and rushed the kit throwing him against the wall. This would have been an effective strategy, but Reynard had anticipated the move rolling forward spinning to the left jamming both blades across the back of both the creature's exposed legs slicing both tendons causing the badger to bounce off the wall as it could not stop its forward momentum, and then fell backwards as its legs completely gave out.

Reynard did not hesitate even a fraction of second as he stabbed one paw under the chin of the now supine badger providing the offering his mistress had been pleading for spouting blood in the air covering his grim form. He then flipped onto the chest of the badger and drove both paws into each side of creatures neck and then ripping them wide apart shredded the entire neck of the shaking bloody mass. He extended his razor paws forward palm up looking into the air and presented his goddess Azrael his offering of gore as the thick liquid and bits of flesh dripped down from his upturned paws upon her altar for her approval. She caressing his reverent visage kissing him gently thanking him for his offering and promising him further rewards for his devotion.

The room stood in stunned silence as all gathered to witness the execution looked at the same red form covered in blood with fear and awe. All gathered, including Xander himself, stood frozen as the small kit rose and calmly walked out of the room heading for the showers trailing paw-prints and droplets of blood in his wake.

A clearly shaken Coal looked at Xander speaking in a hushed tone asked, "What is he?"

Xander continued staring at the retreating form of the bloody kit responding in stunned amazement, "He truly is her acolyte."

A stunned Coal asked, "Whose?"

Xander shook his head simply responding, "Nevermind… just be glad he is ours."

"No one believed me three years ago. No one believed me after the caracal yesterday. I hope I am finally proven truthful." Coal commented.

Xander explained, "I always believed you. I think it was more they chose not to believe than anything. I think that has changed today."

---

Zoodate: (-44 Years) (42 Years before the events of Zootopia The Movie)

Over the next five years, Reynard continued to master skills in all areas working extra hard to perfect any he felt were deficient. He was driven to be the very best in every category, and had numerous followers in the organization dangerously more loyal to himself than to their boss Xander. But the now mature kit had grown in size and strength as well as wisdom, and was fiercely loyal to his boss, and became very angered if anyone suggested anything remotely disloyal.

Reynard now lived in quarters near the headquarters, but still stayed at Mrs. Barb's from time to time. Marion was now serving as Mrs. Barbs handmaiden assisting her in all her activities. The twelve year old girl had grown into an attractive young woman which no one would be crazy enough to even speak to and certainly no one to flirt with. Being the sister of Red and his reputation for uncompromising retribution, and the personal handmaiden to the boss' wife, made her the most off-limit female in two districts. This was probably for the best at the moment as Marion still had terror episodes, and flinched and become very anxious around unfamiliar males. Reynard always enjoyed his time visiting his sister because she was the only light and goodness in his life. He enjoyed spending time with his kids, but each of them had been tainted to varying degrees from their lives on the street. He looked at his little sister with reverence and unconditional love. He would patiently listen to all her problems, fears and concerns, and hold her tight to his now lean muscular form now a good bit over a meter high. He enjoyed staring into the beautiful green eyes of the young girl, holding her face in his paws, kissing her forehead and holding her close. Her presence made all the filth and grime he collected everyday doing the necessary things to keep his boss' organization running, become loose and fall from him leaving him feeling fresh and clean for a brief time.

Marion had become reasonably well educated and capable under Mrs. Barb's tutelage. Mrs. Barb had kept her promises and bargain helping his sister to grow into a bright and energetic young vixen, and her brother spared no expense providing her anything she desired. Marion remained quite modest in her requests, so Reynard mainly sought books of adventure and romance that she devoured regularly.

Reynard had since acquired a warehouse in the docks as gift from a corrupt politician who had been caught in a compromising position with some underage females in the district. In order to keep the information quiet, he offered the property to Reynard free and clear with no taxes for 'development' purposes with a twenty year lease. Reynard accepted his gift as proper reparation for his actions, and was given assurances that no such action would ever be repeated in his or the Rainfall District. The young fox then invested his funds into turning the warehouse into a school and housing for his ever growing group of young charges. After renovations and the hiring of several additional personnel, he would now have over a sixty young souls in his active protected circle with plans for many more in the near future.

To pay for the additional costs, Reynard obtained permission to lease his services out to Sweet Lou's top operatives bringing several of his own people and executing highly profitable large scale operations on select high value targets in the region. Xander's operation would receive shares in the profits, but Reynard's would be far greater as he was not only the chief locksmith, but the chief of operations for most of these missions earning multiple sizable shares of the extremely lucrative endeavors.

At this age Reynard could not help but turn an eye to some of the lovely young ladies he encountered, but he knew that young ladies could be very distracting, and only kept encounters with young vixens and a couple females of other species intentionally brief and casual only experimenting and playful, nothing serious. He had been quite careful to gently turn down numerous offers by various girls of all species that were part of his kids. He felt disgusted by the notion as he thought of them as his own children and would never think to use their gratitude or his position for such a base purpose. He would rather forever remain an inexperienced virgin than take advantage of their feelings of indebtedness no matter how much they protested it was from desire instead.

This was his one seeming flaw, and the members of his gang and even some brave denizens of the street had an enjoyable time teasing and tormenting him over it. This was the single area where he was not a master, but a simple novice, and they made sure he knew it with their endless comments. They couldn't understand his search for the one, the right one. But he didn't give a fuck what they thought as he felt that calling every day. Even Coal was bewildered by the young fox's reticence when he could have virtually any female in several districts as his to do with whatever he wished, whenever he wished. He would just state that his mistress would leave him satisfied until he met the earthly body that would fulfill that role. Coal would shake his head and throw his paws in air, and finally admit he would never understand this young fox. Only Xander was amused by his young protige's endless search for that certain one, and would only say it was not a required skill in his dominion of the underworld, and was up to the young fox to approach however he wished.

However this fox's world changed the day he received word of a rumor of a group operating an underground sex ring at an abandoned warehouse near the shipping yard. His agents confirmed this when they 'convinced' one of the fine patrons of the establishment to provide every scrap of information they desired. Reynard then got special permission from Xander to execute anyone he found at this site as his operatives now had the facility on watch to intercept anyone attempting to leave. Xander agreed to the executions because any of those in the facility were not members of his community, and were trespassing on his territory committing capital district offenses. The boss issued a blanket death order, the first ever issued in anyones memory.

He had not had to kill anyone since we was eleven, but he knew that would change today, and his mistress was screaming in triumph for she had been neglected for far too long. She could feel such fury in her servant that she knew that her temple would soon see offerings like never before. He went in with Coal and two other enforcers while he kept men outside to prevent any vermin from escaping. All those entering knew that the gloves were off, and any adults not identified as victims or non-combatants were forfeit with extreme prejudice. For he was no longer the small red demon of five years ago, but something far more dangerous. He now had the strength, experience and skills to truly become pure death. Coal and the others knew to stay far clear of Red Death as they called him when he had the look in his eye they now saw. That look would make the hardest mammal wet themselves, and they were afraid to even stand in his line of sight. Even Coal was very timid and nervous gently talking to his friend trying to calm him the best he could. Whether this was having any effect was doubtful as Reynard easily disabled the external cameras and unlocked the pathetic four locks on the door in a mere couple minutes.

His mistress now filled him completely, and he had now become the embodiment of earthly death and retribution. His black stare barely registered the wolf as a knife left his paw before anyone else even knew anything was even there. He coldly passed the furry form soundlessly clutching his throat falling muzzle first into a widened pool of blood. Red Death soundlessly entered the facility immediately lining up three targets sending two knives soundlessly flying as he pulled his newly designed large dual diamond blades placing them in his paws and cartwheeling forward and then leaping into the air stepping onto the hunched back of the monster pushing himself higher into the air and driving both claws of death into the neck of the massive grizzly bear in front of him. As gravity pulled him back down from his heavenly flight, he then instantly jumped off and rolled free. His periphery barely registered the forms of a ram clutching his throat falling over a screaming adolescent female skunk. The rabbit who had been so intently humping a small female bunny had sprouted a large dagger clean through his entire skull. These things may represent joy and elation to his mistress, but they meant nothing to him as he much work to do. The bear who now had fountains of spurting blood pouring from his neck then turned with a roar exposing a small male brown bear he had violently been sodomizing.

Reynard saw only the huge dark brown form in front of him as he dove under it driving his new large diamond blades deep into the belly of the monster and ripping upward as he kicked off the massive form executing a backflip landing on his feet and spinning to the right of the bear and leaping into the air grabbing onto the raised arm of the beast and throwing himself swinging upwards and driving one paw down directly down into the side of the angry beast's neck embedding the ten cm blades fully into his target aiming for its jugular vein. He then pushed off on that embedded paw releasing the blades and swung his form forward right into the enraged maw of the beast grabbing onto the head with his left paw to hold him in place while driving the blades of his right paw under its chin ignoring the gnashing maw in front of him shoving the blades lightning fast into the left, right and finally center of the exposed neck of the bellowing beast driving the blades in even beyond their full length and violently twisting his paw in circle ripping its throat completely out, and then kicking himself backward off the top of its chest landing and rolling standing waiting for the reaction of the massive grizzly. His mistress was screaming praises and adulation, but he barely heard her as he waited for a response from the bear who now had a very confused look on his face and was standing frozen upright. Then all of sudden the monster fell forward into a lifeless lump as Reynard rolled backward and did not even bother to acknowledge his handiwork as he headed down a hallway and opened the door to find his worst nightmare.

A middle aged red fox was holding a red form under water while awkwardly attempting to mount her from behind. He saw the red bushy tail of the victim and he felt anger unlike any he imagined in his life as he saw his sister again at paws of her violator. But instead that violator was one of her own kind ,and the anger drove him to jam his bladed paw completely through the back of the fox's neck ripping it completely through its throat and coldly watched as the form collapsed to the left, its head barely still connected to its body.

He dropped the blades mindlessly from his paws and pulled the limp red form from the water cradling it on his lap as he knelt on the floor. He didn't even hear the screams of his mistress crying in elation in the back of his head as he only had eyes for the red form in front him. He turned her facing the floor and held her as she coughed up water gently pounding her back. Once he was sure her lungs were clear, he turned her to face him expecting to see his sister. The face he saw was soaked and near death, but it was the most beautiful face he had ever seen. He thought his mother was the most beautiful vixen in the world, but he now knew that thought was the false memory of a child. The vision he saw before him changed his whole world in an instant. After a few minutes she opened her eyes, and he saw beautiful azure pools staring at him with confusion and then a look of terror.

Reynard was confused by that look and was afraid another threat had entered the room he had not heard, smelled or sensed. How could this be as nothing was able to sneak up on him now? It took several seconds for him to realize the fear in her beautiful blue eyes was for him. He could feel tension in her and felt her straining to fight him with all her remaining strength.

But Aza realized she was far too weak now after the constant beatings and drownings, and she began to weep as she realized she would be unable to fight off this new defiler's violations as he was far too strong and powerful, and she was far too weakened now to stop him. She collapsed and gave into him praying he would get it over quickly, but strangely he pulled her to him embracing her. It was then Aza saw the gruesome sight on the floor as the lifeless glassy eyes of her tormentor of the past week stared up into nothingness. She then heard the sound of something outside the door approach and wait. She then felt the powerful young fox holding her answer the silent waiting footsteps.

The frightening young fox coldly spoke simply saying, "Report."

The deep voice on the other side of the door responded sounding cautious, "We found two more down the hall and dispatched them. That is six total counting the wolf, ram, rabbit and grizzly you somehow took down."

The fearsome fox responded angrily, "One more."

The deep voice sounded hesitant, "Oh… um what…"

The scary fox answered sadly, "Fox."

The deep gravely voice sounded compassionate responding, "I understand. Orders?"

The fox confidently issued orders, "Get all the victims out and to the warehouse immediately. Carry any unable to walk. We should have sufficient medical staff standing by. Make sure they are cared for immediately. I will be with you shortly."

The deep voice sounded cautious and uncertain, "Umm sir… Red… are you sure you are okay?"

"I am fine Coal. I have something I need to take care of personally." The young fierce fox informed him.

The one named Coal apparently simply responded, "Yes sir."

She heard the soft sound of the figure walk away. Aza was very confused. Who the hell was this young fox?

She then found the fox looking at her with concerned mournful eyes asking her, "Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?"

She responded cautiously, "Umm I think so."

He then asked seeming to have difficulty remaining calm, "He hurt you?"

She saw him look down to the dismembered bloody form below and understood his meaning.

"I don't think so. I mean I would know if he did. No... I am definitely fine in that way." Aza answered trying to assure him she had been spared at least that.

The cold young fox seemed to realize she was completely naked at this point and looked away as if embarrassed.

Aza held his face with both her paws and she turned his head back to look at her informing him, "It is fine. I have been here this way for what seems like forever. I have no idea how long. Who are you?"

The fox figure seemed amused by her question answering, "I am known by many names. I am Red… Red Death… The Angel of Death… Death Incarnate... Little Red Shit… Red Cunt… and by birth Reynard. But to you I believe I will be known as Renny."

"Renny?" Aza responded surprised.

"Only my little sister and my dead Mom ever called me that." Renny responded as if speaking of a far off memory.

Aza looked confused and then realized the potent significance of those words and that name.

A slightly shaken Aza responded, "Oh... okay… Renny. Well technically I am Hermeline Azadel but my friends call me Aza. It is very nice to meet you."

She smiled then and he kissed her on her forehead and hugged her to his chest.

Renny spoke very solemnly and vehemently pronouncing, "You are safe now. I promise you no one will ever harm you again if I can help it."

Aza then broke down weeping in his arms.

He sat with her, holding her until she had calmed down, and then pulled off his bloody shirt and dressed it around her to cover her fully. When he stood, she witnessed the imposing lean bare chested muscular fox in front of her covered with scars of various sizes and the numerous small and large knives attached to his sides, legs, and straps around his chest. She also saw a leather brace across his front with slots missing for several large throwing knives. Renny apparently noticed her questioning eyes.

"Sort of used those." He admitted looking slightly guilty.

Aza asked with disbelief, "Umm did that person say you… dispatched four plus the fox?"

Renny spoke gently only responding, "Aza, you shouldn't worry about that."

A frightened Aza asked with part dread and part incredulousness, "You killed the grizzly… by yourself?"

"Please don't concern yourself with that." Renny again spoke gently ignoring her questions.

Aza then remembered something else which seemed preposterous, "He said you were his boss? You are barely older than me."

"Just worry about yourself." Is all the young fox would say.

Aza felt a cold chill throughout her body as she asked with great trepidation, "Who… what are you?"

This Renny gently smiled at that question answering, "Ah… well that is the question is it not. I am not really sure. I am many things to many people. But to you I hope to be something quite different altogether… something special."

Azacould only respond in bewilderment, "But… but you don't even know me."

Why would he see her as anything special? It made no sense.

"I know that you survived this hell somehow with your mind intact, and that is amazing in itself. I know you somehow fought off these fuckers for who knows how long. I know you are someone with incredible strength of will and bravery." Renny spoke as if looking into her soul.

Aza was incredulous, "Why would you want someone like that? I am worthless. I doubt anyone even missed me when I was taken."

Renny smiled at her,"Get to know me and you will know the answer to that."

Aza smiled cautiously giving him the benefit of the doubt, "Okay… Renny… I am certainly curious."

"Can you move?" Renny asked.

Aza tried to stand but realized the punishment had taken its toll and she could not. She was far too weak. She shook her head.

"Could you tell me what happened to you?" The young fox asked.

Aza wondered whether to trust this strange fox, but every sense she gathered from him was that he was completely sincere. She briefly told him she had been in foster care because her parents had abandoned her as she suffered from behavioral disorders, but that she had been passed through several foster homes as they could not deal with her outbursts, until one family dealt with her by instead selling her to this sex slave ring. She was gagged and had a black bag put over her head suddenly finding herself in this nightmare. They informed her she had been purchased and was now their property to do with as they pleased. Apparently they wanted to sell her virginity to one of the several high rollers that were bidding on her. However she refused to participate in entertaining their clients in any way, and would viciously attack and attempt to bite off anything that came near her. They decided to wear her down instead using her as sexual amusement to be gawked at by patrons of the club while regularly being beaten with bags of coins that would not leave a mark on her, but would instead make every inch of her body sore and painful. She still refused to cooperate with their games, and they had recently started drowning her in the fishtank in this room holding her under water until her lungs filled with fluid and then releasing her. The shock of nearly drowning would weaken her each time and she was gradually losing all her strength. She said her will had finally been broken after what she guessed was a week of this constant abuse. She wept uncontrollably as she told him the fox had told her they had run out of patience with her and he was going to fuck her dead wet corpse and be done with it.

Reynard then insisted on very gently picking Aza up and carrying her out in his arms. She was quite concerned with the carnage that was left all over. Bodies littered the floor. There was blood on everything and seeing the giant bear lying face down in a giant pool of blood and gore was extremely disturbing considering the one who did that by himself was now holding her in his arms. He gently put her down in a chair and apologized informing her that he needed to retrieve a few things. He asked her to please look away. Aza's curiosity got the better of her as she watched the young fox pull large daggers from the throat of the wolf at the front, the ram on the side and from the head of a rabbit. She then saw him pick up some special pairs of diamond shaped knives from the floor in the drowning room as she called it, and heard him dunk them all in the same water she had sucked into her lungs so many times. He casually walked out wiping the blades off on the parts of the victims that were not covered in blood and then re-sheathed them. She now had no idea what the hell had saved her and whether he was monster or an angel, but he was certainly no ordinary fox that was for sure. He was scary yet fascinating at the same time especially with how nonchalant he was with the death and gore that surrounded him. It was all she could do to keep from retching, but she figured that would not help improve her first impression to this mysterious fox. She had no idea what he saw in her, but she wanted to make sure whatever she was doing right she continued to do.

This Renny then walked into the room and down the hall inspecting the apparent carnage in the other room. He came out nodding his head as if satisfied with the job others had done. From her count, her savior had taken out all but two of the rapists and fucks who were currently using the facility. She knew the bear was the boss and he was he scariest thing she had ever seen in her life. For a young fox to single-handedly rip him to pieces was incomprehensible.

He then returned his attention to her, and she pretended she was not watching him. She looked up and met his eyes and realized there was such concern and compassion in them as she stared back stunned and open mouthed. How could this angel of death by his own admission have such eyes? He was a complete contradiction. He was a boss yet he was a still a boy. He was an instrument of ultimate death yet he had such emotion and tenderness. He effortlessly picked her up again and carried her out the front. She then saw lines of very dangerous grizzled ruffians, brigands and gangsters standing outside reverently waiting for him to emerge. Once he left the walkway, she saw him nod to the group of men who then moved inside for apparent cleanup. The fox then stopped one of the men and told him to gather every scrap of evidence. He said he wanted every name involved and wanted to find any others held by these… she saw him change the word for her benefit for some reason… bastards.

He personally walked her in his arms for several kilometers seemingly barely needing to breathe until they arrived at a warehouse. As they entered she saw they had walked into a madhouse. She recognized many of the other victims from the club. A couple like herself were being held to have their virginity sold to high rollers. Other girls and even several boys were used as toys for the amusement of the staff and regular patrons. She had known that if she had given into the rape, she would have then become a worthless fuck toy for them, and decided to choose death rather than let them touch her. She thought that death had finally come. It had indeed come, but not for her apparently.

This Renny demanded she be checked over by the female medical staff, and he put her on a bed and a white curtain was placed around the bed. He left her assuring her he would be just outside. She noticed the staff all acted extremely deferential to this Renny instantly following his orders, and they were all looking at her quite strangely, and were being especially attentive to her needs for some reason. She still didn't understand why, but the doctors and nurses carefully removed Renny's bloody shirt and kept asking her if she was comfortable with letting them examine her. They even seemed quite scared of upsetting her for some reason. After being naked and gawked at for who knows how long by the many patrons of the place, she had become quite immune to any uncomfortableness about being naked, poked and prodded, and assured the doctors she had no problem with their full examination. They seemed very happy with their findings and gave her a brand new set of clean underwear and clothes to change into. She could hear the voice of Renny issuing orders. He sounded quite clear with what he wanted, and it seemed everyone was overly eager to please him. Apparently the staff let him know she checked out perfectly, she just had a great deal of bruising all over that would be slow to heal, but no major injuries. From what she could hear, he seemed exceptionally pleased for some reason. He had come walking over to her with a big smile on his face.

Renny grinned inspecting her, "Aza, you look much better now."

Aza handed him his blood soaked shirt responded with some bitterness, "Umm... here is your shirt back. Aren't you supposed to say something sardonic like you prefer me the way you found me or something... naked and panting."

She saw him get a strange look on his face. He then moved in front of her and held her face in his paws looking deep into her eyes. He looked like he was trying to swallow her with his gaze and she felt a bit scared until he realized he was making her uncomfortable and broke the eye contact.

Renny spoke gently, "Aza my dear, I want you back with some normality as soon as possible is all. I know far too well the kind of trauma you suffered, and the sooner we get you back to something approaching normal the better. I am making sure you and all the others are getting a good hot meal and then some warm showers and baths as soon as possible once each are cleared medically."

"Where are we?" Aza wondered.

Renny explained, "You are at my home. Well… one of them."

"This is your home?" Aza responded in disbelief.

Renny then attempted to explain, "Of a sort… you are welcome to stay as part of my family if you wish. If you want to be returned to where you came from, I can make that happen as well, but I do hope you can stay long enough to get to know me first."

An older female red wolf then came over to him.

Renny gave her a gentle smile asking, "Hi Silvia… how many did we get total?"

Silvia replied, "Six girls and two boys counting your… um… vixen here."

"How are they all doing?" Renny wished to know.

The red wolf responded, "Some are in a really bad way. Others like your... um... vixen here… seemed to have been untouched for some reason."

Aza looked to her and explained, "We were to be sold. Well I mean our virginity."

Silvia's faced dropped and she gasped in horror, "Oh dear! How can such evil exist in this world?"

Renny smiled at her, "I have been trying to get rid of it every chance I get."

Silvia seemed to brighten a bit, "Ah… yes I have heard you have. The bunny is in a bad way though. She is frightened out of her mind. I don't think she has ever seen so many predators."

Hearing this news Aza immediately asked, "I know her. Her name is Rachel. Could you take me to her?"

Silvia looked at her in a patronizing manner, "Dear, I know you mean well, but you are a fox."

Aza became annoyed and perturbing clarifying, "I said she knows me. She trusts me. We were locked together the whole time."

Reynard picked Aza up and carried her over to the bunny who had the blood cleaned from her and checked out medically. She had been separated and had a curtain placed around her to try and keep her calm.

Aza poked her head into the curtain seeing her friend asking, "Rachel?"

Rachel looked incredibly relieved to see her, "Aza is that you? Are you okay?"

Aza smiled at the bunny, "Yes sweetheart. Is it okay if I bring a friend in to see you? He personally saved you."

At the mention of a someone else, Rachel appeared hesitant, "Umm okay. If you say he is okay."

Aza tried to assure her, "I am quite certain he means you no harm."

Renny then stepped into room still carrying Aza and looked over the bed at Rachel. The little bunny took one look at the young fox and got a horrified look on her face gasping in panic, "He… that… dead… all dead… blood everywhere."

Renny turned to Aza asking, "Should I step outside?"

Aza attempted to calm the situation, "No... no… Rachel dear, I know what he did. But he saved my life as well."

It took several minutes to calm the bunny down. She was a young rabbit of about twelve with soft fluffy light brown fur, light green eyes and medium length ears. She had white fur on her chest and tail.

Aza tried to quell her friend's fears, "Rachel, they tell me you are very scared of all the predators here, but I assure you they are taking extra good care of everyone from The Dungeon."

The young fox looked in puzzlement at Aza, "The Dungeon?"

"That is what they called it." She informed him.

Renny then gently spoke to the bunny, "You are safe here Rachel. No one would dare harm a hare on your head once you are under my protection." He then chuckled, but the two girls didn't get the joke.

The bunny stared at him with frightened eyes, her little pink nose quivering. Aza then climbed out of Renny's arms and crawled into the bed with the bunny holding her close until she had calmed down.

Aza turned to Renny and explained, "We used to do this every night so that we could sleep."

"It feels so good having you next to me Az." Rachel said seeming content.

Renny then asked, "Rachel… could you tell me your name and where you are from so we can look into getting you home to your family?"

The bunny looked very hesitant.

Aza encouraged her, "Go on Rach… he is the boss. He will get you home."

"The boss… how can he be..." The bunny responded in disbelief.

Aza rubbed her paw on her friend's arm soothingly imploring her, "Please, just tell him."

The bunny looked at Renny answering his request, "Rachel Cotton… I am from Bunnyburrow. I was visiting the city with my family and was grabbed when we took a wrong turn. I don't even know if my parents are still alive."

She began weeping thinking of her parents' unknown fate and Aza hugged her.

Renny gently asked, "What are their names and how many days ago?"

Aza tried to answer for the despondent bunny, "She arrived a few days after me, so I guessing four days. They took her virginity a day after she arrived. Oh my dear lord… she may be pregnant with as many male rabbits humped her. Oh my poor little Rach."

Renny responded somberly, "I hope she was too young. I can have it taken care of if she wasn't."

Rachel gained some composure answering, "My parents are Phillip and Mona. I… I am so sorry Aza. I couldn't stop them like you." She then began sobbing uncontrollably.

Renny excused himself and said he would make phone calls to find out about her parents immediately. Aza cried with her bunny friend and assured her she did nothing wrong. She was only a small bunny, and there is nothing she could have done.

Renny returned a few minutes later with a big smile on his face. Both girls stared at him expectantly.

Renny them informed them quite pleased, "Rach, we found your parents and I just got off the phone with them. They are coming here right now and I will have an escort for them as soon as they arrive in the district to make sure they are untouched. I know this area is a place no normal bunny would ever come, but they didn't care, and wanted to see you immediately even though I told them I could take you to them. They have been worried sick about you. They should be here within an hour. Would you like to get some food first? I am sure they didn't have much to feed you there that fit your diet."

Aza and Reynard convinced the little bunny to go with them to eat and the trio joined all the other rescues.

Aza was quite confused, but very impressed by this young fox Renny. He even had a soft spot for bunnies. She never expected such a brutal killer and gang leader to have such a soft heart for apparently every child of every species, even ones who would look at him with disgust and contempt in another situation. Aza asked for some paper and got Rachel's phone number and home address as she imagined once her parents arrived that chance would never come again. They all had a good meal and even met many of Renny's other kids or Red's kids as they called themselves, who served the food and were paying very special attention to all the newly rescued arrivals making sure they felt welcome and comfortable. It was quite a bizarre scene until someone whispered in Renny's ear that the bunnies parents had arrived, and he excused himself to talk to them first before they could see their daughter. Aza asked if she could go with him, but he insisted she stay with Rachel so she was comfortable.

Renny explained, "They need to know what happened to their daughter and understand what will be needed to take care of her going forward. They also need to be aware of the possibility of a pregnancy and what should be done. I have a lot of experience dealing with these conversations. Please keep her busy until they are ready. Okay Aza?"

Aza assured him she would and this strange fox left to break the hearts of those parents, but hopefully help the little bunny cope in the long run. A bit later Aza saw the two adult rabbits slowly enter the room. Their entire demeanor appeared crestfallen. They looked like they had been crying, their faces were ashen, but those same faces lit up with joy upon seeing Rachel who jumped up and hopped into their arms immediately. She envied the bunny having parents who actually loved her. After she said farewell to her friend, she began to feel all alone even though she was surrounded on all sides by dozens of other mammals. All of them were looking at her strangely and it was unnerving her.

After she had gotten cleaned up for the first time in… well it had been quite awhile, and a day had passed, she finally got the little skunk Amelie, that she had known briefly from The Dungeon, alone and asked her why everyone was acting so weird around her.

Amelie could only respond, "They said you were the one."

"The one what?" Aza replied in confusion.

"The one the boss… the fox had been searching for." Amelie replied.

"Renny?" Aza wondered.

"I don't know that name… they call him Red." Amelie told her.

"What do they mean searching?" Aza asked puzzled.

Amelie tried to explain, "Apparently he had been waiting for you apparently. I don't know. It is confusing. They just said you were special is all and to treat you like… like you were a princess."

Aza was now thoroughly confused. She needed to get some answers and fast as this was getting out of hand. She found the red wolf that seemed to be in charge and decided to interrogate her. The red wolf also seemed to treat her weird.

Silvia responded gently, "Yes dear… how may I help you?"

Aza was becoming frustrated, "No one will tell me what is going on. They keep saying I am the one and something Renny was searching for, but I have no idea what that means."

"You are the one he had been trying to find for quite awhile now." Silvia explained.

"What does that mean?" Aza replied angrily.

"Dear he ignored all others waiting for you." The wolf calmly answered.

"Waiting for me to do what?" An angry and confused Aza wondered.

"Sweetheart he loves you." Silvia told her.

Aza responded in surprise and disbelief, "What? I just met him."

"I don't know dear. I can't understand his mind most times, but I just know he is the kindest and most loving mammal I have known. I know that doesn't make sense, but to these kids he is their savior and their whole world. I have just learned to ignore anything bad I hear and only judge him on how he has treated me, my sister and these kids." Silvia tried to explain.

"How can he know I am this one?" Aza wondered.

Silvia didn't have a certain answer for that, "I don't know. I think it is a fox thing. But he also seems to have some special abilities no one else has so who knows. You really need to speak to him."

Aza didn't have to go searching for the fox as he made it a point to see her as his first priority whenever he came by the warehouse, and so when she had him alone she finally decided enough was enough.

Renny seemed to realize Aza was displeased, "I can tell something is wrong. Silvia told me you needed some answers."

Aza asked him directly, "Renny, everyone says I am the one and that I am a princess. What is this nonsense?"

Renny laughed at that, "They are just getting carried away. They tend to do that around here. Everyone seems to want to be involved in my love life."

Aza looked down bashfully, "Silvia said you loved me. Is that right?"

"Silvia and everyone should have kept their mouths shut. But yes. I do love you. I loved you movement I saw your wet face." Renny responded with a gentle smile.

Aza was confused, "That makes no sense."

"Most of my life has made no sense." Was Renny's explanation.

Aza was a bit snarky, "Are there no foxes around here? You go crazy the first time you see a bushy red tail?"

Renny laughed at that, "Quite the contrary my dear. I have had a regular parade of vixens from the surrounding districts come by."

"What does that mean? You were auditioning them all… they all wear you out or something?" Aza wondered.

Renny grinned in response, "No… nothing like that. I mean I did date a few and fooled around a bit, but nothing serious. I just knew I would know the one somehow."

"Someone said it is a fox thing?" Aza asked attempting to understand.

Renny replied, "Not exactly. Foxes do tend to mate for life once they find the one though. Some other species do that as well."

"But… I am just a kid. So are you." Aza responded still bewildered.

Renny explained, "My dear Aza, we both had to grow up fast and are now more mature or more adult than most grown mammals I have known."

Aza expressed her honest opinion, "I still don't know how I feel about you. I mean I felt something when I first met you, but was not sure if it was love or fear."

Renny laughed in amusement, "Finally an honest and open female. I knew I picked right. You can always feel free to be completely open with me, and I am happy to answer any question you may have. You have seen me at my worst. It is a side I would have wished to hide from you until you knew me better, but it can't be helped."

Azasmiled in appreciation of the offer, "Okay I am taking you up on that right now. So what? Am I supposed to now swoon at the sight of you and beg you to take me right here and make lots of kits with you?"

Renny laughed in response, "You are not a shy one, that is for certain. No Aza, I don't expect any of that. I don't even expect you to love me right now. I just wish to court you."

"What is that?" A confused Aza asked.

Renny attempted to explain, "Hmmm you know. Well I don't know… write you songs and poems… sing to you… take you out on dates… that kind of stuff."

"Hmmm the throwing me down on the table and ravishing me is sounding better than all that nonsense." Aza responded.

The young fox grinned, "Well that is what the books say you want. I guess it is probably better to ask you what you wish rather than consult books of romance."

Aza informed him of her preference, "How about you show me around and tell me about yourself instead. I would rather get to know the real you than any of that other crap."

Renny bowed before her with a huge grin, "Your wish is my command, my princess."

An exasperated Aza responded, "You do know how to annoy me, that is for sure."

And that is how Reynard met his one true love, one Hermeline Azadel. He was true to his word and told her of his entire life and even his worship of his mistress. She was quite disturbed, yet fascinated by this incredibly complex young fox who was every extreme wrapped into quite a handsome package. Dangerous and deadly, loving and gentle, young and reckless, wise and brilliant, he was all of those at once. He was otherworldly and yet very down to earth. He was also incredibly patient and took their relationship quite slow seeing her daily. He said it was a good excuse to visit his kids, and he kept adding more and more. Since they all treated her as a princess anyway and there was no changing that no matter how much she begged, she decided to become an assistant foster mother to the kids.

On her sixteenth birthday, she was now sure her Renny was definitely the one, and insisted he finally make her one with him if he got her drift. She had never seen him so shy and uncertain, but after she jumped him he soon changed his tune. At eighteen she became pregnant with twins and he decided to make an honest vixen of her begging her to marry him. He said he would have done it four years earlier if he had thought she would have said yes. She did say yes this time. As soon as he found out she was pregnant, he insisted she live with Mrs. Barb and his sister Marion until he arranged proper housing for the both of them and the kits. Aza loved both Fran and Marion dearly, so this did not take much in the way of convincing. Marion was so excited she would be an aunt. The sixteen year old Marion looked up to Aza as a bit of a role model, and the two became quite close.

---

Zoodate: (-40 Years) (38 Years before the events of Zootopia The Movie)

At twenty years of age Reynard was now a power broker in two districts as Xander had transferred more and more of operational duties to his protege and acted primarily as a consultant spending most of his time pursuing his passion for knowledge. Reynard had finally fulfilled his promise of taking over Xander's role after twelve years of brutally hard work. The only downside was Reynard had far less time to spend with his kids, but he had many good people he now trusted taking care of them as many of the grown ones chose to stay and care for the younger members of their family. After purchasing several surrounding facilities at remarkably extra special prices, Red's kids numbered one hundred and twenty-two not counting his wife and the two kits inside her. Many former kids went to work for his organization and some of the more academically talented ones went to work for his new shipping business which was a completely legitimate business. However he was able to get extra special rates and contracts because of who he knew and who he was. He also had a very good understanding with the local criminal organization namely because he ran it. He also now managed theft operations for all of the Docks, the Rainforest and most of Sahara Square District paying a fifteen percent tribute of the net profits to the appropriate bosses.

Reynard bought a well fortified estate overlooking the water near the Rainforest District named Maupertuis. It was designed to survive a massive attack and had the best security known to exist. Several of his former kids ran security there and he ran part of his operations from this facility. He moved Aza and his two beautiful new kits, Titian and Rose into the new home. Mrs. Barb finally convinced Marion to move in with her sister-in-law to help take of her nephew and niece.

Reynard had never been happier having his entire blood family living together, and his extended adopted family close by and all around him. As he sat on his couch holding his lovely sister and gorgeous wife in his arms watching his two kits crawl around play fighting, he thought he was the happiest fox in the whole world. The only entertainment he ever needed was spending his rare spare time with the four special foxes in the room as they meant the entire world to him. He wished his Mom was still with them now, and hoped she could see them and feel happy knowing they had somehow survived.

---

Zoodate: (-34 Years) (32 Years before the events of Zootopia The Movie)

At twenty-six Reynard was now known as a legitimate business magnate in the wider circles and known by his birth name Reynard to legitimate politicians and residents of Zootopia. He now controlled eighty percent of all shipping in the entire region, and found bringing new products and opening markets from outside was highly profitable. He had developed several capable lieutenants in his multiple business ventures, wider theft ring, and district underworld organization which managed a large portion of each operation, as he was far too busy to micromanage such a growing empire. He spent a great deal of money opening up charities pushing for reformation of the foster care system calling for much greater monitoring and special facilities for caring for and treating children with physical and mental disorders. He was now supporting Red's kids operations in every district managed by his former kids after he attended a special get together of all crime bosses at the request of King Nobel. The meeting was to now be an annual event. He personally spoke to each boss, and got assurances that all would give him full cooperation with running Red's kids operations in each of their districts. At this event Reynard finally had an opportunity to fight for the rights of children in the underworld and stop the practice of defining them as possessions. The proposal seemed to be well received, but changing those laws seemed to be something that may require much more time.

Xander had now fully retired and had moved far outside the city to a quiet estate. Reynard still talked to his former boss several times a week, and Xander and Fran would spend several days visiting them at Maupertuis each month. Reynard would try and schedule his free time to spend as much time as possible with his former boss, but Aza and Marion were always thrilled to entertain them while he was away.

He and Aza had two more kits, a little boy named Brick two years after his first two. Two years after that they had a true little Daddy's girl kit named Scarlet who lit up every time she saw her father and would follow him wherever he went crawling into his lap at every opportunity.

After many years of private treatment and help from Aza and Fran, Marion starting dating, but was very concerned as her brother kept looking into each of her potential suitors finding numerous reasons they were not good enough for his sister. Marion had many arguments with Reynard that he was being far too picky and needed to stay out of her love life. She finally had enough and would not relent until Reynard promised to stay out of her love life completely. Reynard had to hope Aza could keep an eye on his now willful sister. He worried that some unsavory types may use to her to either gain favor with one of his organizations, to look to her for financial reasons or a variety of other nefarious reasons. Aza said she was now seeing a new fox regularly, but wanted to make sure he stayed far away.

He heard from several of his former kids that there was someone he needed to meet at the new Docks foster house. There was a special case. He hadn't had such a request in many years and he went to the operation to meet this special case. When he walked into the private room, he saw something he had never expected to find in one of his foster homes in this rough section of town.

There sitting in front of him was a small light gray bunny. What made the bunny look quite unique was that he had three black stripes around the back of his head symmetrically ending at points on each of his cheeks. The tops of his light gray ears had black fur as well as a symmetrical curved stripe slightly below the black top providing black marks over the pink insides of his ears. He also had white toes on each of his feet. The final unusual feature was piercing light blues eyes that were now staring at him with intense purpose. Looking into those intense eyes, Reynard knew this six year old little bunny was anything but ordinary. He walked over to the bunny and shook his small paw introducing himself simply as Red.

"Ah, and who might you be?" Reynard asked curiously.

"Savage… Jack Savage." The bunny spoke in a serious no-nonsense voice.

Reynard invited this unusual bunny to sit and he sat across from him.

An amused Reynard began his discussion with this special bunny, "Well… Jack… The first thing I have to ask is how the heck a bunny ended up in my foster home. It is extremely rare to see any young bunnies, and we usually return them to their families in a matter of days. Even for bunnies who have lost their parents for some unfortunate reason there always seems to be plenty of families willing to quickly offer to care for them."

The bunny looked at him with those unusual eyes seemingly staring into his soul considering his answer carefully.

Jack asked, "You run this operation?"

"I do Jack." Reynard answered simply.

Jack wondered, "Will you keep anything I divulge in confidence?"

"I can do that Jack, at least until I retire, but that won't be for quite awhile." Reynard answered honestly.

The bunny seemed to think about this awhile finally responding, "That is acceptable."

"I would like to extend that confidence to all our conversations from this point on for both parties." Reynard offered.

"Deal." Jack quickly answered.

Reynard saw the bunny start to spit on his paw and he stopped him explaining, "Jack I am the boss. A bargain with me is a bargain sealed for good."

He shook the small paw of the bunny.

The young bunny paused for a moment and then disclosed, "I am on a secret mission."

Reynard thought to himself, that is something he didn't expect. But then again he didn't expect to find such a young bunny here either.

"You will need to expand on that a bit." Reynard informed his bunny guest.

"Sir, I mean to say I am here to learn the skills necessary to survive in any kinds of conditions. I am here on a mission to learn to overcome any dangers and obstacles thrown in my path." Jack explained.

Reynard wondered, "Is any part of your secret mission designed to undermine any of my operations in any way?"

"Of course not sir. I am not spying on you or any of your organizations." Jack assured him.

"That is good to hear. But Jack you realize we have very strict rules in who we accept as part of Red's kids." Reynard explained cautiously.

"I quite qualify sir." Jack responded confidently.

"Please tell me how." A curious Reynard wished to know.

"My mother died in childbirth. My mother was pregnant with several babies, but I was the only one to survive. She was walking across a bridge when she began to give birth prematurely and died on her way to the hospital. They injected her with several drugs to try and keep her alive. By the time they got her to the hospital and attempted to save my siblings, they were all dead. It wasn't until I crawled out over them and out of her that they realized one had survived. Apparently the drugs they used caused these marks you see. Apparently it altered the pigment. I have the hospital report with me so you can confirm everything I have stated." Jack explaind.

The bunny handed Reynard the report and everything confirmed his account of the incident.

Reynard wondered, "What about your father?"

"Once I was released from the hospital, he did try to raise me, but he was one shit bastard." Jack answered bitterly.

Reynard commiserated, "Ah, you and I share that in common. But at least your knew your father."

"I would prefer to have never known him. I believe he only raised me to torment me. Apparently every time he looked at me, he would blame me for her death. He said my movement inside caused her to die. He later said my Mom had an affair, and that is why I had stripes like a tiger. In his delusions he even said I was a tiger bastard and not his son. He would chase me and beat me when he could catch me. I learned to be fast." Jack explained further.

Reynard nodded, "A very sad tale. I wish it was unique, but it is quite common among kids who find themselves here. How did you end up here?"

"My father went to the point where my mother went into labor and said he was joining my Mother and jumped off the bridge with me in his arms. The fall seemed to kill him or knock him unconscious, but I still lived and climbed on him and was able to float for awhile until I was spotted by a small fishing vessel and dropped off at the docks." Jack continued.

"Did they bring you to my group then?" Reynard wondered.

"Unfortunately not. I was told I was a possession and sold as a slave laborer. Apparently small bunny hands are good for threading needles and working on fishing nets." Jack explained.

Reynard nodded sorrowfully, "We try to crack down and stop any such practices in my realm."

"I know that sir. A bobcat who was held with me told me all about you and your group. The guy holding us forgot to lock us up one night and Bilit was able to push me up high enough to a ledge and I was able to leap out a window. I was able to eventually unlock the door and let him out. It was difficult as I couldn't reach it, but found things I could move and build a tower I could climb on." Jack elucidated.

Reynard was impressed, "Ingenuous. It is admirable you went back for your friend especially considering he was a predator."

"He was a slave same as me. I would never leave him sir." Jack explained honestly.

"How did you find us?" Reynard wondered.

"Well apparently the ferret heard me open the door and tried to catch us, but we were able to escape and hide. Bilit recognized the roughest looking black panther I had ever seen covered in scars. He said he could help us. I have to admit I was scared, but I trusted Bilit." Jack answered.

Reynard nodded his face brightening, "Ah, so you met Coal. He can be quite a scary looking character. I assume he brought you here?"

"Yes sir, but he caught the ferret first. He said the ferret would not be enslaving any more kittens or cubs again. He then brought me here." Jack admitted with a hint of satisfaction.

Reynard confirmed, "I take it they had to confirm your story for you to still be here."

Jack replied, "Yes sir. I have no relatives I know of."

"Forgive me, but I am curious. How are able to speak so well for a six year old." Reynard wondered curiously.

Jack shrugged his shoulders slightly, "I am not sure. I just pick up things quite easily. I learn fast."

"Jack I am sure I can find you a nice rabbit family who would be happy to take you in. There are some rabbit couples who can't conceive and they desperately want bunnies like you. They would love you and treat you better than even their own children if they had any as they would treasure you far more because they couldn't. I am able to place bunnies in good homes quite easily." Reynard offered.

The bunny appeared to be uncomfortable with the offer responding, "Well I said I was on a secret mission. I couldn't complete my mission if I left."

"Ah well, this is not exactly a bunny friendly environment." Reynard told him honestly.

"Yes I have been told that. They torment me quite often telling me I should leave." Jack admitted.

"Yet you wish to remain?" Reynard wondered.

Jack responded, "As least they are honest. That is a rare thing."

Reynard asked, "Why do you think they torment you?"

"I am different?" Jack guessed.

Reynard nodded, "Yes. Do you like being different?"

Reynard saw the bunny break his serious look for the first time and he smiled and grinned at the fox, "Quite so."

Reynard smiled at that, "I am glad. Being the same is boring."

"I have heard stories of you. You sound quite different." Jack stated with some admiration.

Reynard responded, "That I am Jack. But I suspect you are as well. We differents need to stick together. What say you to that?"

Jack responded with an unusual accent, "Capital idea! That's brilliant."

"Where is that accent from?" A curious Reynard wondered.

Jack grinned in response, "Not sure, just something that feels right."

"Definitely different." Reynard replied with some admiration.

Jack grinned back at him, "Exactly."

"Jack can you please be honest with me?" Reynard asked with some reservations.

"Of course sir." Jack immediately answered.

Reynard requested, "Please call me Red."

"Of course… Red." Jack replied.

"Why don't you really want to live with your own kind, but rather with a bunch of misfits and rejects?" Reynard wondered with some concern.

"Well I don't really want to see any rabbits again after what happened to me. I feel I am a misfit and definitely a reject." Jack admitted.

Reynard nodded accepting his answer, "I have to admit I see a lot of me in you at your age. Are you sure you don't have a sister?"

"Quite." Jack responded with his crisp accent.

Reynard laughed, "Well Jack, I think you and I will be seeing a great deal more of each other."

"I would like that si… Red." Jack responded enthusiastically.

"Capital idea!" Reynard responded attempting to mimic Jack's accent.

"Maybe accents are not your thing." Jack replied.

Reynard laughed at that.

And that is how Reynard met Jack Savage, a fellow misfit in a shitty world treating another soul like a chew toy. Reynard was just pleased he met someone truly worthy of his attention. He decided to see how serious Jack was about his mission and began pushing him mentally and physically. He was still a bit young to bring him into the underworld as he was quite small being a six year old bunny, but he absorbed the education, skill and physical tests offered at the school for his kids and was indeed advanced far beyond his years. The only thing he failed at were things that required greater size and weight, but he even found ways to get around these impediments many times. Jack may not be his perfect protege as he seemed to have different motivations, but he knew Jack would be a valuable part of his organization in some way, and he would be trained and encouraged as a top priority prospect.

It was then that something would happen that would break his heart. Aza said he needed to come home immediately, that Marion was packing up and leaving. He rushed home and found a male fox loading her clothes in a car and realized now Marion was quite pregnant.

"Marion… where are you going?" Reynard asked with concern.

Marion explained sternly, "I am going to live with my husband."

"Husband?" Reynard responded shocked.

Marion informed him, "We were married in secret so you wouldn't butt in."

"You are pregnant?" Reynard asked stunned.

Marion answered with some annoyance, "What gave it away? You would have noticed if you had been around more."

Reynard tried to explain, "Marion you know I am busy. I spend every spare moment I can at home. I am sorry I didn't notice. I have been distracted."

Marion sighed, "It is fine. We just need time to ourselves before the baby comes."

"When is it due?" Reynard wondered.

"In a couple months… it is a he." Marion replied.

Reynard pleaded with his sister, "Marion you are welcome to live with us. You husband is welcome here. We have plenty of room and there will be plenty of help for the baby. He would have a wonderful time with his cousins."

Marion replied "Maybe, but I just need to be alone with my new husband and not be underfoot in the house."

Reynard sighed in resignation, "Very well. But know you are welcome anytime. Aza and the kids will miss you terribly."

"And you?" Marion looked at her brother questioningly.

Reynard appeared quite despondent, "I will be devastated. You are my light."

"You have five other lights now." Marion informed him.

Reynard answered in reverence, "You will always be my first and brightest light."

Marion hugged Reynard and then he walked over to meet this fox who was tearing his little sister from his paws.

He stood face to face with a decent enough looking fox who was a bit older than Reynard, but was a bit shabbily dressed. Based on the vehicle and his clothes, he certainly appeared to be challenged monetarily, but Reynard just hoped the fox loved his sister even a tenth as much as he did as he felt like his heart was being ripped out of his chest. He had never been away from his little sister since the moment she was born. The fox looked a bit apprehensive meeting him and did not wish to meet Reynard's icy stare directly. There were not many mammals who would when his eyes began to get that dangerous look. Marion gave him an angry stare when she realized he had that glare in his eyes and grabbed Reynard's paw and forced it into her husband's.

Reynard icily shook the fox's paw, "Reynard."

"John. John Wilde." The apprehensive fox answered.

Marion angrily declared, "There. You can at least be civil. I will let you know when little Nicholas is born."

---

Zoodate: 117 P.C.

Judy sat frozen staring at Reynard as if she had just seen a ghost.

Judy: shocked "Nooooooooooooooo."

Judy: stunned "Marion. Marion is Nick's mother?"

Reynard: "Yep."

Drew: stunned "Holy shit."

Judy: astonished "Then… then you are his uncle?"

Reynard: "Yep."

Judy: bewildered "But… he never mentioned an uncle. Or an aunt or cousins."

Reynard: "He doesn't know."

Judy: shocked "WHAT! How can he not know?"

Reynard: "Well that is a tale for another time."

Judy: angry "NO! You can't leave it like that! That is not fair and cruel beyond reason!"

Reynard: "Life is unfair. I know that more than anyone."

Judy: angry "How could you keep this from him? How could you be so cruel? Why would you be so spiteful to your own blood! I thought family was everything to you!"

Reynard: "Judy dear, why do you assume it is my choice?"

Judy sat staring at Reynard with her mouth wide open in complete shock trying to speak.

Since she was completely aphonic Drew decided to ask.

Drew: holding a stunned Judy "Why… why would Marion do that? What possible reason would Marion have for keeping this from Nick?"

Reynard: "That is a complicated answer my friends as I know for certain both of you will be my friends for quite awhile to come."

Drew: "Can't you tell us anything?"

Reynard: "It is a complicated story, and while Marion has some justification, I still don't believe it is enough, but I would never think to bias your opinion of her without your hearing the full story. She is still my first light and always will be. She means the world to me."

Judy: finally able to speak "How can there be any possible reason?"

Reynard: "Well times ahead are not all kittens and rainbows."

Judy: "But family sticks together when times are rough."

Reynard: "It is complicated Judy dear."

Drew: "Have you not seen Nick?"

Reynard: "I have seen him quite a lot. I have seen him grow up. I have seen him living on the streets as I did. I have seen his brilliance. He was able to survive without resorting to the darkness I did and I am so happy for him. I even watched him graduate from the academy. I am so proud of him."

Drew: "But he still doesn't know of you?"

Reynard: "No. He has seen me before several times, but doesn't know who I am. I have been doing the best I could as my contacts and I would look out for him whenever we could. I have followed every part of his life."

Drew: "Like a guardian angel?"

Reynard: chuckling "I suppose so although being the angel of death it is amusing to be known as a guardian angel instead."

Judy: "We could tell him."

Drew: confused "Tell who what?"

Judy: "We could tell Nick about his family."

Reynard: "I promised Marion I would never tell him and you are forbidden of speaking of anything we have spoken of here just as I am about you. That is how this works."

Drew: "He is right Judy. We promised him. We can never break that trust."

Judy: desperate "There has to be something we can do! Nick has been missing family his entire life. I can't stand by and do nothing when my friend suffers and I know something like this."

She began to weep and Drew tried to comfort her.

Drew: "What if we got Marion to tell him."

Judy stopped crying and looked up at Drew sniffling.

Judy: "Could we do that?"

Reynard: "Well that would be tricky as you can not tell her you saw me or know of me."

Drew: "Well that does make things quite difficult."

Judy: "We could ask her about it."

Reynard: "You can not tell her you talked to me or about anything you heard."

Drew: "Well not telling someone about it and asking certain questions with prior knowledge of the facts are two different things."

Judy: hopefully "We could force her to admit it."

Drew: "She will be suspicious based on our questions."

Judy: "It doesn't matter if she is suspicious as long as we never explicitly say we met Reynard or spoke of it."

Reynard: "I see you are trying to circumvent the rule."

Drew: laughing "She does that all the time at the ZPD."

Judy angrily punches Drew.

Drew: "Ow! It's the truth my adorable fuzzy one."

Judy: defiantly "I follow the law!"

Drew: "Judy… you bend the law non-stop and sometimes completely ignore it. I am not saying your reasons are unjust as the ends seem to justify the means in your case, but you have to admit the truth."

Judy: uncertain "Well I try."

Drew: "Yes you do my love. But you bend the law in the cases of those you love all the time as well. Nick, Finnick, myself, Mr. Big and his whole organization, Reynard here and the list goes on and on, we have all bent or broken the law many times and you have let it slide."

Judy: "But… but you are my friends."

Drew: kisses her on her forehead "Exactly. We all love you. It is just you can't always be about the rules and you know that more than anyone. I imagine if you followed the strict rules you would not have solved most of your cases."

Judy: frustrated "I don't think Nick knows what a rule is."

Drew: "But let's get back to the important topic and that is if we can get the truth out of Marion without breaking our promise to Reynard."

Judy: to Reynard "Is it okay to try?"

Reynard: "I can't stop you from seeing my sister. In fact I agreed to stay out of her life so even if I wanted to I couldn't because that would break that promise."

Drew: "Hmm it seems to be getting complicated again."

Judy: "So it is okay if we ask questions that she would know means we know the truth and know about you and the rest of Nick's family, but as long as we don't say where we know this information is from it is okay?"

Reynard: "Well you can't say anything that obviously reveals that information though. For example you can't say so do you know this handsome dashing fellow named Reynard?"

Reynard grins mischievously.

Drew: sighs "Okay lets figure this out then. We would have to ask questions which illicit responses so that we can ask follow up questions to get the truth revealed. For example we could ask her about her childhood or her mom or if she had any family."

Judy: "What if she denies it?"

Drew: smiling brightly "Well you have an ace in the hole."

Judy: "I do? What?"

Drew: smiling "Me silly."

Judy: "Huh?"

Drew: points at himself "Human lie detector remember."

Judy: understand and grinning excitedly "That's brilliant!"

Reynard: "I am not sure I follow."

Judy: "We can establish Drew as an empath at the start. If she lies, he can call her out on her lies until she reveals the truth."

Reynard: "I see. Well couldn't she just toss you out on your asses and refuse to cooperate?"

Judy: "Well we have to do it nicely. We can tell her a half-truth. We could tell her Nick is desperate to find out about his family."

Drew: "Well that indeed is the truth."

Judy: "If we make sure she knows we are there on her sons behalf, I think it may work."

Drew: "It will take a lot of subtlety."

Judy: "I would never want him to hear this, but we need Nick's skills in that area."

Drew: "Ah yes, but he is the one person we definitely couldn't use for this task. I suppose we can just try and do the best we can then."

Reynard: "You know how careful you have to be with what you say then."

Drew: sighs "Yes I do. I realize it is getting late and our time is limited so I propose we open with our story continued next time followed by yours."

Reynard: "That sounds acceptable to me."

Drew: "However we need to discuss the reason I called this meeting in the first place."

Judy: confused "What was that?"

Drew: "The Protectors."

Reynard: disgusted "The Pretenders more likely."

Drew: "I fear you are quite right."

Judy: "If the hate they were preaching at their rally is any indication of what is to come, if they gain power then we are in real trouble."

Drew: "Judy and I would have to remain in hiding forever about our relationship. If it got out, we could be in great danger."

Judy: "And Drew and the entire negotiation with the human Earth could be destroyed."

Reynard: "It seems they stand against everything that makes Zootopia great."

Drew: "What can be done?"

Judy: "What if we can solve the situation with the lights or bring defenses in from human Earth to calm their fears?"

Drew: "I am afraid it may not stop their momentum even if we do all that."

Judy: upset "There has to be something we could do."

Reynard: "We may be able to disrupt or rig the election. I still have resources that may be able to help."

Drew: "That seems even worse. If we seek to circumvent the democracy of Zootopia it would be like we were even worse than The Protectors themselves."

Judy: "But what if the ends justify the means like you said I do?"

Reynard: "I am with you Judy."

Drew: "I hate to think we are forced into such a position. I would think trying to turn public sentiment against The Protectors is a much more democratic solution."

Judy: "But do we have enough time?"

Reynard: "I can see what I can find in the way of ammunition."

Drew: "Is there an organized opposition to them?"

Judy: "That is the whole problem. They seem to have free reign with no balance."

Reynard: "It would seem we need to organize some kind of opposition. I can look into the other option as well."

Drew: "I am loathe to support such a measure, but I think we need to consider any option."

Judy: "We will try and find any opposition or anything we can use. Do you think Honey or her contacts may have anything."

Drew: "We need Nick to ask her. She would be too distracted if I tried."

Judy: "I agree, but I can try and ask to see. I hope Nick gets back soon. We need him now!"

Reynard: smiling "Well it is good to hear my nephew is in such demand."

Drew put his hands over Judy's ears.

Drew: chastising "Not a good idea rubbing salt in an open wound."

Judy: "What was the point of that?"

Drew: "Was trying for some levity for a change. Everything has been so serious."

Reynard: laughing "That is why I said what I did."

Judy: "Well this whole evening has given us so much to think about, and with this human here, I won't be able to get a thing out of him as he will be busy until he is all thought out which could take quite awhile now."

Reynard: laughing "Well don't think too long. Sometimes a good distraction can help if you get stuck."

Drew: "I believe I get your subtle meaning my mysterious fox. You want to make sure I don't neglect this adorable little cotton tail here right."

Reynard: "You are a perceptive one. Let me know if you need to change phones, otherwise I will just use the one you have now."

Judy: "We had such am amazing evening we will certainly never forget. We thank you so much for your hospitality."

Reynard: "We can meet at one of my safe houses or isolated estates next time. Just be prepared for a bit of cloak and dagger with transportation to the location.

Drew: "Can we help with the cleanup?"

Reynard: "I will have a crew here later to wipe this place clean. Please feel free to take all the remaining food home as it will be just be wasted otherwise. Also thank your very much for your gifts and a truly exciting evening for the first time in so very long."

Judy and Drew packed up the excess food in the carrying case and Reynard packed up Drew's gifts, and they then parted ways. As Judy and Drew headed home they discussed this amazing evening.

Judy: "I still can't believe little Marion was Nick's Mom all along."

Drew: "I don't think she has any idea what Reynard sacrificed for her all those years or how much she truly means to him."

Judy: "But how can she not?"

Drew: "I think she put a mental block on her memories and has no memory that anything even happened."

Judy: "But why?"

Drew: "It is a defensive mechanism by the mind to protect itself against memories too traumatic to even acknowledge. I am wondering if she is also blocking many other memories of later years for some reason. I suppose I will have to see what I can read from her."

Judy: "I take it we are going to be quite busy in the coming days."

Drew: "When are we not?"

Judy and Drew laughed and laughed as the end of the evening had been so tense and they desperately needed the release.