Roughly 6 years later...

The day had started just as any other had. Maddox sleepily made his way down the stairs, roughly rubbing his eyes. During the day, he was a vibrant and energetic 12 year-old, but first thing in the morning, he moved as quickly as molasses.

"Mornin' Sleepy Stripes," his vulpine father called over his mug of coffee. "Ready for your day with K.D. today?" he asked, using the affectionate nickname Maddox gave his royal father. It stood for King Dad.

"Yeah, I guess," he yawned.

"Everything all right, bud?" Fox asked, not sensing the normal excitement from the idea of visiting his royal father.

"Daddy...am I a freak?" he plainly asked.

"What? Of course not. Why would you ask that?"

Maddox just sighed and got up from the kitchen table. "Never mind. It's not important." He then slowly shuffled back out of the kitchen. Fox was about to give chase, but figured one of his other fathers knew something about this. Once he was out of earshot, Fox commanded that DEVIN reach Wolf and Xavier and bring them on the monitor.

Wolf was doing a minor tune-up on his Wolfen with Leonard in the garage, while Xavier had to excuse himself from a meeting with a few members of Parliament. They both appeared on the screen and Fox told them about what had taken place.

"I haven't heard anyone call him that..." Wolf responded scratching his ear. "has he made any new friends...or enemies?"

"When he's here, he never leaves the palace. The only people he's in contact with are members of the staff and should I find out that he heard it from them, unemployment will be the least of their problems."

"Well he is twelve now, he's getting to that age where self-esteem isn't always at its finest." Wolf supplied. They all nodded in agreement, remembering their awkward teen years.

"I think we should keep a look out for anything and everything. The teen years can be quite unpredictable and given he's our son...I think it's best to expect anything."

They all agreed and ended the video chat. Fox then headed upstairs and knocked on his son's door. "Maddox? Buddy? Can we talk?"

Silence. "Helloooo! Maddox?"

More silence. "All right, young man. I'm coming in. Now just what is..." Fox paused then sighed heavily. His son's skylight was open. He wasn't in there.

'This is so unlike him..."

"DEVIN! Locate and track Maddox." he yelled.

"Unable to comply." the house's AI responded

"What?!"

"According to my scans, Master Maddox isn't emitting a response beacon."

"But that only happens if...CONTACT WOLF AND XAVIER NOW!"

Wolf agitatedly appeared on the screen. "What is it, Fox? I'm a little busy right..."

"DEVIN can't find Maddox! He can't pick up his signature."

"What? That thing must be broken...You just saw him a few minutes ago right? Right?!" Wolf said panicking.

"I did, but... he came upstairs and I didn't hear anything else and..."

"Sirs. The signal has just reappeared, but it's weak. He's currently on the edge of the property."

That was all the two needed to hear before they rushed out to the spot they to which they were directed. Leonard followed suit but was unaware of what exactly was going on. As soon as the arrived, he figured it out though. By the time he'd gotten to the scene, Fox was clutching Maddox's limp body in his arms, covered in his son's blood, with Wolf yelling for the paramedics to get there sooner than now.

Maddox had several gaping wounds in his torso and had lost a lot of blood, if the amount around him was anything to go by.

'This doesn't make any sense,' Leonard thought. "DEVIN would have alerted us if there was an intruder on the premises or even if Maddox was under attack...unless...'