"Ugh, where are we? I have the worst headache…"
"Mama, Papa, they're awake, they're awake!"
I opened my eyes slowly, not sure of what I would find. Three foxes? Nope, not at all what I was expecting.
"Who…? Where am I? How did I get here?"
"That's a question you should be asking yourself, sweetheart, not me. Don't ask me how that thing even got off the ground, let alone into our tree there, darling."
"My head hurts so badly." I sat up slowly, feeling things pull and stretch for the first time in who knew how long. "How long was I out? What the hey happened? My head..."
"You and your fox friend came flying out of nowhere about a week back and crash landed in the elm out back. You looked pretty beat up, I have to say- your arm was pretty badly twisted around, and you can bet your life on the fact that you're concussed."
"That would explain why I feel drunk." Then I thought of Luke. "There was a fox in that rocket with me. Please, tell me he's all okay! He's my son!"
"Your son, sweetheart? You know, he's a fox, right. Aside from that, interspecies marriage isn't legal here."
"Sure it is- that fox is Luke Wilde, he's my son. Nick Wilde- my husband- is his father."
"That's not possible. This here is Nicholas Wilde, and he's only seven, so what are you doing claiming he's your husband?"
By that time, the commotion had woken Nick- Nick? What was he doing here? How the hey?
He sat up slowly, dazed. "Where the hey?" Then he turned and saw me, talking with two foxes. "Mom? Dad?"
"What the? Who are you? You're not my son."
"Let me explain, please. Try to keep your minds open to what I tell you, and please, please, please do not speak until I'm done. This is going to sound crazy, but I swear to Karma, it's the truth. Please."
"What do you say, John? Give him a chance?"
"Humph. I don't trust him, but what's it going to hurt?"
"So, yes, then?"
"Yes, fine."
"Alright, here's the rundown. Just for starters, do either of you actually believe me? Marian? John?"
"How do you know our names?" John cried, incredulous.
"If you would just hang on a second, I'm getting there. Anyways, this is 1955 Cypress Grove Lane, and based on the "Happy 7th Birthday" banners I see, this is March fifteenth, 1991. Which makes it- you guessed it- Nick Wilde's seventh birthday. At exactly three on this afternoon, his mother will bring him into the kitchen and sit him down at the table. She will then open the fridge and take out a small vanilla cupcake- his favorite. No candles, though, we couldn't- can't- afford them."
"Anyways, his father, who was- is- the proprietor of Wilde Style, a tailoring business (which is slowly but steadily sliding into the red- which his wife knows, but can't do anything about) comes into the kitchen right after, and they both sing him Happy Birthday. That birthday is the last happy moment that he will remember for years. Unbeknownst to him, within the next few years, his father's business will go bankrupt, forcing the entire family out on the streets.
That happy kit that his parents knew will become one rebellious teenager, running away and abandoning his family, eventually becoming a small-time con artist and hustler. He does this for almost twenty years- that's right, until he's thirty-two. His whole world will be flipped upside down when Judith Hopps comes bouncing on in, threatening to send him to jail for felony tax evasion. Anyways, it just so happens that she has a condition- he helps her out with her case, he'll go free.
Only there's a slight catch- this so-called "Missing Mammals Case", or the "Night Howler Incident," as you'll hear it referred to nowadays, wasn't just a simple case of mammals wandering off into the woods and getting lost. No, it was the Assistant Mayor, a sheep by the name of Dawn Bellwether, that was darting predators with an extract that would cause them to go back to their primal instincts. When that case was blown open, the Mayor, Leodore Lionheart, was sent to jail, along with Miss Bellwether, who, after Lionheart got canned, took over as Mayor herself.
As for the fox, he started to fall for the bunny, the first of her kind to make it as a Zootopian police officer. When Precinct One's Chief Bogo heard about this fox who helped blow the case, he couldn't believe it- a sleazy, lowlife, con artist fox?
Well, he passed the Academy, and thanks to his efforts in cracking the case, the new Mayor pardoned his back taxes."
"Wait just a minute, Nick," I whispered. "How on Earth did you get here, because, last I knew, you were in 1839?"
"Once again, Judy, I have no clue. I went to sleep last night, and I woke up in the living room." Then he turned back to his family.
"Sorry about that- I just had to answer her question. Anyways, to get back to the topic at hand- that fox subsequently became the first of his kind to become a police officer- the rabbit's partner. Only now, his version of Zootopia is a living hellhole, and there's a sheep by the name of Dawn Bellwether causing one heck of a mess."
"Then- If I understand this correctly- you expect me to believe that you're our son, who, based on the gray on the end of your ears and muzzle- is middle-aged?"
"That's right, yes."
"Are you crazy?"
"Yes, I think I am. What do you say?"
"I say you're nuts."
"I believe him, Mommy," little Nick piped up.
"You do, Nicky?"
"As I said, yes."
"Why, Nick?" John asked. "I sure don't."
"Let me ask him a few questions, John. Questions that only our son would know the answer to," Marian said.
"Of course, dear."
"Okay. Nick?"
"Yes, Mommy?"
"No, not you, honey. The older Nick."
"Yes, Mom?"
"When did we get married?"
"November 17, 1972. You were both eighteen."
"How much did Nick weigh when he was born?"
"Three pounds, seven ounces."
"Why did we name him Nicholas?"
"Nych O'Lastin- he founded the city, he was also your great-great-great grandfather. You wanted to honor him."
Marian's jaw dropped. "You're right on all three counts."
"I should be, I think, I grew up with you two."
"Say that, based on the fact that you just gave us information that only our son would know, we decided to believe you," John said. "Could you possibly explain yourself?"
"I'd love to, yes. But first, do you believe me? Be honest, Honest John."
"Y-y-yes," he stammered. "B-B-But how?"
"I think it's neat," little Nick said. "I get to see what I'll be like when I'm an adult."
"Believe me, Nick, you don't want my life."
"I don't get it. Your life is my life, and the other way around, too, so why wouldn't I?"
"You won't believe me, I bet. You're such a good kit. I'm not. I bet you want to join the Junior Ranger Scouts, don't you?"
"Yes, I do!" he said, bouncing up and down. "I'll be the first fox in the pack. I can't wait!"
"Let me let you in on a little secret, okay? If you go to that meeting, those kids are going to shove a muzzle on you. But that won't be all, unfortunately. They'll shove an electric collar on you too."
"Why? I'm a good mammal. I'm a good fox! Why would they do that?" Then he started sobbing.
"'You think we would ever trust a fox without a muzzle?' That's what they told me." Nick looked up at his parents, his eyes filled with tears. "I didn't do anything to them, but that day, that innocent kit died inside. The shell that was left, well, he's talking to you. I have been the epitome of the fox stereotype for years, but Judy, well, she showed me that mammals can change. The day I met her, I felt something inside that I had long forgotten- love."
"She showed me love for the first time in decades, and I found that I, a fox, could love her back. You've heard Judy's part of the story, but that's mine. So do me a favor, Nick. Don't let me ever be this fox. Don't go to that meeting, I beg you, and stay in school. Oh, and when you meet a cute rabbit in college, ask her out for me, okay? Can you do that?"
"But I don't like girls! They're yucky!"
"That'll change, Nick. You'll change, I'll change, and you'll find happiness, I promise." Then he turned back to his parents. "Did you find another fox and rabbit, perhaps?"
"As a matter of fact, we did. But I'm still having a hard time reconciling the fact that I'm chatting with a version of my son who is older than I am."
"And I'm talking to my parents, whom I haven't seen in decades. That, and my seven-year-old self."
"What an interesting new normal, huh?"
"My head hurts...What happened?"
"We were wondering when you were going to wake up there, little one. Sleep well?"
"No, Dad, I feel like I got hit by a truck."
"You crashed into a tree."
"How long have I been out?"
"A day. We were all hoping you'd wake up."
"Well, I'm awake, and I have the worst headache…"
"A concussion will do that to you, Luke."
"When are we?"
"My seventh birthday- March fifteenth, 1991."
"How in the world?"
"That's the question we've all been asking ourselves, Luke, and yet again, we don't know."
"'I don't know' seems to me to be an awfully common answer. Oh, Karma, my head!"
"Lay down, Luke. I don't know what you think you're doing up."
"I think that I just crash landed in a tree and got knocked out for a week, only to end up a century and a half in the future. All of that's a bit much to take in right about now, and the pounding behind my eyeballs-Ow!" He clutched his temples. "Get it to go away, please!"
"If you'd just laid down, Luke, we wouldn't have this problem. Come on, follow me into the kitchen. I understand that you're hurt, but if you can stay on your paws for thirty seconds, there's a couch you can lay down on."
"Ow-okay."
I've never had a concussion before, and so I feel awful, which is probably about the largest possible understatement. My head is pounding- ka-thump, ka-thump every second. The broken arm doesn't help, either. In fact, the one thought that I can keep in my head goes something like this: Ow-ow-ow-ow-ow. I don't know how I'm on my paws right now, but I do know that I just want to go home. I miss it, that city where everyone could live in relative peace and safety.
Look, there's the couch. Great. I just drop, my paws coming out from under me.
"Here's the little trooper," Mom says. "How are you doing, honey?"
"Horrible. Please don't be offended, but just leave me alone right now. I feel horrible."
"Is this Luke?"
"Yes, it is."
"Oh, Nick, he looks just like you."
"He's adorable, honey."
Aww, she likes me. Then, nothing.
"Ugh, what happened?"
"You passed right out there, Luke. You've been tossing and turning for hours."
"I feel a little better, but my head's still giving me one heck of a time. Can you help us out here? Help us get back home?"
"Could I come with you?" little Nick asked.
"That's not up to me, Dad."
"Dad?"
I smiled and ruffled his fur. "Yes, little guy. You're my Dad, and I love you so much."
"I want to come with you. I want to see what my future is like."
"I don't know if that's possible, Dad. What if it makes more of a mess?"
"I'm willing to take that chance. Didn't you say it's already a mess? Will it really hurt to bring us along?"
"Ask your parents. I don't know if it can be done, warping the timeline like that. When we've hopped through the eras, we've never taken anyone out of their own time. Ripping the timeline's one thing. Entirely destroying it, that's a whole new game. Marian? John? Are you both on board here?"
"I can't say it's not tempting, Luke. Oh, and call us Mum and Pop, would you? We're not quite that old; to be called just by our first names. Do you know what we'd be getting into?"
"Not quite, Mum. I don't know what's going to happen, as much as I'd like to."
"So, to take a family vote- who's along for the journey, no matter what it may bring? Raise your paws."
"I'm in."
"I'm in."
"Me too!"
"Okay, that's the version one Wildes. Version two?"
We're family. We stick together," Mom said.
"Your mom's always right, we all know that."
"Okay, that's everyone."
"Except for me. Don't forget poor little Jack."
We all turned towards the spare bedroom door. "Oh, Jack, you're awake!"
"Awake and with the world's worst headache." Then he cracked a grin. "What were you guys doing making plans without me?"
"You should have woken up sooner, Jack. We were wondering how best to not end the world, all while taking mammals out of the timeline."
"Oh, this should be interesting. I can't wait! So, when's the liftoff?"
