Zootopia: 5 years ago…

It was a warm but humid day in Savanna Central. Most of the mammals that lived in the central part of the city were either relaxing with friends and family, taking a walk, or finding some shade from the sun. However, not everyone could enjoy the beautiful day as a male pig employee was giving chase to a teenage hyena who apparently had stolen various items from his store. The said hyena was wearing a raggedy blue flannel shirt with a plain white t-shirt under it, and a pair of ripped black jeans to boot. He laughed as he continues to outrun the older swine with all of his speed and determine might.

"What's the matter piggy!? Can't keep up? Hahaha!!!" the teen hyena mocked as he sticks his tongue out and shoots a middle finger at his pursuer.

The pig employee ironically named Mr. Hogson took offense to the teen's rude gesture before replying with "Keep laughing smartass! I'm gonna get you sooner or later! And when I do, I'll make sure to report you to the ZPD!!"

"Oh no! Not the lions and bulls in blue! I'm so terrified…" the teen hyena says sarcastically as he continues to outrun the pig until he makes a quick cut through a nearby alleyway. But before he got any further, he looked back at the now heavily-exhausted pig and says "See you around Porky!" before continuing down the alley. Proud of his successful steal and getaway, the teen hyena looked over at some of the things he stole; A couple of adult magazines, some canned goods, and a few junk food snacks. "Meh, It's not a lot of stuff. But it'll do for now" he shrugs as he starts walking again. Although, he felt accomplished the young hyena wanted to do more for his family. Especially since it's only him, his mom, and his grandparents.

Okay...I'll admit I was kind of an asshole when I was 16. But let's be honest here; who wasn't an asshole or a total jerk when they were a teen? Nevermind, let's get back to the story. My mom and grandparents weren't so wealthy like other mammals nor were they financially stable. Mom had to work two jobs and she barely got sleep, grandma worked at the local homeless shelter, and grandpa used to work at one of the fish markets in Tundratown. How the cold weather and smell of dead fish didn't bother him? It's a mystery. He loved it though…

As soon as he was out of the alleyway, the young hyena checked his surroundings in case he had another run-in with that pig employee or worse, a ZPD Officer. The coast seemed clear for the moment until he heard the familiar sound of a police siren; without any bit of hesitation, the young hyena took off running. He ran as fast as he could while avoiding road hazards and passing citizens along the way until he was intercepted and tackled to the ground by the pig employee from earlier. "This piggy just knocked you down," Mr. Hogson smirked as he kept one hoof pressed on the hyena's chest to keep him from trying to run.

"Keep talking porkchop…!!" the teen hyena growled as he struggled with the swine's hoof putting pressure on his chest. "When I get out of here, I'm gonna-"

"You're gonna what Nyani?" the ZPD Officer said as they exit their vehicle and walk over to the two mammals. "From what I'm looking at, including the stolen items, I can charge you with petty theft and attempted an assault on a citizen."

"Ah crap…" the teen hyena mumbled nervously as he recognized both the officer and her voice. "H-Hey there Officer Fangmeyer! You look dashing today!" he says as he attempts to sweet talk the tiger officer.

Save it! You're already in enough trouble!" Fangmeyer replied as she picked the hyena up by his arm and cuffed him. "Oh, and I already called your mom. She didn't sound too happy on the phone," she says as she walks the teen hyena to her police cruiser.

"Oh, great…" the teen hyena groaned and rolled his eyes as he got into the back seat of the cruiser.

Officer Fangmeyer confiscated all of the stolen items and returned them to Mr. Hogson, and then proceeded to apologize for the stress and trouble that the poor pig had to endure from earlier. The said pig told the officer to not worry about it and mainly hopes the teenage delinquent gets punished for his petty thievery. The feline officer agreed with the pig's statement and was on her way as she entered her vehicle with a satisfied smirk on her face. "Okay, Nyani, how many times have we done this? 5? 6? You tell me,"

The teen hyena shrugged before replying with, "How should I know? It's either you, horny or ole buffalo butt. Also, it was 7 times."

"Well, lucky for you, I'm not gonna recommend sending you to the Zootopia Juvenile Center," said Fangmeyer as she starts the car and begins to drive. "Besides, Officer Mchorn and Chief Bogo would definitely combine their paychecks to mail your scrawny butt to juvie in a heartbeat! But I wouldn't. Do you know why?"

"...Because you're an old friend of my mom's…"

"Exactly,"

While Fangmeyer was driving me home, I took some time to think about my dumb teenage decisions. I also needed to think of an excuse to keep my mom from grounding me...again and to keep my grandma from physically kicking my butt for being a troublemaker. Hey, she may be old, but she can whip you into shape and scare the living hell out of you at the same damn time. As for gramps--while not as scary as grandma or mom, he definitely had his ways of scolding and disciplining his then troubled grandson. Speaking of discipline...I'm about to enter the first stage of my funeral. Pray for your pal Spidey guys!

As Officer Fangmeyer pulled up to a medium-sized house in the rougher parts of Savanna Central, a family of hyenas stood to wait for the teen hyena's arrival. In front of the house was a female hyena in her 30's, wearing a crimson blouse, and a pair of baby blue jeans. She had her arms crossed and a menacing glare that could make any male hyena bow or beg for mercy. Next to her was an older hyena couple, both mammals being in their late 40's to 50's. The female one, being slightly taller than her husband, was wearing a black coat with a blue shirt under, and a matching skirt. Her husband, who was a bit shorter, wore a grey sweater vest with a white shirt underneath, black trousers, and a pair of reading glasses. They too looked mad and upset, however, they weren't as angry as their adult daughter was.

The female hyena stomped over to the police cruiser and impatiently tapped on the driver's window until Fangmeyer rolled it down. The feline cop wasn't phased by this as she's used to seeing her old friend be upset or angry. Although, in this case, she was furious beyond anyone's imagination. "Hello, Angie." Fangmeyer greeted in a friendly tone.

"Where. Is. he!?" Angie asked in an infuriated tone. "I have a few choices of words I would like to say to him,"

"He's in the back seat, Angie. I'll get him out for you." Fangmeyer got out of the cruiser and walks over to the backseat to retrieve the teenage hyena and free him of his cuffs. "Don't hurt him too much Ang! I know how you and your mom are," she chuckles.

"Thanks, Tonya! I can't make any promises for whatever happens to him," said Angie. "However, I'll make sure he gets punished for what he did…!" she says as she slowly looks over at her son and shoots sharp daggers at him.

"Right! Well, I gotta get back to the ZPD now," said Fangmeyer as she hops back into her police cruiser. "Good seeing you girl, we're still on for 'Ladies Night'?"

"Ugh, after today's little incident, definitely!" Angie replied as she starts to rub her temples. "See you on Friday!'

Officer Fangmeyer bid her friend and her family farewell as she begins to drive off and make her way back to the ZPD. Once she was gone, Angie quietly walked over to her son, ferociously grabs him by the ear, along with a tight grip, and growled the following: "Tajani Campbell Nyani!! Stealing again!? What the hell were you thinking?"

"Ack! Do you have to pull so hard!? And was using my full name even necessary!?" Taj exclaimed as he continuously winced from his mom's tight grip on his ear.

"If you were smart, you'd keep that little mouth of yours shut!" scolded Taj's grandma as she points a claw at her grandson. "Honestly Taj, it's already bad enough that we all have to work to make ends need, help your mom with the bills and rent, and keep you out of trouble!! If you keep this stupid little behavior of yours up, you're gonna end up in one of three places; jail, dead, or iced by Mr. Big."

"Your grandmother has a point Taj. Your little rebellious phase is starting to get old." Taj's grandfather added as he adjusted his glasses. "What happened to you? You used to be a good boy, a straight A's student, someone who would give the fellow mammal a helping hand, and now you're just a pitiful shadow of your former self…"

Taj growled in annoyance and anger until he got loose of his mom's grip and snaps at his grandparents. "What do you freaking care!? All the other mammals in this dumb city and at school see me as some scary smiling monster!!! And I'm constantly picked on by some of the much bigger and taller predators, and the former me was nothing but a weak little loser!"

"That's enough Tajani!!" Angie exclaimed. "You will not take that hostile tone with my parents! Look, I get it, times have been tough ever since the whole 'Night Howlers' fiasco….but that doesn't give you the right to go out and steal from other mammals!! We raised you better than that!! Why!? Why would you go and do something so pitiful and stupid?!"

Taj went quiet as if to show that he doesn't feel like talking anymore and he has nothing else to say to his mother. However, his mom or his grandparents didn't take too kindly to the sudden silence coming from the teen hyena. He attempts to walk away from the heated discussion until a pair of paws grabbed him by the collar of his flannel shirt and slammed him hard into the wall. Surprisingly, it wasn't his mom or his grandmother. It was actually his grandfather.

"Listen here you ungrateful-snarky-little-bastard…" he growled. "...I get that things are hard at the moment, but that doesn't give you a pass to be disrespectful to me, your grandmother, and most definitely not your mother! She's been through so much! Long before you were even born! And if I have to, I will knock some sense into you. Just like how I did your jackass of a father…"

"Jamal...don't do this.." Taj's grandmother warned.

"I'm sorry Imara, but, this grandson of ours needs to learn some respect and a bit of a reality check. Even if the truth hurts,"

Taj stayed quiet for a few more minutes until he starts shivering and sniffling. "What the hell do you know…!?" he exclaimed. "That bastard was never there for me! Or mom! And what, you think I'm gonna be a cold prick like him!? Huh?"

"Tajani...I-I'm" Jamal started. But before he could say anything else, Taj smacked his arms away and stormed into the house with angry tears running down his cheeks. "Tajani! Hold on a second-"

"JUST LEAVE ME ALONE OLD MAN!!! YOU SAID ENOUGH…!!" Taj shouts with more tears running down his face.

Jamal pushed his ears back into his skull as he felt guilty for upsetting his grandson. Even if it was for his own good. He rubbed his mane, which was in a bun, and huffed due to being lost for words and not knowing what to do next. That is until he gets a comforting paw from his wife and their daughter. "I'm so sorry...I think I went too far…"

"It's alright dad, he just needs some time to calm down," said Angie. "He's still grounded, however, but we're gonna leave him alone for now."

"Angelina's right dear," Imara added. "You did what you have to do. But, for now, let's give Taj some much-needed space. I'll go make us some tea to help us all relax."

"That's a good idea, mom," replied Angie.

Jamal nodded in agreement before saying, "Tea sounds good about now."

Meanwhile in an unknown location…

"Run the test again. I want to make sure that there are no mistakes this time."

"But sir, if we keep going with this its gonna attract unwanted attention! Specifically those of the ZPD or those bastards at the MCB. This too much of a risk!"

"Last time I checked, I was the one in charge of this experiment! And I'm not paying you to give me your pitiful concerns or opinions. So unless you want to end up in the 'trash' like your replacement, then I recommend you shut up and do as your told!! Do I make myself clear!?"

"Y-Yes, sir...sorry sir. Commence Test #13 on Subject SP-616!"

The mysterious mammal turned on a machine and began a sequence of commands, in which, activated its dual lasers, which were placed on both ends of the contraption. The lasers were aimed to fire at the object in the middle of the machine; a green-and-black spider with the number 616 stamped on its abdomen. Once the machine was powered up, the lasers fired a powerful concentration beam on the spider. It soon starts to glow because of all the radiation coming from the lasers, although, problems were starting to develop as warning alarms started going off around the two mammals.

"Don't you dare stop this damn machine!!! I came too far for this experiment to foolishly fail. There's no way in hell am I turning back now!!"

"The machine can't take much more of this sir!! At this rate, we're gonna have a deadly explosion on our paws!"

"I DON'T CARE!!! IF A FEW MISERABLE MAMMALS HAVE TO DIE TO ACHIEVE MY SUCCESSFUL EXPERIMENT THAN SO BE IT!!!!"

Before they could keep going, the machine was starting to fall apart as jolts of electricity began to pop out. It then proceeds to catch on fire and cause everything to fall apart around it, and finally, it exploded. Destroying most, if not, all of the equipment and other unknown items inside the mysterious locations. There were no survivors of the explosion as most of the mammals involved in the experiment were badly burned to the death. But in a shocking turn of events, there were two survivors of the massacre; the now radioactive spider and the head mammal in charge. He crawled out of the rubble as he was in an injured and weak state, half of his fur and suit being burned off, and his muzzle being partially damaged.

"It...worked...t-the experiment worked…" the mammal groaned as he noticed the unscathed spider. "Now for phase two…" he smiled devilishly.

To be Continued...