The Road to Fortune

Chapter 1 - Lifestyle

Alright... I guess this is my first official release on Fanfiction this year. And just so you know, Cool Kids vs Reptile Runaways and Survivor - India are both still coming. I'm still taking a break from posting Survivor stories so I can spend more time with stuff like this, and this is the freshest/newest idea I had in mind, so here you go.

For this one, I sort of got inspired. Historyfan15 is basically my best friend on this whole site and his story Toon City was not only a great read from me, it actually played a huge role in my 2024. And because of me liking the fic so much, there are characters that he has written about which were basically introduced to my world.

So for this fic here, this story is going to be based off his fic regarding the setting, Toon City, a place where basically a bunch of characters from different franchises live. The franchises these folks originate from will be explained. One important to note though, all animal characters here are bipedal, because I say so.

Let's jump right in!

~KF

The best way to describe Toon City was to picture it as if it was... New York City for example. Even though the big apple was the most populated city in the United States, the city had multiple boroughs such as the Bronx, Queens, Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Staten Island.

For Toon City, there was the city itself, obviously. However, there was also Pine, Elm, Mahagony, Amber, Maple, and Hemlock that were all neighbors of it. Altogether, it was a rather huge place for all sorts of humans and creatures to live it when it came to some of the most random citizens that crossed one's mind, to some of the biggest faces regarding both heroes and villains alike.

Speaking of one of the biggest names of Toon City, perhaps it was appropriate to check out a certain star everyone and their brother was aware of. On the eastern side of Toon City near a railway were a series of some nice looking apartments. Inside one of them was Tramp. For those that lived under a rock, he was a Schnauzer and Terrier mix breed dog that was most famous for that spaghetti scene with his wife Lady, who was an American Cocker Spaniel. And to think that 'Lady and the Tramp' was not critically acclaimed like that out of the gate. But over time, it became a phenomenon. However, a guy could have bet his best friend ninety-nine cents that the movie would not have been nearly as popular if it was not for that damn spaghetti scene. Not that it was bad at all, but there was more to the movie than just that one scene... Folks really needed to stop acting it was the only piece of the movie that existed, because every time the movie was Googled by the narrator of this, there were always like a million pictures of Lady and Tramp holding a single piece of spaghetti in their mouths. Annoying.

"Hurry up, boy. You're going to be late for school."

Boy? Oh, that was right. Tramp became a dad at the end of the movie, and of course the one son he had of his four children just so happened to look just like him. No need for a DNA test to be done on him, yeah?

All jokes aside, Tramp's son... Scamp (it was probably best not to ask, since not everyone was great at creating unique names for babies) knew it was a Monday morning. Mondays for kids meant that they had to go back to school after spending a short two day weekend being everywhere but that place.

And Scamp was naturally not too happy about it. Only thing he liked was that he at least had time to spend with his friends whenever they were in the same class him. It was probably safe to say the boy was in... seventh grade?

"You made sure you studied extra hard for your science test today?"

His dad eyed him with a look that stated, 'You knew I was going to be on you about your responsibilities, son'. The man did not play when it came to his kids' education. Not saying that Tramp wanted his kids to be perfect, but he knew that being a responsible parent meant that he had to wish nothing but the best for his children. And part of wanting the best for them included raising them to be good citizens of society.

But wait a minute... Did Tramp not have more than one kid? Scamp had three sisters. And also, where was Lady? Why was it only a man cave in the apartment?

"Yeah, yeah, yeah..." Scamp rolled his eyes, grabbing his backpack from the living room and making his way towards the door. "Hopefully I get a B- on there, or else I won't hear the end of it."

"B-?" The movie star raised his eyebrow. "I mean, that's an acceptable grade. But you want to score as high as possible."

"I know, I know... Later." Closing the door behind him, he was probably going to meet Lucky, Rolly, and Cadpig from that 101 Dalmatians show at the neighborhood bus stop.

So with the kids-... No, since apparently Tramp only had one child with him at the time. With the kid out of the way, Tramp had the place to himself for the day. Him heaving a quiet sigh, he made his way back to his living room to sit down on the couch in front of him. His hand reached out to the nearest table to grab his phone, thinking of calling the Lady herself. They both had some serious explaining to do to the audience reading. The girls could not have just disappeared.

"Hi."

"Hi." The man answered what was presumed to be Lady's voice on the other side. "Scamp just left for the bus stop. Are the girls out?"

"They are. School bus should be coming to pick them up any minute. Once it does, I'm thinking of getting coffee with Jenna and Krystal. It doesn't seem to be too cold today and it is going to get around sixty degrees later on."

Tramp snickered upon the topic of the weather being discussed. "Scamp is actually wishing that it snowed so that he could miss school. ...But anyway, guess I'll just be walking around getting some exercise. My boy is not going to be home all day today, so I gotta do something to occupy myself. Maybe if I socialize a little bit, today might be a little more interesting. But hey, you take care. Okay?"

"Hehe, yeah. Same to you."

A short and sweet conversation between the two, but it was good for them to check up one another nonetheless.

Tramp was not lying to himself, though. He did not want to be bored, so he had to be occupied by something if he really was a child at heart. Perhaps he had a couple friends that he had the opportunity to keep in touch with that day?

The next scene consisted of, um... What was the nicest way to put it just for the sake of keeping things professional? Hmm... How about lower class projects and settlements in which folks either looked drugged up or as if they were getting ready to cause trouble? Basically people that lived on the streets. Or for those that wanted a more blunt description, the ghetto. Whatever it took for folks to create a proper picture in their minds, hopefully they got the gist of it.

There were a couple of male, anthrpomorphic creatures smoking around minding their business. It was always good to mind nobody else's business but one's own. Otherwise, that was how people got into trouble.

And speaking of people getting into trouble, there was a cop car with flashing lights just outside of a gas station located at a random corner at the end of a street. Some Redbone Coonhound in handcuffs was seen being guided towards the car before he was thrown in, all the while cursing and swearing like a sailor.

"Hmm. They got him, didn't they?"

That was the voice of Sparky, an Irish Wolfhound, witnessing what was happening right in front of him as well as two other dogs standing beside him. The one to his far right was a Boston Terrior and standing between them both was Doberman/Rottweiler mix.

The latter in particular was named Buster, calmly exhaling through his nose, shaking his head with the blankest expression on his face. "Just another day. Nothing new."

"What'd he do?" Francois, the Boston Terrior spoke out of curiosity.

"I was just in there five minutes ago. He apparently was being watched by the manager there since he caught on camera stealing. And he started to get physical after confronted."

Currently the manager was talking to the officer of the details of what transpired, before they suddenly heard banging coming from the back. The man in handcuffs was now kicking at the window.

"Hey!"

The officer immediately dashed right back to his vehicle. Yet the moment he got there, the backseat car window on the passenger side shattered, the poor policeman having to shield his face from flying glass.

"And that's another charge added to his name. Poor guy probably lost control of his emotions."

"Perhaps he has issues none of us know about." Sparky presumed. "You never know what somebody's going through, boys."

"I've seen him around these parts a few times. This is an area where everybody knows everybody." Buster simply watched on as the policeman was radioing others for backup. "He seemed pretty content to me. My guess is he probably just snapped."

Buster was not wrong at all. The man lived in the streets for basically his whole life, and he knew how the streets ran in Hemlock. Everybody knew everybody, and everybody knew him. Most likely, his friends that lived in similar conditions as him were the only people that he considered family.

Francois rolled his eyes. "Alright. I suppose I'll just head back home where it's slightly less chaotic. You two coming?"

"I am. An old guy like me has nothing else to do these days." Sparky began to walk, turning his head to Buster as he kept going. "How about you?"

"You two go on ahead." Buster's eyes never left the situation unfolding in front of him. "I might just stay here and see this one out."

"Very well. Suit yourself." Francois made a one-eighty as he followed his friend along to his own cheap ass apartment. "Bonne journée."

Ignoring his friends (or street brothers) walking away, Buster knew in his mind that he wanted to do more than just be nosy to what was happening. ...The man needed an excuse for him to think to himself.

Soon after another officer arrived on the scene, he glanced in a random direction, heaving a long exhale. "Everyday I keep wondering if things will ever change..."

However, his time of self-reflection had to be on hold. There was another man approaching his way.

"That same gas station, huh?"

Tramp.

Turning his head immediately, he saw his longtime friend walking right over to him, the grayer animal keeping his eyes on everybody that was involved in the incident.

"Isn't this like, the fourth time law enforcement had to be called over here this year? And it's only March!"

"Fifth."

"Damn..." The Schnauzer frowned. "I believe something needs to be done at this point. It's getting out of hand."

"More like something needing to be done when it comes to this whole area, my friend." Buster folded his arms, visibly showing a slightly annoyed look. "It's always the same shit over and over again. Even I'm starting to get a little tired of it."

Now, wait a minute. Was Buster not a movie star too? Though he played no part in the original movie, he was in the sequel, 'Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure'. Sure, it was not as successful as its predecessor. Yet it did make some kind of money, especially since Buster was one of the main characters. If he was paid for the role he was in, it surely would have been enough for him to change his lifestyle for good.

Unless...

"I really wished you were a part of the movie, man." Tramp hung his head down in regret. "I still think it was a blown opportunity to this day. You would have had something going on for you at this point, as well as being asked to be a part of other opportunities like Lady and I."

"Don't feel guilty, man." Buster shook. "It was bad timing on my end, and I have no one but myself to blame. I was... out of it, to say the least. And by the time I got myself together, they didn't know what to do with me and the other junkyard dogs. So we were all just... cast off to the side. Besides, they had to factor in your entire life within a span of an hour and sixteen minutes... and Lady's. There was never going to be enough room for me, anyway."

The celebrity dog nodded in understanding. "When you word it like that, you were pretty much fucked regardless. If only they actually came with a concept of a sequel, you deserved to shine in some aspect. Maybe it would have been about me reuniting with you after Lady got me off the streets and my son wanting to join you guys for a period of time due to him not liking the house rules?"

Okay. So,... he was sort of implying that the first official movie was based upon a true story of both Lady and Tramp with both characters reenacting of what their lives were like before and after they found each other. However, in spite of the plot of the second movie somehow still being canon in this, supposedly the cast was never actually called to film a direct sequel to Tramp and Lady's blockbuster success.

To put it in simple terms, the second movie did happen in a normal universe, yet it did not happen at the same time for the sake of this story since the cast was never called to reenact everything that went on after Tramp left the street life... Damn. Buster and his gang really got screwed over.

And it pained Tramp, given that after everything the two have gone through together (which included Scamp in a messy situation), both guys still ended up being good friends at the end of it all. The fact that the two managed to keep a tight bond with one another in spite of them having completely different lifestyles really spoke volumes.

"To put it bluntly, Buster, I may make a lot more money than you, but Hollywood never changed me. Even if I was a billionaire, I'd never cut ties with you because you are indeed someone I care about."

"Do you think your ex-wife cares about me?"

Ex-wife!?

"Lady may not talk about you like that, but I know deep down that she feels rather sorry for you. Even she thinks they should have treated you better." ...Ohhhhh. That explained a lot to why it seemed that the two movie stars were living separately. Lady had the girls, Tramp had the boy. It all made sense... Quite a bummer, though, especially knowing that Scamp apparently chose to live separately from his sisters just to be with dad. "I understand business is business, but still... If I was smarter at the time, I would have used my position to my advantage to make sure you were in."

"Like I said, Tramp, it's not your fault. I may have felt at the time that you betrayed me once Lady helped you off the streets, but I can't blame you for everything, just like how you can't control everything. I am still learning to not be a sore loser when things don't go my way. You remained humble, and that ended up getting to where you are today. So,... I'm proud of ya. You made it out."

A small grin was seen on Buster's face. However, there was a look in his eyes hinting to Tramp that he wished he no longer had to worry about the street life himself.

With the older dog noticing that, he still felt guilty.

Buster checked the time on his phone. "It's almost nine. I'm supposed to meet this guy in some alley. And since you're here, I might need you for backup just in case. Come on..."

"Oh." Tramp was sort of confused, but he began to follow his longtime friend around to wherever the hell he was taking him. "Okay..."

They were wondering around the streets of Hemlock for about a couple minutes before they ended up being in some random alley like Buster was saying. And by the time they both got there, the darker colored animal pointed his eyes in multiple directions to seemingly locate someone.

"He should be here any minute now."

Realizing how sketchy the situation was, Tramp wanted to get down right to the bottom of it. "Okay, Buster. Who is this guy? Who are you supposed to see?"

"Relax, man. I've done business with this dude before. He'll only get confrontational if he feels like he's being screwed ova."

They stood around for a bout half a minute more befure Buster ended up laying his eyes on some dark brown wolf with a gray underbelly coming his way. It appeared that he found his guy.

Tramp in particular had actually seen the wolf before, popping up an eyebrow almost immediately. "Niju?"

Niju? From 'Balto 2: Wolf Quest'?

The wolf locked eyes with Tramp for about a second, though his main focus was obviously with Buster. Honestly, people either grew up with Tramp, or were used to seeing him visiting often. So no one was going crazy over him.

"Alright." Niju cut to the chase. "Let's get this done. You got that green stuff?"

"Right here." Buster reached into his pocket to pull out some cash before giving it to Niju. And in exchange, while shifting his head to make sure no one was looking, he reached into his own pocket to give Buster a small clear ziploc bag contain some white powder inside. ...No, it was not powdered sugar. Buster was not planning on cooking something deliciously sweet in his kitchen that day.

But Tramp widened his eyes. He knew exactly what the substance was, watching Buster and Niju shake hands.

"Pleasure doing busienss with you." The former said.

"Gotta have some money to my name, ya know?" Niju replied, turning on his heeel to walk away. "I'll catch you later when you need some more."

Tramp really could not have believed it, watching the small bag filled with cocaine being put inside Buster's pocket. "Seriously?"

"What?" The junkyard dog turned to his bud, casually shrugging it off as if it was nothing. "Things could get quite boring around here. And when there is too much going on, gotta find some way to relieve stress, ya feel me?"

It may not have been a big deal to Buster, but it was certainly a big deal for Tramp. Even when he himself was living in the hood, he was exposed to quite a few dogs that used intoxicated substances for the same reasons Buster was giving him.

Tramp knew that at worst, Buster smoked while he drank. Not that serious in his eyes, since that was something he used to do. Ocassionally he would do the same when he was around his pal. It never occurred to him that Buster was using other kinds of drugs like cocaine, too. Was there something else he did not know about?

All this in mind, that was straw that broke the camel's back. "Okay, Buster. This is starting to get outta hand. Since when did you start doing this?"

"Why does it matter to ya?" He glared. "Like I said, this could be the one thing I have going for me that prevents me for losing my mind. Now don't me wrong. I used to own the fact that I live like this. Even after you left, it only made me further appreciate the life that I have, since I thought it was better than me lying in the middle of the street dead in the same alley we're both standing in right now."

"And that's the last thing I need to see!" Tramp placed a hand on his shoulder. "You are still young in my eyes, Buster. I care too much about you just to have you go out like that. Niju may be one thing. But what if some deal goes wrong with anybody else living out here and they'd want to hurt or kill you for it? How do you think that'll make me feel!?"

"As if it's a good idea to get you of all people involved!" Buster held his irritated look. "I was bitter about you leaving me, but eventually I got over it and wanted the best for you. You deserved the absolute most out of all of us, so the celebrity life went to the right person. Even if something goes wrong with any motherfucka out here, you inserting yourself into my business is going to get two people in trouble. I may be in misery, but I don't think I need your company. Thank you very much."

Lady's ex-husband could not have believed he was hearing. On one hand, his friend was being rather selfless of not wanting Tramp to be dragged into his mess. He pulled a stunt like that before involving his own son, but that was ages ago in which Buster was lucky enough for both Tramp and Scamp to have so much forgivness. Now with Buster telling Tramp how adamant he was of letting the dog with more money mind his own business, that was anything and everything but being selfish.

That being said though, Tramp felt like he had to be a horrible person to just let something bad happen to one of his boys. If it came to that, Tramp would not have known how to live with himself feeling like he could have done something to protect Buster from all harm.

Not even wanting to think about it, he ended up placing his free hand on his other shoulder. "Sorry, man. I don't think just minding my business is going to make me feel better. If I don't do anything to help you at least a little right now, I don't know how long it'll take until I hear from one of these goons out here that you're no longer going to be around due to some fight that turned deadly, an accidental overdose, or you rotting in a cell. I can't let you keep going like this!"

"..." Hanging his head down sighing, Buster knew how Tramp worked. When it came to friendships, neither of them played any games. If someone was loyal to Buster, he was going to be loyal back. Tramp shared similar views, so he figured that the old dog needed to do him some kind of favor to make his situation a teeny bit better. "I don't deserve you, Tramp. I really don't."

"Don't you dare talk like that..." He mumbled under his breath with a glare of his own. "I don't know exactly what I have to do, but I need to get you out of here before things somehow get even worse for you. You don't deserve this life, Buster. You need help."

And that was something he damn well knew. "You really want me out of here that badly, huh?"

"Believe when I say that you're like my little brother. You have told me horror stories of all the crazy things that are happening to the point where some folks around here have to sleep with a gun next to them at night. You are going to have me worried sick."

"Hmm... I guess I can't stop you for wanting to help me out a little bit, can't I?" A thought suddenly entered Buster's mind as he looked back up to stare in Tramp's eyes. "And ya know, you could be quite slick when you want to. You aren't immune to pulling a few strings."

"Well,..." The tone of voice and him staring off in no particular direction was a lowkey admission of guilt. "-I do what I have to, yes. But I noramlly don't try to hurt somebodye else in the process. I guess this life that I used to have has taught me a few things of how to be slick to get the things you want."

"And right now, you want me out of here. Perhaps if we could both be slick together to make that happen, we'll both be living a happily ever after and I would never have to worry about you butting in every time you catch me doing something like this ever again... By the way, I'm still snorting this stuff today to get my money's worth" The Doberman felt like there was no point throwing whatever little money he had down the drain. "And besides, I think it'd be entertaining for me to see you back in action doing certain things just for your own personal gain. In this case scenario, saving your best buddy from God knows what."

Tramp finally removed his hands from Buster's shoulders as he witnessed the sneaky grin on his face.

And it was quickly growing wider by the second. "Hmm... Yeah. We could definitely do a little somethin' somethin' together. Just like back in the good ol' days."

The Terrier had seen that look on the dude's face numerous times. It meant that he was developing some sort of plan in his mind. "Just what are you thinking about...?"

"I'm thinking that we should pay Wolf O'Donnell a little visit."

Wolf O'Donnell? From StarFox? Well, that and Smash Brothers. The man was a lot more known in Smash than in his own series since Nintendo just did not know how to properly do the StarFox series justice. Underdeveloped characters, the plot of the games being the same half the time, and wasted opportunity after wasted opportunity.

It was really a shame, but that was another rant on its own.

But anyway, Tramp and Buster found themselves in Wolf's residence. The three of them were in his living room with his right hand man, Leon Powalski, in attendance as they all sat around the place.

And oh, Panther Caroso was the last member that completed the StarWolf trio. But he had a roomate of his own, so he was somewhere else.

"So..." Wolf relaxed in a couch chair, seemingly hearing everything Tramp had to say and whatever idea Buster had in mind. Though he was looking at the older man first. "You're just here needing help trying to get your buddy out of his current predicament once and for all."

"Now to be fair, this isn't my idea. This is all Buster over here. He was the one that told me to come here in the first place, I guess because of him knowing how the three of you of operate and all."

Buster was not wrong. Whatever not so nice thing he was thinking of pulling off, StarWolf was not really known to be the nicest. They did direct oppose StarFox thanks to them being hired by emperor Andross (the series' main villain). Aside from that, they generally had a reputation of smuggling and larceny. And all three of their egos became inflated as if they were proud of their actions. ...Heh. As long as they got what they wanted, that was all that mattered, right?

"And to get slightly off topic a little bit, I had no idea Niju was selling drugs." Leon spoke. "Wolf in particular used to snort crack himself. And I believe if he was still doing that, he would have heard about Niju's little business."

The lupine only hunched his shoulders, not being afraid of owning up to it at all. "We all have a past. Being high seemed fun and I still drink. However, I don't want substances messing with my mind too much. What if people from who knows where request my services and I have to perform within the best of my abilities? I'm not one of those guys that likes to roll over and die one day. That's anything but fun."

"See? And stuff like that worries me deeply." Tramp let his heart do all the talking. "I'm surprised he managed to survive this long, because this guy is as tough as nails. That's what I really like about him. However, he's not invincible. You can have all the experience in the world living on the street, but bad things can happen to the best of them. And if we don't do anything to save Buster soon, things might get even worse on his end before they have a chance to get better."

"Haha..." The resilient roughneck found his words to be rather amusing. "Ya know, sometimes I feel like I'm your child instead of a little brother to be honest."

"Well excuse me for being one of the few people in this world that actually gives a damn about you."

"Ooh." Wolf slightly curled up his lips. "Sounds like you should be thanking him if anything, Buster. Not many people in this world are willing to stick their neck out for you. And I bet if it was Leon or Panther on the line, I'd be in the Tramp's shoes saying similar things."

"Good." The father of four nodded. "So you get where I'm going. Buster may be flawed, and he himself knows that. But it doesn't mean that he's outright terrible. I do believe he deserves just a little bit better. That's all I'm saying."

The darker furry heaved a quick exhale. "And to think that I felt like you abandoned me way back when. Why was I so foolish to think that way?"

"From what the two of you told people, you were just jealous that Tramp was lucky enough to turn his life around and not you." Mr. O'Donnell concluded. "You both wanted to get out of the streets. One of you just so happened to catch fame while the other has yet to go from rags to riches."

Buster folded his lips in. "Yeah. What he said..."

"But this is about saving him, which I think we can still do." Tramp went on. "And look, I may not look the part, but I'm not gonna lie and say that I don't have a mischievous bone in my body. I was the one teaching Buster a few tricks I came up with. He just ended up being more game savvy than me. However, we are nothing compared to the three of you, which is why we came for your help. Buster and I can't pull this off alone."

"Here's the thing. What are we going to be getting out of all this?" Leon was still hesitant on him and his teammates getting involved in Buster's trouble. "All the shit that's going on in those streets ain't got nothing to do with StarWolf. We have nothing to gain or lose, so the way I see is that the two of you are just wanting to outright use us for your own advantage."

"Lay off the man, Leon." Wolf waved them off. "They came to us because we know first hand what it was like. Can't say that I miss those days. Now one of our boys has his best friend going through it. So I don't think he's using us. And as I've said, if you and Panther were in Buster's desperate situation, I'd go through hell and back just to make things better for the both of you. StarWolf wouldn't be StarWolf if it was just me by myself. When we're on missions, I'm only one person. There's only so much I can do, so there ain't nothing wrong with having a little help on your side and you two were always there for me."

"Okay. If you're trying to make me blush and show a bit of emotion, you're going to have to try a little bit harder. I'm not Panther, who is known for being the most effectionate of the three of us."

"It still doesn't mean that I can't be open and honest regarding how I feel about things." The eyepatched mercenary hunched his shoulders. "We're a team and teammates stick together. With all that being said, I think we can lend these two a hand."

That was all Buster and Tramp needed to hear before they both beamed out of relief, anticipation, excitement, and gratefulness. The former of the two clapped his hands loudly while the latter began thanking them as if the next day was not coming.

"Way to help a brotha out. Your support is going to be very much appreciated." Buster said. "But even I know that it this is going to be rather tricky to pull this off. We might need even more numbers if we want this to be a success."

"More men will be necessary." Wolf began quietly tapping fingers of both of his hands on the armrests of the couch. "But I think we can have enough of them to join in on this. Everyone sitting in this room right now knows certain people. And since this is going to be all about the money, I'm sure whoever we recruit is gonna want a piece of it."

For those who've read my Survivor stories, this does contain Survivor contestant, Wolf O'Donnell and upcoming Survivor contestant, Leon Powalski. Maybe for business that'll bring this fic more promotion. Hahaha!

So... All about the money, huh? I'm gonna let you guys take a guess of what these people are about to do. At the moment, my rough estimate for this would be about... ten chapters? I could be completely wrong by the time I finish it, so who knows?

Chapter two will come when it's ready. I wanna go ahead and work on Survivor - India for at least a little bit and then I'll get back to it. So stay tuned!