Chapter Text
Zootopia. It was called the Gleaming City. A hub home to every kind of mammal imaginable; it contained representatives from all parts of the globe. It was also the center of a curious phenomenon that began developing over the last one hundred years.
Certain mammals were being born "empowered", seemingly at random. An "empowered" had fantastic abilities, the power to manipulate water, read minds, or the like. The powers seemed to be doled out randomly, present from birth in the affected mammals. Zootopia, for some reason, had the highest concentration of empowered mammals of any place on earth.
No one knew why mammals were being born this way. There were some unusual, if poorly-documented, celestial phenomena that occurred during the turn of the previous century. Something about stars flashing too brightly at night, and in different colors, an unusually high concentration of meteors, things of that nature.
Once the empowered became aware of their powers, well, that was when things began to change drastically in Zootopia.
There was a huge crime wave as super-powered mammals with desires for easy wealth ran rampant. Still others used their powers to their advantage to settle grudges with their enemies. Certain empowered mammals tried to stand up to these new super-criminals, but they were unorganized. As normal society feared and shunned all kinds of empowered, some of these would-be heroes even turned to crime themselves to make ends meet.
It would take three decades into the first incident before an organization was developed to research and gain control of the swelling empowered problem.
That organization was the ZED, the Zootopia Empowered Division. A branch of the government, headed by chosen officials and under a strict structure.
Over time, the super-powered agents of the ZED were able to cull most super-crime. Unempowered mammals were able to carry out their normal lives; sometimes only experiencing one or two incidents of super-powered crime in a decade.
However, Zootopia proved to be like a dry forest when it came to the empowered. All it would take is one spark of flame in the wrong place to cause fiery devastation.
Brittany Voxen was a special fox. Not outwardly, outwardly she was very similar to many other vixens her age. A young kit of nine, she was a red fox, the most common and among the largest of all foxes. Though predators were a minority in Zootopia, you could see foxes about anywhere predators could be found. Nothing looked outwardly peculiar about her, from her traditionally-colored fur to her warm brown eyes.
Appearances, however, are often deceiving. Brittany was an empowered mammal.
Red foxes had a curiously high rate of being born empowered compared to other mammals. Anything attempting to explain this was just a theory. Scientists supposed that their genetic structure was predisposed to being altered by whatever event changed the earth a hundred years ago. Meanwhile, fundamentalists believed texts from old religions that put their powers as being granted by spiritual vulpine beings called "nine-tails".
Whatever the case, the Voxens tried to raise their little kit as a "normal" girl as best they could. They taught her all the important lessons, to be polite, not to talk to strangers, and most importantly, never to play with fire.
This was especially pertinent in Brittany's case, as she had demonstrated the power to control fire. This manifested from near infancy, when open flames bent and leaped out of their host fuel to her will.
One day, Brittany's mother Delilah was walking her home from school. The Voxens liked keeping an extra pair of eyes on Brittany at all times because of her powers, and warned her to never play with them.
Brittany was happy enough as she walked with her mother. It was a very cold winter day, but neither extreme of temperature seemed to really bother the little girl. In fact, she tended to wear lighter clothes at all time, to the bafflement of most that saw her when it was cold out.
As the blocks passed, the routine of the walk settled Delilah into complacency. She stopped paying attention to the kit at her side, and didn't notice as Brittany saw an unusual sight in an alley, and rushed toward it.
There was a middle-aged moose there, huddled near a tall barrel, rubbing his hooves together. Above the drum roared a fire, crackling and dancing in the drum.
Brittany's brow furrowed as she took this in. She knew she wasn't supposed to talk to strangers, but here this stranger was playing with fire. It seemed very dangerous.
"Little girl, where're your parents?" The moose's teeth chattered. "And aren't you cold?"
"Yh-you shouldn't be playing with fire, mister," Brittany pointed accusingly at the moose. "It's not safe."
The moose rolled his eyes and said nothing else.
Seeing as the much taller mammal wasn't going to listen to reason, Brittany decided to act. She held her hands forward, and the flames of the fire obediently leaped out of the drum of the barrel and started swirling around the open space of her hands like comets of fire. The moose staggered backwards, bracing himself against the building.
"Hh- oh-okay kit... don't hurt me," the moose's knees began to wobble, his voice weak and quiet. "Jh-just don't hurt me...!"
"I'm not going to hurt you, but you shouldn't use fire, it's dangerous," Brittany said in an authoritatively childish voice, then marched off, "holding" the orb of fire as it levitated just inches from her paws. She decided to go home.
Brittany lived halfway up an apartment complex just a couple of blocks down. Upon getting off at the correct floor, she "knocked" on the door with her foot.
"Daddy? What should I do with this?"
The door opened to reveal Brittany's father Nigel, a fox in his forties. He flinched and yipped at the sight of his daughter.
"Brittany!?" Nigel squeaked out. "Where's your mother? Why do you have a fireball!?"
"I took it away from a moose who had set a barrel on fire," Brittany reported. "I dunno what to do now."
"Why did you bring it home with you!?" Nigel shrieked. "You have to- ghh...!?"
The intense heat of the fireball caused Nigel to back up slightly. Seeing the discomfort it was causing her father, Brittany looked out to a window of their apartment, seeing it was open. She walked with purpose over to the open window, rearing back her hands.
"Brittany, NO!" Nigel screamed. "You can't throw it out the window! Let me get the fire extinguisher!" Without thinking, he grasped onto her shoulder firmly to halt her. Too firmly.
"Urk...!" Brittany jostled and the fireball slipped out of her control, just for a moment, where it tumbled to the ground and quickly started to consume its surroundings.
"No... no!" Nigel grabbed Brittany by the shirt, yanking her back. "Brittany! Let me get the ex-!"
Brittany gasped as the fire hungrily started to spread. She was shocked at the accident, and her silent pleas to abate the fire seemed to fall on deaf ears. The fire would no longer listen to her, and she didn't know why. She began to panic as much as her father.
By the time her father got their personal fire extinguisher to put out the growing flames, it was ineffective. Nigel grabbed his daughter and spirited her away from the apartment, pulling the fire alarm on the way.
The next few seconds were chaos. Brittany heard her father yelling into the phone as he called the fire department and he made his way down the fire escape, with her held close to him. As they got onto the ground level, Nigel shoved his phone into his pocket and looked around desperately for red foxes. Finding his concerned wife staring at the building, he rushed over to her.
"Nigel, oh my God!" Delilah wailed. "Brittany, where have you been!? The apartment building is on fire...!?"
"There was an accident," Nigel's voice was shaking. "We've got to get out of here."
"Was it...?" Delilah's eyes flickered down to her daughter briefly. Brittany had tears welling in her eyes and was hiccuping, unable to fully process the situation.
"We've got to move, Delilah," Nigel panted, "who knows what will happen once the government hears about this."
Delilah cast a desperate look to the smoking building, dread and terror in her eyes. "Oo-kay, let's go... wuh-we'll take the metro to the Meadowlands."
Before Brittany knew it, the small fox family was on a subway train headed to the outskirts of Zootopia, the Meadowlands, which lay to the north beyond the Rainforest District.
The little fox was trembling as her father pet her shoulder.
"I... I didn't mean it..." Brittany mumbled through her haze of fear.
"Shh," Nigel said vacantly, "we don't need to talk about it now."
The three approached a small, comfortable-looking house in the Meadowlands. Her paw shaking and adrenaline coursing through her, Delilah knocked on it as loudly as she could muster.
"Trevor Fisk, really?" Nigel frowned as he kept Brittany close to her.
"Do you have a better idea?" Delilah's words were much more frightened than she meant them to sound, her voice wavering.
The door opened to a male fox who looked much like Delilah in certain ways.
"What's this? What's going on?" Trevor asked, instantly suspicious.
"Trevor, we need a place to stay," Delilah said, "just for a few days."
"What's- oh no..." Trevor looked down at the young fox, who was shivering out of fear. "You can't stay here."
"Trevor!" Nigel grit his teeth, trying to hold Brittany steady. "Delilah's your sister!"
"I'm not taking you in while you've got that little witch with you," Trevor sneered at Brittany, who cowered. Something seemed to occur to him, and he rushed over to his TV, flipping on the news.
"-in Downtown Zootopia. The fire is nearly under control, but much of the building was engulfed completely. Due to proper evacuation, there were no fatalities, but some mammals are being treated for smoke inhalation. The source of the fire is unknown."
Delilah and Nigel couldn't help shooting each other a look.
"That's you, isn't it? That's your daughter!" Trevor pointed accusingly at the TV. "I said this was gonna happen someday, didn't I? Didn't I!?"
"Trevor, it was an accident!" Delilah yelled desperately. "She's never burned anything on purpose!"
"Well that's a relief to hear," Trevor said sarcastically, "that she's only completely destroyed the residence of how many mammals now?"
Brittany cringed and began to sob openly, feeling helpless and ashamed due to her uncle's angry tirade.
"Please, Trevor," Delilah's voice weakened, "just for two days."
Trevor said nothing, folding his arms.
The following evening, things were very still. Nigel had tried to reassure Brittany, who was terrified and did not sleep well the previous night. Delilah had gotten no sleep. She'd lost most of her things, and was lucky enough to have her husband and daughter unharmed. Nigel carried blame in his heart for spooking his daughter; he spent most of the night wondering whether the situation might have been resolved differently if he hadn't panicked. He thought of a dozen other scenarios where things could have gone right, but none of them were the reality they were now facing.
Trevor hadn't said more than ten words to the three foxes all day. He was calm-looking, but his sister knew that usually meant he was seething.
At almost exactly 9:00 PM, there was a knock at the door. Trevor moved to open it.
"Come in," he said tersely.
In walked the imposing figure of a large, blue-tinged cape buffalo. His outfit was black, and very official-looking. Both adult Voxens looked immediately terrified at his presence.
"My name is Commander Bogo," said the buffalo. "Zootopia Empowered Divison."
A flash of Delilah's brown fist flew across the air in an instant. It landed true and Trevor's muzzle snapped to the side.
"YOU DOG!" Delilah shrieked louder than she ever had before. "You sold us OUT? Your own sister!? Your niece!?"
"Delilah!" Nigel reached out for Delilah's other wrist. "Easy now...!" His wife quickly whipped her paw away from him.
Trevor rubbed his muzzle, but his eyes stared at the ground and he said nothing. Brittany drew back, cowering at the sudden violence.
"Let's all just calm down a moment," Commander Bogo said in a deep, compelling voice, holding both hooves up in caution. "I'm here just to confirm information I was given."
Bogo's eyes met Brittany's for a moment, and she felt an indescribable fear. Bogo's own eyes seemed to widen ever so slightly, then he narrowed one eye.
"Your daughter... she is an empowered," Bogo stated. It was not a question.
Delilah couldn't take it anymore, collapsing on the couch and beginning to wail.
"Momma...?" Brittany looked to her, confusion and terror gripping the young vixen's heart.
"Listen, sir, Mr. Bogo," Nigel waved a hand. "You'll have to forgive my wife. She's prone to fits of hysteria. She- she must have forgotten to take her medicine today." Brittany backed away a step when Bogo walked calmly toward Brittany and crouched down to be somewhat more on her level.
"Little girl, what powers do you have?" The buffalo asked calmly.
"I... I'm not supposed to talk to strangers," Brittany managed to say, though she was very frightened.
Bogo smiled softly. "Hm. Good girl." He stood back up, towering over both her and her father.
"So um, sir, I don't know what information you may have gotten, but..." Nigel held his arms out wide in a shrug.
"I'm not here to forcibly take your daughter away," Bogo said. "Mister..."
Nigel didn't respond while trying to think up a false name.
"They're the Voxens," Trevor glared at his brother-in-law, still smarting from his sister's punch.
"Trevor, if you don't...!" Delilah gnashed her teeth and growled.
"Momma...?" Brittany's voice wavered even more than before.
"Let me finish," Bogo said firmly. "As I said, I am not here to cause trouble. I am here to make an offer. If your daughter were possessed of a powerful, dangerous ability, say for instance, the ability to manipulate fire, I could offer you a special program to induct her in."
"What- what sort of 'program'?" Nigel sneered.
"At the ZED, we have special training programs available for the empowered," Bogo held his arms behind his back, standing up straight. "As she is a minor, she would be treated as such and given an education of a standard curriculum, and also we could observe her powers and suppress them if necessary."
"You're asking us to give up our daughter," Nigel huffed incredulously, "and put her in some sort of government facility. E-even if she was an empowered, the answer would be no. Are you crazy?"
"You'd be able to visit her at any time," Bogo stipulated. "Her age would preclude her from the induction into any sort of activity involving using her powers in the field."
"This is insane," Nigel shook his head. "I won't hear any more of this."
"Very well," Bogo stepped forward and offered Nigel a small card. "Call this number if you change your mind, and we will make the necessary arrangements."
Nigel stared incredulously at the sleek, almost futuristic-looking card of the ZED. He was tempted to try to crush it right in front of Bogo, but something stopped him.
"Good day," Bogo said tersely, leaving the house.
"She can't stay here," Trevor repeated, "so either you two start living in a hotel until you get back on your paws, or you take his deal."
"Stop talking, Trevor," Nigel sneered. "I don't want things to get ugly in front of Brittany again, but if you keep this up they definitely will be going that way."
"The nerve of you two," Trevor growled, "to step into my house and make demands of me while you have your little fire-starter, that just burned down your home, in tow."
"Let's just... let's all get some sleep," Nigel started to encourage both his wife and child to the guest room. "We'll talk about things in the morning, with a clear head."
Brittany's eyes remained open, unblinking, staring at the wall. She pretended to be asleep, but she overheard her parents' murmurs across the room.
"I can't believe you're even considering this, Nigel..." Delilah's quiet voice sounded more defeated than angry. "We don't need Trevor's place. We can live in hotels for awhile."
"But for how long, Delilah...?" Nigel sighed. "It sounds like we have the chance to give Brittany a better life..."
"A better life...!?" Delilah hissed, then lowered her voice a little. "We're her parents, Nigel!"
"I know that, but we're also not empowered," Nigel's voice cracked a little, "and we'll never be able to fully understand her or her powers."
"She doesn't need to ever use them!" Delilah countered. "She can go through her life without them!"
"Do we know that, though?" Nigel swallowed with difficulty. "You've read about those empowered whose powers go haywire during puberty, right? What if she's like that? How many more homes might we lose just because we won't admit we're in over our heads?"
"Nigel... I can't believe you..."
"He did say we could visit her whenever we wanted..."
Brittany felt a chill. It sounded very much like she was going to be abandoned to that scary buffalo. She couldn't help but lunge out of her bed and rush over to her parents' bedside.
"Mom, dad... I- I'm sorry," Brittany wailed, "I didn't mean to use my powers. I didn't mean to set it all on fire! I'm ss-sorry...!"
As her emotions flared up, the very air around her seemed to warm considerably. Delilah gasped, panic engulfing her as the cool winter air in the room started to feel more like a summer's day.
"Shh, Brittany, it's okay," Nigel hugged Brittany close to him, even though this soon became physically painful, as Brittany's sniveling continued to heat the surroundings. "Shhhh... it's okay." As Nigel pet his daughter's back, the climate slowly slipped back down to normal as the little fox's mumbling and sniffling petered out.
Nigel let go, trying to disguise his grunt of discomfort; his fur very faintly smelling singed. Delilah took this in with a sniff, a look of horror and helplessness on her face. Had Brittany come close to creating fire all by herself, just because of her intense emotion? Delilah couldn't say, but the thought filled her with dread.
"...Maybe we can find some sort of... something to work out with them," Delilah found herself saying without thinking.
A few days later, Brittany was in the back seat of a lavish black car. Built for all sorts of mammals, it was almost comically large for the small vixen, but the adjustable seat belt held her firm in the back seat. Tighter still were her arms folded against her chest; an intense glower on her face. The driver of the vehicle was none other than Commander Bogo.
"I hate you," Brittany said to the driver.
"I do get that a lot," Bogo responded dryly.
"You're taking me away from Mom and Dad," the vixen sneered. "I don't want to live at this ZED place."
"I understand," Bogo nodded. "However, with any luck we'll be able to help you fully understand your powers. You'll also get to meet others with powers, too. Though... I suppose none quite so young as yourself. Doesn't that sound fun?"
"No," Brittany said contrarily, staring out the window. "I want to go home. I shouldn't haveta go somewhere special to live just 'cause I have special powers."
"I know what you're saying," Commander Bogo groaned, "but sometimes that is just the way of things."
"I should set this car on fire," Brittany snipped. "Then I wouldn't have to go."
"Please don't," Bogo managed to say with only a small hint of alarm, looking at the miffed red fox in the back seat. "That would only complicate matters."
They passed through a security checkpoint and off to a complex of buildings. Brittany couldn't read the sign fast enough, and didn't really care to, but it said something about "Zootopia Empowered Division", she guessed.
"Now, we'll take you to where you'll be living; we can go buy you some things a bit later to make the place nice and comfy for you, all right?" Bogo's voice was slightly higher and a little patronizing.
"I'm nine years old," Brittany huffed, "you don't have to talk to me like a little girl."
"Ah yes, well," Bogo snorted, "as I don't have any children of my own, I suppose I didn't know."
Brittany felt both angry and hurt as the car parked near a friendly-enough looking building, though it was still alien to the small vixen. She worried intensely about what was going on, and was frustrated that she couldn't fully understand why everything was happening so quickly around her, and why things had to change so drastically.
It took about five minutes of her staring angrily at Bogo before she took her seat belt off and followed him into the complex.
"All right, Brittany Voxen," Chief Bogo gestured to the large complex. It smelled strange inside, with a lot of smells that she wasn't used to. She sniffed curiously, and momentarily forgot about her anger. "Welcome to the ZED."
Brittany snapped back to her scowl. She was sure she'd hate the place.