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The Towa City Zoo's career office often had applications. Paid positions, and sometimes volunteer work. There were sometimes strange people who applied, such as an ex-clown doing community service for minor charges of arson, or a surfer with tattoos all over her body.
But no application, no volunteer, was quite as strange as this one.
According to the application, his name was Gundham Tanaka, and at fifteen, he'd been credited with dog training, horse taming, and an array of other animal based jobs that often took years to master. Naturally, his volunteer position was almost immmediately accepted.
The day he arrived, everyone was a bit.. Startled. A man with a thick scarf, long coat, and bandages wrapped around his arm doesn't exactly scream “Zoo employee.” especially considering how he'd.. Introduced himself.
“I shall say my name only once! For otherwise, fire and brimstone will rain from the heavens and smite you dead! I am Gundham Tanaka, the Supreme Overlorde of ice! The champion of the Devil's court! The gates of Hell open for me like an automatic grocery store door!”
Yeah, everyone was a bit put off by that. The animals, however, loved him. When Aromen Clove, the longest-working zookeeper, was showing Gundham how to give the orangutans their food, they were all swarming around Gundham, snuggling against his legs. When Aromen was tossing fish to the sharks, Gundham stuck his entire hand in the water, holding the fish. He didn't get a scratch. Some of the other employees started to wonder if he was even human.
It seemed every single animal at the zoo loved Gundham. The elephants would pat his head with their trunks, the pandas crawled right up to the glass, the tigers purred and curled around hus feet. It was uncanny. Gundham, however, seemed dissatisfied.
“Why is it that the food rations are in such smal portions?” Gundham asked the stocker as he threw the sealed packages of meat p back onto the pallet, “The lions require twice this amount!”
“Well, we had to make some budget cuts with the food, so there's not quite enough-”
“Then send the creatures away!” He roared, eyes blazing, “Release them! Transfer them! Money is no excuse for malnutrition!”
“Oh, well we keep them because more animals bring in a bigger crowd -”
“Nonsensical yammering! Humanity is blinded by the money waved before their eyes. Just you wait, the creatures of night shall stage the coup of the century!”
“Gundham, i don't think-”
”Do not dare utter my name, Mortal! Hell will not weep with your demise!”
That was the night he started planning.
-\-/-
Mahiru Koizumi loved going to the zoo. She enjoyed taking pictures of the animals, and the little children excitedly watching them. She loved to capture the moment of surprise when a sea lion leapt into the water, splashing the people at the edge of the pool.
Today, however, her pictures were a bit more.. Odd. Because of a particular person who kept cropping up all over the zoo.
She first noticed him with the elephants. One of them had his trunk wrapped around the boy's waist as he untangled a child's toy airplane from a tree. Later, she swore she saw him out of the corner of her eye with a whole lime of penguins following him. Then, he was wading in the.water with the pirhanas, feeding them without so much as a flinch. It was.. Uncanny.
She snapped several photos of him with a boa constrictor hanging loosely around his neck, and when he was sitting in a tree getting a baby monkey down. She saw him with numerous macaws on his shoulders, with meerkats swarming his feet, with dolphins swimming in circles around him and doing tricks.
These were totally photos for the album.
-\-/-
The moon was high above Towa City when a certain animal tamer unlocked the gate of the zoo, a large ring of keys in his hand. Any normal person would mistake him for the nightguard, but that was certainly not the case.
click, click, went the locks as Gundham went around the zoo, unlocking the cages. The lions and tigers followed him, with bats and birds following behind. Snakes, bugs, spiders all climbed up his coat or rode on the other animal's backs. He was unlocking the penguin enclosure when he heard a shout.
“Hey! Tanaka!” It was Aromen. Apparently, he was on nightguard duty today.
“Good evening, Clove.” Gundham said, remaining completely calm despite the platypus on his head.
“Tanaka! End this at once!” Aromen shouted, running over. “This is completely unacceptable!”
“How so? Is it wrong to rescue the creatures barely living, locked away in cages?”
“This is the city zoo-”
“Silence, mortal!” Gundham yelled, causing the sleeping mink on his shoulder to stir, “This night shall be a monument to remember! We shall see how these creatures thrive in their true homes!”
“You can't -” Aromen started, “I'll call the authorities!”
“And what will the law do? By the time they arrive, i shall be long gone.” Gundham adjusted his scarf. Aromen reached for the baton hanging on his belt, but collapsed moments later from a swift punch to the face. “Now, my creatures of darkness! We make our leave!”
-\-/-
BREAKING NEWS: TOWA CITY ZOO COMPLETELY EMPTY, NIGHTGUARD IN CRITICAL CONDITION
“Even the sharks are gone ” Said manager Kyoka Yamazaki, “I don't understand it at all.”
Gundham set the newspaper down, laughing to himself as he set a family of foxes down on the ground. it was from nearly a month ago, as it had taken him weeks ton get all the way down to America. Several squirrels jumped off his shoulders, and cardinals flew out of the truck behind him. finally, all that was left in his arms were four hamsters. He set them on the ground, whispering a goodbye, but moments later, they'd climbed back up hs leg. He set them down again, only to get the same result.
“Very well.” He said, carefully tucking each hamster into his scarf, “Come, Devas of Destruction. Together, we shall wreak havoc on the mortal world!”
Then he turned on his heel and left the forest, heading for a flight to Japan. He had some.. Extra business to attend to.