The Animal Inside

By: Phoenix Ride

Ch.1: Eyes of a Predator

Red clouds shadowed over the ruins of a vacant town, left behind to suffer in the agony and horror of its own disgrace.

This had been a thriving place once, with many animals to fill up its streets, and take in the joys of being evolved. Now there was only an echo of those happier times.

The smell of death whispered slowly in the silence, poisoning the air.

Not far away, in a house that had yet to fall to destruction's touch, huge claws sat tapping in anger as eerie, yellow eyes glared towards the glow of a TV screen.

The program was currently set on the news, and the more the reporter spoke only made the animal watching in the chair growl more and more.

"It's been weeks since the case of the Night Howler incident" said the snow leopard doing the newscast " and things seem to be improving in Zootopia slowly as the relationship between predator and prey is carefully becoming more strong."

"However, some animals are not quite ready for things to slip back into normalcy yet" the leopard continued " and there have been protests to let Ms. Bellwether out of jail. The former assistant mayor, who some still believe is not responsible for master-minding the Night Howler incident, is still sitting in jail, rotting for her plan."

"Right now, the protests to set this little lamb free are peaceful and have caused no harm. But many voices have risen up to confront the protesters supporting Bellwether's actions, saying that she had just as much harm to prey as she did predators."

"In related news, the rising crime-stopping duo known as Nicholas Wilde and Judy Hopps continue to work hard to make Zootopia a better place. This unlikely partnership has sparked huge inspiration between Zootopia's masses, proving once and for all that prey and predator can live in…Crack!"

That was the sound that was heard as the entire TV suddenly split in two, damaged heavily by the axe that had been thrown to split its screen.

Hearing the sound of the damage, the door of the house suddenly opened, allowing a wiry, old jackal to step into the room. His orange eyes gazed around with curiosity and fear.

"Boss" said the jackal, calling out to the dark " are you okay?"

The animal sitting in the chair shifted, looking towards his ally, yellow eyes cold.

"Zootopia" the dark figure growled " do they really think there is a beacon of hope between predator and prey?"

The jackal in the room suddenly gulped, knowing that his boss was moving into a rage.

"There can be no peace" said the figure, looking glaringly at his claws " we can only be what we are. Monsters…murderers… That fox and the rabbit, they are the symbol that are giving these people hope. It's time to return things to their natural ways."

"What do you have planned Boss?" asked the jackal nervously.

"We" said the dark figure " are going to Zootopia, and destroy that beacon of hope."

With that said, his huge claws suddenly slashed, tearing what was left of the TV, which now showing fuzzy picture of Nick and Judy, apart.

Danger howled hard in the air. Doom was coming to Zootopia, and coming soon.