Sixteen years ago

  “Here it is.” Rocky held the juicy object up, showing off his great prize.

  “Give it!” Tiny little Rocco began jumping up and down, trying to snatch the item from his taller older brother with his little paws.

  “Get away brat! These are my pickles. They’re just for me and you can’t have any!”

  Rocco’s big brown doe eyes looked up at his brother, disappointment beginning to leak out.

  “Oh, come on now. You gonna cry about it are you?” Rocky laughed. “All right then, I’ll tell you what. I’ll give you one pickle, but you have to do something for me first.”

  “I like pickles.” Rocco wiped his eyes and nodded vigorously.

  “I know you do. I’ll make a deal. You get into the science classroom and get me a datapad, and I’ll give you one of my pickles. Deal?”

  “Deal!” Rocco shouted excitedly, leaping into the air to leave no vague interpretation of his feelings.

  “Well?” Rocky gave the little Titan a “duh” look motioning toward the door. “Go, before I change my mind and eat them all.

  “Goin’!”

  Rocco ran as fast as his little stubby legs could take him out of the dorm. One thing about younglings was that no matter what they were doing, they did it with a sense of urgency that was typically lost as one aged. It was a Saturday, so none of the teaching robots would be about the campus, most likely they were in their charging closet, switched off. There were discipline bots that were always around though just in case the kits got into trouble or broke the rules. And the rules were clear about classroom access on a Saturday. Strictly prohibited. It said so on a sign the little kit passed as he tiptoed down the hallway. If he could read yet, he may have read the harsh penalties and decided against the course of action he was now taking.

  When Rocco got to the stairs, he ducked low and looked both ways. A group of other kits ran by, on their way to play outside. After they were gone, he waited several minutes just to make sure, and then descended the steps. Downstairs was a large, open commons area, but it was empty. All the other kits were outside playing or doing activities in the rec rooms.

  But that was not where Rocco was heading, in fact, he headed the opposite direction, towards the big oak doors that led to the learning halls. He paused by another sign that stated that these were off-limits during the weekend hours and again paid it no heed. Ignoring all the signs about proper etiquette and rules, and after looking both ways, he fled through the door.

  The hallway was eerily quiet, and this was the first time the young kit had been here when it was not filled with other kits his age. It had a haunted quality about it and sent a shiver down his young spine. The quiet and stillness in an area where he was used to much activity and liveliness was unnerving. He shuddered and though as ice cube had fallen in his shirt and continued down the hallway.

  Rocco quickly located his bigger brother’s classroom and ducked inside. After a little searching, he found a locked drawer that he was able to pry open with brute strength. He winced at the loud noise that it made when the lock broke, echoing down the corridor. He waited nearly five minutes, expecting discipline bots to come running in at any moment to snatch him up. When they did not show, he straightened up and looked inside the drawer at his newfound spoils. Rocco’s little face beamed a smile when he saw what was inside.

  Two minutes later Rocco was running back into the dorm, panting and out of breath. Rocky looked at his little brother surprised at first. He had not expected Rocco to not get caught. The little bugger had about as much subtlety as a Gothamirian Ox. Rocco first held up an object, as though it were a magic sword he had plundered from the depths of some enchanted castle or long-forgotten dungeon.

  “You found a sling-shot!” Rocky said. “That’s brilliant, where did you get it?”

  “Yeah, the discipline bots must have took it from an older kit. And here’s your datapad.” He handed the little device over with a grand gesture.

  Rocky snatched it greedily, anticipating all the good uses he could put the technology towards. While most younglings used them for only games, Rocky had other more mischievous goals in mind, knowing well the other things a datapad could do.

  “This will let me hack into anything I want! I’ll be like Raposa!”

  “Ugh.” Rocco mocked. “Raposa is so corny. I’d rather be like Cyber-Cat and the Galaxy Dozen.”

  “Raposa is not corny! He’s awesome and has awesome adventures. Cyber-Cat is corny. It’s made for kits.”

  Unlike their older brother, who was popular and good at sports and class and everything else he put his mind to, the middle kit was interested in technology more than anything else. Rocky walked over to the end table by the side of his bed and came back with his brother’s prize.

  “Here’s your pickle, you earned it, goober. Enjoy.” Rocky held out the item with his forefinger and thumb.

  Rocco snatched it greedily and turned his back on his brother, just in case he had intentions of stealing it. He then stuffed the entire thing in his maw at once. Rocky began to laugh hysterically when he saw this.

  Rocco was chewing voraciously, confused by his brother’s laughter, but his huge brown eyes suddenly went wide and began tearing up. His face scrunched up with a mixture of surprise and fire inside his mouth. His taste buds felt like they were burning. His maw opened and some of the juicy bits of food spilled out onto the floor and what did not come out naturally, he began spitting and running his paws across his tongue frantically.

  “Whu wuz at? Ats nut a pickle!” Rocco tried to speak, though his mouth was numb with searing pain.

  “That was what is called a pepper you moron!”

  Rocky continued belly-laughing, falling onto his back and rolling on his bunk.

  “Yoo dewty wanka!” Rocco yelled in a voice that was entirely too powerful for his little body.

  The rotund little kit went berserk and launched himself at Rocky. Rocky rolled off the bed, just as his brother crashed onto it. The frame broke and half of the round mattress fell to the floor in an awful crash.

  “Calm down little psycho.” Rocky was still laughing, but when he looked into those eyes opposite of him, he saw nothing but pure rage staring back, and a genuine fright started inside him.

  Rocco yelled and charged. Rocky turned and fled.

  “Go away and stop now you fat little runt! You’ll never be able to catch me.” Rocky ran down the stairs at full speed, knowing that he could easily outpace his still wobbly Procyon sibling with his much longer limbs, being a full two years older than him.

  Rocco had not developed adult motor skills completely yet, still being under ten, but he had a predator’s ferocity and determination. He stumbled on the stairs and fell, desperately trying to match pace with the older Procyon, but was up again just as quickly as he had fallen. Rocky sped through the commons and out the front door, leaving behind the environmental controlled unit.

  The blazing Gunrock heat assaulted him immediately from the bright sun overhead. He ran across the yard towards the open play area, which was filled with other Titan kits playing on multi-level jungle gym equipment, and scratching posts. He took a moment, backpedaling, trying to gauge his pursuer’s distance, figuring in the open stretch, he had outpaced him by quite a lead.

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  As soon as he turned, Rocky’s breath was blasted from his body as the little kit tackled into his ribs. They both tumbled to the dusty ground. They wrestled for dominance for several minutes, Rocky surprised at his little brother’s now apparent strength. Even though he was much bigger and more developed, it was everything he could do to hold the raging kit at bay, and it did not seem to be working all that well.

  Rocco managed to get on top and pinned his brother’s arms with his knees. He threw a few frantic slaps to his face, not having the experience yet to even ball his paws into fists.

  “Apologize!”

  “I’m sorry bro. I was only playing with you, dummy.”

  “Do you yield?” The little Procyon screamed.

  “Never!” Rocky kept his elbows together, blocking his face with his forearms.

  Suddenly Rocco was plucked from atop Rocky, and for a moment, both Procyons were confused.

  A pair of much older Canids were standing over them, one holding Rocco out with one arm like a rubbish sack, his little feet kicking in mid-air.

  “Oh crap!” Rocky recognized the two males. Drayk and his brother Rend. They were the meanest and biggest bullies at the nursery. They were also the only two Canids.

  Drayk tossed Rocco aside and then planted a foot on his chest. Rocco squirmed in rage, but the bigger pup was too strong. They both laughed at his feeble attempts to escape.

  “Leave him alone!” Rocky’s eyes flashed with anger as he got back to his feet.

  “Or what are you going to do about it, runt?” Rend laughed maliciously.

  “Nah, brother. This one’s the runt. That one’s the swot boffin.”

  This elicited an uproarious laughter not only from the pair of Canids, but also from the other cubs, pups, kits and kittens out on the playground. Rocky hated the two Canids. Out of all the races, they were always playing the alpha dominance games, bullying everyone they could. They were even worse than the Felids. It was time someone put a stop to them, he thought.

  With the theme song from Raposa playing in his head, Rocky charged Rend, who was closer. Rend stepped aside easily, keeping one foot out to trip the passing Procyon. As Rocky fell back into the dust, they both roared with laughter.

  “Ow!” Drayk exclaimed suddenly as Rocco bit his unprotected foot.

  With a snarl, Drayk began pounding on the Procyon non-pred, who was not quite half his size.

  “You bloody villain! Leave my brother alone!” Rocky tried to attack Rend once more, but this time found himself at the other end of his own pounding. He did his best to protect his face, but the Canid was taller, stronger and faster than him.

  “Hey you mutts!” Came a voice from the other end of the playground. Ricky dropped from a three-story tall Felid condo-tree, with numerous stands and narrow walkways connecting them. Several female Procyon, Rodentia and Felids all watched him and sighed longingly. “Get the hell off them!”

  “Oh?” Drayk smirked at the approaching Procyon, even though the oldest of the three brothers, still only came chest high to him. “Who’s gonna make us? You?”

  “Run along little Procyon. Your kind doesn’t have what it takes for a real fight. Not like a real pred.” Rend joined in the jeering.

  Ricky came over and punched the bigger Canid right in the nose with no pretenses. Rend yelped and then began whimpering and sneezing. Ricky threw a quick combination of punches to the Canid’s midsection, causing him to double over. He grabbed the Canid then by the fur and pulled him into a savage headbutt, that knocked his opponent out cold.

  “Bring it on you bloody wanker! You want to pick on my brothers so bad, come try that on me!” Ricky roared at the Canid who remained standing.

  “Gladly, weakling.” Drayk growled and then charged the smaller Procyon with his jaws snapping. “It’s time you learned your place!”

  Drayk was larger than even his brother Rend and was probably the largest Titan at the nursery. Ricky went toe-to-toe with him fearlessly, though there was nothing physically special about him except that fearlessness. Everyone at the school had been bullied by the Canid, and everyone was afraid to stand up to him. The other kits and kittens watched breathlessly as someone emerged who was not afraid.

  The two exchanged a flurry of blows, Ricky danced around, keeping out of range of those snapping jaws. He ended up with the worst of the exchange, getting hit several times. The Canid finally got a solid bite and Ricky howled in pain and rage, biting him right back. They then began rolling in the dust, fur and blood flying as they locked in a death roll.

  The larger Canid managed to get the upper hand after a few violent moments and emerged with the dominant position. Ricky was now under him, holding those jaws with both hands, desperately trying to keep them from his throat. The predatory instincts had completely taken over the Canid at this point, and Ricky would die content that he had stood up for his brothers, and for all the weaker non-preds in the nursery.

  Only he didn’t die. Rocco leaped on Drayk’s back and sank his teeth into the back of the bully’s neck. The Canid spun around and tried to fling the little kit from him. But when he turned, he turned right into the other brother, and distracted with Rocco on his back, Rocky began savagely tearing and clawing at the exposed underbelly of their oppressor. Before the villainous Canid could react, he now had all three rabid Procyons on him, punching and beating and biting and tearing like savages.

  By the time the discipline bots made it to the bloody battle, it was almost too late for the Canid. They managed to tear the Procyons from their opponent, but they were so enraged that they continued to fight against the robots for several minutes before they were able to be calmed down. As they were scruffed and taken from the playground, the other kits and pups and kittens who had watched the whole affair began cheering wildly for them. No one mourned the lifeless body of the canid.

* * * *

  Rocco pushed the button to call the mag-lift and frowned over to his companion. The little light did not come on and they both knew what that meant.

  “They shut off the lifts.” Gunner sighed. “We’ll have to find another way.”

  The Sportatorium was on floor fifty-one, and they somehow had to make it back down to thirty-four. This would normally take a matter of minutes with the mag-lifts, but without them, who knew?

  “There has to be stairs.” Rocco said. “An emergency exit or something.”

  “There are stairs, the problem is the stairs to this floor have been blocked off for over a year now. Between fifty-one and forty-eight, they never fixed it. The stairs actually collapsed.”

  “Are you saying we’re stuck here?”

  “No.” Gunner replied. “We can get out. We just have to go up.”

  Gunner led the duo over to the windows, which were now covered with thick metal shutters. The same thing blocked access to the patios.

  “That would have been the easy way up, but there’s another way.” The Puma said, stopping in front of a round ventilation fan on the outside wall towards the ceiling. The agile Puma leaped and tore the metal grate from the wall. He leaped again, this time he managed to stick his paws inside the hole and with a single heave, pulled himself inside.

  Rocco heard banging coming from within the hole and figured it was Gunner trying to tear out the fan. It was a narrow opening and he looked up at it trying to determine whether he would fit through or not. At first glance he would not have thought so, but after watching the Puma climb through, he admitted it may be possible. He was wider around the waist than the Felid, but their shoulders were about the same. Besides, when it came to climbing, a Procyon was on par with a Felid any day.

  “Come on, if I can fit you can fit. You’re no Felid, but still.” Gunner’s tinny voice called back from inside the hole.

  “Procyons are natural climbers.” Rocco joked back. “Better than Felids I’d wager, and we can always come back down too.”

  “Yeah that may be true, but most Procyons are not giant fatsos like you.”

  “Shut up.” Rocco jumped and pulled himself into the hole.

  He shimmied through the tight gap and with no space to move his pinned arms, he had to push himself through using his shoulders and legs.

  “Did I ever tell you I hate tight spaces?” Rocco’s voice echoed from behind.

  “That means you’re claustrophobic.”

  “No it doesn’t. You’re a clarophonic.”

  “Claustrophobic. It means you are afraid of tight spaces like this.”

  “I’m not afraid of anything. I just don’t want to get stuck.”

  A loud bang came from in front of Rocco a few minutes later and he felt the wind swirl down the tunnel, followed by splashes of raindrops on his fur. A shadowy form moved up and disappeared and he saw the edge of the tunnel then. When Rocco moved to the edge, he made the mistake of looking down.

  “Holy shit.” Rocco ejected. Below him he could see the edge of the AstroBloc, disappearing fifty stories below. From this distance, everything on the ground looked like ants scurrying about.

  “Acrophobia?” Gunner called down from somewhere above the opening.

  “No thanks, I just want to get back inside!” Rocco squirmed inside the narrow shaft until he flipped onto his back. Then he reached his arms out and began pulling himself out. “There’s nothing to grab onto!”

  Now that Rocco’s head was fully outside, he saw Gunner scaling the building with only his claws. He looked down at his own claws, knowing they were not equal to the powerful pred-felid’s.

  “Come on, you can make it!” Gunner yelled back at him, while tearing another grate from the building a story above them. “You’re a natural climber!”

  “You bet your cat ass I can.” Rocco grumbled. He then pushed himself the rest of the way out of the cramped tunnel.

  “Fly” He shouted, and the voice activation for his flight pack whirled into life with a high-pitched squeal.

  Rocco came floating up and hovered behind Gunner, who looked back and nearly fell from his perch when he saw the flying Procyon.

  “First, I find a Procyon who’s as big as me and can fight almost as well, and next I find out he can fly too? When evolution goes forward it leaps!”

  “Almost as well?” Rocco smirked and propelled himself through the opening first. “In your dreams kitty kitty.”

  Gunner let loose a hearty laugh and scrambled close behind.