Hey there everybody! The holidays are fast approaching, and I've got another new chapter of The Door, hot off the press for you all! So please, enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

The Door (Chapter 12)

by

Elite Shade

 

 

 

 

 

"S-S-S-So why are we taking an ambulance?" Russell asked while shivering on the gurney as a snow leopard was checking his vitals. Shortly after Barry's cousin had called the ZPD, an ambulance had been dispatched to the scene. Barry had pretty much talked Russell through his panic attack, however, he felt that it would be best if he accompanied Russell in the back of the ambulance on the way to the hospital. Barry's car was currently being driven by his cousin, who was following them as the ambulance made its way out of Tundra Town and heading straight for Zootopia General.

"Well, Russell, all of the humans that have shown up here in Zootopia so far haven't been in the best of shape. Once we get to the hospital, the doctors will examine you to make sure that you're alright." Barry focused on keeping his voice calm and steady, and trying to make sure to speak in short and simple sentences, as was necessary to help calm someone having a panic attack. Russell had just stayed quiet after hearing that, and Barry knew not to push him to talk. Suddenly, Russell just broke down crying. At first Barry was taken aback by this sudden outburst, and then instinctively moved closer to him.

"Russell, I promised you that everything is going to be okay, and I meant it." he said softly as he reached out and placed one of his large paws onto the boy's shoulder. As he had gotten closer, he had heard Russel mumble something to himself in between sobs.

"... Left me..." he said. "They left me..."

"Who, Russell? Who left you?"

"THEY L-LEFT ME!!!" Russell howled before breaking back down into heavy sobs. The paramedic looked up at Barry, slightly confused. Barry frowned, but resolutely kept his paw on Russell's shoulder.

"You're going to be okay, Russell."

 

Back in Little Rodentia...

 

"Okay, seriously, Eli, you really haven't ever played mini-golf before?" Nick asked as he marked Eli's score on the little score sheet they each had been given after purchasing a round. Judy had initially signed to Nick to let Eli win a little here and there, but as the fox quickly realized, he didn't need it. Eli had already gotten three hole in ones on some very difficult holes, one of which involved a carousel for the ball and two ramps! Nick and Judy had stared open-mouth after that one.

"Um... no... I've always wanted to, but I never got to play it before..."

"I'm not buying it," Nick said simply, crossing his arms. "You're just too good at this game to have never played it before. You're probably a professional mini-golfer trying to hustle us decent never-hustled-anybody-a-day-in-our-lives mammals," Nick joked as Judy rolled her eyes, and Eli laughed.

"What's so funny?" Nick asked, smiling at seeing Eli having a good time.

"Judy told me about the pawpsicles," Eli said, making Nick smirk.

 

"Oh did she now," Nick said, turning to his partner, who smiled back at him.

"Alright, touché. But that still doesn't explain why you're as good as you are buddy," Nick said as the three walked to the next course, which was the stereotypical windmill. Judy went first with her pink golf ball. She set it on the tee, lined up her putter, waited, and took a swing. The pink blur made it past the spinning blades, and it audibly dinged and pinged inside the windmill itself, before popping out of a window near the top facing opposite the hole, and it bounced to a stop two inches from Judy's tee. The rabbit officer huffed and crossed her arms as Nick chuckled and Eli fought back the urge to giggle.

"I think you put a little too much of your usual pep behind that swing." Nick smirked as he strode up to the tee, placing his green ball down and lining up his shot. After a few seconds he swung, his ball immediately bouncing off the blade of the windmill and coming back to rest a few inches closer to the tee than Judy's ball. She smugly smiled at Nick while Eli continued to fight, and lose, the compulsion to giggle. "Yeah, yeah, let's see you do better buddy," Nick said.

Eli smiled as he walked up to the tee, placing his bright red golf ball on it. He lined up the shot, and waited with his putter poised. He concentrated, and time seemed to slow down. As he watched, he saw a second window open and shut in time with the spinning blades. He timed his swing just right, his putter connecting with the ball with an audible tap as he sent it speeding towards the window, just as it opened. It passed through, making a series of audible taps and dings like Judy's had, before coming out of the back of the windmill itself.

"Huh, okay, that was pretty impressive Eli, but that still wasn't a--"

"HOLE IN ONE! HOLE IN ONE!" And excited voice from the nearby speakers blared out, startling Nick, mid-sentence, and making his tail bush out.

"Eli, that was really good!" Judy said, excited. Eli blushed and said nothing.

"I'd like to say lucky shot, but that being the fourth hole in one is kinda working against that theory," Nick said as he tried to discreetly use his paws to pat the fur of his tail down.

"Hmm," Judy said playfully as she dramatically scratched her chin. "I think that there's a ringer in our midst!" She pointed to Eli, who continued to blush, now shuffling his feet. Judy giggled at the sight. "Honestly, Eli, we are going to have to do something to make you more comfortable with being praised," she said while walking up to him and hugging his shin. He smiled and leaned down to hug her properly.

"Maybe when you two are done bonding, you could take your turn fluff?" Nick asked. Judy and Eli ended their hug and she walked over to her ball. She decided to try and go around the windmill, with Nick following suit. It took her another two putts before her ball finally went into the hole, and it took Nick another five tries, three of which involved his green ball going right past the hole. A fact that Judy and Eli both found to be quite amusing.

As they continued to play each course, other minigolf patrons stared at the trio from time to time. Sometimes they were staring at Eli out of curiosity. Other times they did so out of sheer amazement from Eli's amazing shots on some of the hardest courses there. And of course others were drawn to the spectacle of Nick and Judy bickering. Eli did his best to ignore the stares as he played, instead choosing to focus on Judy's reassurance. Judy herself shot several of the onlookers, specifically the ones clearly making Eli uncomfortable, very angry looks to make them disperse. Eli ended up winning their game by shooting a hole in one in all but three of the courses. Judy came in second, and Nick was last, a fact that Judy rather enjoyed pointing out in a playful manner.

"Seriously, Eli, you did a wonderful job!" Judy gushed as they walked back towards Little Rodentia, Nick having received a text that Freddy and his sons had finished the first batch of shoes.

"Um, thanks Judy," Eli said, smiling as he held his prize he had won, a board game named Syndicate, with a cartoon scottish terrier in a top hat, monocle, suit and bow tie as the game's mascot.

"And thanks for taking me miniature golfing Nick, it was really fun," Eli said. Nick smiled at the boy as they walked back to Freddy's Footwear. He had been a little concerned that Eli might not have liked him at first, but was surprised at how happy he was to know that the boy was warming up to him. They made it back to the shop to find Freddy and a few of his sons standing out front, with several pairs of brand new shoes on display for them. There were a couple of sneakers, a pair of what Nick recognized as a pair of loafers, a pair of boots, a pair of dress shoes, and even a pair of slippers.

"You made all of these in the time that we were gone?" Eli wondered aloud in amazement as he looked over each piece of footwear, all of which fit his feet perfectly.

"Well of course, my boy! I and my sons are professionals after all!" Freddy said with pride, while more than a few of his sons were still actively panting with exhaustion.

"Well these all look wonderful Freddy... now let's talk price," Nick said, already starting with his sly voice. As it turned out, the only thing Freddy liked as much as shoemaking, was haggling. It was almost a full hour before he and Nick settled on a price range for the entire selection of shoes. Once they were paid for, each pair was carefully placed inside their own boxes, and tied shut with a ribbon.

The three made their way back to Judy's car, everyone holding a box or two, before setting them all in the trunk. As Eli placed his new game next to his new shoes, he noticed on the back that the game had a series of little metal play figures inside, and one of which was a gorilla pushing a wheelbarrow. The sparked a thought in his mind as he slid into the backseat and buckled up. He began to scan the crowds of animals as they drove on. It was a few minutes before Eli realized that Judy had been talking to him.

"Oh sorry, what?" he asked.

"I was wondering if you were hungry, sweetie. Is everything okay?" Judy asked, looking back at him in the rearview mirror.

"Oh, yeah I could eat, I was just wondering something," he said.

"What is it bud?" Nick asked, turning to face him.

"Well, I was just wondering where all the gorillas were. I've seen a lot of animals since I got here, but no gorillas, chimps, or orangutans." Eli hoped he wasn't being offensive.

"Oh no, Eli, those aren't real," Nick said, smiling.

"Really?" Eli asked, surprised.

"Yeah, they're just make believe. I think that they're based off of some ancient myths or something," Nick said, chuckling to himself.

"... They're real back where I came from," Eli said quietly, now lost in thought. Judy looked up in the rearview mirror with a gasp.
"Really?" she asked. Eli nodded in response.

"Oh wow! That's amazing! What are they like?" She started to question him as the light turned green.

"Uh, well, I never met any myself. I know that they don't speak like us humans do. Oh, and that we're related to them." Judy and Nick were silent after that, and Eli started to fear that he may have said something wrong.

"You mean like genetic cousins or something?" Nick asked, still awed by this revelation.

"Uh, I think so. I know that we fall under the same category, primate," Eli said back.

"Whoa," Nick and Judy said in unison, before Judy spotted a restaurant that she thought Eli might enjoy. Signaling, she pulled into the parking lot of Enter 'n' Exit, the smell of their fries already reaching them in the car, since the windows were rolled down. Just then, Eli's stomach gurgled loudly.

"I guess someone's hungrier than they thought!" Judy laughed after she finished parking and took the keys from the ignition. Eli's smile grew wide as they entered the building, enjoying Judy's affection.

"So, what'll it be, buddy?" Nick asked as he pointed out the predator and the prey menus hanging above the cashier, a bored looking zebra who only looked mildly interested when the human had entered.

"Uhm... Is it really okay for me to have... uh... meat?" Eli asked, now feeling nervous about what Judy might say about his diet.
"Of course it is Eli!" Judy said, reaching up to squeeze his hand gently.

"Obviously, I'm not a meat eater myself, but that doesn't mean that I'll judge you because you are. After all, Nick eats meat too, and I don't judge him for it."

"Not anymore," Nick mumbled under his breath, which earned him a quick stomp on his tail from Judy, who never once stopped looking up at Eli, smiling reassuringly. Nick grumbled to himself as he rubbed the sore spot and placed an order for two cheese beetle burgers, a side of fries, and a medium soda. Eli was a little taken aback when he saw the ingredients of the burgers, but decided to try one with cheese. He had two large fries, just in case, a soda, and Judy got him a strawberry shake. She had a salad and fries, with some tea.

Eli held up his burger, looking at the patty. He couldn't see any legs or wings or antenna, so he steeled himself and took a bite. There wasn't even a crunch, aside from the lettuce, and it tasted just like any other burger. He smiled as he continued, and Judy was happy to know that Eli was enjoying his lunch. The three sat near a window and talked with one another during their meal, with Judy and Nick each asking Eli all he knew about the primates from his world.

 

Back at the precinct...

 

Chief Bogo was currently watching the newest Gazelle music video on his phone, moving in his seat to the beat of the song, until a series of frantic knocks rained down on his office door. He scrambled to put his phone away and shuffle some papers to hide what he was doing before gruffly saying in his deep voice "Stop that knocking and enter!"

An armadillo in a lab coat quickly scrambled through the doorway just as Clawhauser tried to stop him.

"Chief, I'm sorry!" Benjamin said as he panted for breath, "He said... *pant*... that he had to speak with you... *pant*... and he... *pant*..."

Bogo rolled his eyes at this display. "Thank you for at least trying, Clawhauser. And you!" he said, his voice rumbling menacingly to the now cringing armadillo. "What is so important that you felt it necessary to just barge in to my precinct unannounced?"

The smaller mammal gulped audibly before mustering the courage to answer. He straightened his grey tie before he answered.

"I-I-I am Doctor Edwin Shellison, I'm an engineer for Zootopia General Electric, working on a project involving photovoltaic cells for the solar panels that we use, and I'm truly sorry for the intrusion sir, but I have some information about this phenomenon with the arrival of the humans that you may want to know about," he said quickly but in a scratchy voice, as though he didn't speak very often. Bogo raised his eyebrow in response, prompting Dr. Shellison to start pulling out papers with numbers and charts all on them, many with places highlighted.

"And what's all this supposed to mean Dr.?" Bogo asked as he took a look at some of the papers that were placed onto his desk.

"After checking, and double checking, and triple checking, I have confirmed that each time one of these humans has crossed over into our world, at the exact time, there is a small power surge in the system nearest where they appear," he said, now sounding proud of himself.

"I see... that does sound very interesting Dr., but of course you'll understand if I have some of my own people look into this to confirm your findings themselves," Bogo said, a little dismissively.

"Of course sir. But the reason why I felt that it was necessary to inform you immediately, like this, was because there was another surge just a little while ago, seven minutes to be exact, and I just figured that it would take too long to deal with going through this data with someone on the phone and so I--"

"Enough! Where was the surge this time?!" the large and intimidating cape buffalo said, now standing.

"I-i-in the rainforest district, sir! Near the river!"

"Clawhauser!" Bogo yelled to Benjamin, who had been listening this entire time, and was now snapped to attention.

"Get to the radio immediately, and dispatch three cars to start patrolling the area for any signs of a human. Have an ambulance on standby, just in case."

"Yes, sir!" Benjamin squeaked in a combination of fear and excitement as he sprinted as quickly as he could down to his desk to do exactly as the chief had ordered.

 

Meanwhile...

 

Renato was once more applying the special scar removal ointment to his right eye, where there was still the mark from when he was attacked by Mr. Otterton when he had turned savage. He sighed, having been applying this very type of ointment, and others, in an attempt to make it fade away for the past two years, to no avail. The injury to his right eye had healed and he could see just fine out of it, but it was hard enough being a predator without a wicked scar making animals passing him in the street think that he was trouble.

He closed his medicine cabinet and proceeded to dress for the day. It was particularly warm and sunny out, so he went for a simple T-shirt and green leaf swim trunks. He may prefer the rainy kind of environment, but that doesn't mean he couldn't enjoy a nice swim. Double checking to make sure that he did indeed have his keys and wallet on him as he left, he made his way down from the tree apartment complex he called home to the sidewalk below. He whistled to himself as his stroll towards the public pool took him by the river. As he was walking, he stopped when he noticed something bobbing in the water. Looking closely, he saw a figure under the water, not being moved by the current. The figure was struggling, and a series of bubbles were making their way up.

"D-drowning! HEY!" he called to a chipmunk across the street who stopped suddenly.

"Call an ambulance right now! Someone's drowning!" he yelled, whipping his T-shirt over his head, not checking to make sure that the chipmunk was calling anybody, before diving in. Renato was a powerful swimmer, and was able to fight the current. He saw a strange looking creature, and quickly realized that it was one of the human things that have been popping up. This one appeared to be female, with long brown hair. She was trying to hold her breath, while also trying to escape the rope she had been bound with, rope that was currently tied to a large cinderblock resting on the riverbed.

As frantically as she was squirming, she was clearly losing strength. She appeared to be startled by the sight of Renato, especially when he unsheathed his claws, before she started to slip into unconsciousness. Wasting no time, Renato swam to the section of the rope tied to the block, and began cutting at it with his claws. It was a strong rope though, and he ended up pulling out two of his claws, but he pressed on through the pain. Finally, the rope snapped, and he had to quickly catch the human in his arms before the current could sweep her further away from him.

As he broke the surface with her in his arms, he saw three police cruisers and an ambulance pull up. He swam to the sidewalk, and was assisted by and elephant officer, who gingerly lifted the human, and Renato, out of the water. He quickly started to rip the rest of the rope off of her, just as a dingo EMT ran over, and confirmed that she wasn't breathing. He started with the chest compressions, and quickly she was coughing up water and taking deep breaths, shivering. She looked around, her eyes unfocused, until her gaze came to rest on Renato.

"Ma'am? Can you understand me? Ma'am?" The dingo asked as he checked her eyes for dilation, he got no answer as she quickly passed out, still breathing.

"Make some room!" he called out to the crowd that had gathered. Several of the officers were already ushering curious mammals, some of which were already recording with their phones, further back away. Soon she was secured to a stretcher, and loaded into the back of the ambulance. Once the officers had confirmed that Renato was alright, they began taking his statement. He explained about seeing her in the water, and the cinder block. All the while, he kept thinking about one thing, her eyes. One was green like an emerald, and the other a deep blue.

 

 

 

 

 

And that, dear readers, is chapter 12! Be sure to let me know what you think!