I looked at the stacks and rows of cages, and wondered why in crazy magic land any of these critters would stay here when the Menagerie had personalized habitats. I mean, turtle dude had his own private pond. Bathtub. Whatever. Here? He got a water dish. Maybe. Actually, I didn't see any turtles at the moment.

  They'd gone quiet when I asked if they wanted out.

  I scanned the cages looking for some wee beasties that were familiar to me. Specifically I was looking for the little deer, the potato shaped troll dude, and that fire hound that recognized my scent and called me Maximus. I also wondered if any of the dodge chickens or sickle weasels made it here.

  The magical lighting in the room was not great, and despite my excellent cat vision, I couldn't see well into the upper cages. My view was blocked by wooden slats and iron bars. The cages were utilitarian. Spartan.

  Huh. That chain of thought got me thinking about military barracks. But this triple decker cage situation was not military; it rather smacked of industrial farming. They also struck me as temporary. What were they doing with these beasts?

  Yeah, this whole situation was way different than my expectations. I thought these guys would be running their own city down here. More Zootopia, and less old fashioned zoo.

  Was I really that off base about all this? Sure, I'd planned all along to cause chaos and mayhem, and I figured I could instigate dozens of animals into causing a delightful ruckus. Yet here they were, huddled in tiny cages. I honestly thought the critters would want out. What was going on here?

  "Well?" I gazed around at the dozens of eyeballs staring at me through bars, surprised at the silence. "Y'all want out or not?"

  I waited some more. And quickly became flabbergasted as it seemed like all of them were going to choose to stay put.

  "We can't leave, fool," Scorpius snarled finally.

  "I can open all the cages. I can let y'all out."

  "We can't do that," the funky nosed mole said, from the cage off to my left. "We have been ordered to go to our cages and stay here until morning."

  What the corn puffs? "Ordered? So, even if all the cage doors are wide open, y'all are gotta stay in those dinky jail cells?"

  There was a smattering of whimpers and growls. So, they didn't want to stay, but couldn't leave?

  Well, that wasn't going to work. I wanted to use this opportunity to steal powers from these shmucks. I couldn't do that if I had to stick my paw in each cage and ask the beast to activate their power.

  Also, stealing from imprisoned and unhappy animals was not something even my off kilter moral compass could allow. Now, if we got into an argument, or competed in the arena, I'd have no guilt. But this? Uncouth.

  Such a curious thing. I knew I was a professional thief, even if I didn't remember the particulars. Why would I feel any guilt? Stealing was my job. The circumstances shouldn't matter.

  "Why here and not the Menagerie?" I asked. "That place was five stars compared to this dump."

  "Five stars? A cage is a cage, no matter how golden," Scorpius growled. He'd taken to pacing his cage. Two steps right. Turn. Two steps left. His paws landed in the same spots each pass.

  Eh, I dunno. Creature comforts are still comforts. Yeah, I knew there were deeper things I should be thinking about in this situation, but I didn't want to. Yet, there was something I had to ask.

  "Are you here because you want to be? Would you leave if you could?" I sat directly in front of Scorpius's cage. It'd been only a few weeks, but I swear that scary dude was bigger than before. His stinger tail flicked reflexively at the cage bars.

  "This is the price of power. I will pay it, until I am strong enough that they will pay it instead." Scorpius jerked his head, indicating the way I'd come, and snarled.

  Poor Darryl and the other deer skull dudes. They were gonna have a bad day when the manticore got his way.

  "This is supposed to be temporary," the mole squeaked. "I felt them talking. They are doing something there, and then we can live there and not be locked up anymore."

  Temporary was good. Then my brain zeroed in on the mole's phrasing. "Felt them talking?"

  "I have an enhanced tremorsense. Standard first power for my people."

  Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

  "That's a nice power." Especially if it allowed eavesdropping from a distance. And it was probably a power that was always active. Very nice indeed.

  A dog a few cages down the row from the manticore barked, "I want out. Open my door. I'm sure I can leave."

  Well that was worth my time. I trotted down to see this dog.

  This cage was all metal, and puffs of smoke curled up from the paws of a reddish black wolf. The fire hound. Of course the beast that was the most cooperative was a fucking dog.

  "All done with your quest for power?" I asked the dog. "You're not gonna attack or burn me if I let you out? What's your name?"

  The dog shook his head. "I need to leave. I don't have a name. I won't harm you or anyone. The skull faces are looking for my pack mate, Maximus. They've talked about him a lot and I'm worried about him. He's new, and not himself."

  "Not himself?" What did that mean? Could a dog have a mental health crisis?

  "He's someone else right now, and needs help. I need to get back to the pack and let them know he is being hunted."

  "No, I want a real explanation. What do you mean he's 'someone else'?"

  The dog tilted his head, and the amount of smoke rising from him increased as he thought hard. "He isn't a dog anymore. He looks like someone else." The dog's eyes narrowed at me and he took a couple of big sniffs. "He smells the same as you."

  "So he's a cat now? That sounds like an improvement," I said. Not a dog anymore? Is this something like me not being human anymore? But I didn't become a dog. I'm a cat.

  The dog scoffed. "No. Not a cat. A human."

  A human that smells like me? Did he get my human body? Wait, I was a woman. "He is male? Not a woman?"

  "What difference does that make?" Scorpius scoffed from his cage.

  I ignored him and waited for the dog to answer.

  "No, not a woman. A male human child."

  Well then. What the fuck. I had no idea what to do with this information. I only had the barest scraps of memories of what was happening just before I became a cat. I was a thief, and on a job. That I remembered. The rest… not so much. Could this 'dog' not really be a dog, but a member of my team? Did their memories and identity get all fucked up like mine?

  "All right. I'll let you out. I want you to tell Maximus that I'd like to have a conversation with him. My name is Mau." I pulled the cage door open.

  The dog shuffled his feet at the opening, but didn't cross.

  "I told you we couldn't leave," Scorpius offered snidely.

  The fire hound gathered himself at the edge, and burst into flame. Smoke billowed out from him so thick that I couldn't see him. Suddenly he landed in the walkway, surrounded by smoke and flame.

  "Well then. I guess we should call you Smokey," I said as the fire hound shook himself off and the flames went out.

  "No, that is not going to be my name. I want to be named by the Ancient One, the Fire of the Depths. I will wait until he deems me worthy of a name." The fire hound turned towards Scorpius, addressing him and the other animals. "It won't let you step across, but if you imagine the cage as bigger than it is, you can jump outside. Using your power makes it easier to make the jump."

  "You sure you don't want the name Smokey?" I coughed. "It suits you."

  "No, thank you. I want only the Ancient One to name me," the dog said. "I could ask the Ancient One to name me Smokey. I'm told the Fire of the Depths is very understanding."

  "What does it matter where the name comes from or who gives it to you?" I asked. It was such a silly thing to get hung up on.

  "Because names matter, foolish one," Scorpius growled.

  The dog nodded. "They do. Sorry about all the smoke."

  "It's fine." I really didn't care about names. "Are you going to need help getting out of here? I don't know where 'here' is."

  "I'll find the way out. That way I also know the way in," the dog said.

  "Righto. Don't forget to tell Maximus I want to meet him. I think we have some very important things to talk about."

  "I think you may be littermates. I will be sure to tell him."

  "They can't be littermates, idiot dog. That one is a leopard, not a human or a canine," Scorpius piped in.

  "You game to help me get all these doors open?" I asked the dog. At this point everyone was ignoring the grumpy manticore.

  "I will leave once everyone is free," the dog agreed.

  Good. I turned my attention to the cages around me. I thought it was a good idea if all these wee beasties could defy orders. Because having random, uncontrolled magic beasts running through town was very much better than a controlled and potentially hostile army.

  Yup. Let's do this. I put mana into my ring, and as hard as I could, I intended to open all the cages. And I looked around expectantly.

  Not a single door opened.

  I didn't want to look dramatic in front of the animals, so I didn't collapse bonelessly to the floor in disappointment. Instead I got to work opening cages.

  "Uh, do you actually need my help opening the cages? You seem to be doing them yourself," the dog said.

  The dog was looking at the badger I'd just opened the door for. The badger hadn't moved from inside the cage.

  "Help him out, Smokey. They might have trouble jumping out on their own."

  "Oh! Right. And my name isn't Smokey yet."

  Whatever.

  I went the long way around the cages, and deliberately missed Scorpius's cage while making it look like an oversight. I also ignored his demands of "Me! Me next! Idiot cub. Come here!"

  I found the potato troll dude, and a couple of dodge chickens, including Twelve. Or Peabrain, as she now called herself.

  Notably missing was the little deer, and Tom. Damn. I wanted a conversation with Tom. I had some pointed questions about the housing situation here. I also wanted to know if he learned anything new about the Menagerie benefactors, the deer skull mask guys, or the Gracious Lady statue. Looks like I'd have to be doing some of that work myself. So much for delegating.

  Eh, even if I didn't talk to him now, there was a good chance I'd be back. I glanced at the growing crowd of beasts. Yeah, even if this becomes a complete disaster, I would be coming back. Heh. Not Smokey burning his cage open would likely take the heat for the jail break.

  People tend to get stuck on the first and simplest answer they come across. Poor dog taking the blame for what I did. It makes me think all is right with the world.

  I followed the crowd of beasts up the slanted hallways to the arena level, completely ignoring Scorpius's roars.

  "Hey!" barked Not Smokey as he trailed behind me. "What was your name? Mau? You didn't let Scorpius out!"

  "Oh, did I forget? How about that." I kept walking.

  Isekai'd cat burglar now magic beast, partner to Seth.

  Tom the tom cat. Black cat and former familiar to the deceased director of the Menagerie.

  A dik-dik with asperations for bigness. Wanted to be a demon lord by the name of Ba'al. Was named Mouse by his previous master and escaped to come here.

  A manticore with an active scorpion tail and bad attitude. Met for the first time at the Menagerie

  The dodge chicken that told Mau how to use the chicken dodge.

  The same fire hound that escaped from the Menagerie.

  A city facility for familiars and magic beasts currently without masters. Had a previous long term director that died, and has been in upheaval ever since.