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The Beginning
This is the history of Midnight Fox and his friends. It encompasses the time from Jack's 10th birthday until the current storyline. Some parts will be skipped over and covered later in their own comics.


CHAPTER ONE: The New Kids


Ms. Shanks glared at the policeman. Then she glared at the three children asleep in his car. I don't need this! she thought angrily. What am I going to do with three more kids? Oh well, I guess I don't have any choice. She gave the man one more fierce glare, then went inside to get the proper paperwork.
Sargeant Renolds sighed to himself. He hated the thought of these sweet kids living in a place like Meathook Children's Home, but there was no place else for them. He looked back in the car and watched the sleeping children. The oldest boy was hugging his sister and holding the baby, protective even in sleep. Poor kids, he thought. If only I could take them home... He looked at the baby more speculatively. Maybe Helen wouldn't object to a baby... She had been saying lately that she wanted kids. But what about the others? Well, they'd been through so much, they probably couldn't even remember their own names, let alone how many siblings there were. Renolds nodded, his mind made up. When Ms. Shanks came out with the papers, he had one more thing to talk to her about...


Drip, drip, drip... The boy awoke to blackness and his head all wet. He looked up, he could make out a small leak in the ceiling. Well that's just my luck, he thought cynically. He sat up quickly and thunked his head on something above him. The young fox rubbed his head roughly to shake the dingy water out of his hair. Then he swung his legs over the side of the bed and hopped off, realizing just as he fell that he was on the top of a bunk bed and the floor was eight feet away. The boy struggled to get himself upright, surprised to find that his legs and arms were extremely sore. There was a bit more light down here and he could see bandages all along his left arm. He sat on the lower bunk and stared at his arm, scratching his head. He promptly found a tender spot on his ear, when he pulled his hand away, there was blood. What happened to me? he thought, more than a little scared. And where the heck am I? A noise from the bed caught his attention and he saw that it was occupied by a little vixen. She looked very familiar, but he couldn't remember her name. She was awake and stared at him with fear in her eyes. "Who are you?" she practically squeaked. At that point, he realized he didn't know his own name, either. He looked at the girl more closely and saw that she was bandaged in a few places, too. He was about to answer her when the door to the small room banged open. A female cat about his own age was standing in the doorway. She had an annoyed look on her face. "Hey, you! New kids! Come on out, it's time for breakfast! But before that, Mother wants to see you. She has a few questions." The girl stormed out, the boy helped the little girl up and they followed the cat into the corridor. The desk in "Mother's" office was huge. It was mahogany, but painted to look like plyboard. There were intricate carvings of children's frightened faces around the front of it, and the legs were made out of stainless steel. The boy stared at it, studied it. It seemed to take up the whole room with its ugliness.
"You!" snapped the enormous feline seated at the hideous desk. "Look me in the eye when I'm speaking to you!"
The boy did so, wincing at her tone of voice. Not looking her in the eye was the reason he was staring at the desk. Also, it was a very interesting desk.
"What?" he asked innocently, staring at the ceiling as to avoid eye contact again. "What, what?" She glared at him.
The boy was baffled. What on earth did she mean by that? The little girl next to him and whispered, "Ma'am." He smiled at her, then returned his attention to the behemoth at the desk.
"What, ma'am," he replied, happily.
"All right, boy, I am Ms Shanks, the proprietor of this orphanage. You will obey my every whim and command. Cause trouble, and you'll be out on your ear so fast you won't know what hit you." She picked up a file folder and pulled out a paper.
"Now then, what are your names? The policeman who left you here didn't say." She was searching through her gargantuan desk as she said this, and soon came up with a fancy-looking pen. She looked up at the children expectantly. "Well?"
"I'm, uh... and she's um..." the boy was shocked to find he couldn't remember who he was! He looked at the little girl helplessly and she shrugged, her wide eyes filling with tears.
"I don't remember!" she sobbed, and fell against his chest. For some reason he couldn't place, her distress upset him, and he felt compelled to comfort her. He held her close and stroked her tangled hair. Then he straightened his shoulders and looked the frightening woman right in the eye.
"I have no idea what my name is, or who I am," he said resolutely. He looked down at the girl in his arms. "I don't know who she is, either."
Ms Shanks rolled her eyes, reached over her desk and smacked the back of his head. "She's your sister, you dink! The cop told me that much. Well, since you don't have names, I guess I'll just have to make something up. We can't just call you "Boy and Girl." She glared at no one in particular. "I don't have time for this. From now on, you two are Jack and Jill, um, Fox, no, er... Renard. There, you're named. Now go play with the other little brats. I have work to do."
The little girl had stopped crying by now, but was still hanging on to him. Jack stood up and half-carried her out of the room. She let go of him as soon as the door shut. Then she turned around and made a nasty face at the door. "I don't like her," she announced. "What a beast."
"Why you little-" It was the cat who'd woken them up. "That's my mother you're taking about!" Her hand shot out to slap Jill, but Jack was too fast for her. He caught her arm in mid-swing and pulled it around her back.
Jack yanked her around to face him and glared at her. "Don't ever hit my sister. EVER."
The girl pulled away and kicked him in the shin. Then she gave them both a glare that matched her mother's. "I am Sonya Shanks and I can do whatever I want to. I'll let you off easy this time because you're new. But if anything like this ever happens again. You will pay, and dearly." Sonya turned on her heel and left them standing in the hall.
As soon as she was out of earshot, both Jack and Jill collapsed with laughter. After they had calmed down, Jill wiped the tears from her eyes and said, "You WILL pay, and dearly." Which of course set them off again, and they laughed all the way to breakfast.