On the Wilde Side

A/N: Decided I wanted to try doing some spontaneous writing about Zootopia after I thoroughly enjoyed the movie in cinemas. Essentially, it's a different take about how events would change if Nick were a member of the ZPD from the beginning. Please note that since I watched the movie a while ago, I don't remember the exact dialogue from each scene and as a result some dialogue from familiar scenes may have been altered. I also could not find a transcript for the play, so when one is released I'll go back and edit some of the dialogue so it's accurate to the movie. Please leave a follow or review if you enjoyed it, or leave a review telling me why you didn't and how I can improve.

The alarm went off at six thirty, but Nick P. Wilde had already been awake long ago. He lay flat on his back on his uncomfortably hard mattress, staring up at his ceiling while intently studying the cracks and folds on the worn plaster. By his count, there had been more cracks on his ceiling than stars in the sky last night. It was the price to pay for renting a cheap apartment.

He would be late to work if he didn't get dressed soon, but Nick was seldom ever on time for his job. Chief Bogo would go mental when he arrived ten minutes late, raving on about how he was an irresponsible idiot and would be fired the next time he was late, but he never came good on his threat and most of the enjoyment Nick extracted from his job came from watching Bogo go blue in the face.

What followed afterwards would be a long shift of patrolling the slums and the seedy underbelly of Zootopia: a place held in such high regards by so many animals because of its high buildings and seemingly endless opportunity. Animals didn't see the discrimination and hate induced violence that occurred on a near daily basis. Even the middle to upper class citizens of Zootopia rarely caught a glimpse of the slums. As long as it was convenient for them, animals usually ignored the problems and even the existence of the slums.

Nick sighed, slowly sliding off his bed and going to get dressed. It had always been his dream to work for the ZPD ever since he was a little cub. All his comrades from childhood had either become hustlers or found themselves behind bars; victims of limited opportunity. The stereotype that foxes were unreliable, shady characters had for some reason become a widely accepted fact amongst society. An employer would very rarely consider a fox for the job if there were another reasonable candidate available, even if the fox had the better credentials.

So Nick had worked hard. He had trained tirelessly, had many sleepless nights, and proved so many doubtful animals wrong with his quick thinking and quick reflexes. He gave the supervisors at the training facility camp no other option than to consider him their top recruit, and he had been given the honors despite a very large reluctance from practically everyone involved. Giving the award to a fox seemed to be an absurd notion for them.

And yet, despite his supposed honors, he still found himself receiving a low standing at the ZPD. Sure he was late practically every day, and his smart remarks tended to make him more enemies than friends, but he worked extremely hard and very rarely did he ever finish his patrol on the allocated time. He would always do an hour extra of patrolling, just to be safe, which was something that no other officer could boast. While other recruits that had joined at similar times received ideal locations to patrol such as Sahara Square or Tundratown, Nick had immediately been allocated the slums and had been stuck there for just under a year.

It was frustrating to say the least. It felt as though he had never really been given the opportunity to become a bona fide part of the ZPD. All the other officers intentionally gave him a wide berth, and the only animal that he ever really ever talked to was Clawhauser. Which wasn't always a good thing, because Clawhauser only every talked about Gazelle and donuts and sometimes Nick would get the urge to shove those donuts somewhere unpleasant.

Still, it could be worse. At least he wasn't a meter maid.

Adjusting his tie with the help of a small mirror, Nick's eye caught the dull gleam of his badge pinned directly over his heart. He had worn that badge proudly when he had first started, a symbol of his endeavor, but lately wearing it had seemed to become more of a chore than a privilege.

His mother had been so proud of him when he had first joined the department. He hadn't had the heart to tell her that lately he had felt like quitting. Showing the doubtful animals that he could make a positive change in society was what he had joined the ZPD for, but he felt as though his current impact was as far from any type of change as possible. It just seemed pointless.

Nick felt like he was being muzzled all over again, just like he was back in his childhood. Only this time there was nowhere else for him to go to prove society wrong. Perhaps it was just easier to become what society expected him to be: a lowlife nobody.

'Today's not going to be any different,' he sighed to himself, unpinning his badge from his chest and placing it into his pocket. 'At least I get to see Bogo get mad again.'

Locking the door to his apartment and exiting the building, he offered a charming smile to the old koala that owned the complex. She glared distrustfully at him, and for a moment Nick wanted to turn around and taunt her, but he kept his tongue in cheek. It was unwise to taunt the person who owned keys to your apartment, and could evict you if given even the slightest of reasons. His apartment may have been worn down and honestly unfit for any animal to live in, but it was still his.

The walk from his apartment to the Police Station wasn't a particularly long one, but Nick always took the scenic route. Not that it was particularly scenic: the tall buildings dwarfed almost anything natural. It was simply an excuse to get Chief Bogo mad.

Advertisements flickered on the billboards as he walked past, providing ample distraction from the glares he was receiving from random animals. Most of the advertisements were for meaningless products. Things that people bought when they had too much money and too much time on their hands. Others were unbelievably expensive simple things that would have had Nick's jaw dropping had he not already seen the exact same advertisements over and over again. Honestly, it was no wonder that so many animals resorted to crime to make a living.

Amidst all the meaningless information, one particular billboard caught his eye. The image was a familiar one that had been shown all over the news and been plastered all over advertising campaigns for the past week. It was the image of a rabbit in a police uniform, shaking the hand of the mayor. The rabbit in question looked ecstatic, the mayor uncomfortable in his bent position, with the slogan underneath: 'Mayor Lionheart; supporter of prey everywhere.'

Nick told himself that it was no big deal, but he couldn't pry his eyes away from the billboard. Truth be told, what he had seen left an undeniably hurtful mark. When he had been awarded the top recruit honors, there had been next to no media exposure. He had not shaken hands with the mayor or been paraded around on billboards, but rather his achievement had been swept under the rug. He had been told that it was better to keep everything quiet so that the animals of the general public wouldn't immediately become distrustful of him or the ZPD. In other words, they didn't want other animals knowing that a fox was part of the ZPD.

But a rabbit? That was perfectly fine. It would no doubt get many supporters from all the prey out there that voted, so the bunny's achievement could be paraded around as though it was the most important thing in the world.

A low snarl escaped from Nick's snout, scaring a nearby passing sheep that cried out and scampered away as if her life depended on it. Nick just rubbed his eyes tiredly and kept walking.

He reached the station late, as per usual, and forced a fake smile onto his face before he entered. It would do no good to show the other officers how completely worthless he felt. He had sworn to himself that he would never reveal any weakness to another animal.

'Oh Nick!' Clawhauser greeted him once Nick reached the front desk, crumbs from the many donuts he had eaten still evident on his whiskers and fur. 'Chief Bogo was looking for you. He looks reeeeeealy mad!'

It was a dramatic performance from Clawhauser, filled with large hand gestures that had Nick rolling his eyes. 'It's nice to see you too Clawhauser. Don't worry about me. Chief Bogo couldn't hurt a fly.'

'But I can hurt you,' a deep, angry voice said from behind him as Nick turned and found himself face to face with a very irate Chief Bogo. 'You're late again Wilde! What's your excuse this time?'

Nick smirked. 'Traffic, sir. I couldn't have made it on time even if I woke up an hour early.'

'I have it on good authority that you walk to work, Wilde.'

'There was a lot of traffic on the sidewalks today. Crazy young kids and their ideas of driving.'

Chief Bogo didn't look impressed, and was visibly trying and failing to reign in his temper. Nick gave him another smug smirk before walking towards the meeting room. He may have been a lowly fox, but the very few foxes that held a higher position in society had still positively regarded his achievement. After all, there had never been a fox on the ZPD before. If he were outright fired, Mayor Lionheart would have quite a few headaches to deal with and there was no doubt that Lionheart had given Chief Bogo the specific order of not to fire Nick. Which was good, because it meant that Nick essentially got a free pass to mess with Bogo. Unfortunately, it also meant that Bogo was looking for any small misstep as a genuine excuse to fire him.

Nick entered the meeting room, immediately making a beeline for a vacant seat at the back. He liked the back for two main reasons. The first being that the officers at the back barely gave him a second glance, and the second being it allowed him to better observe the reactions of the room without being observed himself.

And a certain bunny had caught his eye the moment he had entered, although he was fairly sure that she hadn't noticed him. Just like the poster, there was an almost visible aura of happiness and achievement that she seemed to exude coupled with a glint of determination in her big, purple eyes. The other animals in the room dwarfed her, and she was barely able to keep her eyes above the desk while standing up on her chair. Nick knew he would have to stifle a laugh when Chief Bogo told them all to sit down.

The fox spray tied loosely to her belt really earned her no points in Nick's mind. The officers of the ZPD were already prejudiced enough as it was, and a bunny with a phobia of foxes that still thought foxes would eat her was just the thing Nick needed to brighten up his day.

The fact that they still made the stupid fox repellant stuff was a testament to the prejudice that still existed. The stupid rabbits in Bunnyburrows pretty much owned a monopoly on the stuff while all 300 of their equally stupid children toiled away on their carrot farms. It put a bad taste in his mouth. Not the carrots though: for some reason, he seemed to have a guilty pleasure of eating carrots. Not that anyone would ever find out.

Interrupting everyone's idle conversations was the entrance of Chief Bogo. Having to hunch to enter the room, Chief Bogo did cut an imposing figure. His head was down, eyebrows furrowed at the clipboard he was currently holding in his hand. His large stature combined with his no-nonsense attitude often caused many new recruits to silently take his orders while catering to his ever whim and desire. Even some of the more senior officers still cowered at the intimidating Cape buffalo. It took everything Nick had to not call him 'Chief Buffalo Butt'.

'Sit down everyone,' Bogo began gruffly, lifting his eyes from the clipboard but retaining his serious expression. 'There are three things I have on the agenda today before you are all dismissed and able to do your jobs, or whatever sorry excuse constitutes for doing your job.

It's time we talked about the elephant in the room. Marge…happy birthday.

The second is that we have a new recruit today that I'm supposed to introduce to you. Supposedly, she was top of her class. However, I don't care so I'm moving on.

The third is that we have made no progress on the missing mammal cases for two months now, and Mayor Lionheart is starting to grow anxious. Any information you have regarding these cases is invaluable, and becomes your number one priority should an opportunity arise. Anyone who wishes to take one of the cases can feel free to come and talk to me in their own time.'

Nick yawned. Bogo was like a broken record. Day in, day out he would just repeat the same statements with small differences between each speech. Nothing was urgently wrong with Zootopia, and so there was never really any large crisis that had to be dealt with. The missing mammals case were the strangest thing that had happened to Zootopia all year, and even that had become a cold case a mere week after the first disappearance had been reported.

The bunny appeared to be extremely surprised by her lack of introduction and sunk deeper into her chair. What Bogo had done wasn't surprising at all, considering he had done the same thing to Nick on his first day. Nick had walked into the meeting room with chest puffed out in pride, and it had been deflated only moments later by Chief Bogo's casual dismissal of him and his achievements. It had set the standard for all things to come.

'Am I boring you, Wilde?'

The question brought Nick out of his stupor, looking up to see Bogo yet again staring at him with an angry expression on his face. The rabbit seemed to be looking at him curiously as well, just noticing that an actual fox was an officer. Perhaps it was time to take Chief Bogo down a few pegs while the new recruit was watching.

'You could never bore me Sir. You look too good in that uniform.'

His cheeky reply made Bogo see red, and stutter out an incoherent reply. A chorus of uncertain laughter rose from the officers around him, and the bunny's jaw seemed to drop at his casual insult towards his superior. Nick winked at her, and she immediately turned her head away. Although not before Nick could see a tinge of red in her cheeks though.

'Are you taunting me?' Bogo finally managed to reply, his voice shaking with anger. Nick wagered that the only reason he wasn't exploding was because he wanted to keep a cool face in front of his newest recruit.

'I would never', Nick said, placing his paws over his heart. 'I respect you too much for that Chief.'

"Mess with the bull and you get the horns" was an apt saying to describe Chief Bogo. Irrespective of his species, Bogo was about as thick headed as they came and had a very hard time taking a joke. Scratch that, he had no time to take a joke. The buffalo simply shook his head, and took a moment to compose himself before pretending that nothing had happened. Nick would probably be in for some late hours in the next few days courtesy of the Chief, but the sheer satisfaction he derived from these alterations made it worth it.

'Marge and Jonas, you both take Sahara Square to patrol,' Chief Bogo ordered, reading off his clipboard. 'Katie, Mark and Riggs, the three of you are going undercover on the Ramirez case. Try and get as much information as you can.

Wilde, you're going to be patrolling the slums again. I don't want to see your smug face here until after hours.'

All the officers nodded, getting up from their seats and exiting the room. Nick gave a mock salute and got up to leave. It seemed as though nothing would change for him yet again.

'And as for you Officer Hopps…parking duty.'

That got Nick's attention, causing him to freeze with his paw on the door. Parking duty was very rarely given to any operating officer from the ZPD, and if it ever was it was generally a form of soft punishment. To his knowledge, the role of parking officer was only permanently given to officers who were unsuited to the rigors of police life: those who had barely passed with the required marks at the training facility camp or passed on some vague technicality. It was a role that was never given to a top recruit, who-as the media had constantly repeated throughout the past week-passed with flying colors despite her size.

She seemed equally as distraught at the situation, and equally unsure at how to proceed. 'Um…excuse me…Chief Bogo…I'm not sure if you're aware, Sir, but I… I was the top of my class at the training facility.'

Chief Bogo looked up from his clipboard, and Nick immediately noticed the hard stare he was giving the rabbit. It was the hard stare that was normally reserved for Nick: one filled with prejudice.

'I know. I just don't care.'

'But Chief Bogo, I want to make a difference out there. I can't do that as a parking officer.'

'Let it go, Officer Hopps.'

'But Sir…'

'Life isn't some cartoon musical where you sing a little song and all your insipid dreams magically come true! So let… it …go.'

Although he didn't like to admit it, Nick felt a twinge of sympathy for the rabbit. Bogo was being unreasonably harsh on her, most likely because he thought that a rabbit would be unsuited to the job despite her apparent success. Bogo had thought the exact same thing about Nick when he had first arrived, and took every opportunity he could to make that fact abundantly clear to Nick. Mayor Lionheart must have yet again been breathing down his back, and the frustrated Chief was taking it out on the poor rabbit. He gave her credit though, because the rabbit never dropped her head.

'Besides,' Chief Bongo continued, staring down the crestfallen rabbit. 'All other areas of patrol are taken. There is no other option for you but to be a parking officer until a spot becomes vacant.'

For a brief moment, a memory flashed before Nick's eyes. He was a cub yet again: dressed in a brand new uniform for the day he became a member of the scouts despite being a predator, practically looking like the definition of happiness. He remembered feeling horrified, as those who he had thought were his friends muzzled him, degraded him and humiliated him. He remembered crying alone in an alleyway, struggling to pull off the muzzle wrapped tightly around his snout, vowing to show society that foxes could be good and didn't have to be muzzled by cowering prey. He remembered never truly being given the chance to make a difference.

And for another split second, the image of a purple-eyed Bunny, trying desperately to make a difference but being inexplicably muzzled before she had the chance to try, replaced the image of himself.

Nick disliked rabbits. Nick disliked prey. He had been treated as though he were a monster all throughout his life by both rabbits and prey despite never even having the remote intention to kill and eat another living animal. He was perceived by them and by society as sneaky, conceited, and dangerous. In their eyes, he was nothing more than a common criminal. So the words that came out of his mouth surprised him just as much as Chief Bogo or the rabbit.

'I'll take her as my partner.'