Seven months after the start of training is the graduation ceremony and the mayor is doing a speech.
"… These are our future police officers and until recently some of them were only citizens. However, this year's promotion is a little bit different. Allow me to introduce captain Li-Han Walker, former member of the Zootopia Marine Corp and decorated of the Viêt-Paw Service Medal, Medal of Honour, Purple Heart and Prisoner of War Medal for his service and heroic actions during the Viêt-Paw war. Congratulations Captain and welcome to the ZPD. He and Li shake hands and salute each other. While Li goes back into the ranks, Judy, who was present next to the podium, steps forward to make her speech. When she's finished, she pins the officer's plate on their chests.
"I certainly hope to see you again Captain, she said, may I offer you to meet my partner?"
"I have no problem with that… but if you don't mind there is a certain bunny that I have to see…"
He barely finishes his sentence before Amalia crashes into him. Under the questioning look of Judy.
"Oh! Right, you weren't home when I came back. This is Li, my boyfriend."
Judy's –kinda- professional façade crumbles to reveal a gigantic smile and a bone crushing hug to Li.
"Wow! I'm so happy for you! But tell, me, where did you two meet?"
"Well, you remember that I've been to China for my studies? I travelled to a small village in a valley and he was training in the martial arts temple where I was supposed to live. And you know, a few years of living close to each other, it helps."
"Well, you'll have to come and have dinner at home. Do you know where you'll be working Li?"
"Apparently I'll be going to Precinct One. I've been chosen for the SWAT teams."
"Nice! We might end up working together!"
Nick arrives
"Mind introducing me to mister Shiny here?"
Li looks at him quizzically
"You know, Shiny, because of your medals?"
"Of for Pete's sake Nick! Can't you control yourself for five minute?!"
"Sorry about that Fluff, but you know, it's my inner awesomeness shining through!"
Judy playfully punches him in the arm
"Sorry about him, he's been even more snarkier lately"
"There's no trouble at all, Red"
Nick looks up at him with a questioning look but then breaks into a crooked smile
"I like him! But Fluff, we really gotta go or chief Buffalo-But is gonna have our tails"
"Oh right! Well, see you around Li!"
She starts walking away, then stops and goes back to Amalia and Li
"Hey, I just remembered. There is the Zootopian New Artists Festival coming next week and we have tickets! Are you guys interested?"
"Sure! Could you please send us the details?"
"Of course, I'll email them to you tonight. Until then, Li, I'll see you tomorrow at work and Amalia next week."
Nick and Judy stroll away towards Chief Bogo who looks ready to explode.
"So that's the famous Judy Hopps… interesting."
"Why?"
"Well, during training, Ursula kept shouting at us that if a rabbit can make it, we have no excuse if we fail. It kinda worked you know."
"Should we go back home? Tomorrow's your first day and you can't be late."
"Yeah, let's go"
The following morning
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEE-
Li slams his hand on the alarm clock
"Mmmh… okay, let's go. One, two, three, UP!"
He gets up, walks towards the bathroom, strips and enters the shower
"Nothing better than a hot shower to wake up."
After having showered, he brushes his teeth and dresses in his uniform, all the while with the tantalising smell of fresh coffee seeping from the kitchen. He goes down the stairs to find his mother and Amalia chatting over breakfast.
"Hope you saved some for me"
"Well of course darling. Now sit down before it gets cold and you get late."
They all eat in a comfortable silence before Li gets up and walks towards the entrance. He pecks Amalia on the lips and starts walking down the street before his mother calls him
"Li! Wait a minute, you're not gonna walk here are you?"
"Well, yes?"
"No you are not, follow me."
All three of them walk towards the garage which Li opens. In the dim lit room stand a cloth-covered engine which Li's mother uncovers to reveal an AJS 18S in pristine shape.
"Your father would have wanted you to have it… you know how much it meant to him. Now off you go, or you'll be late!"
Li wraps his mother in a tight hug
"Thank you" He whispers
She hands him a set of keys and a leather jacket. He puts the jacket on and starts the engine. The motor revs with a low rumbling and he drives in the street towards the station.
After about fifteen minutes, Li arrives at the station and parks in the reserved parking slots for officers. Then he goes through the entrance towards the reception desk where sits our favourite cheetah: Benjamin Clawhauser.
"Hey there! Are you the new officer?"
"Yes I am, could you please tell me where the bullpen is?"
"Oh, right! It's right through that door and then to the left and it'll be the first door on you right."
"Thanks, I owe you!"
"Anytime!"
"Okay, so far so good. The receptionist seems nice, now, lets get down to business."
Following Bejamin's directions, Li walks towards the bullpen. On his way, he passed a few officers who greeted him with a nod or a quiet "good morning". He finally arrived in the bullpen and his attention was immediately grabbed by the bunny bouncing on her office chair and the fox nursing a cup of coffe next to her. He made his way towards them and sat in the chair next to them.
"Well Red, you don't exactly look alive, what happened. Didn't get your beauty sleep?"
The dirty look Nick sends him tells Li all about the former's difficulty to wake up.
"Don't worry Li, he's just being a kit again."
"That's not what you were telling me last night" Nick wiggles his eyebrows suggestively towards Judy.
Judy's ears immediately flare up -red, not pink, red- under the questioning glance of Li.
"For Pete's sake Nick! You can't go saying stuff like that in the bullpen! You stupid, stupid, stupid fox!" She starts hitting him on the arm like a machine gun.
Nick's biceps is however saved by the entrance of Chief Bogo and the silence it brings. The Chief's uninterested look sweeps over the officers presents and stops for less than a second on Li, only to go back to the ever-present stack of files in his hooves.
"Apparently, we welcome today a new officer… meh, who cares? Now onto today's topics: Delgado, McHorn! We have a street race going on at 17th Avenue, get geared up, assess the situation and do not hesitate to call reinforcements if needed. Fangmeyer, Grizzoli, Andersen and Walker! You will stand by for reinforcements, get geared up. Hopps, Wilde! We have a domestic disturbance in Tundra Town; might not be much but be careful. Snarlov, Tumpet, Johnson, Krumpanski and Jackson! Patrol in Sahara square. Everybody got their assignement? Good. Now Go!"
As the bullpen empties itself, Judy and Nick catch up to Li.
"Well look at that! An interesting assignment on your first day! Yay! I'm kinda jealous by the way."
Judy shoots him a glare but quickly sends a beaming smile to Li.
"Don't listen to him, he's just trying to make himself interesting again -she ignores to look of mock hurt that Nick sends her- anyway, good luck on your first day and we'll see each other at the end of the shift?"
"Of course, now I think I really have to go, but see you later!"
He jogs to where Fangmeyer, Grizzoli and Andersen are. They each greet him.
"Hello there, my name's John Fangmeyer, this is Edward Grizzoli but just call him Ed, everybody does, and this fine lad here is Henry Andersen -he points to the two polar bears behind him-. From what I've heard, you've transferred from the ZA? So I suppose you're already familiar with the protocols in case of emergency, civil's containment, assault, all that shit -Li nods- good! In this case, we can go straight to the gearing up phase, the armoury is that way by the way.
As they advance towards the armoury, Fangmeyer details the plan.
"It's quite simple actually, there'll be three cars, one with Grizzoli and you in it, one with Andersen and me in it and the one on scene with Delgato and McHorn. They will be the first to arrive and will assess the scene, we will stay on stand-by and only get in if needed. Use of lethal force has not been authorised, we'll have to go with Tasers and tranq guns. Every mammal here is qualified for the SWAT team so we'll get that gear and be careful, we don't know what those guys have got packed. Generally, those types of races are run by the mafia so, dangerous people. We might expect lethal resistance. Alright guys, gear up!"
They have arrived in the armoury and promptly dig into the locker with their name on it. Li finds his and starts putting on the black combat boots, trousers, vest, bulletproof vest and gloves. He also finds a Taser, two tranq guns with plenty of ammo of varying size, lacrymogen grenades and flash bang grenades. He promptly places all of them in the pockets of his vest and gets in line with the others. Fangmeyer speaks up.
"Okay guys! Everybody to the trucks!"
They all start walking towards the black trucks provided for these kinds of situations and get into their designated vehicles. Li is riding shotgun with Grizzoli. They start rolling out of the hangar and towards their destination. About ten minutes after, they arrive to the 17th Avenue and all get into position while Delgato and McHorn get to the scene itself. A heavy silence sets.
"Sooo… you've been at Precinct one for a long time?"
"I was transferred from Precinct fourteen about five years ago, so, yeah."
"Huh. And what about Hopps and Wilde? Are they kind of like a pair of supercops or something?"
"Chuckles yeah, you could say that. In two years worth of service, they have resolved almost every case thrown their way and Hopps holds a feared reputation among the petty thieves. Do you know that one time, she-"
The radio suddenly comes to life.
"Crrrrk- This is officer Delgato! We are reporting a 10-32 and are in need of assistance, I repeat, in need of assistance!"
As soon as the radio dies, Grizzoli and Li get out of the car and draw their guns. They run towards their designated position. The radio on Grizzoli's shoulder comes to life.
"Guys, this is officier Fangmeyer. We are go from our position, what is your status?"
"We are go from our position and await instructions."
"You will enter by the south entrance and neutralise all vehicles inside, we will join Delgato and McHorn on scene. Good luck."
"Good luck."
Grizzoli' radio clicks.
"You heard the instructions?"
Li nods.
"Great, lets get moving then."
They both advance towards the south entrance and soon see the getaway cars they are supposed to disable. However, there are quite a few guards inside and they are heavily armed.
"How many do you count?"
Li looks up from the barrels behind which they are hiding and quickly scans the scene.
"I've got… five of them. The one on the right has a machete, the others are armed with baseball bats and metal bars. No firearms detected."
"Good. You have one of those flash bang grenades, right?"
As soon as Li opens his mouth, the telltale sounds of gunshots and of running mammals appear, telling them that the assault has begun.
"Throw it! Now!"
Li takes of the pin of the grenade and throws it over the barrel.
"What the-"
BANG!
After the grenade detonates, they both rise from their crouched positions and ready their weapons.
"ZPD! PUT THE WEAPONS DOWN AND YOUR HANDS ON YOUR HEADS, NOW!"
The perps, still dazed from the grenade, can barely stand and are made quick work of by Li and Grizzoli. After they are all pawcuffed, the two officers proceed to neutralise the cars by pulling the fuel pump fuses in each vehicle. Soon, they are joined by the other officers.
"So?"
"Easy come, easy go. They're all chained up back there. Just need to call dispatch and get a few trucks to take them all back to the precinct."
While Andersen goes to radio the dispatch, the other officers take all of the perps in the getaway room. About fifteen minutes later, three police trucks arrive and they get all the perps in the back. Then, they all drive back to the precinct to make their report.
"So, rough first day inn'it?"
"You could say that, it's not that different from the battlefield I guess. At least, it's something I'm familiar with."
"Well then, see you tomorrow!"
As Fangmeyer, Delgato, McHorn, Andersen and Grizzoli all wave him goodbye, Li sits in one of the lobbie's chairs while waiting for Judy and Nick to finish their shift.
"Well, that wasn't so bad."
Okay, so how do I do this.
First of all: sorry for disappearing, I guess?
I'm really sorry for not updating in -how long has it been? I don't even remember!- a very long time. It's just that, my inspiration for this story seemed to have disappeared. For real! I couldn't write a single sentence without suppressing it. That and school this year has been particularly hectic. Exams everywhere, yay!
Right now, it seems that I finally know where to go with this story, so updates should maybe reappear from the dark pits of forgotten stuff but I don't make any promises.
Until next time!
P.S.: to the guys who have read -and favourited, thanks!- my story recently, you gentlemen are true explorers of this mysterious world that is Fanfiction and I give you my utmost respect.