Chapter 14
Nick spent the next few days just sitting around the apartment, watching tv, playing Minecraft, or just doing nothing. Nick was depressed and didn't want to talk to anyone. But Judy came over one day and Nick felt he needed to see someone before he fell off the cliff. "Hey, Carrots," Nick said when he opened the door for Judy. Judy looked like she had the best day ever. Nick looked a little worried, that usually means she had a big idea. "Nick, how would you like to go to the gym?" Judy announced. Nick was puzzled. "The gym?" Nick asked. "Yes, the gym! I bought a one year membership for us both!" Judy said, holding up two membership cards. Nick took one and saw it was the platinum plan member card, and it had his name on it, literally. "Ok. I'll go get changed," Nick said, turning the wheelchair around. Nick could get dressed himself now, and he went to the bedroom. He came out five minutes later and Judy led him out to the gym down the block. Nick came in and saw a bunch of different animals using all kinds of equipment. Judy grabbed Nick's card and walked up to the front desk. She handed the guy at the desk their cards and he swiped them. He pointed over to a room on the other side of the gym and Judy walked back over to Nick. "He said that our trainer is in his office. He specializes in rehabilitation after injuries like yours," Judy said. Nick wondered who this was. When they got to the office, Judy knocked on the door. "Come in," came a voice from inside. Judy opened the door and held it open for Nick. Nick wheeled in and stopped in front of the desk in the middle of the room. Judy sat in the chair. A pig with huge muscles you could see through his shirt walked out of a door in the office and sat behind the desk. "I take it that you are Officer Nick Wilde?" asked the pig, looking at Nick. "Yes," Nick replied. "I'm Wilbur Cardigan. I'll be your rehabilitation trainer," the pig said as he shook Nick's hand. "And you must be Officer Judy Hopps. How do you do?" said Wilbur, shaking Judy's hand. "Let's get to the gym and see where we should start," Wilbur said, standing up and walking out the door, holding it open for Nick and Judy. He led them to a bench, and he sat down on it. "Let me see your left paw, please," he said. Nick put his left paw in Wilbur's hoof and Wilbur unwrapped the bandage. He started poking at it and looking it over. "Let me know if this hurts," Wilbur said as he started poking harder all over Nick's paw. When he got near the stubs, Nick started to wince. Wilbur stopped. He put the bandage back on, and wrote a few thing on a clipboard near the bench. "Ok. Let's have a look at your torso," Wilbur said. Nick took his shirt off and Wilbur pulled a few bandages off at a time, feeling the almost fully healed slashes. He put the bandages back on and Nick put his shirt back on. Wilbur wrote something on the clipboard again and looked at Nick's right arm. "Can you try to stand up, please?" asked Wilbur. Nick stood up on his right leg, and put very little weight on his left. Nick rolled up his left pants leg so Wilbur could look at his thigh. Wilbur got up and wrote some more on the clipboard. "I think we could start with some simple weight lifting," Wilbur said. Wilbur pulled a cart with dumbbells on it. "Find the largest one you can comfortably lift above your head." Nick picked up a few, but the one he could most comfortably lift over his head was the forty pound one. "Get the other one like that and use them like this," Wilbur picked up two large dumbbells and showed Nick how to do it. "I'm going to use the treadmills for a while," Judy said, walking off. Wilbur and Nick were working with building strength in Nick's arms the first few days, but they then moved to his legs.
In a few weeks, Nick was walking around, and he had more energy than before. Judy was so glad that Nick felt better. Within four months, the doctors took the bandages off Nick, and he felt free. The doctors even gave him the two bullets that where inside his arm and leg. Nick put them on his desk as a reminder of that night. Pretty soon, Nick had a six pack, and he looked much more buff than before. Judy loved his new look, and that boosted Nick's confidence. Nick started to take Judy on a date multiple times a week. Then, Nick had to go back to work. Everyone noticed Nick's newfound strength and energy. Nick was always given the tough jobs, and he and Judy pulled them off. Judy even got Ben to go to the gym with them. One late night, Nick was getting ready to go home. "See you tomorrow, Judy!" Nick said as he slung his backpack strap over his shoulder. Nick had started walking to work to get even more exercise in. Nick walked off down the sidewalk toward his apartment. Nick had gone about a mile, when he heard footsteps behind him. Nick spun around to see if anyone was there, but nobody was. Then before Nick could turn around, he hit the ground. Everything went black.
Judy went home and slept good that night. She was so glad she was making a difference in Nick, Ben, and all her co-worker's lives. She felt she had achieved her dream of making the world a better place. She fell asleep with a huge smile on her face. She woke up and left for work earlier than usual; she wanted to talk to Nick for a while longer before work started. When she got there, Nick wasn't anywhere. She asked around for him, but nobody had seen him. When roll call was over, he still wasn't there. Judy decided to call Nick. When the phone was answered, Judy started talking first. "Where are you? Bogo is gonna flip if you don't get here right now!" Judy yelled into her phone. She heard panting that sounded like Nick's, but it sounded labored. "Where are you?" asked Judy. "Hello, Judy Hopps." Judy recognized that voice as the voice of the gang boss. "What have you done to Nick!?" yelled Judy. "Oh, he's fine! You just need to come to 178 Oak Road at midnight, and we'll give you little Nicky back. Oh, but you need to bring Pong Krell back to me. Don't bring any of your cop friends." Judy remembered her and Nick putting Pong Krell in jail last month. Krell was a wolf who could track and kill anybody, but Judy and Nick tracked him down and shut him up. "Let me talk to Nick!" Judy yelled. The lion laughed a bit. "Shure, honey." Judy heard Nick's breathing get louder. "Nick!" Judy yelled. "Don't free Pong! Just let me go! I'm not worth the countless lives you could save by not letting him go!" Nick said. "No, Nick! No! You are worth so much more!" "Only to you." Nick said. "Nick!" "I'm afraid Nick has passed out, Judy. So bring the wolf, or Nicky gets it!" the boss said, then hung up. Judy ran to Bogo's office. "Chief! I know where Nick is!" Judy yelled as she entered. She pulled her phone out and replayed the part where the boss started talking. She remembered to record the conversation. Bogo looked worried. "Go to Cliffside. I'll send word. Show them the recording and go to the location. Get Wilde, and take him straight to the hospital." Bogo opened his laptop and started typing. "Go now!" Bogo said to Judy. Judy ran out the office and down to her car. She drove all the way to Cliffside, and did all that Bogo told her to do. She had to wait fifteen hours before she had to go to the location. Judy went to the computer room at Cliffside and asked for a traffic camera database station. A leopard pointed her to an empty computer desk. Judy walked over and woke the computer up. She typed the address, the location was an old warehouse in Tundratown. She played the last forty eight hours and saw only one vehicle. It left around 8:36 last night, and returned about an hour later. They opened the back doors and dragged Nick out of the back and took him into the building. Judy gasped when she saw Nick. Judy got so mad that she couldn't do anything. Finally, it was eleven pm. Judy had Pong handcuffed in the back seat, and she drove all the way to Tundratown.
(Last Night) Nick woke up to see a large room. He was tied up and had a muzzle on. He looked around and saw the gang boss and two bears, the same ones from before. "Welcome back, Nick! We didn't finish before, because your friend showed up. I figured you had it bad enough, having your parents ripped away, but you took my number two away. That requires some punishment!" the boss yelled at Nick. "Who was your number two?" asked Nick. "Pong Krell. Oh, yes. You remember, don't you?" Nick growled. The boss rubbed his wrist, fear on his face for just a second. "Look what I got here!" the boss said as he held up Nick's phone. "I would call your girlfriend, but I don't have the password. You'll be nice and give it to me, won't you?" "Why don't you leave Judy and me out of this and free Pong yourself!?" Nick spat. The boss laughed. "Because, my dear boy, it's fun to make the one who caused my pain some pain. So what's the password?" "I'll never tell you, you sorry son of a bee sting!" The boss laughed. "Give him pain, boys." One bear pulled out a switchblade, and the other clenched his fists. The one with his fists started punching Nick on his right side. Nick could tell several ribs were broken. The bear stopped and the lion walked up to Nick. "Do you want to tell me now?" "I said NO!" Nick yelled with all the breath he could muster. The boss nodded to the bear with the knife. Nick's left arm was untied and the bear grabbed it. He opened the knife and set the tip of the blade on one of Nick's stubs. Nick closed his eyes and knew that this was going to hurt. "I'll give you another chance. Give me the password, and I'll spare you some of the pain." "Go die!" The bear pushed the full four inch blade into Nick's hand and it shot out blood. Nick screamed and passed out. Nick woke back up four minutes later. He looked at the boss, Nick's eyes barely open. The boss laughed a little, then Nick's phone started playing "Try Everything" by Gazelle, Judy's custom ringtone she picked out. "Well look at that! We didn't need the passcode!" The boss answered it and put speakerphone on. "Where are you? Bogo is gonna flip if you don't get here right now!" Judy said. Nick tried to say something, but all that came out was several gasps for breath. "Where are you?" asked Judy again. "Hello, Judy Hopps," the boss said. "What have you done to Nick!?" yelled Judy. "Oh, he's fine! You just need to come to 178 Oak Road at midnight, and we'll give you little Nicky back. Oh, but you need to bring Pong Krell back to me. Don't bring any of your cop friends." "Let me talk to Nick!" Judy yelled. The lion laughed a bit. "Shure, honey." The boss held the phone closer to Nick. "Nick!" Judy yelled. "Don't free Pong! Just let me go! I'm not worth the countless lives you could save by not letting him go!" Nick said. "No, Nick! No! You are worth so much more!" "Only to you." Nick said. Nick passed out after he said that. Nick woke up later and saw the two bears untying him. He didn't have the strength to fight back. They dragged Nick to a van outside and threw him inside. Nick passed out again.
Judy pulled up to the warehouse and saw a lion flanked by two bears. Judy jumped out of the car and ran up to the lion. "Where's Nick?" Judy demanded. "Right here." The lion gestured and the bears opened the van and picked Nick up and held him in front of Judy to torment her. Judy started crying. "Nick!" Nick opened his eyes a little and saw Judy. "Hi, Carrots," Nick said with a weak smile before passing out again. "Where's Pong?" demanded the lion. Judy ran over to her car and opened the door. Pong Krell walked out and Judy took the hand cuffs off and the bear threw Nick into the back seat of Judy's car and they drove off in the van, but Judy got a good look at the license plate. 258TFG. Judy wrote that down and drove straight to the hospital, the chief had told the emergency room staff to be prepared. They rushed Nick too the emergency room. Judy ran along with them. "How is he?" Judy asked. "There are multiple fractured ribs, his tail is broken in two places, and his left paw will need to be amputated. There is too much nerve damage." Judy gasped when the doctor said he needed an amputation. Judy stopped as they wheeled Nick into the emergency room. Judy sat in the waiting room.
Author's Note:
Some readers might recognize this part of the story as being very similar to the "Nick Wilde x Judy Hopps" fanfic by Javs27. That was the first Zootopia fanfic I read and loved it. When I got to the "Special Announcement," I almost cried. How could he cancel it? It was just getting to the best part! Anyway, I figured I could do a little copying… ;) This story is going to go well past where Javs27 got. Much farther than he EVER got it. Much much MUCH farther. (Mine has a sequel. Beat that Javs27!) If you've seen Charolette's Web 2, you know where I got the gym trainer's name.