Sorry it took so long to update 'Mikey and Benji'! Just been busy with stuff! No worries though! I haven't forgotten about the story! We return where we left off!
Chapter 26: Another Shooting Practice
Later that morning, Judy, Nick and Mikey are back at the shooting range to do another practice run and that's already filling Mikey with so much dread with the fact that he has to not only practice this course, but to actually put it in use when there's a really intense situation to the point where his life is being threatened in case someone does have a gun that it would be a last resort. Joining them are Vincent, Brutus and Stanley as they go through this course as well. Vincent is no more than ready to use that time to practice his shooting aim and Mikey's just looking at him with so much fear and asked, "How can you even use it and be so calm about it?"
"It's one of the benefits of being a police officer, Mike. Always gotta have it in our person, even if it's a minor thing or a major thing." Vincent replied.
Mikey groans at this and he reluctantly puts on his earmuffs to cover the sound of loud gunshots as he holds the gun and he lets out a few shaky breaths as he aims the gun at a target dummy. Vincent took one look at Mikey and he knows that this is not the panda's favorite part about being a police officer and hates taking someone's life by a bullet. It's not his favorite either, but it's the only job he's qualified for in case things goes super serious.
Mikey fires his first few rounds as well as Brutus, Stanley, Nick, Vincent and Judy and their aims are really good, although Mikey's are at the 'almost' or 'not near' the mark because he's just too scared that it might've been an innocent person due to all the recent shootings he's heard on the news about animals being killed by police for no reason or that they thought they had a gun, but are unarmed at the end.
Brutus handles the gun like a pro, just like a total badass and that instinctive confidence and swagger completely drew Stanley in some more and it made him focus even more on the practice rounds and really held his own throughout. That impressed Brutus even more and he just smiled at this and kept practicing. Nick and Judy kept progressing throughout the practice rounds and Judy has kept up the pace even further shooting even more, probably more so than Nick. Nick could tell that Judy's been sharpening up lately and he needs to outdo her, regardless of the final outcome.
Vincent kept going and going as he fires several rounds in a quick pace and he noticed that Mikey's just really struggling to go through with it because he could tell that he's not the type of person to use a gun at all for any reason. Though his aim is really good, his way of handling a gun is not quite there yet. He sighed for a second and just felt sorry for Mikey for a little bit because he's just a likable person that every cop should look up to.
Mikey fired a few rounds and without even thinking or looking, he accidentally fired several rounds at the ceiling after positioning the gun and everyone stopped as they looked at the hole that Mikey unintentionally fired at. Mikey looks at what he just did and he slowly dropped the gun and uncovered his earmuffs and just completely felt horrified at what just happened.
"I am so fired." Mikey said, with utmost anxiety in his voice.
"Maybe Chief Bogo won't notice." Vincent responded.
"Michael Pandahaughton...my office, please." Bogo announced, through megaphone.
Mikey whimpers in response to this and he knew that this was gonna be about the hole in the ceiling he accidentally fired and just walks out with his head hanging down, expecting the worst to come out of Bogo's mouth. Vincent blinked his eyes a few times and just sighed heavily for Mikey and said, "I'd better go see what's up."
"Yeah, not if you'd want to risk getting screamed at by Chief Buffalo Skins for spying on him." Nick responded.
"I heard that, Wilde!" Bogo exclaimed.
"When does he not hear everything we say?" asked Nick, muttering to himself.
At Bogo's office
"Can you exactly ask me why you fired a shot on the ceiling when you're supposed to be practicing your firing rounds?" asked Bogo, staring down at Mikey in a very stern, yet very annoyed voice.
Mikey sighed at this and he said, "It was an accident, sir. I was supposed to aim at the target, but something just took my focus away and I turned away from the object and misfired at the ceiling. I know there's no excuse for it and I'm willing to spend half of my rent to pay for the ceiling."
Bogo sighed deeply at this and the fact that Mikey's willing to spend some of his rent money to fix the ceiling sorta stopped him from going on a full-fledged rant against his actions displayed and he said, "I was gonna have more to say about what you were gonna do with this ceiling you misfired!"
"I'm sorry, Chief Bogo." Mikey answered.
"All right, all right...don't worry about that. I'll pay for my half of the ceiling. Now that we got that out of the way, let's jump to the question; why?" Bogo responded.
"Well...the thing is I'm not so comfortable using guns around my possession. I know it's an absolute necessary to use when you're a cop in case a really tense situation can occur or if someone's trying to take your life, but I don't wanna be labeled as the guy who shot an unarmed person and killed him or her. I wouldn't want to live with that." Mikey explained.
Bogo could understand the panda's dillemma about this and he said, "I could see how that would bother you. But this kind of things happens when you're a cop. You gotta be prepared for whatever happens when things get really intense. The last thing we would want is an officer being killed by a murder suspect or robbery. Yes, it is hard to cope with the fact, but that's for the public to determine if it was justifiable or not. I've already noticed that you're not the kind of person that would use guns at any purpose. But in the event something huge happens and you feel that your life is being threatened, deadly force is the only cause as the last resort. You just have to go through it, no matter how difficult it is."
Those words Bogo had mentioned spoke a great deal of truth and it almost eased Mikey's worries down a little, despite his mental blocking when it comes to his feelings about weapons. He nods his head a little and he said, "Yes, sir. I'll take those words to heart."
"Good. You're dismissed." Bogo added.
Mikey then gets up out of the seat and walks out of the office, but not before spotting a pair of pink Gazelle tights on the doorknob and he looked at it and asked, "Chief, are those yours?"
Bogo looks up and sees Mikey holding a pair of pink Gazelle tights and reacted very quickly and exclaimed, "Put that down! I'm holding it for someone else!"
He then puts it down, but already figured that it was Bogo's due to his reaction and denial that it wasn't his, but if it's in his office, that makes it his tights. He then left the room in his usual happy mood, but a very relieved mood and in comes Vincent coming from behind and asked, "So...was he mad?"
"Well, I told him that I was gonna pay half of my rent to fix the ceiling and then he said that he'll pay for half." Mikey answered.
"Oh...so no issues?" asked Vincent.
"Nope. Not even one." Mikey answered.
Vincent nodded his head at this and is relieved that Mikey's relieved after all that and soon enough, he got to the front of the desk and sees a very friendlier Benjamin Clawhauser tidying up everything and just the sight of Clawhauser smiling helped make a struggling day become a good day for him and Vincent could see the sparks flying between the two chubby cops.
"So...any dating going on between you two?" asked Vincent, elbowing his elbow.
Mikey sighed at this and rolled his eyes to the question and asked, "How long are you gonna keep asking me that?"
"Just until you or Benji admit that you're a couple." Vincent answered.
Clawhauser could actually hear the conversation a mile away and he cleared his throat and said, "I'm over here."
Vincent turned around and saw Clawhauser there and he chuckled nervously and said, "We were just talking about you."
Clumsy moment! Stay tuned for more!