Zootopia- monsters and animals
*Disclaimer: Zootopia belongs to Disney. I do not own Zootopia or any of it's characters.*
Jack had just finished lunch with Sherry and they were both sitting in his office. After they had dropped off Adrian's blood sample they went over a few reports and some of the notes they had made when they were at Adrian's place. They still had to constantly report to Bogo about all the activities and they both knew the buffalo would not be pleased about the illegal weapons involved. The other animals had been promised immunity but it still irked Bogo to no end.
Sherry was about to excuse herself so Jack could prepare to meet his squad but a knock on the door stopped her.
"Enter" Jack said idly.
Kate and Anne opened the door and behind them was the last animal he would expect. Wearing a blue button up sweater and green dress was a very familiar older female tabby cat.
"Mom!?" Jack asked in surprise as he bolted out of his chair and his mother smiled at him warmly.
Sherry stood there with her jaw hanging looking back and forth between Jack and the older tabby cat that had entered. "Mom?" She asked in utter confusion.
Jack smiled sheepishly as he realized he had forgotten to explain yesterday's events to Sherry. "Umm I kind of found out yesterday that my mother ended up here along with my sisters… oops." He gave a nervous laugh as Sherry narrowed her eyes dangerously.
"Kind of a big thing that you forgot to mention." Sherry stated angrily, crossing her arms and tapping her foot.
Jack raised his paws in surrender. "I'm really sorry! It kind of snuck up on me to and, well, it was a very emotional reunion and… please don't be angry." Jack said weakly as he asked his wife for forgiveness.
Sherry stared at Jack, then to his mother who smiled nervously, then to Jack again. "Care to fill me in?" she demanded
"Well, Kate and Anne wanted me to meet someone and to my surprise it was my mother. And after a very emotional talk we kind of made started to make amends. Look I was going to tell you but with how crazy it was and the meeting today it just… slipped my mind." Jack explained hoping it would tide Sherry over until he could explain it in full detail later.
Sherry stared at his mother again, she looked nervous and very timid, so timid she could've passed for an easily nervous bunny! Sherry wasn't sure if she what to feel. Sherry knew Jacks family had abandoned him but hearing that they were making amends made things confusing and surprising, surprising because she knew Jack could be highly vindictive if he felt he or someone he cared for was wronged.
"Let's jump to the main point… Are you two actually good or can I be angry at her?" Sherry asked Jack seriously.
Jack smiled and waved his paw. "Everything's good, we settled the past… for the most part."
Sherry calmed down considerably as she walked over to Jacks mother and extended her paw to the cat. "I'm Sherry and I guess I'm your daughter- in- law" Sherry stated while giving a sheepish grin.
Jacks mother gave a wide smile and grabbed Sherry's paw with both of hers. "I'm Terry and it is so wonderful to meet you!" She said excitedly.
Sherry was caught off guard by this. "Nice to meet you to and kind of surprising to be honest." She said still confused about the whole situation
"I'll say, what are you doing here anyways?" Jack asked curiously, really wondering why his mother was visiting him at work.
Terry turned to Jack and smiled. "Well I wanted to see where you worked and what it was like so your sisters managed to get me a pass to look around for the day." She pointed to a guest card that was clipped to the front of her sweater.
Ok made sense, one problem though. "Kate, Anne… You do remember what we were doing today right?" Jack said seriously as he crossed his arms.
The two looked confused but it was quickly replaced by dread. "Training day!" They groaned in unison.
Terry looked at her daughters in confusion as Jack laughed. He motioned for them to follow him out of the office while Sherry gave him a quick kiss before heading off to meet her own squad.
"Training day. Three days out of the week I practically beat my squad towards an inch of their lives to make sure they aren't getting rusty." Jack explained as they walked.
Terry laughed thinking he was joking until Anne spoke up. "Serious understatement. Last time you broke my left arm! And poor Cory was limping for two days!" She stated matter of factly.
Jack shrugged. "Your arm healed by the next day and Cory was only limping for a few hours actually." Jack said casually as he dismissed her complaint.
Kate groaned as she turned to their mother. "He seriously doesn't know the meaning of training. Think of the Spartans, gladiator matches and slave drivers, times those by twenty each, combine them into one and you're still not even close to how brutal Jack can be." Kate explained to their mother who looked absolutely shocked.
Jack looked away nervously and scratched the back of his head. "It's just so you guys have real life experience, would you rather have something broken while you're out on the field, where things could go so much worse, or in a controlled environment?" He stated seriously.
Terry shook her head trying to process this. "So, this training… How bad can it really be?" She asked almost dreading the answer.
"Broken bones, ruptured organs, it can get pretty bloody." Kate answered her mother grimly.
Terry looked at Jack still shocked that he'd do that to his own subordinates. Jack looked away nervously, of course his mother had to come on training day of all days.
"Look I know it sounds bad but I don't do enough to leave lasting damage. I know everyone's healing rates and can accurately calculate how much damage I can deal and stop before it's too much. As a matter of fact their healing has improved significantly since we started. And it's not completely one sided. Kate you nearly took my left leg off last time and if I'd been just a second slower I'd be trying to superglue my leg back on." Jack explained hoping it would take the sting out of the whole matter.
Terry was horrified and fascinated as her children continued to banter about what would be serious life threatening injuries to any normal person as if they were just cuts and scrapes. It made her curious as to what one of their training sessions would look like.
"Jack would it… Would it be ok if I watched your training session today?" Terry asked nervously.
Jack stopped in his tracks and turned towards his mother, disbelief etched into his face. "Mom... it's… It's not exactly a pretty sight. Some of our toughest officers have watched us and a few even had to excuse themselves because of how sick they were by it, it's not really an enjoyable thing to watch." He explained to her calmly.
Terry blew a raspberry. "Jack you forget that I researched fifteen years of G.E.O. sightings, which included videos and crime scene photos. I'm no stranger to blood and gore if that's your concern." She said seriously.
Jack shook his head. He really did not want his mother to see this. He was just starting to make amends with her and if seeing this changed that at all he didn't know if he could deal with that. Losing his family once had been painful enough, losing them again… it just might break him.
Terry noticed the concern and conflict in Jacks eyes. She placed a comforting paw on his shoulder. "Jack, I've seen a lot in my time. I've seen G.E.O.s tear each other apart. If you're worried this will change things or if you're worried that I won't want to keep seeing you to make things right I can promise you that I'll still be here. I refuse to abandon you for any reason ever again." Terry spoke with as much reassurance as she could.
Jack calmed down considerably and he gave a resigned sigh. "Alright… if you think you can handle it I'll let you watch." His mother smiled and nodded.
"And don't think this means I'm going easy on you two either." Jack stated as he turned to his sisters who let out dread filled groans.
When Jack opened the door to the training room he was happy to see that the rest of his squad had arrived early. Cory and Amanda were helping each other do stretches, Fin and Sam were playfully bantering with each other while Max was doing sit-ups.
Everyone looked over to see who had entered the room and everyone grew tense as they realized it was Jack. They all liked him, they really did, but training day was definitely not anyone's favorite day.
Kate and Anne joined the others while Jack waited for their full attention.
Once everyone was standing in a line Jack clapped his hands together. "Alright guys so we have a special guest here with us today" Jack gestured towards his mother much to everyone's shock while she smiled and waved at his squad.
"She's going to be observing our training session. Now this doesn't mean it's a free pass we're going at this the same as always so no holding back and don't expect me to." Jack was met with groans and complaints but he ignored it, he was used to it. Jack gestured for his mother to introduce herself.
Terry stepped forward and smiled warmly at everyone gathered. "Hello everyone, my names Terry, I'm Jacks mother as well as Kate and Anne's, it's nice to meet you all and I'm sorry for disturbing your training time." She said sheepishly.
Jack resisted the urge to smack himself as his mother announced who she was with more detail then he had hoped. Everyone was staring at Terry and Jack like they had just revealed a government secret, while Kate and Anne resisted the urge to run and hide.
"Hold up!" Cory said as he waved his arms dramatically. "She's your mother? And you guys are siblings!?" he said pointing between Jack, Kate and Anne.
Jack shook his head as he felt a migraine starting. "Yes, we're related. Any more questions?" Jack asked slightly annoyed.
"I got one, why are we just learning about this now? I think that three of our squad's members being siblings is a pretty big deal." Amanda said bluntly.
"It's complicated." Jack, Kate, Anne and even Terry said in unison. "Anything else?" Jack added just wanting to get started.
Fin didn't say anything, he just started walking towards Terry who was slightly confused until he spoke.
"Hello, my names Finnegan Marshal. I'm thirty six, a scorpio and single. I can see where Kate and Anne get their good looks from since you're just so beautiful." Fin winked and flashed a devious smile while Terry giggled and blushed like a school girl.
"Fin, if you are seriously hitting on my mother I swear to god I will break every bone in your body before the day is over." Jack growled annoyed by the fact that the cheetah was flirting with his squad captain's mother.
Fin just gave Jack an innocent smile before he rejoined the others. Kate and Anne giving him incredibly dirty looks while Sam smacked him across the chest.
"I like them already." Terry whispered to Jack.
Jack shuddered, he did not want to think about that at all. Terry leaned against the wall near the door and when Fin winked at her she giggled again.
Yep, Jack was breaking every bone in the cheetah's body today.
"Everyone knows the rules, three hits on me and we call it quiet's for the day, until then you have two hours." Jack explained as he threw off his jacket.
Terry waited in anticipation as everyone took stances. She had never seen a G.E.O. fight first hand but knew from video footage how brutal they could be.
Kate was the first to attack, she had a blood spike coming out of her shoulder that fired blood shards at Jack who simply swatted them away with a bone tail. Anne followed up with two bone tails of her own and began to viciously stab at Jack who dodged every stab and swipe. Anne tried to back away as Jack charged her but he managed to grab one of her tails and delivered a powerful kick to her stomach which sent her flying right into Kate.
Sam had enveloped her paws in blood armaments, giving them an even deadlier set of claws then her already natural ones. She delivered quick swipes while Cory danced around her shooting muscle shards at Jack. Jack easily dodged the shards but Sam's swipes were incredibly difficult to dodge, she was quick and agile. Jack finally saw an opening and grabbed her paw, he brought his knee up snapping her arm with a sickening crack. Sam growled through the pain as she jumped in the air, ignoring the pain and tried to land a kick on Jack, but he was too quick and flung her against the wall while simultaneously giving Cory a round house kick to the head.
Jack jumped as Max and Amanda double teamed him with muscle and bone. Max's armaments barely extended past the tips of his claws by two inches but the muscle, which covered his forearms and paws, was pointed into sharp, deadly blades, while Amanda had multiple bone blades jutting out of her forearms. The armaments may be small compared to most but they were incredibly deadly and their owners were highly skilled with them.
Jack dodged and parried with paws, legs and armaments. He had to use his whole body otherwise he'd be in trouble. As Max took a swipe Jack ducked low and did a low kick on Max's knee. A loud crunch echoed through the room but Max held firm, he used his good leg to maneuver himself closer to Jack before slicing upwards.
Jack backed away as he felt the warm blood drip down his face. Max had gotten his left eye good. There was a large gash where his eye had been and blood was pouring out of the wound. Jack licked some of the blood and smiled. "One down, two to go." He said with anticipation.
In all honesty even after eleven years Jack never really enjoyed fighting. Before it was a means of survival, now it was his job. But whenever he trained with his squad like this he couldn't help but feel a rush of excitement and thrill.
Jack had been so confused about it until he talked with Sherry about it and she helped him figure it out, he realized he was excited to see just how much his squad would grow. They had improved by leaps and bounds over the past three months and honestly he was proud of all of them. Jack wanted to see just how far they could go. He wanted to be there every step of the way guiding them and helping them as they progressed.
Jacks eye didn't get a chance to fully heal before the others began to attack him in full force. Max kept his distance firing muscle shards whenever he had an opportunity while Amanda kept up her onslaught of vicious swipes. Fin and Kate joined her going for Jacks left, which was currently his blind spot.
Jack was even more impressed, they knew that his eye would heal quickly and would only have a brief window of opportunity to take advantage of his current weakness. Jack grabbed Amanda and threw her away so he could focus on the other two animals charging him. Kate's blood armament was extended out of her forearms like scythe blades and was trying to go for his left leg while Fin who was using a bone tail and projectile mix was trying to distract Jack from the right.
Fin thought Jack was as good as done but his captain jumped right before the shards made contact, which instead pierced Kate as a result since she was in the line of fire. Not only that, Jack had fired dozens of bone shards into Fins chest before he jumped which sent the cheetah flying across the room. As Jack landed he realized too late that Kate was right under him and slashed him across the chest.
Kate grinned as she saw the look of surprise on her brother's face. He wasn't the only one who could use strategy. She knew he'd avoid Fins attack and expect her to take the hit instead. What he didn't realize was that she'd simply shrug off the pain and calculated where he would land so she could give him a surprise attack.
Jack looked down at the large gash that extended across his chest. Kate was good, he'd admit. He should've realized she would come up with some kind of plan for a counter attack. She may have a short temper and acted like a bitch but she was highly intelligent.
A very deadly mix.
Jack didn't even get a chance to say 'two down' as Sam attacked him from behind. Jack had just barely avoided her blood tail and made some distance between them before Max intercepted him and was attacking in full force with Anne. Jack was struggling to keep up now, they had come close to hitting him several times, so many in fact that he could swear his fur was an inch shorter by now. Sam and Cory had joined them and things became even more difficult.
Jack fired blood shards at them but wasn't expecting Max and Cory to use their bodies to shield the girls and he definitely wasn't expecting them to throw the girls right at him!
Firing blood shards did nothing as the two girls simply endured the pain. Anne reached him first and wrapped her arms around Jacks waist. She stabbed bone tails into the ground to keep them both in place. Sam twisted her body and whipped her tail as she flew past Jack. When she gracefully landed on the ground behind him she was hoping that her last attack had gone through. She quickly turned around to see if she had done any kind of damage.
To her horror she had.
Everyone just stared at Jack in disbelief and shock while Jack himself was staring at his left arm… or where his left arm should've been.
Taking a quick look around Jack realized his left arm had flown across the room and was right next to Fin who jumped away from the detached limb. Something like the middle area of his bicep downwards had been sliced off and Jack was left with a small stump of what his left arm should be.
Sam fell to her knees and was starting to shake uncontrollably. She hadn't planned on dealing such a harsh blow against her captain and was overcome with the mental shock of what she had done. Fin rushed over to her and made Sam follow his breathing, effectively getting her to start calming down.
To everyone's surprise Jack simply took a deep, calming breath before he walked over to his arm and picked it up. He then proceeded to try and fit it back into place where it had been cut off. Everyone watched in anticipation for several long agonizing seconds, they knew Jack's healing was good but it couldn't be that good!... right?
To their shock and incredible relief the bone and flesh began to mend themselves. After a few minutes Jack was swinging his arm around and testing his fingers mobility.
"I'll be incredibly honest with you all… that was the best you've done so far." Jack said as he turned to them and smiled. "And look! We've only been at it for twenty minutes, a new record!" He added in, clapping his paws in applause to his team's good work.
Jack's squad was slowly coming out of their shock and had finally begun to relax as Jack praised them. After he had assured them all he was alright he dismissed them and allowed them the rest of the day off to do whatever they wanted. As Jack gathered his things he realized he had forgotten one important detail.
His mother was still present.
As Jack turned to see if she was in fact still present, he saw that she was standing right behind him. He gave her a sheepish smile. "Umm, so… what did you think?" Jack asked shyly, really hoping he hadn't scared his poor mother to death.
Terry stood there silently before she took a deep breath and shook her head. "That… was a lot more than I expected." She said slowly which made Jack shrink on the spot. "But… it was also very fascinating to watch. I mean I knew that G.E.O.s are fast healers and incredible fighters but that was just amazing! You took damage that would've killed or maimed most people and brushed it off! And your team! Good god that was the greatest display of team work I've ever seen in my life, not even the highest ranking sports teams could compare to how well they worked together!" His mother kept rambling on excitedly but stopped as Jack started laughing.
"What's so funny?" Terry asked confused.
"You are, seriously mom you've changed a lot." Jack said smiling. "I could imagine that before all this you'd be freaking out and losing your mind but here you are just going on and on about how incredible it was. I'm honestly surprised to say the least." Jack explained, still smiling from ear to ear, relieved that she wasn't scared out of her mind.
Terry's confused frown softened as she smiled at her son. She realized that they had both changed over the years, she had always hoped that she had changed for the better and was glad that her son seemed to think the same.
"Before I probably would've, but after fifteen years of seeing nothing but this I think you should give me some credit." Terry said playfully as she bumped Jack with her shoulder which made him smile. They were interrupted by someone clearing their throat and saw that Kate and Anne were standing there with their arms crossed.
"Are you two going to stand there all day or can we get going? This place reeks of sweat and blood." Kate said sounding annoyed and slightly disgusted.
Jack rolled his eyes as he led them out of the training room. Standing in the hallway was Sam. She was leaning against the wall and looked worried. Jack took notice of this and told his mother and siblings that he'd catch up with them.
Jack approached Sam and when she noticed him her eyes went wide before she looked away ashamed.
"Hey you did great today." Jack said comfortingly but Sam's look of shame turned into disgust.
"How are you so calm about this? I took off your goddamn arm!" Sam shouted as she turned to Jack. "You reattached your arm like it was nothing! Did you even know if it would heal? What if I had crippled you, what then? Do you have any idea how horrible I feel right now!?" Sam exploded as she raised her voice and poured out every horrible emotion that was boiling inside of her.
Sam was about to continue her ranting but Jack simply grabbed her firmly by the shoulders.
"Sam, take a deep breath." Jack said soothingly.
Honestly Sam didn't want to take a breath, she wanted to yell some more but Jack was trying to comfort her, even after she'd taken his arm right off. She took several deep breaths and was somewhat calm afterwards.
"That wasn't the first time I lost an arm." Jack stated much to Sam's shock.
"It was maybe my tenth or eleventh mission after I became an officer. We were tracking down a group that had been selling the serum off to mob families and gangs. My sister-in-law's contact in the criminal underworld arranged a fake meeting where we could arrest them. Long story short while we were fighting one of the bastards took my right arm clean off. Adding insult to injury, quite literally, he took my arm and tore it apart in front of me." Jack paused so that the full impact of his words could reach Sam.
"After that I spent a few days at home driving myself crazy, wondering if my career as a special officer was cut short to just two months of service. But during that week and another week my arm began to grow back, took three weeks in all but it eventually grew back." Jacks face softened and he smiled as he patted Sam's shoulders. "So relax, I've been through it all and I'm still kicking. Take off my head though and we might have a problem." Jack joked darkly as Sam began to come out of her mental shock.
"What if it doesn't heal next time… or what if it's not you?" Sam asked grimly.
'Ahhh that's what this is about.' Jack thought to himself as he began to understand.
"If you're worried that you'll seriously hurt someone while on duty just remember this. They made their choices and we made ours. They decided to use their power selfishly or to hurt others while we use it to protect animals from that abuse of power. Every action has a consequence and we're the ones who help deliver that special brand of karma." Jacks words actually had an effect on Sam.
It was something she'd always worried about during her short time as a G.E.O. would she seriously hurt someone and would she be able to live with herself if she did?
When she joined as a special officer she thought the feeling would disappear but it had only gotten worse. Sam was constantly worried that she'd cripple or even kill someone while on duty, the pressure of that had sent her into several horrifying anxiety attacks before missions and after them. Luckily Fin was there to help bring her out of it considering they were partnered on almost every mission.
But now that she was hearing Jack put things into perspective like that, to actually hear it from someone else… it somehow helped to ease that particular paranoia.
"Anyways, take the day off and go enjoy yourself a bit. You deserve it after today" Jack said breaking Sam out of her thoughts. He patted her arm twice before walking down the hallway.
"Hey Jack!" Sam called to him as he was farther down the hallway. He turned around confused. Sam smiled at him gratefully. "Thank you, I really mean it." She said with as much sincerity as she could.
Jack simply smiled reassuringly. He turned around and raised his arm, giving her a two finger salute as he walked away.