Darkness broke out into light as the glow of the sun crested over the great city. It's warm light cascading the buildings and streets with its orange hue and with few clouds in the sky there was no where for the sun to hide. Except of course, in the shade.
It was early, far too early in the eyes of some mammals. Especially one fox who was walking on the concrete sidewalks. He walked casually, not too fast, not too slow. A pair of aviators covered his eyes which were moving around, looking at every mammal that passed him. His ears were at attention swiveling around, taking in every sound that came to them. Not that there were many mammals out that early, most of them were probably just getting out of bed. But he searched and listened anyways, just like his training said.
The paper cup in his hand filled with the steaming brown liquid that kept him moving this early in the morning. He was a fox after all, and just because they were more civil didn't mean that old primal instincts didn't totally die.
His uniform was neat and professional looking, consisting of khaki pants and a black polo with two things on it; a logo that read "Safe Paws Security and Bodyguard" and a name tag that said "Nicholas Wilde".
He was happy with his job, he was helping others in need. It wasn't easy to get to where he was though. After all, all foxes are "conniving" and "sly". But after working hard and training harder he finally made it to the top, he was one of the best guards in the whole company maybe even the city. Even with all this success though some clients still asked for a different guard when they saw that it was a fox that was supposed to protect them. It hurt him but no one would know, he would just nod and comply with the clients request. Because in the end you were really there just to make sure that they felt comfortable.
The light continued to increase as the sun rose over the horizon. By the time that Nick reached his destination the streets were flooded with cars and traffic. That's why he walked everywhere, it was faster that way.
The building stood tall in front of him, it was nowhere near the size of the skyscrapers but it was a modest brick building that was just a block away from city center. It's exterior was simple but got the point of stability and strength across, which is what Safe Paws thrived off of. Nick didn't wait any longer and pushed through the front door and inside. The inside looked like a normal lobby with a receptionist and everything, behind it was a large office space where the guards and other base oriented employees had cubicles.
Today was just like any other day, Nick was the first mammal there other than the receptionist, Maria Antlerson, a gazelle who was the stereotypical sassy receptionist that was often at the front of businesses. Dressed in a professional looking suit-dress, her hair was down and lying neatly, and her desk was exceptionally organized. If there was one thing that Nick loved doing it was teasing Maria in the morning.
"Good morning Maria, looking as dashing as ever" he said taking his glasses off and winking at the gazelle. Nick could see the blush bloom across her cheeks as she turned away from him.
"Oh shut it Wilde you sly fox" she said, finding her desk much more interesting then Nick. The fox chuckled as he continued through the lobby and into the office.
The cubicles were all primarily empty, some employees decorated their work area with family pictures and other trinkets. Nick however, didn't have any decorations in his cubicle other than a single mug that was gifted to him by his coworkers. The mug originally read "Worlds greatest Uncle" but the word uncle was crossed out in red and instead said, "Worlds Greatest Fox Bodyguard". Nick knew it was the thought that mattered for the gift and didn't think to much into the mug itself, it simply sat on his desk holding pens. Other than that all that was in his cubicle was a laptop and a pad of paper. Instead of supplying each guard with a whole computer they each got a laptop that they could take home with them to do extra research on their client. Nick would often just leave his at the office because he would often research in other ways.
He took a seat at his desk and opened his laptop, just like he did every morning. Each day they were given an objective, whether it be an actual event they were hired to attend or a research day in which they will meet with a client and discuss how the event will go. Although today was different, on his front page was a picture of a mammal that he knew, or better yet, everyone knew. On his laptop was a picture of the one and only Peter Moosebridge, the famous news anchor on ZNN. The moose was an absolute sensation for his deep and soothing voice. He was the first mammal they went to for important news and everyday information. But what he was most famous for was often giving his own opinion on certain points, even if they were divisive. He held beliefs that not all mammals agreed with but because of his stature and position in the city lots of mammals would follow him no matter how strange they were. And for some reason he was on his laptop.
According to his laptop he was supposed to be protecting the moose while he went to an Zoozies. The Zoozies were the biggest award shows in Zootopia, there were different events for different forms of entertainment. There was an award show for movies, music, and television. And being a famous and prestigious news anchor meant you often got nominated for awards. The event was one of the biggest in the whole city and was held in the Zootopian Theater at the center of town. And it was tonight.
Up until now all that Nick had guarded was mammals his size who needed a bodyguard just to feel safe, not that they necessarily needed him. This was a moose who was three times the size of him and a high priority target to many extremists.
'There must be a mistake' He thought to himself. He refused to believe that he was guarding such an important mammal on such short notice.
The sound of someone entering the building caused Nick to turn his head to the front. A large white tiger was walking down the side of the cubicles. The tiger was extremely intimidating looking and would make even the toughest mammals scared, but to Nick he was just Sheng, his boss.
"Good morning Nick" he said as he walked past heading towards his own personal office.
"And good morning to you Sheng" Nick said politely, trying to figure out how to phrase what he wanted to say, "I actually have a question for you". Sheng stopped at his cubicle and peaked over, it wasn't like it was hard, Nicks cubicle walls barely made it up to his hips.
"It says here that I am supposed to be guarding Peter Moosebridge at the Zoozies tonight. I think there was a mistake because I am far too inexperienced for this" Nick said pointing to his laptop. Sheng simply smiled,
"Nick you have been working here for two months and been with dozens of clients. Each client you have had has given you extremely high regards, so I think you deserve a high priority client. That was no mistake, I believe that you will be able to protect Mr. Moosebridge no matter what happens. So don't prove me wrong." That was all he said and he turned to continue walking. Nick was left there speechless. Shang had been Nicks biggest fan even through training, he wanted nothing more than to see the fox succeed at beating his stereotype, but Nick never expected an opportunity quite like this.
"Oh yeah, and you're going to need a suit" Sheng called from his office.
Nick once again sat there stunned, 'where the heck am I going to get a suit?'
'How did I end up here' Nick thought to himself. He was sitting in the back of a very nice car being driven by a nicely dressed wolf, and he was dressed in a suit. Because his job tonight required him to get a suit he could pick out exactly what he wanted and SafePaws would pay for it.
It didn't take that long to get the suit either. As soon as Sheng said he would need it Nick left to go get it done so he wouldn't have to worry about it later. He went to a "Mammals Warehouse" where he quickly picked what he wanted and was fitted for his suit, and now six hours later here he was in his fresh new suit. It wasn't an overly flashy suit, he didn't want to stick out after all, he in fact wanted to do the opposite so that no one noticed he was even there.
His suit consisted of a jacket and pants that were the same deep shade of blue, his shirt was a plain white button up with the top button undone showing a little bit of the fur on his chest, and finally he wore his usual aviators on his snout. The suit was nice and he specifically selected the fabrics and had it tailored to allow him to run and do anything physically required of him.
He sat in a car that was well over anything he could ever afford, being driven down roads surrounded by skyscrapers and fancy apartment buildings once again well over anything he could afford. It was surreal to him, not too long ago he was in a much worse place doing much worse things.
Eventually the car slowed down and stopped in front of one of the tallest buildings in the city. It was made almost entirely out of glass on the outside and looked like it climbed all the way up to the heavens. The wolf driver quickly got out of the car and ran around to the right side, opening the door for Nick. The fox stepped out of the vehicle and couldn't help but stare up at the glory of the building. He was so distracted he missed the mammal approaching him.
"Arnold, who is this?" Came a female voice from in front of Nick that quickly snapped him out of his trance. He quickly locked on to who was talking, a tall snow leopard stood in front of him wearing a fancy looking grey suit dress and holding a clip board. The wolf driver, Arnold, looked at her confused,
"This is the bodyguard ma'am" He said. The leopard looked Nick up and down, clearly unimpressed at what she saw. There was something about her that Nick didn't like, she was stereotyping him and it didn't take a professional to figure it out. Instead of addressing him she simply turned around and walked into the building. Nick turned around and looked at the wolf confused who simply shrugged in response. Instead of ponder it any further Nick hurried to catch up to the leopard. He found her standing in front of two elevator doors waiting. Before he could say anything she turned around and stared him down,
"Listen I know I requested a guard rather last minute but is there any reason that Sheng decided to assign you to Mr. Moosebridge?" She asked clearly not caring if she was being rude. Nick was starting to get frustrated, he finally had his opportunity to show how much he truly cared about this job and nearly the first mammal he meets instantly thinks he is lower than where he actually is, and without even talking to him.
"I don't know maybe he thinks I can actually do my job, do the thing that I have trained for months to do" he snapped back. The leopard shut her mouth in indignation and turned around, just in time for the elevator doors to open. She stepped inside and Nick followed not ready to just give up on what was happening. As soon as the doors closed she turned once again to Nick, leaning down and poking him with her finger.
"Listen here fox" she spat with venom, "If this is how you are going to act then I will send you home and call the police department to provide protection to Mr. Moosebridge. Got it?"
Nick was about to snap back again but instead took a deep breath.
'Don't let them see that they get to you' he thought to himself.
"May I ask you a question?" Nick asked in a much calmer tone, which surprised the leopard as she looked at him confused. "Is this how you treat every bodyguard that is assigned to Mr. Moosebridge?"
She stopped and thought about it, actually thinking on his question. "Well n-"
"Listen" Nick said cutting her off, "I am just a simple fox trying live my not so simple life. I know you don't like me, and I know its because I'm a fox. And I also know being a fox you won't exactly trust my word, but I promise that nothing will happen to that moose unless I die trying to protect him. It is the oath I am required to take and one that I stand by everyday I am alive." All he wanted was a chance.
Once again the leopard stopped and stared at him, pondering over all that he had said. Nick simply sat there in silence hoping that what he had said struck a chord with the leopard. His words must have done something because after a few moments of silence she put her clipboard in her left paw and reached out the right.
"Alyssa Growlerson, I am Peter's manager" She said. Nick took her paw and shook it.
"Nicholas Wilde, at your service", He said professionally. Once the two stoppped shaking paws Alyssa reached into her pocket and pulled out a card, which she swiped into the elevators panel before pushing a button. It was then that the elevator finally came to life and began ascending.
"I'm… sorry about all that…" Alyssa said awkwardly.
"It's alright, at this point I'm used to this kind of stuff… But it doesn't make me feel any better" Nick said. The elevator then filled with an awkward silence for the remainder of the ride until finally they reached their destination. The doors slid open revealing a luxurious apartment. Nick couldn't help but let his jaw hang at the sight of it.
The room was large, very large. The entire wall opposite to Nick was made up of windows that peered out to the skyline of Zootopia and onto the horizon past it. To the right was a modern kitchen that was shiny and looked like it had yet to be used, a pig in an apron was standing over the stove cooking something that smelled absolutely delicious. To the left was a more relaxed living room with a very long U-shaped white couch facing an unnecessarily big TV that took up most of the wall. The walls were a plain white but with the light coming from the windows it made the whole room glow a warm orange. The room was decorated minimally yet elegantly with paintings and little trinkets on the wall and shelves hanging from said wall. In one case there was a shelf with at least a dozen awards on it, some of them being Zoozies from past years. Doors on the left side of the room which led to other rooms were closed for privacy reasons and other than a wooden dining table that was it.
There was one other thing in the room, all Nick could see was a silhouette but it was easy to tell what the silhouette was, or rather who. The shadow got closer to the two who were now standing just outside the now closed elevator. Eventually the shadow gave way to an actual mammal, one that Nick already knew.
Peter Moosebridge.
He was a very tall, even for moose's, he was dressed in a simple tuxedo and was sipping a fancy looking drink. His dark green eyes bore into Nick, as if he was reading him like a children's book. Nick himself was doing a bit of an inspection, searching for any sign of distaste or lack of trust that he often got from mammals. Once he was done inspecting the fox his eyes flicked to Alyssa.
"Is this our guy?" He asked simply to the leopard, gesturing to Nick with his drink.
Alyssa nodded in response, "yes sir this is Nicholas Wilde the bodyguard from SafePaw."
Peter smiled and looked back at Nick, "well Mr. Wilde it is a pleasure to meet you." He reached out his paw, which Nick shook. The moose then motioned towards the couch, "Won't you come in? We have much to discuss"
The trio then went over to the couch each of them sitting on a side of the couch, Nick and Peter were facing each other while Alyssa sat in between them.
"Before you brief me, Mr. Wilde may I ask you a few questions?" Peter asked before taking a sip from his drink.
"Absolutely sir" It wasn't unusual for a client to ask questions, but Nick felt he knew where the questions were going to head.
"First off, I am quite an open mammal who is not afraid to speak my mind. I sometimes say things that most mammals may not agree with, this leads to some… more rambunctious mammals wanting to take action. Are you prepared to protect me from those mammals at all cost?"
"Yes sir, absolutely. I am prepared for whatever may happen tonight, my goal is for you to just enjoy your night and not even notice if something goes wrong" Nick said.
"Fantastic, and I don't mean to be rude for asking. But being a fox you are a bit smaller than some of the larger mammals who may attack. You can take them down if necessary?"
This is precisely where Nick expected this to go, but he was happy that the moose was being non-hostile towards him, "Yes, in training we learn how to take down threats of all sizes in all different kinds of scenarios, my employer believes I am able to protect you. And I do too."
Peter smiled at his response, "You know I've known Sheng for almost twenty years, we went to high school together and were actually close friends. I trust that tigers judgment with my life, and I carry that trust on to his employees as well." He let the last phrase hang in the air to Nick absorb it before moving on, "Now, lets go ahead and go through the briefing of yours"
"Absolutely" Nick then went through all the protocols and codes that the two could share that would be necessary in the case of an emergency. Peter sat attentive and respectful, asking any questions he had and absorbing all the information presented to him.
"I use three codes when it comes to your feelings of the situations. The first one being that you are feeling rather uncomfortable with the situation but you don't need to leave, it will just put me on alert and I will see what I can do to solve the problem. For that code you would say, 'Mr. Wilde could you get me an old fashioned'. The next code is for when you truly don't like the situation you are in and you would like to leave. That code is, 'the stars are beautiful tonight aren't they?'. Once you say that I will get you out of the area at the next clean opportunity. And finally there is the third code, this one is for when you need to get out of there ASAP. That code is a two parter, a call and response. You say 'we live in a twilight world' and I would respond 'and there are no friends at dusk'. As soon as you hear me respond you should be prepared to run fast and low, we will keep moving until we meet law enforcement or another scenario in which I am convinced you are safe."
Peter sat there in thought for a few moments, running through the codes in his head as well as the possible situations they could be used in. "Well Mr. Wilde, I certainly do appreciate all the preparation you have put into this. With any luck we won't need any of the codes, but its nice that they are there just in case."
Nick smiled genuinely at the moose's compliment, "its all a part of the job sir."
Alyssa then stood up, gaining the attention of the two gentlemammals.
"I hate to interrupt but its time to get going" she said whilst checking her watch. And with that the trio made their way to the elevator.
Nick was nervous, but with all the work he had done he felt like he was prepared for whatever the night threw at him.
He hoped…
The car was now driving through the center of downtown where traffic was shutdown for the award show. The way they had it set up was so that the center of town was a large circle with a natural watering hole in the very middle of it all. The theater sat on the outside ring next to city hall and across from the ZPD precinct, the entire outside of it was set up with a large red carpet with media and paparazzi blocked off to keep the path clear, behind the red carpet was a large tent where the after party would be held. And lastly, any and all fans were blocked off in the center island next to the watering hole, there was no way for them to get across without hopping a fence and crossing a street, and of course they would have to get past the security. There were security guards all over the place, on the roof's, and all along the street. It made the life of a bodyguard much less stressful.
Finally the car came to a stop at the front of the theater. All Peter did was turn to Nick and Alyssa, muttering one simple phrase, "Show time". As soon as the door was opened for him the moose stepped out and acknowledged all the fans screaming for him by the watering hole, some of them were even crying at the sight of him. Next stepped out Nick with sunglasses in place, he made sure to keep the distance between him and Peter small, just in case. And lastly stepped out Alyssa who was switching staring between her watch and her clipboard, hoping everything stayed on schedule.
The red carpet was a daunting thing to Nick, dozens and dozens of cameras would be trained on him, even if he wasn't the center of focus he would still be in view. The trio stepped into line behind some other celebrities that Nick was familiar with such as, Simon COWel, Howlie Mandel, and even Hallie Bearie. It was strange to be surrounded by so many famous mammals that Nick had only ever seen on his TV. The line moved slow as each celebrity got their moment on the red carpet, and after about five minutes of waiting it was Peters turn.
The moose stepped on to the red carpet and struck several poses, Nick and Alyssa stood away from him while he got his time to shine. Nick couldn't help but notice several of the cameras were facing the two of them causing Nick to tense up, an action that did not go unnoticed by Alyssa. She turned to the fox looking at him perplexed.
"First red carpet?" She asked him.
Not even noticing that he was tense he quickly went back to his more relaxed stance.
"Is it that obvious?" Nick said awkwardly.
The leopard laughed in response, "it's alright, eventually you will get used to them. Just ignore the cameras and never look down the barrel of the lens."
It was Nicks turn to looked confused, "why not?"
"Because that's when they take your soul or your life away from you" she said with a smirk before turning and following the moose as he made his way down the red carpet. Nick knew it was a joke but he couldn't help but shiver at the thought of what the cameras could do, the words ringing in his ears. His thoughts distracted him so much that he didn't notice Peter and Alyssa getting further away from him until another celebrity tapped him on the shoulder,
"Pardon me mate, but I think your group is leaving you" The Australian voice said to him. Nick snapped out of it and turned to the mammal, it was a pig that he recognized but couldn't tell who it was.
"Thank you sir" he said before turning off and walking after his group, trying to hide his embarrassment. As he was walking away Nick remembered who that pig was. It was Chris Hamsworth, who was an action movie star that Nick had seen several times before. So strange that he was rubbing elbows with so many famous mammals.
Slowly but surely the group made there way towards the theater, this time Nick made sure not to get distracted to avoid any more awkward interactions with Mr. Hamsworth. Once they were in the theater it was time for Nick to split off from Peter and Alyssa and go to the bodyguard holding room. The lobby itself was a large open room just outside the theater itself, it was all decorated and extremely fancy. There were way too many mammals for Nick to count, most of them being celebrities the others being their managers or waiters carrying trays of finger foods.
"Alright, the room is down that way" Alyssa said pointing towards an open door that led to the back halls of the theater. "We will meet up out here with you once the show is over" she said to him. Nick nodded in response and then turned off towards the hall. He couldn't tell why but it felt like he was a kid going to school, he would go to one place for hours, and then eventually be picked up by his adult again. It was weird, and honestly quite funny.
Through the door was a long white hallway with equally white lights, which contrasted greatly to the dim warm glow of the lights out in the lobby. There were all sorts of mammals running about getting last minute preparation set up for the show that was about to go on. There were doors all over the place but only one of them was open, and conveniently it had a sign in front of it that read "Bodyguard Holding".
"Well I guess this is for me" Nick said before stepping inside. The room itself was nothing crazy, it had the same soft lighting as the lobby which was much less stressful on the fox's eyes than the painfully bright lights of the hallway. At the back of the room was tables that were set up with a variety of food and drinks, all around the center of the room were round tables with seats where the bodyguards could relax during the show. And lastly next to the door was a large screen that was displaying the inside of the theater and once the show started it would provide a live feed for the mammals to watch. Nick had been in several bodyguard holding rooms before but this was by far the nicest one.
While taking in the room Nick recognized one mammal, it was someone else from SafePaw and one of his best friends. Instead of calling from across the room Nick moved quickly and quietly, hoping the mammal would continue to talk to the mammals he was sitting with. After making his way through the maze of tables he was standing behind his target. There was one seat open and it was directly to the left of the mammal, a plan was now formulating in his head. He tapped on the mammals right shoulder causing him to turn in that direction, Nick took this distraction as an opportunity to sit down in the plastic chair. Eventually the mammal turned back to the table and once his eyes landed on Nick they lit up ins surprise.
"Nick!" The wolf called out.
"Hey Wolford" Nick said. The mammal in front of him was Gary Wolford, an arctic wolf who he had met during training for SafePaw. The two had instantly hit it off and become the best of friends, and that friendship carried on through training and into the company itself.
The wolf had not been expecting to see his friend at all, but boy was he glad to see him.
"What are you doing here?" Wolford asked.
"Well I got a surprise assignment with one of the celebrities tonight" Nick said in response. He then went on to explain how he was surprised himself to see the assignment and how Shang believed in him. He purposefully left out who his client was, he didn't want that to be public knowledge just yet as it would cause all the mammals at the table to react in some way.
"That really is amazing, I'm so glad that that old tiger decided to give you a chance like this." The wolf said patting the fox on his shoulder before gesturing to the other mammals at the table. "Let me introduce you to these fine gentlemammals." He pointed to the elephant to his right, "this is Elizabeth Trunkaby" the elephant in question waved to him in response, "then we have Marcus Mane" he gestured to the lion to Nicks left who nodded in greetings, "and finally we have Alexander Claw" he gestured to the large grizzly bear sitting across from him, the bear simply locked eyes with Nick instead of giving a normal greeting like the other two.
"Everyone, this is my good pal Nick Wilde. He works at SafePaw with me!" He said excitedly.
Nick in turn waved to everyone, "It is nice to meet all of you".
There was a moment of silence before the grizzly bear coughed purposefully in order to gain the groups attention, "So where were we?" He asked.
Wolford thought for a moment before speaking up, "I think we were about to talk about who our clients were" the wolf said, "I'll go first. My client is John Ramos" the elephant squealed a little at what the wolf said causing everyone to look at her confused.
Trunkaby looked down at the table embarrassed, "sorry I am just a huge Full House fan" she said.
"Well who is your client Trunkaby?" Marcus spoke up.
"Oh well my client is Andy Hamberg" She said proudly, Marcus simply scoffed in response (obviously in a joking way). "Oh yeah well who is your client then Mr. Mane?"
"Hmm well my client is the one and only Charlie Sheep" He said.
"Wait a minute, isn't he the sheep who got in trouble for his drug problem" Wolford asked. It was Marcus's turn to look embarrassed.
"Well uh- yes but he is- uh- a lot better now… I think" the lion said back pedaling at the realization.
A snort coming from across the table caught the groups attention and they turned to see where the sound came from. Alexander Claw was sitting far back in his chair with a sly smirk on his face,
"I hate to break it to you all but I actually think my client is the best out of all of ours." He said crossing his arms. Meanwhile, the rest of the group looked like they clearly didn't believe him.
"Oh yeah and why is that?" Trunkaby asked.
"Well you see, TV stars are all washed up, what with all these streaming services. My client is a multi-talented performer who can sing, act, and do just about anything else it seems. She is quite the mammal" he continued to leave the group in suspense, not telling them who exactly his client was and it was clearly starting to frustrate some of them.
"Well don't just leave us in suspense. Who is your client?" Wolford asked finally caving and giving the bear what he wanted.
"Ha, its funny that you ask because she is on the screen right now"
The whole group once again turned this time to face the screen at the front of the room. Filling up the screen was a pair of small grey paws at a much larger piano. The way the lighting was setup made the rest of the figure seem shrouded in darkness while their paws remained visible as they began to dance around the keyboard. Slowly the camera panned up as well as the lights revealing more and more of the mammal as the music crescendoed into the first singing phrase. Just as the lyrics were supposed to come in the camera made it to the mammals face, revealing the mammal in question and illuminating her deep purple eyes.
Judy Hopps.
Everyone knew who Judy Hopps was, even if you weren't a fan you knew her from something. But there were rarely mammals who weren't a fan, she did just about everything like Claw had said. She was a famous movie and TV actor, she could dance flawlessly, and to some her singing was angelic. Nick however was one of those mammals who was never really a fan, but it wasn't because he didn't like her, it was because he had never really watched or listened to anything she had been a part of. And to be honest Nick thought of her as just pretentious, she was a rabbit after all and he wasn't a big fan of rabbits in general because they were never friendly around him.
The rabbit sang the song and played the keys with ease adding embellishment to really make the performance her own. Nick knew who the rabbit was and was honestly a little impressed that a bear such as Claw could score such a high valued client.
"Wait, your client is THE Judy Hopps?" Trunkaby asked absolutely amazed.
"Yup" the smugness coming off the bear could have easily killed someone who wasn't careful, luckily Nick was on the other side of the table.
"How did you end up with that?" Nick asked this time, the bear gave him a look that Nick didn't like, it was the kind of look you would give to a child when you were trying to be demeaning to them.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" He asked.
Instead of go after the bear Nick played the dumb card and pretended to ignore what he did, "yes… yes I would"
"Well, if you must ask, I was guarding another mammal who isn't important and she was at the same event as my old client. She liked the way I did things, her management found me and the contacted me. Then we set up so that I could be her guard for this event".
"Wow that's some luck" Wolford said genuinely impressed by the bears goof luck.
By now there were more performers on the stage along with Judy, she galavanted around the stage continuing to the finish with full energy. The group continued to talk to the bear wanting to know all the details as well as ways that they could get in contact with her management, because everyone wanted the opportunity to work alongside Judy Hopps. Meanwhile Nick watched the screen, enthralled by the rabbits movements. She was wearing a purple tight sequence covered dress that accented the natural curves of her body, the color matching the very purple of her eyes. Something about her just seemed off, like she wasn't all there at the moment. Any other mammal would see an extremely talented rabbit doing her best to entertain an audience, and they would not have noticed what Nick saw, he only recognized it because of the time that he had spent on the streets. The rabbit looked like she was on something, but it could have easily been a mess up with the camera, or maybe even her makeup team, but she just appeared off. Eventually the song came to its climactic finish and the audience cheered, and just like that the look she had was gone as she exited the stage and out came the mammals announcing the first award.
"Hey fox!" Came Claws voice, the sound of his name snapping Nick back into reality. He turned to face the bear only to see all the mammals at the table staring at him. "You seemed pretty interested in that rabbit hm?" He asked. The bears statement caught Nick completely off guard and it took him a second to respond.
"Well yeah she is a talented rabbit. And I guess for a rabbit she is rather beautiful but that doesn't mean that I am in to her, would there be something wrong if I was interested in her?." Nick asked honestly.
"HA HA HA" the bear laughed so loud it caused the entire room to look at their table. The bear elbowed Marcus who was sitting next to him, "You hear this guy? A fox thinking a rabbit is beautiful. How ridiculous"
Marcus was confused as to why the bear was pulling him into the conversation. "I mean she is good looking, but just because I said that doesn't mean I'm into her either, its just a statement"
That seemed to deflate the bear as his dig at the fox fell flat. "Alright then fox, who is your client?" He asked in a hostile tone.
"And the winner is… Peter Moosebridge!"
It was Nicks turn to smirk, 'right on cue' he thought to himself.
"Well its funny that you ask because I believe he just won an award actually" he said making sure he was as cocky as could be.
Once again the tables attention was turned to the screen. And there he was, the moose of the hour, Peter Moosebridge. On the screen was also the name of the award that he had won, "Most Inspirational TV Personality". The moose was now up on the stage accepting his reward.
"Wow, this is truly an honor. Thinking about this award I think of the mammals who inspire me everyday. The mammals that go out into the world, fight the stereotype that is put on them and make a difference in this world, such as a young rabbit who is an absolute sensation at whatever she does. Can we give Judy Hopps another round of applause for that spectacular performance she put on for us." The crowd then blew up with applause while the camera transitioned over to where the rabbit was sitting. Nick turned away, hoping to see the reactions of the mammals at his table. "Or maybe even a young fox", Peters voice grabbed his attention as he turned back to the screen,"who is breaking the arduous stereotypes that are put on him even before he as born and now he is an extremely proficient bodyguard, and my bodyguard. He is not here right now but can we give Nicholas Wilde a round of applause" Once again the audience blew up with applause.
Now it was Nicks turn to drop his jaw. That was honestly the last thing that he was expecting to hear from Peter, but the moose was far from done.
"I am also inspired by the mammals who are breaking the stereotypes of their relationships deciding that they don't care who they love, because love is a beautiful, borderless entity that we all need to find. And it doesn't matter who we find that love in, if that other mammal makes us happy then that is all that matters" Once again there was applause, but it was quite a bit quieter than before. At this point the moose was cut off and he left the stage.
Nick turned fully back to the table, jaw still hanging.
"Nick… did you know he was going to say that?" Wolford asked. Nick on the other hand couldn't respond because his throat suddenly got dry. So he simply shook his head in response.
"Hm, it makes sense that such a horn-headed mammal would have a fox for his bodyguard" Came the ever aggressive voice of Claw. Nick was snapped out of his stupor by the bear.
"Why is that?" Nick said narrowing his eyes.
"Well you are both freaks, he believes that any mammal can date anyone else. That is just wrong on so many levels. And you… you're a fox" the bear spat the last word out.
"And me being a fox makes me a freak?" Nick said, still not letting the bear see his frustration.
"Well yeah, you're all the same. I'm sure you hustled someone in order to get into the position that you are in. I'm also sure that you probably conned someone out being the client of that moose" The bear was now leaning forward wanting the fox to do something about what he was saying. That was it.
"Well you know what I think about you, I think that you're a worthless waste of pe-" Nick was cut off by Wolford paw on his shoulder. He looked over at the white wolf, the look in his eyes telling him to calm down. Nick noticed he was leaned up in his chair, his claws were digging into the arms of seat he was in leaving holes in them. He also noticed a majority of the mammals in the room were looking at him.
Nick took a deep breath and relaxed back into his chair.
"Yeah that's what I thought" Claw said leaning back in his own chair.
The sound of a chair moving was all Nick heard, and a flash of white was all he saw. Wolford had gotten up from his chair and rounded the table before anyone could compute. It was one swift action that stunned the four mammals at the table. Wolford took his fist and punched the bear square in the side of his jaw, the force of the punch causing the bear to fall over taking the chair with him. Everyone in the room looked stunned at the actions of what just happened, but no one moved to help the bear, most mammals in the room thought that the bear had it coming. Wolford kneeled down to be closer to the bear so he could hear him at a whisper.
"I don't know who you think you are, but you are nothing compared to that fox. Nick is 100 times the mammal you wish you ever were, now if you feel like getting up and behaving like a good boy then I will let you get up, otherwise I will stand right here and make sure that you don't get up until the end of the night" he said intensely.
The bear glared at the wolf but with blooding dripping from his snout he knew he was not going to win a fight like this. Wolford stepped away allowing Claw to pick himself up as well as his chair. The wolf took his seat and nodded at Nick who nodded back appreciatively.
"You know you didn't have to do that?" The fox said, Wolford shrugged
"Yeah but I wanted to so its alright"
Nick couldn't help but smile at the wolf response, it was so like him just act first and think later.
"So… Moosebridge, what's he like?" Marcus Mane asked Nick.
The fox went on to describe all that had happened from the start of his day to now telling them all about the moose while Claw sat quietly tending to his snout.
'I hope the rest of the show goes smoother than this' Nick thought to himself.
The rest of the show went off without a hitch. Thankfully.
Once the show was over Nick met with Alyssa and Peter, who had won every award he was nominated for.
"Congratulations Mr. Moosebridge those awards are well deserved" Nick said as the group moved towards the after party set up outside.
"Thank you Mr. Wilde, and I hope you heard my little shout out to you at the beginning of the show because I meant every word of it." The moose said looking down at Nick with a smile.
"Yes sir, it was very nice of you to say those things" Nick said, in reality he didn't really want to be known by the whole city. Nick thrived off of not being known and staying in the shadows. But he would never tell Peter that, it would make him seem like he was ungrateful.
The group made it outside and into the after party tent, which was equally as decorated as the inside of the theater. The floor was covered in red carpet, three sides of the tent were made up of tarps while the last side was the wall of the theater itself. There were plants set up along the sides to make it seem more natural. Half of the tent had tables set up for anyone who wanted to sit down and relax, the other half was open where mammals could walk around and mingle. That was where Peter was, he would walk from group to group and talk with the various mammals he encountered, mo matter who they were they wanted to talk to the moose just to hear what he had to say.
Meanwhile Nick and Alyssa kept their distance as to not become a distraction. Nick was alert keeping an eye out for any threats and Alyssa was looking at her clipboard thinking about what was going to happen after the party.
The security presence was a lot less prevalent compared to the red carpet experience earlier. The celebrities safety was now much more dependent on the bodyguards.
"Alright so after the party we are heading back to the Moosebridge apartment, there Arnold will drive yo-"
"Mr. Wilde could you go get me an old-fashioned."
The sound of the code being said made Nick instantly become alert, Alyssa herself stopped mid-sentence. Peter was currently talking to Fabienne Growl, his coanchor on ZNN.
"Certainly Mr. Moosebridge" Nick said taking out his sunglasses from his pocket and stepping away from the group. He quickly put the sunglasses on so that it didn't look like he was scanning the room, he needed to covertly identify the reason for why the moose was feeling threatened. He started walking in a long rounded path around where the moose was, making it look like he was heading to the bar that was set up across from the exit on the side of the tent.
And then he saw it, a rhino was leaning against the wall of the theater at the opposite side of the tent. He had one paw in his pocket and his eyes were locked on Peter. The rhinos eyes were also very red as if he had been crying recently. It was enough for Nick to know that he was a possible threat. Now that he identified the threat he wanted to get back to Peter as quickly as he could without making a scene.
He took his eyes off the rhino for one moment to look at where the moose was and when he looked back the rhino had moved.
'Shit' Nick thought to himself speeding up his pace and finding the rhino again. It wasn't hard to find the large rhino, he was at least twice the size of most mammals around him and now he was walking through the the maze of tables, still not taking his eyes off of the moose.
"Mr. Wilde I think the stars are looking beautiful tonight" Peter said as soon as he saw Nick again, his face still relaxed but Nick could see in his eyes that the moose wanted to get out of there.
"Yes sir they do, we should go and see them" Nick said taking Peters arm and leading him towards the exit, Alyssa not too far behind.
The group was nearly at the exit when a booming Russian sounding voice called out, "Hey Moose!"
For some reason Peter stopped in his tracks causing Nick to lose his grip on his arm. Peter stared down the rhino who was still halfway across the tent from them. Nick looked back at Alyssa,
"Go, I will take care of him" He said waving her off. She nodded and continued out the door. Nick turned back to see Peter shaking nervously but holding his ground nonetheless.
"You're the one who thinks all mammals should be together, no?" The rhino asked, his voice gaining the attention of everyone in the tent.
Peter raised his chin and responded proudly, "yes that is me".
That was all the rhino needed because as soon as Peter finished saying that the rhino pulled his paw out of his pocket revealing a handgun that he had been hiding the whole time. He swiftly aimed the gun and took his shot.
Nick moved simply on reaction, me jumped forward and pushed Peter to the ground. The bullet that been fired flew right between the moose's antlers, if he didn't move it would have gone straight through his head.
The shot immediately caused chaos in the tent, mammals of all sizes stampeded towards the exit hoping to make it to safety. What security was there ran towards the rhino hoping to take him down.
Nick sprung to his feet and helped pull Peter to his.
"We have to move, follow me!" Nick yelled running towards the bar. The fox knew that there was no way that they were going to get out of the exit before the rhino could get another shot off so instead he wanted to go find cover for the two of them. The pair ran behind the bar and Nick flipped the table on its side providing ample cover for both mammals.
More shots rang out as the rhino took out the security guards. Nick peeked over the side of the table trying to take in the situation, the rhino stood in the middle having not moved at all. He was working on reloading his gun but appeared to be having troubles. Right now was the opportunity to strike so the fox turned back to the moose who was hiding with him.
"Stay here, as soon as you hear me scream run you need to make a break for the exit"and with that the fox vaulted the table and ran straight for the rhino.
Said rhino was too busy working on his gun for to notice the fox running towards him, that is, until he had finished reloading but by then it was too late.
The fox was running as fast as he physically could, his heart racing, as soon as he was close enough he jumped into the air swinging his leg up and connecting his foot right into the rhinos chin. The kick had enough power to sending the rhino stumbling back and even caused him to drop the gun. Nick landed gracefully on his feet while the rhino shook his head trying to bring himself back to reality. The rhino had no idea what just hit him, but it felt like a larger mammal so he was surprised to see a fox standing in front of him.
"I have no qualm with you fox, I will let you get away with that if you leave now. I only want the moose" he said.
"Well I hate to break it to you but I gotta keep that moose alive so you do have a qualm with me" Nick said in response.
"Fine then I guess I will have to sho-" the rhino said reaching for his gun that wasn't there. Both mammals turned to see the gun lying on the ground ten feet away but directly in between them. The two took off for the gun, the rhino wanted to kill with it the fox simply wanted to kick it away because even if he got it, it was far too big for Nick to control.
Nicks faster speed make up for the rhinos much longer strides, the fox got there first just in time to kick the gun away from the rhinos outreached hand. But what Nick failed to see was the rhinos fist swinging towards his face. The punch hit Nick right in the side of his jaw causing an audible crunch, it was hard enough to send him flying back and onto his back.
It took Nick a few moments to get back up, the pain radiating from his jaw being almost too much to handle. It felt like a bus had hit him in his whole body but it was the worst in his face. But he knew he had to get up, other mammals lives depended on it. Once he was standing he locked on to the rhino hoping to anticipate his next move, and it was a good thing that he locked on when he did other wise he would have gotten absolutely trampled. The rhino charged at Nick horn down, aiming to kill, the fox had just enough time to roll out of the way before the rhino stormed past him. It took the rhino awhile to slow down once he had passed him, running into tables and anything else that was in his was. This gave Nick an idea, before the rhino could turn around he hid behind one of the tables, crawling his way towards the wall of the theater.
"Where are you fox!" The rhino screamed, flipping over tables in search of his new target. Once Nick was in position he revealed himself to the rhino.
"Oi! Blockhead over here!" Nick screamed. The rhino locked eyes with Nick before preparing himself for another charge. Then without warning the rhino ran, taking down anything in his path. Nothing was stopping him this time. Right as he was about to crash into Nick the fox once again dove out of the way. The rhino had been so focused on destroying him that he failed to notice the wall that he was running straight towards. The large mammal crashed straight into the wall causing a loud bang and a crack to form where he had impacted it. The rhino himself fell onto his back unconscious, the larger part of his horn having cracked off his face and was still stuck in the wall.
"PETER! RUN! NOW!" Nick screamed out. Almost instantly the moose jumped out of his hiding spot and ran for the exit with Nick on his tail.
As soon as they stepped outside they were met with law enforcement as well as SWAT mammals.
"The target is unconscious on the far side of the tent closest to the theater" Nick screamed out.
A few of the mammals looked at each other before nodding and rushing into the tent checking the corners and clearing the room just for safety reasons. Peter and Nick watched as the police all piled into the tent. The mammals outside were being held off by officers who had set up a perimeter, media personal snapped pictures at both him and Peter, as well as various mammals there to see what was happening.
"Oh my gosh you made it!" Came a scream from outside the perimeter. Alyssa appeared from the crowd and ran under the tape dodging the police who tried to stop her. She quickly pulled Peter into a hug, "are you alright Peter?" She asked, her voice full of care.
Peter smiled down at her, "yes I think I am alright" he said unsure. Nick could tell that he wasn't alright, the moose was shaking furiously and his pupils were fully dilated, he was going through some form of shock.
"And you" Alyssa let go of Peter and pulled Nick into a hug. "You did it, you kept him safe", he put him at arms length so that she could look directly into his eyes, "thank you".
"It thwas nothwing weally" Nick stumbled out. Nick could taste blood In his mouth, most likely from his nose. As the adrenaline slowly went away the pain started coming back in waves, starting in his jaw and radiating to more of his body. He also became aware of intense sharp pain coming from his head. The more he stood there the more weary his body became until he could barely stand at all.
"Nick are you alright?" Alyssa asked, clutching onto his shoulders to hold him up. Nick didn't even hear her as his world began to turn dark and his vision began to tunnel, everything around him became too much and his vision turned black.
Alyssa could not hold on to him anymore as his legs gave out, he dropped to the ground in a pile his eyes still open and blood dripping from his nose.
"Oh my gosh. WE NEED AN AMBULANCE!" Alyssa called out, luckily they had already been called and were now arriving on scene pushing mammals out of the way in order to make a path.
The paramedics quickly placed the fox on a gurney and wheeled him to the ambulance, Peter and Alyssa walking with them. The medics had noticed the moose's condition and urged him to go with them, which he accepted.
What all of them failed to notice was a pair of purple eyes following the group, especially the fox, all the way to the ambulance and even watched as the vehicle drove away into the night.
Hey everyone. How's it going? Long time no see. Now I know what you're thinking, what happened to "The Amazing Nick Wilde" stories second half? Well it will happen, someday. But through quarantine I thought about a lot of different stories I could tell using these characters and this one was one that I thought of and really liked, so I'm just going to let it out and see where it goes. Other than that, it is wonderful to see all of you. If you are a regular, hi! How have you been over the past few months. I think the last time I posted anything was back in June or July so it certainly has been a long time. If you are new here, Hi! I'm DAG I like to create stories using the world of Zootopia. I appreciate you stopping by and I hope you enjoyed this chapter of my new story. Could I interest you in my older story that is also on my page.
Anyways, I don't really know how often new chapters will be coming out, I am in the depths of a new semester and a new year so there's not much time to write. But hey! Who knows what will happen.
I hope you are all still safe during these crazy times and I hope to write to you again real soon!
DAG