Rising Up
Nick awoke in the room of a nearby hospital. The little kit turned his head, scanning the white room, before managing to spot his mother, Marian, sitting on a chair praying with a rosary in her paws. "Hi, Mama," he managed to croak out, his voice sounding a little nasally to him.
She noticed the sound, evidenced by the twitching of her ears and the raising of her head. "Oh Nicky, my boy!" she cried joyfully, racing over to her kit and wrapping her motherly arms around him. "Mama! Can't… breathe…" Nick wheezed groggily. His angel of a mother immediately adjusted her grip, though she didn't let go. Nick didn't mind though. He loved being able to still get long, full body hugs from his Mama.
"You, Nicholas Piberious Wilde, you were lucky to escape that fight with only a broken nose… and two black eyes," Marian muttered, her voice a mixture of emotions, still clutching her baby tightly to her chest.
"Indeed he was," said the badger doctor, as he stepped into the room. He held the door open as Madge, Nick's friends, and the cheetah and sloth from earlier filed into the room. "This here is my Papa!" Madge squeaked.
"Well done, man! We showed them!" Harry hooted.
"Who again?" replied Nick, scratching his head. He winced when he felt a painful bump.
"You also received a slight concussion from that bat," Mr Honey reported, bearing witness to the fox kit's discomfort.
"The lions…" replied the young cheetah, slowly stepping forward, "Don't you remember?"
"Oh, now I do," mumbled Nick as the memories flooded back in. The little sloth inched forward.
"Thank… you…" he slowly spoke in a quiet voice.
"You're very welcome there–" Nick replied. But he was cut off by the sloth's irregular speech pattern.
"For… standing up… for us…" the sloth finished.
When it was certain the sloth cub wouldn't say anything else, the young cheetah spoke up, "His name's Flash. Flash Slothmore. I'm Ben. Benjamin Clawhauser. We both owe ya, Nick Wilde."
"No, it was my pleasure to help," the little fox insisted, beaming from one cheek to the other.
"Anyway, it's me that owes you," Finnick the fennec kit spoke up. Nick looked at him in bewilderment.
"I shouldn't have brought that bat to camp. The older kids just used it against us," Finnick explained.
"But at the same time you wouldn't have been able to help my boy," Marian consoled the young fennec, "You did good, young man."
"Those lion king jerks are in for it now," whistled Bradley Beatnik.
"They were escorted home by some not too happy instructors," Kirby spoke up. Andy continued the report, "And the police were called in to talk to their families."
"BUSTED!" huffed Madge with a giggle, "Serves them right!"
"One of our officers wants to speak with all of you now," a foreign voice declared from behind the assembled group of animals. All heads present turned to the doorway. A Zootopia Police Department Officer stood proud and tall at the entrance. He strutted in, his hooves clicking on the white tiles.
"I am Officer Oates, and I am here to reward you all for your brave efforts in ensuring justice amongst your community. Kids, as you may have heard from your parents, doing the right thing as an adult comes from taking the right step as youngling. So to hear about your exploits in defending one another with no discrimination nor hesitation in your hearts brings me great joy and pride. For young Nicholas here…"
The horse steadily made his way to the bedside where mother and child awaited.
"Here is a basket of chocolates and a gift card for you, young lad. I have deposited in your mother's bank account a high amount of lucrative funding."
"Thank you sir," whispered Nick in immeasurable awe.
"Bless you, Officer Oates," replied Marian, grateful tears in her eyes, "Bless you! Bless you!"
Her years of praying to God to help bring closure to their poverty problems was finally fulfilled.
"Kirby Saurus. Harrison Bray. Andrew Slash. Ollie Powell. And Bradley Beatnik," Oates continued, turning to face the group of five, "Harrison, here's that Kung Fu training book your mother told me you've always wanted."
Harry squealed as his hooves touched the leather hardcover.
"Ollie, I've heard you are quite the artist. So here is a deluxe art kit from Crayola."
"I've always wanted this! Thank you, sir!"
"Don't mention it. Kirby?"
The hippo humbly stepped forward. Oates pulled out something from behind his back.
"Weights. To help build your upper body strength for swimming. Never underestimate yourself."
"Thank you," was all the quiet words that the young hippo could muster up.
"Andrew, here is a camouflage kit, and a Nerf gun collection. I've heard about your father's exploits in the farthest regions of Pangaea. He would be very proud of you right now." [1]
The little zebra gave the officer a snappy salute.
"Madge, I have given your family 20% of my life's savings. I have never had a family of my own, but you are the closest thing to a surrogate daughter I could have ever had. May your family use that money to help you accomplish your dream of being one of Zootopia's finest doctors, like your father."
Madge cuddled up to her father's leg. She was still not even half her father's size, so she was able to still hide behind one of his legs. She could feel a warm blush creeping onto her cheeks. She peeked her little face out, and mustered up the courage to deliver a short but sweet response.
"Thank you, Mr Oates."
"For you, little Bradley, I give you a survival handbook. I know in my heart that you will use it well."
Bradley slowly took the book in silent awe. He gave a cute little smile to the officer and bowed his little head in a gesture of appreciation.
Oates turned to the cheetah and sloth cubs.
"Benjamin and Flash, I have given your parents academic books written by the best scholars, as well as top tier athletic equipment. And two boxes of donuts for you each. Train your brain and your brawn well. And you will be amazed at how far you can go."
"Sir yes sir!" grinned Clawhauser, snapping his chubby little body broomstick straight.
"Sir… yes… sir…" replied the much slower Flash. Oates kindly and patiently waited for the youngling to finish before turning to the fennec kit.
"You, young Finnick, acted like an officer in the line of duty," Oates said, taking the ZPD badge off his chest and signing it with a marker, "So it is with high praise and honour that I give you my old badge, autographed by me. Wear it well, young lad, and may you live your life by its values."
"I will, sir. I promise, sir," the young fennec vowed.
Officer Oates stood himself up. "It appears that my work here is done. High praise to you all. Well done kids, for seeking out and acting to uphold justice. And to you parents, well done for raising your kids right. Thank you all, and God bless."
A mild cacophony of grateful farewells filled the room as the officer departed.
As Oates left, all the kids locked eyes momentarily.
They were sure as heck going to live up to the promise they had made this afternoon.
Even from his bedside, Nick could hear the gallant police horse starting up his vehicle.
"Mother," he said, voice tinged with quiet yet courageous resolution.
"Yes, my child?" Marian replied, scooting over a bit to give her son room to speak.
Listening to the sirens fading in the distance, Nick decided to start pursuing his objective from this moment onwards.
"I have a dream…"
[1] In this AU, Pangaea is still a mega-continent, but Antarctica still exists at the bottom of the world. There is a reason for this which I will not spoil. And there is also a war going on. And that is all I will say on that topic right now.
So here are the ages of the main kits so far (and the list is from youngest to oldest):
Madge (6)
Flash (6)
Ben (7)
Nick (8)
Bradley (8)
Ollie (8)
Andy (9)
Harry (9)
Kirby (10)
Finnick (11)
Those lion cubs attacking them last chapter? They are 12 years old.
To answer another question some of you may be having, I have indeed taken the closing line for this chapter from Martin Luther King.
Anyhow, since this is obviously the last chapter of Nick's childhood, the next chapter onwards will be covering the plot of the movie, so hopefully the pace will be much faster – and not just in terms of story plot, but also in terms of me updating!
Funny thing is, last night I had an epiphany. I'm more prepared to write the sequel to this than I am prepared to write this story itself!
Yep, you heard me! There's a sequel planned to this already!
But I need to finish this first! And hopefully that doesn't take eons!
Don't forget to review! Thank you for reading!
Transformers 0 over the moon and out!
