Welcome one and all to the second chapter of "Punch Out!"! Before we get started, huge news: Cimar of Turalis WildeHopps, author of "The Masked Fox" and "One Hundred Kisses" just favorited this story! I never expected such a big name in the fandom to follow this story so soon if at all. Thank you SO much to Cimar and I will see you guys at the end of the chapter. That said, on with the story!
Precinct 1 was abuzz with busy officers as the work day had begun in earnest. Entering the building at 6:30 AM sharp was none other than Zootopia's first rabbit officer, Judy Hopps, and her partner, Nick Wilde. However, while Judy was her usual chipper self, Nick was less than ecstatic to be up so early in the morning as he sipped an extra-strength coffee. You'd think that after months at the police academy he'd be used to getting up so early. This was not the case.
"Honestly, Carrots, my mind boggles at how you can be so upbeat this early in the morning," Nick said grumpily, taking a large swig of his coffee.
"It's really easy, just lots of sleep and good exercise. Maybe you should get on a better schedule. It'll do you wonders," She said, smirking at him. He rolled his eyes in response.
"Thanks, but I live healthy enough. Besides a little bit of this wakes me up just fine," He said, holding up his paper cup.
"Yeah, soon you won't need it at all; it'll replace your blood," She said, actually getting a chuckle out of the fox before a loud, booming, baritone voice rang out.
"Hopps, Wilde, my office! Now!" Chief Bogo's voice yelled firmly before the door slammed shut. They both gulped audibly.
"What did we do wrong?" Judy asked.
"I don't know. Maybe it was that thing with the tigers last week?" Nick whispered.
"That was your idea!" She muttered.
"Hey, you didn't stop me from putting down that quick sand," He whispered back as they went up to the police chief's office. They entered and the door closed behind them.
Turning around, they were met with the ever intimidating form of Chief Bogo, the cape buffalo standing tall compared to the fox and bunny.
"Have a seat," he said calmly but firmly as the two small mammals practically ran over to the two oversized chairs in front of his desk. Walking over to his chair on the opposite side of the desk, Bogo took a seat and looked down at the two officers. Before the chief could start talking, Judy beat him to the punch and started talking like a fast forwarding tape recorder.
"Chief Bogo, whatever we did, we swear it's not what you think! We did it with the best intentions in mind! It was all Nick's idea!" She spouted in a panicked tone before Bogo held up a hoof.
"Hopps, calm down," He said firmly, shutting the bunny up mid-rant. Taking a deep breath and exhaling, Judy calmed down.
"Are we calm?" Bogo asked in a soft tone and Judy nodded, "Good," He said calmly as he tented his hooves and looked between the partners, "Now, allow me to explain why I called you up here."
"You mean we're not in trouble?" Judy asked, slightly relieved but still a bit on edge.
"No, not today you're not," Bogo said as he got up from his chair and began pacing behind his desk with his hooves behind his back.
"Then why did you call us up here?" Nick asked, slightly curious.
"I have a special assignment for you two," Bogo said, stopping his pacing as he looked to the two officers, "Do either of you follow sports at all?"
"Uh, I mean I used to follow a little soccer when I was a kit and I watched some local events in my teens," Nick said after a slight pause to think.
"I follow sports. Well, not all sports, but I do follow boxing and mixed martial arts," Judy said, somewhat shocking Nick, who looked at her with his surprise quite evident on his face as she shrugged, but Bogo nodded.
"Good, then you know all about the WMBL?" He asked holding up a large poster that showed a large, intimidating photo of a black-furred gorilla standing under the letters "WMBL" in all caps with the words "Mr. Sandman" at the gorilla's waist.
"The World Mammal Boxing League! Yeah I know about them! They accept any mammal who wants to fight and they allow them to fight in fair rounds! It's great!" She said happily.
"Glad you know of it, Hopps, because you see recently there have been rumors that a new steroid has been making its way through the league. However, we don't have any concrete proof that the steroid is there. It's known as Morgana, or so they say," He said carefully.
"And there's a reason you wanted to see us specifically about this, I take it?" Nick asked.
"Yes. If rumors are to be believed, it's an off-shot of Night Howlers, mixed with something else." Bogo revealed.
Both Nick and Judy sat up just a bit straighter and looked to him with sharper eyes.
"You're sure about this?" Judy asked, her tone suddenly much less happy and much more business-like.
"No, that's the whole point. None of this is solid evidence. It's just rumors and hearsay, which is why I am sending you two to investigate these claims. You'll be going undercover and shadowing a young rookie set to join the league this year. You will stand in as two of his corner mammals while you look into this and report back. The competitor is a young rabbit by the name of 'Little' Mac Lahps," He said and Judy perked right back up.
"Mac Lahps? Oh my gosh, he got in!" Judy exclaimed happily.
"Someone you know, Fluff?" Nick asked with a raised brow.
"Yeah, he's my mom's youngest sister's son and one of my cousins. Last I saw him he was just a kid watching old boxing tapes in his living room. I can't believe he moved to Zootopia and managed to join the league!" She said happily.
"Wow, your family just doesn't do normal rabbit things do they?" Nick asked.
"Only me and him, the rest are content being farmers," She said like it was no big deal.
"Well since you know who you're dealing with, I'm sure you won't have much trouble with this. Though I will warn you that you'll be playing this for the long game. We don't know who will be using Morgana, and since the competitors are flying in from all around and won't be present until at most a week before their fights, the only way to do this is to stick with Mac throughout the league and investigate each fighter individually," Bogo explained.
"Isn't there any other way to do this, sir? Something more efficient?" Judy asked.
"If there were any other way, I would take it, Hopps. Unfortunately, there isn't."
"I understand, sir," Judy replied.
"Good. You'll find Lahps at a small gym called Doc's Boxing Gym in the Canal District. Now, you two have your orders; dismissed," Bogo said as the two officers saluted the police chief before getting up from their seats and heading out the door.
Walking down the stairs toward the front door, the duo walked by the front desk where Clawhauser was having his breakfast of donuts when he spotted the two officers walking past him.
"Hey you two," He said in his usual soft-spoken but upbeat tone, "Heard the chief call you up a second ago. You guys okay? What happened?"
"Nothing you need concern yourself with, Spots," Nick said coolly, using his nickname for the overweight cheetah, "Ol' Bogo just gave us an assignment was all."
"Ooh! What is it? Is it something serious?" Benjamin asked in a low voice like an excited child asking about a secret.
"Very serious. Can't give you any details though. Sorry, Benjamin," Judy said, disappointing the larger mammal, though he nodded in understanding. While he was the gossip of the precinct, he understood the importance of secrecy when it came to certain assignments.
"Well good luck you two. Stay safe," He replied as they left the cheetah to his breakfast.
"What do we do first, Carrots?" Nick asked as they left the precinct building.
"Well the first thing we'll need to do is go home and change out of our uniforms since this is a partially undercover job. Once we do that we'll go down and see Mac and tell him about what's going on," Judy explained her plan before noticing a small flaw in it, "Question: Where is Doc's Boxing Gym?" She asked, getting a chuckle out of her friend and partner.
"Relax, I know exactly where that is. Me and Finnick used to pass by there back when we hustled Pawpsicles. Small place, but it's hard to miss. I'll text you the address and we can meet up there after we get changed. We'll meet up in, say, an hour?" He asked.
"Right. Meet you there," She said as they split up and went their separate ways for the time being.
About an hour later, Nick found himself now dressed in his usual everyday civilian clothes, meeting up with Judy, who was dressed in a blue shirt and black jeans, just outside the gym.
"You sure this is the right place, Nick?" Judy asked, looking up at the gym's dilapidated sign, which was worn out with age, "Doesn't exactly scream 'professional boxing gym', you know?"
"As you know, Carrots, looks can be deceiving. Besides you'd be surprised at what you can find in unlikely places." Nick said seriously as they pushed open the doors and were hit with an overpowering smell.
"Okay, so it doesn't exactly smell the best," Nick admitted, using his shirt as a nose filter.
As they walked in and around the boxing ring in the center of the large, warehouse-like gym, they found a lion standing off to the side of a speed bag as a black and grey rabbit was hammering away at it.
"Come on, Mac, you're slowin' down! Do that in the ring and someone'll be more than happy to knock you out! Just fifteen more seconds! You can do it!" The greying lion said encouragingly as Mac swatted away at the bag, making it sound like a machine gun going off.
'Just ten more seconds,' Mac thought as he worked through the pain in his arms and paws, 'Five seconds. Four... Three... Two... One!'
"Time!" Doc called out as Mac delivered one last hard jab to the speed bag before dropping his arms and putting his paws to his knees; completely out of breath.
"Nice work, Mac," Doc said proudly, putting a hand on the lapin's back and giving a hard pat, "You earned yourself a break."
"Thanks, Doc," Mac said with a light chuckle as he panted in exhaustion. They were then interrupted when they heard someone clear their throat behind them. Turning around, they were met with Nick and Judy standing by and watching them.
"Can I help you two?" Doc asked. However, before either could answer the larger predator, Mac looked at Judy and raised an eyebrow before recognizing her.
"Jude?" He asked and the bunny cop smiled at the younger rabbit.
"Hey Mac," She said simply.
And that is the second chapter over and done with. Hope you all enjoyed it! Tell me your thoughts and opinions in the reviews and tell me what you thought of me making Mac Judy's cousin. Again, huge shoutout to Cimar of Turalis WildeHopps for following and favoriting this story. Hope to see you all again, and I am out!