Nick grunted as his back hit the mat for what must have been the hundredth time that afternoon. Each one another reminder of why he had spent so much time and energy trying to avoid actual fights most of his life.
"Spread your shoulders flat when you fall, disperses the energy more," Jasper said, offering his paw to help pull Nick up. The class had been at sparring practice for most of the afternoon and Nick could already tell that at least his sore body would remember this lesson tomorrow. Being around the same size, Nick and Jasper had spent the last hour taking turns tossing the other onto the academy padded mat. Not padded enough, Nick thought as he rubbed at a bruise forming at the base of his tail. Nick looked around at the large gymnasium where the rest of the training class was throwing each other about. He spotted Sutaro in the far corner being slammed to the mat by a zebra cadet, Somehow. She sprang up laughing each time and motioned for her partner to get ready for another attack. Nick just shook his head.
"Ok one more, I think I've just about got the throw down," Jasper said, walking a few steps further onto the mat before turning and assuming a fighting stance.
"You know the throw just fine, you just enjoy the chance to beat me up before it's my turn," Nick replied while stretching out his back. Still he dutifully took a few paces back and prepared to charge at the ocelot.
Jasper just shrugged and crouched slightly as Nick half-heartedly ran towards him, his arms outstretched as if holding a knife. Just as the attacking fox reached the ocelot, Jasper moved forward into the attack. While falling to one knee his arms shot up and grabbed Nick's wrist and forearm just as they swung into the empty space he had just occupied. In one fluid motion Jasper pivoted his body into the fox while tugging on the fox's arm up and over. His momentum carrying him forward, Nick soon found himself once again admiring the academy celling. Spreading his shoulders had helped lessen the impact slightly but he still gave a small groan.
"I'll admit that may play some small part," Jasper said, once again offering his paw to help Nick up. Finally, it would be Nick's chance to learn and practice how to defend against a charging knife attack, but Sargent Friedkin chose that moment to blow the whistle and end the exercise.
"Hope you're good and warmed up, boxing ring in five minutes, ladies," she bellowed to her trainees. Mammals both big and smaller rushed to the water coolers to rehydrate and groan at the prospect of further beatings. Nick had to jump to one side to avoid being crushed by an elephant and black bear, both noticeably seemed to pay no attention to their smaller teammate.
"Sparring then boxing. Are they trying to kill half of us in one day?" Jasper asked, looking around at the other cadets, most of them already sporting a bruise or two.
"Let them try!" Sutaro exclaimed, jogging up to join them. "This is almost as fun as the ice wall."
"You'd enjoy being thrown off a cliff," Jasper observed, looking up at the grinning jaguar looming over them.
"Better that than another day of filling out mock booking paperwork," Sutaro said with a shrug. They had spent most of the previous day practicing booking procedure and filling out form after form with the proper police code and procedure. Nick had prided himself on knowing more than a few police codes before he even joined but the ocean of paperwork and specialty codes was enough to make any mammal's eyes cross. Codes for species, codes for location, codes for time of day, codes for species of responding officers. The codes for a drunken squirrel arrested at noon in city central bore little resemblance to the booking sheet of an intoxicated lion over-enjoying a Tundra Town night and gods help me if any of them are left-pawed. Did that matter? Who knows, but it was still on the blasted forms.
It had taken Nick a few days to learn more about his two new, odd, friends. Jasper and Sutaro had both grown up in the cloud alley neighborhood of the Rainforest District and friends since early schooling. Both apparent outliers within their families, their personalities complimented each other, with Jasper the quiet studious type that rarely spoke without something to say while the large Sutaro rarely stopped to think or apparently care about self-preservation. Hearing Jasper tell the story, he had spent years intending to apply for the ZPD and studying for life as a police officer and had been shocked to discover Sutaro already on the bus to the academy. "I flipped a coin and it was this or join the circus, sad to say the circus lost," she claimed.
They all gathered at the base of the large boxing ring with Sargent Friedkin standing above them. "Out there you'll face everything from drunk chipmunks, porcupines on PCP, hippo gang fights and irate rhinos. If you're not ready to face adversaries of every type and size, guess what! You…"
"We're dead?" Nick interjected to a smattering of snickers and a glower from Friedkin.
"You better believe it Fire Fox, and for that you better search your way into this ring." As if on cue the ring began to shake as a towering rhino climbed through the rope and entered the ring from the other side.
"You trying to outdo Sutaro for not keeping your mouth shut?" Jasper asked as Nick gave a small groan and climbed into the ring. He was handed a pair of oversized gloves and padded helmet.
"You must be Rufus," Nick said as the rhino came towards him, the ring shaking slightly beneath his large hooves.
"And you," Rufus said, swinging a massive gloved fist towards Nick. "Must be who she wants knocked down a peg."
Nick managed to dodge to the side and avoid the clobbering. While he had seen his share of fights and been in a few scrapes himself, Nick Wilde prided himself in having avoided - well mostly avoided - having to engage in many fights during his time on the street. The rhino in front of him seemed intent on ending his peaceful streak. Here goes nothing, he thought as he turned and ran towards the padded ropes around the rings. He flung himself against the elastic rope and twisted in the air as he was hurled backwards towards the rhino, his feet angling toward his chin.
For a fleeting moment, it looked like he might just pull it off. That was until Rufus clapped both his gloved hooves quickly together in front of him. In a flash, Nick found himself hanging upside down above the mat with both his tail and legs trapped between the rhino's gloves.
"That move only worked once and you're no bunny, fox," Rufus said before tossing Nick against the corner of the ring. His ears rang and his vision swam as he collided with the corner post.
"Looks like you're—" Sargent Friedkin began to say.
"Nope, still alive over here," Nick said with a groan as he regained his feet and adjusted his helmet. If she could bring this thick brute down I can find a way. Horn face is right, have to remember that I'm a fox.
"So, horn face, it true that the farm bunny made you cry?" he called across the ring. Rufus shot him a confused frown. "Or did she knock out enough of your few brain cells that you don't remember."
Rufus took a few steps towards him. "I'm supposed to go easy on you recruits but looks like someone needs some more teaching," he said bringing his gloves together and advancing towards the fox.
"You can't have done that well in school if you ended up here with us, now can you," Nick said, circling the ring and trying to keep out of range. This better work or else I'm about to get a beating that would make Sutaro proud.
With an agility that took Nick by surprise, the rhino charged forward swinging. Nick ducked and dove to the side but still felt a dull pain as one of the rhino's gloves landed a glancing blow on his leg sending him spinning across the mat.
"Not bad for an ugly unicorn. You know, some moisturizer might do wonders for your skin, scale face" Nick said as he righted himself, just in time to dance away as the enraged bull charged at him again. Do or die he thought as he jumped up and stood, balanced on the far padded corner of the ring and faced Rufus.
"Hell, we clear up your skin, and dab a little cologne behind those ears, maybe you get an actual date Friday night and you don't have to spend your nights being beaten up by foxes and farm girls…unless that's what you're into."
With murder in his eyes the large rhino charged across the ring and towards the fox perched on the corner post. Nick waited, watching his impending doom coming closer and closer. At the last moment Nick dove forward just as Rufus unleashed a bone crushing blow. He felt the wind whistle overhead as the gloved fist missed him by inches. Tucking into a roll, Nick passed under and between the rhino's thick legs. Rufus slowed in confusion as his blow landed on empty air. Throwing all his energy into it, Nick shoved his shoulder into the back of the rhino's knee, unbalancing him and causing him to stumble to the ground against the corner ropes. Momentarily stunned, Rufus was shocked to feel the fox jump onto his chest before grabbing hold of his horn and swinging himself onto his snout, bringing the small mammal eye to eye.
"Boop," Nick said as he gently patted his gloved fist between the rhino's eyes. With a fury born out of the depth of hell Rufus raised and swung back his fist, aiming to crush the fox, like an annoying bug clinging to his face…., Nick jumped.
A dull thud reverberated around the room. No one spoke, the assembled recruits and their instructor simply staring into the ring trying to process what they had just seen.
"Class dismissed," Friedkin finally said in a low growl, taking off her cap and throwing in down. Nick hopped down from the unconscious rhino and made his way out of the ring.
"You never even threw a punch," Jasper said in surprise, still gazing into the ring.
"You get to have all the fun," muttered Sutaro.
Nick let out a nervous chuckle that he didn't know he had been holding.
"I'll let you have him all to yourself next time, though he might take me up on the cologne thing," Nick said as they headed for the exit.
He had spent most of his adult life having to outrun or outsmart one threat or another. Gambling with his freedom or whatever he had just to keep one step ahead. Narrowly escaping a beating from an irate rhino in a boxing ring seemed a pretty decent metaphor for the past decade of Nick Wilde's life. Hell, he was still gambling it all again, a former con turned cop? Double or nothing, he thought with a grimace as they walked out into the main courtyard. Nick's little stunt meant some extra time before dinner.
"You two want to check out the firing range before we eat? They train us on the shock guns next week," Jasper asked, turning down the path towards the outdoor range, followed by Sutaro.
"I'll catch you guys at dinner, make sure psycho inkblot keeps her paws off the shockers for all our sakes," Nick said, turning away and walking towards the dining hall.
"Dinner's not for two hours, Nick, not sure the building's open," Sutaro called after him in confusion.
"Don't worry, you'll thank me for it later" was all the response that Nick would offer.
The oil and garlic had just begun to sizzle in the pan, releasing a pleasantly sharp aroma into the kitchen. The small assembled audience watched as their instructor waited another long moment before transferring heaps of broccoli from a nearby pot.
"You want to boil it just enough that it starts to soften before you put it in the pan," Nick said, stirring while Bitsy stood to one side furiously taking notes. "Once in the pan…." He used one paw to keep the pan moving over the heat while reaching with the other up to the spice rack. Without breaking his rhythm he grabbed the small canister and gave it a couple of vigorous shakes over the broccoli, "add the oregano." Stirring for a few moments longer he reached his other paw out towards the cutting board and the freshly sliced lemon before squeezing it over the pot. "Another three and half minutes or so, add a bit of pepper and it should be good to go." He motioned to the raccoon standing beside him to take over the stirring duties and turned his attention to the main dishes. Cricket and shrimp stir fry or squash and carrot casserole. He'd chosen some simple dishes, figuring that even Bitsy and her crew couldn't mess them up too badly. Still he watched carefully as a nervous porcupine chopped vegetables next to the crickets cooking in oil. "Cut the peppers thinner and take the crickets out before they disintegrate, it's a stir fry not a stew."
It had only taken a few minutes of talking to Bitsy for Nick to come to the troubling realization that almost none of the kitchen staff had any experience in the seemingly relevant field of, well, cooking. Bitsy's boss had muttered something about budget shortages and "resource allocation priorities" before moving her and half the office support staff over to kitchen duty.
That brown glop they'd been serving could have doubled as crime scene evidence. It wasn't like Nick really had much of an option other than to step in and help. He was a good public servant now after all. With a few quick lessons and some guidance, they had at least learned how to chop vegetables and not overcook the broccoli. The next challenge was going to be getting the kitchen better ingredients than the cheaply grown, deep frozen, fruits and vegetables from the city suppliers.
His thoughts were interrupted as Bitsy rushed up beside him whipping her hands on her apron.
"Mr. Wilde, we've got both the stir fry and the casseroles out and ready to serve! And most of the pies didn't come out too burnt this time!" The older sheep was managing to make eye contact with him now, but her voice still quivered with excitement mixed with nerves.
"I keep telling you, call me Nick, Fluffs, and good job. Double check that your crew have the stock for the stew tomorrow. You turn in those order forms I gave you?" Nick asked as he took off his own apron. He couldn't really spend much time back here trying to turn secretaries into chefs.
"I did, Mr. Nick, most of them should ship to us next week but, well, a couple came back rejected. Something about them not having the appropriate city stamp on the order form," she said as she nervously passed him a small folder of forms. Nick took a quick glance at the order forms. It had been a long shot, but Nick had hoped that a few would slip unnoticed past whatever city bear and cats were in charge of approving food orders.
"Leave this to the sneaky fox, Ms. Butterhorn. The hungry stomachs of Zootopia's finest must be filled, stamp or no stamp."
"Well, you've already helped me out, who knew salmon could go bad. Did you teach yourself to cook?"
"Nope," Nick said as he headed for the door. "My mother was the cook. She always told me, 'A long as you know how to cook you'll never go hungry or unwelcome in any kitchen.'"
"She was right about that last part," Bitsy called after him.
Dinner that night turned out to be more than adequate and Nick found some satisfaction in watching as his friends, and the rest of the recruits, chowed down on what almost passed for decent institutional grub. Have to get ahold of that stamp, he idly thought to himself as he finished up, returned his tray and started walking through the campus towards the dorm. The warm afternoon was giving way to the cool evening breeze. A certain small fellow fox might, with finesse, be persuaded to aid in the endeavor if...
"A 10-53 with a A-CR pairing," the low voice besides him startled him out of his thoughts. Jasper seemingly had the enviable ability to go unnoticed and simply appear out of the shadows. The ocelot's stoic face would never show it, but Nick figured Jasper got a small kick out of surprising those that underestimated or forgot him.
"Well nice to see you, spook. Yes, the apple pie was tasty, no, I didn't think the casserole was overcooked but could have used more salt... how are you this fine evening?"
"A 10-53 with a A-CR responding pairing, how do you respond?" Jasper said, not breaking stride besides Nick.
"Well yes, a good old 10-53, well, that's a…building fire…no, a speeding truck… No! It's a vehicular accident?" but Jasper just remained silent. Nick rolled his eyes and continued. "And the A-CR pairing…it's a some sort of accident and first two officers responding are a large cat and…a rhino?"
"So it's either a building fire, a speeding truck, or a vehicular accident and the responding officers might be a large cat and a rhino or maybe it's a camel and a raccoon." Jasper looked down at the fox beside him. "Have you been reviewing the material I gave you?"
Nick opened his mouth, hoping for a characteristic witty response but nothing came out. The truth was he had, and well, it still wasn't enough. Hour after hour long into the night he had reviewed and read study guides and text books until figures and dispatch codes swam through his dreams. Yet the desk in his cramped academy dorm room was filling with red marked exam papers and progress reports, Not meeting ZPD standards, Needs Further academic review... They kept on coming up with new phrases for saying "The clever fox is too dumb for police work."
"I'm working on it," Nick said, trying not to let the mounting frustration seep into his voice, and failing.
"It's not all chasing down bank robbers, getting rhinos to knock themselves out, or tricking crooked sheep into self-incrimination, it's learning the justice system behind it all. It may not be as exciting but it's how the ZPD works as a cohesive unit."
"And what if the system is bullshit?" Nick said, sounding more bitter than he had intended.
"Well, then we learn the bullshit," Jasper chuckled. "Hell, if Sutaro can learn it then surely the great Nick Wilde can ace a few test questions."
Nick felt his cheeks flush under his fur. It was good that it was dark out, and well, being a fox his face was always red. Sure, he was doing better than that first week in the academy classroom and could probably recite the S.I.A.E.N method chapter and verse. Yet the more he studied the more it felt like he was treading water and slowly sinking. Nick would admit that he might not technically be what would be considered a good student. The world outside the classroom had seemed infinitely more interesting than what the textbooks held. He had finished high school but thinking of those days brought memories that he tried to keep locked away. Long nights as Mara tried to hammer any subject into his thick skull, the hidden look of disappointment on his mom's face.
"Yeah, well, the great 'Nick Wilde' is failing Police Procedure and it's not shaping up too well for the midterm exam next month, If I don't..." he turned towards Jasper only to discover that the ocelot had vanished as suddenly as he had first appeared.
"Show off," Nick muttered loudly into the gathering darkness. His good mood from dinner quickly soured as he made it back to his sparse academy dorm.
Through a combination of following the Judy's advice, and the more likely fact that no one else wanted to room with the shifty fox, Nick had managed to snag one of the few small first floor single rooms. It made Judy's apartment seem spacious, but at least he was spared the snores of an elephant roommate. A desk sat beside a small window that looked out onto the academy courtyard and was piled high with textbooks and study sheets. Most of them were covered with the angry red X's and corrections of Academy instructors, Logan Bull eagerly leading the pack.
In this small cramped quiet place without any judging eyes, Nick felt his shoulders slump. A groan that was half growl emerged from deep within. It would be another long night of flipping through books and looking at study sheets while trying to get his mind to absorb a seeming sea of information. Can't BS your way out of this one, Nick my friend, he thought, opening their textbook All Criminals Great and Small.
It wasn't that Nick thought himself dumb. He had spent his entire adult life surviving on his wit. He had talked himself into and out of more than his share of situations. The world expected a sly conniving fox, and, well, he figured he might as well become the best at what the world wanted of him. Until now that hadn't included studying the proper way to write up a drunk zebra or which way to kowtow to a cow that happened to be a superior officer.
He would spend long into that night trying to make it all stick, but the dark conclusion that his mind reached in the small hours was as simple as it was bleak. I'm going to fail out of this place. Strangely it was the image of one grey face and disappointed lavender eyes that kept flashing through the tired fox's mind.