A/N: Nick and Robbie begin to experience the physical side of academy training, which turns out to be more complicated than expected.
Hey look, it didn't take me a year to update! New job seems to be working out well for my mental and writing health. Fingers crossed it continues. :)
Thanks to BeecroftA, J Shute, Bloodfox22, Guest, Mikey2084, side-fish, Medic 27, Tinbuzzard11, Wolfx1120, Omnitrix 12, RassyEyefur, Blkdragon7, Cimar of Turalis WildeHopps, IIIFenrisIII, InTheLionsDenOnDA, Kochich, Declanflannery, and BoltDMC (15 times!) for reviewing!
Also, a special thanks to BeecroftA for editing this chapter.
Chapter 16: Negotiations
Nick could have sworn he heard something.
"…Scorching sandstorms!"
Then again, it was pretty hard to tell when his world was a sea of orange. It was sand. And it was everywhere. The oversized fans at the other end of the pit he was in were blasting at full speed, kicking up wave after wave of sand into the fox's face. The winds were strong enough that he could actually feel the impact of the granules through his fur. Never a good sign.
"What did she say?!" Robbie yelled from somewhere beside him.
"Keep your head down!" Nick yelled back, shielding his mouth with a paw. Some sand still got in, much to his displeasure. He wished he had his usual go-goggles and bandana that he normally brought around when he was in Sahara Square.
I'm pretty sure even the sandstorms in Zootopia aren't nearly as bad as this…
Despite the obvious discomfort, this part of the acclimatisation wasn't as bad as he thought it would have been. Mostly due to the large elephant that was trudging along in front of him. Once he'd seen what this obstacle course was about, he'd immediately lined up behind the largest mammal in his group. The elephant's large posterior definitely helped to make for a nice buffer, although Nick couldn't stick around behind him for too long, or it would have been too obvious. Instructor Friedkin would most definitely have called him out for it.
"T…too strong…" Robbie coughed from beside Nick. The bunny seemed to be struggling to push forward any further than a quarter of the way through the course. Even though it was hard to see through all of the sand, in the corner of his eye, Nick saw him sliding backwards and sinking deeper into the pit.
It was hard for Nick to even lift his paw without feeling like he was going to lose his grip on the already loose sand. Robbie was already slipping further away.
I have to help him…
"Grab on!" Nick yelled out, swinging his tail over to the bunny, practically smooshing it in his face. Robbie didn't hesitate, grabbing on with both paws.
Nick grunted, feeling the strain around the base of his tail. He forced himself to make a few small steps forward before the sand could bury him. The elephant in front of him had already moved further ahead, meaning Nick was taking the full brunt of the winds again.
Just when he felt like he was sinking too deep, the deafening roar suddenly died down, and with it the artificial sandstorm. Nick slumped onto the sand, coughing. Robbie had already sunk a quarter of the way in at this point, still clinging on to Nick's tail.
A large shadow passed over them both. They both raised their heads to see a polar bear standing just outside of the pit, looking over the cadets.
"…that's the end of acclimatisation! Take note of how far you've gotten, because next time onwards, you're going to be timed on how fast you can clear each course."
Instructor Friedkin glanced over at Robbie, who quickly let go of Nick's tail. The polar bear grunted.
"…That means by yourself. No help from anyone else. Is that clear, Wilde?" her head turned to glare at Nick.
Nick forced himself not to look defiant. He knew how that tended to turn out. "Well, if we were fighting through a sandstorm and my partner was in trouble, I would do whatever I could to help…ma'am."
"If your uninjured partner can't handle this, then they don't have any business being a cop, now do they? Alright, next group! The rest of you in the pit, get out of there!" Friedkin called out.
Robbie shrunk a little as the polar bear moved back towards the fans, presumably in preparation to turn them back on. Nick grunted, standing up and dusting himself off. Robbie pushed himself unsteadily to his feet.
"Ugh, that didn't go so good. Thanks for the tail, Nick."
"You're welcome. But try not to make this a habit. I still want it attached to my body by the end of this." Nick shook his leg and tail, while sand poured out of his shirt and shorts. "Ugh, I'm going to be finding sand in my bed weeks from now."
"It wasn't the worst part of training today at least…" Robbie groaned, knocking the side of his head to get the sand out of his ears.
"Which was the worst? The one where you fell into ice water, jumped out squealing like a little girl, and then still ended up falling back in? Or the one where you made it to the top of the log climb, slipped, and somehow managed to hit every log on the way down?"
"Don't remind me of that." Robbie groaned. "I do not need Friedkin telling me I failed again."
"It was pretty funny though. She kept going 'dead!' with every log you bounced off of. She looked like she was having a lot of fun. I even heard her saying something about it being 'nostalgic'. I wonder why…" Nick smirked at the thought of a certain other bunny going through the same thing. He would have paid a lot to have a video of that.
"I wouldn't know." Robbie grumbled. He dusted his shorts, before climbing out of the sandpit unsteadily. "After what's happened so far, I'm just glad I'm still in one piece."
"I think my ears aren't. Those fans are ridiculously loud. Not to mention the polar bear. I might need a hearing aid after this." Nick replied, before glancing around to make sure said polar bear wasn't in earshot to hear that.
"Well, let's hope the next part of today's training is quieter." Robbie sighed.
"What was it supposed to be again?"
"Welcome to SCENARIO TRAINING!"
Nick flattened his ears, rubbing his paws over them.
"As I'm sure you're all aware, you will go through many complicated scenarios involving civilians. An officer doesn't just depend on muscle and weapons to solve problems. They need to use this!" The brown bear standing in the middle of the training shed pointed at his head.
"And maybe less of this." Nick whispered to Robbie, pointing at his own mouth. "Seriously, it's like all the instructors have some screws loose around their volume knob."
"Did you say something, Wilde?" the instructor snapped back towards him.
"No, sir! We have to use our brains, Instructor Shake, sir!" Nick called back.
The instructor narrowed his eyes, but decided to continue on with his speech.
"Now, don't go thinking that you can get away with doing anything you want because you wear the badge. We have this little thing called Rules of Engagement. You can only apply the necessary amount of force to resolve a situation. No escalation unless absolutely necessary. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, sir!" the unit yelled out in unison.
"Now, you will be working in pairs for this exercise. Pair up with the person next to you. After that, I want you two down here!" The bear pointed straight at a black panther and a grey jaguar sitting in front of him. The two of them recoiled a little, but quickly stood up, making their way down to the floor.
The training shed they were in was a fairly large open-air shelter that was located just behind the building where Nick's bunk was. In fact, Nick could see his bunk window from the training shed itself. He sighed inwardly, wishing he was lying in bed instead of sitting on the uncomfortable stone steps of the shed.
He returned his gaze to the middle of the floor, where the instructor tossed what looked like a utility belt to each of the felines.
"On a patrol, you will normally have a range of equipment at your disposal. This exercise is all about using the tools at your disposal to resolve situations." Instructor Shake stated.
Nick glanced over at the belt. There was a baton, what looked to be a small bottle of pepper spray, pawcuffs, and a taser. All fake, presumably, although they did look pretty real.
"We have experienced trainers here who are familiar with many situations. They will be participating along with several helpers. Now, scenario one! Rowdy gangsters!"
The two felines on the training floor suddenly found themselves being approached by a group of five hippos, who up to this point, had been hiding around the edges of the training shed. The hippos moved in, smirking and cracking their knuckles in order to appear convincing. They were certainly dressed for the part too, with loose t-shirts, baggy pants, beanies, and an assortment of bling, like gold chains and belts.
"I guess that's where the training budget went." Nick whispered to Robbie while shaking his head.
"Uhh, sir, what are we supposed to do?" The panther called out.
"Handle the situation." Instructor Shake replied, motioning to the hippos. "I'll give a debriefing after you're done." With that, he went and sat on the sidelines to observe.
The hippos then moved in closer, circling the felines, as if sizing them up. The panther and jaguar weren't small by any means, but the hippos were a fair bit larger than average. Not to mention there were five of them.
"Eh, lookit them coppers. Can ya believe it?" The first hippo started.
"Looks more like a couple of scaredy cats to me!"
"Hey, ain't that cop that Rozo fella?"
"Naw, he can't be Rozo! But then again, all them black cats look alike, don't they?" The entire group of hippos roared in laughter. The panther flinched, glancing down at his belt and reaching for the pepper spray.
"Woah, look at 'em trying to be all fierce! Whatcha gonna do to me, copper? You gonna shoot me?"
"Hey black kitty, gonna give me bad luck?" another hippo sneered at the panther.
The panther and jaguar looked at each other uneasily. Shake was still silent, crossing his arms and watching from the sidelines.
One of the hippos pulled out a phone, pointing the camera straight at them.
"Man, look at them ugly mugs! They look like they got rejected by their own mommas!"
"And wow, so many weapons! Someone must be overcompensating for something, eh?" One of them sneered. The rest of the recruits on the sidelines snickered.
"Hey, did ya know that kitties have a pretty funny reflex response? Watch this!" One of the hippos took a quick swipe at the jaguar's face, though not making contact. The jaguar instinctively recoiled, taking a leap back and hunching down low. The hippos burst out into laughter again.
The jaguar had his paw on his pepper spray, but hesitated. The panther on the other hand, didn't. He immediately grabbed the baton on his belt and immediately swung it at the nearest hippo. The baton made a hollow 'thunk' sound upon impact with the hippo's chest, indicating it was definitely not the real deal. The rest of the watching audience wouldn't have thought so though, based on the way the hippo screamed in pain before falling over. The other hippos stared for a moment. Two of them backed away, while the other two immediately moved in to try and pull their wounded partner back.
The panther, following up with the jaguar's response, pulled out the bottle of pepper spray and depressed the nozzle, spraying it straight at the two hippos who were trying to pull their companion away. The two of them went down as well, clutching their faces and screaming.
"My eyes!"
"It burns!"
"Down on the ground! Paws over your heads! You have the right to uh…remain silent!" The panther said, while the jaguar approached the other hippos, who were already beating a hasty retreat.
"Alright, that's enough! Thank you very much, gentlemen. You can stop screaming now." Instructor Shake groaned.
"They must have gone to the same acting school as your sister." Nick whispered to Robbie.
"What do you mean by that?" Robbie replied quizzically, as the hippos got up, dusting their baggy shorts and gracefully retreating to the corner of the shed.
Instructor Shake cleared his throat, looking at the two felines.
"Right…now let's do a debriefing. Who thinks this was a successful scenario?"
Half the room nodded, the other half shrugged.
"Whoever thought that this was well handled, you're going to sign on that form over there to send you to the psychiatrist. This was an excellent example…of what you're not supposed to do!" The bear turned to the slightly smaller felines. "Care to explain your actions?"
"They were harassing us, sir! I mean, you saw how he swiped his paw at us…right?" The jaguar said, sounding a little less confident towards the end. His panther buddy nodded in agreement.
"True, even though there wasn't any physical contact, an officer can retaliate with force if he believes that there's a risk of harm." Shake replied. "But did the two of you even do anything to deescalate the situation? As far as I could see, you two were completely silent throughout, until you went straight to 'assault and arrest them'."
The two felines didn't have a response. The rest of the recruits mumbled amongst themselves, while a few of them chuckled. Instructor Shake glanced back at the rest of the recruits waiting on the sidelines.
"The rest of you better not laugh, because all of you are going to get the chance to be down here. And now that we've had a nice demonstration on what NOT to do, the rest of you won't get it as easy. Now, moving on to the next scenario…Wilde! You're next. Who's your partner?"
"Oh, that would be Robbie here, sir." Nick called out. Robbie's ears immediately shot up as the rest of the recruits turned simultaneously to look at them.
"Well then get both your tails down here. Your scenario is to deal with a hostage situation. Rescue the hostage, and apprehend the hostage-taker."
The rest of the recruits let out a variety of sounds, that ranged from amused chuckles to disbelieving laughs. Nick was unmoved, standing up and walking down to the floor with a calm smile on his face as the panther and jaguar returned to their seats. Robbie was close behind, looking noticeably less relaxed.
"Umm…do we have any more info than that, sir?" Robbie asked as they stepped onto the stone floor.
"Reports come in like this, you'll be asked to be first response. You don't expect to always have all the information available, do you?" The instructor crossed his arms.
"N-no, sir." Robbie gulped.
"Good. You can start when you're ready."
Nick barely had time to react as a couple of belts were tossed over to him and Robbie. They looked slightly different from the belts that the felines were using in the previous scenario. For one, there wasn't a taser or a baton, but there was a pair of pawcuffs, and a dart gun. It was a pretty crude replica of the real thing; the normally bright orange dart loaded at the top of the gun was replaced by a small rubber ball. And of course, the belts were a good size smaller. Thankfully adjustable, although it still looked comically oversized on Robbie. The two of them began to fit them on, Robbie cinching the belt on his to the very last notch.
As Nick adjusted his belt, he could already hear the whispering coming from the other recruits. He didn't need to have Robbie's large ears to hear what some of the others were saying.
"A fox and bunny? This should be good."
"Probably the best entertainment we're going to get today. How long do you think they'll last?"
"I'd say a month."
"I'd say a week."
"I'd say till 5.30."
More chortling. Nick heard it loud and clear, but it wasn't anything new. He let out a long exhale; this wasn't enough to bother him. Not even close.
But…
He glanced over at Robbie. The bunny's ears were definitely twitching. He was trying to put on an indifferent face, but it was still pretty obvious that he'd heard the words as well. Not surprising, considering his ears were twice the size of Nick's.
"A-ah, p-please help…!" A soft female voice squeaked, drawing Nick's attention away. He glanced over across the floor. A stoat was hanging above the ground, with a grey-furred arm around her waist. That left arm belonged to a wolf. In his other arm was a long knife, which was pressed to the stoat's neck.
"C-coppers! Stay back, I'm telling you! Drop your weapons!" The wolf yelled out, taking a step back.
"Hey bud, relax. We can't hurt you with these. I mean, this is probably filled with water." Nick shrugged, taking out the 'pepper spray' bottle and pressing the nozzle in front of him. A fine mist shot out, which thanks to a timely gust of wind, drifted right towards Robbie.
"Hey!" Robbie sputtered, instinctively swatting his arm to try and get it away from him, before realising it actually was just water.
"See? Harmless. So, uh, why don't you just let the weasel go and we can sit down for a drink? What do ya like? Beer? Whiskey? You look like a whiskey kinda guy."
The hostage piped up, clearing her throat. "Actually, I'm a stoat—"
"You trying to be funny?" The wolf growled. "You think I'm playing around? I swear I'll kill her! I mean it!"
"Was I trying to be funny?" Nick whispered to Robbie. "Do you think I should have offered cognac?"
More laughter from the crowd. Nick wasn't sure whether the laughing was with him or at him, although it wouldn't really have made a difference either way. Robbie gulped, taking a side glance at the instructor, who didn't look all too pleased.
"Nick…I don't think we should…I mean, let's try talking to him, at least. Before Instructor Shake gives us another earful."
"Meh, alright fine." Nick shrugged. "So how do you want to do this?"
"Me?" Robbie replied, sounding surprised.
"I don't see any other bunny around here…" Nick glanced around.
"R-right. Okay, umm…let's see…"
Robbie took a tentative step forward.
"Sir…my name's Robbie. This is Nick. We're not here to hurt you."
"T-then put down your weapons! I, I have demands!"
"Should I get a notepad?" Nick asked.
"Alright, sir. I'll put my gun away." Robbie replied, unholstering it. Nick saw the brown-furred rabbit glance back at him, and then down at Nick's belt.
Ah, I see. Not bad, Flatfoot.
"Give me your dart gun!" The wolf demanded, motioning to the obviously fake shooter on the belt.
"I…" Robbie started, glancing down at said weapon.
"Woah there, we can't do that." Nick whispered, slowly edging himself to Robbie's side.
"But…"
"If you give that to him, you're basically giving him a 'I can do whatever I want' card."
"That's…ngh…" Robbie gulped. He took a deep breath.
"I…can't do that, sir." He said to the wolf, his tone hesitant. "But look, I'm putting it down." Robbie bent down, placing the dart gun on the ground to his right before pushing it back behind both him and Nick. The piece of plastic slid across the floor, clearly out of reach of all of them.
The bunny stood up again tentatively, holding his paws out. Nick wasn't sure whether the wolf actually knew that he was armed as well, or if it was part of the skit. Either way, the 'correct move' was probably not to use the dart gun at all.
Or I could try to pull a fast one and shoot him while he's distracted.
Nick inwardly rolled his eyes. He was thinking way too hard for something that was just a simulation. He wasn't sure why he suddenly felt like taking it seriously all of a sudden. It was pretty obvious what the purpose of this little simulation was, and what the instructor was looking out for. He probably did need to play along—at least for a little bit—to avoid getting chewed out.
"I'm not going to hurt you. Please, tell me what you want, and I'll see what I can do. Did something happen?" Robbie continued.
"I…I need the money! You don't understand! I have to…I have to pay up, or I'll…" the wolf gulped.
"It's all right. What do you need the money for?" Robbie took a step forward.
"Don't come any closer! Stay back!"
"Alright, I'll stay." Robbie held his paws up, before lowering them. "Just tell us what you need the money for."
"The mafia! I need to pay them back, or my daughter…she'll be…"
"I understand. We don't want your daughter to be hurt. Has she been kidnapped? If you tell us, we can help you find her," the bunny said gently.
"Yeah, just tell us which mafia took her." Nick added. "I know all the mafias out there. You can always negotiate something with them. Trust me, they won't hurt your daughter, even if you don't have money. They know it's a stupid move if they tried anything like that. Just come with us, and we'll help get your daughter back. And we can close an eye…or two about this whole situation."
"R-really?"
"Of course." Nick nodded. Not really.
"Then, I don't need to…you…you promise you'll help?" the grey wolf stammered, sounding rather unsure.
"We promise." Robbie nodded, holding out his paw. "No one needs to be hurt. Just let the lady go, and we'll work something out."
The wolf's arm was trembling now. Slowly, he lowered his knife, and loosened his grip around the little stoat and letting her slide to the ground. She squeaked, quickly pushing herself away from him and making a beeline straight towards Nick.
"Oh my gosh oh my gosh I'm alive…!" she gasped, grabbing on tightly around Nick's waist. "T-thank you, officers!"
"Heh, you can thank the bunny for that. By the way, you should tone down a little on the cutesy-wutesy acting. Damsel in distress is kind of a cliché thing, you know? Oh wait, too self-aware. Sorry. Ahem…don't worry ma'am, we'll take care of things from here. You can get behind me where it's safe." Nick chuckled.
"O-of course."
The wolf slowly raised his paws in the air, getting down on his knees.
"Hey, not bad, Flatfoot. You actually managed to convince him not to do anything stupid. Which is pretty hard to do, all things considered."
"Right…we still need to take him in, though. Oh, um, the cuffs! Ah, hang on, let me see how this works—"
"Ow!" Nick jumped, feeling a dull throb in his neck. There was a soft thud on the ground right next to his feet. Looking down, he saw a round rubber ball rolling in a small circle before coming to a stop right at his feet.
"What the—"
He spun, just in time to see the dainty stoat they had just rescued, dashing forward towards Robbie. With an unexpected speed, the stoat jumped right at the brown-furred bunny, immediately knocking him off his feet onto his back. She immediately pulled a knife out of her sleeve and pressed it against Robbie's neck. She was holding Robbie's dart gun in her other paw—the one he had placed on the ground earlier and pushed aside.
"Wait, what are you…" Nick blinked.
"How's that for cutesy-wutesy acting, sweetheart?" The stoat grinned at Nick. The fox could only stare.
"Alright, that's the end of the simulation!" The bear bellowed. "Stella, you can let the bunny go now."
"Of course." The stoat smirked at the bewildered bunny, winking at him before letting him go.
"Hang on a minute, what's going on?" Nick groaned, bending down and picking the rubber ball off the ground.
"That would be a 2A tranquiliser, meant for medium-sized mammals like yourself, Mister Suave Fox. Normally, you would be out cold and on the ground right now." Stella said, the smirk still showing on her face. "And you, bunny boy, would be helpless, without any of your gear." She motioned towards Robbie, holding up his dart gun and his pawcuffs up in the air.
"But…why did you attack us? I thought you were a hostage." The bunny slowly got to his feet, a confused look on his face.
"That's because she was asked to do it, as part of the simulation." Instructor Shake cleared his throat. "Though rushing you with a knife was specifically for you, since you and Wilde are the only mammals she could realistically take on."
"You mean from the start, she was…" Nick trailed off. He couldn't believe it. They managed to pull a fast one on him? The police academy? That shouldn't even have been possible; they weren't supposed to be this creative!
"As an officer, you have to always be prepared for the unexpected. You may not come across a scenario where your hostage turns out to be an assailant, but the whole point of this scenario was to see whether you were alert. You thought it was over when you got the hostage away, but things could always turn south, for any variety of reasons. Another thing to take note, always keep an eye on your gear! The last thing you want happening is for civilians to go about touching, or worse, taking your equipment. You'd be written up for that if that happened, by the way, especially if it's a weapon. Not to mention…" Shake said, turning to address the rest of the recruits.
Great, now I have to listen to this whole 'expect the unexpected' spiel…Nick groaned inwardly. I wasn't expecting that until next month…
"…And Wilde! I hope you're planning to be serious sometime this century. Unless you're planning to make a career quipping than actually doing policework. Robbie, you've got too much of a 'deer in the headlights' thing going on. Once you saw that your hostage had turned on you and shot your partner, you should have responded faster. You're not fighting a rhino. A stoat should be something even you can handle."
"Not that he would have had a chance if I were serious…" Stella huffed, looking at her claws. There was audible laughter coming from the other recruits.
"…yes, sir." Robbie replied, shrinking a little.
Shake cleared his throat.
"But for positives, I can say that you two at least demonstrated restraint. There were efforts at de-escalation. Also, good on not giving up your weapons when the hostage-taker asked for it. That would be a fatal mistake, even if the hostage's life was at risk. So to recap for everyone here, always be alert, and don't take anything for granted. This is an extreme scenario, yes, but after what happened over the last few months, we can't take anything for granted anymore. That's all for you two. Next pair!"
There was more murmuring from the spectators as Nick and Robbie returned to their seats, while a rhino and lion took their place. As Nick climbed up the steps, he noticed some of the recruits giving him a mixed bag of looks. Some smirks, a few rolling of eyes, a few dismissive scoffs…most of them were familiar gazes.
Ah well, it's not like I didn't expect this.
"Hey Wilde, nice job down there. Introduce us to some of your mafia friends sometime, won't ya?" One of them, a rhino, snickered. "Do they have good drinks in there?"
"Of course they do, Francis," Nick replied, without missing a beat. "Let me guess, you're a shandy guy?"
The rhino scoffed, but he was cut off by some shouting coming from below, effectively ending the conversation. The rhino turned back to the front as Nick and Robbie took their seats. Nick glanced over at the training floor. It looked like the next pair of recruits were trying to talk to a goat that had what looked like explosives strapped to his waist.
"Oh, this one should be good." Nick whispered to Robbie. "Any bets on whether they'll blow up?" Nick turned his head to his right. Robbie didn't respond, seeming a little distracted. The bunny eventually realised Nick was looking at him, and quickly looked up.
"…huh? Oh sorry, Nick. What did you say?"
"Hey, relax, Flatfoot. We're done for the day. After this is dinner. And you know what it is today, right?"
The bunny paused, then nodded silently, looking a little nervous.
Maybe he's just worried about later, Nick thought. Still, it seemed like it was more than just nerves at what they were going to do tonight. Something seemed to be troubling the bunny.
Nick had a pretty good idea of what it was.