It wasn't until about 11:57 PM when someone noticed a little bat perched upside down in one of the leaves of the Palm Hotel and Casino.
Reportedly, some of the lights in the Sahara Square Oasis were also being blocked, adding a degree of darkness. A crew consisting of a capybara, a bobcat, and a mysterious rodent in a thick hoodie carrying electronic equipment moved around near the entrance of the hotel, and quickly set up a stage, all casted in shadow from the hotel lights behind them. Their equipment of big speakers, rock instruments, and a bell behind the battery drums started subtly catching the attention of the public. Animals already began filming the crew on their phones and tried to zoom in on the bat in the building.
The bat sat perched there, seemingly asleep and unmoving. A camera crew had been called in, reporting the finding live and captured a closeup of her. A silver quaver necklace dangled from the bat's neck towards the ground.
The bat soon opened their wings. She was smiling confidently and her eyes showed brightness. She wore a headset. The flying fox looked up to the ground, with her necklace dangling from her neck to her snout. She looked down to the sky and slid the necklace back in place and took a breath. A small and happy voice came out of the flying fox's mouth.
"Good evening, Zootopia!" Her voice rang across the speakers, and the murmuring crowds waited in silence and anticipation. "I am Rita Rodrigues. We hope you enjoy our presentation."
At 12:00 AM, the capybara struck the bell lightly. Moments later, he struck again. At the third strike, rising voices were heard from the skies. Swarms of bats wearing mirrors on their chests flew across the sky above and sang a unified chorus. They began to chant in a vaguely gothic tone, their loud echoing voices spreading across the casino area. Animals twisted their heads around in surprise as the bats soared in synchrony, the city lights reflecting from them back at the ground below.
The capybara began to play the battery in a fast, tense rhythm, as Rita let go of the leaf and free fell. The hooded rodent played a melody in minor key in a keyboard with one hand, adding to the tense and gothic tone while Rita righted herself. Then, she spread her winds and took off.
The band then began to play a rock verse in a less rapid rhythm, but still in the same tempo. They played while the bats continued their chant and Rita soared in loops around the Palm building. Animals began to cheer and more rush to film the event in their phones. Rita pivoted her flight to make a landing at the band's stage flawlessly.
She started to sing.
Her voice drifted away from the gothic feel for a more lighthearted, smooth rock melody. The perfect pitch of her voice and control of her breath had animals rushing forward towards the stage, and began filming her. The rest of the band went through the background as Rita took the central spotlight. Her necklace glimmered in the camera flashes and Sahara lights. She glided towards the crowd during the first chorus.
At the second chorus, Rita finally flew up and joined the bats in the air. The bats followed her movements as they danced in the air, creating various shapes and even jet-like "v" formations. The lights reflected from their mirrors created a minor light-show of sorts. A bigger flying fox flew up and had his mirror pointed towards her, and created a more genuine makeshift spotlight towards her. The other bats soon followed, positioning themselves to shine bright lights to her while she sang.
The band grew quieter for a few moments, while the rodent played the same minor key melody from before. Rita descended in a corkscrew back into the stage close to the rodent, while the bats above sang their previous chorus. A brief pause occurred, and the bobcat soon performed a short guitar solo along with the capybara's drumming. During this, Rita leaned close to the crowd.
"Hey!" she called out. "Guess this makes me an acro-bat! Right?" She giggled. Behind her, the keyboardist rodent let out a silent groan.
Rita then immediately began to sing again. The bats above them descended towards the crowd of animals, and shot them friendly, toothy grins and quick hellos, much to the crowd's delights. One even seized the opportunity to try to high-paw a puma, at the risk of throwing off his flight, but got back into the air with ease and a chuckle. Rita sang with passion as the bats approached the stage and flew around it. Meanwhile, a pair of bats flew by and carried a long banner on both ends.
The bats started to fly away as the song was finishing. The two bats hung the banner above the entrance of the hotel as the music was being finished and flew away. When the capybara crashed a cymbal. Rita, the larger flying fox, and some of the other bats remained behind to take a bow, before finally flying off. The band quickly took away their equipment as fast as they could and fled into the streets of Sahara Square in the bats' direction with their stage being wheeled away. The crowd watched them go, before turning their heads towards the banner. They immediately began to murmur and take pictures of it.
'Bat Country'
it read in bright colors in a graffiti-like design, with some bat symbols and quavers decorating the blank spaces.
(A/N): Well, this is my OTHER fic I'm working on, and I'm uploading what I have so far here: it's five chapters right now. It's originally available on AO3.
The song this chapter is referencing is California by U2.