Chapter 4: The Nocturnal Strip
-Told by Nick-
"Are you sure we're not lost?" asked Hopps as we were driving through a seemingly deserted section of Sahara Square.
"C'mon Carrots, Ray isn't that dumb. We're on the right track."
"But we are going down Muerto Canyon Road, it's a dead end. There's nothing there but an old condemned mine shaft."
"Looks can be deceiving, just sit back and enjoy the view."
She looked out the window. "What view? There's sand, and the occasional rock formation."
I looked at her, she looked beautiful. "Yeah? Well the view is perfect from where I'm sitting, you look stunning in that dress." I said.
She turned around. "Stop teasing me about the dress." she was fidgeting with the hem of the dress, I could tell she felt insecure about wearing it.
"Fine, I'll stop. But in all seriousness, you look just fine." I did couldn't tell her that I wasn't teasing her at all. She really did look stunning.
We reached the old mine shaft at the end of the road. The limo screeched to a halt. We waited there for several minutes.
"What are we waiting for?" Hopps asked nervously.
Two sand cats came out of the mine entrance and walked up to the limo. One of them was carrying a step ladder and the other was carrying a crowbar.
"Aww, look how tiny they are!" squealed Carrots.
"Don't be fooled by their adorable faces, Fluff. These sand cats are vicious, think of Finnick but twenty times worse. Better let me do the talking."
One of the sand cats placed the step ladder down and climbed up it. He knocked on the door. I rolled down the window. "Good evening my fine gentlemen." I said.
"What business do you have here, fox? And what's that bunny doing with you?" he asked in a very deep voice.
"We're here from Los Bangales, we heard there were some great casinos down on the strip and I thought I'd try my hand while we're in Zootopia. I never lose with my lucky rabbit here."
"You know the password?"
"Long live the Knights of Nocturne." I said, hoping that they didn't change the password since the last time I had been down there.
The sand cat glared at me, then at Hopps. "Okay, you check out. Enjoy the Strip." the sand cat hopped off of the step ladder and he and his partner walked back to the entrance of the mine. The one with the crowbar hit a button and the ground right in front of the mine opened up, and a large automobile elevator emerged from the depths of the hole.
Hopps was amazed at the sight of the large elevator appearing out of the darkness below. "Sweet cheese and crackers, did you see that Nick?"
"If you're amazed by that, then you're really in for it when we go under." I said.
The sand cats appeared on either side of the elevator, they motioned for Raymond to drive forward. He put the car in drive and slowly moved his way onto the elevator.
"That's good!" one of the sand cats yelled.
Raymond put the limo in park and we started to go down.
Judy was practically jumping out of her skin with excitement.
"Carrots, play it cool. We're not going to Disneyworld. We're undercover, remember? And this place is dangerous. So get all of your quirky bunny habits under control."
"I'm sorry, it's just this is our first undercover mission together. And I've never been to the Nocturnal Strip before. Heck, I've never even heard of it until last night. So what's it like?"
I sighed as I looked out of the window, we were going deeper and deeper. You could just barely hear the music, the commotion, and the hustle and bustle of the strip. "You'll see soon enough."
"You don't seem too excited about this."
"I really didn't love the idea of going back down there."
She stopped bouncing around her seat and crawled closer to me. "So what happened to you down ther anyway?" she asked with that murderous tone of concern in her voice.
"It's just… the neon lights and glamor does a really good job at hiding the filthy corruption that has a firm grip on the poor animals who live on the strip. And the sad truth is that part of me never left, Carrots. This is where I learned how to hustle, after all."
"It is?"
"Yeah, but I'll spare you the sob story and just tell you that the faster we can get out of here the better."
She leaned in closer and gently placed her hand on my arm. "You can tell me, c'mon Nick. I'm your partner, and more importantly I'm your friend."
"So you're using guilt to get the story outta me?" I asked, smiling at her.
"Nick, I'm serious. I'm here for you, please tell me."
"Fine…" I took another deep breath. "Do you remember the little muzzle incident that happened when I was a kid I told you about?"
She nodded.
"It really opened my eyes about how I was viewed by your average citizen in Zootopia. I guess I never really paid attention to the snide comments they would make whenever my mom and I would walk down the street to get ice cream or through the park. You know, one time at school, I even overheard my teacher say 'I have that fox in my class. I would take any other animal over him. You do know why foxes are red, don't you? Because they're made by the devil'. Most prey parents wouldn't let me play with their kids, even some predator parents got extra nervous when 'that no good little fox' tried to play with their kids. I was so upset at the world that I fell into the wrong crowd."
I stopped, hoping that she had heard enough. Hopps tightened her grip on my arm. "Go on."
"These kids were a grade or two higher than I was. One of them was a skunk named Cain Toxocara, and his father was a member of the Nocturne Knights. He brought me down to the strip one day and that's when I began my petty life of crime. I learned everything I know from my years hanging with Cain and his friends. It about broke my mom's heart. She told me before she passed away to become more than what the world views me as. I guess I disappointed her, huh?"
Judy put her head on my shoulder. "Oh Nick, you've come way above what they saw you as. You are brave, loyal, helpful and trustworthy." she started to tear up.
I lightly pushed her off of my shoulder and placed her down on the seat next to me. "You bunnies really are emotional. Pull it together, Carrots. We're undercover, toughen up!" I said, trying to hold back the tears myself.
"I'm glad you told me, Nick."
"Well you know me, I'm an open book."
I could hear Raymond sniffle up in the driver's seat, he had cracked the privacy window. "I'm sorry, Fox. I didn't know you had it that bad as a kid." he blubbered.
"And apparently you polar bears are also mega emotional, and love to eavesdrop." I said. I rolled the privacy window back up.
We started slowing down.
"We're almost there, get your game face on." I said.
She nodded and composed herself.
The elevator came to a halt, and the wall in front of us opened up to reveal the deceptively dangerous Nocturnal Strip. We drove forward, the wall closed behind us and the elevator disappeared. We were driving down the strip, and Hopps was leaping back and forth to see all of the sights.
"Wow, look at that Nick! And that! And that!"
"I see it, Carrots. I've been down here, remember?" And truthfully, hardly anything had changed at all. There were lowlifes in the alleyways, preying on naïve rich animals who think that they can outsmart the street hustlers. There were animals walking up and down both sides of the street. Most rich, some poor, all trapped by the allure of this neon-laden cage.
We reached the parking garage at the very back of the strip and Raymond parked on the very top. I opened the door and let Carrots hop out.
"This is so exciting!" she yelled. Her voice echoed across the garage.
"Shhh." I whispered.
"Woops, sorry."
Raymond rolled down his window down. "Fox! I mean, Wilde. I mean, Nicky."
I looked up at him. "What do you want, Ray?"
"Sorry about all them times I was a jerk to you."
"It's okay big guy."
"I'll be waiting here for you's two to come back with that fox chick."
Hopps winked at Raymond. "You're the best, Ray. Thanks for doing this for us."
He smiled and rolled the window back up.
We walked down to the main floor of the garage, but we were stopped by a shadowy figure in the corner.
"Wait you two, come over here." said the shadowy figure.
"Umm, no. We're not in the mood to get robbed or murdered today, thank you." I said and I motioned for Hopps to walk faster.
"I know you two are here because of Mr. Big." he said.
Carrots turned around and walked towards him.
"Great idea Hopps, just walk towards the complete stranger in a dark parking garage just because he wants you to." I said as I ran after her.
"Who are you?" she asked.
He came out of the shadows, it was a wolf. He was wearing a trench coat and a black fedora. He had two different colored eyes, one blue and one brown.
"I'm Shadow, Mr. Big's informant. I told him I'd meet you two here."
"Your Shadow? You used to be one of the Nocturne Knight's underbosses, right?" asked Hopps.
"Yeah, but they turned on me after I refused to off this nice otter florist. What was his name again? Otterson, no that's not it…"
"Otterton?"
"That's it, Bunbun! I was told he knew too much about something and he needed taken care of. But I couldn't do it. The otter had a wife and kids, and I was sick of the crime life."
Hopps' ears shot straight up. "Wait, they wanted you to get rid of Emmet Otterton, the florist?"
"Yeah, they said something about night crawlers. No that's not it."
How stupid could this wolf be? I thought to myself.
"Night howlers?" I blurted out.
"No thanks, Red. I got my howling fix last night."
I started to get a headache from his stupidity. "No, that's what it was. Night howlers, it's a flower that makes animals go straight up coocoo."
"Yeah, that's what it was!" he said excitedly.
"Nick." said Hopps as she turned to me. "It sounds like the Nocturne Knights had something to do with the Night Howler incident."
"I told ya, they are a dangerous bunch. So Shadow, tell us what you know about what they're up to now. Why are they stealing diamonds and framing Mr. Big and his boys?"
"I don't know much, I'm on the lam. But I do know that they are making that Foxtrot broad perform at that casino against her will. I've contacted her and she wants out, and she claims to have some information about what the Nocturne Knights are planning. If you get her outta here, she'll tell you all you need to know."
"She works at the Arendelle Casino right?" I asked.
"That's right, Red. Just find a way to get her out without being seen by any of the Nocturne Knights."
"Well that should be fun…" I muttered.
"Thanks for the help, Shadow!" said Hopps.
"No problem, Bunbun. Be careful, and take care of that Foxtrot gal!"
"We will!" she answered back.
We walked out of the parking garage and headed towards the Arendelle Casino. Hopps looked above us.
"Wow, l can't even see the ceiling. How far below ground are we?"
"I dunno, pretty far though. They have vents that get air from the outside."
"Interesting." she said.
I tried to keep it cool, hoping I wouldn't be recognized as we walked down the sidewalk. Fortunately it had been a while since I had been down there, so hopefully nobody remembered me.
"Okay Hopps, we're almost there. Remember to keep your cool." I didn't hear a response. "Hopps, did you hear me?" I turned around and she wasn't there. "Hopps? Hopps!?" I looked around frantically. This was not good! "Judy, where are you?" I sprinted back down the strip, retracing our footsteps.
She was right behind me just a minute ago. Where could she have gone? This was a terrible idea.
I turned the corner into an ally, and there she was. She was backing away from a huge Leopard who was harassing her.
"C'mon, Carrots. I'll be real nice to ya, just come with me." said the leopard.
I tugged on his shirt. He turned around and glared at me. "What do you want, fox?"
"Um excuse me, but that's my bunny. And I'm the only one that can call her Carrots, got me? Now go groom yourself or something."
He picked me up by my shirt and threw me into a pile of trash. "Don't mess with me, fox!"
"Nick!" yelled Hopps.
"Shut your trap, Carrots! I'll be with you in a second." the leopard said.
I got up and charged at the enormous cat. I leaped up and punched him right in the face, and down he went.
"I told you." I said, tending to my now throbbing fist. "I'm the only one that can call her Carrots."
Hopps ran over and tackled me to the ground. She began hugging my neck very tightly. "Thank you Nick! I thought I was a goner. I couldn't fight back, I've found out that I'm not very agile in this dress."
"Well I'm glad I could help."
I looked into her eyes, they were glowing a beautiful violet. I started to move in closer. What are you doing, Wilde? I thought to myself. I snapped out of it and got up. "W-we should get going, we have an arctic fox to save."
She looked confused for a second, then got up and brushed herself off. We headed out of the ally. She touched my shoulder. "What's up, Carrots?"
"Sorry, you had a banana peel on your shoulder and I was getting it off."
"Oh, well thanks."
C'mon, Wilde. She's your best friend, that's all she's gonna be. I can't believe you almost went in to kiss her! That would have gone well. I can practically feel the friendship-ending slap in the face right now. Be cool, you can't let her know that you…love her. I mean at the end of the day, you're still just a sly fox.
