Chapter 7: The Arctic Diamond Ball

-Told by Judy-

'I learned two things that day. One: I was never gonna let anyone see that they got to me.'

'And…two?'

'If the world's only gonna see a fox as shifty and untrustworthy, there's no point in trying to be anything else.'

'Nick…you are so much more than that.'

I awoke at the piercing sound of my alarm. It made me fall out of my bed in panic.

"What's going on? Wha-, huh?" When I finally snapped out of it, I realized I was in my apartment.

I grabbed my phone and turned off the alarm. I dragged myself into the bathroom and got ready for work.

I got to work late, which was a first. Not just late, I was like forty-two minutes late!

"Hopps, the chief is going to kill you." said Clawhauser as I ran into the station. He was devouring a donut.

"I know, but we had a really late night last night and-"

"Who's we?" he asked, staring at me in curiosity.

"Me and Nick, we had to-"

"Ooooohhhhhh." he piped in a high-pitched voice. "Did you guys go on a date? Well it's about time!" he said as he grabbed another donut from the box.

"No, we had to go undercover."

"Aw man, that's not as interesting."

I jumped up on his desk and whispered in his ear. "We went down to the Nocturnal Strip."

"The Nocturnal Strip!?" he yelled at the top of his lungs.

Everyone stared at us.

"That's right, Clawhauser…I was thinking of going to Norway on a trip."

I grabbed his lips. "Hush."

"Sorry, it's just that place is dangerous. It's run by the Nocturne Knights, or so I've heard."

"Well you heard right. Nick and I went down there and rescued Madame Shade Foxtrot's granddaughter, Aurora. She had been kidnapped by the Nocturne Knights and they were going to use her to get half of the Arctic Diamond from Madame Shade."

"Wow, that's crazy!" he said, eyes wide.

"I know!"

He picked up a donut out of the box. "They gave me an extra donut, lucky number thirteen!" he said as he stuffed his face with it.

"Clawhauser, I was talking about the case."

"Oh yeah, that's pretty interesting too."

"Well that's not all, they are supposedly going to strike tonight at the Arctic Diamond ball at the Art museum to get half of the Arctic Diamond. The other half is locked up safe and sound at the Foxtrot mansion."

"So what are you gonna do?" he asked.

"Nick and I are going to that ball and look out for them, with any luck we can apprehend them and take them into custody."

"You're at least going to let the chief know, right?"

"No, not until absolutely necessary. Apparently if the Nocturne Knights catch wind of police involvement, they have a way of getting rid of all evidence…including innocent animals involved. So this is just between you, me and Nick for. Got it?"

"You want me to keep a secret from the chief?"

"Yes, I need you to."

He sighed. "I'll do my best. You owe me a box of gourmet donuts for this one."

"Done." I said.

"Hopps!" yelled the chief from up in his office.

"Uh-oh, that's his angry voice." said Clauhauser, cringing in his chair.

"I guess I better go see what he wants." I said, hopping down and heading up the stairs.

"What's up, chief Bogo, sir?" I said nervously as I walked into his office.

"Sit down."

I crawled onto the seat.

"Where were you this morning?"

"I'm sorry, sir. I-I still don't feel too well." I said, coughing.

"Well is Wilde sick now, too?"

"Wait, Nick's not here?"

"No, he didn't show up for work today, either."

"I'll go over to his apartment and check on him, sir."

"This is ridiculous, Hopps. If he's well enough to work today, the two of you are on parking duty for the rest of the week, and you're working double shifts!"

"But, chief."

"No buts, you two didn't even check in about Mr. Big. Did you even go talk to him?"

"Yes, sir. And he says he has no knowledge of the diamond thefts, and he vouched for his polar bears. He says that one of his limos was stolen and that the perps must be using it to steal the diamonds."

"Who would be bold enough to steal a limo from that sketchy little shrew?"

"I-uh, he…that's a good question sir. But I will tell you that Mr. Big checks out."

"That's not your decision to make, Hopps! Now, go get Wilde. You two have a long day of putting tickets on cars."

"Yes, sir."

I walked out of the office and went down the stairs.

"So what's the damage?" asked Clawhauser.

"We're on parking duty for the rest of the week."

"Could be worse."

"True, but we're also working double shifts. That means we won't be able to go to the ball tonight…unless."

"Unless what?"

"Unless you cover for us tonight?"

"What?"

"Just tell the chief that we're out there dishing out parking tickets if he asks. Okay?"

"But I'm a terrible liar, especially with the chief."

"C'mon, Clauhauser. We could take down the Nocturne Knights tonight, think of it! Zootopia could finally rest easy knowing that the infamous group is behind bars for good."

"Fine, I'll do it. But you owe me two-dozen donuts now."

"Heck, I'll make it three."

I walked out to the parking garage and got our car. I drove to Nick's apartment and walked up to the door. His door was a lot different than the others in the complex. It didn't just have a key lock, it had a digital code lock as well, he must have had that put in recently.

I knocked on the door. No answer. I knocked harder. Still no answer. I knocked as hard as I could. I heard stumbling and things falling on the floor.

The door swung open. "What is it!?" yelled Nick. He was all disheveled and the fur on his face was messy. He looked exhausted and he was in his…underwear!

He realized who was at the door. "C-Carrots!" he closed the door, leaving it barely cracked.

"W-what are you doing here?"

I couldn't speak for a moment, I was too caught off guard.

"I, uh, I…you didn't show up at w-ork today and I came over to check you out…I mean check on you!"

"What time is it?" he asked.

"Umm, it's about 10 o' clock now."

"What!?" he said, panicking. "Gimme a sec' to get ready, Carrots. I'll be out in a few."

"Okay, I'll be out in the car."

I walked back outside and got into the car. My face was still red. Maybe I should have called him first?

A few minutes later he came running out with his uniform on, it was wrinkled and a bit askew. He was wearing his sunglasses, which were crooked. He was carrying two cups of coffee.

I opened the door for him.

"Thanks, Carrots. I made you some coffee too. You looked like you could use some."

"Thank you."

"No prob. Whoo, that was some crazy night last night huh? I was so tired by the end of it, I don't even remember getting home last night."

"I was pretty tired too. But unlike you, I set my alarm."

"I don't do alarms, I usually wake up just fine on my own."

"You're always late for work."

"Yeah, but only by a few minutes. So how steamed was the chief?"

"Mad enough to give us parking duty for the rest of the week, and work double shifts."

"Double shifts? But how are we gonna go to the ball at the museum tonight?"

"Clawhauser is going to cover for us. He'll tell the chief we're at our posts if he asks."

"Cool dude, that Clawhauser. I guess we owe him some donuts."

"Yup, we already negotiated the price. Three dozen donuts."

"Shoot, I'll get him another three dozen myself."

So there we were serving our sentence if the form of parking duty. It had been three or four hours into it, when Nick said he had to go somewhere.

"Where are you going?" I asked.

"I gotta run some errands. I'll be back in an hour or so, hold up the fort while I'm gone?"

"Fine…but you're going to have to make that carrot milkshake super-sized."

"It's a deal, officer Fluff!"

So I was driving around alone for an hour-and-a-half, only finding two cars that were over their time allotment. Boy, I really hated parking duty! It was a particularly hot day too, and of course our AC was busted, so I had all of the windows down.

I saw Nick walking down the street, he was carrying two bags. I drove up to him and turned on the siren. He just about jumped out of his skin.

"Don't do that to me, Carrots! You know I hate it."

"I know, that's why I do it. So what do you have there?"

He tossed up one of the bags through the window and I barely caught it. "What's this?"

He gave me his hustling smile. "Open it and see." he said as he got in on the other side.

I unzipped the bag, and there was a violet ball gown in it in my size. "Nick. it's, it's beautiful."

"I know, I picked it out after all. I picked out that dress because it matches your eyes."

I blushed. I looked away from him so he didn't see. I purposely I dropped my phone between the drivers seat and the door. "Oh, I always drop that thing down there." I said as I rummaged through the side of the seat. When I felt the embarrassing blush leave my face, I "found" my phone.

I held my phone up. "Found it. So, is that your new tux then?"

"Sure is, I thought I would shake things up a little. So instead of a straight black tuxedo. I got one in onyx."

"Isn't that still black?"

"Yeah, but it's a different shade of black."

"You sure are shaking things up, Nick." I said, laughing.

After a long day of parking duty, the time finally arrived for us to stake out the museum. We left our car about a mile up the road from the museum, that way if the chief tried to locate our car, it would be far enough away so that he wouldn't expect anything. We walked to Nick's apartment to get changed, it was between where we dumped the car and the museum. I hadn't been inside his apartment since he moved there. He typed in the code to get in.

030416

Then he unlocked the door with his key.

"You can never be too careful, Carrots. Remember that." he said.

"Did you pick the code yourself? It looks like a date, is March fourth, 2016 a significant date?"

"It's...well yeah. One of the most important days of my life."

"Wait a minute, that was my first day on the job."

"Yup, it was the first day we met."

I could feel a blush coming on. "You, you chose that date as the code to get into your house?"

"Of course. It's the day that changed my life for the better! Well, not at first. In fact, when we first met I thought you were just the most aggravating thing I'd ever met. I didn't know anyone as cute as you could be so annoying." he laughed.

"Don't call me cute. And you were no picnic yourself…Mr. pawpsicle hustler."

He opened the door. "Hey I had a great operation going there for a long time."

"But now you have a better life, a life with purpose."

"Indeed I do, hence putting the date that we first met as my code. You're a good friend, Carrots…the best I ever had."

"You are too, dumb fox."

He walked into the bathroom and shut the door.

I looked around his apartment as he was getting dressed. It looked just like I imagined: organized chaos. There were piles of clothes everywhere, and yet they were clearly color coordinated. Books were lying all over the floor, but in alphabetical order. He had a lumpy old couch fitting for a bachelor pad in the family room. His coffee table had papers all over it, and it was slanted, one of the legs was off balance. I walked over to the coffee table and noticed my carrot pen laying on a pile of papers. I picked it up and was about to hit the play button.

"Hey Carrots, I'm gonna need some help tying this botwtie!" I heard Nick yell from the bathroom.

I dropped the carrot pen and it rolled under the couch. I bent down to pick it up. "Carrots!" he yelled.

"Coming!"

I ran over to the bathroom.

"I'm really riding the struggle train tonight." he said. He got his finger stuck when he was trying to tie the bowtie.

I laughed. "I'll say." I untied the knot and told him to lean down.

"Why don't you just get a tuxedo with a necktie instead?" I asked.

"I tried, they were all out apparently."

I finished tying it. "There, you look perfect."

"Ha, you're right I do! Thanks for noticing, Carrots."

"Okay, now get out. I need to get ready."

He walked out of the bathroom and I closed the door and got changed. The dress was a little hard to put on, mostly because I was not used to wearing dresses. I looked in the mirror, the dress was so…poofy! It reminded me of Belle's dress from Beauty and the Wildebeest. I peeked out of the bathroom.

"Okay, don't poke fun…but will you tell me how do I look?"

"Oh Carrots, when do I ever poke fun at you?"

"Let's see, only all of the time."

"Get out here, let me take a look at ya."

I walked out of the bathroom.

He looked at me and grinned. "You, you look great, Hopps."

"You think so?"

"Absolutely…" he said. "But it's obviously because I chose the dress." He laughed.

"Harhar." I said.

He looked at his phone. "Aw man, it's time to go!"

We ran out of his apartment and rushed to the art museum. We made it just in time for the festivities to begin.

The curator, an old badger named Fredric Badgerson, welcomed us. "Well if it isn't officer Hopps and Wilde. Come to enjoy the party, have you?"

I curtsied. "Of course we did. As soon as we heard about it we just had to come."

"Splendid, please enjoy yourselves."

We walked into the museum. The animals in charge of the event did a great job. Much of the artwork had been moved for insurance purposes, as well as giving plenty of room on the dance floor. The floor itself had been polished to a perfect shine. In the very center of the room was the guest of honor, so to speak. It was half of the Arctic Diamond. It was in a glass container that was blocked off by rope. It really was a beautiful diamond. It was huge for only being half the size of the original. It was as clear as crystal, with no blemishes, and it glimmered like an icicle on a bright, sunny day.

The musicians began to play the music. It was a heavenly sound of the piano, violins, and trumpets all playing in harmony.

Everyone started to dance beautifully to the music, perfectly in sync. Oh, how I wanted to dance! Nick tapped my shoulder, I faced him and he held his hand out and bowed. "May I have the pleasure of dancing with the prettiest gal in the room?"

"Oh stop with the teasing, Nick! And you know we're supposed to be on high alert, the Nocturne Knights could strike at any moment.

"Ever heard of multitasking, Carrots? C'mon, dance with me."

I reluctantly took has hand. He guided me out to the dance floor and we started to dance. The musicians were playing something by Molezart. He danced so well, I wondered where he learned to do so. I mean he was a hustler on the streets, surely he didn't take the time to learn to waltz. And yet he stayed on beat perfectly with the music. I looked into his emerald green eyes, he smiled warmly. For a moment, it seemed as though the world had stopped, and it was just me and him. I could have stayed in that moment forever.

"Carrots?" he said as we were gliding across the dance floor.

"Hmm?"

"I-I gotta tell you something."

"What is it, do I have something in my teeth?"

He laughed. "No, your teeth are perfect. What I'm gonna tell you is hard for me."

"Nick, you know you can tell me anything."

He took a deep breath, his cheeks turned red. "I…um. I…uh."

"Cat got your tongue?"

"Looks like it. What I'm trying to say is-" he was interrupted by a loud humming noise that was coming from the wall.

Suddenly, there was a loud explosion and the entire center of the back wall was gone. The animals closest to the wall were thrown several feet away. Nick and I dove out of the way of the falling debris.

There were screams of terror coming from all around us, and there were flames and debris everywhere.

I looked toward the blown-up wall, and there were two shadowy silhouettes that I couldn't quite make out because of the smoke. They walked up to the Arctic Diamond. There was the sound of shattering glass, and one of them snatched the diamond.

I grabbed Nick's pager from his pocket. "This is officer Judy Hopps. We have a situation at Zootopia's Art Museum. There was an explosion, and there are several civilians down. Expect multiple injuries. Send immediate support, we have two suspects running away with the Arctic Diamond. Hurry!"

I got up and ran after the suspects.

"Hopps, wait!" Nick yelled after me.

I leaped through the hole in the wall and into the alley behind the museum. I could see the two perps clearly now, and they did not look friendly.