TREASURE TROPOLIS Chapter 13: Treasure Hunt Part 2, a zootopia fanfic

HELLO AGAIN TO ALL CURRENT AND UPCOMING READERS, FOLLOWERS, AND FANS!

It's time to continue from where we were left on my fanction TREASURE TROPOLIS

The second part of the TREASURE HUNT CHAPTER

Because thirteenth chapter is now out.

Enjoy of reading.

After walking one hundred and thirty steps to the North-Eeast, they arrived to the serpentine and and one-way corridor between of two palisades.

Following Ben's translated advices from the map, they entered to the corridor, which eventually led them to the small but still a large and open area, with exception of a few palm trees growing in middle of the area and that there was a lot of a small mounds everywhere and upon them, as well as around of the whole area, was the large bushes and big leaf jungle plants, making this open area almost like the labyrinth shaped by the nature.

However, the labyrinth of bushes had at last one direct route to the other side of the area, which, however, had two arcuate angle. The first one was a bit closer to them and the second one was slightly further away from the midway of the route.

Everything seemed to be fine, for now.

Judy and Ben, still having the nooses tied around of their necks and which loose ends were still in Wilder's tight grib, were walking in the group's head.

They looked together the place-like this from the map so focused, that none of them spotted that they were walking towards the tripwire-like wire crosssing the road in front of them.

However, captain Flint noticed it and lunged forward to grab nick in time from Judy's waist.

"Hey!" Judy exclaimed when she unexpectedly felt someone touching her waist from behind of her, much to her surprise and annoyance, as she belueved that maybe one of the pirates had probably interested about her bunny body and watched to touch to it against her own wish...

...but before she even managed to turn around to see that who had dared to touch her, Flint quickly pull her back, to prevent the rabbit to step with the last step into the wire and accidentally launch the booby trap no doubt and fall as victim to it.

However, Flint failed to "save" Ben from such of fate.

As Judy and the map were pulled away from the next of Ben by Flint, Ben failed to notice the tripware and he got himself tripped by it.

But the wire suddenly snapped in half as Ben fell forward and over to the ground, pulling the loose end of the roap at the same time out of Wilder's grasp, catching the fox pirate's attention to the bunny and the yak.

But instead of trap, out of the nearby bush appeared right to the next of Judy the dead tiger's skeleton which was put to hang into the spear. The wire's another end was tied above on the spear hanging tiger's skull and under of the spear's sharp tip while the spear's another end was placed into the hole in the middle of the rocks, which blocked the spear from falling completely over to the ground... Depending on the condition of the spear's handle.

Seeing the dead predator's skull right next to her, Judy let out the scream and immediately backed away from the skull, holding her heart with her paws...

...while the pirates quickly pulled their pistols towards the skeleton, until they soon lowered their weapons down after realized that the whole thing wasn't even alive anymore.

"Sweet cheese... and crackers! My heart nearly... nearly jumped out... out of my throat!" Judy said between of her heavy pantings and shocked tone as she tried to calm herself down which wasn't easy for her, especially after nearly to be scared to death after seeing dead predator skull appearing out of nowhere right in front of her own tiny bunny nose.

As Ben raised on his feet, he turned his eyes to the tiger skeleton and noticed something what Judy and everybody else failed to notice.

There was also small piece of wood from the side of the ship hanging around of the tiger's neck and to it was also written in the language of zooztecs.

Ben immediately crawled in front of the piece of wood hanging on the predator's neck and started to read the words of zooztecs.

"Can Juicy bring that map a bit closer so Old Ben can find himself and the rest of us from it." Ben asked as he referred to Judy to come closer and take the map with her.

Though Judy was a bit unwilling to come closer of the predator skull she was frightened a moment ago, she did not wanted to be the coward in the front of Wilder and rest of his pirates.

So, Judy came closer of the skeleton and the piece of wood hanging on its neck to the next to Ben and held the map next to Ben's face so that he could search their current location from it.

It didn't take long from Ben to find their current location on the map.

"There! The Belly of the Serpent. The nasty and insidious place like the snake on this island. Ben often used to avoid this place. There's no way to get past of those bushes. Many have tried, many have not returned, and to the other side is no other way than this because of a huge chasms with the higher side behind of those palisades." Ben explained.

Even though even for once Ben remembered something and even though for once he acted seriously for the crazed on this island marooned jerk, Judy did not know that what Ben meant with all of that "Many have tried, many have not returned" thing about this bush and a large leaf plant labyrinth shaped by the nature.

"What do you mean?"

Ben pointed with his finger at the writings in the piece of wooden with the "look at this" manner.

" It says here, " Only ones who are bravest, more cunning and purely innocent enough can get pass of the deadly bush labyrinth of the Belly of the Serpent, which sends all the impatient and unwary ones to from their crimes deserved doom." Ben explained as he translated the writings for Judy.

"Here was centuries ago hidden something insidious and nasty by the zooztecs, built the Old Ben doesn't remember that what they did hide in here." Ben explained and after that he started of thinking the answer of that question that "what insidious and bad did those zooztecs hid in here all those centuries."

"And here we go again..." Judy said with the bored tone as she rolled her eyes at Ben's so called "memory of the elephant," which was, as Ben said so, glitching again.

However...

"Out of my way!" Heard from the behind of the pirates.

It was the one-eyed leopard pirate.

The large spotted feline pirate had already grown extremely impatient of this walking through of the palm jungle full of the to the death annoying mosquitos, heat, constrictor snakes. And all of this because they had to follow that the small rabbit with the map and her idiotic and Half-witted yak companion, who they had to by Wilder's orders place under of the full security due of them being their keys for the treasures and keep them away from any life-threatening danger to prevent them to carry out their threat of commit suicide and trap them into the jungle.

And yet they had to make "useless" and "time-wasting" intermediate stops, once to rescue the dumb rabbit from the snake hive and now wait aside for the bunny and the yak to find out the way to pass safely their next apparently harmless obstacle, which did not seem to require more than casual trespassing.

So, the leopard surrendered to his impatience and pushed everybody, including Judy and Ben, out of his way and kept going forward towards the bushes with the such of blind arrogance reckless manners, stubbornly and rudely ignoring even his captain Wilder's stern orders to come back.

Everything seemed to be fine at first as he was about to pass the first mound and the bush, until somehting suddenly and completely unexpectedly flied out from the bush and hit the unwary and unfortunate feline pirate to the neck.

The pirate roared out of one tiny sting in his neck and he raised his paw to remove the irritant thing off his neck, believing it to be nothing else but just another annoying mosquito.

However, in the seconds, the leopard pirate started to feel a bit dizzy in every second, which just grew stronger even more that the pirate started to slowly began to lose consciousness and began to totter like he was in drunk.

"H-h-h-help... m-m-m-me! H-h-h-help... m-m-m-mee!" The pirate pleaded with the throaty and choking-like tone as he slowly turned around and stretched out his paw towards the others.

The rest of them just looked at him and did nothing to help him.

Wilder didn't do anything for the feline pirate, because the leopard pirate had just stubbornly and rudely disobeyed his orders.

The pirates and Ben didn't do anything to help him, because the leopard pirate's reckless act had just revealed to them the secret and even invisible booby trap, and the possibility of them being more in the same area.

Judy didn't do anything for the leopard pirate, and not only because of him being the pirate but also realizing, much to her shock, the meaning of the writings on the piece of wood about the deserved doom for all the crimes in the impatient and unwary ones entire life and yet that only the bravest, cunning and purely innocent ones are able to pass these insidious bushes.

And for that, Judy felt that she neither wasn't completely purely innocent, because of her many times over of violation of law and order back in her home island before this entire voyage.

The leopard pirate slowly tottered towards of the rest of the group, until he eventually fell over to the ground. Then the pirate began to violently convulse in pain for a while before he died slowly…

Five minutes after the leopard's slow death, Judy recovered from her shock and picked the long stick from the ground and took carefully few step forwards the bush the next of which the leopard was lying dead, ignoring Wilder's stern orders to come back because of her own safety – and to his the pirates most importantly, because of their chance of find the treasure.

While Judy carefully walked forward, she kept at the same time an eye on the other nearby bushes, although being cautious not appeared to be much help, because it was the matter of seconds to fall victim of this booby trap... without the chance and time to dodge the darts.

After reaching towards the bush, without activating any booby traps by herself, she moved with the stick the some leaves and branches out of her way and sjediscovered, much to her shock, which gave her chills, another tiger skeleton hanging in the spear. In the tiger skeleton's mouth was wooden blowgun, letting to others to know that there was in some kind of dart traps hidden in every bush, blocking their way completely.

They needed to find the way to get through of the labyrinth and its deatly traps.

But how?

"Why are we still standing here?" Cheetah pirate yelled in annoyance.

"We have to find the another way, because I'm not gonna walk out there!" The crocodile pirate said, refusing to continue any further.

"Trying to find the shortcut through of these devil's bush labyrinth will take too long." Finnick said.

"That bunny led us to the wrong way! Let's push her to solve this problem or let's turn back." Rhino pirate yelled and started to turn around.

"NO ONE IS LEAVING! If anyone of you even dares, you'll get immediately the bullet to the skull!" Wilder threatened his fur-brained men.

"We just have to somehow find the way through of this blasted bush labyrinth without getting ourself poisoned by those blasted dart traps."

When examining their surroundings for a while, searching the answers for their a problematic situation, Judy spotted that there was two narrow edges on both of the palisades above of these bushes and on one of them, on the edge of the right-side palisades, was standing one large and lonely palm tree, which probably was a long anough that it could just barely reach to the another edge of the palisades.

There was also something written to the map about this trap, which Judy asked Ben to translate it for her, not caring about the pirates who were at the same time fighting about the decidion, turn around or go through, with each others.

But even Wilder did not paid any attention towards his men, because he knew that it would be useless to even bother to calm them down. But he was instead only interested about that what exactly Judy was planning to resolve this problematic situation... and allowed to bunny private time to think the answer/solution for this.

"There's always something which makes the trap either deactivated or turns then so they can't be harmeless and it is always there where is very hard to reach – meaning that it is in the other side of the trapped area – if uses only a direct action instead of thinking wisely at first like that leopard did." Ben said after translating the advices in the map.

After examining their surroundings, the trapped bushes and the tree of the edge, Judy also spotted that there was the vines hanging down over the cliff. But because the spot just happened to be in the middle of the area, and that end of the edge happened to be right in the spot of the hanging vines, there was no another easier way to get to that edge and there was no way Wilder was ever gonna allow her to go out there in fear of losing both of his keys to the treasure.

However, Wilder's focus on watching her and the yak was soon disturbed when one of his own men, who was pushed back by someone else, collided to him and Wilder's attention was dragged into the fierce argument with his own crew members that he completely forgot Judy and Ben.

Judy saw this as her chance, so she quickly sneaked away from Wilder's noose, quickly and quietly grabbed the ax from someone pirate and ignoring Ben's pleads to not go to the trapped area, Judy referred Captain Flint to climb on her back, to which the monkey eagerly complied and the due headed towards the trapped area.

Luckily for Judy, there was the use for the "many have not returned" knowledge. There was also another skeletons in the area – killed by these dart traps no doubt – with the spanish-like outfits or armors...

...luckily armors, and yet even one bunny sized.

So, before going among the bushes, and no willing to take any risks of being by accident fatally infected by the darts toxin, whatever it was, Judy dressed into the bunny-sized spanish chest armor but decided to use the helmet, which was a bit bigger than the normal bunny's head-sized helmet to protect both of her and Flint's heads from the darts. Besides, Flint's head inside of the same helm helped her to minimize the helmet's weight on her head and also prevented it from bothering her eyes by falling in front of her eyes by accident.

Judy also picket two shields in length of herself, including her ears, because she needed to protect her ears while listening with them her surroundings for the dart traps being activated and firing their darts towards her. And because she needed both of her paws to hold the shields in the air, she couldn't carry the ax in her paws, so she gave it to Flint to carry it through of the bushes.

The shields were also heavy and they could slow her down, but there was no another way to pass those traps if she wanted to get to the other side of the trapped area and deactivate them so that they can continue on their way to the treasure.

Even though Judy a bit hesitated of doing this, she took the deep breath and gathered all her courage inside of herself and took the first step towards the first bushes ahead.

Once, Judy was about to pass the first bushes, passing at the same time dead leopard's body, she immediately raised the shields in both of her side to protect herself from the darts as she heard the tiny sound of in the bushes, like the traps had activated and they began to shoot they darts which hit to the surfaces of the shields instead of Judy's skin.

The sound of the darts hitting to the metal surface caught Wilder's attention and he dragged himself out of the pirates fierce argument to see that what had caused such of sounds, only to realize that Judy had escaped from the noose – again – which was lying on the ground and yet unharmed this time.

But before he had time to curse this, he quickly spotted Judy in the middle of the trapped bushes, wielding the bunny-sized armor, a large helmet upon her and the monkey's heads and yet she was holding in her paws two large shields in both of her sides, which she had raised in the air, from her ankles to the tip of the helmet to protect herself from the lethal darts.

"What that dumb bunny is doing?!" Wilder asked from himself as he watched Judy's going.

Because of the weight of the helmet and the shield, Judy's going was slow, but she had at least survived the pass of seventeen bushes with the dart traps, without getting darted thanks to the shields.

One of them had, however, managed to pass the shields from their unguarded side and was about to hit Judy to her forehead, but thanks to the helmet, the dark jumped aside after its poisonous tip hit to the hard surface of the helmet.

Judy also nearly had to move hunched, to also protect her feet from the possible to the lower lever in the bushes hidden blowguns, which darts were aimed to the level of the legs.

However, there was some bushes, which even seemed to be quite harmless when there was not the sound of the darts hitting to the surface of the shields, but Judy did not wanted to take the risks of getting darted.

Eventually, Judy reached within 20 minutes to the vines hanging down from the edge, and after she had reached to the vines, she threw away every part of the spanish armor and started to climb up along the vines to the edge of the palisades.

And after she had managed to climb on the edge of the palisades, she took the ax into her paws from Flint and rushed towards the lonely tree on the edge, Flint right behind of her.

The smile briefly appeared of Wilder's face out of the proud for the bunny as he looked Judy's smart ... for the small dumb bunny.

After Judy reached to the tree, she started to cut down palm tree with the ax from the side to where she planned it to fall. And after several blows with the ax against the tree, it eventually fell over and its tip landed to the another edge, which allowed Judy and Flint to cross the labyrinth through of above of the insidious and lethal bushes with ease to the other edge in the other side of the area.

Once the both monkey and the bunny had reached to the another edge, they rushed towards the another end of the bush labyrinth without the difficult.

Once there, Judy and Flint climbed down from the edge, and remembering Ben saying about something which can make the trap either deactivated or turns then so they can't be harmeless.

So, if there truly was the such of thing, which can make these dart traps deactivated or in other way harmless, Judy and Flint started to fiercely look for such of thing from around.

Judy searched for something to deactivate the dart traps from the nearby bushes, from under of the gigantic jungle leaven, from under of the rocks, from inside of the couple of hollow tree... even from the wall of palisades covered by the jungle plants, leaves and vines.

In the other side, the pirates started to yell to her rushing and extremely insulting shouts, which course do not helped the situation at all but instead annoyed Judy even more.

One of them even called her as "slow and bone-idle rag doll!"

Another one of them called her to "slug-slow flatfoot," third one called her to "dumb cottontail" and fourth one called her to "flopsy swab bunny."

Even though Judy swallowed her the high urge to yell insults back on them, she had difficult to swallow all of those irritating insults which were like whispered into her hears from nect to her.

"Spoiled brats! Immatured jerks! Feeble-minded school bullies! Pathetic mama's boys! Impatient bilge rats!" Judy muttered silently such of insults from between her teeth and with the annoyed tone.

After palpating the surface of the stone wall for a while, she eventually found the ancient and mechanical stone lever, which was covered by the ancient plants and vines and which was hidding under of the great leaf jungle plant's leaves.

Judy at first removed every plant, leaf and vine around of the level, before she jumped to hang on it in order to pull it down with her own weight, which did not at first worked. Not until Captain Flint noticed that what Judy was doing and followed her example, by jumping to hang on the lever as well.

Together they eventually managed to pull the lever down, after of which Judy and Flint rushed to the border of the trapped open area to see the consequences and they hoped that hoped that they were able to deactive all the dart traps.

Nothing seemed to happen in the trapped area, even after Judy and Flint had managed to pull the lever down... except that there was a slight movement among the leaves of every bush of the area. None in the presence of course didn't saw it, except Judy, who instead of seeing heard the sound of the movement and the shaking leaves.

"We found and pulled down the lever here! It's probably linked to these dart traps. I'm sure that we managed to deactivate every dart trap or we turned them away from the straight road!" Judy shouted to the pirates, Wilder and Ben in the other side of the area.

However, the pirates seemed to be a bit hesitating to even take a one single step to the area with the bushes full of deadly dart traps.

However, Judy now saw her chance to payback for the pirates for their rude insults for her.

"Aww, did the cowardly landlubbers get cold feet? And you call yourselves the horrors of the sea." Judy teased with the sly expression on her face and the sly grin on her lips.

It was more difficult from the pirates to swallow easily such of tease than from Judy and many of them, except Wilder who was only able to swallow such of tiny little insult coming from the bunny, and many of them were eager to wrap their fingers around of Judy's neck into the neck-breaking or to the death chocking squeeze.

But still, after witnessing the leopard pirate's demise, they were still hesitating to take the step into the bush area due to being afraid of being darted with the toxin darts before they manage to say even "Ouch!"

This was too good to be true for Judy and she kept teasing the pirates.

"We were supposed to find the treasure, right? Do you Then can you just swallow your cowardly nature out of your so-called blood-thirsty nature and drag your pathetic lard butts to the other side?"

The pirates, except Wilder yet again who instead chuckled slightly at Judy's teasing and his own men reactions to it, loudly growled at Judy but they still hesitated to step among the bushes.

Eventually, the one thing what Wilder was unable to swallow, was his patience with his own men's cowardice and immediately as his first acts Wilder kicked Duke out of the group and through the long fly into the area.

"You, go ahead and investigate to show to these cowards that from what the pirates are made for!" Wilder ordered as he took his pistol out. "Stop, and I'll shoot every ten minutes a single shot behind of your legs to make you move." Wilder added with the threatening tone.

Duke crawled on his feet and, highly reluctant to even move forward to the dangerous area full of the deadly dart traps hidden in the bushes, the weasel turned around and started to walk back towards the others, until he, much to weasel's surprise, found himself threatened by every his fellow pirates with the sword- or gunpoint, aiming at his tiny weasel head with their captain his captain and forced the weasel to go forward.

"Yes... (glub) ...captain." Duge glubbed with the hesitation and the fear of getting darted, but still he obeyed his captain as he slowly took one step after step towards the bush area and the leopard pirate's dead body.

Every pirate followed the weasel's going with excitement as the weasel, slowly and hesitating, prepared to take his first step between the two bush.

The weasel streched his left foot carefully to the other side of the bushes, where the leopard's body was lying.

Everyone looked at the weasel preparing to take his first step between of the bushes with the widened eyes and out of deep excitement of what was about to happen.

They kept staring...