Chapter 8 – Another One Rides the Bus

Otter's note: I didn't update because I was on vacation in North Dakota and there was absolutely nothing to do there.

As we got on the bus, we recognized the driver as Flash the sloth.

"Oh fuck," Judy said, "the bus driver is a fucking sloth?"

"Yep," I replied.

"C'mon," Nick said, "In Zootopia, anyone can be anything, and the bus drivers are sloths. Plus everyone at the DMV is also a sloth. FLASH FLASH HUNDRED-YARD DASH! Fuck is up kusipää."

"How. Are. You," Flash said slowly.

"Doing?" Judy asked.

"Getting. Along," Flash continued.

"Well I see this is the bus that takes to the Rainforest District," Judy said, "I was hoping we could get there."

"Oh. Kay," Flash said.

"Hey I got a really good joke for ya," Duke said.

"What the fuck!" Said Judy Hopps.

"What is the difference between a church and a candle?"

"I. Don't. Fucking. Know," Flash said.

"One is fun to set on fire, the other one is a candle!" We all started laughing. Flash laughed really slowly.

"Okay! Enough with the hassle, just get us to the Rainforest District," Judy said as we all pressed our passes down by the driver window.

"Oh this is going to take forever," Judy said.

"Nah don't worry," Ashkii said, "Unlike other bus drivers, he's pretty fast."

Suddenly, the bus rushed out of the stop and down the rest of the street. We were going 40, even 45, in a 25 zone. Sometimes it was pretty scary.

"See what we told ya," I said, "not all sloths are slow all the time. A lot of them are, but not all of them."

The bus continued down all of the streets before eventually reaching the Rainforest District.

"Okay then," Judy said as we exited the vehicle, "I guess not all of them are slow."

"Indeed," Ashkii replied.

"That was the fastest one yet!" I shouted.

We walked to the canopy of the Rainforest District (I grew up there but closer to the ground). And across the bridge at the corner of Vine and Tujunga (which is pronounced Tuh-Hun-Gah by the way) and into the store which was designed after a burning church (just like Varg's Inferno in Tundratown. Brent Kirke was the only Black Metal store in the Rainforest District. There are a lot of hardcore and slam metal stores by the way). The owner, Renato Manchas, is a Jaguar who loves all things Norwegian despite not being Norwegian (but he speaks it because everyone in Zootopia speaks Norwegian).

"Hola! Hallo!" Mr. Manchas said in both Spanish and Norwegian (he is very multilingual and speaks Portuguese, Japanese, and even Luxembourgish). Today, he was wearing a black jacket, black pants, a black top hat, and a red mask and looked just like Alister Vale (PS he's the mascot for O.O. Manchas loves to dress as metal mascots).

"Hi there," I said, "good to see you again."

"Good to see you too. Arigato for supporting my business. It looks like you brought some new friends with you. Introduce yourselves, por favor." (that works for both Spanish and Portuguese btw).

"Well," Ashkii said, "I'm Ashkii Lutrana and I've recently joined the friends group at Zootopia University. We get along very well. We all saw Powerwolf the other night."

"Ah jo," Manchas said in Luxembourgish, "That was a fucking great show! Wish the Rainforest District got more shows like Tundratown."

"And I." Judy said, "am Judy Hopps. I just started at the same University and hope to become a police officer eventually. I am practicing by my own to try to find out what happened to someone at the University."

"Alrighty then," Mr. Manchas said.

"Name is Travis Dookson, very commonly sighted at concerts apparently."

"Oh Travis," Renato said, "I know him very well. He is a common customer at this store and often buys shirts, albums, and patches for his battle vest. I just saw him the other day. He came in here looking for more patches."

"What else?" Judy enquired.

"Said he could barely sleep. Loved the Powerwolf show that happened the previous night and said it was one of the best he had ever been to. He also said that he wanted to sleep until the time of the Iron Marten show at the Zoo2 Arena."

"Oh shit, the concert," Nick said, "It's tonight!"

"And I have another extra ticket," Duke said, "My roommate is still down with the sickness."

"Glad to see you're going as well," Mr. Manchas said. "That same day, Travis told me that he felt like someone was after him. He wanted to get all the worries away and just go back to his dorm and chill until the Iron Marten show came. There he would hopefully lose all of his worries because that is what happens at concerts."

"Someone was after him?" I asked.

"He felt like it."

"Well," I said, "I think that someone is after us. We were at the arboretum the other day and had someone trying to have us sell him dangerous substances. They are a bit obscure but I'm not sure if you know what Night Howlers are."

"Oh shit I don't," Mr. Manchas said.

"Very mysterious, and most of the current information about them is only rumors and might not even be real."

"Alrighty then," Mr. Manchas said, "also by the way I have to go now. I was hired by Iron Marten to dress as Eddie onstage and fight with Bruce Dickinson while they performed 'The Trooper'."

"Oh wow!" Nick said, "very cool!" It will be great to see you there! Bye!"

"tchau!" Mr. Manchas said in Portuguese as we went our separate ways.

"So," Judy said, "we might have some information. Travis may even be at the concert."

"Maybe camping out?" I asked, "but who knows."

"Anyways, I think I might go," Judy said, "Did I hear something about an extra ticket?"

"Yes," Duke said, "it's for you. We already have our tickets."

"Oh nice," Ashkii said, "now you will get to go to your first concert in Zootopia."

"I guess I will," Judy said, "and I guess you all are not that bad either."

We took another bus back to campus.