"So what was it that Tom Nook was calling us all to Town Hall for again? Nick asked as they walked over to the building located in the middle of the island.
"Not sure," Judy replied with a shrug of her shoulders. "All I read on the bulletin board the other day was that there was some special event that he had planned for this afternoon."
The fox and rabbit made their way over to Town Hall, where a group of wooden chairs had been placed out. All of the villagers on the island had already taken their seats, leaving only two seats vacant for them.
They walked over to the chairs and sat down, watching as the doors to the building swung open. Tom Nook slowly made his way over to where a microphone had been placed not too far away rom the entrance. First there was a standard amount of feedback, and then he started to make his announcement.
"Greetings, everyone!" Tom Nook said to them. "You might all be wondering why I have gathered you all in front of Town Hall on this sunny day, so I'll just get straight to the point. On a special, faraway island, there is a really neat maze that one of you lucky villagers will have the chance to complete. I designed the whole thing myself and I think it's pretty a-maze-ing. Get it?"
As the tanuki chuckled at his own pun, the crowd remained completely silent, not thinking it was funny whatsoever. The small audience was so quiet that the only thing that could be heard was the chirping of the native crickets.
"Boo!" exclaimed one of the villagers.
Everybody turned their heads to look over at Rasher, a pig villager that was known for being quite cranky. He was the one that expressed the disliking of the whole joke just now.
"Anyway, I will select who's going to be heading to the maze," Tom Nook continued.
A moment later, Isabelle came walking through the doors of Town Hall, carrying a small container. She held it in front of him and he took a piece of paper from out of it. This was the way the contest was being ran, with the names of the island's occupants being written on paper and one being selected from the rest.
Erik, the moose sitting in seat not too far from Nick and Judy, started to look like he was getting extremely nervous. "I sure hope that I don't get selected," he said. "This is definitely out of my element."
"You'll be just fine, Erik," Judy replied. "Besides, the odds are-"
"The villager that will head to the maze is…" the tanuki announced enthusiastically. "Erik!"
"Oh my gosh," the moose muttered in shock. His words started to slip out of him at a rapid and panicked pace. "How is it possible that I get chosen out of everyone else? What if I get lost and can't find my way out? What if there's no food on that island? You know this is around the time of the day where I get super hungry."
"Poor Erik," the gray rabbit said to herself sympathetically. In that moment, she lifted herself up from out of her seat and shot a paw into the air. "I volunteer as tribute!" she proclaimed. "Nick and I will do the maze together."
Erik looked over at the rabbit and smiled at her. "Thanks, Judy. You're a lifesaver."
Tom Nook was actually taken a bit by surprise by this sudden change in events. "Very well," he said after a long pause. "In this case, it will be Nick and Judy that will take part in this one-time expedition. Come on up and get your ticket, you guys."
Judy gestured for Nick to stand up and walk over with her, and he followed her up to where the tanuki was waiting for them.
"Nobody asked if I wanted to be a part of this," the fox whispered. "You don't remember the last time we did that maze. You know, the one back in Bunnyburrow?"
"It'll be just fine," Judy reassured. "Trust me."
"Famous last words," the vulpine muttered quietly.
Tom Nook reached into his pocket and retrieved a ticket with the Dodo Airlines logo on it, handing it over to Judy. "Good luck, you two." Under his breath, he added, "You'll need it."
"Come on, Slick," Judy said to the tod standing beside her. "Let's head over to the airport and get on our flight."
Some Time Later, On the Maze Island…
They had both been inside of the maze for a good amount of time, and the frustration was beginning to settle inside of Nick. As soon as they had entered the island, the views of the beach had been covered up by tall hedges that made them only able to see the labyrinth and nothing more. Throughout their time they had been inside of it, there had been small holes that had to be jumped across, as well as some trees that blocked the passage, indicating dead ends.
"This is getting ridiculous," he said with a long and heavy sigh. "It feels like we ended up in the exact same place we started in."
"Guessing this isn't the right way to go," Judy said, trying to maintain some positivity in this moment. "How about we make a left turn instead of a right when we get to that shrub we were at before?"
Nick simply nodded his head and followed the bunny as she led them through the maze, heading the direction they previously did but making a small change in their course.
"I just don't know why the pilot couldn't have given us a tiny hint," the vulpine remarked a short time later. "Nothing that would give the solution to the maze away, but something that could be just a little bit helpful."
"Because that would take away from the fun of it all," the doe in front of him answered.
"I don't think the two of us getting stuck in a maze is what I would call fun, Fluff," responded Nick.
They continued to walk forward, thinking that they saw something up ahead. As soon as they walked over to what they had seen in the distance, however, they realized that it was nothing more than a peach tree. There was no other direction to go at this section of the maze than backwards.
"Another dead end," Judy said to herself. "So if we went this way…"
"I know this is probably bad timing," Nick interrupted, "but I'm thinking this'd be a good time for a quick ten-minute power nap." He walked over to where the peach tree stood and sat down on the grass, resting his back against the tree's trunk. "Maybe in the dream I'll have, we'll decipher the way out of this maze."
"You're gonna nap right now?" the lagomorph inquired, shaking her head.
As soon as she said this to him, however, the fox had somehow already managed to fall right asleep, snoring a bit loudly. He had quite a knack when it came to being able to fall asleep easily, but this had to be his quickest time yet. The aforementioned power naps had become a habit of his, and this was normally around the time he would occasionally take one back at the house on their island.
"Oh well," Judy muttered. "Guess I'll just to wait for him to wake up in the next nine minutes and fifty-six seconds."
Exactly Nine Minutes and Fifty-Six Seconds Later…
Judy was humming a song when Nick suddenly woke up from his short nap and bolted up onto his paws once again.
"Alright, Carrots, I have a plan!" he said enthusiastically. "It all came to me in this dream that I just had. In the dream, I was this muscular superhero that wore a bright yellow suit. You were wearing these big glasses and working behind some computer. Oh, and your voice was actually a bit deeper than-"
"How is that going to help us?" the rabbit interrupted.
"Hang on a minute, I wasn't finished," Nick replied before continuing. "Anyway, like I said, you were working behind the desk. But then you said something to me that made me get an idea. You were telling me something about using the quickest way to solve the problem. I first wasn't sure what you were going on about, but then it hit me!"
"So… what are we going to do?" inquired Judy. "What is it that I was talking about in your dream?"
"Two words, Fluff: Cheat. Code," the vulpine responded, holding up two fingers in front of the bunny. "It's kinda strange that I didn't think of using it sooner."
"I still don't understand," replied the doe.
"Having played a couple games growing up, I know that there's a universal code that'll help you get out of a tight situation," Nick explained. "Maybe the same thing will work here."
"I'm not thinking the same principles apply here," Judy said skeptically.
Nick walked away from the dead end and out to where the maze stretched. "Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A," he recited, jumping up and down and moving from left to right as he did so.
He remained still for a few seconds, hoping that something would miraculously occur. What happened soon enough, however, was not what he was wishing for. Two peach trees suddenly appeared on either side of him, standing only a few inches away from each other. These were now blocking him in and preventing him from getting out of the tight situation.
"Uh, Carrots?" Nick muttered to the rabbit on the other side. "I think we're gonna have to give Rescue Services a call."
Author's Note: Hey there, readers! I know I said that this story wasn't my main writerly priority, but I've been having a small case of writer's block when it comes to my other ongoing stories. In the meantime, however, I thought I would come up with this silliness. That last bit involving the cheat code wasn't meant to be a part of this, but it came to me on a whim and I decided to throw it in there at the last minute. After all, who hasn't tried to use one of those when playing a game before? XD
The event involving the maze is actually something that was in the most recent Animal Crossing game. As part of May Day, just like Nick and Judy did, you get to travel to a special maze that you have to solve, and if you do you get something special in the game.
'Til next time! :)