Chapter 13: The Snootsforce

Ting ting ting ting.

I was slightly woken up by a slight but startling noise. I couldn't tell if I was dreaming or not.

Tap tap tap

The noise continued.

I rushed to put in a new pair of contact lenses. I checked my watch to find out that I had been asleep for about 2 hours.

Ratatatatata

Judy and Nick were awake now too.

"What the fuck was that?" Nick asked.

"I don't know," I replied, "it seems like someone is tapping on something."

"Could be the Slammerjams," Judy said, "waking us up for dinner or something."

The noise continued again.

"Okay it's not the Slammerjams," Judy said, "'cause it's not coming from the door."

"It sounds like it's coming from the corner," Nick said.

"I'll go check it out," I said.

The noise sounded once again.

"Right there!" I said, as I pinpointed the tapping noise, "at the bottom of this wall right by the corner."

I bent over where the noise was coming from.

TAP TAP TAP

It sounded right next to my ear.

"Who could be tapping on the wall," I said. I then proceeded to put a paw on the wall and found it to move slightly.

"So," I said, "there is a loose piece of the wall right here."

"Like," Nick said, "it's not attached."
"Yes it's not attached," I said, "It moves when I touch it."

"Escape plan maybe?" Judy asked.

"Who knows," I said, "maybe if I try to move it a bit more."

I gave it a light push and it started to fall away from me.

"WATCH OUT WATCH OUT!" shouted a high pitched voice from the other side.

"Oh I got it," said another voice.

The piece of the wall then stopped falling and stayed in a diagonal position.

"Oh shit shit is much heavier than I expected," said one of the voices, "Let me just lower this and DROP IT!"
The piece of metal hit the ground with a clink. We then looked through the hole to see a Marmot wearing an Obituary t-shirt and shorts. On top of the marmot's head was a tiny Shrew who was wearing an Avatar shirt and ripped jeans.

"Uhhhh," said the Marmot, "introductions?"

"Oh yes," said the Shrew, "I'm Rachel Shrewsbury-Bipperson, an Etruscan Shrew, Zootopia's Smallest Metalhead and possibly smallest mammal."

"Chuck Clifton here, Yellow Bellied Marmot, and sound tech at the Bergen Inferno bar and venue."

"Alright," I started, "Snowy Lucifer Celsius Broden, Arctic Fox. Student at Zootopia University and vocalist for Dethbrush."

"Judy Hopps, European Rabbit. Originally from Bunnyburrow, former police officer and guitarist for Dethbrush."

"Nick Wilde, Red Fox. Zootopian native, former popsicle hustler, and also guitarist for Dethbrush."

"Okay Snowy," said Rachel, "I legit thought you were Johannes Eckerstrom."

"Me too," said Chuck.

"Everyone tells me that," I said, "by the way what are you here for?"

"Not much time to talk," said Rachel, "grab your belongings and come with us."

"Alrighty then," Nick said.

We grabbed everything we needed and went into the hole.

"Did you dig this?" I asked.

'Uhh yeah," Chuck replied, "it's quite short though."

EVentually we ended up in the air duct.

"Aha ye olde crawling through the air duct," Nick said.

"Except that we're all small enough that we can actually walk through this," Judy said.

"Yeah it's not exactly Die Hard," Rachel said, "but nonetheless we get to go through the air duct."

I tried to keep quiet in case any Slammerjams would notice.

"By the way," Rachel said, "one more turn and we'll end up where we need to be."

We rounded a bend and approached a grate. Chuck went and opened it.

"You have arrived," Chuck said.

I climbed out of the pipe and into a massive room, even bigger than the one I had been dropped in. I looked around and saw high rises, subway trains, cars, streetlamps, and even the whole Bison's Corner Mall.

"Holy shit!" I said, "so this is where all the buildings ended up."

"Yeah this is the storage area," Rachel said, "it's locked until this ship arrives on another planet. I've been overhearing what the aliens have been saying."

"Yeah we just call 'em Slammerjams,' ' Nick said.

"Oh that's quite a good name," said Rachel.

We rounded another bend and faced a very familiar building.

"Oh my fucking Satan!" Judy said, "they took the whole Tundratown Palladium."

Right in front of us stood the 700-capacity venue. It was one of my favorite venues in all of Zootopia, hosting some kick-ass shows from all types of metal bands. I had tickets to a show here but couldn't remember which one.

"This is where we all meet together," said Chuck, "you may recognize some familiar faces."

We walked inside the room. The venue was just like it had always been, with a large floor, a small balcony, and two bars on each side. The stage was relatively high for its size and so was the ceiling.

"Just wait here," Rachel said, "the meeting will start soon."

Suddenly, more mammals started working their way through the secret door by the stage. SUddenly, I recognized a familiar mustelid.

"Slick and the gang!" shouted Emmitt Otterton as he trundled in, "so great to see you here!"

He came right up to us and gave us a massive hug. He was wearing a pair of ripped jeans and a Black Label Society shirt. He looked even more like Corey Taylor from the 'knot than ever (by the way have you heard their new song "The Chapeltown Rag"? IT FUCKING RIPS!)

"Snowy! Judy! Nick!" shouted Viking Otterton. SHe also ran in to give us a hug, "You finally arrived!"

Their two pups arrived and started running around.

"Hey you three again!" shouted Corey Otterton, "Piper thinks I should become the new singer for Gloryhammer."

"I dare you to make an audition video," Piper replied, as the two ran around playing.

Finnick and Duke then came in.

"What is up fellow Dethbrushers!" shouted Duke Weaselton.

"Yeah that's right," Finnick said, "Duke on the drums and Finnick on the bass! Your band is complete."
"Hell yeah!" We responded.

"By the way we won't be members," Viking Otterton, "but meet your manager!"

"And your booking agent!" said Emmitt.

"Looks like we got things going," Judy said.

"Oh yeah," Duke said, "and by the way, there's a recording studio that was also abducted adjacent to this venue. While we're up here we can record some tunes."

"Great," Nick said, "we already got some written. Also, Vixy was allowed to bump her new venue's capacity to 100."

"Oh nice," Finnick said.

We continued talking as more mammals filed into the room.

"So," I asked, "why are we here?"

"You'll see," Viking replied.

Suddenly, a loud beeping noise sounded over the speaker.

"Settle down everyone," a voice said.

Suddenly, out onstage walked small canid. She had a small pointy snoot, pointy ears, gray and orange fur, and a bushy tail with a black tip. She was… Valencia Lopez: The Kit Fox we met earlier.

"So," she said into a microphone, "welcome back to the Club of Unlawful Mammals, also known as the C.U.M."

The whole crowd chuckled like a bunch of 13-year-olds.

"We are here," Valencia said, "because we have all been abducted. Thankfully, a particular Marmot and Shrew pair found a way to hide from those damn aliens."

"Slammerjams!" Judy replied.

"That's actually a good name for them," Valencia said, "I guess I will use that from now on. Well anyways, back to where I was, give it up for Chuck and Rachel!"

Everyone started cheering.

"We are here to find ways to defeat those fucking Slammerjams. In 48 hours, they will send out an announcement to decide our fate. Now let me hear you say, EAT A GINORMOUS BAG OF FURRY DICKS SLAMMERJAMS!"

We all responded and once again laughed.

"We will never let them decide our fate. We decide our own fate. We will defeat them."

"YEAH!" Everyone responded.

"We may seem outnumbered, but we do have some help with us. Our newest recruits are in this room and they apparently flew up in a tank with a rocket engine attached. Meet Snowy Broden, Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde. Reveal yourselves."

We waved to everyone as they all cheered.

"We love you Snowy Judy and Nick!" Shouted a Coyote, "Even though I have no idea who the fuck you are!"

"Snowy, Judy, Nick. For your acts of badassery, I give you this special treat. For tonight's performance, please make your way up to front row!"

"Ooh a performance," I said as we walked towards the front of the room, "must be someone good!"

"I mean, Valencia Lopez runs this," Judy said, "It's gonna be good."

"Just imagine if Tod were up here," Nick said.

We positioned ourselves on the stainless steel barricade at the front of the stage.

"Hey!" shouted an Elk, "that rabbit gave me a parking ticket even though I was 20 feet from my car."

"And that Red Fox used to sell popsicles on the street!" shouted a Civet, "they were fucking amazeballs."

"And that Arctic Fox, he must be Snowy," said a Beaver, "he is a regular at Tundratown metal shows. I can't remember just how many times I've had to crowdsurf him."

"Thank you all for coming to my daily talk!" said Valencia, "now let the performance begin!"

"Ooh," I said, "what's it gonna be?"

"You will definitely like it," a Raccoon behind us said.

Suddenly, the curtain that covered the back half of the stage dropped revealing a drumkit as well as the design of Otter Ogan's Final Days album.

"Oh shit!" Nick said, "I know what's going down."

The lights dimmed in the room, as the "Otter Ogan'' Intro began to play over the speakers. One by one, the band members of Otter Ogan walked onstage to the cheers of the crowd (the club was made up of about 500 mammals in a 700-cap venue). Once the intro finished playing, they went straight into "To The End" as the whole room erupted into a massive mosh pit. We were slammed up against the barricade and dodging crow surfers left and right. Seeb sounded excellent live and had great stage presence. Judy and Nick also thought so, as they were raging extremely hard to the live performance. Seeb was wearing the sci-fi clothing he had been wearing in recent videos. During "Inferno" he told the whole crowd to jump and crowd-surf and the security guards on the barricade were overwhelmed. He also used a flamethrower during some of the songs (normally this would be a fire code violation but we were in outer space so no one gave a fuck). The band also played "Gunman" which is my favorite of theirs and Seeb even let me sing into the microphone during part of it. He also shot confetti into the crowd during the song. Finally, the band closed their bangin' 90 minute set with "The Things We Believe In" and I caught a guitar pick.

"Holy shit!" I said after the band walked offstage, "we just went to an Otter Ogan concert, IN SPACE!"

"Puts a whole new meaning to 'Interstellar'," Judy said.

"That fucking ripped!" Nick said, "they never disappoint."

We then ran backstage to get drunk with the band. I got Seeb Ottermann to sign my clothing. Valencia Lopez was also back there playing Starfox with the band members. We also watched some concert documentaries and sets from various festivals.

"So," Valencia said to us once we were all sober, "allow me to show you to your rooms."

"Rooms?"

"Yeah," Valencia said, "The Grand Innsbuck Hotel which sits adjacent to the Palladium also got abducted. We've got a massive suite reserved for you for free!"

"Nice," I said, "always wanted to stay in the Grand Innsbuck since I wasa kit but it is so fucking expensive. But we get to stay there for free!"

"Alright," Valencia said, "Suite 611 is for you."

We were taken up the elevator to the top floor of the hotel. Our room was a lavish abode much better than the cell we had been in. It had two king-sized beds, multiple couches, and a massive flatscreen TV. It even had its own hot tub and sauna.

"Ahhh," Nick said, "Who knew that a lowlife metalhead fox like me would find himself in a place like this."

"This is very fancy," Judy said, "never seen anything like this."

"Well," I said, "hopefully there's some good metal records lying around this place. Or some concert videos we can watch on TV."

"Look at the view," Nick said, "just imagine if we were still in Tundratown."

"Cool view," I said, "but nothing beats the view from the top of Spruce Peaks."

"Nothing will," Judy said, "except maybe from the stage at the Foxhole."

"Hell yeah," Nick said, "can't wait for it to open. Hopefully our band will play there."

"If we get back," I said, "I hope we will and that Wolfard was right."

"Us too," Judy said, "plus what was this thing about an announcement?"

"Yeah," Nick said, "the whole thing about the Slammerjam leader making an announcement."

"Maybe," I said, "that'll be our catalyst to fight 'em off."
"Could be," Nick said, "also maybe tomorrow we can ask around?"

"Yeah," Judy said, "like asking Valencia what is going on and if we can do anything to stop them."

"That would be great," I said, "tomorrow. I kinda wanna get some sleep right now. I'm really tired."

"Good night," Nick said, "I got the bed with Judy."

"It's king size," Judy said, "so we both got room."

"Good night," I said back, "even though we don't even know what time it is."

I turned off the hotel light and went to sleep.