Hey all, DLW here with a new chapter. A huge thank you to all the readers, follows,fav's and reviews (Honestly, it helps me think)! This arc and the next arc have me incredibly excited to write them (No spoilers though) Also I do have a question for all my readers about music (more at the bottom). Disclaimer: Zootopia and its characters are copyright Disney. (I own none of the characters in the story aside from the O/C's.).

The Dystopian Society

Chapter Three: Pitch Black

'In The Brilliant Darkness'

"As you held out your hand in the dark, I asked. 'Where are you taking me?"

[February 4, 'Nocturnal District' 6:05 PM]

Judy stood in awe, captivated by the sheer unfamiliarity at the spectacle. Just beyond the door was a world she had never imagined underground.

While still leery of the ever grinning fox, she took a few steps forward. She didn't like the idea of him standing behind her at all.

Nick had himself propped against the door to hold it in place as Judy walked just past noticed how skittish she was every time she got too close and this was no exception.

She scurried past him once she was about half way through the threshold of the door and hugged a nearby wall. The cuffs she had fastened around her waist jingled and rattled against one another with every spring of her step.

Nick huffed and shook his head. Despite Judy's tough cop attitude, he could tell that she still had her fears. Not that he was truly bothered by it, he shrugged his shoulders and let the door close behind him.

The screeching sound of the door shutting sent echoes throughout the tunnel but blended in with the sounds of the underground to them. Having latched back in place, the two now were face to face with the Nocturnal District itself.

Judy, with her back against the wall, momentarily glanced over to Nick to make sure he hadn't retreated back into the tunnels. After catching eye of the fox walking towards the glow of lights, she was only grateful that she wouldn't have to chase him down for now.

As she watched, her eyes wandered from him to the strange and breathtaking view around her. It wasn't just a system of caves that she had believed it was, no, it was amazing.

The first thing she noticed was how welcoming the district was. So much was her admiration that her ears fell without her notice.

Unlike the dank and dreary tunnels, it was warm and teeming with life. The air was crisp and didn't reek of city pollution and garbage.

When she began to move, she noticed the finer details of her surroundings. The wall she stood against was a mix of smoothly cut stone set just below stalagmites.

There was a paved path leading from the tunnel door to a small bridge and luminous waterway that separated them from the town just ahead. The bridge itself was well lit as were the buildings and seemingly fauna ahead.

Baffled at the realization that there were even buildings down here, Judy took a glance toward the sky only to be cut off by the sheer height of the ceiling.

Though mostly still a mess of stalactites, there were numerous luminescent spheres of varying size and color strewn about. They alone allowed her to view the ceiling cave as if they were hundreds of stars.

While it wasn't necessarily as high as the megastructures of Downtown, it was surprisingly roomy. She could make out a few well lit buildings farther away that had to be at least a few stories tall.

Some of them had surrounded buildings that stretched from the ground to the ceiling. One, in particular, was easily identified as a hospital with a red cross flashing on the face of its connected roof; others were labeled as numerous businesses, banks, and other such necessary establishments.

Taking all of this in, she wondered just how far they had climbed down. She had known that they did climb for a while, but had no clue that it was the equivalent of a buildings worth.

'Maybe the tunnels took us lower?' She reasoned with herself.

She had become so engrossed with the sights that she didn't even know she had begun to walk towards the bridge. She clicked her toes across the smoothed out path and darted her eyes about, she had been so excited to see what was next that she had nearly forgotten to pay attention to where she was going herself.

In moments of her nearly skipping, she was met with a solid object that startled her. Recoiling from the impact, she placed her paw on her forehead and shook off the feeling.

Slightly embarrassed at her mistake, she looked up to see what she ran into. To her immediate surprise, she had somehow walked straight into Nick.

In an instant, her ears hiked themselves and she shuffled back a few feet as quickly as she could, she didn't want to give him a chance to get any closer. If she needed to cuff him then she'd need a little time and distance to be effective.

He had been standing at the railing of the small bridge a few feet in front of her, idly swishing his tail and looking down into the waterway. The moment she had disturbed him, he glanced over to her with a calm and cheerful smile.

He then tilted his head towards the water under the bridge and proceeded to walk further across. With his hand still gliding across the smooth cut stone railing, he clicked his nails as he strode.

Carefully, after double checking that she had every possible means to detain him, she followed slowly in his path. Though she was curious to see what he was trying to tell her, she didn't know if it was worth her time.

While walking behind him, she let her eyes stray for a moment to the waters below. The moment she did, her whole head turned to see the stunning and odd view.

Her jaw dropped at how clear the water was, she could see all the way to the bottom where it was glowing with underwater lighting. It flowed slowly, soft ripples clashed against one another but it still shone like a flawless mirror; so much so that she could even see the luminescent ceiling in its reflection.

There were schools of small fish swimming aimlessly in any direction. Their shadows cast on either side of the waterway made it seem like there were many more than she could imagine.

It intrigued her more and more that every moment something new and interesting caught her off-guard.

While she silently watched in amazement, she heard a very faint sound. Her ears turned in attention to catch it before she did. In that moment, she saw Nick snickering.

"I told you you'd love it down here." He chuckled, tilting his head up and walking backward off the bridge.

Judy wasn't amused by his statement or his behavior. While she didn't disagree that, for the time, it was pleasant; her every thought mulled over the possibility of anything terrible happening at any moment.

She shook her head and moved away from the railing of the bridge. It had been an interesting sight, but she had more work to be done. Within a few seconds, she once again trailed Nick at a safe distance into the busier part of the district.

Nick walked at a moderate pace, even for his size. It wasn't too difficult for Judy to catch up to him as she constantly found herself wandering from sight to sight.

After that had made it past the bridge, they came to a well-populated area that housed several small establishments of all walks of life. Judy's eyes traced from place to place, seeing everything ranging from grocery stores and restaurants to furniture shops and many others.

She noticed that the pathway was slightly different from what she was used to. Above ground it was a concrete sidewalk's and mostly smooth paved streets, here, however, the sidewalks were lit and made of hewn stone while the streets were oddly made of nothing more than bricks.

Stranger than that to her were the residents themselves. They walked by nearly every kind of mammal possible. She saw small herd of Zebra pass by them on the other side of the street, and a few big cats stood by chatting to one another in front of a convenience store.

There were seen several moose running to and fro clad in business attire, while a raccoon strode by only glancing at them. They strode by several sheep at a club that paid no heed to them, and Nick was even given a passing hello by a bear or two.

While they walked, Judy's mind wandered. She had no idea where this even was, or even if they were still in the Savannah. With this many species, there was no way that this was all just one area.

"Where is this place?" She asked, confounded that this was so vastly different from the surface.

Just ahead of her, Nick continued his pace. Never looking backward, he shrugged his shoulders. "Oh, just the underground between Downtown and the Savannah."

Judy couldn't believe what her ears had heard, and this time, not because it came from the fox.

"The entire district?" She gasped.

Just as she said that, she saw Nick turn around and walk backward. He faced her eye to eye, without a care to who he may bump into.

"Some of it," He started, pointing his paws left and right. "It stretches out to some other areas, but this is the heart of the town."

In her thoughts, she tried to reason on how such a huge and wondrous part of Zootopia was here without her ever knowing. Had it not been for her working a case, she could see her visiting this area for fun someday.

"Just the kind of nightlife for mammals like myself, just miles of food and fun," Nick continued, finally facing in the direction he was waling once more. "But, oddly enough, most of the places don't open until morning though."

This struck her as a bit of a no-brainer. Many businesses opened in the morning, but how was that different from here she wondered?

Taking a chance, her curiosity asked for her. "How's that odd?"

As she asked her question, they passed by a local restaurant. She caught a faint whiff of fresh bread that immediately reminded her that she hadn't eaten since she left the precinct. Only then did she feel her stomach grumble, she had to remind herself to stop somewhere once they find what they were looking for.

"Well, time's kind of... reversed here," Nick answered, sniffing the air and wishing he was free enough to get food somewhere. "Since more than half of the residents are nocturnal mammals, they start their day late."

While he too felt slightly hungry from the smell of the restaurant, he shook his head in hopes to stave off hunger long enough to meet his friends, wherever they may be.

"Most of the late night stuff is open early in the morning," He continued, walking to the corner of the sidewalk they were on and stopping before the intersection. "And a lot of the morning restaurants and businesses open up at night."

Judy took this into account. While she had seen several nocturnal mammals here, she didn't think that things would be as different here as she could have imagined.

While still behind Nick, she looked up to see the streetlight looming above them. It too was as odd as its surroundings. Though they were nearly the same on every corner, they all looked as if they were from a long forgotten era.

As she came to stop at the corner just a few feet away, she took a moment to think to herself. She was to get the information and report to Jack, but one thing bothered her.

'Where's Jack's colleague?' She thought.

Jack had specifically told her that she would have someone to watch over them once they got here, but since her arrival, she had seen neither hide nor hair of his supposed partner.

It slightly worried her, but still, she trusted Jack to make the right call. If he said there would be someone to watch them, then there should be someone there. Maybe it was that she wasn't looking hard enough.

Believing that this may be the case, she focused her attention on every detail of her surroundings. Many of the things were blending into the same pattern, but the absence of one thing now caught her attention.

"Wait a sec," She said in both panic and disbelief. "Where are all the cars?"

Nick, hearing her voice her concern, walked across the intersection. He had waited just long enough to get his bearings on the quickest path for them to go.

Once about halfway across, he answered. "There are a few, but not many in this town."

Judy didn't quite understand. She followed Nick across the street, patiently awaiting for him to elaborate on how this could be.

"They use mostly trolleys and other public transportation," He explained, glancing back at Judy to emphasize why. "I know from experience that it isn't easy to get one car down here, even in the lifts."

Having crossed the street he shuddered from his own memories surfacing against him. He brushed it off though as it was far past him.

Judy couldn't help but ponder this problem. If cars were a rare commodity here, then what would happen if someone was hurt or needed help?

"What about the hospital and police force?" She added.

There was no way that even if the town was brilliant and beautiful that nothing ever happened here.

To this matter, Nick sighed. He knew fully well what Judy was trying to get at, incase she needed to call for her backup on him. Thought the hospital sounded like a decent place for now.

He resigned himself to reply. "They do have emergency transports that are up all the time, but nothing too extensive."

Glad to have some semblance of easily mobile law in the district with her, she took a deep relaxing breath of relief. If things went wrong with Nick and his 'friends' then she would have at least a backup plan, even if Jack's colleague never showed themselves.

Another question soon came to her mind. "So where's this person that we can get your file from?"

As Nick heard this, he huffed in slight annoyance. "Well, we can't get the file from her."

Judy narrowed her eyes slightly at this. Was he playing some trick again? He did say that they were here for this supposed file, but this was proving a difficult task.

Gritting her teeth at his possible deception, she protested. "Then why did you-"

Before she could get another word in, Nick raised his paw in hopes to silence her.

Having been effective, and seeing the fury once again coursing itself in her eyes, he reminded her. "I said that she's the only one that may know where Finnick and Clawhouser are."

As quickly as he said this, Judy could feel herself a little less tense. Though she was still upset that he of all mammals would correct her, he was still telling her what he did say earlier.

Sighing out of impatience, Judy crossed her arms as they continued down the street.

"Then show me where she is." She ordered, not wanting to waste time any further in sightseeing.

Just ahead of her, she could see Nick scratching his head as they came to another intersection.

"Might be easier to cut through the park," He informed her, looking down one street in particular and slowly turning down it. "Right this way."

He waved Judy forward and walked towards a more open area ahead. She could see faint glows emanating from the area and large trees just in front of them.

Though Nick did get a little farther ahead of her, she still questioned a lot of things that were happening with her right now.

'He did say someone would watch me, right?' She asked herself.

Still a little skeptical about this unfamiliar mammal, she kept her pace and continued to trail the fox all while in wonder of both the area and her mission.

"In hopes that we could understand one another I replied. 'To the land that many falsely fear to tread.'"

Hello there, and welcome to the end notes! Chapter 3 is here and I'm chipping away at it bit by bit (was supposed to be 3 chapters, but it needs to be a bit more than that now...).

And a question for all the readers out there. What would you all think of a music suggestion for future (and maybe current and previous) chapters of this story? I know I won't be able to post the full link (except maybe on Archive of our Own in notes) but it would allow for a good atmosphere. Please let me know what you think.

Also, a new Nick and Finnick will be out sometime this weekend!

And I hope you get a chance to read this and the other at your leisure. Also, these stories can be found here as well:

fanfiction:
~dancinglunarwolves

deviantart:
dancinglunarwolves

archiveofourown:
users/DancingLunarWolves/works

If you liked this story and have time please post a review, and if you would like to keep up with the story please fav or follow. Questions, comments, concerns, feel free to message me about anything... More to come soon.

If you'd like updates, please check the profile page and or message me.

Also, I'm placing my other stories (non zootopia) on hold (just on hold) until I'm done with a good chunk of these. More info on my profile page.

I hope you all enjoy.

Till Next Time
-DLW