Dear reader,
Happy Thursday!
-Enjoy
"She's a; DAY-TRIPPER…" Nick mockingly sang as Judy massaged her temples, attempting to quell the storm in her head. "They call her 'chemical-bunny' she's got… rock and roll in her eyes!"
"I can't believe it's only three in the afternoon," grumbled Judy as she Checked her phone. Taking a sip of her coffee, Judy looked about the patio dining area before continuing; "how is that even possible? It's night out…"
"We are in the Nocturnal District, Carrots" laughed Nick at Judy's plight. "It's always midnight here!" Nick leaned his chair back on to two legs as he smiled at Judy.
The duo had moved from the Double D, to a smaller nocturnal diner/café down the street. "The Atomic Café" glowed above the detective duo in vibrant Neon as they sipped coffee in the restaurant's patio dining area. Judy nursed a chemical hangover, all the while watching the sewer access which sat a block away on the opposite side of the street.
"But we were in that club for ages," reasoned Judy, still not fully able to grasp how early in the day it was.
"We were in the Double D for four hours," explained Nick. "But we did get there at eleven in the morning… There is a reason why the party never stops here, Carrots."
Judy finished her second cup of coffee and began to look for the barista whom tended the establishment. Judy's heart skipped a beat as she was struck by a grim realization. "We're not going to fail a drug test now, are we?" Judy's fear was palpable in her voice, and prompted Nick to lean his chair back onto all four of its legs.
"We're Fine, Carrots" Nick placed a paw on top of Judy's in an attempt to reassure the clearly nervous rabbit. "Most all of the chem's that circulate the underground are actually legal."
"Really?" Judy cocked her head in confusion as Nick continued.
"Absolutely," Nick shot Judy a tender smile. "Most everything, including the paint we took, is entirely legal. It's just that distribution is so over-regulated that the substances are almost impossible to get. So, brave mammals like Rocket self-produce and distribute to the masses. That's the illegal part." Nick paused to sip his coffee before finishing his tangent. "So technically speaking, it's not illegal to purchase, or consume any of Rocket's products. It's only illegal to manufacture and distribute. Ultimately, I think it's just a tax scam on the cities part…"
Judy smiled in both relief and surprise at Nick's explanation. "Look at you, and here I was thinking you were just a pretty face…"
Nick laughed as he shifted his chair back onto two legs. "Nope, that responsibility lies squarely with you."
Hours passed, and the duo found themselves hungrily admiring the dinner menu of the Atomic Café. Laying her menu flat on the table, Judy stopped to check her phone; 6:00 Pm. Sucking air past her teeth as she glanced to the still-silent sewer access, Judy struck up a new conversation.
"I really like it down here" Judy smiled at Nick, whose ears perked up from behind his menu wall. Continuing; "All the glow-y stuff… It's very pretty. And all the animals down her have a certain…" Judy looked about the diner as she searched for the correct wording. "They have an energy to them! Like every day is exciting to them." Judy frowned at Nick as he lowered his menu to look at her. "I really don't get why we've never been here before."
Nick folded up his menu and blew a deep exhale out of his nostrils. "I'm glad you like the underground, Carrots, but it's not exactly my favorite place anymore."
"What do you mean?" Judy shot Nick a puzzled glance at the fox's somber reply.
"All this," Nick waved a paw for emphasis. "All this does is remind me of who I used to be… And I'm not terribly fond of that animal anymore."
"Nick…" Judy mumbled.
"Sure, I had fun," Nick continued over Judy. "And I had lots of 'friends,' but I was spiteful, conniving, and self-loathing. I had a lot of 'fun' in this city, but it was more out of a necessity of the life I lead… as opposed to a love of life… But now I have you." Nick smiled at his partner, who returned his smile with a hint of sadness. "And I have the ZPD, and what's more to ask for than a cute bunny and a stable job?"
Judy bit the inside of her cheek as she maneuvered about Nick's teasing, and attempted to stay the course. "You shouldn't be so hard on yourself, Nick" Judy spoke as she attempted to make eye contact with the emotionally-shifty fox. "You didn't know any better; you were just doing the best you could with the cards you were dealt. And besides," Judy rested her paw on Nick's forearm. "It was that self-loathing conniving con-mammal I fell for when we first met."
Nick smiled timidly at the reassuring bunny. In the back of his mind, he couldn't help but wonder how he got so lucky. Nick fought for a reason as to why he deserved any of Judy's love. Snapping back to reality, Nick couldn't help but cut short the overtly tender moment by flagging down a waitress. Nick loved Judy very much; he was just bad at showing it.
After placing their respective orders, the duo renewed their conversation with a less tender topic.
"So what mammals live in the underground?" asked Judy, not entirely satisfied in how their previous tangent had ended.
"Technically anyone can live here, Carrots" Nick replied matter-of-factly, sipping a glass of water that their waitress had brought them. "But, a large percentage of the population is traditionally nocturnal mammals. You have everything from opossums, like Jazz, to raccoons, like Rocket. Some species of foxes which are more exclusively nocturnal live here as well. And then you have a lot of animals that are barely too big for Little Rodentia, but still work the utilities." Nick nodded his head towards the sewer-hatch, which was the center of their steak-out. "However, Moles almost exclusively live here, as opposed to the rest of Zootopia."
Judy cocked her head to the side in interest, "How come?"
"They're all blind" said Nick.
"Nick!" Judy recoiled in disgust at Nick's insensitivity. "You can't say that, you should be ashamed of yourself!"
Nick threw his head back in laughter, which prompted Judy to get even angrier. "Relax, I don't mean anything by it. It's a biological fact."
"You're not helping your case, Nicholas" scolded Judy, crossing her arms at the offending fox.
"Hear me out," Nick held up a digit to silence Judy before continuing. "You see our waitress?"
Judy craned her neck to catch sight of the female mole whom had taken their orders. Returning her attention to Nick, Judy opened her mouth to comment, but was cut off.
"Entirely blind!" Nick waved a paw in front of his eyes for emphasis before continuing, earning an even harsher glare from the offended rabbit. "But, you'd never notice; because the city is built for blind mammals."
Judy's frustration began to lose out to interest as Nick continued to explain.
"If you look at the carpet, or the street outside," Nick gestured to both as he spoke "you'll notice that there are those weird patterns which are formed out of different lengths of carpet or the types of concrete on the street."
Judy marveled at the previously insignificant designs which had spanned the entire city without her even noticing. A smile crept across her face as she watched a family of moles weave their way through the bustling sub-city street and file into a building together.
"Those patterns are there to help the moles navigate." Nick folded his arms behind his head as he continued to blow Judy's mind. "The different materials tell the moles everything about where they are going. Using just their feet, they are able to tell street address, cardinal direction, location of the nearest bathroom, and even which table they are at. Speaking of which;" Nick stopped to smile up at their waitress whom now carried a tray of delicious smelling food.
"Is everything going okay for you two?" asked the mole waitress as she placed Nick and Judy's respective orders in front of them.
"Absolutely," replied Nick with a smile. "We were just talking about how blind you are."
"Nick!" Judy all but lunged at Nick over the table, prompting a disarming giggle from the attending staff.
"Oh, it's quite alright" assured the waitress, facing towards Judy. "I am, in fact, almost entirely blind. My 'eyes' as most mammals would call them; are only really sensitive to extreme changes in light. And some species of my kin don't even have eyes. But most animals don't even notice, what with how dark it is down here." The charismatic mole smiled and 'winked' at Judy before continuing. "You two wouldn't happen to be Judy Hopps and Nicholas Wilde, would you?"
Both Nick and Judy's posture stiffened at the realization of being found-out. Despite being "under-cover," It was Nick who spoke first to confirm the Mole's speculation.
"Oh, my word!" squealed the waitress, almost bouncing with glee. "I love you guys! You two are such an inspiration to everyone! None of my friends are going to believe me when I tell them this story later."
Judy smiled politely up at the excited mole. "You could take a picture with us, to show…" Judy trailed off as she realized her own mistake.
The female mole laughed in kind spirits; "Oh, you are just too precious! That's quite alright, Judy." The waitress politely placed a paw over her mouth to snuff out her laughter, as Judy turned a deep shade of embarrassed.
Nick smiled at the two females before whispering, "We are under-cover right now, so if you could…"
"Oh!" squeaked the mole before miming zipping her mouth shut. "We moles are nothing, if not good secret-keepers. If you two need anything, just be sure to holler." At that the waitress politely bowed and skipped away from the table.
Nick smirked at Judy, whom was obviously still embarrassed. "A photo, eh?"
"Hush, you" hissed Judy as she turned her attention on her food.
A few more hours had passed, and the duo had all but died of boredom. Checking her phone, Judy exhaled deeply as she saw that it was now 9:00Pm. Taking a sip of coffee, Judy decided to pry at Nick to pass the time.
"So…" Judy drug out the word as both her and Nick lazily stared at the dormant sewer access-point.
"Yes…" Nick groaned in reply, taking a long pull from his coffee.
"Becca?" Judy asked, prompting Nick to choke on his coffee. Smiling, Judy continued; "the female fox from the Double D… what's her deal?"
"What do you mean," sputtered Nick as he attempted to regain composure.
"What'd she say again?" Judy reveled as Nick squirmed under her gaze. "That it would be an extra hundred if I watched… watched what?"
"I have no idea," replied Nick, as his ears pinned flat in fear.
Judy sat up in her chair before fixing Nick with an "I know better than that" stare, prompting Nick to wilt even further.
Exhaling deeply, Nick prepared to dig his own grave. "Carrots, I won't lie to you, but allow me to preface by saying; don't ask questions you don't want answers to."
"Nick!" Judy punched the embarrassed fox in the arm. "You said you had fun, here… but her?"
"Hay!" Nick barked defensively. "I told you I wasn't fond of who I used to be, and I meant it for many reasons."
The pair sat in tense silence, as a smirk grew on Judy's face.
"So how many?" asked Judy, in an overly professional tone.
"How many what?" replied Nick, praying that the conversation would shift.
"How many foxes…" Judy paused to steep her paws, "have you slept with, Mr. Wilde."
Nick exhaled in exasperation. "Well they weren't always fo-" Nick's jaws snapped shut as he realized he may have fallen off the proverbial deep-end. Judy's eyes bulged in shock, but quickly transitioned to excitement as her brain processed what Nick had almost said.
"go-on…" said Judy as even bigger smirk made its way to her face.
"You know what, no!" Nick crossed his arms, prompting Judy to recoil in disappointment. "Why am I being put on trial here? You're the rabbit, how many mammals have you slept with?"
"For your information," Judy replied, mater-of-factly, "I've only ever slept with one rabbit. But we didn't do anything, so it doesn't count."
"Oh good," coughed Nick, sweating as he attempted to navigate the conversational minefield. "I too, have only slept with one rabbit… But she didn't do anything for me, so it doesn't count."
Judy feigned a gasp of offense as she tried to contain a laugh. "I didn't do anything for you?"
"Not at all…" Nick shook his head sarcastically as Judy started to climb across the table, in an attempt to prove him wrong. Locking eye's with the seductive rabbit, Nick started to smile as Judy leaned in close for a kiss. As Nick tilted his head to lock snouts, he inadvertently looked past Judy's sultry visage, and saw that the sewer grate was no longer vacant.
"Shoot, Carrots!" Nick all but yanked Judy off the table as he turned her around to look at the target at hand. "Look, at the sewer access."
Judy chased a sexually frustrated cloud of steam from her lungs as she attempted to see what Nick was so excited about. Instantaneously, Judy's frustration turned to excitement as she caught sight of a large mammal in a cloak.
The offending figure wore an inky-black cloak, and was pacing outside of the sewer grate. The cloak obscured any fur that might give away the suspect's species, but from across the street, Nick and Judy could guess that it was a predator. The figure stood about two heads taller than Nick, but was as wide as a barn door. Even from their distant post, the duo could see muscles rippling under the thick black cloak as the mystery mammal walked circles.
"Check out big shoots…" Nick mumbled as Judy's eyes widened in amazement. "God I hope that's not our guy."
As if on cue, the sewer grate sprang open, and the hooded figure turned his attention to the surface passage.
Nick and Judy watched in silence at the scene that began to unfold. Judy's ears instinctively sprung up as they caught the distant sound of maniacal laughter.
One by one, an assembly line of giant rats exited the grate and threw their respective work-loads of bound and gagged Rodentians into a burlap sack, which was held by the cloaked figure. Judy's mind rolled into overdrive as she realized the laughter was not coming from the rats, but rather the mysterious figure.
Reaching into her pant-pocket, Judy produced her compact hand-held police radio. Readying herself to call in the suspect, Judy keyed the radio with her thumb.
"KSHHHHH!" The radio bellowed static at the detective duo, causing both Nick and Judy to jump. Judy keyed the radio several more times in vain, only to be greeted by static. Looking up, the duo realized that the under-city's concreate roof was blocking Judy's signal.
"Tell me you brought yours," hissed Judy as she counted eight abductions and rising.
Nick held his paws out as he replied; "And where, pray-tell, would I keep the damn thing?"
"Shoot," whispered Judy as she pocketed her radio and produced a tazer. "I guess we can't count on back up."
"Okay," hissed Nick as he produced his own respective tazer. "This is the part where I tell you 'this is a bad idea' ready? This is a bad idea."
"Somebody has to do something," replied Judy, turning her attention on Nick. "That's the thing about being an officer; you get to be that someone." With no further delay, Judy produced her badge and charged down the street. Nick followed close behind.
"HALT, Z.P.D!" Judy brandished her badge as she ran towards the crime scene. "YOU ARE ALL UNDER ARREST!"
All the rats froze in fear of the law, as Judy stopped well within taser distance of all of the suspects. However, As Nick joined Judy's side, the figure began to laugh. First a nasally giggle rose from the black recesses of the cloak, but before either Nick or Judy could react; the hooded criminal threw its head back in laughter, shedding the thick black disguise.
Primal fear spiked in the back of Judy's mind as she caught sight of the muscular shirtless canine. Looking over the mammal's black and white striped fur, Judy found herself at a complete loss as to what species the animal was. He was big, with rolled shoulders and a powerful neck, the canine seemed to be almost as wide as he was tall. A square head and snout indicated that the culprit was of canine decent, however his pointed wide ears seemed to indicate otherwise. A thick bristly mane of fur crowned his head and ran down his spine and the length of his bushy tail. The mammal looked almost disproportionate, being composed of nearly all power full core/upper body, with shorter sturdy legs. Catching the duo in a moment of shock, the criminal barked a laugh before turning to run.
All hell broke loose, as giant rats scattered down the street and back into the sewer. "AFTER THE… DOG!" Judy yelled as she chased down the fleeing suspect.
Nick and Judy followed in the wake of destruction and toppled animals that the striped convict left behind. While Nick and Judy dove and weaved through the crowds of midnight mammals, the bulldozer of an animal tucked his square head and plowed shoulder-first through the hoard of party-goers.
"HE'S HEADED TOWARDS OLD-TOWN" panted Nick as he rode Judy's heels. "IF WE'RE NOT CAREFULL *puff* WE'LL LOSE HIM IN AN ABANDONED BUILDING!"
Turning a corner, Judy realized she was losing ground on the bulldozer as she attempted to weave through the hoard of toppled animals. She'd have to change up her tactic if she were to stand a chance of returning the abducted rodents. Looking up, Judy had an idea.
"FOLLOW MY LEAD!" Judy yelled to Nick as she ran, jumped off a stack ofcrates, rebounded off a neon sign, and grabbed onto the side of a fire-escape which clung to the side of a windowless building. Looking down as she climbed the fire escapes, Judy caught sight of Nick crashing into the pile of boxes, and tangling himself in their wreckage. "Nick…" Judy hissed in frustration. In a split second decision, she elected to come back for Nick after she saved the rodents.
Jumping from rooftop to rooftop, the acrobatic bunny managed to regain her ground on the fleeing mammal. The crowds had all but vanished as Judy noticed more and more abandoned storefronts/apartments. Judy realized, in a moment of triumph, that she had all but overtaken the mountain of a mammal. However, her victory was short lived as the roof of an abandoned single story apartment gave way under her, plunging her into its ruins with a crash. Judy let out a yell of pain and frustration as her body impacted an ancient dresser, and sent her rolling across the floor into the side of a disheveled moth-eaten bed. A ploom of stuffing launched into the air upon her impact and Judy scrambled back to her feet.
Looking out the smashed front door, Judy realized that the criminal had stopped to investigate the rabbit's downfall. Leveling her taser at the hulking canine, who took up the entire doorway, Judy barked; "FREEZE!" and pulled the trigger.
An electric crackle filled the air, and Judy's sensitive ears twisted towards the source of the noise; which came form behind her. Following the deployed wires from the front of her gun, both the canine's and Judy's eyes followed the taser-leads to where two prongs stood; embedded in the floor. The massive criminal's stout muzzle lit up with joy as another cacophony of laughter escaped his imposing frame.
Judy cursed as she realized that her taser must have deployed when she impacted the dresser. Returning her attention to the front door, Judy caught site of the criminal ducking down an alley-way.
Ejecting the spent cartridge, Judy fumbled with her extra leads as she jetted after the escapee. However, as Judy exited the building, she was all but pancaked by Nick, whom had just caught up.
"CARROTS," Nick panted as he skid to a halt, mere inches away from bulldozing his partner.
"HE WENT THAT WAY!" pointed Judy as she took off down the alley-way. Analyzing her stun-gun as she ran, Judy realized her tazer had been damaged in the fall and would not accept a new cartridge. "MY TAZER'S TOAST!" Judy yelled to Nick, whom was hot on her heels. "YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO TAKE THE SHOT."
Rounding a corner, the pair came to a dead-end. With panted relief, Nick realized the criminal was trapped with nowhere to go.
Turning about to face the duo, the massive canine tossed his bag of prisoners to the side. A wicked smile crept across his striped muzzle as a giggle escaped his intimidating frame. "Silly rabbit and silly fox…" said the striped criminal. "I'm not trapped in here wit-"
Nick shot the canine mid-sentence, earning him a disgruntled glare from Judy. "What?" Nick shrugged as the sound of electricity filled the alley-way. "He was monologing, you never let them finish their monolog."
Laughter stole the duos attention. Returning their gaze to the electrified mammal, Nick noticed that the taser's leads were still buried in the canine's striped barrel chest. However, the coursing electricity appeared to have no effect.
The massive criminal grabbed the taser's lead wires and pulled them tight. Nick's vice-grip on the handle of his weapon stayed true, and the fox slid forward slightly in the gravel that littered the back alley. Swinging the lead to the side, the criminal pulled Nick slightly off balance. Shifting his weight, the striped assailant swung Nick into Judy's side, laughing all the while.
Fox skull met rabbit skull met the brick wall, and the detectives were knocked unconscious.
Oh hot-diggity!
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-Enjoy the next chapter!