Chapter 11 - The Velvet Orca
A square strip of silver tinted plastic lay on the brown, false wood countertop. The silver strip had clear bubbles evenly spaced across its otherwise flat surface. The bubbles were arranged into four rows of seven, and each had a number running from one to twenty eight, marked along the sides. Inside of each bubble a small spherical object was held captive, within its hermetically sealed shell. Each spheroid was a different color, ranging from blues and reds, to greens and yellows.
Standing in front of the counter was a short rabbit whose fur ranged from light grays to near white under her chin and on her belly. She was wearing only a long t-shirt that was three sizes too large for the small mammal. Her body was leaning over a sink where the faucet was left running, and she rubbed a colorful plastic stick across her large buck teeth, covering it in a thick foamy lather.
After spitting the toothpaste into the flowing water, and rinsing off the toothbrush, she grabbed a small green cup with bright orange carrots engraved on the side, and filled it with fresh water from the tap. She lifted the square strip of pills off the bathroom counter and inspected each one, counting them with her tiny, freshly sharpened claws.
Breaking the seal on the bubble, marked with the number one, she pushed the yellow pill through the silver backing, and lifted it to her mouth. "Well, here goes nothing," she said with a sigh, popping it onto her tongue and washing it down with the water from her carrot glass.
With the glass drained, she firmly placed it back on the edge of the sink. Then she picked up a small white box, made of thick card like paper, and slid the silver lined pack of pills back into its box. The box was promptly placed on a tiny shelf above the bathroom sink, and a small mirror swiveled into place in front of it. Before the mirrored door could close, two large words could be read on the side of the box, "Lagomorph Suppressants."
The rabbit headed back to her mixed living, and bedroom. Other than the bathroom, it was the only room in her tiny apartment. She quickly changed out of her night shirt and into the standard issue ZPD uniform, then left the apartment quietly, closing the door behind her. Unlike her noisy neighbors, she was actually a very quiet and polite bunny.
Weekends were normally this rabbit's days off, however today was special, Judy and her partner had a big lead to follow, but first they needed to check in with their boss.
A single brown, steel and plastic chair sat in the center of a large, braided green carpet, lining the floor of a huge, square room. Before the lonely chair, was a tremendous oak desk, littered with giant file folders, and enormous reports. Off to one side of the desk, sat an immense push button telephone, and in front of the phone sat a brass plaque with the letters 'CHIEF BOGO' engraved into it.
The rest of the room was lined with shelves, holding giant books, and boxes of case files. A tree like lamp stood tall in one corner next to a skyscraper sized filing cabinet, while a titanic tapestry of the city map hung on the far wall. High up on a wall near the room's colossal door was a humongous calendar showing the month of June.
Seated behind the immense desk, was a gargantuan mammal wearing the blue uniform of the Zootopia Police Department. With both front hooves firmly planted on top of his desk, the monstrous cape buffalo glared down at the sturdy utilitarian chair before him.
On this chair sat two tiny mammals, a small, fluffy gray bunny with dark tipped ears, and a red fox with a shiny black nose. The rabbit patiently waited on one side of the seat, with her paws folded in her lap, while her partner continued to poke her in the ribs, causing her to squirm and shift, until she finally had to swat his paws away, and firmly punch him in the shoulder before he stopped pestering her.
"Enough!" the buffalo bellowed. "The two of you are going to have to charge this guy with something, or let him go." A huge fisted hoof slammed down on the enormous desk, causing a stack of papers to fall over. "His lawyer is furious that we won't even let him speak to his client."
Standing up in the oversized chair, and pointing through the tremendous door behind her, the rabbit spoke pleadingly, "We both know that lawyer is just going to bail Mr. Osaka out the second those charges hit your desk."
Placing an open hoof to his brow, he wiped the appendage across his eyes, and down his muzzle, "By law, we can only contain a mammal for no more than 24 hours, without charge."
"Fine," the smallest officer sighed. "Can you please stall the lawyer for that long?"
"Alright," Chief Bogo stated curiously, "I'll bite. What's this all about, Hopps?"
The rabbit's tone became serious, while explaining the situation to her boss, "He had no idea what was in those pills, Sir. He could have killed both his date and his friend." Her paws balled into tiny fists. "I just want that prick to think about what he did last night."
"Hopps!" the buffalo bellowed again, slamming the other fist on the desk, sending a file folder to the floor. "You are one of my best officers, but we can't just go around inflicting our own personal justice on the mammals of this city whenever we want to. That's not how our legal system works."
"But, Sir," she pleaded. "He will never even see the inside of a courtroom. He'll just pay the fines for the damages, and be out of Zootopia and drilling teeth again before next week."
Glaring at his two smallest officers, his eyes slowly softened and the smoke rolling from his nostrils eventually subsided, "Fine, I'll try to stall the lawyer, but you two are lucky this hasn't turned into an international incident, or there could be a lot more hell to pay."
Jumping to his feet, the fox finally spoke up, "Well, Carrots, that's our cue, let's get buffalo b..."
"Wilde," Bogo glared at the tiny uniformed fox, "if you want another suspension, please, go ahead and finish that sentence."
Stepping off the right side of the chair, the fox attempted to quickly cover his verbal slip, "What I meant to say, was that we should get going on those reports for the Chief."
"You're right," exclaimed the rabbit, following her partner as he sauntered towards the door.
"Hopps, Wilde," the Chief called to them. "The lab wanted to see you two, regarding those pills. So stop buy and check with Phil before heading back to your desks."
Pumping a tiny fist in the air, Judy exclaimed, "About time they got back to us."
Saluting to her boss, the rabbit carefully closed the immense door as she left his office.
"What was that about, Fluff?" the fox asked his smaller partner.
Grabbing his dark paw, she pulled him to the nearest set of stairs, "Come on Nick, hurry up! The chemistry lab is finally done analyzing those drugs we found."
"Just what I wanted to do today," Nick said with a loud sigh, "talk to more scientists."
When the two small officers arrived at the lab, they found it clean, quiet, and the smell of strong chemicals burnt their noses. A young deer, in a white lab coat, walked up to them, and placed an older mouse on the counter, at eye level, and his tiny claws clacked on the shiny black, marble surface. The mouse was dressed in a long, white lab coat, with several tiny pens in his pocket. He also had a fashionable pair of spectacles mounted on his long, twitchy nose.
"Afternoon, Phil," Judy greeted the lab's director, while Nick swiveled his head, looking around the nearly white room.
"Ah, Officer Hopps, so good to see you today," the mouse said with a thick British accent, as he clapped his paws together. "And, Wilde," he said to the fox, frowning. "I take it this isn't just a social call, hmm?"
"Yes, the Chief said the results on those drugs were in."
"Of course, right this way, follow me," Phil stated, running along the counter. He stopped when he reached an open laptop sitting on the black marble countertop. On the screen, danced a complex pattern of molecules.
Waving to the screen, the mouse apologized, "I am sorry it took us so long to get these results, but that first batch you brought us was really very complicated."
"Complicated, in what way?" the rabbit queried.
"Do you see this structure here?" he pointed to the large chemical model before him.
"Yes, but what is it?"
"That," Phil explained, "is your typical hand made street drug. But with a few interesting modifications. Whoever made this was really quite skilled."
"So a few clever additives made this take so long?" the fox interjected sarcastically.
"Oh, hardly," the mouse quickly shot back, shoving his glasses farther up on his nose. "We know exactly what this little cocktail does."
Placing her paw on the counter, Judy attempted to take the mouse's focus away from her partner's pesky comments, "Please, go on. What does this stuff do?"
"Well, to sum it up, this beauty has some light hallucinogenic effects, as well as causing the heart to race."
"So you would have a pretty intense speed trip if you took the stuff?" Nick commented, fiddling with one of the lab's microscopes.
"I guess you could say that," Phil agreed, "but it's also a pretty strong blood thinner. Combined with a methamphetamine, that would cause some serious health issues, the least of which would be the hemorrhaging of any soft tissues."
"Like a bloody nose!" Judy exclaimed, jumping in the air.
"Yes, and causing them to bruise easily."
"Ok, this seems like a pretty typical homemade street candy, so what's the catch?" said the fox, casually watching the other lab worker type up a report, on his computer across the room.
"I agree," the mouse added. "This stuff isn't so remarkable in itself, it's what it's laced with."
"What?" both the fox and the rabbit asked in unison.
"Or more accurately, what it's layered on top of."
A puzzled look crossed Judy's face, "What do you mean, 'On top of?'"
"You see, what makes this pills so complicated is that this 'recreational drug' is coated on top of various other substances."
"Rutabagas, why would anyone do something like that?" Judy cursed.
"To increase the size and weight of the pills," Nick added, crossing the room, his full attention on what the white dressed brown mouse was saying. "So they can sell the drugs for a higher price. Sounds like an easy way to make a quick buck."
"Yes, that is what we were thinking," Phil said pulling up pictures of the pills Judy found at the hotel. "Here are the three you brought in last night."
Judy nodded in agreement, "They all have different shapes. So they must be different types of drugs?"
"Correct," the lab director affirmed, "this oblong one is a generic form of Viagra, that has been coated with a batch of our homemade stuff, and the smaller, circular one is a rare and expensive type of testosterone enhancer."
Nick chuckled, "That's a pretty common mix to see together. But what's this larger one on the end."
"Ah!" the mouse exclaimed, "Now that my friend, is the real ticket." Hitting a few buttons on the giant keyboard, an animation began to play, showing the third pill splitting open, and several layers were cut away. "These are the ones you brought in last week."
"But I thought it was one of the three from the new bunch."
"They are the same kind of pills."
"What is it?"
We honestly have no idea what this stuff is, or any possible uses." Phil said, scratching his tiny chin, and pushing up his spectacles. "It is built in layers, like a gobstopper."
"A what?" the rabbit officer asked.
"A jaw breaker, Carrots." the fox replied.
"Those are always fun to chew on," Judy said mimicking taking a bite of something with her giant fore-tooth.
"Right, anyways," the doctor added. "We found several very strange drugs layered on top of each other in some sort of time release fashion. There were several estrogen enhancers and hormone modifiers, a dopamine, an antidepressant, a pituitary stimulant, and even a strange stimulant that is commonly used for preventing programmed cell deaths in mental patients."
Both officers just stared at the mouse blankly with their mouths wide, as if they were trying to catch flies. Looking at her partner, Judy shook her head, and noted, "We have no idea what any of that means."
The white robed deer who had recently crossed the room, interjected, "Pardon the doctor, but let me try to summarize what he means."
"Sure, Jake, go ahead," the older, and smaller scientist replied.
Straightening his tie, Jake continued, "What we think we have here, is a mix of fertility, sexual dysfunction, alzheimer's, and some mild cancer treatment drugs."
"That seems like a really strange combination," Judy pointed out.
"I know! And that's not the strangest thing in these pills," the mouse continued.
"Really? What could be stranger than a bunch of seemingly unrelated drugs?" Nick criticized.
Phil hit a few more buttons on the laptop, and the pill's animation continued to play. The pill was split down the middle, and a liquid flowed from the center that appeared to have several spiky, hexagonal shaped spheres.
"In the center of each one. Inside a special protective layer is some kind of virus, that no one here can seem to identify."
"That is seriously scary, Doc," the fox observed, slowly backing towards the door, trying to put as much room as possible between himself, and the creepy balls on the screen.
"Not to worry though," the mouse asserted. "These little buggers seem to be fairly benign. And they seem to die at the drop of a hat, once released from their shells. We think with how fragile they seem to be, that a mild antiviral serum would make quick work of them."
Still not convinced, Nick opened the door to precinct one's chemistry lab, and turned to his partner, "Come on Carrots. We still have those charges to finish filing, for a certain nasty panda."
Fascinated by the small viruses floating on the screen, Judy barely heard the fox.
"Carrots," Nick called to her again.
Jumping suddenly, at the sound of her partner's voice, she thanked the two scientists, and left the lab with the fox.
Hours passed by, while the two small cops worked on filing their reports from the incident at the hotel. Judy worked filling out the details for the hotel, while Nick did the victim reports.
A reddish brown tail lazily swished back and forth between their chairs, to occasionally land in the rabbit's lap. The first time it happened, she hardly noticed, but when she found herself casually petting the rogue appendage, she forcefully swatted it away. It did however, return to her lap several minutes later, only to be swatted away again.
Several more times before they finished the reports, the tail returned, and Judy pretended not to thoroughly enjoy each time that it did.
Together, they returned to the Chief's office once all the paperwork was complete, and placed their reports on his desk.
"Two hours to spare," Bogo criticized. "I hope you two weren't stalling too much on these."
"As a matter of fact, Chief..." Nick started to point out.
"Can it, Wilde!"
"Yes, Sir," the fox saluted, starting to learn to have some manners towards his boss.
"With the extra time you should be getting ready for this evening."
"Getting ready?" the rabbit asked.
"This evening?" Nick added.
"I am expecting the two of you to follow up on this lead, and go check out that nightclub that Mr. Osaka mentioned," Bogo said, sorting the freshly completed stack of police reports held in his hooves.
"We will get right on that, Chief," Judy proclaimed.
Setting the new reports in their proper folder, the buffalo looked across the desk at his smallest officers, "I suggest you change into civilian clothes, in order to better fit in with the other club goers."
"So this is to be an undercover mission, Chief?" the fox asked excitedly.
"Nothing so elaborate Wilde," Bogo said, shaking his huge head. "We just don't want the dealers getting tipped off before we can find out who they are."
"Sounds exactly like an undercover job to me."
"Whatever. Get your tails out of my office then," he said, pointing to the large door behind them.
Nick climbed out of the tall Zuber cab, wearing a slick black button-up shirt, and a pair of tight gray pants. He held his dark red paw out behind him, and a smaller, gray paw, fell lightly into his. The second paw was attached to a short slender rabbit, who smiled up at him from the seat.
The rabbit carefully stepped from the cab, while holding her partner's paw. She was wearing a fashionable coral dress, with a lacey trim, and a string of bright beads around one ear. In her other paw she clutched a small, shiny black purse, with a long shoulder strap, and a cell phone peeking out through the top. A small bulge on her hip, barely revealed the presence of a concealed weapon.
Lifting his phone, the fox opened the Zuber app, and keyed in a respectable tip, before closing the cab door, and waving farewell to the chinchilla driver.
Turning around, he saw Judy staring up at the side of the building, where the Zuber driver had dropped them off. It was a moderate building for mammals of all sizes, but what caught the rabbit's attention was the large neon sign, of a leaping whale. Blue letters to the left of the whale spelled out the words, 'Velvet Orca.'
Admiring the rabbit's dress, the fox said, "Has anyone told you how lovely that dress looks on you?"
Lifting the hem slightly, and brushing imaginary dust from her chest, she replied, "This old thing?"
"Yes, it really suits you."
"Thanks," the rabbit blushed furiously, "You look nice tonight too, Nick."
"Well, it's still early, the sun just set. So do you want to go and find something to eat?"
"Why don't we scope the place out first, set up a perimeter, and then meet back at the bar."
"Whoa, easy there, Carrots," the fox held up both his paws. "We're supposed to act like 'normal' mammals tonight, remember?"
Judy chuckled with a slight blush, "Oh right, I just forgot." She adjusted her belt, trying to better cover the weapon on her hip. "It's just that I don't want us to get cornered, or caught with our guard down."
"Sure, we can take this slow and careful, but let's at least pretend like we're having fun."
"Fun, right," the pretty rabbit said with a sigh. With a more determined look in her eye, she marched towards the door, "I can have fun."
"Carrots, wait," Nick called to her. When she turned around, he was holding his elbow out gentlemammally like, "I wouldn't want my little bunny getting lost in such a big place."
"Har har," she said, rolling her eyes at him, yet she still took his arm, while smiling like she couldn't have been happier.
Arm in arm, they walked into the club, the fox sliding through the door slyly, while the bunny was hopping and skipping like a schoolgirl, her ears bouncing behind her like two long braids.
Inside, the club was comfortably lit with strips of neon, and some kind of retro-futuristic lamps, made from sheets of brass, and balls of colored plastic, hung from the high, arched ceiling. It wasn't so bright as to be painful to nocturnal mammals, but also not so dark to feel like you were outside at night. The light almost felt moody, but not oppressive, and both Nick and Judy felt that they could unwind after a long day's work.
Looking around, they spotted several mammals already out on the dance floor, jumping and gyrating to the smooth and synthetic, techno beat.
"Isn't that Mrs. Fisher, over there?" Judy asked, pointing to a skinny beaver dancing behind and between several taller mammals.
"What? Where?" Nick asked, trying not to shout over the loud music.
"Over there," the rabbit pointed again, "I thought I saw Mrs. Fisher."
"Mrs. Who?" the fox asked again, this time almost kneeling down to hear the small rabbit.
"I just saw a beaver that looked like Mrs. Fisher, from that break-in last week," Judy nearly had to yell into the fox's ear.
"Oh, maybe we should go say hi."
"Yeah, maybe. But why don't we head to the bar and start asking around first?"
"Great idea, Fluff."
Still holding each other's arms, they strolled casually up to the bar, when Judy chirped excitedly, "Hey, I know her," and pointed at a small brown fox, sitting at the bar. Letting go of Nick, she hopped over to the bar, waving enthusiastically at the other fox.
When the kit fox finally saw the pretty rabbit, waving both paws, and bouncing in her direction, she slid off the bar stool to give Judy a big hug. "Hey, how are you? I didn't expect to see you in a place like this."
"Yeah, I know, Nick and I really should get out more." Judy said with a small laugh.
"So who's your friend, Carrots?" Nick asked, waltzing up and casually placing his paw on her shoulder.
Subconsciously, Judy reached up and laid her own paw atop his, "Oh, I'm sorry, I never got a chance to catch your name."
The kit fox put a paw over her muzzle to cover her blush when she noticed Nick's affection towards Judy. "You can call me Tabby," she said, holding out her paw, "and this must be the fox friend you were telling me about?"
Nick shook the other fox's paw as the smaller female continued, "I honestly didn't believe you at first. With the way most rabbits feel about foxes in this city, I thought you were just saying that to make me feel better."
"Nope, Nick and I really are best friends, aren't we?" the gray rabbit said, shoving her elbow deep into the red fox's ribs.
"Absolutely, one hundred percent," he said, trying to ignore the small elbow in his gut. Picking her up, he twirled her around in the air causing her to squeal, and her short skirt to swish revealingly.
The moment Judy's paws again touched the ground, another rabbit walked up to them, with two drinks in her paws, and demanded from Tabby, "And who is this?" She barely even motioned to the taller fox, and gray bunny, before jealously planting her deep, red lips, onto the kit fox's muzzle. The new rabbit was a splotchy, mixed colored mammal, that had well rounded hips, but a toned chest and arms. She was wearing a rather masculine, tank top style gym shirt, without any bra, and dark tight jeans.
"Hey, sweety," the light brown fox replied, "this is, um, um." She waved her paw helplessly toward Judy, but could not remember the gray rabbit's name.
"Judy." Judy assisted.
"Right," taking one of the drinks from the tri-colored rabbit, Tabby continued. "Honey, this is Judy. I met her at the store a few days ago." The new rabbit gave Judy a flat glare. "And this is her boyfriend, Nick, was it?"
Before Nick could stop her, Judy automatically replied, "He's not my boyfriend."
"Well you might want to keep that to yourself then," the tough looking rabbit cautioned. "If the ladies in here found out that a sharp looking fox, like him, is single, he won't be for very long."
Nick snorted, and firmly placed his paw back on Judy's shoulder, while Judy looked puzzled.
"And Judy, Nick, this is," she waved her glass at the other rabbit and planted a tender kiss on her cheek, "this is my lover, Jo."
Judy held out her paw to the other rabbit, "So nice to meet you."
The multi colored, butch rabbit, who instead of shaking the proffered paw, simply downed her dark brown drink in one gulp, then slammed the glass on to the bar. After a crisp sigh, she exhaled in a flat tone, "Pleasure."
Tabby covered her muzzle with a paw, and snickered at her girlfriend's antics, before Jo grabbed her shoulder and they headed to the dance floor. "Hey hun, let's get our groove on, before all the good music is gone," Jo said.
The kit fox waved back at the other couple, while being led roughly by her girlfriend, "You two have fun now."
"You too, Tabby," Judy yelled over the fresh round of music, and waved in return.
"That was fascinating," Nick commented sarcastically, "Where did you say you met them again?"
"Tabby? I met her at the mall a few days ago when," she caught herself before accidentally telling Nick that she had only recently bought the dress she was wearing.
With the smaller couple now dancing their hearts out to the very loud music, Nick took a step up to the bar, and signaled to the bartender. Within a few moments, a meerkat stopped in front of him and asked, "Yeah, what can I get yah?" She was a pretty mammal, in her late forties, and dressed in a blue t-shirt with the outline of the leaping whale on the front.
Nick pulled his wallet out of a pocket and placed it in front of the bartender, with his badge facing up. The meerkat only scoffed, and looked up at the fox, unimpressed, "I don't give discounts to anyone, not even cops."
"We're not looking for any handouts, ma'am," Judy decided to interject.
"Then what do you want? If you're here to harass my employees, or customers, you're going to have to go through me first."
"We are looking for a mammal, an ibex, who may have frequented this place," the gray rabbit tried to calm the irate club owner.
"An ibex, hmm?" the bartender said thoughtfully. "Don't see many of them around here. Most are just too snooty to be caught dancing with other mammals. And good riddance to them I'd say."
"That's unfortunate. We heard there was one here recently," Nick mentioned, putting his badge back in his pocket.
"Well, I do know one ibex," she said, shaking her head. "Goes by the name Doc, but they haven't been around in a couple of weeks."
Judy's started hopping in place once she heard the name 'Doc.'
"And do you know where we could find him?" Nick asked calmly.
"'Her', actually. And no, I wouldn't have any idea where she is," the club owner said while filling a couple of beers, and handing them off to one of the servers. "She only comes in on weekends. The crowd loves her though."
"The crowd?" Judy asked puzzled.
"Yeah, when she does show up, she gets up on stage and plays a few sets."
"So this ibex works for you?"
Letting out a big laugh, the meerkat replied, "Hardly, dearie. Weekends are kind of like 'open mic nights'. Anyone is free to jump on the turntables for a few rounds, so it's a great place for upcoming DJ's to strut their stuff, and get a feel for the crowds."
"What about this 'Doc?'" the rabbit continued to question the owner.
"Like I said, the crowd always loves when she gets up on stage. I've tried to talk her into a more regular position, but she has always shrugged me off. She won't even take any cash under the table. It's a real shame though."
"A shame? Why is that?"
"Because the crowds would be so much bigger if I could count on talent like her to show up on a regular schedule."
The fox stepped in to ask, "Any idea when she will be around again?"
"No clue," the meerkat said frowning. "Stick around awhile, and you might get lucky. Listen to some music, and enjoy yourselves while you're here."
"That really sounds great. What do you say, Slick?" Judy asked, punching her partner's shoulder. "You just said we should try and have some fun."
"You got me there, Carrots." Nick sighed, climbing up on the bar stool.
"So what can I get you two?"
"Got any rabbit snacks?"
"Of course," the meerkat exclaimed with a glint in her eye. "Only the finest cheese smothered carrot chips this side of the burrows."
Judy smacked her lips and started to drool at the sound of all that cheesy, deep-fried, carroty goodness, "We will have one of those please."
"Sure thing, coming right up," the owner said, typing the order into her handheld kiosk. "Oh, and you, dearie, can call me Sandra, if you need anything else." Then she promptly waltzed off to tend to another customer.
Seeing Judy eat her smothered carrot chips, Nick decided to order his own snack of fried bugs, and once his food arrived, they both sat watching the crowd of mammals ebb and flow as the night progressed.
While she was snacking, Judy looked around the large club. Off to one side, but near the bar, was a group of oval shaped tables, and comfortable round chairs. All of the chairs were filled with a variety of different animals, and no two types of mammals sat together. Judy thought it odd to see such a sociable diversity. A brown hare was chatting with a ferret, and a heart tailed deer was hugging a brown and gray wolf, before they walked over to the dance floor.
The large dance floor was covered in a seemingly random pattern of colored tiles that matched the colorful animals frolicking on and around it. All manner of mammals danced together, and once again Judy could not spot a single couple that were of the same species. A rhino pranced with a hippo, and a second hippo twirled his feline date, while dozens of smaller couples wove their way around them.
Looking past the frolicking crowd, the stage was elevated several feet above them, and carried two separate turntable and mixer rigs. One was a relatively simple setup, with little more than a pair of old fashion record players and a mixing deck. The other was far more complicated, with hundreds of dials and switches, and computerized displays. It also had rigging for lights and other effects. The current DJ was standing at the simpler one, but the crowd was still enjoying the music.
Several support mammals continuously moved around behind the various DJs, coming and going on and off the stage. Some brought drinks and snacks to the performers, while others ran wires and adjusted the lighting or other effects.
Interrupting the rabbit's thoughts, a bobcat and beaver couple sat next to them, and ordered a couple of drinks. The bobcat spotted Nick first, "Hey, it's that friendly cop from last week," Mr Fisher said, shaking the fox's paw, and Mrs. Fisher gave Judy a polite hug. The middle aged couple was dressed like a pair of teenagers, fitting right in with the other mammals at the club.
"Love your dress," Judy said to the older beaver. The beaver was dressed in what looked like a school uniform. She wore a long black skirt, with a white liner, and had a black top over a tight white shirt. While remaining tasteful, her outfit was still very alluring, in all the right places.
"Yours too," Mrs. Fisher replied, casually touching the lace trim on Judy's skirt. "I wish I could wear that color."
The two females giggled, and chatted about summer fashions, while Nick and Rodgier talked about how things were going with the cleanup of the Fisher's house. Once the couple's drinks were gone, they both said their farewells, and left the dance club, seeking quieter entertainments.
After an hour of snacking, chatting, and sharing fruity cocktails, the tod and the bunny decided to take a turn on the dance floor. More accurately, it was the rabbit who had to drag the fox, kicking and screaming the whole way.
Judy really enjoyed the upbeat hip-hop and techno mix that was playing. It wasn't the latest pop that she normally listened too, but she kept her paws in the air, and danced around the fox in her skipping, hopping rabbit style.
Occasionally she would shake her hips, and do a little twirl, whenever she thought Nick was watching, causing the lacey skirt to swish against his legs. He wasn't much of a dancer, but she liked watching his hips sway, once he was able to unwind, and let loose a little. And what really brought the red to her cheeks, and ears, was when his tail would somehow manage to brush against her back, when she finished those quick twirls.
A tall coyote bumped into Nick in the middle of the third song. She was wearing a tight frilly outfit that was better left in the bedroom than on a dance floor. The lanky mammal was swaying and staggering, and seemed not to even notice the smaller fox. She bumped into him twice more, and almost stepped on his paws.
"Hey, watch those hooves!" he cried, before grabbing Judy's paws, and moving away from the center of the floor.
"That was pretty rude," Judy shouted over the loud music.
"Yeah, and she smelled of strong alcohol too."
The song abruptly ended, leaving several of the couples, including Nick and Judy, still dancing away. A brief pause, as the DJs switched, before the next song started up again, left everyone standing around to catch their breath.
Roughly a third of the crowd left the floor in front of the stage, and headed to the tables and the bar. The song was fairly slow, and most of the remaining mammals were clutched close together, twirling in long, slow circles.
Not wanting to cause a scene, Judy started to walk back to the bar, but was surprised when her paw was caught. Without warning she felt her body being yanked backwards, and spun around until her tiny, pink nose was pressed against a black, silk shirt. She let out a gasp of surprise, trying to break free from the dark red paws that held her tight. Her struggles ceased when she looked up, into the pair of green pools, that slowly melted her will.
A button on the black shirt came loose, and small, sharp claws clutched at the creamy orange fur beneath. With the fox's arms wrapped around her, the rabbit followed his lead, as they swayed and turned across the floor, to the slow, tinny music. She placed her paw around his waist, and tried to burrow her muzzle into his chest, inhaling the sweet aroma of rich musk and fresh blueberries.
Peace and safety filled the rabbit, bringing her thoughts of home in the burrows. A bright summer's day, running through the fields, or hiking in the hills behind the farm. All the excitement and worry, that came with living in the city vanished, and Judy had never felt happier. Her hind paws felts like they were stepping on clouds, as she closed her eyes and blissfully hummed along with the music.
At first, Nick thought it was important to maintain their cover, while trying to fit in with the other mixed couples. But as soon as the pretty rabbit fell into his arms he was lost, drowning into those deep purple eyes. His breath caught in his throat, watching her bright pink nose twitching up at him eagerly.
She was the most beautiful mammal in the room, she was the only mammal in the room. His arms wrapped gently around her, and her nose burrowed into the silk on his chest, as they turned and twirled slowly together. He never wanted to let this bunny go.
His emotions were flooded with a deep awe for the little rabbit that had changed his life. Warmth and desire filled his heart. He leaned down towards her as she opened her eyes. There muzzles moved closer, and nearly touched, when she casually put her small finger into his mouth.
The dreams had returned. Yet, instead of running through the dark city streets, she was dancing on a beautiful silver cloud, flying high above the city. The bright sun was shining down on her, and it's light filled her with warmth and happiness.
In her dream the sharp fangs returned, only now the menacing fear, was replaced by a feeling of safety and comfort. She stopped dancing across the cloud, and reached up to touch the fangs. When her tiny gray paws came into contact with the floating white teeth, her body was filled with a shimmering ray of hope.
Nick sputtered, and coughed, and pulled the rabbits paw from his mouth, while trying not to stumble. Seeing the surprised look on her face, he carefully lifted her paw and planted a gentle kiss on her knuckle.
Looking into his green eyes, Judy placed both paws on his cheek, and pulled his muzzle closer to hers. She closed her violet eyes, and stood on her toes with her lips puckered.
The soft music stopped, and the lights went out. It was pitch black in the club, except at the bar, and the stage. Somewhere a mammal screamed, and the dance floor was flooded with multicolored laser beams.
Suddenly the two small cops were surrounded by dozens of mammals, jumping, screaming in excitement and chanting together, "Doc, Doc, Doc." After a minute of chanting, a single spotlight dropped down onto the center of the stage, where a tall female ibex stood in front of the DJ's turntables.
Standing in front of the more complex of the two sound systems, the ibex was wearing a long, white lab coat, over very tight, and revealing black, lace lingerie. In her right paw was a short riding crop, and on her head was strapped a very elaborate, bit and bridle set, that would allow her to only speak in mumbles.
Doc raised her riding crop, and the lasers dropped to the floor, and the entire club went silent, holding their breath. When the whip fell, the music started, fast, harsh, and very loud. The crowd loved it! They hopped, and stomped together, like rolling thunder that filled the club.
To Nick and Judy's small paws, it felt like a stampede, and they were fully caught in its energy. The thrill and excitement was so overwhelming, that all they could do was dance. For nearly a quarter of an hour they swung, hopped, twirled, and gyrated along with the intense, and erie beat.
When the music stopped, and the lights in the club came back on, Nick and Judy could only stand there gasping for breath. The rabbit was the first to recover, she grabbed her partner's arm and cried, pointing at the ibex exiting the stage, "Nick, she is getting away."
His attention snapped back into focus, and the fox ran across the club to the stage entrance, hoping to intercept the DJ. Charging through the door and up the stairs, he barreled into a scantily dressed coyote, knocking them both down.
"I'm so sorry," he apologized, climbing to his feet, and continued to race up the stairs.
Once he reached the stage level, he tripped again, this time on a large duffel bag, that was casually tossed on the floor, near the stage entrance. If he was not in such a hurry, he might have spotted the white sleeve, and a black riding crop, sticking out the side of the bag. The ibex was nowhere to be seen.
He ran all over the backstage, having to flash his badge several times, to keep from getting thrown out. But he eventually returned to Judy, who was waiting for him at the bar. His head was held low, and his tail hung between his legs.
"I lost her," he said ashamed.
"That's ok, Slick. I took photos," the rabbit exclaimed, holding up her phone.
"Way to go, Carrots," Nick cheered, giving the small rabbit a hip bump. "Way to save my tail."
Judy bumped her partner back, "Bogo is not going to be happy that we lost the suspect, again."
"I don't know, Carrots," the fox said, thumbing through the pictures on Judy's phone. "This 'Doc' almost looks familiar. But I can't seem to place where I've seen them before."
Snapping her fingers, Judy chirped up, "That's it! Come on Nick, we have to get back to the ZPD."
"Why, what for?"
"So we can run these pictures through the Muzzle Recognition Database," the rabbit exclaimed dragging her partner out the front door.
[AN] I hope everyone enjoys this short extension of the hotel scene. Instead of making this chapter longer I decided to focus more on the quality. As part of the proof reading process I actually listened to it with a screen reader. Even with as poor as the computer voice sounded it really helped me hear the flow of each sentence. I strong recommend everyone else give it a try when they are writing.
This was a fun little chapter to write. It wasn't part of my original plan, but I think it helped expand on what happened at the hotel as well as brought the Fishers back into the story. I really don't know if we will be seeing more of them, but one can always hope.
Please let me know if you enjoyed the fluffy dance scene, because the next few chapters will be some more serious police work with little time for romance.
If you are curious to know what kind of music Doc was playing check out a song called Zion by Fluke on YouTube. Really anything by that artist seems to fit the mood I was going for.