Zootopia Adventures

Doughnut Disaster IX

"You got that right, Carrots, I guess the washroom is priority number one for now," Nick said to Judy as he studied his rubbish dipped paws. The soft auburn fur was now a shade darker, damp from garbage juice and tiny chunks of leftover rotten food were stuck in between his digits; A result of digging both paws into a packed full, industrial sized dumpster. His nostrils flared instinctively from the pungent odor which lingered on them. Not helpful at all when he has an amplified sense of smell like his canine cousins. Nick held his paws away from himself for a clean supply of fresh air as he tagged alongside Judy, entering the illegal market through the opened gates. A one-way road extended forward, its sides blocked off by tightly packed townhouses, the cement layered pavement fading into a pitch blackness, its end hidden from sight. But that was only for Judy's case - Nick had perfect night vision. He smirked as she squinted her eyes. "Let's play a game to loosen up shall we?"

"Nick! Now is definitely not the time for games!" Judy hissed back, scanning her surroundings once again.

"I spy with my little eye, something... black," Nick commented, wheezing laughingly as he gave her a strong pat on the back, making the bunny jerk forward from the push. Judy was perplexed at first but frowned in disbelief when she finally got the joke, which only made Nick blurt out a muffled snort, trying hard not to guffaw in the midst of their espionage mission.

"Oh, how I wish I can see clearly in the dark, my, would it be useful!" Judy exclaimed sarcastically in loud whispers, facing him as her glinting purple eyes fixed at the snorting fox in front; keeping a stern glare on his scrunched up face. She eyed him incredulously. "This is serious, Nick!"

"Alright, alright. I will zip up and stop goofing, better?" Nick answered with a smile, clearing his throat. "Just hold on to my paw and I will take you to the market."

It was a relatively short one-minute brisk walk in the total darkness alongside Nick till Judy was able to see things covered in light once again. It was still dimly lit, but it was gradually getting brighter as they proceeded forward. She was certainly glad that Nick was capable of night vision. Maybe that was why predators were favorited over prey as police officers as they possess natural, built-in abilities which are useful for tracking down criminals. Prey animals do exist in the ZPD before she was anointed as an officer, but it only compromised of Chief Bogo the buffalo, Rhinowitz the rhino and the two elephants Trunkaby and Francine; Which are notably large in size. Coming to think of it, Chief Bogo might have just been worried for her safety as a bunny that he placed her as a meter maid. She studied the rows of apartments beside herself and Nick as she walked up a climbing slope. The street was lined with a series of vintage electric lampposts, lit well enough that she could make out the details on the buildings. The townhouses seemed to be unhabited and abandoned, tatooed with multiple layers of badly sprayed on graffiti and tattered paper fliers. The pedestrian pavements were also decorated with countless numbers of distasteful backstreet art. And the road which they were currently walking on was littered with  all kinds of junk. They were strolling in the market but strangely enough, nobody could be seen anywhere.

"If we are in the market already, why do I not see anybody?" Judy asked as she kicked away a piece of plastic food wrap from her feet.

"In actual fact, we have yet to arrive at the heart of the market," Nick explained, looking straight out in the distance. "If you had actually arrived here a decade ago, this abandoned part would have been packed full of swindlers and illegal brokers. But that was back when Zootopia is not the utopia you had envisioned it to be on a bumper sticker. It was quite the opposite in fact, where predators did not even stand a slim chance surviving in the city's prejudice. But once Lionheart, a predator, overthrown the previous malicious mayor, he had the laws completely reworked to suit the needs of predators better. He had also established the ZPD in the heart of Zootopia to counter it's alarmingly high crime rate. That was before he became corrupted by Bellwhether's evil ploy, such a shame. With that, many minor criminals either quit or were captured; Which is why now only a fraction of them still remain in the market. Mr. Big's mafia faction is one of the biggest ones which have yet to be taken down alongside several others. There are still a number of amateurs, newcomers, and minors which frequent the market like Nat and formerly, myself; but I doubt that criminals like him would last long."