Zootopia: ZPD Mysteries - Case #1: The Blackout at Steel Mountain Manor

Chapter 2: Promotions and Preservations

The day of the gala arrived quicker than Nick had thought it would. Over the weekend, he had scraped up enough money to rent himself a fox-sized tuxedo, something he thought he looked quite dapper in. Except for the bow tie. He wasn't a big fan of anything except his wondrous, loud neckties hanging around his neck.

However, he knew for a fact his favorite tie (the one with the bright yellow stripes) wouldn't pass muster at a formal event, so he told himself to suck it up and deal with it as he straightened the bowtie in the mirror.

At 8:00, just as he was about to leave, his phone began to ring, playing a weird little dubstep melody by K-999. After letting the music ring for a couple seconds, he pressed the button.

"Hello?" he asked as he tightened his jacket's buttons.

"Hey, Nick!" Judy said cheerily on the other end of the line.

"Hey, what's up, Carrots?"

"Listen, I was hoping you might be able to help me out a bit," she explained on the other end of the line. "I just got my dress for the gala from the rental place, and I need a couple minutes to change. My ride just called and said she can't make it. Do you think that you might be able to pick me up?"

Nick thought for a second and then replied with "Yes. I actually was hoping I could talk with you today."

Judy's relief was evident in the tone of her voice.

"Thank you so much, Nick," she said. "Well, I'd better get changed and gather my things up. I'll see you in a few minutes!"

"I'll pop to the ZPD and pick up our squad car," Nick replied. "Bye," he called out as he flicked off his phone.

Before long, Nick was parked right outside of the Grand Pangolin Arms, sitting in the driver's seat of the big, idling squad car. It was an odd occurrence for Nick to be driving the car, since that job usually fell to Judy, but since she wasn't there, Nick was able to recall enough driver's ed to know how to put the gas on, steer, park and brake.

Curse his stupid decision to avoid driving. He had a license, but he hadn't used it since that accident he and Finnick had caused in college. His dad was not happy about it in the least.

Nick drummed his fingers on the steering wheel to the tune of a Kanine West song that was playing in his head. He couldn't recall the lyrics, but he was busy looking for something to distract him while he waited.

A warthog and a meerkat were arguing over who had a bigger bowl of bugmeal.

That wasn't that intriguing.

Two arctic fox lovers were sitting at a small café across the street, gazing deeply into each other's light blue eyes.

It was a sweet scene, but, again, not that intriguing.

He noticed a truck driving by with a poster for The LEGOAT Movie Sequel plastered onto its side.

Nick had liked playing with LEGOAT bricks when he was a kid, he remembered. He spent hours playing with the little goat-esque minifigures that were the predominant inhabitants of a thousand imaginary worlds, from the surface of Mars to the Middle Ages times. However, he never did understand the whole idea of why their fur was always colored yellow. Or why his parents were always stepping on them. He could easily see them in the dark of their apartment.