Cities in Peril

The Stadium Owner's Visit

Johnny entered the police station and he went to Officer Clawhauser.

"Hello," Clawhauser said. "How can we help you?"

"Are Officers Hopps and Wilde in?" Johnny asked. "Tell them Johnny is here to report my day to them."

Clawhauser called them and told them that Johnny was here to see them. "They're on the way, Johnny. So you're their new partner in crime, are you?"

"Well, I'm just doing the very best I can," Johnny said modestly. "How's your end doing?"

"Well, we're doing everything we can in our power but it's still not enough," Clawhauser sighed.

Then Judy and Nick arrived.

"I see you've made it through the second day," Judy said.

"And did the rest of the interns," Johnny reported. "I haven't seen anyone get kicked out today but then I was in a different room with the team that chose me to study supply and demand with them. So I probably won't know what happened to any of the other teams.

"When we were having breaks, I noticed that there were some paintings not straight. I was about to correct them but a staff member told me they were delicate and must not be touched. That's the only thing I found out of place."
"What about the snacks and the food over there?" Nick asked. "You or anyone else hadn't had a dodgy tummy or felt any other sickness?"
"Not that I'm aware off. Anyway, I've got to go and rehearse with Gazelle now. I just came here to deliver my report for today. I'll keep my eyes open for anything unusual. Bye."

"Bye! Good luck!" Judy called before he vanished out of the station. "And thanks for reporting back to us."

"Two days in, I'd say he's doing well," Nick said. "Well, he's doing better than I ever thought he would do."

"Yeah," Judy sighed. "I just wished the same could be said for us."

"Hopps! Wilde!"

The two cops turned to see Chief Bogo approaching them.

"What are you two just standing there for?" he demanded.

"We had another customer saying he has gone completely bankrupt and is insisting that we do something about it. We gave him a convincing reassurance that we're doing what we can and it was enough for him to leave." Nick had thought about it long before Bogo found them there.

"Well, now that he's gone, get back to helping the computer division," Bogo ordered. Then he stormed off back to his office.

"Phew, that was close," Judy said.

"Well, lucky you got a sly partner," Nick boasted.

Judy chuckled a little as they headed to the computer department.

Johnny followed Gazelle's directions she gave to him last night to the Zootopia Stadium. After he showed his special pass also from her to the security guards, they let him in. He found Gazelle's rehearsal room. He went in and explored. With the massive room and the keyboard, guitar, drums, loud speakers and the microphone, it was really impressive. It made him wish he continued to pursue his dreams of being a singer.

"What do you think?"

Johnny turned around to see Gazelle entering the room.

"I think it's wonderful, Gazelle," he said. "Am I too late? I thought rehearsals didn't start until – "

"Only for my band," Gazelle said. "I like to come an hour early to rehearse. And because you came early today I'm really impressed and I already feel like I can trust you."

Johnny started to realize that she was looking flirtier at him every time they spent time together. "Well, being reliable is not enough, is it? How about we start rehearsing to win?"

"Right on, Johnny," Gazelle said.

An hour later, Johnny and Gazelle took a break when the rest of the band finally appeared. Gazelle introduced Johnny to the guitar player, a tigress called Sasha, and the drummer, a hippo called Monty. They started rehearsing but Gazelle was not happy. After fifteen minutes of rehearsing, she had enough and told everyone to stop playing.

"What is wrong with you guys?" she snapped. "The concert is only six weeks away, you guys have been in my band for months and you still haven't got any better. What do you guys in your spare time?"

"My arms aches after drumming so I need to rest my arms," Monty said.

"But I'll bet you watch football instead of drumming videos," Sasha said.

"Well, watching football is a lot better than spending money on new clothes all the time," Monty snapped back.

By the time the argument rose up like a volcano, a security guard popped in. "The stadium owner is here to see you."

"Come on, guys!" Gazelle snapped. "Pull yourselves together!"

The band stood on their feet and saw a female gorilla wearing a light green t-shirt, blue jeans and black shoes.

"It's Molly Palm herself!" cried Monty.

'She's the stadium owner?" Sasha cried.

"I only bought it yesterday," Molly said. "Now, I'm after somebody called Johnny. Which one of you is he?"

Johnny approached her. "I'm Johnny."

"I know why you really applied to my internship," Molly said firmly.

Johnny gulped. Whenever he needed to not break his cover he always did his best but he knew he always had a habit of doing it, especially on raids with his dad's gang.

"You've come to find out who your mother is, haven't you?"

Johnny felt relieved about his cover not being broken but he was confused. How did this gorilla know about his mother? "Well, I've heard that my mother does work for Palm Industries," he lied. "I wanted to make her proud. What's her position at your company?"

"She owns it."

Johnny was confused, especially when he got a hug from her.

"Hello, son!" Molly cried.

"Son?" Johnny was confused.

"Wow! Look at you! All grown up! And doing an internship and being in Gazelle's band. Can I see you perform?"

"Well, I'm just the keyboard player," Johnny said. "It's up to Gazelle herself."

"Well, as long as these guys keep up," Gazelle warned the others.

They went to their positions and started playing. The song was called Persistence Is The Greatest Strength Ever.It lasted for about four minutes.

Molly stood up and applauded. "That song was very catchy and I didn't know you had a great talent for music, Johnny."

"Thanks... Mom. Gazelle, Monty and Sasha were great as well, right?"

"Eh, they were all right," Molly said. "Now let's go to your new home."

"Home?" Johnny was a bit worried.

"Don't worry, son. You'll love it. And you can practice for your band there." She took Johnny's arm and started to pull him behind her.

He turned to the band. "Sorry about this, guys. I'll be back tomorrow to rehearse with you, I promise."

Gazelle and her band hoped so.