Zootopia: The Visitor

Reach for the Sky

[Judy]

As all three of us stepped inside of the elevator, I got a little nervous. There was no real way of knowing whether Duke actually followed through and got us on that list or not. What if this whole thing is a dud? I was psyching myself out. Positive thoughts were the key. The worst-case scenario was getting turned away, and if that happened, Duke would have all of hell to pay. The thought of that almost brought a smile to my face. Almost, because then my darker thoughts boarded the train. No, the worst case scenario is getting in, only to be caught and most likely killed.

All of my nervousness returned when the elevator doors opened back up, letting us out onto one of the very top floors of the hotel. Nick led the way for me and Luke, since he knew the place better than either of us did. In fact, I had never even been there before myself, so I would've been quite lost if I were on my own anyhow.

After a minute or two of walking through winding hallways and corridors, we came to a double-door-entrance to what I could tell was Tommy's party by the pair of guards and loud music on the other side.

"Hold it," the guard on the right stopped us. He was a cougar dressed in a fancy suit, and holding a clipboard which I assumed had the list of mammals invited.

"Nick? Is that you?" he seemed to recognize the fox in his midst.

"Ivan, good to see ya," Nick returned his recognition, obviously having been acquainted with him in his previous association with Tommy.

"You look... different. What's with all the junk you've got on your body?" Ivan commented, referring to the bling he was wearing.

"I've decided to roll with the gangsta life," Nick lied.

"Okay, well what are you doing here? You're not anywhere on this list last time I checked."

My heart sank.

Nick only smirked. "Check again, buddy."

Ivan did so, and surprise washed over his face after looking it over for a second. "Huh, never mind, I guess you are after all."

"And, I assume my friends here, Luke and Judy are on it as well?"

"Yes," he confirmed.

Nick smiled. "Thanks Ivan. Now if you don't mind?"

Ivan opened the door for Nick, after which all three of us passed through into the party amidst the music, refreshments, and herds of mammals.

"What now?" Luke asked from behind.

"Now we try to find out wherever he's keeping that bear," I replied.

We trudged through the crowd, trying to get to the other side. Everything was loud, everybody was dancing, and most of them were much taller than us, so it was quite a struggle. When we finally made it out of the sea of animals, I noticed a door with another guard next to it at the far end of the room.

"I think that door will take us toward what we're looking for," I said.

"How do you know?" Nick wanted to be sure.

"I don't, but do you see how it's guarded? They wouldn't do that unless there was something important behind it," I guessed.

Nick groaned when he realized that this was going to take some sort of complicated plan. "Alright, but how exactly are we gonna get in there?"

I thought about it for a moment. "We're gonna need a distraction."

Nick's ears stood straight up. "I think I've got an idea," he looked at Luke, who had been intently listening to us talk it out. "Luke, do you see that stage over there?"