The day started out as normal as any, with Foxy waking up, greeting Fillmore, then the two heading over to Flo's later. Foxy headed to the Butte to watch Lightning practice for a few hours, giving Fillmore the perfect opportunity to hatch an idea for a prank on Foxy.
Now, the bus had been slightly 'spacey' at the time the plan was thought up, so he hadn't hesitated to call his brother, Zeb. He had explained the plan, and Zeb went along with it, wanting to meet the object of his brother's interest. Of course, he had seen Foxy on television, but he knew very little about her, since he hadn't visited the town in years.
The brothers' plan of action was to put Zeb in place of Fillmore, since the two were nearly identical, except for one small thing… Zeb was painted to look like a Zebra, with a license plate reading 'ELDNKEY' to match.
Fillmore had easily convinced Zeb that Foxy would go along with it, and assume that the two were the same bus. And so Zeb made his way across the country, going from Kentucky to Arizona.
He arrived right after Foxy had reached the Butte, giving Fillmore plenty of time to duck up to Wheel Well, their chosen hiding spot. It allowed for a view of the town, without being seen, but still being close enough to swap when they felt like it.
The others greeted Zeb, having known him for years. The two brothers filled in the rest of the townsfolk before Fillmore departed, thus setting their plan into motion. Doc radioed the plans to Lightning, also warning him not to do anything out of the ordinary if Foxy was still watching him.
Lightning didn't respond, other then telling Doc that he'd be up in a few hours.
He rolled up to where Foxy was sitting a few hours later, then scooped her onto his hood, heading for the town as he had told Doc.
"Why'd you stop?"
"Doc wanted me to bring you up. He didn't say why though."
"All right…" She sighed.
He stopped on the far side of Flo's, obscuring her view of 'Fillmore'. She climbed off, and he headed down to the Butte again.
She entered Flo's, and stopped when she saw the black-and-white-striped bus.
"Hey, man." Zeb greeted her, and her eyes went wide.
"Fillmore?" Her head tilted, and her eyes flecked with disbelief and confusion. She was so focused on the bus, she didn't see the others trying to hold in their laughter.
He gave her a smile, the same one Fillmore had always given her, and she hesitated before walking over and sitting down next to him, then leaning against his side. Thankfully she didn't feel him jump, too preoccupied with trying to figure out why 'Fillmore' had changed his paint job. "I thought you liked your other paint job, Fillmore."
Someone sipped on their coffee loudly, trying to mask the sound of a stifled laugh.
"Just thought it was time for a change, man."
"All right." She replied, giving him a smile before picking up the coffee Flo had set down at her side. She hadn't seen the show car give the bus a wink, nor the bus give one in return.
A few hours later, Foxy gave him a nudge, paired with a smile. "Hey, you wanna go up to Wheel Well with me?"
He looked down at her, and out of the corner of his eye caught Sarge shaking his hood slightly. "Ya go on ahead, Elizabeth."
"You sure?" She set her hand on his front, and he forced himself not to jump again.
"Sure." He gave her a nudge, and she gave him a smile.
"All right. I won't be gone for too long, okay?"
He nodded, and she kissed 'Fillmore's' front before heading towards Tailfin Pass, not hearing the laughter back at Flo's.
"What do you think, Zeb?" Lightning replied, rolling over to bump tires with the bus.
"She's interesting. Does she really think I'm Fil?"
A few of the others nodded, and he laughed.
"And he hasn't told her I exist?"
"Nope. Not a word." Lightning replied, a wicked grin creeping across his bumper.
"Wicked. She's gonna freak."
"Can't wait to see that." Sheriff replied, chuckling.
"Me either. Especially when she finds him up there."
"Hey, you got anywhere to be for the next week or so?"
"Nah, what's up?"
"Why don't we see if we can carry this out as long as possible?"
"I see where you're going… Sounds awesome. Let's do it, McQueen." He gave the racer a grin.
Up at Wheel Well, Foxy had walked in, expecting the 'newly-striped' Fillmore to be nowhere near. That's why she was shocked when she found the 'hippie' Fillmore parked at the bar! "Fillmore?"
"Hey, man."
"How'd you- Why-Your paint is switched back!" She babbled, her jaw dropping.
He just gave her a smile, the same one Zeb had given her.
"I thought you said that you were gonna stay down there?"
"Changed my mind, Elizabeth."
"Oh, okay…" She replied hesitantly, her eyes flicking to both of his, hunting for an answer as to how he could catch up to her so quickly, and what had made him change his mind so fast.
He just gave her another smile, and nudged against her.
She sat down after grabbing a glass of Bud, then leaned against his side.
The two stayed up there for a while, then she went down, asking him if he was coming.
"I'll be down then, man. I'm gonna find out what happens next." He had been watching Saturday Night Live, and Foxy had been quick to join him, never having watched the show before.
She gave him a smile, and a quick kiss before heading out the doors.
As soon as he was sure she was gone, he drove over to a table, and picked up a walkie-talkie. "Zeb, she's comin' down, man."
"Gotcha, Fil. Am I crashin' at your place with her?"
"That'd be pretty groovy, man."
"Awesome. See you in the morning?"
"Sure." He heard his brother chuckling, and the two disconnected the transmission. This was going to be too entertaining.
Foxy had made her way back, and had instantly noticed Zeb, still parked at Flo's. She froze, her eyes wide, her jaw hanging open. "How-Weren't you-" Words failed her, and she settled for pointing at Wheel Well, then at Zeb, her hands crossing and zigzagging back and forth wildly.
"Spit it out, Foxy." Doc chuckled.
"Did you finish watching SNL?"
"Sure did. There was only a few minutes left, man."
"So, you finished watching that, then came all the way down here, in time to get your paint repainted?"
"Sure did." He gave her another smile, and she looked around at the others.
"He did, chica. I repainted 'im." Ramone replied. As soon as the lowrider spoke up, a few of the others did as well, saying that yes, they had seen the bus come down and head into Ramone's paint shop.
"Well, I'm going to bed. I need to think this over." She mumbled, and the others called out goodnights, Zeb following her.
He laid down first, and she followed after. She snuggled up against his front bumper, and this time he didn't even flinch. Instead, he draped a tire over her, albeit somewhat awkwardly. She didn't notice, instead just got more comfortable, then drifted off to sleep.
Zeb remained awake, gazing down at her. How his brother had managed to land a catch like her, he'd never know. She was perfectly skinny, his tire fitting into every curve perfectly. She obviously cared about Fil, which was a good thing. Not many cars nowadays were looking for a significant other who proudly declared himself a hippie. Lastly, she had a sense of humor, and she was incredibly easy to trick, at least at first. He nudged into her more, settled down on the mattress, and drifted off to sleep.
Fillmore rolled into town when he was sure that Foxy was asleep.
"She's really fallin' for it." Sheriff replied in amazement.
"I give 'er a week before her mind snaps." Doc chuckled, and a few of the others laughed quietly.
"I'll take that bet, and lower it to half a week." Lightning remarked, and Doc gave him an unamused look. "Fine, I'm kidding. Although I still think she's gonna lose it by Thursday."
"I've gotta side with McQueen on this one, man." Fillmore replied, and Lightning grinned.
"She's just so… what's the word… easy to trick? And it's really funny when she finally loses it?" Lightning pondered, and the others nodded. She was easy to trick.
The prank continued, blowing past not only Lightning's prediction, but Doc's as well. She seemed to assume that she was going insane, for real, and played along perfectly, although she didn't realize that she was.
Finally, exactly two weeks after Zeb had come into town, the others were watching Foxy. She appeared to be doing… something, the others couldn't tell what. She was gesturing with her hands, and apparently talking to something, what that something was the others had no idea.
"I think we broke her." Lightning commented, watching the human from his place next to Sally.
Fillmore chuckled, thinking the exact same thing as he watched.
"A-ha!"
The group looked over at her exclamation, only to see… nothing.
"Foxy?" Lightning slowly rolled over to her, as though afraid she'd bite.
"Yes, Lightning McQueen, racer for Rusteze Bumper Ointment, number 95, mixed breed Corvette-Viper?"
He drew back in shock. "Nothing. Just wanted to see if you were okay." With that, he rolled away. "Yeah, definitely not." He muttered. "We definitely broke her. I wonder if it's too late to return her?" A few of the others snickered at his poorly-made joke.
"She's actually goin' senile?"
"If you mean she's lost her mind and is just babbling at this point, then yeah. Definitely." Lightning replied.
"Think we should show her Zeb?"
"Might as well. Don't need 'er gettin' even worse."
Fillmore radioed for Zeb, who rolled to his side in minutes.
"What's up?"
"Foxy. She's completely lost it. Look." Lightning nodded his hood over to the human, where she was now attempting to draw something out in the dirt with a stick, running back and forth in a space of about four feet by four feet, having boxed herself in with strange symbols and odd writing.
"Hey, Foxy! Look!"
"What, Lightning McQueen, number ninety five, winner of three Piston Cups to date, which equals seventy five wins, for three consecutive seasons, and is in no way related to Bumblebee the Autobot of Sector 7?!"
The others drew back in surprise, and Sheriff nodded. "Definitely goin' senile."
"Foxy, c'mere!" Lightning called.
"I'll be with you in one minute, Lightning McQueen, descendant of Scottish Americans caught in bad weather in Detroit!"
"That part was serious babbling. I didn't understand a word of it." Zeb replied, looking around at the others.
"That happens a lot with 'er. Ya just gotta go with it. She'll get to the point eventually." Sheriff replied, and Zeb nodded.
"C'mere, man!"
She looked up finally, and saw black and white stripes, alongside the seafoam green. The others watched as her jaw dropped.
"I was just getting to this conclusion, and you all spoiled it! Never release the end result of a scientist's theory before the scientist knows the end result! It could be catastrophic!"
"Foxy, this is Zeb." Lightning replied with a grin, ignoring her rambling rant.
She walked up to the two brothers, and gazed up at them for a long time. "So you're Zeb?"
"El Donkey for short." He replied, grinning and turning around, revealing his license plate.
"But… El Donkey is longer then Zeb, unless Zeb is code for Zebra-striped bus, then it definitely is."
"Foxy, un-break for five seconds, will you?" Lightning exclaimed, making the others laugh.
"It ain't that easy, kid."
"Yeah, she'll be seeing double for quite a long time." Zeb replied, smirking down at the human, parked next to Fillmore, the two looking like one bus with different paint jobs.
The two brothers watched in amusement as her eyes flicked from one to the other with increasing rapidity, until finally crossing, the human ending up sitting on her rump on the pavement. "I think we broke her for real this time." Zeb replied, looking over at Fillmore. "Hey, Red? Mind resetting her?"
Red nodded, giving the zebra bus a smile before dousing Foxy in a stream of water. In seconds she had yelped, then jumped up, yelling about getting soaking wet, and being freezing cold. She sat down at Fillmore's side, pressing into it and shivering.
Zeb pulled up to her other side, and pressed against her, grinning. Effectively, the two had pinned her between them, and they used this to their advantage to explain the prank.
At the end of it all, Foxy's mind was boggling with this information. "That's… insane… I never knew that you had a brother…"
"Sure do." Fillmore looked over at Zeb, who grinned.
"Why didn't he come to visit before?"
"I didn't know about you until recently."
"Really?"
"Well I've seen you at the races, but that doesn't compare to actually visiting." He shrugged, and she sighed.
"So why the prank?"
"Because, it's fun to screw with you, Foxy."
"Light, do you have any idea how wrong that sounds?"
"I've got a few, but that's besides the point. We really do love to mess with you."
"In our defense, we never thought we'd break ya." Sheriff added, chuckling.
"Yeah, yeah. I never thought Fillmore, of all cars, would be the one to drive me to it either, so…" She shrugged. "Oh, by the way, I guess that must've been really awkward, being kissed by someone who clearly isn't your girlfriend…"
"It's all right, it was part of the prank." Zeb replied, grinning. He gave her a nudge, and she smiled.
"You know what, Zeb? You're all right." She nodded, approving, and he laughed.
"Thanks, Foxy. You're all right too."
She grinned, then gave him a gentle shove. "I know that you'll never beat me though. Three laps around the Butte."
"Now?"
"No better time then the present."
"You're on, Fox." He replied, a smirk soon replacing his grin. He had called her that once when she was up at Wheel Well with the real Fillmore, and the others had laughed. He had chosen it to be her new, personal nickname from him shortly after that, and had been referring to her using the title whenever around the others.
Her eyes flashed excitedly at the new nickname, and she stood up, leading the group towards the Butte.
Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha! Tired authors make for the most random stories! 0_o I honestly haven't slept in nearly twenty-four hours, without coffee or anything! I'm just naturally not tireeeedddd! XDXDXDXDXDXD I only own Zeb, and Foxy, yes I do, yes I doo! I like Zeb, he seems fun, it's a shame that he lives all the way in Kentucky, otherwise he'd live in Radiator Springs with Foxy and Fillmore and Sheriff and Lightning... :[D Moustaches! XDXDXDXDXD You know what's a good idea? Getting a bus, painting it like Fillmore, then owning it! And being an actual hippie! That way, you and him can be like... telepathically communicating... :D