Chapter 5

After walking down the busy pavement with Ryan for about ten minutes I began to make out the shape of the broken down van which was parked crudely on the side of the pavement. As me and my free of charge mechanic Ryan began to close the distance between us and the van I could also begin to make out the shape of a certain small light brown fox that was lying down on a white stool directly next to the van itself. "Finnick I found a mechanic." I yelled to the presumably sleeping fox as I began to jog ahead of Ryan and up to the stool that he was lying awkwardly on top of. Finnick's eyes shot open in surprise as I yelled his name once more which nearly made him fall off his stool and onto the cool hard concrete that was the pavement. "If you do that again." Finnick said scowling and glaring in my direction. "Then ill bite your face off." I said to the now growling and agitated fox as he began to get up from the stool "Are you two all right?" a deep voice said from behind me as I turned and came face to face with Ryan. "Um yeah were fine." I said rubbing a paw behind my head as Finnick continued to growl quietly. "Well." Ryan said as he glanced over at the dormant vehicle, his blue eyes taking in every detail of the old rugged van. "I can take a look at your van as quickly as I can and see what the problem is and then you should be off and able to see your brother." I put on a perfectly acted smile before thanking Ryan as he made his way over to the van and opened up its bonnet to look at the engine. "So Ben." I heard a less angry sounding Finnick say from behind my back as I watched Ryan place his kit bag on the floor. "Off to see your brother are you?" I sighed heavily before turning round and glaring at the small light brown fox that had his arms crossed whilst looking at me with his golden eyes and sly smirk. "What?" I said in an angry whisper as Finnick rolled his hand for me to continue. "I couldn't think of anything else to say so I just acted to the best of my abilities and hoped for the best. And to be honest it worked out very well." I finished with a slight smugness to my voice before I turned back around a watched as Ryan began to take some tools out of his kit bag before his head disappeared into the vans engine.

After watching Ryan wrench and prod at the vans engine for a couple of minutes me and Finnick began to talk about cons we had done previously before arriving in Zootopia. I myself just changed my stories slightly so that they fitted with the world that I was now inn. Finnick's stories of trickery and cunning were very amusing as he recalled cons where he dressed up in an elephant costume and pretended to be a kid just to get a jumbo pop. He then said that after buying the jumbo pop he and Nick would then melt it before selling smaller versions of the ice lolly making more money than the jumbo pop was originally worth. I was puzzled to what a jumbo pop was but Finnick said as soon as the van was repaired and running once again then that was the first con we were going to do. "Well." An enthusiastic sounding Ryan said as he stuck his white furred head out of the vans engine, a smile present on his face. I say white but in a matter of fact his fur was now covered in black splodges of vehicle oil and fuel which made him look quiet comical. "I've found the problem with your van and fixed it like I said I would." Ryan said as he stretched his arms out and rubbed his muzzle with a dirty paw before yawning loudly. "I can't thank you enough Ryan. I swear that ill spread your name around the whole of Zootopia so that every mammal knows what a great animal and mechanic you are." Ryan just gave me a wide smile before he picked up his tool bag and walked towards me and Finnick.

"I'm just glad I could help you and your kid Ben." Ryan said before he turned around and began to walk away with a smile present on his oil stained furred face. I just stood their stunned to the spot at what Ryan had just said before I began to snicker, trying to hold in the laughing fit that was about to transpire. Although to the right of me was a different story as I could hear the loud growls of a certain small fox that was just barely containing his rage. I waited an agonizing one whole minute so that Ryan was just out of ear shot before I burst out laughing in a hysterical fit. I laughed so hard that I ended up on the floor rolling in hysteria whilst a fuming Finnick looked up to the sky before yelling loudly in his deep voice. "I AM NOT A KID." After a few more minutes of rolling around on the pavement laughing at Ryan's words as well as Finnick's ranting as he paced up and down the pavement I sighed before composing myself and standing back up on my paws. "Well what a great animal am I right Finnick?" I said to the fuming Fennec fox that was now glaring daggers in my direction with his golden brown eyes. "If I meet that wolf again then ill BITE HIS FACE OFF." Finnick said yelling the last bit as he opened the vans door and hopped into the driver's seat as I chuckled and made my way over to the passenger's seat, opening the vans door and hopping into the van myself. "Come on Finnick. It wasn't that bad." I said as Finnick slammed his door shut before he looked at me and sighed. "Your right. I guess I did get a little worked up. Let's just get onto some hustling." I smiled slyly as Finnick started up the Van. "You read my mind Finnick." I said as Finnick pulled out from the pavement before speeding off down the busy road.

As Finnick was driving I began to think about how I was now speaking. I was saying mammals instead of people. I had noticed it when I first spoke to Finnick but I had blown it off as my brain making me blend in with my situation. I had also noticed that saying human words like people, men and women that I was fine with saying before were now beginning to sound odd to me when I spoke them. My thoughts were suddenly interrupted when the van braked suddenly at a red light which caused my seat belt to tighten around my waist and wind me. "Ugh….Finnick what the heck." I said holding my stomach to which the smirking fox just shrugged his shoulders before accelerating once again when the light turned green. I brought my attention to the road as the van sped past more cars and buildings, completely forgetting about what I was questioning in my head as Finnick drove to our first target of hustling. It took around about half an hour before Finnick pulled he van up to a cream colored building called Jumbeauxs cafe. The building itself had light pink overhanging curtains that provided shelter when customers wanted to sit outside to eat and presumably enjoy their meal. "Alright this is it Ben." Finnick said as he gazed slyly at the cafe, his golden brown eyes seeming to scan the entirety of the cafe. "Our first con of the day is here at Jumbeauxs cafe. Home of the jumbo pop" I nodded my head smiling slyly as Finnick began to drive a few blocks away from the cafe before parking the van on the side of the pavement. "Alright Ben this is going to be simple and easy." Finnick said facing me with a serious expression on his furry face. "Alright Finnick." I said as I felt my ears swivel forward as my attention was solely focused on Finnick. "What's the plan?"

This plan was in my opinion comical. When Finnick said we were going to do the same con him and Nick did with the jumbo pop I thought it was a joke. It turns out Finnick doesn't like to joke around very often and when he says he will do something then he will do it. So here I am walking towards a cafe called Jumbeauxs pushing a light pink stroller with a so called cub (by which I mean Finnick) inside. I let out a long sigh of frustration as I continued to push the stroller towards the cafe whilst every animal that passed me by gave an untrustworthy look. It wasn't long before I was standing directly in front of the entrance to the cafe itself, the doors to the cafe were much bigger than I thought as they were easily four times bigger than myself in height. "OK Finnick. You can come out now." I said as Finnick let down the cover on the stroller which was concealing him. "OK Finnick. This is it." I said as Finnick jumped out of the stroller, his infant elephant costume nearly making me laugh in front of the passing pedestrians. "Give me one toot if you're not ready and two toots if you are." Finnick looked at me with anger in his eyes presumably because of the way he had to communicate for my answers. I tried not to laugh as the small dressed up Finnick gave me one very loud toot in response before gesturing for me to follow him into the cafe. I padded up to the door to the cafe as my tail swished steadily before pushing it open with an average amount of effort. As soon as I opened the door wide enough for a certain small fox Finnick made his way into the cafe to which I then entered myself before letting the door shut behind me. The inside of the cafe was huge and I don't mean that in an over the top way. The tables in the cafe were huge and I would have had to jump to get on top of one. The cafe had light and dark pink striped walls inside as well as a giant chalkboard behind the counter which had a list of what was for sale.

Now I for one was thinking why on earth the cafe and its interior were so big compared to me and Finnick as I made my way towards the counter. My thoughts were answered quiet quickly as I gazed up at the counter and came into view of the animal that was standing behind it. The animal behind the counter was as huge male elephant wearing a light pink top with a cream apron as well as a pair of white trousers. The elephant even had a white ice cream parlor cap on. The elephant had a pair of giant brown eyes that looked down at me with curiosity and once again a look of mistrust. The elephant looked at me and Finnick for another couple of seconds with his questioning glance before speaking in a low aggressive tone of voice, which in my opinion made him sound like a member of the mafia. "What do you want Fox?" He said leaning forward in an aggressive manner punctuating the word fox with a hint of hatred. "I'm sorry good sir. I was just admiring the beautiful interior of your cafe with my son here, when he spotted an ice lolly that he took a liking to." The elephant raised his eyebrow as Finnick began to walk over to a glass cabinet which housed a series of giant ice lollies labelled jumbo pops. The elephant kept his gaze solely on Finnick as a look of realization began to appear on his face. "Hey do I know you?" The elephant questioned as Finnick made his way over to my side and pulled on my arm.

"Well it's my first time here sir so it would be quiet the surprise if you know me." I said as I looked down at Finnick and could see what seemed to be worry in his eyes. "Hang on a minute fox. I know that kid. He came in here a while ago with the same outfit on. He was with another fox wearing a green Hawaiian top and a pair of brown shorts." I gulped as the elephant leaned further forward and glared at me with his brown eyes which caused me to take a step back. I looked at the elephant before looking down at Finnick as fear began to build up inside of me. I could even see that Finnick was beginning to worry as he looked at the door and then towards me. "I'm sorry sir…..you must have the wrong kid in mind….well it seems we have to be going….thanks for your time though." I said as I grabbed Finnick's paw in my own before heading for the cafes exit at a brisk pace. "Hey wait there fox. Stop. Stop…. that's it I'm calling the cops." I heard the elephant yell as I exited the cafe with Finnick in tow before me and him began to run towards the van as fast as we could.

As soon as we reached the van Finnick quickly unlocked the doors before quickly getting into the driver's seat whilst I hopped into the passenger's seat. "Come on Finnick. Start the engine quickly we've got to go." I yelled as Finnick shoved the keys into the ignition before starting the vans engine. I on the other hand was looking into the vans wing mirror and I could see a police car which kind of looked like a cross between a Land rover and a Porsche. The vehicle was black and white as well as having the letters ZPD on the side which I guessed stood for 'Zootopia police department' as well as the classic police lights on the top of the vehicle. "Come on Finnick." I yelled as Finnick revved the engine…..and stalled the van. "Damn it Finnick. What now." I yelled as Finnick turned and looked at me in anger. "I don't know. Why don't you come up with something?" Finnick yelled back at me whilst I dragged a paw across my face in frustration. "It's too late now." I said to Finnick as the both of us looked in the wing mirror watching as the police vehicle pulled up behind the van, its black tinted windows blocking the view of the cops. "Well shit." I said as both me and Finnick waited for the cops to come out.