Many thanks to Susi for his invaluable technical expertise with regard to the gloopier aspects of this fic. :-D

Nooshy, Johnny and Ryan were let into Ash's room by Porsha, the wolf wearing loose pastel blue shorts and a smile that blended anxiety with excitement. The porcupine herself, clad in just a plain red t-shirt, gave them all drinks then settled in an armchair with Porsha.

"Thanks for coming," Ash greeted the others.

"Any time," Johnny assured her, he and Ryan sharing a couch, Nooshy sprawled across their laps.

"What's the big excitement?" the lynx wanted to know.

Ash looked up at Porsha, who gave her a nod. "Well, you know Porsh and Suki have been working through the mess Jimmy left?"

Ryan nodded. "No way Jimmy Crystal's giving up his empire easily."

"Guy's a gangster through and through," Nooshy averred.

"Yeah." Porsha's ears dipped. "And I was the last to see it...and now I have to live with my Dad being the kind of person to stage a big, glitzy charity gala, but not actually give any of the money raised to charity."

"I remember that." Ryan frowned. "StageKids, all about using theatre to help disadvantaged children. He stiffed them?"

Ash nodded. "They never saw a cent. Been struggling ever since."

"And I wanna help them!" Porsha proclaimed, sitting up. "Make right what Dad did to them."

Ash took the wolf's paw, squeezing it. "And that's what we need your help with. If you're up for it."

"You want to stage a fundraiser of your own?" Johnny guessed.

"Yeah," Porsha confirmed. "But not big and glitzy. Small and fun, like games and stalls and things."

"Like a carnival kind of deal?" Nooshy ventured.

"Yeah!" The wolf nodded.

"I like the sound of that!" The lynx grinned. "Need a barker, I'm your cat. Roll up, roll up, roll up! All the fun of the fair!"

"Got any ideas for the games?" Ryan asked.

"Other than maybe a dunk tank, no," Ash admitted.

"I might have something," Johnny pulled out his phone. "It isn't really a game, but it'd be fun, and raise money. Here." He played a video of Buster and Eddie washing cars with their own bodies. "We'd just need, uh, someone willing to pull on some speedos."

"Not you?" Ryan teased, affectionately.

Johnny scratched the back of his head. "Not in public. You?"

"I could be persuaded, but I'm not doing it alone." He looked down at Nooshy with an impish smile.

She shoved a paw into his face. "Never happening. You could prob'ly get Gunter to do it, though."

Johnny guffawed. "We'd have a job stopping him doing it! But unless Mr Moon's willing, he might be the only ch..."

Ash clearing her throat drew the attention of all three to an excitedly quivering Porsha with one paw in the air. "I think she wants to do it."

The wolf nodded vigorously. "Looks so much fun!"

"With you, it definitely would be," Ryan smiled, "but it likely wouldn't be possible, as I can't think of a venue that would allow it."

Porsha's grin didn't wane in the slightest. "We got our own venue!"

Nooshy blinked. "Say what?"

"Jimmy owned lots of property," Ash explained. "All over the country, including a couple of buildings back home. Suki and Porsha discovered a few he'd either forgotten about, or just didn't care about. One was a themed restaurant he got in payment of a debt, but wasn't able to do anything with because the prior owner stripped the place to the walls before clearing out, so he just...left it to moulder."

"Hah!" Nooshy clapped her paws in approval. "The hustler hustled!"

"So it's, what, Porsha's now?" Johnny asked.

"The company's," Ash clarified, "and since that's now run by Suki..."

"We can use it!" Porsha cheered. "And there's nothing Daddy can do about it, and I can wear speedos and wash cars with my body if I want to, and get really, really messy if I want to, and I want to."

"Messy, huh?" Ryan grinned. "I know someone who might be able to help with that."

"Yay!" The wolf clapped her paws in delight. "So you're all in?"

Three firm nods.

"When?" Johnny asked.

"Two weeks time, is the plan," Ash answered. "Should give us time to get everything ready."

"Then it's settled." Nooshy held up her drink. "To good causes, and to rubbing things in Jimmy Crystal's nose!"

The others clinked theirs against it. "To good causes!"