Finnick pushed open the door. A small ding sounded when he got in. A few heads turned toward the sound, but not many paid enough attention to look down and see the small fox.

He closed his eyes and paid attention to the clanking of glasses, the babbling of many mouths, a tap being opened and closed. There it is. He could hear the raspy high pitched voice of Gabor somewhere in the back of the bar.

He tightened his grasp on the bat. He walked along tall tables, tall stools and long legs. A bump here and there in the hoofs of a moose. A rhino snorted annoyedly towards him as he pushed his leg, trying to pass between tables.

Finnick finally stumbled upon a spotted yellow tail, angrily flitting left and right through the air... The ocelot wore a tight dark green jacket and red pants. He smiled. He could hear chips being played with on the table and three other males talking. He tapped the ocelots stool with his bat, a perverse grin on his mouth.

The ocelot jumped in his stool and turned without moving his hips, his white shirt contrasting with the old brown of the tables. "Oh Finn! Long time no…" He stopped talking when his stool lost balance, Finnick had a powerful swing. Gabor spun his body and fell on all fours, his tail now a bushy whip, his eyes wide and golden. The stool fell with a loud bump to the wooden floor, some tables around going silent from the small commotion. "WHAT THE…" Started to shout the startled ocelot, before Finnick shoved the bat inside his open mouth.

"What've I told you about dealing to Happytown?" Spoke Finnick, slowly. "What've I specifically told you about selling shit to kids?" Finnick pushed the bat against his mouth, the ocelot gagged.

Finnick heard the other mammals climbing down their stools. An almost silent teck sound caught his attention. Maybe… I should've expected that… he thought. The ocelot signaled him to pull the bat out of his mouth with a bit desperate, a bit annoyed, expression. Finnick complied and took a step sideways, having a very angry beaver and a scared looking meerkat to his left and a confused ocelot trying to get up to his right. Finnick noticed that the meerkat held his left hand inside his jacket. That's the one I'll have to bash first. He laid the bat loosely on his right shoulder, his grip trying to suffocate it.

"What has gotten into you? You know I only work the docks!" Gabor put the stool back up and leaned into it. "Just… what the fuck Finnick? You know I wouldn't cross you."

"Two boys were using your shit right next to my home, you piece of crap." Finnick reached for Gabor's neck collar but the ocelot dodged. "How do you explain that?"

"Finn, the hell do you think I sell? Freaking cookies? Do you think I give a recipe to every buyer?" Gabor jumped on his stool and grabbed a jug half-full of beer from the table. He took a slow gulp from it and relaxed himself on the stool, facing Finnick from upwards. "Now can you calm the fuck down and talk to me like a sane mammal?"

"I could say the same. It isn't even friday for you to be here causing all this ruckus Finnick." A long brown polecat approached from between the tables, a long and dirty white piece of cloth hanging around his neck. "Can I trust you boys to behave or do I have to call Reason to take you all out of my bar?"

Finnick knew that there was no use insisting, when Mike tells you to behave in his bar, you better do it. He leaned on his bat and nodded, his eyes giving away anger and remembering how tired he was.

"And give me that!" Mike seized the bat from his hands. "Coming into my bar with a freaking baseball bat! Have you no respect? You want to act savage you go outside and piss on a tree for all I care, but in here you behave. And Fred, the hell is that in your pocket?"

The meerkat quickly took his hand out of his pocket, his eyes wide open. He glanced at the beaver and the ocelot for help. "I-I-I... nothing! My wallet! That's all! We are all good and clean! W-w-w-we didn't take anything in!" He smiled a forced smile.

The beaver facepalmed. "God dammit Fred…"

The ocelot looked angrily at the meerkat "Why do we take you with us Fred? Why don't you just…" Gabor laid his head against the back of the stool. "Just give him the gun…"

"Ok, now I'm tired of this bullshit. You four, empty your pockets, right now." He turned his head back and shouted. "REASON! GET HERE RIGHT NOW!"

That name did wonders, the four mammals quickly started to pile their belongings on the ground: a stun gun, three wallets, some dollars, packs of white powder, a small wooden box, a pez dispenser, . When they were done, a giant black bear made his way through the tables. He wore a light blue shirt and simple jeans, his expression was calm and tranquil when he got to them.

Embroidered over his heart in golden handwritten letters a single word "Reason". From behind his leg a white polecat showed her face, her sharp white teeth forming a smile that almost blended with her fur, weren't for her small ruby eyes and blood red dress.

"The hell are you doing here Lucy? And Reason, care to explain to this old polecat this late in the night HOW THE HELL ALL THIS GOT IN?" Mike wiped his rag on the floor, making a loud snap.

"Sorry boss, I was helping your sister setting up her room. She had some heavy boxes to get up, you know?" The bear's deep tone ringed Finnick's ears, even his throat vibrated with each word.

"You know how it is Michael. I needed that huuuge." She took a step towards Mike. "Thiiick." She got up to his face, her snout almost touching his. "Powerful" She gave a gentle bite to his nose. "Pair of paws to carry my luggage."

Lucy laughed a sharp and sweet laugh. This is the laugh that will take this place down in the right way for the wrong reasons. Thought Finnick.

Mike rubbed his nose. "You are a curse on my life…" He glanced at the entertained perpetrators. "You four are not off the hook. And this is my sister, Lucienne Farraht, a good for nothing parasite that has to stay here because she was driving Mom and Pa insane."

"Oh Mikey, don't be a stick in the mud. I'm no gal to be kept in that dead swamp when my lovely big bro' lives in such a bustling and happy place with so many interesting faces! And now, aren't you going to introduce your friends? Are these the bad, the good, the ugly and the… dumb?" She pointed to the fennec fox, the ocelot, the beaver and the meerkat respectively. "And is this opium?" She picked up the small wooden box, a small serpent carved over it. "Oooooooh, it has been so long since I chased the dragon!"

Gabor gave an uncomfortable smile. "I… we can't… Mike, some help here, please? This is a bit of a gray area."

"Gray area my ass, you will not deal that crap inside my bar. You shouldn't bring that crap into my bar! BUT MY FREAKING BOUNCER WAS TOO BUSY PLAYING BELLBOY! And you god damn wench, you didn't travel two hundred freaking kilometers to get even more air headed!" Mike pulled her head down by her ear, she squirmed a bit and relaxed. Her body bent like a green twig with the small box balanced on her right paw. He looked at each one of the troublemakers, fuming and showing his teeth.

"Got it out of your system, Mikey?" The white polecat smiled.

Finnick noticed how with a sleight of her paw the small box vanished under her dress. He smiled at her cunning.

"Yes." Mike sighed. "Finnick, you calm the hell down. You three, get your crap out of here. But pull again one of those and you are banned from here, you understand? And you either leave now with your crap or throw it all in the garbage, I don't care which." He turned his back and took his leave to the bar counter.

Lucy gave a wide smile, she turned to the big black bear. "I can handle these four, Reason. Thanks for the help with my room, I'll be sure to bring you a snack during the night."

The bear returned the smile. "Be sure to get everything out of here Lucy. Your brother will be very pissed with me if he finds that anything stayed in here."

"Of course I'll you silly!" She winked at him.

"Your brother is gonna kill me…" He laughed a loud laugh and headed back to the bar's door.

The trio looked at each other for a moment, a bit lost on what to do next. The beaver broke the silence.

"Gabor, how are we gonna do this?"

"Charlie… take our stuff to your home, it seems like me and Finnick have a lot to talk about… And take Fred to his brother, tell him what a fuck up he is becoming."

Fred looked down, a sad frown on his face. "I'm sorry Gabor… I panicked and…"

"Really Fred? What did you intend? To shoot him here? In this bar? Have you lost your mind or are you just plain stupid?" Gabor waved toward their belongings. "Take our shit and leave and be happy I don't beat you senseless."

The meerkat lifted his hand in protest, his mouth hanging open searching for an answer, somewhere. But his gut failed him, his hand hung back down and so did his head. He got on his knees and started to grab their drugs, hiding them in the many pockets of his jacket.

Charlie took the stun gun and hid it on his back. He slapped Fred's head and signaled with his head for them to go. Gabor looked at Finnick, a tender half smile under his whiskers. "Sit with me Finn, let's talk. It's been too long since we grabbed a beer."

"Mind if I join you both?" Lucy smiled lessened to a coyer one, her scarlet eyes shining in the dim light of the bar.

"I don't think…" Gabor started.

"Sure." Finnick interrupted him. "As soon as you give his opium back."

Gabor raised an eyebrow, Lucy pretended to be surprised.

"Oh, this silly thing?" The box seemed to appear in her left hand from behind her back. "Ain't finders keepers a saying around here?" She laughed a poisonous laugh. "We can bet for it, if you two are up for a hand of poker."

Finnick wondered how she did that. "I don't suppose you have a deck of cards with you, do you?"

"Oh, let me see…" She wobbled her waist and a small purse showed from behind her back. She opened it's zipper and meddled with its insides, a small deck of very decorated cards. "Do you boys know the Musteille deck?"

"Musteille?" Asked the ocelot, puzzled.

They climbed to the tall table and each took a stool. Lucy laid her purse at her lap and started to shuffle.

She laid the deck onto the table. "How much is this little box worth my dear fox?"

"15 a gram. There are 4 packages of 5 grams of paste in that little box, so we are adding up to 300 dollars." Gabor looked to the ceiling as he talked, making mental calculations. "That begs the question, though, why would I let you steal from me?"

"It's a bit late for that, sweetheart, don't you think?" She threw a white table coaster toward Finnick. "Big blind." And a black one towards Gabor. "Small blind. Let's keep the small at 75, as I don't want to spend the entire night here." She reshuffled the deck of cards and started to deal. "From what I've caught out the cat here is Gabor, now what is your name? I can't just call you bad fox, can I?"

Finnick opened his wallet and pulled 150, laying it on the table. "They call me Finnick." He took his cards, they felt like very old paper to the touch. When he opened his hand he could see the well decorated cards, all themed with polecats and otters. He managed to recognize a king and a queen, but the other symbols were a mystery to him, he could only grasp their quantities. "So… what are the suits here?"

"Polecats are diamonds, otters are hearts, wolverines are spades, badgers are clubs." She put two 1 dollar coins on the table. "I can't put the packs in here, so take those as tokens."

Gabor shrugged. "I call too." He added 75 more to the table.

They played four hands and, one after the other the polecat either gained a bit or lost almost all she had until she had only one pack of chinese tobacco. Finnick knew how this was going to turn out, but he still hadn't caught her method. A jazz band started playing at the other corner of the bar, voices all around calmed down as the music settled in the badly lit environment.

Lucy gave a sad smile. "Well boys… last game?"

"You don't have a lot more to… give me back, have you?" Gabor was now 450 dollars in. "But what the hell, I came here to have fun." He took a last gulp from his jug of beer.

Finnick had lost 25 dollars so far, having only 175, it wasn't his day. "Fine." Finnick threw 75 at the table. "You remember that all you have is 75, right?" Asked Finnick to Lucy.

"Oh I know Mr Finnick… You know what they say, unlucky at cards…" She dealt the cards, one by one. Finnick now noticed a small scratching sound before each card was dealt. Even the loud trumpet playing couldn't drown a sound so close to him.

Gabor called, cards were discarded and drawn, all through the agile hands of the white polecat. The slight sound repeated itself at each card that was picked. They didn't raise the bet, as no one wished to risk any more and Lucy was almost out of the game. Even crooks seemed to have courtesy these days.

Gabor threw his hand at the table. "Pair of sevens."

Finnick laid a pair of fives and a pair of jacks on the table. "Two pairs." He looked at Lucy smiling. Now comes the humble victory.

The white polecat smiled and laid three twos on the table, each sporting a different animal. "Well, I can only take… 225, right?"

"Exactly." Answered Finnick, as he picked back his 150 from the table.

Lucy pushed the small box over the table, towards Gabor. "There's the last one I owe you from that hand, I picked my three." She winked at Finnick. "Nice getting to know you two, have fun!" She jumped off her stool and walked towards the bar counter, vanishing in the midst of the other tables.

Gabor sighed. "There's really no honor among thieves, eh?"

"You aren't a thief Gabor." Finnick signaled for a waitress. "Well, let us have our talk then. Why did you sell to those teens? And what is this new stuff you are handling?"

"Finn, how long have you been out of the game? Ten years?" Gabor pocketed his small ornate box. "You got out when Ol' Squeaker was put down, right?"

"No, I think it was… 6 months before that happened. He was the one that helped me get off even with everyone." Finnick turned to the gazelle waiter that arrived. "Close his tab, please."

The waiter nodded with a forced smile. She seems tired. Finnick thought. He glanced at a wall clock, 11:45PM already, tomorrow will be a long day.

"What, you are taking me home now? I think I'm a little too big for that now Finn." Gabor played with his empty jug. "Besides, I've resupplying to do later this night."

"Somethings are better talked about while walking." Finnick glanced around, no faces paid attention to them, but this sort of subject always got him a bit paranoid. "And I can accompany you, it's not like this is all new to me."

"What if someone recognizes you? You paid a lot to be left in peace, people won't be glad to see you back on the streets." Gabor peered at him, his hands fiddling uncomfortably with the jug's handle.

"They are all dead Gabor." Finnick frowned, saying that hurt more than he would like to admit.

Gabor paid his tab and they both left into the cold night. The crescent moon shone a timid light on the badly lit bar. Finnick could see a couple of cars parked close to the bar, a couple inside one of them. The "Worlds' End" was busy for a wednesday night.

They walked back to the city, away from the docks and deep into Savanna Central. Gabor guided them into a quiet street of small houses on one side and hangars on the other. Other than the street lights it was all darkness and silence in that street.

"Look Finn, I respect you. You know that, right?" Gabor looked straight ahead and walked slowly, keeping up with the small fennec at his side.

"Yet you broke what we had agreed." Finnick's ears moved around, but not even a cricket made a sound around them.

"I broke squat Finn, I didn't sellanything to any kids. You know they are more trouble than they are worth. And specially people from Happytown, there's that old say."

"You don't shit where you eat. Yeah, I taught you that. And yet there were these two teenage coyotes getting fucked up with this new shit, this… fassu or something." Finnick glanced at the cat for a reaction.

Gabor stopped and looked at him, an expression of realization in his eyes. "Oh! Those two! They are teens? Are you for real? How did they get that big?"

"Big bones, better food than we had when we were kids, good genes, doesn't matter." Finnick crossed his arms and glared at Gabor.

"Wow man, 'the hell should I know? They are fully grown and all!"

Finnick knew that he was right, but that was beside the point. He had to show strength or his well earned peace might be threatened. He jumped and grabbed Gabor by his collar, throwing him to the ground on his back.

"You listen here you piece of shit, I taught you better! I managed to keep our poison out of Happytown after I took over the Square and I gave it all to you with one freaking condition! You got it all on a silver platter and this is how you repay me?" Finnick threw his head against a fence, he hit it with a dull sound.

Gabor quickly stood up, he felt behind his head, but it was only a bruise. "You think I wanted any of this shit? You know how hard…" Gabor shouted, but Finnick cut him off.

"Are you talking back to me?" Finnick voice sounded more like a deep growl than words. Gabor went silent, immediately.

After a moment of confusion Gabor spoke. "I'm sorry… I'll be more careful…" In a sheepish tone, looking at his feet.

Finnick saw again the shy boy that came to him so many years ago, he knew that he had won and that he was still under his heel. It would be good enough for now. He opened a wide smile and patted his back. "That's what I wanted to hear, you are still a good man Gabor. Just don't let me down."

"I… I won't Finn. And we expanded a lot since you left it's harder to keep track of everything… B-but we… I'll improve it!" Gabor sported a desperate smile on his face, his wide yellow eyes twitching nervously.

"You better. You don't want me to be back here again. What's our one rule?" Finnick looked deep into his eyes.

The ocelot shied his eyes away. "No deals to Happytown."

"That's my man. Now, what is this new fassu stuff? One of the kids blacked out from a single use." Finnick signaled them to be on their way.

Gabor picked his slow pace again. "It's fazu. It's a new product we have now, super simple to smoke, very cheap and very strong." He picked a pez dispenser and flipped it once. A small gray pez fell on his hand, he extended it to Finnick.

Finnick could see the small gray pez now, it was porous and had a cartoonesque canid pressed on it, happy face and all. With a little press it crumbled into a very light powder, the smell of nutmeg was the first he noticed, then came the ammonia.

"What's it made off?" Finnick cleaned his fingers on his clothes and threw the pez away.

"No idea, maybe the heavy part of opium when you make heroin or something like that. And we are here." Gabor stopped in front of a small white house. It had a white wooden fence and reddish roof tiles. Was, by all accounts, a regular house, well cared for and well kept. "You stay here, I'll get this week's products."

Finnick stood by the small wooden gate as Gabor went in the stone path and knocked on the door. A few moments after the door opened and Gabor stepped in, Finnick could hear him being greeted, but after the door was closed, silence took back the night. He sat on the curb and watched as the moon made it's way across the sky. Was it 1AM, 2AM? He wasn't sure. He felt very tired by now, that's what he knew.

Gabor took good ten minutes before getting out with a backpack hanging from his right shoulder. The cat smiled when he got to Finnick's side.

"Ready to go?" Asked Gabor.

"Yeah. Everything ok there?" Finnick got up and stretched his back.

"Yes, my supplier is quite alright." Gabor passed his left arm through the backpacks left handle. "Where are we off to now?"

"I'm going home and so should you." Finnick smiled paternally towards the taller ocelot.