Chapter Ten: All Six Cylinders

A/N: Well, after that erotic chapter, it's time for something much more family friendly. We're back with the Hopps kids as Michael gets his first opportunity to play rock and roll in front of a crowd and the newlywed Catmulls come to visit.

This one was hard to write. Not only did I need to have an awkward, but polite conversation with Vivian and Bonnie to bring up some bitterness between the two for a future subplot (if I ever get back to it), but I also had to write some song lyrics which takes time.

Had to rewrite a good chunk of the Vivian/Bonnie conversation because my stupid brain forgot that they met before.

Late evening at the Hopps homestead in Johnny Neon's room.

All six cylinders! Let's fire 'em up! Let's light 'em up!

And hit the roooad!

"Alright kids! That was good!" Johnny said. "Bean, you are amazing on those sticks for a newbie! Pete, thanks for hitting the drum base. Good timing. I hope you don't mind that you're going to be hidden."

"I'm just happy to participate!" Petey said.

"Cotton? I don't think that tap dance solo is working."

"Just give me a chance!" Cotton replied.

"Thanks for helping me out big bro!" Michael said.

"No problem Mike! I gotta admit,.you got an incredible amount of talent. That harmonica solo is gonna rock!"

Meanwhile...

There was a knock on the front door. Joanne Hopps opened it up and was surprised to see a fox. "Who are you?"

"I'm Vivian Wilde. Nick's mother and I'm grandmother to Michael, Petey, Cotton and Spots."

"Oh! Judy's kids. Yeah." She looked over at Bobby Catmull. "This your foster son or somethin'?"

"Heavens no! This is my husband! Bobby Catmull."

Bobby interrupted. "Before you ask, yes, I'm half her age, but I like older women."

"He was Judy's ex-boyfriend."

"Shhh! Don't tell them that!"

"What?! Why?"

"SIGH! Because...Judy never told them about me. Only Bonnie ever knew about that."

Joanne was surprised. "Judy dated a predator before Nick?! HA! Dad's gonna have a fit!"

"Don't tell him! Look my grandson Michael called and..."

"Wait...Michael, the one that took dad's eye, is your GRANDSON?! Dude, you're what? Twenty?"

"Twenty-six thank you! Look, Michael called and he wanted me to see his little rock show."

Vivian interrupted. "We were in town and I wanted to meet the other grandparents anyway! We met tham at that party in Zootopia. May we come in?"

"Sure. This burrow's pretty fox friendly lately. Just make sure to duck between hallways. Uncle Gideon has a hard enough time getting around as-is."

"Where's Bonnie and Stu?"

"Mom just had kits. She's in Michael's old room with dad."

Vivian got exctied. "Ooooh! I'd love to see them again!"

"Follow me."

Vivian went to the room and saw Bonnie and Stu in the bed with the kits. Bonnie was breastfeeding one of them.

Vivian was a little embarrassed. "Oh! I'm sorry. Did I come at a bad time?"

"No. No. This is perfectly natural. We met at the restaurant party, right?"

"That's right! I'm Vivian Wilde."

"AHEM!" Bobby chortled.

"Whoops! Vivian Catmull as of this afternoon."

"Oh! Nice to see you again! I'd shake your hand but as you can see, it's currently busy holding this little girl. Who by the way, is also named Vivian."

Vivian thought Bonnie was complementing her. "Oh thank you! That's so sweet!"

Bonnie gave Vivian a slight sneer. "She's named after my granddaughter who helped me with the birth! I barely know you."

"...Oh Spots! She helped you with the birth?! That's wonderful! Where is she right now? OH! Maybe me and her can take a picture with the baby!"

"She's downstairs at the home theater and...I'd rather not have the newborns disturbed just yet."

"OH! Ummm...of course! Of course. I understand. Still it's nice for us grandparents to all meet up like this."

Stu then looked over at Bobby. "Holy hell son! YOU'RE a grandpa now!"

Bobby shrugged his shoulders. "Technically yeah. I married Vivian."

"How old are you?"

"Twenty six."

"I still can't believe you married someone over twice your age."

"Just twice!" Vivian said angrily.

Joanne then butted in. "Dad! He's that Bobby that Judy dated ten years ago!"

Stu was a bit confused. "Woah! Woah! Woah! Hold up! Judy dated a predator ten years ago?!"

Bobby was embarrassed. "Y-Yeah, but we had to cut it off for...reasons." He looked over at Bonnie and winked. Bonnie blushed a little.

Stu caught it. "What was that?"

"What was what?" Bobby said innocently.

"You winked at my wife."

"Well...AHEM!...sir, the reason me and Judy broke up is that I was starting to flirt with Bonnie and it was causing problems, so I left."

Stu got mad at Bonnie. "So you knew Judy was dating a cougar AND he flirted with you?! How could you keep that from me?!"

"Because you were such a bigot back then!" Bonnie explained. "I never flirted back. He was much too young for me, not to mention I was married to you! Besides, I couldn't have him around my daughter knowing he wasn't a faithful man."

"And a cougar!" Stu added.

"HEY!" Bobby yelled.

"That's the other reason!" Bonnie said. "You were such a bigot that if you found out your daughter was dating a cougar AND he was flirting with me, you would have taken your shotgun and headed straight for his house!"

Vivian pulled Bobby towards the exit of the room. "W-Why don't we give you two some space. Hunh?"

Stu was still mad. "Oh no. Maybe I should leave and she can tell you more secrets I don't know about?!"

"Stu!" Bonnie yelled. She then sneered at Vivian. "Now see what you did!"

"What'd I do?!" Vivian asked.

"Just...leave please? Spots is downstairs like I said. Me and Stu have to have a long talk thanks to you two!"

An upset Vivian left the room with Bobby while Bonnie and Stu started to argue and bicker. "Well that went well!" Bobby said sarcastically.

Vivian sighed. "Let's just go meet up with Spots."

Meanwhile, Michael peeked out of the room they were rehearsing in to look at the audience below. He was very nervous. "Ooooh! That's a lot of siblings!"

Petey was surprised at Michael's behavior. "So what?...Wait, are you...SHIT!...are you afraid of playing in front of a crowd?"

"No!...A little."

"Why?!"

"I dunno! They're all just...there. Watching me. What if they don't like it?! What if they poke fun?"

"They're not gonna poke fun!"

"They're my siblings!"

"...TURD!...Okay they're gonna poke fun. But they're gonna do that anyway! And Spots will be there! She won't poke fun!"

"Ooooh!"

"Relax Mike! It's family! At the end of the day, they'll have DICK! have your back no matter what!"

"I guess so...look! There's grandma and grandpa Wilde!"

"Catmull."

"Oh yeah!"

"Grandma and grandpa would cheer for you even if you peed you pants in the middle of singing!"

"Yeah you're right. Okay! I'm ready!"

"Great!"

"...As soon as I go pee. Just to be safe. Thanks for putting that in my head! "

Meanwhile...

Spots was down on one of the multiple couches in the living room staring intently at the now crumple drawing Cotton made. Rose was sitting by her side for emotional support. Spots then heard a voice over to her right. "Well if it isn't Vivian Wilde!"

She looked over to see her other grandmother Vivian standing above her with grandpa Bobby behind the vixen.

Spots gave no words. She stood up, hugged Vivian and started crying on her shoulder."Grandmaaa!

Vivian was surprised. "Oh my goodness dear! What's the matter?!"

Spots whined. "HRRRMMM! HNNNNN!" and handed Bobby a piece of paper.

"What's this?!" Bobby asked.

"I-It's Cotton's drawing!" Spots replied. "She...GASP!...she has visions of the futurrre a-and can draw it on paper!"

"Oh my God." Bobby replied. "Honey! Look!"

Bobby showed Vivian Cotton's drawing. "Judy's shot! Nick's being thrown off a building! Dear God! Is this really going to happen?! "

"I-I hope not. I warned them, but I haven't been able to contact them since!"

"Oh Nick! My poor baby! Wha-Wha-What can we do?"

"SNIFF! R-Right now, nothing. Just watch the kids do their show and be supportive and...and...AND WORRY MY FUCKING HEAD OFF! BAAW-HAAW-HAAW!"

Just then, Spots felt a tug on her arm. It was Cindy. "Pa-Pa?" She saw Spots crying and wanted her to pick her up to console her.

Spots picked her up and gave her a hug. "Hey Cindy. Pa-Pa's just worried about our da-da."

"Is that Petey's twin sister Judy told me about?" Vivian asked.

"Yeah." Spots replied. "Her name's Cindy and it's VERY hard to forget that since her vocabulary is pretty limited and she mostly talks by saying her name over and over. Isn't that right Cindy?"

"Cindy!"

"She's learned a few words, but she doesn't always say them right."

Vivian put out her arms. "Can I see her?"

Spots handed her over. "Careful. She bites sometimes."

Vivian was still worried about her son. She felt getting to see her new granddaughter might help. She smiled at the young doe. "Hi! I'm your grandma, Vivian!"

"Guh-Gamma!"

Vivian was delighted. "That's right! And this handsome cougar is your grandpa, Bobby!"

Vivian looked at Bobby who was petting her head. "...Baah-bee!"

"That's very good! Vivian replied."But you call him 'grandpa'!"

Cindy looked at Bobby, then back to Vivian, then back to Bobby, then back to Vivian. "No. Bobby."

"No! That's your grandpa! Bobby is his name!"

Cindy explained in her own way. She pointed at herself. "Cindy." She then pointed at Vivian. "Gamma." She then pointed at Bobby. "Bobby." And back to Vivian. "Mama."

Spots started laughing and Bobby was getting a little upset. "What's that all about?"

"HA! I get it! She thinks you're too young to be grandpa! She thinks grandma is your mother!"

"But I'm not!"

"Give it up. She thinks I'm her second father."

"Only because you dress like a boy! No offense."

"Eh. None taken." Bobby and Spots then heard an "OW!" from Vivian. "She bit my ear!"

"It's cool grandma. That means she likes you. Think of it as a stamp of approval." She then pointed to the stage. "Look! It's Mike and Cotton! I think I see Petey behind the drums."

The band got on the small stage and Michael got onto the mic. It was obvious that he was VERY nervous. "H-Hi. I-I-I'm Michael Wilde. Most of you know me because I used to live here. But I was blind back then. I-I knew the layout of my home because I'd feel around the place, but then I left and dad...I mean grandpa gave me his eye so I could see. Now everything feels different. It's like I-I've never been here before."

He continued. "I-I want to thank my grandpa...my blood father for giving me this eye. The last two days have been amazing! I'm still learning what colors are what, I'm seeing all my sibling's faces for the first time. I saw a rainbow Sunday. I thought they weren't real! A-And now I see all of you and I'm kinda-"

"Shut up and play!" said a kid from the audience. Some kids laughed.

Vivian was quite upset. "Don't be rude!"

"Aww shut up! You don't even live here!"

Michael got angry. "That right there is why I don't wanna be a Hopps! My new family supports each other! You guys just tear each other down or stay in you own little friend groups and you wanna know why?! Because there's 300 of you little jerks and you all are dying for the littlest bit of attention from your mom and dad because they already lead a super-busy life so they barely have time for you! Except Johnny here. He's cool. This...this house didn't make me feel welcome when I was blind and I don't feel welcome now. But my new family, they love and support me because that's what a good family's supposed to do! I love Petey, I love Spots, I love my sparring partner Cindy and I'm in love with Cotton. We 're always there for each other and nobody gets jealous of one another!"

Michael started to weep. "A-And now, my new mommy Judy...sh-she's in Zootopia right n-now risking her life a-a-and so is my new dad and...I'm scared. Cotton made a drawing a-and they might die and...okay...forget about that. I gotta get that outta my head right now. You wanna hear some rock and roll?!"

There was a small amount of cheers. "I call this song 'Hit the road'. I-I came up with it while we were traveling today and I heard someone say something about their six cylinder engine. I don't know what cylinder's are actually so I might be wrong, but it sounded cool. So Let's go! One! Two! One two three four!"

Johnny started playing guitar and Bean followed on the drums as best he could. He was helped by Petey who was doing the drum petal to the sound of the beat. There wasn't much to the melody. It was simple so the inexperienced Bean could keep up. Michael then started to sing.

"The first cylinder is just like my heart, cuz you make it pump really fast!"

"The second one's like when I'm away from you cuz I don't know long it'll last!"

"And the third's just not kickin' it right like when you leave me all alone!"

"But MAN! We gotta get this engine purrin' real tight so baby we can hit the road!"

"Cuz I want us to start! Want us to start!"

"And the heart only wants what the heart wants!"

"The heart only wants what the heart wants! BABY YEEEAH! YEEAAH! YAAAAAH!"

Johnny, Cotton and Petey were singing back for the "Let's fire 'em up! Let's light 'em up!" parts. Meanwhile, the audience was starting to get into it and clapping along to the music. Cindy was getting real excited and jumping up and down on her grandma's lap.

"All six cylinders! Let's fire 'em up! Let's light 'em up!"

"All six cylinders! Let's fire 'em up! Let's light 'em up!"

"And hit the rooooad!"

"Now the fourth one's not workin' cuz it's cold like you when we have a fight!"

"But the fifth one just needs a little love so I know that we can make it light!"

"Now the sixth's one like my heart, just a tiny bit cracked, but I'm sure it can take the load!"

"Now let's fix them all up, get this engine purrin' real tight cuz babe, we gotta hit the road!

"Cuz I want us to start! Want us to start!"

"And the heart only wants what the heart wants!"

"The heart only wants what the heart wants! BABY YEEEAH! YEEAAH! YAAAAAH!"

"All six cylinders! Let's fire 'em up! Let's light 'em up!"

"All six cylinders! Let's fire 'em up! Let's light 'em up!"

"And hit the rooooad!"

"Hit it Cotton!"

Michael then did a harmonica solo while Cotton used her walker to tap dance around the stage. It was a joyous sight to behold. Spots had her cell phone camera recording the whole thing. Cindy was dancing in her grandma's lap and Bobby was weeping a little.

Vivian noticed. "Bobby darling! Are you okay?!"

"SNIFF! It's just...He's a prodigy! Truly amazing for his age! I'm so proud of him!"

Vivian gave him a quick kiss on the lips. "You big softy."

"All six cylinders! Let's fire 'em up! Let's light 'em up!"

"And hit the road!"

"Hit the roooad!

"Hit the rooooooooooad!"

"The heart only wants what the heart wants!"

They finished. There was a moment of silence followed by huge cheers from the living room and the levels of hallways above. They loved it.

Michael was shocked. Shocked and happy. He raised his arms in triumph. Petey and Cotton gave him a hug. Johnny gave him a high five. Bean dropped his sticks and did a high five with his ears.

"That was awesome!" Bean replied. "My ears are in so much pain right now!"

Cotton then got a surprised look on her face. "GASP! I need a pen and paper!"

"Another vision?!" Michael asked.

"Yeah! And I think this one might be a good one! I can feel it!" She ran off to go and draw.

The audience was still cheering when Cindy jumped off Vivian's lap. The vixen tried to grab her, but it was too late. "Shoot! Where's she going?!"

As Michael got off stage, Cindy jumped on stage and yanked the guitar from Johnny's hands. Needless to say, Johnny was upset. "Hey! What do you think you're doing?!"

She looked at Bean and pointed at the bunny. "DRUMS!"

Bean, not wanting to piss the crazy bunny off, obliged. "Okay! Okay! Let's go back Petey. Oh my poor ears!"

Cindy just stuck the same chord over and over violently since she couldn't actually play guitar. The best that could be said is that she kept a rhythm. That said, is was raw and loud and not unlike death metal. Cindy then tried to sing.

"Cindaaay!"

"Cindy!Cindy!Cindy!Cindy! Cindaaaay!"

"My. Name. Is. Cindaaay!"

"Cindy!Cindy!Cindy!Cindy! Cindaaaay!"

"What on earth is she doing?!" Vivian asked.

"Death metal!" Spots replied "And she friggin' rocks!"

Spots was head bagging and so were some of the bunnies in attendance.

"Pee-Pee! Ca-Ca! My-cah too! Bean! Bean! I love you!"

"Pa-Pa! Gamma! Bobby too! Ma-Ma! Da-Da! I miss you!"

It was then that spots realized what was going on. "She misses mom and dad! She DOES know what's going on! This is her way of expressing herself! Aww Cindy! I didn't know!"

"Cindaaay!"

"Cindy!Cindy!Cindy!Cindy! Cindaaaay!"

"My. Name. Is. Cindaaay!"

"Cindy!Cindy!Cindy!Cindy! Cindaaaay!"

She then strummed the guitar super fast and screamed. "CIN-DAAAAAAAYYY! ROOOOOOAAAWWRR! " Bean knew it was the finale, so he rapidly hit the drums.

Still screaming, Cindy took the guitar and started swing it around. Bean and Petey quickly dodged out of the way as she smashed the drum set. Petey quickly dragged Bean away for his safety.

Cindy then stood on the center stage and started smashing the guitar on the stage. "My guitar!" Johnny yelled.

"I'm sorry!" Petey replied. "I can feel her! She's FARTBUTT! She's full of rage and sorrow! I-I think she's worried about mom and dad!"

She smashed it on the floor one final time and did the devil horns with her fingers. "CINDAAAAAYY!"

The audience went nuts, they loved it. But they didn't know what was really going on. As the cheers kept coming, Cindy dropped to the ground, rolled into the fetal position and started screaming. "MA-MA! DA-DA!"

Petey quickly ran over and picked her up to hug her. "I'm so sorry Cindy! You must have felt all of my worry! Are you okay?!"

She hugged him back, crying her little eyes out. "Pee-Pee!"

"It's okay Cindy. It'll be okay as long as we have each other."

Spots and Michael also ran to the stage. Spots took them all into her long arms and carried them off. "L-Let's find Cotton. She's doing another drawing. Maybe it's good news?"

As Spots started to walk away, she could see tears of worry in Bean's eyes. "Is she gonna be okay?"

Spots gave a gentle smile. "Wanna come with us?"

"O-Okay."

Spots put everyone back down and scooped them all up again with Bean as well. Her long, hyena arms and brute strength allowed her to easily pick them all up and carried them off.

Moments later, Spots was on the second floor with four bunnies getting heavier in her arms. "Cotton! Christine Wilde where are you?!"

"Over here!" Cotton said. She was in an unoccupied room where she took some crayons and started drawing.

Spots peeked over he shoulder. "Is it done yet?"

"It still hasn't ummm..fully cooked in my brain, but whatever it is, I can tell it's good."

"That would be a relief." Spots then got a call on her cell phone. "GASP! It's James! MY sweet Jim! Jim!"

Michael was ready to gag. "Your sweet Jim-Jim? BLECH! When did you start calling him that?!"

"Just now and kiss my ass! I'm gonna take this in the bathroom."

"Don't be showing him your privates or I'll snitch on you!" Cotton warned.

"Guys, if James is getting through, then mom and dad can too! I'll be right back!"

Spots quickly ran into the bathroom to talk to James. "Jimmy! Are you okay baby?"

"Yeah ummm dear? Honey? Sorry, I'm not used to having a girlfriend yet. By the way, Dawn Bellwether is Cotton's aunt right?"

"Yeah? Why?"

"She's on TV right now having sex in jail with a tiny fox. I'm with the kids. Mom and dad made sure we didn't watch it."

"Okay, that's gross."

"Gross?"

"I'm not into lambs or any equines."

"Oh."

"Have you heard from mom and dad?"

"Your parents?! Yeah! They stopped that Rusev guy."

Spots leaned against the bathtub and started crying. "They're okay! Oh God YES! They're okay!"

"Not that okay." James replied.

Spots mood suddenly changed. "W-What do you mean?"

"They were both hospitalized. Judy got shot in the knee so bad that she lost a good chunk of her right leg."

"Oh my God!"

"Other than that, she's fine. She lost a fair bit of blood, but she's recovering okay."

"O-Okay. Okay. At least she's alive. How's my dad?"

"Well, he died, but then..."

"HE DIED?!" she screamed. "Why didn't you start with that instead of some naked lamb bullshit you heartless bastard!"

"Spots wait! He.."

"WE'RE THROUGH!" She slammed the phone against the wall, cracking the screen. "MY DADDY! NOT AGAIN! WHY GOD?! WHY?!"

She ran out of the bathroom crying. She went back to tell the kids the bad news, only to see them all happy. "Wh-What's going on?!"

"Look!" said Cotton. She showed them a drawing of all of them hugging and crying together, but with tears of joy and smiles on all of their faces Spots especially had the widest smile in the drawing. "We're all happy, so it must be good news. Right?"

This left Spots very confused. "Just what the hell is going on?!"