Chapter 35: Not On Our Beach!

Another character from the movie shows up at the beach much to everyone's displeasure.

A little beach goth music to go with this chapter, "Try Hard Fool" by The Growlers.

Strandie: What the working class locals call each other in a touristy beachfront area of Zootopia informally called The Strand. It is famous for its beach, surf, Grand Carnival, hotels, and vintage Boardwalk.

"Dudes, he has my wallet!" Stone Kole frantically yelled as he raced down the beach chasing after a scruffy looking weasel in a grimy white sleeveless undershirt which was too short to cover his lean belly. The thief had a stolen beach bag tucked under his arms that was loaded with ill-gotten goods which he had snatched from unsuspecting beachgoers.

Sprinting as fast as he could, the weasel made a break for the Boardwalk and dashed toward the nearby road. "Damn, that little runt is fast!" he cursed to himself. Weaving and ducking, he pushed his way through the crowd of tourists, nearly getting stomped on by a large elephant who was more interested in what was on her cell phone than where she was going. Finally, panting heavily, he ducked into an alleyway next to a nearby hotel and hid in the shadows behind a garbage bin. From his hiding spot, he peeked around the bin and watched as the frustrated fennec fox searched desperately before moving on down the street.

With a grin, the weasel excitedly whispered, "Come to poppa and make me rich!" as the thief rummaged through the beach bag and pulled out a small cloth wallet. Inside, he found a driver's license, a medical card, and a membership card for a professional surfing organization. "That little furball only had eight bucks and no credit cards...what a waste of my time!" he grumbled, disappointment evident in his voice. He paused for a moment, leering at a photo of a pretty sand cat in a blue bikini that he had also found in the wallet, before tossing everything onto the grimy asphalt. The other wallets and purses he had managed to grab before his escape contained several credit cards and nearly two hundred bucks. He stuffed the contents of the stolen items into the pockets of his shorts and discarded the rest, along with the now-empty beach bag.

Feeling pleased with himself, he carefully crept out of the dark alley and into the bright sunshine. After glancing around to ensure he wasn't being followed, he quickly made his way to the nearest bus stop, only to be disappointed to find that the next bus wouldn't arrive for at least thirty-five minutes. "Shit!" the weasel cursed to himself. He hadn't planned to do anything more than enjoy the sun and surf when he rode the bus from downtown Zootopia to the beach, so he hadn't considered an escape route. However, once he arrived and saw that many of the tourists left their purses and wallets unguarded on their beach towels, that was more of a temptation than he could resist. He had carefully snuck his way down the beach, snatching a few items here and there, and he might have gotten away with it if it hadn't been for that damned fennec fox. Crossing the street, he slipped into the shadows between two shops and waited, hoping the bus would arrive before the cops came looking for him.

While impatiently waiting for the bus, he noticed a strikingly beautiful fennec fox approaching the bus stop. She wore a flowing white blouse and jeans, with a blood-red silk sash tied tightly around her waist, accentuating her curves and giving her an alluring pirate princess vibe. She carried a brown paper bag that appeared to be full. "Hubba-hubba! I'd love to get my paws on all of her treasure," he whispered as he lustfully gazed at her.

Studying the transit map, she appeared quite confused. Throwing caution to the wind, he called out while crossing the road towards her, "Hey, hot stuff, are you lost? If so, I can show you around." He gave her his best smile after spitting out the toothpick he had been chewing on.

"Thank you. I'm not from Zootopia, so I really don't know my way around here. Is this where I can catch the bus that goes downtown?" she asked in a somewhat flirtatious manner.

His ears twitched at the foreign accent of the vixen, and his grin widened even more. "Sure, babe, let me be your guide," he replied as he moved closer to her. "I can show you a real good time."

The weasel moved to slip his right arm over her shoulder. "Oh, my!" the fox exclaimed when she suddenly fumbled and dropped her paper bag.

"Let me help," he gallantly offered. As he leaned over, he felt her bump into him slightly, and then he realized that the bag was stuffed with trash paper. "What the...?" he muttered. Standing up, he reached into his back pocket for the loot he had stolen earlier, only to realize that some of it was gone. The vixen had picked his pocket! "Hey, you!" he hollered as he watched the fox racing away. "Come back here!" he yelled as he chased after her.

Swiftly, she sprinted across the busy street and ran toward the Boardwalk. The weasel didn't realize that she was slowing down to make sure he wouldn't lose her, seemingly taunting him to catch up. After turning a corner, he came to a skidding halt, for there she was, standing among a small group of surfers. The largest among them, a muscular bull, glared down at him with his arms crossed. Next to him was a skinny wolf holding a skateboard, alongside two jaguars, their tails twitching in anticipation of a hunt. In front of them was the fennec fox from who he had stolen a wallet from earlier, along with a small wallaby.

"As you Strandies say: 'he was hooked and reeled in just like a fish,'" the vixen giggled.

"Thanks, Tawenza," the male fennec fox said.

"You dirty little..." the weasel began cursing at the vixen as he backed up, frantically searching for a way to escape. Suddenly, a hoof landed heavily on his shoulder from behind, causing him to twist around and look up at another bull standing there. "Now wait a..." the weasel didn't get to finish his sentence because the bull spun him around, grabbed his shirt, lifted him into the air, and slammed him against a nearby wall.

The bull leaned his snout menacingly closer to the weasel and let out an angry snort. "Let me explain something to you," he said in a furious tone. "You don't come to our beach and steal from the locals or you'll get hurt, understand?" The weasel began to raise his paw as if to respond, however, he yelped in shock when the bull spun him upside down and started to shake him. Coins, cash, credit cards, and other stolen items began to rain down onto the sand from where they had been hidden.

Finally, the bull dropped the weasel, who landed on his head with a grunt and sat there for a moment, staring wide-eyed at the surfers. "Hey, some of that is really mine!" he protested, reaching for a worn wallet.

Sandfly moved swiftly, and the wolf snatched the wallet from the weasel's paw. Opening it, he pulled out a driver's license. "Duke Weaselton," he read aloud, taking note of the name printed on it. After removing the cash and credit cards inside, he tossed the wallet back at the weasel and scattered the stolen credit cards and cash onto the sand beside the rest of the ill-gotten loot.

"That's my money!"

"Call it a fine for messing with one of us Strandies," the wolf snarled, showing his fangs.

"Righto, champ, now bugger off," the wallaby remarked. Duke quickly got up and frantically sprinted away.

"That dude peed in his shorts," Sandfly commented while they watched the weasel racing back toward the bus stop. The wolf's nose was twitching in disgust.

"My brother has a way of making others do that," Red added and then he hoof-pumped his older brother's outstretched fist.

"What can I say, it's an art, little bro," Salty bragged.

"So, Stoney, how did you know that slime ball was waiting for a bus? I thought you lost him?" Tawenza asked. Rio had just shown up, and the ferret was sucking on the straw of an iced drink from the nearby gas station market. The vixen snatched the drink from his paws and took a long sip. "Thanks," she said, throwing her arm over his shoulder.

The ferret seemed ready to protest but simply shrugged and asked, "Did I miss something?"

"Hush, Kook, Stoney is going to explain why they knew that jerk was at the bus stop" she said.

"Don't call me Kook," Rio objected.

"You're still a kook," Stone said to the ferret before turning his attention back to the vixen. "I did lose him on the Boardwalk, but this is our neighborhood, and we Strandies always look out for each other. Although I lost sight of him, Shelia saw me chasing him from her shop window and called Frankie over at the market. She saw him running by and informed Hank at the candy shop. Hank then watched the weasel slip into an alleyway. He called George at Bennie's Cafe, and since I ran off without my phone, George reached out to Salty, who let the other boys know what was happening. Salty also told Cooper, who found the now-empty wallets and purses exactly where Hank said the weasel had been hiding. George had kept track of the dude and watched him go to the bus stop."

"So why did you call me?" Twaenza asked. "Why didn't you just go to the bus stop yourselves or call the police?"

"Beating up or arresting someone waiting for a bus is bad for tourism," Sandfly answered. "So we needed someone to lead him over here."

"Where it is more private and the sand would soak up any blood," Salty added with a grin. "The only one we knew who could get close enough to do it was you."

"Why, because I'm a vixen?" Tawenza scoffed.

"A very sexy vixen," Stone added. "Come on, you enjoyed doing it didn't you?"

"Shut up, fox," the vixen giggled.

"I still don't understand," Rio said in confusion.

"Hush, Kook, I'll explain it to you later in private," Tawenza replied as she nuzzled him.

"At least give me back my drink," he asked while reaching for it. The vixen softly slapped the ferret's paw away before taking another sip. "I'll take that as a no," he sighed.

Tawenza sweetly smiled at him before she took yet another sip.

"Yeah, I guess I should have bought one for you too."

"You're a kook on the waves and a kook with the girls, but you're learning," Stone said with a shake of his head.

"So what do we do with all of that stuff?" one of the jaguars asked as he pointed down at the money, jewelry, and credit cards laying in the sand.

"Can we at least keep the cash?" the other cat added.

"No, it doesn't belong to us. Coop and Stoney will take everything, along with the recovered wallets and purses, to Officer Vifaru. I'm sure he is being inundated with robbery reports and will be grateful for the items we found," Salty answered.

Salty was right that the large, uniformed rhino was both grateful and smart enough not to ask too many questions.

As for Duke Weaselton, he was never seen around the beach again.