Six Cons, Three Items
Chapter 1 - Maurice, Bennett, and Jeff
They've gone by many names, but just to name a few: The Trio of Trouble, The Triple Terror, and even The Threshold Threesome. But they're better known as The Beagle Boys, Maurice, Bennett and Jeff, and even though their first boss, former musketeer captain Pete, now serving many years in jail, they managed to escape, and of course they're still on the run.
Ever since Pete was thrown in jail a few months ago, it hasn't been easy for the Beagle Boys; though, the only fortunate thing to come out of all this was that they took shelter in Pete's old secret lair, where they plotted scores to keep themselves alive.
But they were beginning to run out of money, so they were going to make another heist soon. But first, they needed some intel on the best score, and there was only one place where such information would be shared.
The clear night sky and bright full moon hung over the beautiful city of Paris, France, and it was during these calm night hours that criminals and ruffians all headed out to drink the night away at a local bar. And tonight, the Nostalgique French Pub was especially loud, as it was full of large and drunk animals like big dogs, pigs, bulls, etc.
But the big boys will be joined by some rather unexpected and smaller guests. The men were all shouting and singing with slurs when something suddenly caught their eye; three large shadows slinked in the moonlight in the doorway, and stretched to the other side of the room where the bar was, but when they all looked at the door, they saw three little cloaked beagles.
It was none other than The Beagle Boys, and they glared into oblivion while ignoring the dirty looks, evil grins and sly chuckles coming from the other men, as they slowly walked inside. The beagles were much smaller compared to the other thugs, and they couldn't help but insult them.
"Aw, wook at the wittwe puppies," one man mocked, stirring up some laughter, and the jokes just kept coming.
"Where's the Sunday paper?"
"Don't forget ta howl when ya find somethin'!"
Maurice, Bennett and Jeff continued to ignore them, and they each took a seat at the bar, each tossing a silver coin to the bar attendant.
"What're you mutts doin' here? Ya lose yer squeaky toys?" the scruffy wolf bar attendant chuckled, causing even hardier laughter in the pub, as he slammed his paw over the three coins.
"Very funny," Jeff growled sarcastically.
"Three apple tinis, ya bloody comedian," Bennett pointed out angrily, and the wolf scoffed before preparing their drinks.
"Three apple tinis, comin' right up."
"So, boys, what's the news on the latest score?" Jeff asked when their drinks were ready, and they each turned to face the criminals with their drinks in hand.
"Latest score? Why go looking for a score when there's three RIGHT HERE?" a big warthog asked with a smirk, as he pulled up The Beagle Boys' wanted poster, and they were wanted dead or alive for fifteen hundred gold shillings.
Ever since Pete was taken to jail, the reward on the Beagle Boys' head was majorly increased because the royal musketeers thought it was an attempt to assassinate the princess, and they didn't want dangerous criminals like them roaming around the city.
"What dya say, men? Should we get our hands dirty just for the hell of it, and then split the cash prize?" a larger wolf criminal spoke up, and the others started to laugh agreement, but that's when their attention was caught by a flying dagger, which pierced another one of The Beagle Boys' wanted posters on the other side of the room.
The ruffians looked at the dagger for a few seconds, but when they turned back around, Bennett and Jeff disappeared, and it appeared that little Maurice had thrown the dagger.
"We can do this the easy way, or the hard way," Maurice began calmly, but the thugs still began to gang up on him. So, to show that he wasn't kidding, Maurice pulled out two hand guns and aimed them at the closest thugs.
They were all caught completely by surprise when Maurice pulled out the guns, but they were caught by even more surprise when Bennett and Jeff both showed up behind them on the other side of the room, katana in one hand and apple tini in the other, and their swords were practically pressed to a couple of the drunkard's backs.
"Wha'll it be, lads? Talk or it's a world a' hur' for ya," Bennet growled with intimidation, and as they expected, the other thugs and bar tender were scared of them now.
"Th-there was a donation of one hundred silver shillings to the orphanage down the street," a nervous pig piped up.
"Not enough. Try again," Jeff grunted in demand, pressing his katana even more into the back of the pig.
"Th-the church in downtown Paris just received a gift of silver candles. W-w-wouldn't they look nice in your living room?" a wolf shakily suggested.
"We don't do religious. Ya go' one last sho'," Bennett chuckled in a snarky way.
"W-what about Bud and Lou?" the same pig who spoke up earlier suggested, but the other thugs immediately shook their heads and tried to shush him, which only made the Beagle Boys' curiosity grow.
"Say tha' again, lad," Jeff demanded while pressing his katana against the pig's neck.
"Bud and Lou…w-we heard they finally got a hold of the Serpent Key, the one that unlocks all locks and always points to the treasure."
"Don't lie ta me!" Jeff snapped, and stepped in front of the pig to press the end of his sword to his nose, "tha' key is just a myth. It don't exist."
"N-no, we're not lying! We've seen the key! Rumor has it that the murderous outlaw twins Bud and Lou finally found the Serpent Key, and they're in town to commit the greatest crime: busting the princess' treasure room!"
"Everyone knows her treasure room is heavily guarded, and even if we DID get inside, there's nothing bu' old, dusty antiques," Jeff protested with a glare.
"But there's a SECRET treasure room in the castle! If you can get the Serpent Key, it will lead you to the secret room, and you'll be rich beyond your wildest dreams!"
"Rich, as in, rich with treasure?" Bennett inquired.
"With more treasure than you can imagine."
The Beagle Boys' all shared suspicious looks before nodding and gulping down their apple tinis, followed by carelessly throwing away their glasses on the floor.
"Where do we find this 'Bud and Lou'?" Jeff asked with impatience.
For those who are confused, lemme lay it down for ya!
First off, this takes place after the events of Mickey, Donald and Goofy in The Three Musketeers. Second, if I was going to write this story, I was going to need to give the Beagle Boys names, even if they were never given any. Third, why these names in particular? If you haven't already guessed, I named the Beagle Boys after their voice actors. Jeff Bennett voiced two of them, and Maurice LaMarche voices the other one. Get it now? Forth, how to tell them apart? So, the taller ones, Jeff and Bennett, are both voiced by Jeff Bennett, and the little guy, Maurice, is voiced by Maurice LaMarche. But keep in mind that this is all just MY creativity. The original projects belongs to Disney.
Well, now you know. Also, sorry for the short chapter. Future chapters will be longer.
Until the next chapter, I'm TRikiD, bye-bye!