Hello my lovely readers! I bring to you the next chapter. Hazzah! Anyway, thank you to all you who have taken the time to answer the poll, and if you've yet do do so you still have some time... I'm glad I've go so many of you entertained! Haha. On with the chapter!


Bentley hadn't worked out the calculations for expanding the back of the van by the time they got their next lead, so they were in fairly cramped quarters as they made their way to the closest airport.

"So we're really going to Australia?" Nat asked with a grimace directed at Bentley.

"Yes. Is that a problem?" The turtle barely looked up from his calculations as he responded.

"It's just... there's all kinds of deadly creatures there..."

"There are deadly creatures everywhere."

"Yeah but not so concentrated an area." Bentley rolled his eyes and scribbled down several notes.

"You're referring to the snakes and spiders that inhabit the outback?"

"Yeah."

"They're a part of nature. We'll have to put up with it. But if the reports of this new target are anything to go by, they're the least of our problems..."

Josephina opened one eye and looked lazily over at Bentley. "Who is this mysterious Klaww Gang member?" She asked.

Tris turned her laptop towards the gang and pointed to the fuzzy picture of a tall lanky platypus woman standing next to the woman they recognized as Carlotta Pedrotti. "This is Belladonna Gomez. One time explorer and professor of Chemistry at Cambridge around the same time as Carlotta and she was a victim of the budget cuts as well. Seems the pair were pretty good friends during their teaching years. Anyway, Gomez turned to work in more... sinister places than Carlotta. Instead of tomb raiding she took up a position in the murder for hire field of the world's criminal underbelly. She was on our radar back when we were working for the agency."

"Oh yeah... I remember her. Took down a room full of ambassadors in one sitting. Master of disguise, never used the same poison twice, and could hold her own in a fight if I remember my encounter with her correctly..."

"You are. She's got the Clockwerk Liver and Kidneys. I can only imagine what she's planning on doing with those and none of them are good. There's got to be plenty of long lost or forgotten poisons in those things, and she's not the kind of person you want to have access to that kind of material. She set up in the outback where she won't be disturbed in her research, not to mention all of the natural poisons she has access to there. Scorpions to snakes to flora, I'd bet my life savings she's making a super poison."

"Why on earth would the Klaww Gang want her in their ranks?" Sly asked, leaning over the back seat with a grimace clearly planted on his face.

"Someone has to do their dirty work when it comes to the people standing in their way... Who better than a master poisoner and assassin?"

"Cut her in on your scores you don't have to pay her every time, and you all live happily ever after until she turns on you and you're face down in a bowl of nightshade and arsenic soup." Josephina said. "I don't think Arpeggio realizes what he's gotten himself into. If she ever decides the Klaww Gang isn't giving her what she needs... She'll turn on him faster than a rattlesnake." She shuddered and rubbed the hidden scars on her upper arm. "Trust me..."

"Yeah well her plans end as soon as we get to Australia." Sly turned back around in his seat and threw his feet up on the dashboard.

"Whatever she's planning that is..."


They took a plane, much to Nate's disgruntled protests. Luckily Tris got ill when flying and had medication to calm not only her stomach but Nate's panic attacks. By the time they landed he'd fallen asleep on his sister's shoulder. Josephina and the team had never been to Australia, and they were quickly lost in the beauty of Sydney and then the beauty of the outback as Murray drove them out to where Belladonna had set up her laboratory.

"I'll scout out a location for us to set up." Sly said, climbing from the van and jogging off towards the jumble of shacks. The rest of the gang climbed out as well, eager to stretch their legs after the long trip.

"What's that over there?" Lindsey asked, pointing to a small overhang where a tent was set up to overlook the small valley.

"I don't know..." Bentley said with a frown, going over the information he'd gathered on the area.

"Think it might have something to do with this guy?" Nate asked, pointing to the rather small koala glaring at him and waving a stick with a purple glowing orb.

"Er..." The gang turned to face the angry looking man who shouted and waved the stick at them.

"Well that's... unexpected..."

"Who is he? One of Belladonna's guards?" Josephina asked.

"I think he lives here..."

"Hadajada!" The koala snapped, waving the stick at them again.

"What did he say?"

"I think he's telling us to leave..." Tris said with a frown.

"Hadajada! Dedah heded, attahla da!"

"Something about... sacred land?"

"I think he's saying this is sacred land to his people and we shouldn't be here." Bentley said as he struggled to translate.

"Well we can't just leave!"

"Especaially with Clockwerk parts so close at hand." Josephina said.

"Well I have no idea if he can understand us."

"Wedeha adje tra seda?"

"Oh... he can... That's good to know..."

"Oae watta peah?"

"Why... Why are we here?" The man nodded, though he still looked angry. Collectively they pointed to the compound below them. The man's frown deepened and he waved his stick at them again, trying to push them into the van.

"Hadajada! Nea mota."

"No friend of her... Oh no! We're not friends with her." The man glared at Tris as she spoke up, as if trying to tell if she was lying.

"Oae watta peah lanaha mota?"

"Why are we here if we're not with her... Uhm..." They all looked at the people around them with a worried expression before they all landed on Bentley.

"You explain Bentley." Tris said.

"Me why me?"

"Because, you're the one who set up the business in France so the neighbors wouldn't get curious..." Aline hissed with a roll of her eyes. "You're clearly the best out of all of us to come up with a decent explanation."

Sly jogged up and froze with a confused look as he took in the strange scene. "Er... I missed something didn't I?"

"Did you find us a place to hide out?" Josephina sighed.

"Yeah, just on the edge of the camp is a cabin they don't seem to be using anymore. We can park the van in the small garage in the back and cover it with some tarps. Night should be falling here shortly, we can do it then."

"Hamdaeda redad podes?"

Bentley laughed nervously. "We're not thieves..." Tris rolled her eyes at him as he tugged on his collar.

"Very Convincing Bentley."

"Well what am I supposed to say?

"Sesdame trepoa."

"Hey! He's the one who lied..." Josephina grumbled as the Guru waved his stick at them and began attempting to herd them back into the van.

"Hadjaja! Nama Rea!"

"Oh come on... One of us lies so all of us lie? That hardly seems fair." Nat snapped.

"What if we can get rid of her?" Bentley asked, pointing down to the compound again. The Guru gave him a skeptical look.

"Hadajada mota?"

"Yes! We can get her to leave!"

"Namapa resa hadaja?"

"And we'll leave as soon as we have what we want. I swear!" The Guru seemed to weigh his options before he nodded.

"Trea marawe."

"Thank you. If we need you we'll send Sly or Josephina to get you." Bently pointed to the pair and they shared a nervous glance. The Guru nodded firmly and waddled off, easily making his way up to his tent on the overhang.

"That was unexpected and unpleasant." Josephina said. "I really hope we don't need his help..."


It was obvious why the building Sly had found was abandoned. There air conditioning was shot. Literally. Someone had put at least seven bullets into it at some point. Lindsey sat in front of the machine with her tools laid out around her and a deep frown on her face.

"Please tell me you can fix that thing?" Hel moaned. Covered in her dark fur she was absolutely miserable and had found the darkest corner to hide in.

"I'll try but... I don't know it's pretty busted... I'll need parts." Lindsey said, crossing her legs under her body and grabbing a screwdriver.

"We'll get parts... We all need that working." Bentley reassured the pair. "Sly, Josephina we need to find out what we're up against. You're on recon. Nat, Nate, I need you two back in fighting shape, you're with Murray and Aline for fight training."

"Me? Why me?" Aline asked with wide eyes.

"Because you're stronger than you look and I'm actually kind of scared of you. You took down a flash light guard with hardly any trouble. Teach the twins how to do that."

The fennec fox mix raised an eyebrow but shrugged with a pleased look. "Alright, I can teach them some of what I've got." She flicked her tail and glanced over at the twins with a grin. "If you two can keep up you'll do just fine. You'll get the same treatment I got when I was training." The twins shared a nervous look that replaced the excitement they'd had moments before.

"Why do I get the feeling I don't ever want her as my teacher?" Bentley asked as Aline led Murray and the twins outside, her sewing needle javelin swung over her shoulder and a wicked grin showing off her sharp teeth.

"Our instructors weren't exactly the most... compassionate..." Tris said. She watched them leave and sighed. "I hope they don't end up with too many bruises..."

"Bruises?"

"She's not going to hold back. I don't know if they can keep up with her."

Bentley swallowed, suddenly very worried. The tension was broken by a horrified screech that came from Lindsey.

"Oh you poor machine! What did they do to you?" She moaned, looking over the damage of the internal components of the air conditioner. "It's like someone took a bat to it!"


Aline had not been kidding when she said the twins had to keep up. She started their training session with a three mile run. That in itself wouldn't have been so terrible had it not been the fact that if they fell behind she turned around, made them do squats and added the distance she'd gotten ahead back to the distance they had left. It took them two hours to finish just the run. They were exhausted by the time they returned to the van. Panting, and legs feeling like jello they clutched at their sides and supported one another as she threw open the back doors.

Bentley had explained the portal to the Paris hideout to them, and she quickly had it open. "Let's go you two." She said earning moans of protest. She turned, glared at them and pointed through the portal, and the pair quickly scrambled into the cool air of the Parisian hideout. Aline nodded to Murray as she closed up the portal again and gestured for him to follow her and the twins down to the gym in the basement. "Let's start with some push ups, twenty each. On my count."

"My legs can barely support my weight and you want me to balance on my toes?" Nate asked with a frown.

"Two more. Now either you can assume push up position or I can add to that total." Aline snapped. Murray gave a worried look between the trio and watched the twins start their push ups. "Nat, further down, that's only six. Nate you're at seven, don't let me down. We still have four other exercises to get through today." Nat gave a pitiful moan at the thought. "Murray darling, why don't you relax for a bit. I'll handle this."

"Don't you think you're pushing them a bit hard?" He asked.

"Nate, that's ten not eleven. Nat catch up or get more added." Aline didn't even look over at Murray as she replied. "This is the only way they'll learn. They have the skills they need to pickpockets and move quietly, but they need to build their endurance and their strength. Nat I'm adding one to your total, but the first one to finish their set can sit the next one out."


"This place is crawling with guards..." Josie said with a frown as she crouched on a high outcropping of rock.

"Well we kind of knew that already." Sly said. "Hold up, do you see what I see?"

"The way she's got the kidneys and liver setup?" She asked, squinting at the strange jars holding the surprisingly large internal organs of the monster bird.

"Yeah... It kinda looks like the jar-"

"With the brain... You're right. But the system is more complex. It looks like those pipes are pretty important." She followed the path of the pipes with her binocucom and snapped a picture of the building they led to. "Hey, fifty bucks says she's hiding out in that building."

"I'll take that action."

"We should see if there's a way inside there... even if she's not there's gotta be something important."

"Meet you there." Josephina scrambled down the outcropping and jogged cautiously to the building. "Hey, up here!" Sly leaned over the edge of the roof and gestured for her to join him. She climbed up and nodded as he pointed to a hatch.

"Probably for a quick escape in case of fire." She said. Sly opened it and dropped inside giving the all clear. They made their way around the catwalk that circled the room they'd dropped into.

Belladonna stood in the center of the room, muttering as she glared into a microscope. Josephina smirked and held out her hand, earning a small grimace from Sly who passed the fifty dollars to her only somewhat begrudgingly.

"Yes I'm well aware that the Cooper Gang escaped custody. It was your own bloody fault! You didn't ensure the complete capture of the gang, and now I have to worry about them discovering my location while doing your dirty work on top of trying to get my personal experiments worked out. If you weren't on your bloody blimp I'd-"

"My dear don't make idle threats." Arpeggio's voice echoed around the room and Belladonna looked up from her microscope long enough to glare at the phone. "You and I both know that without my funding you would be a penniless street urchin in no time. You simply couldn't afford to leave my services, especially in such a manner as you're suggesting."

"I was doing just fine before Carlotta dragged me into your pathetic excuse of a gang. A group of five has managed to take down everyone of your operations and steal the parts we worked so hard to acquire from the museum. If I didn't know better I'd say you were in on this whole thing, plotting from the beginning to put the rest of the Klaww Gang behind bars and somehow take all the parts yourself."

"I'm offended you would ever think that! Miss Gomez, have I not been a victim of this crime spree as well? Those few of us who remain must band together to stop this Cooper menace!"

"And it's just a coincidence that we'd all be gettin' some extra parts right? Look I'm not dealing with this right now. I have to double check my security and do my rounds. Just stay away from my location until I tell you it's safe."

"As you wish my dear." They watched Belladonna hang up and make her way outside.

"I'll stay here and gather what information I can on what's she's doing here, you follow her and warn me if she starts heading back." Josephina said once the door closed. Sly nodded and dashed back to the hatch. Dropping down to the lab Josie snapped a few pictures of the various experiments and the notes surrounding them before stepping up to the microscope to see what had been so important.

"Oh this is bad... very bad..." She whispered. "Tris... you're not gonna believe this one..."

"What am I not going to believe?"

"I'm bringing a sample of what Belladonna's cooking in her lab. You'll have to see this for yourself..."


So what did you guys think of the little Cameo with everyone's favorite purple koala guru? Hehe we're starting up Australia now, so hold on to your hats, we've got a vicious poison master to take down! I'll see you during the next chapter and again if you haven't answered the poll from the last chapter you have until 8/28/15