CHAPTER 33: AMBUSH
This was it,this was finally it,everything that the last day and a half had been building up to was finally about to pay off in one of the biggest gambles that the PEANUTS gang had ever come across,they along with the help of Tyrone were about to storm Mrs Hampton's getaway train and take the evil witch and her henchmen out themselves,granted they all knew that it was a huge risk to try and pull off a move like this,but if it meant being able to kick the lady to the curb for supposedly killing Herman and just about breaking every law in existence,they were gonna do this and they were gonna do it right.
As Snoopy continued to drive the van through the forests of France at maximum speed and follow Tyrone's tracker,Peppermint Patty tapped the man on the shoulder and asked out of curiosity"So Tyrone,what's the plan we got here?" to which the man cleared his throat and promptly explained it to the kids "Everyone,listen up,our main goal here is to apprehend Mrs Hampton,her goons and stop the train before it reaches the country border,we'll hook up the van to the train so we can get on easier. Now I'm not gonna lie to y'all,this train is most likely gonna be armed with extremely dangerous men with guns,and just because y'all are kids and animals,that doesn't mean they will hesitate to kill you." before the man proceeded to pull out what looked like multiple pistols from his trench coat while he asked "Do y'all know your way around guns?"
"G-guns?! With bullets?!" Freida gasped and fearfully questioned Tyrone's decision to give them anything even resembling guns only for the man to shake his head and firmly try to calm the girl down "Relax,they're only tranquilizers,I snuck these into my luggage just before I came over here,now do y'all know your way around guns?" to which Rebecca shrugged her arms and nonchalantly answered the man's question "Me and Ed happen to know our way around a shotgun,is that good enough?"
"That's good enough,and for y'all who are still relatively inexperienced,just follow our lead and don't get shot." Tyrone nodded his head and happily confirmed that Rebecca and Ed were fit to wield a gun before he started to hand one out to everyone to which Peppermint Patty happily stated out of a slight sense of excitement "Wow,a tranquilizer,I never thought I'd be able to wield one of these babies." before Lucy devilishly remarked while she fiddled around with hers "Wait till everyone back home hears about this,they're gonna be so jealous."
"Or thankful they didn't have to do any of this stuff." Charlie Brown rolled his eyes and timidly added as he and Freida looked down at their guns with a slight sense of nervousness before Tyrone suddenly announced when he started to spot the train up ahead "There's the train! Now remember,our goal is to stop the train and apprehend the inmates,if it ever gets to the point where you're gonna need to make the kill,don't hesitate to! Again,these guys will not hesitate to kill y'all,be ready,we're approaching the back car!" to which Peppermint Patty, Ed and Lucy pounded their fists, Charlie Brown and Freida along with Claudia and Skylar tightly held each other's hands,and lastly everyone else started making a gritty war face of their own,even Snoopy started to try and sharpen his teeth with a nail file admits his driving.
Meanwhile on the train,Mrs Hampton was still lurking in the front car and looking up ahead at the still unchanging scenery while her henchmen were patrolling the other train cars,the woman continued to do this for about ten more seconds before one of her henchmen suddenly ran up behind her and frantically announced "Miss! Miss! You better come to the back car right away!" to which the woman sighed and lamented in a mostly bored sounding voice "Well we better be chased down by the law then if it's so urgent." only for the henchman to start sweating while he nervously retorted in response "But that's the thing miss,they are!"
"What?!" Mrs Hampton instantly turned around and angrily shouted before she quickly proceeded to follow the guard to the very last car on the train,and once she finally made it there and was greeted by the sight of a few more guards,she looked over at the one who had called for her presence in the first place and furiously demanded "What is it?! Where are they?!" to which the man promptly pointed up ahead and nervously answered "Up there,in the van!" which caused the lady to glance at where he was pointing and be left completely bewildered when she saw Ed, the kids, the beagles, the bird and what looked like a much older man coming after the train through their windshield.
"You cheeky bastards." Mrs Hampton quietly whispered to herself in awe as her surprised and dumbfounded look on her face slowly morphed into a much more cold and emotionless one before the guard meekly asked in response "What do we do miss?" to which the woman sneered and maliciously commanded while she slowly started to head back to the front car "Send out the attack drones,and set them from stun to kill." which prompted the guard to nod his head and oblige without question as he followed her "Yes ma'am. Send out the drones!" and pretty soon afterwards what appeared to be numerous black drones started flying out from the bottom of the train and began to make their way towards the van.
"W-What are those things?" A slightly more fearful Marcie nervously asked at the sight of the flying monstrosities to which Tyrone gritted his teeth and fiercely retorted in response "They're attack drones,and they look pretty angry!" before the man proceeded to toss small bags of ammo at each of the kids while he sternly continued "Here,y'all are gonna need these,they're bullets,because darts aren't gonna do anything to those things! Snoopy,get us away from those drones,and don't lose that train!" to which the beagle saluted and proceeded to drive off into the more tree packed area of the forest as the kids started to load up their ammo,the drones started chasing them down and Tyrone started shooting at them from his window while Claudia put on her ear muffs due to the noise.
Welcome to the jungle.
We got fun and games.
We got everything you want.
Honey we know the names.
We are the people that can find whatever you may need.
If you got the money honey we got your disease.
In the jungle,welcome to the jungle.
Watch it bring you to your sha-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na knees.
Knees.
I,I wanna watch you bleed.
Welcome to the jungle.
We take it day by day.
If you want it you're gonna bleed but it's the price you pay.
And you're a very sexy girl who's very hard to please.
You can taste the bright lights but you won't get there for free.
In the jungle,welcome to the jungle.
Feel my,my,my,my serpentine.
Ooh,I,I,wanna hear you scream.
"Crap! There's more of them coming from behind us and I can't get a good aim at them!" Tyrone groaned and angrily lamented when he noticed even more drones approaching the van from behind before Rebecca suddenly perked up and announced "Wait,I got an idea!" which was followed up by the blonde opening the back door of the van and beginning to shoot the drones from there.
"Hey that's a great idea,come on let's help out!" Ed smiled and happily complimented Rebecca's idea before he and the rest of the kids started to cautiously help out with the target practice while Snoopy continued to drive.
Welcome to the jungle.
It gets worse here every day.
You learn to live like an animal in the jungle where we play.
If you got a hunger for what you see.
You'll take it eventually.
You can have anything you want but you better not take it from me.
In the jungle,welcome to the jungle.
Watch it bring you to your sha-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na knees.
Knees.
I'm gonna watch you bleed.
And when you're high you never ever wanna come down.
So down.
So down.
So down.
Yeah!
"Miss! We're losing drones left and right! At this rate we're gonna lose all of them!" One of the guards nervously announced while he looked at their drone list via a small laptop to which the woman gritted her teeth and angrily commanded "SEND ALL OF THEM OUT! I WANT THAT VAN TO BE ASH!" which prompted the guard to reluctantly send out the rest of the drones from under the train.
"Ok,I think that's all of them so far. Let's try to get back to the train." Linus took a deep breath and meekly remarked while he started to reload his gun and the kids started to redirect their attention back up north,with the exception of Sally however who merely pointed and nervously wondered when she saw what looked like a huge shadow forming on the ground "Wait,then what is that?" to which everyone turned around with raised eyebrows and looked outside to see what appeared to be a huge assortment of drones flying up in the sky to the point where they were completely covering the sun,much to their shock and fear.
"OH GOOD GRIEF!" Charlie Brown gasped and fearfully exclaimed at the sight of all the drones before the robotic machines proceeded to sprint towards them at an incredibly fast speed to which Tyrone sternly commanded on the spot "Kids,shut the door and hold on tight,Snoopy take us through those trees as best you can! If we're lucky than the drones should crash into them!" which prompted the kids to do as they were told and the beagle to salute yet again before he drove into the most tree heavy area of the forest and started to quickly drive past them,and much like Tyrone and the others were hoping,the drones soon started to crash into the trees and explode due to them being unable to keep up with Snoopy's unpredictable driving.
You know where you are?
You're in the jungle baby.
You're gonna die.
In the jungle,welcome to the jungle.
Watch it bring you to your sha-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na knees.
Knees.
In the jungle,welcome to the jungle.
Feel my,feel my,my,my serpentine.
The jungle,welcome to the jungle.
Watch it bring you to your sha-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na knees.
Knees.
Down in the jungle,welcome to the jungle.
Watch it bring you to your,it's gonna bring you down.
Huh!
"NO!" Mrs Hampton angrily lamented after seeing each and every one of her drones go offline as she picked up the laptop and smashed into a million pieces by tossing it on the floor before the guard gulped and meekly asked "W-what should we do now miss?" to which the woman maliciously suggested with a much more deep and intimidating voice than before "Let them come,I'll deal with them myself."
After it looked like the gang had successfully managed to take out all of Mrs Hampton's rampant attack drones,they immediately wasted no time and proceeded to make their way back to the train as Claudia took a deep breath and meekly stated with relief "T-that was insane back there!" to which Skylar nodded his head and frantically agreed with his girlfriend "I know! This lady has no chill at all!"
"But at the very least Snoopy was able to help us out with his driving skills,or lack thereof." Charlie Brown sighed and gratefully stated in response while he got up to the driver's seat and scratched behind his dog's ear before Marcie calmly lamented as she and the others started reloading their guns with tranquilizers "You know when I woke up that Friday morning and started to make my way to the airport,getting shot at by attack drones while chasing after a train was something I never counted on happening." to which Tyrone lightly chuckled and jokingly retorted "Yeah and I never counted on a bunch of kids and animals helping me out with a job,and they somehow managing to end up doing alright."
"What I'm most confused about is how and where she could've gotten all those drones,she's still a criminal on the run and I don't think she would have the time to get that many." Lucy sighed and stated when she realized just how many drones were sent after them to which Tyrone shrugged his arms and nonchalantly guessed "My guess is that she just looted as much stuff from the prison as she and her goons could before they had to leave the place. That probably means she has even more tricks up her sleeve,so we gotta be even more careful when we get on that train." before Franklin perked up and pointed out when he spotted the train up ahead "I see the train again,let's hurry up and get on that thing before she sends something else out at us."
"Right." Tyrone nodded his head and calmly agreed with the boy's suggestion as Snoopy began to drive closer and closer to the train's back car,and once he seemed to have gotten the van as close as it could go,the older man opened up the passenger seat door and firmly commanded while he took out what appeared to be a metal hook of some kind and tethered it to the train and the van "Kids,open up the sliding door and be prepared to jump on board the train,this tether should be able to keep the van hooked up to the car and keep it steady without a driver." to which the kids promptly did so and mentally prepared themselves to make the jump along with the beagles.
"All right,one,two,three!" Tyrone took a deep breath and slowly counted down before he,the kids and the animals jumped out of the van and safely landed on the train car,and just like the older man was expecting,the tether was indeed keeping the van steady even without a driver as he sighed,looked down at the kids and calmly remarked "All right,we're in the endgame now kids,just follow my lead and do what I say. It's showtime." which was followed up by the others trustingly nodding their heads in agreement and proceeding to slowly and cautiously proceed through the train.
NEXT CHAPTER: THE FINAL SHOWDOWN
"Welcome To The Jungle." Written By Axl Rose,Duff McKagan,Jeffery Isbell,Saul Hudson and Steven Adler.
Performed By Guns N' Roses.
©️Geffen Records. UMG Recordings.