Hello readers! I give you the third chapter of The Bad Life of Billy the Kid. Thank you so much for your patience. I have been doubling down on Beast Wars for a while. But today, I have decided to switch gears and continue telling Billy's story with the Bad Guys. I do not own The Bad Guys. The movie is owned by Dreamworks, and the books are the property of Aaron Blabey.
Chapter 3: First Heist
City Museum: 11 PM
It was a quiet night at the City Museum. The main gate was closed while the security guard slumped in his seat inside the guard booth, watching the security footage. Suddenly, a black car rolled up to the gate. On the side of the vehicle were stickers advertising a local pizza chain with a sign attached to the roof.
Bewildered by the sudden appearance of a pizza delivery vehicle by the gate, the guard stuck his head out of the booth. A large delivery man, with a big nose and mustache, climbed out of the car with a pizza box in one hand. Unbeknownst to the guard, the delivery man was Shark, doing what he did best.
"Sorry sir, the museum is closed. You're going to have to come back in the morning," said the guard.
Shark held out the pizza box and spoke in a Brooklyn accent. "Yeah, I got a pizza delivery for Samson; one large pie with peppers and anchovies."
The guard groaned and rolled his eyes, "Augh, Samson! Why can't he pack his own food for a change instead of annoying me with these deliveries?"
But after he flipped open the pizza box, Piranha stood up yelling, "SURPRISE!"
Before the guard could react, the Columbian fish tackled and beat him into submission. With the guard out cold, Piranha pressed the button to open the gate and swiped his keycard. With the path to the museum open, the two fishes climbed back into the car and drove up the path. They made their way to the parking lot behind the building, where the staff entrance and the emergency exits were located.
With no one else in sight, the Bad Guys climbed out of the car in their black full-body suits with only their faces exposed. Billy was dressed in one of his baby onesies as Shark carried him.
Wolf pulled out his phone and uploaded the blueprints to the museum for everyone to see. "Alright, according to these blueprints, the air ducts should connect to the security room. Webs and Snake will go in with Billy to run security interference and most importantly, distract the two guards inside. Once the doors are unlocked, the rest of us will sneak our way inside to the exhibit where they're keeping Faberge Eggs."
"But Wolf, that still leaves the rest of the guards walking around the Museum," said Piranha.
The leader shrugged with a smirk. "Of course, it makes the job more challenging. Plus, most of them will be walking around def and blind when Webs cuts off their main communication. Snake will rendezvous with us once the diversion is planted. Everyone ready? We're going on an egg hunt."
The Bad Guys stacked themselves on top of each other for Webs to unscrew the vent from the air duct with a screwdriver. After all of the screws were removed, Snake used his tail to dislodge the vent for both him and the arachnid to crawl through. Before entering, the reptile gently coiled his tail around Billy and hoisted the infant into the air ducts with him. Wolf, Shark, and Piranha could hear the baby's giggles echoing from inside.
In the ducts, Webs used the map on her phone to lead them to the security office. Since she memorized the map before the heist, it did not take them long to reach their destination. Through the vent, the two saw guards in the room observing a wall full of monitors. Each one displayed different locations inside the Museum.
Quietly, they slid open the vent.
"Alright, Snake, deploy the diversion," whispered the hacker.
Snake took one last look at the baby and whispered, "You better not screw this up."
Stealthily, he placed the baby inside the security room behind the two guards. Snake pulled his tail back up as they both watched nervously if the guards would take the bait.
Billy made a loud squeaky giggle, which caught the attention of the two guards. They turned around and were stunned to see a baby in the room. For a few seconds, neither of the guards moved.
Both Webs and Snake stared with anticipation as they hid behind the vent. The hacker bit her lip while sweat dripped from the reptile's brow.
In an instant, the guards knelt in front of the baby with big smiles and doe eyes saying, "Aaaaawwwwwww!"
"It's working!" whispered Webs.
"I don't believe it," said Snake.
His eyes widened in astonishment.
While the guards played with Billy, Webs snuck into the security room and hooked her laptop to the mainframe. Once she was connected, the arachnid got to work as her eight legs typed rapidly on the various keyboards attached to her screen while using the monitors to observe her comrades.
One by one, the security lasers and alarms throughout the museum were deactivated, leaving the building completely defenseless.
Webs smirked at her handy work and spoke through her communicator. "Alright boys, Easter has arrived early. You are clear to go."
Back out in the parking lot, Wolf used the keycard Piranha swiped earlier to open the staff door.
Through his earpiece, he replied, "Nice job, Webs. Snake, meet us in the Dinosaur exhibit.
"You got it," said the reptile.
Snake slithered back through the ducts while the other three stealthily made their way inside. The two guards continued to play with Billy, oblivious to the arachnid messing with the Museum's security systems.
In the dinosaur exhibit, one of the guards waved his flashlight around the area. A vast display of dinosaur bones decorated the surroundings with information plaques beside them and a photo of what the dinosaurs would look like with skin. The walls were painted to depict a prehistoric jungle with a few fake plants for authenticity. Some of the displays housed mannequins of cavemen, saber-tooth tigers, and woolly mammoths. Huge slabs of rock hung on the wall with more bones stuck inside. Some of them displayed more dinosaurs while others showed long-extinct animals.
The guard pressed the button for his walkie-talkie. "Geoff, Chambers, what's your status, over?"
Only static could be heard on the other line.
He tried again. "Geoff, Chambers, do you copy?"
Still no reply.
"They really need to supply us with better equipment," grumbled the guard before walking further down the hall.
Unbeknownst to him, the three Bad Guys stealthily entered the exhibit through the door labeled Staff Only. Right on cue, Snake slithered out another vent from the ceiling and coiled down a t-rex skeleton to regroup with the others at the bottom.
"Alright, the eggs are located in the Historical Art exhibit which is on the second floor," said Wolf.
"There's an elevator at the end of the hall. I'll turn it on when you're close," whispered Webs through their comms.
Wolf, Shark, Snake, and Piranha made their way to the elevator with dramatic flips, jumps, and rolls as they kept themselves hidden from the rest of the guards patrolling the area. All of the men and women in uniforms were frustrated at the radio interference they all suffered from thanks to the hacker.
Shark paused for a moment to look at the large skeleton of a megalodon hanging from the ceiling.
His eyes went wide as he spoke in a cracked voice, "Great Grandpa?"
Snake slapped him in the back of the head with his tail. "Will you snap out of it? We're here on a heist, not a family reunion."
The limbless reptile continued forward as Shark took one more glance before joining the rest of the team.
Eventually, the four made it to the elevator, but none of the lights were on to indicate it had power.
"Webs, we need that elevator," said Snake.
"On it!" replied the arachnid.
The eight-legged hacker got to work, typing furiously on her laptop. Behind her, the two guards continued to play with Billy and admire his cuteness. One tickled his tummy while the other made funny faces, making the child giggle.
What Wolf and the others did not count on was the guard coming from the opposite direction. Quickly they all hid, but the guard stood right in front of the elevator, oblivious to the number counting down from above the door. It reached the first floor and made an audible ding.
Hearing the chime, the guard turned around and was puzzled at the elevator doors sliding open. With a cocked brow, he stepped closer to examine the inside but saw no one. A long snake tail rapidly coiled around his head, muffling the guard's screams and dragging him out of sight. Piranha delivered a quick punch to the face, knocking him out cold. They locked the guard in one of the supply closets before getting on the elevator and riding it to the second floor. All four of them stood patiently as calm elevator music played over the speakers. It wasn't long before there was another chime and the doors slid open again.
Like before, they flipped, rolled, and leaped their way to the Historical Art exhibit while avoiding more guards. Shark was surprisingly flexible and quiet for his size.
Eventually, they reached their destination. The exhibit entrance was obvious due to the long banners that hung on either side with pictures of the various artifacts. One of them being the Faberge Eggs they came to steal.
However, unlike the other exhibits, this one was closed off by a sliding metal gate. Snake immediately got to work as he regurgitated a paperclip and use it to pick the lock. He leaned his head close, listening carefully to the audible clicks he was familiar with when cracking a safe. It didn't take the reptile long before the gate made one last click.
"Peace of cake," said Snake.
The Bad Guys easily slid the gate open and entered the art exhibit. The room was an alignment of various shelves and display cases of classical art pieces. From paintings to marble statues, almost everything had some high value. But that night, their main focus was the display case in the very center of the room.
Behind the glass was a dozen beautifully painted and sculpted Faberge Eggs. Each one with different designs and colors that stood out amongst the rest; some had gold trimmings, while others were embedded with diamonds, and a few had both.
The eyes of the four Bad Guys widened and stared at the decorated eggs in pure joy like children in a candy store. The gems and gold trimmings glistened from the faint light emanating from the display case.
"Alright, let's finish this egg hunt," said Piranha cracking his knuckles.
"Woah there, amigo!" said Wolf, "This case has a customized acoustic alarm. We're going to have to pick the lock if we don't want to draw attention to ourselves."
"What will you boneheads do without me?" said Snake still holding the paperclip.
He slithered to the keyhole and began to pick the lock to open the case to the eggs.
While the reptile was busy, Piranha and Shark looked at the rest of the artwork in the exhibit. Both of them scratched their chins as they scanned the room in thought. A mischievous smile crept on both their lips.
"You know, it could be a bonus for us if we can take some of this other stuff too," said Piranha.
"Yeah, it would be a waste if the eggs were the only thing we stole tonight," said Shark.
While Wolf and Snake were busy with the lock, both fishes crept around the exhibit, carefully grabbing the other valuable art pieces on display.
Eventually, the lock made a clicking sound and Snake easily slid open the glass case. The reptile stuck his head in and swallowed each of the Faberge Eggs whole, making visible lumps in his scaly body.
"Mmmmmm! Just how I like my eggs, priceless and shiny," said Snake.
Wolf said, "Alright, let's fly this coop before-"
But the leader was unable to finish his sentence when both he and Snake noticed Piranha and Shark carrying more of the art pieces in their arms.
Surprised at what the two were doing, Wolf grabbed his ears in frustration and gripped the air whispering, "What are you doing?!"
"This wasn't part of the plan!" said Snake.
"Hey, some of this stuff is worth some extra dinero. Who knows when we'll get a chance to steal it again," said Piranha.
"Plus, I think this Greek vase will go nicely with our end table," said Shark, holding the ancient pottery.
But the vase slipped out of his grasp and fell towards one of the glass cases.
Time felt like it slowed down as the four Bad Guys screamed, "Noooooooo!"
Webs was in the security room, making the same reaction as she watched the whole thing on the security monitors.
They all watched in horror as the vase inched closer to the glass, about to shatter and blow their cover. Seemed like the Bad Guys were busted for sure.
The vase was half an inch away from the glass when Wolf quickly snatched it in both of his paws. All four of them stared at the vase with wide eyes and clenched teeth; sweat dripping from their brows. Thanks to Wolf, the glass and the vase were still intact and the Museum remained in complete silence.
All the Bad Guys breathed a sigh of relief.
Unfortunately, Webs's little cry caught the attention of one of the guards.
He stood up from Billy and asked, "Did you hear something?"
The hacker's eyes widened in fear but she was too petrified to move as the two guards were about to turn around. Not only was Webs going to be seen, but the others were on the monitor displaying the art exhibit.
Billy watched as the two men were about to turn around. Being a baby, he could not fully understand the situation, but knew something was wrong. There was only one thing for the child to do in this situation.
The security room was filled with high-pitched wails and the guards turned their attention back to Billy. Instantly, they forgot about the noise from the monitors and tried to calm down the crying baby. Web's looked back, breathing another sigh of relief, realizing Billy was able to prevent them from being discovered.
Over the comms, Snake could hear the child's wailing.
He gripped his head with his tail and growled, "Argh! Again with the crying?"
"No, this is good! Billy just bought us some time," replied Webs.
Wolf, Piranha, and Shark smiled in admiration for Billy saving their hides.
"Way to go, kiddo," said Wolf. "Now let's blow this popsicle stand before we have any more close calls."
In great haste, the Bad Guys snuck back the way they came with the eggs and the artwork. Wolf, Shark, and Piranha left back through the staff exit while Snake crawled back up the air duct to retrieve the hacker and the infant.
Webs unplugged her laptop from the security mainframe and snuck her way back up to the air duct.
The two guards struggled to calm down the crying baby when a yellow scaly tail whipped out of the vent and coiled around him. Billy stopped crying and giggled as Snake pulled him back into the ducts, leaving both guards stunned. Immediately, their radios were flooded with thousands of messages from the other guard throughout the museum. They turned to the monitors and were shocked to see the Historical Art exhibit was completely raided. One of the guards slammed his hand on a large red button, setting off the alarms throughout the building, but it was too late.
All of the Bad Guys escaped the building and sped down the driveway in Wolf's car. All of the artwork they stole peeked out of the trunk. The group passed the gate they entered earlier with a clean getaway; the guard at the security booth was still out cold.
The Hideout: 12:30 PM
The Bad Guys dropped all their recent stolen loot on the table, laughing and celebrating their victory. Each one held their cup to toast on another successful heist.
Wolf calmed down the group and said, "Alright, alright. We all did pretty good tonight, despite dodging a few bullets. But really, this job couldn't have been possible without the help of our rookie who earned his stripes tonight. Let's give it up to our little diversion, Billy the Kid!"
The baby sat on the table as all of the Bad Guys, except Snake, hugged and patted him with praise.
"That's our little man!" cried Shark as he rubbed Billy's hair.
"You really pulled through, squirt," said Webs.
"Alright Billy!" cried Piranha.
Everyone turned to Snake as he expressed his usual scowl. They glared at him as he switched his gaze between his comrades and the child.
Eventually, Snake rolled his eyes and sighed, "I'll admit, the pipsqueak did good."
The rest of the group's eyes softened and they smiled with gratitude at the reptile.
Wolf continued, "For a while, it has only been the five of us. But recently, we've found ourselves a promising prodigy who has proven to be Bad Guy material since Shark smuggled him into our hideout. Never in our minds would we think a kid was capable of thieving like us, but this little guy has shown us what he's capable of. With Billy in our crew, we can accomplish so much more! This city will be our oyster and the feds won't know what hit them when they are stricken by our new friend's cuteness. We'll be unstoppable! And every other thief out there will look like amateurs compared to us as we cement ourselves as the greatest band of crooks in history!"
The group cheered before Wolf raised his cup. "To Billy the Kid!"
"To Billy the Kid!" repeated the others as their cups clinked together from the toast.
The leader smiled down at the baby, who smiled back and reached for the canine.
Wolf rubbed the infant's head saying, "You have a promising future ahead of you, kiddo."
Well, Billy was successful on his first heist. Hope you all enjoyed the chapter and thank you for your patience. The next few chapters will be a montage where we explore the highlights in Billy's life as he grows up and how he bonds with The Bad Guys over the years. What role do you think Billy will fulfill in the team when he gets older? Feel free to leave reviews about your thoughts on the chapter, but please keep them appropriate. Until next time!