Chapter 3: Another failed capture

Bull and Axl had just finished setting up a trap with a steel cage above. They were already familiar with what had been going on with Taz' family being sued. "After all this time Axl, we may finally have a chance to trap the Tasmanian Devil!" Bull said with triumph, "Now we know for a fact nobody is gonna care about him being gone!" "Gee Bull, we may get lucky after all," replied Axl, "But don't you think that he may be going through a lot knowing that this is happening to him?" "Axl, don't be ridiculous now, you know he doesn't have a care in the world about that," said Bull, "His family might, but not him particularly."

Just then, they heard Taz approaching. They went to go hide. Taz noticed a piece of steak on a plate in which he grabbed. This caused the trap to fall and trap Taz. He tried chewing on the metal bars but it was unsuccessful. "Nice try but it ain't working this time," said Bull as he and Axl came out of their hiding places, "It's a very special kind of metal that can't be easily broke. Now it's time for you to-" "Oh no, not this time you walking reptiles with clothes!" shouted Francis as he marched over to Bull. "Sorry Bushlad, we got here first," Bull said, getting a kick out of an angry looking Francis, "Don't you have a tribe to be a part of? After all, you clearly haven't moved past the stone age yet. It's nowhere near up to date as what we have." "Yet you fail the zoo-going children of the world as much as your love life," Francis laughed. This statement really got Bull angry (most likely with the possibility of it being true) and he fired back in seconds, "Listen here mushroom hair! We got to him first! If you don't like it, go ahead and wet that diper of yours a little bit more! The only manhood you will ever achieve!" This really ticked off Francis which caused him to fire back at Bull. Axl just watched awkwardly as he saw his partner and Francis go back and forth. Taz just sat around very bored of them going at it. He then noticed the cage keys on Axl. He grabbed it and freed himself.

"He's coming with us!" yelled Bull. "No, he's coming with me!" yelled Francis back. "Yes he is!" "No he isn't! "Is!" "Isn't!" "IS!" "ISN'T!" They stopped when they heard Axl getting attacked and thrown into the cage by Taz; Who immediately attacked Bull and Francis afterwards and throwing them into the cage as well. Taz shut the cage door and locked the 3 of them inside as he contined on with the day, before throwing the keys away. "Way to go dragon breath!" snorted Francis, "If only you hadn't talked for so long!" "Says the one who butted in!" Bull shot back, "Then again, it's to be expected from someone who never got proper education." Axl facepalmed as Bull and Francis continued to go at it.

Just then, a black limo pulled over next to them. This caused Bull and Francis to stop momentarily. A figure with a fedora and trench coat came out of the driver's door. It was without a doubt, one of the Acme spies that Taz, his father, and his uncle had run into while on trips they had previously took. He observed the cage and cage door, before taking a look at Bull, Axl, and Francis. "Sir? You mind giving us a hand?" asked Francis. The spy didn't say anything but he did nod and take out a key which freed the Bull, Axl, and Francis. "Thanks!" said Axl. "It's a pleasure to help you," the spy replied, "I must ask though, why were the 3 of you stuck in that cage?" "Trying to capture the Tasmanian Devil until Francis Bushbag here intervened," said Bull. "Oh I hope you get transported back to Florida!" snapped Francis. The spy suddenly walked back to the limo and was whispering something to someone in the back. "You think he is going to reward us with ice cream?" asked Axl. Bull took out his bat and hit his partner over the head with it. "Don't be sayin stupid stuff again Axl," Bull said as he rolled his eyes.

A very tall but thin man with black hair with Grey on the sides stepped out of the right rear door. He wore what seemed to be sunglasses, a black peacoat, a navy turtleneck, black pants, black gloves, and black boots. He then took off what seemed to be polarized clip sunglasses, which revealed he actually wore eyeglasses. The man walked over to Bull, Axl, and Francis who were very confused on what was going on. "Name's Agent Townly, from the Acme Corporation of Tazmania," introduced the man, "You guys have a Tasmanian Devil problem I see and are clearly being as dumb as you look about it. Ever considered going after any others?" Francis shrugged as he never really thought of the idea. "Me and Bull did once, but that failed," replied Axl. Agent Townly sighed, "So you and your partner want the Tasmanian Devil and you want the Tasmanian Devil, anyone here care about what I want?" "I do," said the spy. "Didn't ask you particularly but thanks I suppose," said Townly before continuing, "I see I need to knock some sense into you 3. Meet me outside the Boulder Museum at 8am tomorrow, there's an opportunity you might not want to miss out on. Until then, I must talk to my supervisor about you guys. What was your name's again?" The 3 said their name's and the spy next to Agent Townly wrote it down in a book. "Thanks for your cooperation," he said, "You'll hear from Townly tomorrow when we arrive."

Agent Townly and the spy got into the limo and left. Francis turned to Bull and Axl, "Don't think for a second that this is in any way over! I still hold a grudge against you!" "Don't be mad at us that you haven't achieved your manhood yet," scoffed Bull, "That's all your own doing." They soon split off from each other.

Taz arrived home by the time it was starting to get dark and immediately ran into his siblings, who were waiting for him. "Taz, we need to talk to you about some things that might be hard to understand," said Molly in a serious tone. Taz spoke in his usual gibberish and didn't take his sister too serious. "I'm serious Taz," Molly said with a very clear frown on her face, "You might be laughing now, but you won't be when you learn the truth about how everyone on this island really feels about us." Taz vocalized, very confused at what Molly was even talking about.

Molly turned on the TV and at first, Taz didn't believe it was them. But then he saw the many familiar faces saying their thoughts and his face fell. It felt like a straight punch to the gut to him. "This can't be true! This can't be!" Taz exclaimed. "We wish it wasn't either, but it is," said Jake sadly, "Mom and dad tried saying it was nothin, but we heard and saw all about it without them knowing." Taz who was in complete disbelief didn't say another word, he just walked to his room and shut the door. For the first time in a while, Molly felt bad for Taz. Normally, she would think her brother is being dramatic, but givin how serious their situation was, she didn't blame him. "I think it's best we go to sleep Jake," sighed Molly, "That's really all we can do." Both her and Jake went to their rooms to sleep for the night. As for Taz who was already in his room, he was in bed with tears in his eyes. He wondered if this is how most folks really felt about him and his family all along or if it was it was just some turning point. Whatever the case truly was, he eventually fell asleep and could forget about it temporarily.

To be continued in the next chapter...

(Chapter 3 published 6/30/22)