Chapter 5: Acme Tazmania Branch
The limo pulled up to a big and tall building that had the word Acme at the top. It had multiple vehicles and aircraft in the parking lot which was fenced off. Townly, Bull, Axl, and Francis got out of the limo and Lachlan drove the limo to the parking lot. "Here we are," said Townly. They entered the building and approached the receptionist. "Good morning Mr. Townly," she said, "I see you got some new friends." "More or less I suppose," Townly replied, "By the way, do you know where the chairman is Kathy?" "He should be on the floor below us," Kathy replied. Townly nodded as he and the others walked off, except for Axl. He was infatuated with how beautiful Kathy looked to him. "Hubba hubba," he said under his breath, before Bull pulled him away. "Come on Axl!" he said sternly.
They walked through an office like area where many folks wore the same spy outfits, as they did what most office workers would do. Then they went through a room where the spies were making lots of Acme products and gadgets. They eventually made their way to the elevator and were on their way to the basement floor. Once they were down there, they walked down a long and cramped hallway with pictures of many familiar faces who were with the spies some time ago.
"Who are these guy's Agent Townly?" asked Bull. "These were the commanders in charge of our spies who came before me," the agent explained, "The big bald guy was Agent Lawrence. He was well qualified for the job and did well, until that embarrassing attempt at getting one of our top suspects, in which he got let go. Then came these two gentlemen who were golfers and I forgot their names. They were pathetic from the very beginning, came back with a broken trophy that wasn't even worth much and were clearly just there to get back at our top suspect for petty reasons. They were fired immediately after. Then there's the one with the redish orange hair, Agent Claude. He was not the sharpest tool in the shed but did try being worth something. He did ok at best but once he went after one of our top suspects, something happened. There has been a lot of speculation and debate on what really happened, but most sources will tell you that their prized bowling ball broke and they were essentially forced to leave, or risk getting the cops called on them. So after that whole fiasco that is still heavily debated here today, Agent Claude was let go. I would come here into the spotlight 5 months later but I'll save that story for later."
They approached a door which Townly used his badge to enter him and the gang through. Where they entered was much bigger than the hall they went through. It was a huge room with a large table and many chairs. Farther away, there was a big screen with many buttons off to the side that followed with other screens that were smaller. A chair was also present within that area, possibly to spy on whatever and/or whoever. Many familiar sightings could be seen within those screens. "Were we always being spied on?" Axl asked himself.
"Your back sooner than I was expecting," said an oddly familiar sounding voice, coming from the chair near the screens. "Why yes," Townly explained, "I got Francis, Bull, and Axl here with me. We did as you suggested but we couldn't find the Tasmanian Devil. However, his boss did provide some interesting information. Turns out, that Devil is suspended from work until further notice. Which means he's more than likely hanging around home." "Oh, what a jackpot!" the voice said, "That means we can gather up the rest of his family too! Especially knowing that other Tasmanian Devil is not only one of our top suspects, but his uncle too!" "Your voice sounds very familiar, who are you?" asked Bull. "Oh you know me," the voice said as he got out of his chair and becoming more recognizable the closer he got. Bull, Axl, and Francis gasped when they finally identified who it was. The chairman was the one and only, Dingeri Dingo. "What a twist, am I right?" He grinned.
"Oh, where are my manners?" said Townly, "Guys, this is my supervisor and chairman of the Acme Tazmania Branch, Dingeri Di-" "They already know who I am, stupid!" Dingo snapped. He then found himself getting bombarded with questions by Bull, Axl, and Francis. "How could you be chairman at an age like yours?" asked Bull. "Why did you join this corporation?" asked Francis. "No age restrictions?" asked Axl. "It's a long story but I'll give you all the short version," explained Dingo, "After my family kicked me out of the house a long time ago due to us not seeing eye to eye, I looked for work. I jumped from job to job due to my bosses thinking I was a trouble maker. I finally found a job to stay at for a while, and that was an internship at Acme. I enjoyed the work they gave me. Lots of coworkers REALLY liked me and I soon found myself climbing the ranks of working here. It helped the former chairman of this place saw me as a son and that really ment something to me. But then, something happened." "What happened?" asked Francis. "The chairman who I saw as my mentor got very sick," Dingo continued, "He was forced to step down due to his declining health and passed away just 3 months later. Before his passing though, he let me become chairman with his approval and gave me a list of things he wanted me to do. As he layed on his deathbed, I promised to him that I'd make his wishes and dreams come true!"
Just then, 4 spies came in with Drew tied up in a chair. "Ah, just the one I wanted to see," Dingo said grandly. The spies put the chair down and Drew had a confused look on his face. "These Cleveland folks ain't so friendly," he said. "They aren't actually from Cleveland and they got their reasons," Dingo said as he stood right next to Drew, "You know, you owed my mentor A LOT of money. Yet you bought all the stuff you could with that money you owed us." "Do I know you?" asked Drew, obviously still confused. "You might not know me specifically, but my former boss you might," replied Dingo. Drew looked around and took a look at the spies, "I swear, I've been seeing y'all for a little while now." "That's because your one of their top suspects," said Dingo, "They've been trying to crack you down before I was even chairman. If you want further clarification, here's a little something you might have been trying to hide from everyone in your life." Dingo took out a card that said Acme on it. Drew gasped, "No...it can't be!" "Well it is!" Dingo smirked, "It was only a matter of time till we would catch up with you and your severe debt to us." "I never would have had the right amount to pay you or your boss at the time!" said Drew, "It was a price that not even my job or my home could pay!" The Dingo looked at the angry Tasmanian Devil and nodded, "Well mister, actions have consequences. Now you have no money and no home. All that, belongs to Acme now. But it's not over yet, what you did comes at a much bigger price than just your home or money..."
Dingo then went to where the screens were and pressed some buttons. Bull, Axl, and Francis were incredibly confused at the whole situation. "Can someone explain what's going on?" asked Francis. "Just one of our top suspects finally caught. Nothing much other than that," replied Townly. "There's more than just that Townly," said Dingo, "You see, I know his nephew personally. What I didn't know was the fact that they were related!" Drew's eyes went wide and he asked, "What are you talkin about?" "Your nephew Taz and I or at least how he saw it, was that were "friends" since we were little," Dingo explained, "Surprised he never told you about me but then again, I wouldn't expect him to."
After some more button pressing, the big screen displayed Taz' house. Drew felt his heart drop at the sight of seeing Taz' house. "Because of you, not only is your brother and nephew gonna be in for a rough time, but the rest are too," said Dingo, "To be honest though, I think I was kinda harsh towards blaming everything on you. Knowing now that Taz was the one who practically caused the firings of many of our commanders and delayed just about everything, I have half of my attention towards him too. And trust me when I say that I have a little something special in store for him..." "What are you doing? Stop!" demanded Drew. He then saw Dingo have a big target on the screen overlap Taz' house. Dingo went to press a red button that the words had under: Confirm location. "No! NO! NNNNOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!" Drew screamed as Dingo pressed the button.
The Tasmanian Devil family was up but very clearly down. Taz was trying to get over the fact that most of folks really didn't like him but it was easier said than done. It was very effecting to him, more than anyone else in his home. Molly and Jake weren't feeling much better either. Worrying thoughts on what they were going to do was looming in the background.
"Oh Hugh, I didn't think our situation would be this effective on our kids," sighed Jean. "Things might look bad my bagel with cream cheese, but I'm sure things will get better at some point," replied Hugh, "After all, we always find a way to get things taken care of." He gave his wife a kiss before leaving the living room. Jake was playing around with his space ship and had a face that indicated that he wasn't feeling like himself, but tried to hide it. Molly was laying on the couch listening to her music but wasn't dancing around like usual and was completely silent. "Taz feels hated, Taz feels hated," Taz said miserably while watching TV. Dog the Turtle tried to get Taz to feel better, but was unsuccessful.
A bunch of knocking could be heard at the front door. Jean checked to see who it was, to her surprise it was Dingo. "Hey Taz," she called, "Did you invite Dingo over?" Taz was confused and vocalized. He then checked for himself in which he did indeed see Dingo, but he never invited him over. Taz opened the door and spoke in his usual gibberish. "Taz, you need to let me in!" exclaimed Dingo, "They're coming for me!" Taz vocalized in confusion, not knowing what Dingo was talking about. "Let's just say I got myself into a bit of trouble with some figures that really don't like me," said Dingo, "Please just let me in!" Taz sighed and decided to let his friend in. "Does anyone else see all the cars outside?" asked Hugh as he came back. Taz and Dingo looked out the window, to see a bunch of black cars pulling up and surrounding the entire front. Taz shrieked while Dingo uttered, "Oh no..." "Uhh, what's going on?" asked Jake. Molly took off her headphones because of all the commotion and took a look outside. She saw a huge amount of spies approaching the house. "Who are these guys?" she asked, "And what's with them dressed in trench-"
Before Molly could finish her sentence, broken glass could be heard from the back. The Tasmanian Devil family quickly got with each other in fear as well as Dog and Dingo. The front window broke and the front door was busted open as the spies came rushing in. Other spies came rushing in from the back. All of which had various types of guns but instead of bullets, they had tranquilizer darts inside. "GET DOWN! ALL OF YOU!" one of the spies shouted. Taz and everyone else did get down. "Wait a minute, I think I've seen these guys before," Hugh said. Nobody else said anything at the moment, especially Jake who was terrified. "Taz, there's something you should know before anything goes anymore wrong than it already has," whispered Dingo. He then got up which shocked The Tasmanian Devil family, who was worried he might get tranquilized. However, the spies didn't aim at him anymore. Townly as well as Bull, Axl, and Francis popped up from the large amount of spies. Taz noticed and knew something was very wrong. Molly, Jake, Hugh, and Jean noticed this too and Dog began to growl. "You should have never trusted me," said Dingo as Townly handed him a gun. He then aimed it at the Tasmanian Devil family too.
"What in the name of Tazmania is going on?" asked Hugh. "Oh forgive me, I have a lot of explaining to do," Dingo said with a devious smile followed by a sinister laugh.
To be continued in the next chapter...
(Chapter 5 published 7/10/22)