Chapter 13: Run...again

Townly, Bull, Axl, and Francis made their arrival to California. They got off the plane and soon enough, the spies arrived too. "How are we gonna find those Tasmanian Devils?" asked Francis, "They could have gone anywhere." "Don't worry, I got that a plan," Townly replied, "Here's what you guys need to do..." He then whispered it to them, as they all listened carefully.

Back in Tazmania, Drew was on foot and exhausted. The vehicle he took ended up crashing into a ditch after he took a wrong turn. He spent the night sleeping within the forest and then walked on foot by dawn. It was nothing but forest, plains, and roads he walked on. Didn't help he didn't see a single soul on any roads he was on. "If I had a time machine, I would want to make things right so me nor my brother would have to go through this whole mess," Drew sighed.

Many thoughts were in his mind. Dingo taking so much away from him, not knowing what happened to Hugh or his family, wondering if he just paid whatever he had everything would have been fine, and felt like part of this was his fault. Of course, it wasn't precisely as he would have never had the amount to begin with but even then, Drew still felt guilt over this. And to think, it was all because of Mr. Marcelo expecting something big out of Drew after he himself voluntarily offered to help out the devil with some financial issues. However, that would be explained even further later on.

Suddenly, to Drew's surprise, he saw the Tazmania Mall around the corner. "Took long enough," he said to himself. All in all though, it didn't matter, Drew just needed get help. Sadly, not many were gonna be willing to listen. And he was gonna figure that out the hard way.

When he got inside, he tried to talk to whoever he could, but they just thought he was crazy. "Sir! You gotta help me!" said Drew frantically, "Acme has done something to my family and-" "What the hell? Get away from me!" said the shopper, thinking Drew was some kind of lunatic. Drew then went to another shopper. "Ma'am, you need to help me!" said Drew. "If your related to that Tasmanian Devil that causes shit, I ain't interested," she said as she continued walking with her shopping cart.

Drew then took a megaphone that was hanging around and spoke into it. "Everyone!" he announced, "I need your help! Acme has done something horrible to my family and I need the authories to be called so I report that Dingo and his little companions!" People thought Drew was crazy saying these things. Nobody thought a supplier like Acme could do such a thing, as they had relied on Acme for many decades without issue. Plus, they never had any familiarity with spies whatsoever. Most found Drew's behavior creepy and ended up calling security to kick him out. When they did, as you'd expected, Drew tried to explain it to them. "Please! You don't understand!" he pleaded. "We do and that is your causing a disturbance," said one of the guards.

Drew got physically ejected by the guards out of the mall and they locked the doors so he couldn't get back in. It was clear that nobody believed in anything he said, mixed in with the fact that most of the population of Tazmania currently held a massive grudge against the Tasmanian Devil family. Even if he went to the police, how could he explain it to them without much to prove? It would have been a pointless effort to go to them.

Drew's eyes began to water and soon enough he broke down into tears. He had been holding it all in since he witnessed Dingo press the button on the location he was not hoping for. The devil hoped people would be willing to listen but of course they weren't, and that was what mostly caused him to break. Drew felt very lost and alone without his brother or his family. Even though he still had tears rolling down his cheeks, he came to the realization of something. "Wait a minute, why didn't I think of this before?" Drew asked himself, "I'm sure he won't have a problem with me staying with him for now..."

In California, the 3 devils went back to their room to take a break from checking places out, but were out again soon after. They went to a different area that seemed to be more remote than where they last were. "Umm, why did we decide to go here again?" asked Molly. Taz spoke in his usual gibberish, explaining how he saw signs to a store that interested him. "This place sure is far from the others," said Jake, looking around which was mostly vacant buildings and not too much to see.

A store with pink nion signs was around the corner, Taz vocalized as this was the store he was talking about. "Kinda sketchy looking, but whatever you want I guess bro," said Molly. Taz and his siblings went inside and the store didn't look too bad, despite the weird outside. "Hello there," said the cashier, "Let me know if you need help." Taz nodded in response to the cashier. While they looked around, nothing seemed too out of the ordinary. Jake then saw some Acme products and said, "Ugh! Gross!" After some more time of checking the place out, Taz decided that they should leave. "Store don't have what Taz want," he said, "Taz says we head out." The cashier eavesdroped on what Taz was saying and he quickly locked the door using a button from where he was at the register.

Taz, Molly, and Jake went to the door to exit, but soon found out it couldn't open. "Maybe it needs to be open the other way?" assumed Jake. Taz tried opening it the other way, but it didn't work. "Let me try," said Molly, believing Taz wasn't doing it right. She tried it, but it didn't work for her either. The cashier pulled out a gun with tranquilizers from below. Taz noticed this and shouted. The cashier shot but the 3 had moved out of his range and hid. He ran over to one of the isles where Taz, Molly, and Jake were, but they weren't there. He ran to check each one and eventually found the devil's on the 4th isle. Molly who had canned meat, threw it at the cashier, who by now was found out to be a spy without a disguise. The 3 devils bolted for the emergency exit in the back but were met by Bull, Axl, and Francis who put each of their own individual nets over them. With Taz in Bull's net, Molly in Axl's net, and Jake in Francis's net. "Great suggestion for a hiding spot Francis!" said Bull.

The cashier came over to see what had happened. "That was easier than I expected," he said with glee, "Now, let's take em to-" Taz was not willing to stop, so he tornadoed himself out of the net and attacked Bull. He then threw Bull at the cashier. Taz tornadoed his was to where everyone else was, freeing his siblings in the process. Knowing that Axl ment no harm, he made his way to Francis and attacked him. "Sorry guys, didn't wanna look like a bad sidekick," said Axl. "It's fine," said Jake. "If you don't mind me asking, why are you suddenly helping us?" asked Molly. "I think I began to realize what I was doing," Axl replied, "I don't know why but seeing what was gonna happen to you guys was too much to bare. It was just as wrong as doing that to anyone else." "Well, maybe you should consider joining us," Molly suggested. Axl seemed very hesitant about it, especially if Bull found out about his intentions. Then again, Bull has somewhat noticed Axl's strange behavior and that it would only be a matter of time until he found out.

Bull who was about to get up, saw Axl with Molly and Jake. "What the hell?" he thought to himself. But before he or the cashier could get up, Taz hurled Francis at the two of them. "You know, your mother was telling me the same thing," Axl told Molly. "Mom is still around?" asked Jake, with his face turning into a smile as well as Molly's. Before Axl could reply, he saw Francis scrambling to get up, as well as Bull and the cashier. "I think you guys should go now," said Axl, "Don't worry about me." "Are you sure?" asked Jake. "There's not much time, please just go!" Axl said. Molly and Jake listened to him and went out the emergency exit. Taz however, stayed and just looked at Axl. Molly and Jake stopped to see Taz staring at the gator. "Come on Taz! Let's go!" said Molly. However, Taz didn't. Axl felt really uncomfortable but what he got was something he wasn't expecting from Taz of all folks. What Taz did was he gave him a hug and said, "Taz thanks Axl, very much..." Axl who was in a state of shock said in response, "Y-Y-Your welcome?" Taz then let go of Axl and went out the emergency exit. Jake and Molly who witnessed the entire thing, picked their jaws off the ground and continued forward.

They quickly ran through the alleyway that was behind the store they were at. A black car blocked what seemed to be the exit out to the street to their left. A bunch of spies came out and ran to the devil's. Taz, Molly, and Jake then heard a familiar horn coming from the opposite side. "Uncle Drew?" wondered Taz. It was indeed his vehicle and butler driving. The 3 devils thought Drew had escaped and came to help them, but then they saw Agent Townly in the back and their hopes were shattered. "Did I forget to mention this is Acme property too?" he asked as he attempted to fire his gun with tranquilizers at the 3. Taz and his siblings hid behind some garbage bins. Bull, Axl, Francis, and the cashier came out the emergency exit. "They're behind the bins!" said Townly. The 4 looked but didn't see them behind the bins. "They're not here!" said the cashier. By this point, the other spies had showed up in their cars and blocked off all possible exits. However, they didn't see Taz, Molly, or Jake. Unknown to them though, the 3 had opened a manhole cover from below them and went into the sewer system.

Taz, Molly, and Jake could barely see since there was very minimal lighting. "Taz hate water," Taz murmured. He wasn't a fan of going this route, but he knew it was the only way to escape. Despite being in a sewer, they did try to stay on the side to not get wet. They didn't know where they were going exactly, but as long as they are able to get away from Acme, that's all that really mattered to them. Above though, Townly noticed the manhole. "They didn't disappear, they went down the manhole!" he yelled. The manhole opened which the devil's heard and down came the spies as well as the cashier spy. Dozens of flashlights became present and the devil's ran for it as quickly as they could. It was a pretty anxiety inducing experience, especially with the possibility of them ending up in a dead end. Thankfully though, they never ended up hitting one. They did however end up finding another manhole which they quickly went up. As they were back on the surface, they heard the spies coming from down below. They quickly moved a dumpster over the manhole so they couldn't get up.

Taz and his siblings believed they would be fine, but that was only temporary. They could see 4 black cars and Drew's vehicle down the street coming their way. "Dangit!" said Jake. Taz vocalized, as he saw a golf cart rental next to them. They quickly went over to the seller and Taz purchased one. Townly who was in Drew's vehicle, as well as Bull, Axl, and Francis saw what was going on yards ahead of them. "I see them ahead! Step on it James!" Townly demanded to the driver. The devils quickly hoped in and stepped on it out of the area as fast as they could. "Hmm, if it's a chase they want, it's a chase they'll get," said Townly.

The golf cart shot down the streets of the city with the coach and black cars on the devils tails, as bystanders looked on in confusion. Spies in the passenger seats of the cars shot their tranquilizers while Taz and his siblings came so close to getting hit by them. Even from Townly, Bull, Axl, and Francis. Although, Axl purposely missed.

The spies would unfortunately not be able to keep up pace with the devil's and have problems of their own. Because they were going so fast and they only had so much time to react. The first car with spies ended up taking a wrong turn but by the time they realized, they got stuck in traffic. The second car popped a tire from one of the tranquilizers and crashed right into a light post. As the devils and Acme entered a busier part of the city where more cars were prominent, the third car crashed into a truck from behind. The fourth car swerved successfully for a while, but then began to fall behind and eventually be out of sight due to it's motor overheating.

Drew's vehicle hit into the back of the golf cart while Taz did his best to make it accelerate as fast as he could. Unfortunately for Townly he ran out of tranquilizers, so he had an idea. "Hold fire momentarily," he said as he got out a huge net made of metal, "I have a plan." Townly got on top of the coach with his net and made his way towards the hood of the vehicle. Taz, Molly, and Jake screamed as they saw the agent quite literally near the back of the golf cart. Townly used his net but was unsuccessful the first few times. However, he did manage to get ahold of Molly, who was clearly panic when he got her. "Hahaha!" the agent laughed, "Not so tuff as you turn out to be." Jake then jumped out of the golf cart and bit Townly in the leg in an effort to save his sister, but it didn't seem to effect the agent. He picked Jake up and said, "Pathetic. I had an energy drink before coming here so I am practically unbeatable." Taz noticed what was going on but didn't know what to do. The coach crashed into the back of the golf cart again, this time crushing almost half of the cart. Taz vocalized like crazy, wondering if he should get out or not. Knowing his siblings were in trouble and the fact that he could be run over, he definitely knew he had to get out.

Taz climbed out and onto the hood of Drew's vehicle. Good thing he did too, because the golf cart was completely crushed when they hit a speed bump. Townly walked back on the roof but then heard Taz from behind. "Huh, guess this Devil really doesn't want to give up," he said. Taz was about to go after Townly, but the driver grabbed Taz and pulled him into the driver's seat. The two fought in Tasmanian Devil fashion as James the driver was a Tasmanian Devil himself. Taz got thrown out but he held onto one of the handles. Townly made his way back to where he was sitting. "If you see Taz, fire at him!" he announced. "Will do Agent Townly!" said Bull as he and Francis took out dueling tranquilizers. Taz made his way to where his siblings and Townly were. This made Bull and Francis see Taz and they fired at him.

In slow motion, Taz did his best to dodge the tranquilizers. Meanwhile, Bull and Francis looked like they were having the time of their life. "This is for the zoo-going children of the world!" Bull said in slow motion. Axl pretended to participate once more, but unknown to him, he was getting so close to hitting James. Townly watched what was going on while Jake and Molly wondered what was going on.

Back into regular motion, Axl ended up accidentally hitting the driver. They started to go dangerously fast as Taz hid behind one of the seats. Bull, Axl, and Francis stopped when they realized where they were headed. A giant fruit stand was up ahead as they were about to drive into a farmers market in which the road was ment to be closed off. Everyone stopped and looked at where they were headed. Taz, Molly, Jake, Townly, Francis, Bull, and Axl screamed and held on for life as the coach crashed into the food stand.

When the dust cleared, the damage could be seen. James was off to the left where he was pretty much ejected out from the force of the crash. The coach was partially crushed in and was definitely undriveable. Squashed fruit was everywhere for about a few yards. Townly, Bull, Axl, and Francis got up but noticed Taz wasn't around. Townly looked at the net to where he was previously sitting, nothing was in there. "WHAT?!" he roared, "HOW COULD THEY HAVE ESCAPED THAT QUICKLY?!" "They're sneaky ones," said Bull, "I would know after all since-" "Shut up!" Townly snapped, "Get James and let's get out of here before it's obvious we did this!" The man selling the fruit came out of his hiding spot with a furious look. However, he didn't see anyone besides the vehicle. "Whoever did this, you'll pay!" he shouted.

Taz, Molly, and Jake hid in an alleyway, within a corner of a building. They could hear the sound of running footsteps and familiar voices. The steps came to a stop, really close by to them. "You think we're far enough?" asked Axl. "I would believe so," said Francis. "No offense Agent Townly, but I think this was all a big waste of time," said an annoyed Bull, "Which isn't your fault of course, but rather Dingo's." "Thanks for stating the obvious bayou breath," said Townly, "Anyway, I'll contact the spies at the nearest payphone so we can get out of here. None of this was worth it. Besides, it's not like they'll want to come back to Tazmania after what Mr. Chairman plans to do. Not to mention, the city here can be a scary place, they won't be doing well if they end up on the streets." With that, they left immediately.

"Are they gone?" asked Jake. Taz looked and replied in his gibberish, to give the clear. They went back on the streets again and sighed in relief. "Well, we're fine to do whatever now?" asked Molly. "Yeah, but Taz wanna go back to hotel and call it day," replied Taz. "Seems fair," said Molly. "Yeah, this was kinda exhausting," said Jake.

To be continued in the next chapter...

(Chapter 13 published 9/10/22)