A.N. I just remembered Dudley had a friend named Phil frequently mentioned in the show, so from now on Philamina will be called Mina for short. Sorry for any confusion.
Philamina Snaptrap doubted Tomas Brock was stupid enough to be present at the ambush around T.U.F.F. headquarters that night. The badger had a reputation for cunning and had a host of henchmen at his disposal. He was not a crime lord for nothing. So while T.U.F.F. planned their stakeout, Mina made her own plans. She could not include her brother or Jacinta since they were now working in the spy agency, and she did not want to include her husband in case something went wrong. Juanita and Francesca had never been very violent and would not be much use in a fight. Josephina had cut off all communication with her former teammates of Las Banditas. That narrowed it down to Salena and Lucia.
Neither of them were very enthusiastic about Mina's plan. Sal had dropped off her daughter at Peg Puppy's house, and Mina had left the triplets with Sissy and Larry. Mina had picked up her friends in Las Banditas' minivan and driven into an ally on Main Street. While Byron had said Brock never visited the same hideout twice, and there seemed to be no pattern in his choosing new locations, this was the only street he had been to a second time. The fox and weasel had not asked questions about this strange rendezvous until the rat had pulled out the cap the badger had worn the night he had first tracked them down in Petropolis.
"Why you hold onto that, Bose? What you gonna do with that?" Salena questioned as Lucia stared at the hat with wide eyes.
"I want you to use it to track Brock's scent," answered Mina. The other two women recoiled in their seats. "He's too smart to let the T.U.F.F. agents catch him, and if we don't do something he'll come after us again, after our families if he finds out about them."
That last statement caused the fur on Salena's back to rise as she growled. Mina held the cap out to the vixen, who inhaled deeply before leaving the van. It was not likely, the fox knew, that she would pick up an old scent but-There! A miracle! In all her time in Petropolis, she had only ever seen one badger, and there was his scent!
Mina followed after the vixen in her van, Lucia sitting nervously in the back watching for other vehicles. Few people drove at night since the random shootings began. Salena sped up as they got closer to the water front, finally slowing to a stop in front of a warehouse on the wharf. The rat parked the van in the shadow of a neighboring building before opening her door, allowing the vixen to crawl in. "What now, Bose?"
"Let me go in," Lucia had dropped her Hispanic accent and now sounded country-western, drawing a small pistol from the holster hanging off her belt. "The both of you've got kids now, I c'n go."
"Let me wire you up first," whispered Mina, turning on the van's dvd player and pulling out a tiny camera with a one-way microphone. Jacinta had installed the camera system long ago in case of emergencies. The weasel pinned the camera behind her ear, then used the image on the dvd screen to adjust it. "You don't have to go if you don't want to," Mina murmured.
"You said it yourself, Brock'll keep coming for us if'n we don' do somethin'," answered the weasel.
"You sure want go alone?" the vixen looked at Lucia with her ears flat against her head, looking defensive.
Lucia smiled and patted the fox on the head, slipping back into her fake accent, "I be fine hermana. You look after Bose." Then she slipped silently out of the minivan, slinking towards the warehouse Salena had pointed out. The fox watched the weasel anxiously. The rat watched the monitor.
Few guards were around, but there were guards. Lucia managed to duck out of sight whenever one turned his head her way. She circled around the building, finding a broken window over a dumpster to slip through. Taking a deep breath and holding the pistol tightly in both hands, the former Bandita started snooping around for Brock.
The badger was sitting on a makeshift throne of old boxes, Panchito Chango (better known as El Chango Bandito) standing nearby and talking into an old walkie-talkie. The crime lord smiled as the monkey El Chango was speaking with gave a favorable report on their progress of surrounding T.U.F.F. hq. Lucia hid behind some crates, watching. She had a clear shot of Brock, but Mina had warned her to return once she saw the badger. Then the girls would call the authorities. Lucia was a good shot, though. Just shoot that blasted badger who had terrorized her and her friends so many years-
Lucia's legs kicked at empty air as she was grabbed from behind, a hand over her mouth. "Hey, look what I find! A sneaky weasel!" called Rico El Oso, carrying his catch over to Brock. Lucia was dumped unceremoniously and the badger's feet.
"Now how I know sooner or later Las Banditas find me," the crime lord smirked at her. Had he known all about Mina's plan? Had they been set up? Two monkeys were now dragging in a struggling Philamina, but Salena was nowhere in sight. The rat was placed beside the weasel. The two friends clung to each other and looked up at Brock, Lucia was terrified, but Mina was staring at him in hatred.
"Lets us see, I could shoot you both. I could drown you, I could strangle you, so many ways to die," the badger stroked his chin thoughtfully.
"You won't get your money back that way," answered Mina. She had to stall, and the $500 Las Banditas had once stolen from Brock was the only reason he had hunted them so long.
"Eh, you have my monies now?" Brock was a man of few interests, as greedy as Mr. Krabs in that kids' cartoon.
"No listen, boss, she just try and save her skin!" El Chango spoke up, laying aside the walkie-talkie and ignoring what the monkey on the other end was saying.
"You shut up you mouth!" Brock hollered back, "I wants whats owed me."
Lucia glanced anxiously at Mina. Was she really going to pay the badger? Where was Sal?
The answer came in the form of smoke bombs being thrown through the windows. The girls quickly used their tails to cover their mouths and noses, crawling away on all fours as Brock, Rico and monkeys began running around and cursing. T.U.F.F. agents burst through doors, walls, and the ceiling, yelling for everyone to freeze and put their hands in the air.
Phineus and Dudley, quickly spotting Mina and Lucia, made a beeline for the girls, raising them to their feet and escorting them out to the minivan where Sal and Snaptrap were waiting. "What didja think you were doin?" demanded Finny.
Mina sighed as Snaptrap embraced her worriedly, "It was my idea, I just wanted to look for him so we could tell you where he was. Lucia was supposed to come back to the van, but we were spotted. Sal went to look for a phone as soon as we lost sight of Lu."
It was the weasel's turn to sigh, "I hate him so much, and I had my pistol, I thought I could end this stupid war."
"That's not your decision to make," scolded Finny, "but you three did lead us here. Lucky Los Changos Banditos ain't too bright."
"They fell right into our ambush so we had time to spare!" grinned Dudley, holding Salena close to him. "Sal called from a payphone to tell us where you were."
"Don't ever do that again," whispered Snaptrap to Mina. "This whole family takes too many dangerous risks. Finny going to Africa to fight a gang war, trying to be supervillians, no more risks!"
Mina smiled and buried her face in her husband's neck.