Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was another normal day at the Bad Guys' hideout. Everyone was doing their everyday routine and minding their own business. It wasn't their schedule to have another heist or have another night shift to be vigilant with other criminals. It was time to sit back and relax.

For Wolf, he went through photo albums of him and his team that had gone through over the years. They were all about the fun and happy memories. Some memories were about the successful heists they made, and some were from other places they'd been in. Those were the best memories Wolf had ever saved. There was no treasure in the world that he would trade for his best friends.

Snake slithered in and looked over Wolf's shoulder to see what the team leader was looking at. "Hey, Wolf, what are you doing?"

"I was looking back on our photo album about the places we've been to," Wolf said.

The rest of the Bad Guys joined in to see the album for themselves.

Tarantula chuckled while looking at the photos while Wolf flipped the page every minute, "Heh. Those were the good times, right? Who knew we would spread the word all over the world about who we were?"

"And everybody knew us now," Wolf stated as he flipped another page.

Shark laughed when he pointed to another photo, "I remember this. It was a fun heist."

Hornet scanned through the album and noticed that he wasn't in some of the photos, not to mention he didn't recall those memories in the album. "I don't remember some of them."

"You weren't part of the team yet, bug," Wolf ruffled Hornet's head gently with his finger.

"Oh, yeah," nodded Hornet.

"Hey, at least you were in some of them," Piranha pointed out some of the photos on the page that Wolf flipped a couple of times.

Near the end of the album, Hornet was already in pictures. He came into the team a little late, "Don't I know it."

"It would be fun if we go back in time and do these things all over again," the team leader sighed, missing those moments.

"Hey, Wolf, we had a clean slate now. I don't think we'll ever go back," Snake advised.

Wolf knew Snake was right. He went a little far with plans before, and he couldn't risk getting himself and his team in trouble again. Not this time. But then Wolf had a different idea this time, "What if we can?" He stood up, which startled his friends. "I mean, not in that way. What if we can take another trip around the world, just for a good ol' fun trip?"

But the other Bad Guys felt more confused and worried than ecstatic.

Snake knew Wolf was planning something drastic as he told him with cautious advice, "Are you sure, Wolf? I mean, we still have our bad reputation out there. We may be vigilantes, but only here in LA."

Wolf then said while peeking through the gap of the blinds, "Snake, I get the feeling that the gang needs a little rest from all of this. Our crime life, our crime-fighting life," he closed the blinds and turned around face-to-face with his team, "Plus, it'll be one way to tell the world we're… 'half' good now."

"What if no one would believe us? Just like what happened at the gala?" Tarantula reminded about the Gala of Goodness disaster a year ago.

"Then we'll show them."

"I don't know, Wolf. Remember last time? We're definitely on their wanted list," Hornet said while looking through his helmet, showing each of his and his team's holographic status in every country. Some countries titled them as "unknown.".

"Then, if it didn't work, then let's just lay low and consider this as our vacation trip," Wolf suggested with a convincing smile.

While the other Bad Guys were unsure of this trip idea because they had caused a lot of trouble all over the world when they were still full Bad Guys, they realized they hadn't left Los Angeles for a long time. They had been laying low to avoid getting caught, being in prison for a year, and changed careers when they were trying to change their ways and went good… well, not fully good yet since they were still adjusting. It would be fun to travel and get away with problems occasionally and clear their head after what they had been through after getting released from prison.

"I do want to travel around the world with you guys," Hornet confessed. "Besides, I missed a lot before I came here."

Tarantula snorted as she would feel envious if she missed out, "Oh, what the heck? I don't want you guys to take all the fun."

Shark wrapped his fin around Snake, Piranha, Tarantula, and Hornet, and squealed, "Woo! This is gonna be so much fun! Another Around-The-World trip! Just the six of us!"

"I'm so in, Hermanos," Piranha raised a thumb up.

Feeling defeated that no one was against Wolf's trip plans, Snake sighed as he rolled his eyes, "Fine. But I'm warning you, Wolf. It won't be easy to travel around the world. It was easy before, but now that we're clean, we won't be able to do the same thing of how we traveled last time."

"So what? We're gonna buy tickets?" Wolf guessed since they didn't have to force someone to send them somewhere around the world anymore.

"That's good enough for me," Hornet said, agreeing with the idea.

"I'm checking them right away," Tarantula was already typing on her laptop to book planes and reserve tickets.

"Oooh, where should we go? The Bahamas? Africa?" Shark inquired.

"What about Spain? Or France? They had good cuisine." Piranha suggested.

"I want to try to go to Japan. For what I've read, that is where my species came from," Hornet said.

Feeling pressured, Tarantula knew it would take much money to go to places that her friends requested. "That's a lot of places I have to book, and it costs a lot of money. We just have to secretly rob another bank again just to get that amount of money."

"Not to mention, stealing a gold bar," Piranha stated.

While about it, Wolf was looking through his phone as he scrolled through a bunch of stuff on social media until he found something interesting.

"What if we don't need to steal gold?" He declared.

The other Bad Guys paused for a moment, feeling puzzled by Wolf's phrase.

"Wha-?" Hornet wanted to ask.

"What if we do another heist to steal something bigger and more affordable than money?" Wolf smirked sinisterly.

At LAX, a pilot was guiding a line of visitors around the airport, and their tour ended up in hangars where the planes were resting and ready to serve again in a couple of days. Some planes in the hangar were still in service and held good records for their services.

"This is the Gulfstream IV." The pilot showed one of the planes in the hangar, "This aircraft is one of the most popular aircraft from Gulfstream Aerospace, a trusted name in the private aviation industry. It has a completely customizable interior and can seat up to 14 passengers."

The visitors were amazed by the plane as they took pictures of it.

The pilot then guided the visitors to the next plane, "And this is the Learjet 60XR. This aircraft was a poor buy in 2008, losing 74% of its value."

Despite its poor reputation, the visitors still took pictures of the plane.

Then, they moved to the third plane as the pilot narrated, "And this is the Cessna Citation XLS. This aircraft has a maximum cruise speed of 507 mph and a transcontinental long range of 2,100 nautical miles. It can also take off from shorter runways."

The visitors took a picture of the plane while following the pilot to the end of the hangar.

Once they were outside, the pilot stood in front of the gates of the next hangar, where the gates were closed, yet to reveal the next aircraft.

"These planes were good in service while some couldn't be bought, but there is one jet plane that is the latest, and passengers who already tried this plane gave out 5 gold stars because of its luxurious experience and could fly all over the world."

The visitors were so excited to see this plane and hoped that they would see the insides of the aircraft.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is the Airjack Hydraulic FX8." When the gates opened, the visitors made wide smiles as they wanted to see the jet plane with their own eyes, but once the gates were fully opened, they only saw an empty hangar.

The jet plane is gone.

"Hey, what happened to the private jet?!" The pilot screamed as one person took a picture of the empty hangar with a flash of his camera.

Meanwhile, Diane was doing a lot of paperwork in her office when she received a call by the radio from her secretary.

"Governor Foxington, a journalist is here to report on an important news."

Diane pushed the button to speak through the radio, "Send 'em in." At this cue, the doors opened, and Mira entered the office while holding a folded newspaper. "Oh, Ms. Rose, it's you."

"Just call me Mira, Diane. I have something to show you," Mira threw the newspaper on Diane's table, showing the news about a missing jet plane.

Diane read the headline and inquired, "A private jet was stolen?"

"And I want to let you know because this isn't just someone who stole it," Mira took out a photo from her pocket. "I didn't put this in my report, and I kept this from sight," she placed the photo on top of the newspaper and showed Diane. That it was an image of a circular seal with the initials "BG".

Knowing what those initials meant, Diane placed a paw on her face and sighed as if she was exhausted upon seeing this. "Not again."

The missing private jet plane zoomed across the sky, off the grounds of Los Angeles, and flew through the clouds.

Hornet stared down through the window as he began to hyperventilate, "I can't believe it! We stole a private jet! The Airjack Hydraulic FX8 Jet! Can this just get any more unusual?"

"Relax, Hornet, this is an exquisite jet. They even have champagne here!" Snake said as he popped the champagne bottle open and poured some in his glass.

"I do love this cocktail shrimp." Piranha added as he took one and snapped his mouth close with the shrimp inside.

"Come on, guys, we didn't exactly steal it. We're just borrowing it for the trip, and we'll return it once we're done." Wolf declared as he piloted the jet at the cockpit.

"You mean 'secret borrowing,'" Tarantula stated.

"Yeah, Webs gets it," Wolf smiled before he heard his phone ringing. He took out his phone from his pocket and saw Diane's contacts onscreen. "Oh look, guys! Our favorite governor," he tapped the answer button and said, "Hello?"

Diane's voice was so loud through Wolf's phone that even the other Bad Guys could hear her from the cockpit, "Wolf, what the heck! I gave you more than one chance to change your ways! I even let you have a double life as both criminals and vigilantes, and yet you stole a jet! A private jet!"

Wolf chuckled, "Relax, Diane, we're just 'secretly borrowing the jet."

"We're travelling around the world!" Shark yelled from the back while raising a glass of soda.

Diane overheard Shark's voice, and she felt confused. "Why would you want to travel? This is… new."

"We already traveled before, Diane. We want to do it again," "Wolf explained, but when Diane opened her mouth to scold him more, he cut her off by continuing, "And before you say anything, we won't do anything drastic this time. We'll be doing… something else."

Diane scoffed angrily, "I don't like what you're doing, Wolf. I'm sorry, but you leave me no choice. You better get back here and return the jet back to where you stole it, or I'll snitch on you guys and send you back to jail."

"Oh no, you could do that."

"I'm serious, Wolf. You better get back here, or I'll call the chief. It's your choice now."

"Very well. I'll send you a message of the scavenger hunt that will provide you with my answer."

After the call, Wolf sent Diane a message, and she read it.

ONE WEEK LATER

Diane took a quarter that was taped under the cemented bench as Mira followed her along with the hunt.

"Here it is! A rustic quarter from 1933. We're getting closer to our answer!"

But Mira slapped her aggressively across the face, making her drop the quarter. "Wake up, Diane! They chose to steal the jet and fly around the world!"

Somewhere, the Bad Guys were relaxing on the beach.

"You really fooled that governor, huh?" Snake spoke while still sunbathing next to Wolf.

"She'll thank us once we finish our trip." Wolf responded.

"Maybe we should go to places that we haven't gone to yet," Tarantula offered.

"Or a place we were never heard of," Hornet uttered.

"We'll just plan as we go," said Wolf while still trying to relax under the sun.

Cast:

Michael Godere - Mr. Wolf

Chris Diamantopoulos - Mr. Snake

Ezekiel Ajeigbe - Mr. Shark

Raul Ceballos - Mr. Piranha

Mallory Low - Ms. Tarantula

Eugene Lee Yang - Mr. Hornet

Zazie Beetz - Diane Foxington

Stephanie Beatriz - Mira Rose

Eric Bauza - Pilot

Next on The Bad Guys: The Baddest Trip...

Hornet:  Why don't we go to the place where you used to live?

Piranha:  It's not a big deal.

Piranha:  Welcome to Letifecto.

Hornet:  But why did you want to leave this place anyway? There's nothing wrong with it.

Prima:  My little hermano has finally come home!

Primo Sr.:  The prodigal son has finally returned.

Wolf:  Your family is… good and perfect.

Piranha:  My father wanted me to be something I don't want to be.

Wolf:  No one will know that we're the Bad Guys, and no one will know we're infamous criminals.

Wolf:  No one will know. Just act normal. No one has to know.

Prima:  I know

Primo Sr.:  Pepe, you're a disgrace!

Chapter Text

Previously  on The Bad Guys: The Baddest Trip...

Snake: Hey, Wolf, what are you doing?

Wolf: I was looking back on our photo album about the places we've been to.

Hornet: I don't remember some of them.

Wolf: You weren't part of the team yet, bug.

Wolf: What if we can take another trip around the world, just for a good ol' fun trip?

Diane: Wolf, what the heck! I gave you more than one chance to change your ways! I even let you have a double life as both criminals and vigilantes, and yet you stole a jet! A private jet!

Tarantula: Maybe we should go to places that we haven't gone to yet.

Hornet: Or a place we were never heard of.

Wolf: We'll just plan as we go.

Piranha Comes Home To Bolivia

The Bad Guys were taking a private jet plane as their way to go on a trip round the world. Question was: Where would they go now?

Wolf was in the cockpit, piloting the jet. If he could drive a car, why not a jet? He put the jet into autopilot before leaving the cockpit to meet with his friends in the cabin. "So, any particular place we should go first?"

"Ooh, Mexico!" Tarantula raised her hand.

"The Caribbeans," Snake said.

"Hawaii!" Shark shouted excitedly.

"What about Spain?" Piranha indicated.

"Why would you like to go to Spain?" Hornet arched a brow, giggling.

"Eh, I heard there's a romantic city in Spain called Barcelona, and I would like to take you there," Piranha gently held Hornet's tiny hand.

"Aww." Hornet blushed at Piranha's gesture.

Snake rolled his eyes at this. "Don't tell me you want to go to Spain just for a date."

"Well, yeah… why would it be?" Piranha smirked sheepishly.

Looking at Piranha, Hornet's brain suddenly clicked as he asked his boyfriend, "Hey, Piranha, honey, why don't we go to the place where you used to live?"

"What?!" Piranha exclaimed surprisingly.

"Piranha! Yeah!" Shark said excitedly as the rest of the Bad Guys chattered in agreement.

"You used to tell us you lived in Bolivia. Why don't we go there?" Wolf proclaimed.

Piranha was nervous about the idea of visiting his home as he said, "Umm, come on, amigos, I don't think it's a good idea."

"Why not? It'll be fun to learn where you came from," Hornet said while leaning himself on his Piranha's face.

"Plus, we want to know you even better," Shark added.

"Come on, guys, it's not a big deal," the little fish pleaded.

"Oh, it is a big deal, hermano," Wolf smiled as he walked back to the cockpit and took the wheel. "Let's go to Bolivia!"

"But… but—" Piranha tried to stop his friends from agreeing with the idea, but the rest of the Bad Guys were too excited for their first destination trip. With that, they wouldn't listen to Piranha in any way.

They're going to Bolivia.

The jet plane landed in the Amazon rainforest to keep the destination of the landed jet hidden. The Bad Guys had to find Piranha's home by foot if they wanted to lay low for their vacation trip. They had to bring a bag for each of them in case of an emergency and survival if they ever got lost in the forest. As they got off the plane, the other five Bad Guys wondered where they would go since they had never been to Piranha's hometown before, and they landed in the middle of the forest to avoid getting caught.

"You know, you never told us where you lived, Piranha," Snake pointed out.

"Aww, too bad. Guess we're getting out of here. He thought he was in the clear as Piranha headed back to the plane.

Hornet hovered in front of him to stop his way and begged at him, "Come on, Piranha. Only you know where your home is. Could you at least lead us there? Piranha still felt hesitant, especially for his boyfriend, but Hornet let out his puppy eyes at him with a pleading, "Please!"

Those eyes again! Who would resist those eyes? Piranha groaned in defeat, "Fine, but it won't be easy in the forest. Let's just find a bus once we get to the street."

Piranha decided to lead the way as the Bad Guys followed him. They trusted him since he knew his way around the place better than they did.

Eventually, they found the street and a bus stop. What a stroke of luck. All they had to do was wait for the bug, especially when Piranha was extending his thumb up by the street.

While waiting, Snake and Shark noticed a lot of wanted posters of himself and his friends.

So much for laying low.

Not wanting anyone else to know they were wanted, Snake and Shark quietly nodded at each other, agreeing to take all the posters off. They put them all in their backpacks so no one would see them, not even the rest of the gang. They didn't want to add problems for their trip.

Once the bus arrived, the Bad Guys hopped in, but the bus was a bit crowded with not just people but also their bags and crates of chickens. Everyone in the bus must have squeezed in so that the bus had enough space for all of them.

Traveling through the forest wasn't easy for a crowded bus. The driver had to drive slowly to avoid bumps, rocks, and potholes to keep the bus steady for a safe trip for the passengers. The Bad Guys were sitting at the back of the bus, as it was the only space for them to take.

"Well, the bus might be crowded, but at least we're going to see your home," Hornet nudged his elbow at Piranha, who was close to him.

"Yeah, I guess." Piranha wasn't so enthusiastic about coming home. He knew coming home wouldn't be a happy moment for him.

As they took their time to wait to get to Piranha's hometown, Shark could sense the silence in the bus, so he broke the silence, "I can get some Bolivian air right now," he breathed the air from the window, "Kinda a little hot, huh?" Then, he let out an awkward chuckle, "Or more a little awkward when no one was gonna gossip about news and stuff?" When Shark said that, the other Bad Guys realized that no one in the bus stared at them as if they were strangers or unknown people to others. This meant that not everyone knew about the Bad Guys and their reputation. But Shark nearly gave them the idea.

To change the topic to avoid making things worse, he asked Piranha with an offensive question, "So, do you have a girlfriend back home?"

Surprisingly, Piranha punched Shark out of the bus.

Later, the bus drove into the forest as Piranha called out to stop the bus.

"This is our stop!" The bus stopped at that spot as the Bad Guys got off the bus before Piranha told the driver, "Gracias!" and the bus continued its trip.

Piranha then turned to continue the journey to find his hometown and led his team with him.

Despite that, still following Piranha, the Bad Guys realized they were still in the middle of the forest. They weren't in town or city at all. Just a lot of trees and flora everywhere.

"Umm, Piranha, we're still in the forest. You know that, right?" Snake pointed out.

"Just follow me," Piranha said.

"Are you sure you didn't get us lost?" Tarantula asked,

"If I intended to get us lost, I would've done that before when we left the plane." The little fish said, feeling irritated by his friends' doubts about finding the way to his town.

After a couple of miles of walking and trimming down bothersome plants, Piranha made the final stop between two giant trees.

"Well, here we are," he declared.

The Bad Guys only stared at Piranha between the two trees, and they were puzzled by the place. There wasn't anything behind the two trees, except the Amazon River was a few miles away. There was no town, no citizens, just another part of the forest.

"You're seeing things, fish bro," Shark spoke.

"Yeah, there's nothing there but ahead was the Amazon River." Wolf complained.

"You'll be…" Piranha walked backwards until he suddenly disappeared. "Surprise!" His voice was still heard and echoed.

"Whoa!" The other Bad Guys gasped and widened their eyes.

Piranhas just disappeared when he walked backwards through the two trees. Where had he gone to?

"Piranha? Where are you?" Wolf was concerned for his little friend as he tried to find him by jumping through the gap between the two trees. This was where Piranha was last seen. Right before their eyes. But when he got through the gap, he also disappeared like Piranha's, "Aahh!"

"WOLF!" Snake, Shark, Tarantula, and Hornet screamed. Wolf was also gone!

But to their surprise, half of Wolf appeared through the gap of the two trees, alive and okay, and told the rest of his friends, "Hey guys, take a look at this!"

When Wolf grabbed Shark's fin, he pulled him and the rest of the Bad Guys through the gap.

Snake, Shark, Tarantula, and Hornet stumbled on Wolf, squishing him a little, but when they opened their eyes, they were surprised to see what was right in front of them.

"Wow!"

A small town with a big community. Most of the citizens were humans who lived in huts as their homes. Some of the homes were cemented with colored roofs. And everyone in town was working very hard and helping each other to keep the town standing.

The other Bad Guys were amazed and surprised with the place. Just one second, the town wasn't here, but after crossing the gap of two trees, the town magically appeared. But Piranha didn't seem to be satisfied to be back home.

Hornet looked back to where they came from and figured what they had passed through: "An invisible barrier covering the town?"

"Yep. Hermanos, Hermana, welcome to Buenafecto," Piranha declared, showing the town where he grew up in. As he continued to guide his friends through town, the Bad Guys wandered their eyes around the place.

It wasn't like living in the city. People were working by hand, working very hard. They struggled, but they stood up and kept working. They greeted each other with happy faces, polite words, and giving thoughtful gifts. Children and young teens played with each other with electronics and old toys. Everyone was good and happy all around. The town was decorated with flowers, triangle flag banners, and music all around.

"Wow, Piranha, your hometown, it's... it's beautiful," Hornet commented.

But Piranha wasn't amazed as his friends, "Yeah, well, nothing changed since I left."

"And what is that invisible barrier we passed through?" Tarantula questioned.

"Hmm, oh, it's a long story."

"You can tell us," Hornet requested his boyfriend to tell them.

Piranha sighed but surrendered to tell the story about his hometown, "You see, years ago, before I was even born, my family found this place while swimming in the Amazon River, and this place, it just appeared right in front of my family's eyes. Then, newcomers kept arriving, finding new homes. Then, everyone wants to stay here so they can live in peace and away from the chaos of the outside world."

"So, this place is… magic?" Snake guessed.

Piranha rolled his eyes. "I wouldn't say that."

"But why did you want to leave this place anyway? There's nothing wrong with it," Hornet said.

As they walked around, the residents of the town started to notice them. They dropped all of their routine and started staring at the team. They also started gossiping at each other while staring back at them.

The Bad Guys also noticed the citizens staring at them and probably gossiping about them.
"Umm, why are people whispering while staring at us?" Tarantula alerted her friends quietly.

"Do they know who we are?" Snake inquired.

"No. This place and everyone in it were isolated from the outside world. They don't check famous criminals or even the new president of America," Piranha explained.

But the citizens weren't gossiping about their new visitors at all. They were gossiping about Piranha. Their eyes were on him since he arrived, and Piranha knew this. He chose to ignore them because he knew how the citizens of his hometown would react upon his return.

News spread so fast as the gossip kept passing all over this hidden town until it passed down to a mystery person who was so shocked at the return of Mr. Piranha,

"Is it…" Piranha heard that familiar voice that echoed as he tried to not look ahead, but he couldn't resist. He knew that voice. Ahead on his path was a female piranha wearing a dress and a hair tie wrapping around her head fin. The female piranha was. Very happy when she saw him, and rushed towards, "It's true! It's all true!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Piranha held his fins up, but he was caught in a hug.

The female piranha squeezed the young fish tightly before throwing him into the air and catching him back into her arms. "Aah! My little hermano has finally come home!"
At first, the other Bad Guys were a little cautious that someone was running after Piranha.

They thought someone was attacking him, but they were surprised that a female piranha hugged him happily. Though, Tarantula and Hornet chuckled at this that someone snuggled Piranha that tight.

Piranhas felt embarrassed as he tried to struggle out of the embrace. "Come on, hermana, not in front of my guests."

The female piranhas put him down before noticing a group of animals behind him. "And who are these muchachos?"

"Prima, these are my amigos." Piranha introduced his friends to the female piranha before he introduced her to his friends. "Guys, this is my sister, Prima."

Now this was a surprise.

Wolf gently took Prima's hand and kissed it, "It's an honor to meet you."

"Good to see you," Hornet greeted.

"Hi," Tarantula waved her hand.

"Hello," Snake waved his tail.

"You look like our friend here," Shark observed.

"It's good to meet you too," Prima smiled before ruffling Piranha's head fins. "Pepe, I missed you, Chico! You should visit sometimes."

Tarantula snorted as she tried to hold her laughter. "'Pepe'?"

The rest of the Bad Guys snickered as they tried not to laugh now that they finally knew what Piranha's real name was.

Piranha felt so ashamed that his friends finally knew his real name through his older sister. He wasn't ready to tell them his real name yet. His friends might not be either since their names are too confidential. Now, they're gonna remember his name forever!

"Aww, ashamed to tell your friends your real name?" Prima cooed while pinching her little brother's cheek before asking his friends, "What did he want to call with?"

"Just 'Piranha,'" Hornet answered while gritting his teeth from laughing.

"Well, it's not shameful to call yourself the name of our species," Prima ruffled Piranha's head fins again before giving him a big hug. "I'm so proud of you."

"Okay, Prima, you can let go of me now," Piranha said, gently forcing Prima to let go of him.

"You should come to our house. I'll tell our Papà and the rest of our family. We'll throw you a welcome home party tonight," Prima announced.

"I… I don't think it's necessary…" Piranha hesitated with the idea, but he heard his friends excitedly murmur in agreement.

"A party?!" Shark squealed.

"Oh, we'll definitely go," Tarantula nodded.

"Yeah, we would be happy to meet the family," Wolf added.

"Excelente. I'll get back home to tell the others; you should go later," she told them before running off to tell the entire family about Piranha's return.

"Prima, no, please," Piranha called out, trying to convince his sister, but it was already too late. She was already far away,

"Wow, Piranha, your sister is kinda cool," Shark commented.

"Yeah, how come you never told us you have a sister?" Tarantula questioned.

"It's not that I don't like my sister. I love her, but we don't get in touch with each other since I left," Piranha replied.

"Maybe because you didn't give your contacts," Snake guessed, making Piranha roll his eyes.

"And your real name is 'Pepe'?" Wolf snickered, making the rest of the Bad Guys release their laughter.

Piranha sighed, "It's worse than I thought."

Hornet hovered himself down at Piranha's level and caressed his face. "Relax, sweetie, don't be so hard on yourself. Besides, when we meet your family, you might introduce me as your boyfriend."

"Oh, yeah, right," Piranha chuckled doubtfully.

When his friends wanted to continue walking forward, Piranha followed his friends, hoping nothing bad would happen once they met his family at his childhood home.

The Bad Guys made it to Piranha's family house, and it was not what they expected. The house was big, fit for like hundreds of people. It was like a protruding mansion with wider spaces and just 7 stories tall and many small balconies located on the outside walls. The other five were so speechless with their mouths dropped that they couldn't say anything about what they thought of Piranha's childhood home. He could've been a rich kid. But Piranha wasn't nostalgic about the place. He had been here before, so it wasn't a surprise how big his house was, but he did miss this place. He just didn't like to admit it. He only made a small smile to show the house that he missed it. To his friends' surprise, the other Bad Guys noticed one of the window doors just waved at him back. They freaked out at first, but it was probably the wind… a light wind.

Before they could enter the house, they already noticed a lot of humans and piranhas walking in and out, getting ready for the "Welcome Home" party for Piranha. It would be a busy town then.

When they entered the house, the house wasn't full of just people; it was full of lots and lots of anthropomorphic piranhas, who all looked a lot like Piranha but had different clothing and hairstyles. They were all working together to make the house clean and decorative for the party. They were playing each other's part to make this house ready.

As expected, everyone paused when Piranha first stepped into the house. They all stared at him. It was real. It was all true. The young piranha finally came home! Some of the piranhas greeted him with open arms and cheerful smiles, delighted to see him again after being gone for years, but some of them weren't so delighted. Not a lot of piranhas liked their missing relative. They rather just ignored him and got back to work. Few of them made a small wave "hello" at him before proceeding to their work. Once happy greetings were done, the piranhas returned to their work.

Though the only thing Piranha expected was a greeting from his father.

And there he was, standing at the 2nd story railings and looking down at him. Piranha only stared at him, waiting for any response from his father, but the latter gave him a small smile and a nod before heading back to work and instructing his children and nephews what they would do.

Piranha knew his father wouldn't give him a welcoming greeting or anything. Just a nod and nothing else.

But his sad thoughts were interrupted when Wolf gave him a nudge.

"Wow, Piranha, you had like hundreds of relatives," the team leader complimented.

"900,542 brothers and cousins to be exact," Piranha mentioned.

"Guess your records weren't kidding about that number of relatives," Tarantula remarked.

"Hey Pepe, I have a gift for you," a young woman named Ria approached him with a basket of things. Quickly, Piranha took a hold of the basket when Ria dropped it in his arms. "It's my welcome home gift with all of our famous Bolivian food and stuff."

"Thank you," Piranha grinned.

"And good luck on the party. Your whole family was devastated when you left. I bet tonight is gonna be great." Ria gave two thumbs up before glancing at the other Bad Guys without knowing who they were. "Oh, hello."

The five waved hello at Ria before she left. While Piranha was still holding the basket, Shark took the chance to pick whatever was in it and held a Salteña before throwing it into his mouth.

As Piranha proceeded with his friends behind him, the house was filled with busy people arranging the furniture to add a lot of space and putting up some decorations. They also tried to avoid falling down into a huge circular pond in the middle of the main living room that was occupied by a Victoria Boliviana water lily. All they had to do was pass around it.

"That banner should be a little higher, please," Piranha's father, Primo Sr., instructed a town citizen who put a "Welcome Home" banner on top of Piranha's bedroom door. Primo Sr. then instructed his twin sons, "Paz 67, Perez 67, help Inigo out."

"Got it!" Paz 67 and Perez 67 saluted as Perez 67 stood up straight and Paz 67 jumped on top of him to help their human neighbor pin the other end of the banner on the wall.

"Perico 1 089, could you put the Bombo drums upstairs?" Primo Sr. ordered his nephew.

"I'll handle it, Tio!" Perico 1 089 slowly put a stack of chairs down and ran past Piranha and his friends, "Careful, cuz!"

The Bad Guys moved out of the way to avoid the fast piranha's path.

Pasqual 731 carried 2 towers of boxes and barrels with both of his little arms, and tried to balance them all, "I don't know where I can put these barrels and boxes!"

"Can we put some more decorations up for this party?" Patricio 11 called out while holding a clipboard and pen.

"Don't worry, I got it!" Pedro 1, the family's golden child, exclaimed as he carried a tower of flowerpots and vases and gently put them all in a decorative arrangement.

Most of his relatives and the citizens cheered for him, but Piranha thought of him as a show-off, not that his friends and boyfriend knew that, as they were as impressed as everyone else in the whole town.

"Please, don't clap. I'm doing my job here," Pedro 1 chuckled before giving a woman flowers.

"Thank you, Pedro 1," the woman said appreciatively.

"De nada," Pedro 1 said before accidentally bumping into his little brother that he never got along with, "A little brotherly advice: if you weren't always trying too hard to welcome yourself back home, you wouldn't be in the way."

"Actually, Pedro 1, I was gonna help out with the party since it's my party. And I'm not in the way. You are," When Piranha walked away while talking back to his older brother, he didn't see where he was going as he bumped into a nearby pillar.

Feeling the pain on Piranha's face, Shark and Hornet pulled Piranha from the pillar that had his face stuck onto it.

At the kitchen, another one of Piranha's brothers, Prospero 172, was preparing the plates for the party but noticed his brother coming with a basket, and his friends were trying to help him.

"Whoa,"

"Excuse me," Piranha grunted when he put the basket on the counter.

Wolf then noticed Prospero 172 and gave him a wave of his paw, "Hola!"

"Hola to you too," Prospero 172 greeted nicely at who might've been Piranha's guest. He turned to his brother and asked, "Mi hermano, you okay? You don't have to work. This is your party of your return after all."

"I know, Prospero 172, but I just want to do my part like the rest of the family," Piranha said as he put the earthenware vase from the basket on the table.

"You don't need to," Cousin Paz 2 222 cut in, showing himself to be bruised. "Ever since you left, Papà was devastated, but sometimes, his feelings were mixed. We don't want you home, or Papà will explode, but we didn't expect him to be this calm."

Cousin Palomo 480 joined the conversation as well, "And you didn't leave a letter or any contacts when we tried to reach you, but instead, you just came back on your own, and you brought… unexpected guests," he turned to stare at Wolf, Snake, Shark, Tarantulas, and Hornet.

"Hi," Tarantula spoke.

"You know, I always know you have different taste with making friends," Paz 2 222 complimented.

"Shut up and eat, Paz 2 222," Prospero 172 shoved a Cuñapé into his cousin's mouth to make him shut up before he could say anything hurtful towards Piranha and turned to comfort his youngest brother, "Pepe, if you ever wanna talk about what happened to you and where you had been…"

"I gotta put out the stuff. The house isn't gonna decorate itself," Piranha said, making the house squeak and the triangular banners lower. "Sorry, you could. You look great."

The banners rose up again.

Once again the Bad Guys freaked out, and this time, they did notice the house just responded to Piranha, which was strange and scary.

"Did the banner just… move?" Shark whispered.

"Did the house just squeak?" Snake added.

But when they noticed Piranha was walking out of the kitchen with the now-empty basket, the five Bad Guys tried to catch up with him.

"Hermano, remember!" Prospero 172 called

"Yeah, remember!" Palomo 480 repeated.

"You have nothing to prove!" The three piranhas chimed in unison.

As he walked off, Piranha responded with a soft, "Mm-hmm."

Prospero 172 added when he watched the other 5 animals following his brother, "And take your friends with you! They'll keep you company!"

Only Piranha's thumb came back in sight as a response before disappearing.

As his brother and his friends were gone, Prospero 172 was free to say what he thought about the guests, "I like Pepe's friends."

"The wolf one was cool," Paz 2 222 complimented.

"Funny. I like the spider one," Palomo 480 admitted.

Later, despite the effort of his family telling him not to help, Piranha ended up wanting to help anyway. He set up doilies that had each of his relatives; names on them and placed candles in the middle of each of them, including his father's. Piranha wanted to do it all by himself, but he would mind if he let his friends help. To be safe, Snake, Tarantula, and Hornet volunteered since Piranha had too many brothers, cousins, and a sister, and he couldn't do all of these by himself. Wolf and Shark were wandering around the house while staring at photos of Piranha's family. They even noticed the longest portrait of the Piraña Family, as its name was labeled at the bottom frame of the portrait.

"Wow, Piranha, I never thought your family could be this… big," Wolf noticed as the rest of the Bad Guys gathered around to see the whole portrait.

The portrait definitely captured the whole family. All 900,546 of them.

"Aww, I saw the little you!" Hornet pointed Baby Piranha in the portrait.

Piranha stared at his own image as a baby. He did look cute that time. His baby self was carried by a female piranha, who was his mother, smiling at the camera. They were so happy that time. Oh, how he missed her.

Snake then turned his attention to a glass display next to the portrait. "Hey, what's that?"

Inside the glass case inside the wall was a white water lily flower. It was kept there, protected, and it looked healthy and young.

"That's our family's prize possession. This was what my family found when we found our home," Piranha answered. There was a story involving this flower. It was a life-changing flower for him and his family for years.

"Dinner at sunset!" His father's voice was heard, making the Bad Guys back away from the portrait.

Piranha was startled and accidentally stepped on his father's doily, making the candle tip and fall and causing its flames to burn a quarter of the doily.

Piranha quickly took the candle and tried to put the fire out. "No, no, no!" He tried waving the doily and even stepped on it, but it was unfortunate timing when his father came in front of him, and his friends stepped aside.

"Maybe you should leave the decorations to someone else?" Primo Sr. suggested.

"No, I actually made these as a surprise for you." Piranha showed his father the doily, but it was already burned. "Ooh!" He threw the doily on the ground and stepped on it to stop the fire from spreading.

"Pepe, I know you want to help. But you just came home, and tonight must go perfectly, especially for you," Primo Sr. explained, "The whole town relies on our family, on our reputation as the good family of piranhas. So, the best way for some of us to help is to step aside. Let the rest of the family do what they do best. Okay?"

Piranha was disheartened that his father didn't want him to be included to help for the party. He could sense that his father was disappointed in him for leaving, and his return didn't make him happy at all. But Piranha wanted to put on a brave face and understood without questioning the issue. He wanted to prove himself that he can be as good as the rest of the family, just like his father wanted, "Mm-hmm."

"Besides, since you bring guests, why don't you show them to your room? Let them know where you grew up," Primo Sr. offered this idea, which Piranha slowly nodded in agreement.

Through this scene, the other Bad Guys could sense that Piranha and his father didn't have a good relationship, probably before he left to join the team. It must've been a rough childhood for Piranha when it came to impressing his father. They felt bad for their little muscle. Not everyone respected him in this household.

Suddenly, the railings shook as Primo Sr. and Piranha knew where it came from.

From across the room, Primo Sr. called out to one of his paranoid sons, "Prudencio 12! You're chittering hard again!"

"I know, Papà, but I'm nervous for this evening! What do you want from me?!" Prudencio 12 shouted in panic as he marched away.

Without hesitating, Piranha led his friends to his bedroom while hiding his distraught face. The rest of the Bad Guys could sense his sadness too. They felt bad for him that he was forced to step aside and be less helpful to his family. All 6 of them could hear the conversation of Primo Sr. and Prima from the stairs.

"Papà, be nice to Pepe, okay?" Prima pleaded, "You know tonight will be hard for him now that he has returned."

"This is why I'm worried. Your brother came home for the first time in years. I don't want this celebration to be perfect for the family or the whole town, but for him too," Primo Sr. told his daughter about his worries.

The Bad Guys wanted to hear the whole conversation before entering Piranha's room and shut the door. Now that they were inside, no one would hear them talking about what they had just discovered new about Piranha, and they all put their bags down. It wasn't what they had expected from him. He was known as the bravest and toughest guy around, but it turned out that he had a hard time connecting with his biological family.

"That… was a little intense, right? Heh," Shark tried to lighten the mood a little, but it didn't work.

"Piranha, your family is… good… and perfect," Wolf observed from Piranha's relatives when they came in.

"Yeah, they were like… not bad, like we are now," Snake added.

"They weren't like you," Tarantula commented, recalling that no one was crazy or a fighter like Piranha.

"At least your father was happy to see you, and your sister and some of your brothers and cousins are, too," Hornet smiled, trying to cheer his boyfriend up, but Piranha was still sitting sulking on his bed. "Piranha, are you okay?"

"This is exactly why I left, guys," Piranha responded as his friends were silent for a moment to listen to his reason why he left a perfect family behind. "My family… had this reputation. Since my family found this hidden town, and newcomers arrived and lived here, my father wanted our family to set up a good example for the whole town. He wanted our family to show us piranhas that we're not harmful or not as bad as the rest of the world described us, so he wanted us to be perfect and proper. To be the good family of piranhas the whole town expected us to be," he looked out the window and watched a few of his brothers and cousins help the townspeople lift heavy objects and arrange the garden ornaments.

"No wonder no one in this town was afraid of us, or you or your family," Wolf recalled from earlier.

"Well, each of us serves the community without talents, like my older brother Pedro 1, who is a florist; Cousin Paz 2 222 was like a piranha shield; Prospero 172 was one of the cooks of this family, and Prima has good hearing. Each of us has a part to serve the community, and this is how we showed ourselves as examples of good role models for the town," Piranha explained.

"But what about you, Piranha? It seems like you don't have one." Snake pointed out

Wolf gave Snake a hard nudge, not wanting to hurt Piranha after what happened to him and his father. "Shh, Snake!"

"It's true," the little fish admitted, "I didn't serve much, because… this isn't what I want. Because… I want to be free. I could do what I want, good or bad. And ever since my Mamà was gone, my father pressured me. My father wanted me to be something I don't want to be. He wanted me to be a good model, but it was too much. That was how the chaotic side of me was triggered. I want to fight. I want to be bad. I want to be something my father was against! That is why I left. I want to find my own life. Then I went to California, and I met all of you."

From Piranha's story, Hornet realized that his boyfriend almost had a similar dark story with family as his, but a lot different. More like their stories were polar opposites, but it didn't change the fact that they were both the "black sheep" of their respective families. "Oh, Piranha, I'm sorry you had to go through all that."

"And I don't want to come back. I tried to tell you guys."

"You should've told us before," Shark suggested.

"Yeah, and I regret keeping secrets from you guys," Hornet reminded.

"I thought my life before wasn't so important," Piranha described.

Suddenly, the floorboards raised up and down, which made Piranha smile a little.

The other Bad Guys freaked out when the floor suddenly made the bed jump.

"Okay, I'm gonna say this: What is up with this house?!" Tarantula yelled in panic.

Piranha chuckled, "You guys won't believe me when I tell you."

His friends glanced at each other before Snake said, "Okay, then we don't wanna know."

Piranha rolled his eyes, confirming he was sarcastic about what he said, but he knew his friends were eager to know, so he confessed, "Fine! I'll tell you! The flower you guys saw, the flower when my family found this place… well, it's kinda magic. That flower is our light. Our way of finding our new home is like this town. And it just… made our house like this, this living house, Casamilia, and the magic barrier too, to keep us safe and hidden from the danger of the world. That flower never died down since my family found it, so we kept it protected… to keep this magic alive."

The five Bad Guys were very speechless. Magic? Exist? In their world? They wanted it to be new and impossible to believe, but hearing from Piranha, it sounded so true and serious.

"Wow, that... incredible," Hornet complimented, then finishing his sentence, "And totally impossible!"

Piranha clicked his tongue and groaned, "Grr, I knew you guys wouldn't believe me."

"No, Piranha, we do! It's just that… It sounded crazy," Wolf admitted while trying not to make fun out of it.

"Yeah, knowing you, you don't look like a magical type," Tarantula added.

"Well, it's different when you look at other people," Piranha stared at the window, looking outside and frowning, "All that flower ever did was bless us and protect us from the outside world when I feel like I belong in the outside world."

To change the topic, Wolf then questioned, "So, did your family or any of them know what you had been up to while you were gone?"

"No. They don't. I never stayed in touch with my family since I left. With that, I never told them I became part of a criminal gang. That's why I never talked to them or visited them ever since," Piranha answered.

"It explains a lot that nobody knows about us when we arrived," Snake acknowledged from when they first came to town.

"Well, the good news is no one knows about us," Tarantula sighed in relief.

But when Hornet hovered backwards, he accidentally bumped into their bags, but Snake and Shark's bags were left unopened. He could see what was inside each bag, and two of them were filled with papers. Curiously, Hornet opened Shark's bag and noticed the wanted posters of him and his team. "What the?" Hornet opened Snake's bag next, and it contained the same waned posters. "Shark, Snake, what is this?"

This caught everyone's attention as Wolf wanted to look for himself. He took the wanted posters from the bag, and it have his and his team's pictures on them.

"Where did these come from?" He inquired, showing Snake and Shark the posters.

"Snake and I found these at the bus stop. We took them all so no one would recognize us," Shark replied.

"And you didn't throw them in the trash?" Tarantula queried.

"There was no trash bin back there, and the bus arrived when we finished taking them off," Snake noted.

Piranha hopped off the bed and looked at the posters himself. The posters also have his name and face on them too. "If Papà finds out about this, he'll be furious, guys! And he depends on our family to have a good reputation for the whole town!"

They all turned to Wolf. As the team leader, he knew what to do. As they waited, Wolf stared at the posters and imagined how Piranha's family would react if they found out about this. Not only the family but the whole town will be distraught and angered, and their homes will fall and crumble, like a disaster movie.

"We say nothing," Wolf suggested as he gathered all of the posters, crumpled them, and put some of them in his pockets while lowering his voice into a whisper. "I know your dad wants this welcome home party tonight to be perfect. Until the party is finished, we don't have these posters. We're not criminals. We're not called 'The Bad Guys.' We're just good, perfect role models. No one will know that we're the Bad Guys, and no one will know we're infamous criminals. No one will know. Just act normal. No one has to know."

Piranha's door suddenly slowly opened and revealed that Prima was standing in front of the door this whole time and probably heard everything the Bad Guys just said. She made a small squeak, causing the Bad Guys to hear her, and slowly turned around to see her with her eyes widened, and she was frozen in place.

"I know," Prima whispered and squeaked again before running away.

Now someone else knew about their secret; the Bad Guys knew they screwed up.

"She's gonna tell everyone," Piranha said quietly.

"Time to eat!" Primo Sr. called out that it's dinner time.

"Mierda," Wolf said in Spanish.

At the dining room, the very large dining room, the eating table was wide and large for all 900545 family members and guests to get together and eat together. The Bad Guys sat on one side of the end of the table, where they could keep an eye on Prima, who sat across the table. They had to make sure she won't tell anyone.

Primo Sr. hosted the party as he announced to the entire family, "We are gathered here tonight to celebrate the return of little Pepe. The prodigal son has finally come home." He was referred to his youngest son. He sounded so calm and gentle, but Piranha tried to hide his grudge as he knew his father wasn't so happy to have him home. Primo Sr. had to put himself in a "loving father" mode to protect his family reputation as the good piranha family, "I'm so happy that my youngest son has finally returned to where he truly belongs." He then referred to the rest of the Bad Guys, "And we welcomed his friends, uh…" He hadn't gotten their names yet.

Wolf, Snake, Shark, Tarantula, and Hornet never shared each other's names yet, and they couldn't reveal their real names yet as they were too ashamed to speak about their real names.

"Um, my name is Oliver Poodleton," Wolf reused his fake name before introducing the rest of his friends, "And my Snake friend is Greg Scales, the Shark is Craig Seawell, the spider is Charlotte Arachnidia, and the little Hornet is Buzz Stingerson."

"Whaaat?" Hornet wasn't satisfied with Wolf's fake name for him.

"To Pepe and his friends!" Cousin Patricio 11 raised his glass, "Salud!"

"Salud!" The rest of the family cheered.

While the other piranhas were talking to each other, the Bad Guys kept their eyes on Prima, making sure she wouldn't do anything to tell the others about their secret. Even if they had to scoop their own food onto their plates, they had to have their eyes on her.

Prima was a bit afraid when her brother and his friends had their eyes on her. She also had her eyes stare back at them, but she kept making soft squeaks, feeling nervous to try to keep the secret to herself.

The Bad Guys still had their eyes open for Prima, without even a blink. That was until someone shoved a bowl of avocado in front of them.

"Avocado," Paquito 4 007 said while serving the avocado to his younger cousin and his friends.

This distracted the Bad Guys as Piranha held the bowl, and they all turned their gaze back at Prima, but she had already turned her gaze away from them and whispered to her Cousin Perfecto 45, who was sitting next to her.

Prima's news startled Perfecto 45 as he choked on his food and gritted his teeth in shock. Primo Sr. and some of his sons and nephews noticed Perfecto 45's cough but tried to ignore him as he looked okay from their sight.

His brother Pablo 61, noticed the look on Perfecto 45's face as he whispered to him, "Perfecto 45. Relax your face."

Perfecto 45 shook his head to relax his face from cringing. Now Perfecto 45 knew about his youngest cousin's secret.

The Bad Guys gasped in worry, but someone offered a pitcher of water in front of them.

"Water?" Piranha's brother, Prospero 1 333, served water to his little brother.

The pitcher blocked the Bad Guys' sight of Prima and Perfecto 45 as Wolf tried to move the pitcher aside; they saw Perfecto 45 telling the news to his brother.

When Pablo 61, learned about the news, it was a surprise to him as he spat water onto Wolf, which startled everyone.

Realizing he made a fool of himself because of the news about his cousin and his friends, Pablo 61 cleared his throat and tried to act casually.

"Pepe," Primo Sr. called to his youngest son, "The cream, please."

The small cup of cream was next to Snake as Piranha requested him, "Greg, the cream."

Snake chuckled softly and nervously as he kept gritting his teeth while shakily giving the cream to Piranha to pass it on.

Piranha then noticed Pablo 61 passed the secret to his cousin, Prudencio 12, who suddenly chittered while shaking the table as he learned about his little brother being a criminal.

"Prudencio 12, you're chittering." Primo Sr. said when he noticed the table was shaking.

"Calm down, calm down, calm down," Prudencio 12 whispered while trying to calm down.

His eyes were on the shaky table as Piranha failed to notice that his brother told Prospero 172 about this secret, which shocked him as well while staring at him with concern.

Piranha tried to look away from his brother's gaze while drinking a glass of Chicha de piña.

But then, Hornet hovered towards Piranha and whispered to him, "Piranha, why is the floor cracking?"

"What?" This was new to Piranha, or in this house. There were never cracks in this house in forever. He looked under his chair and noticed the crack started growing. He didn't know why these cracks grew, but this was unusual. There was no earthquake. The cracks just appeared and grew. Piranha looked closely at the cracks as he put his head under the table.

"Pepe?" Palacido 1 112 called for his little brother as Piranha bumped his head under the table before freeing himself up and rubbed his head, "Everything okay?"

Piranha didn't know what to answer to his concerned brother until "Craig Seawell" answered for him.

"Everything is great. He was just happy that he's finally home."

"Yep, very happy," Piranha lied but tried to smile for it.

"That's very good. I do hope you'll stay here forever.," Primo Sr. said as he poured some wine in his glass. This shocked Piranha, as this wasn't part of the idea once he came home. Even the other Bad Guys didn't want that either. They didn't want to leave without Piranha. Primo Sr. started to question his son, "So, Pepe, where were you these past few years?"

"Well, I…" Piranha tried to think of something without revealing much about his crime life.

"Do you have a job?" Pedro 1 asked, hoping his brother didn't have one.

"Do you have a girlfriend?" Cousin Perdido 9 questioned dreamily.

"Are you famous?" Panchito 7 017 inquired.

All three questions were too confidential for Piranha from his family. What would he say to the ones who haven't found out his secret yet? His job is being a criminal and a vigilante. He didn't have a girlfriend but a hornet boyfriend? Is he even famous or infamous?

"Well, I am famous for something." Half of it was a lie.

"Tell us," Pio 9 231 asked excitedly as the rest of his family were all ears, wanting to hear the whole story.

Piranha couldn't come up with another lie as he stared at Prima, Perfecto 45, Pablo 61, Prudencio 12, and Prospero 172, hoping they wouldn't say a word about the truth of his real criminal life.

But his friends cut in to save his rear end.

"Why don't we tell you for him?" "Charlotte Arachnidia" volunteered,

"Yeah, because we're… Pepe's best friends!" "Buzz Stingerson" added, not wanting to reveal he was Piranha's boyfriend, and he would lie about his life for him.

His family stared at them in confusion if it was necessary for the youngest piranha to let his guests speak for him.

"Yeah, let them tell you!" Piranha chuckled as he got off the seat and watched his friends and biological family talk to each other.

Since this was about saving Piranha's little butt, they might as well come up with some stories to cover up their crime lives.

"Well, Pepe is a good singer, and he's good at defending us when we're helpless…" "Greg Scales" explained that his indication for Piranha's being a good singer was true, but "defending" was a translation of Piranha's good side of being the team's "muscle."

While his friends distracted his family, Piranha heard a crack growing behind him. Piranha jumped on the crack to cover it with his whole body. This caught everyone's attention as they all looked at Piranha, thinking he was acting weird.

"You're doing great," Piranha winked at his friends, complimenting them on making up lies.

The Bad Guys continued with "Craig Seawell" adding the story, "And he also cooks breakfast for us every morning." It wasn't a total lie. Piranha did cook breakfast for the team.

But then, Piranha noticed his older twin brothers, Paz 67 and Perez 67, sneaking crumpled paper from Wolf's pocket without Wolf himself noticing as he was busy distracting Piranha's family. They were as better pickpockets than he was.

"No, no," Piranha whispered, trying to stop his brothers, but they were alerted by him as they quickly took all the crumpled papers from Wolf's pocket and rushed off under the table.

Even if the other Bad Guys' made-up stories were true, Primo Sr. had doubts about his youngest son, "My Pepe wasn't all perfect, you know. Did he do something… bad?"

Piranha watched in horror as Paz 67 and Perez 67 uncrumpled the papers, half-revealing the wanted posters right in front of their very eyes.

"Uhh…" the five Bad Guys tried to come up with another lie, but they couldn't think of anything else.

"No!" Piranha shouted as he jumped under the table to chase his brothers, but the twins ran with the posters under their possession.

The cracks started to grow more at the ceiling, causing leaks with a few amounts of water dropping down, and birds started to fly inside through open windows, flying around chaotically and in fear.

"What is happening?!" Perfecto 886 cried in distress.

Prima couldn't take it anymore as she screamed out loud, "Pepe is a criminal, and he and his friends are a wanted criminal gang called 'The Bad Guys,' and our reputation is ruined!"

Unexpectedly, Piranha caught Paz 67 and Perez 67 on top of the table and pinned them down, causing the twins to release the uncrumpled papers from their little fins and the posters to slowly fall down on the table, revealing Piranha, Wolf, Snake, Shark, Tarantula, and Hornet's faces with the word "Wanted" under them, and other posters revealing all 6 of them together as a group with their title "The Bad Guys." Primo Sr. and the family were shocked by the posters. They stared at the posters in horror as they realized the prodigal son and his guests were infamous wanted criminals. They all turned to the Bad Guys with horrified faces.

The Bad Guys stood up frozen, not knowing how to explain all this.

"It's not what it looks like," Wolf grinned sheepishly.

That was until cracks started to grow and spread more across the room; the walls and the floor, starting from behind the Bad Guys. The cracks at the ceiling got bigger, causing more water to come out, and the windows and doors opened, revealing the citizens of the town standing outside with a big "Welcome Home" banner for Piranha.

"¡Bienvenido a casa!" They shouted cheerfully until they noticed something was wrong inside, as it wasn't a happy party anymore with water dripping down on the family like rain.

Primo Sr. stared at Piranha in shock. He couldn't believe that his son, his youngest son, was a criminal, and he was friends with other criminals. He couldn't believe that he ruined the family's good reputation, and his son's reputation was so sinister. He ruined his own life. He left home just to live a life of crime.

Piranha and the other Bad Guys were speechless. Their cover was finally blown. They never expected this dinner and meeting the family was a total disaster.

The entire house went into chaos as the Piraña family ran around in panic, thinking that their lives were changing. Now that they knew their little Pepe was a criminal, they couldn't imagine how this would affect the family and the entire town.

"Everyone, please, calm down!" Primo Sr. tried to calm his sons and nephews. Some of them ran out of the doors, thus alerting the town that everything was not okay.

"Papà, please, let me explain!" Piranha tried to reason with his father, but the latter was distracted by keeping the family calm.

"I hate you!" Pedro 1 shouted at his youngest brother while marching away angrily.

"We're so doomed!" Palacido 1 112 cried.

"What did you do?!" Cousin Pasqual 405 scolded while trying to help his uncle and his brothers and cousins to stop panicking.

"Why are you doing this?!" Piranha's brother, Primo Jr., added while crying.

"I… don't… know," Piranha slowly answered as he looked around and watched his panicking family. He didn't know why he was doing this anymore.

He was trapped in his thoughts as he failed to feel that Wolf was grabbing his fin. "Piranha, come on," he dragged the little fish with him when the Bad Guys were rushing upstairs to hide in Piranha's bedroom to avoid being part of the chaos or being finger-pointing about Piranha's family.

Primo Sr. walked outside, where the citizens of Buenafecto showed their concerned faces about what was going on in their households.

"Look, nothing is wrong here. We are good! We are not evil! We are the Piraña Family! We do good for Buenafecto!" Primo Sr. declared before shutting the door, but his voice can still be heard from both inside and out, "Pepe!"

In Piranhas' bedroom, Hornet took a peek through the window and watched as a lot of piranhas were arguing, chattering, and panicking with each other about what they should do now.

"Things aren't looking good out there," the insect observed and told his friends.

Wolf, Snake, and Shark were packing up everything and putting them in their backpacks if they had enough space for their things.

"We should leave quickly, right now, before they come after you, Piranha," Shark told Piranha, but the latter was still silent while sitting on his bed and staring at the floor. He was still lost in his mind.

"Maybe we should sneak through the window and find the way out to where we came from," Snake suggested with the plan.

"Good plan, except someone might see us!" Tarantula shouted, pointing out the obvious backfire of Snake's plan.

"Piranha, what do you think we should do?" Wolf asked him if Piranha knew about this town, so he might know where to escape without being seen, but the little fish didn't answer. He was still in the middle of his mindspace, "Piranha?"

Piranha didn't speak for the past five minutes. His head was in the air, trying to reflect on what he had caused tonight or all his life. He was thinking that if it was worth leaving the family to start a new life in America just to get away from his father and begin a life of crime, but this hurt the family in the process. He didn't want to hurt his family. He loved his family. But he wasn't happy for a long time when he lived here, not even since his mother passed away. He couldn't do anything for himself anymore as long as he was living under his father's will or this town's satisfaction.

"All this time, I thought I was meant to live under my family's shadow…" Piranha paused for a moment. "That I should be good… like them."

The other Bad Guys thought he felt bad for ruining his life and his family for joining the crime world. They felt bad for him that he had a perfect life, and he ruined it just to be with them.

Back with Primo Sr., he was busy trying to calm his sons and nephews down while scolding Prima for knowing the truth and not being able to tell right away before the dinner.

"You should have told me the second you heard that Pepe and his friends were criminals," the elderly piranha bellowed at his daughter. "Think of the family."

"I was thinking of my brother, Papà," Prima glared back at her father.

Primo Sr. could hear more chattering as he told another one of his panicky sons, "Pablo 12, calm down!"

"I'm doing my best!" Pablo 12 tried to stop himself from chattering his teeth.

"Yes. He's trying, Papà," Paciano 83 said while trying to calm his brother down.

You're lucky he didn't shake the whole house," Prudencio 12 commented.

"Papà, you've always been too hard on Pepe, especially ever since Mamà died," Prospero 172 pointed out.

Primo Sr. noticed another crack as he told his children, "Look around. We must protect our family, our Buenafecto. We cannot lose our home."

The door opened when Ria came in to speak with the patriarch, Señor, perdon. People in town are becoming anxious about the town, the magic, and everything that is going on with the family. They want to see you."

Primo Sr. sighed as it was his duty to ease the whole town. He turned to Prospero 172 and Prima and instructed, "Find your brother. I must have a talk with him when I return," he said as he headed outside as the door shut behind him.

Back in Piranha's room, the five Bad Guys tried to comfort Piranha from his shameful feeling while wanting to snap him out of his reflection so they could leave as soon as possible.

"Piranha, we're sorry about tonight. We didn't want you to humiliate us or your crime life with us," Wolf said.

"Yeah, we tried to impress your family that you were good, but…" Shark admitted with a sigh, "It's not that easy, just like when you tried to have your life that was against your father's wishes."

"Come on, Piranha, bring it in," Hornet said as he opened his arms to give his boyfriend a hug. The rest of the Bad Guys did the same. Though Snake didn't have any arms, his tail is still open for Piranha too. But Piranha was still frozen out of realization. He couldn't speak or move or engage in a hug. "Umm, Piranha, honey," Hornet called it, waiting for Piranha to hug the team.

But instead of rushing into his friends' hug, there was something inside of Piranha that he had been dying to release, especially in this house. Something he had always wanted to do his whole life. He never felt free when he was still under the roof before, and he could finally release that feeling that he had been bottling inside.

Piranha:  I just made something unexpected
Something crazy, something bad

"Piranha, uhh, maybe we should...," Wolf called out, but Piranha continued to sing.

Piranha: It's not good or perfect
But it's amazing and it's me
What else can I do?

Wolf, Snake, Shark, Tarantula & Hornet:  Wait. Bring it in, bring it in

Piranha:  (What else can I do?)

Wolf, Snake, Shark, Tarantula & Hornet:  Good talk, bring it in, bring it in
Let's walk, bring it in, bring it in
Free hugs, bring it in, bring it in

Piranha:  I show a good reputation to the world.
Actúo amable, all the while.
I make perfect, polite words
So much hides behind my smile

What could I do if I just thought what I was feelin' in the moment?

Wolf, Snake, Shark, Tarantula & Hornet:  (Do you know where you're going? Whoa)

Piranha:  What could I do if I just knew it didn't need to be good or perfect?
I just needed to be? And they'd let me be?

My bad streak runs salvaje y loca!
Intense fights

Shark:  (Yep)

Piranha:  Thrill of crime!

Wolf:  (That was fine!)

Piranha:  Sin sensación de miedos fills the air as I climb
And I push through
What else can I do?

The floor of Piranha's bedroom suddenly rise up with Piranha on top while his friends trieds to catch up with him from below.

Piranha:  Can I create a wave of chaos and come anew?
Wow, man, my heart is racing; but it's so fun too!
I wanna feel the shiver of something new
I'm so sick of pretending, I want to be true, don't you?

Hornet:  You just seem like your life's been a dream
Since the moment you opened your eyes

Piranha : (How far do these roots go down?)

Hornet:  All I know is how much you grow

Shark, Tarantula, Hornet:  But it's awesome to see how you rise

Wolf, Snake, Shark, Tarantula & Hornet:  How far can you/I rise?

The Bad Guys:  Through the roof, to the skies
Let's go

All the way up to the ceiling, the Bad Guys were sent up on top of the roof of the house.

The Bad Guys:  My bad streak runs salvaje y loca!

Piranha:  Intense fights

Snake:  (Go!)

Piranha:  Thrill of crime!

Tarantula:  (Yeah!)

Piranha:  Sin sensación de miedos fills the air as I climb
And I push through
What else, what else?

The Bad Guys: What can you do when you are deeply, madly, truly in the moment?

Wolf:  (Seize the moment, keep goin')

The Bad Guys: What can you do when you know who you wanna be is bad and imperfect?

Piranha:  But I'll still be okay

Hornet:  Hey, everybody clear the way, woo

The commotion caught the whole town's attention, including Primo Sr., who was trying to reason with the townsfolk. When he looked at the top of the roof of his house, he saw his youngest son singing and dancing with his friends, which made some conclusions about them that disappointed the patriarch.

Piranha:  I'm comin' through with un amor por el lado mala!

Shark:  (He's comin' through with that boo-yeah)

Piranha: Making waves

Wolf, Snake, Shark, Tarantula & Hornet:  (Making waves)

Piranha:  Changing minds

Wolf, Snake, Shark, Tarantula & Hornet:  You've changed mine

Piranha:  The way is clearer 'cause you're here, and well
I owe this all to all of you
What else can I do?

Wolf, Snake, Shark, Tarantula & Hornet:  (Show 'em what you can do)

As they hugged, they noticed the white waterlily glowed, and the cracks of the walls around it started to disappear.

Piranha:  What else can I do?

Wolf, Snake, Shark, Tarantula & Hornet:  (There's nothing you can't do)

Piranha:  What else can I do?

As they dove down, they were caught by a giant waterlily, landing them back on the ground safely.

"You guys are bad influences," Piranha threw one of the small lilies as the Bad Guys laughed joyfully.

"What is going on here?!" Primo Sr. shouted as he entered the house with a mix of confusion and anger on his face.

"Papà, it's okay! Everything's okay." Piranha jumped out of the lily and landed on his feet out of the pond.

The other Bad Guys followed as well, very carefully, when Wolf, Snake, and Shark avoided touching the pond. The rest of the Piraña family heard Primo Sr. yelling as they came out from every

"Mr. Piraña, everything's gonna be fine," Hornet spoke.

"What are you talking about? Look at our home! Look at my son," Primo Sr. pointed at Piranha, who was standing straight and looked down, feeling trapped in a box of shame again.

"Please just… Piranha wasn't happy," Tarantula pointed out.

"Of course Pepe isn't happy. You made him turn into a criminal!" the elderly piranha scolded.

"No, no, no. He didn't want to be perfect like the rest of you. He wanted to decide for himself. And then we did all this!" Shark exclaimed.

Wolf cut in, "We can fix the cracks too if you could let us…"

"Enough!"Primo Sr. shouted, halting the Bad Guys from rambling. He turned his glare to the leader of the gang, "Mr. Poodleton… Mr. Wolf, or whoever you are. You made my son into a bad guy. You all do! You are all bad influences on my son! If my son hadn't met you, he wouldn't leave this family, and he would be a good and perfect example of a piranha for our town! You ruined his life! You ruined his future! You even ruined this family!"

Wolf had nothing else to say to defend himself or his friends. The rest of the gang couldn't say a word. They wanted to prove themselves to Primo Sr. that it wasn't their fault, or this wasn't what he thought of them. It hurt them. His words hurt them more than being seen as criminals. They would try to understand a parent was looking out for their children, but they would never intend to ruin someone else's life, especially if it would be their friend. They realized they would never be good enough to be part of Piranha's life if his father never approached them.

"Bad Guys, I think you should leave. Leave now, and never come back," Primo Sr. ordered strictly at the Bad Guys before passing through them and commanded his son, "Come on, Pepe. Go to your room." But Piranha just stood there, frozen, and his fins clenched. Primo Sr. noticed out of the corner of his eye that his son didn't move. He turned and demanded, "I said, go to your room, Pepe!"

Piranha turned to face his father with glaring eyes. "You know what, Papà? You don't have the rights."

"Excuse me?" Primo Sr. inquired sternly.

"You don't have the right to say all that to my friends!" Piranha yelled, much to his entire family and friends' horror. They've never seen anyone stand up to the patriarch like that.

"Do you even listen to yourself?!" the piranha father spoke through his gritted teeth.

"Oh, I am! I am listening! I'm defending my friends from the likes of you!" Piranha shouted.

"Enough, Pepe! Would you rather defend your friends over your own family? You'd rather choose them over us?! You want to be with this big bad Wolf, a sinister Snake, a dangerous Shark, a menacing Tarantula, and a stupid Hornet?!"

"Shut up, Papà! Don't you dare call Hornet stupid! Don't ever call that to my boyfriend!"

All of his brothers, cousins, and sister gasped in shock. It wasn't the fact that their youngest brother/cousin was in a relationship with a guy, but it was his relationship with a bug. A Hornet. A different species. It has never been planned by their father/uncle.

But, out of all of the piranhas in the room, Primo Sr. has the most disappointed reaction. He never planned for his son to be matched with someone outside of his species. His son wasn't just a criminal, but also a disgrace of his kind. "No! Are you out of your mind?! Do you know what you put yourself into?!"

"I know where I am now, Papà! This is my decision! This is me! This is what I want to be! It was never my friend's fault. I wanted to take this path for my life! I would feel bad if I hurt you, but we both know I didn't do many years to make it comfortable for all of us to have this family, but it was never enough. Theonlyreason I have sacrificed my own likings and happiness from your pressure and expectations for all of us to be good and perfect is for this family to be happy and complete and to satisfy you like everyone else did for you and the whole town," Piranha blinked and panted, finally unleashing all his anger onto his father that he had kept holding for a long time. "I can't do this anymore! I want out! Now!"

"What do youmean,out?"

"I meanout!Outof this place,outof your roof! I'm leaving this family FOR GOOD!"

"HOW DARE YOU!" Primo Sr. marched forwards as Piranha shrank backwards, looking slightly frightened of him. "What do you think the rest of the Buenafecto will think?" He lifted his fin and didn't hesitate to hit his son, "And Pepa—!"

Piranha caught his father's fin, stopping him before he could hit his face and cutting him off, "Leave Mamà out of this! And I'm already 26, so I'm old enough to make my own life and my own decisions myself. So, it's over! I'm done!"

This was the first time ever that Primo Sr. had his fin stopped from hitting his own children and nephews.

Both father and son stared intensely before the father pulled his fin away from his son in a silent rage. "Fine! I don't want any criminal to stay in my house. You're a disgrace, Pepe. A disgrace to our family, our town, and our species. You have fallen from what little dignity you had, and I know you'llpayfor it."

When Primo Sr. walked away, Piranha got a chance to glance at his brothers, cousins, and sister, who silently watched the entire scene. He could sense they were disappointed in him for bringing disgrace to their family and ruining their reputation in the town.

It was true.

His family wanted nothing to do with him anymore. It was his fault he chose this life, and they didn't want to be part of it. They all left the area, turning their heads away from him, showing their disapproval for Piranha behavior and life decisions.

All that was left was his sister. Piranha hoped Prima would understand him. The two have always been inseparable, but this was the first Prima hesitated to defend him. She was as disappointed as the rest of the family. She still loved her brother, but she didn't want to be part of her brother's criminal life. She sadly hung her head down and walked away.

That was it. Feeling hopeless, Piranha accepted his family didn't love him anymore because of his choice. There was nothing for him left in this house anymore.

The Bad Guys approached Piranha closely to check if he was okay. Piranha turned to his friends, and he had no response to their comfort, but he appreciated their gesture.

On their way across town, the Bad Guys were heading back to where they came in. Along the way, the townsfolk started to glare at them and spread gossips about them silently. When the Bad Guys got here, the people didn't know about them and were happy to welcome guests, but now, they were angry at them and finally knew that they were the Bad Guys. They were no longer welcome in this town anymore. Instead of hearing screams or being thrown by garbage and rotten food, it was more hurtful to watch other people talking about them so cruelly and harshly.

The Bad Guys made it to the entrance, or exit. When they passed through the invisible barrier, Piranha gave one last look at his hometown. No one gave him a smile or a goodbye this time. Everyone hated him now. He accepted this fate as he stepped out of the barrier.

He was back in the Amazon forest with his friends. There was no turning back now since he was disowned by his family, and he was self-exiled. It was his choice to leave, and he had no regrets for this. He had no regrets for defending his friends and joined them out of town. This was the life he wanted now.

Hornet could help but felt sorry for Piranha. He didn't want him to defend him and the team from his father. It was the bravest thing Piranha ever did for them. He hovered down to his boyfriend's face to look at him. "Piranha, are you okay?"

Deep down, he wasn't okay. He just got disowned. But he still has no regrets about choosing his friends over his biological family. His friends are his family now too, and he would do whatever it takes to defend his family. "Yeah, I'm good."

It was an intense trip. Wolf sighed as he declared to his team, "Come on. Let's get back to the jet, even if it means we'll be walking back."

As the team agreed and followed Wolf's lead, Piranha was done sulking. He stood up and decided to walk with them. The Bad Guys are his home now. He would stay closer to them, wherever they go.

"Too bad we never get to see Piranha's girlfriend," Shark mentioned.

Piranha instantly punched him on the side, causing Shark to stumble into the bushes.

Back in Buenafecto, the town remained the same, untouched and calm, but the Casa Piraña still had cracks all over. There weren't any more cracks formed or disappeared either. Just the cracks that were already formed. Casamilia remained normal but silent. The glowing white waterlily was still safe… but began to lose its glow.

Cast:

Anthony Ramos - Mr. Piranha,  Paciano 83, Panchito 7, 017

Sam Rockwell - Mr. Wolf

Marc Maron - Mr. Snake

Craig Robinson - Mr. Shark

Awkwafina - Ms. Tarantula

Rhenzy Feliz - Mr. Hornet

Adassa – Prima

Mauro Castillo – Primo Sr.

John Leguizamo - Paz 67, Perez 67

Pedro Pascal - Paz 2 222

Cheech Marin - Pablo 61, Pablo 12

Harvey Gullian - Palacido 1112, Palomo 480, Paquito 4007

Diego Luna - Pasqual 731, Pasqual 405

Andre Cisneros - Patricio 11

Freddie Prinze Jr. - Perdido 9, Perico 1089

George Lopez - Perfecto 45, Perfecto 886

Rico Rodriguez - Prospero 172

Danny Trejo - Prudencio 12

Melissa Villaseño r  - Ria

Author
Aggimagination

Co-Author
MasterClass60
TU4QU0I53T4IAN6L3

Next on The Bad Guys: The Baddest Trip...

Hornet: I always wondered what it was like to be in the origin of my species. I was called an "Asian Giant Hornet," but another term for that was a "Japanese Hornet." But I don't feel Japanese.

Snake: It's because you've never been to Japan.

Shark: Why don't we go there?

Hornet: But you promised me we'd do something Japanese.

Piranha: Mi amor, I know you wanna see Japan... but we're down to our last million yen.

Shark: It's a crane. The Japanese believe they bring good luck.

Hornet: Oh, it's beautiful, Shark.

Chapter Text

Previously on The Bad Guys: The Baddest Trip...

Piranha:  Welcome to Letifecto.

Prima: Aah! My little hermano has finally come home!

Primo Sr.: We are gathered here tonight to celebrate the return of little Pepe. The prodigal son has finally come home.

Piranha:  If Papà finds out about me became part of a criminal gang, he'll be furious, guys! And he depends on our family to have a good reputation for the whole town!

Prima:  Pepe is a criminal, and he and his friends are a wanted criminal gang called 'The Bad Guys,' and our reputation is ruined!

Primo Sr.: Do you know what you put yourself into?!

Piranha:  The only reason I have sacrificed my own likings and happiness from your pressure and expectations for all of us to be good and perfect is for this family to be happy and complete and to satisfy you like everyone else did for you and the whole town!

Prospero 172: Papà, you've always been too hard on Pepe, especially ever since Mamà died

Learning Japan

The Bad Guys were up for another around-the-world trip. Shark took a sip of the champagne while watching the sky and the clouds through the window. It was a good view of the ocean.

"Do you think we have a chance to stop by in India?" he asked before taking a bite on a shrimp.

Snake took his blindfold off and groaned about the topic, "I don't wanna go back to India. I dated a tapeworm once, and she made me barf."

Shark and Tarantula glanced at each other and cringed in disgust about that fact from Snake.

Meanwhile, Hornet set up a board plan that pinned pictures of vacation sites per country to decide where to go next.

"Has anyone tried China?" Wolf called from the cockpit.

Tarantula rolled her eyes and gagged, "Don't get me started. They want me to wear those chopsticks, and it didn't work out for me."

Suddenly, the turbulence shook the jet and caused some of the pictures to fall off. Hornet caught some of them, while others reached the floor. When Hornet readied to scoop the fallen pictures, he encountered a picture of the city of Tokyo, Japan.

As he stared at it, Hornet began to think what it was like in Japan. He also realized about his species and figured out where they came from. This idea came to Hornet as he wanted to try it for himself.

"Hornet, are you okay?" Piranha approached him from behind, feeling concern for his boyfriend.

Hornet appreciated that his boyfriend was looking out for him. He turned to him and gave out a smile, gesturing he was okay, but Hornet looked back at the board, staring at the photo of Tokyo, and sighed, "I always wondered what it was like to be in the origin of my species. I was called an 'Asian Giant Hornet,' but another term for that was a 'Japanese Hornet.' But I don't feel Japanese."

"It's because you've never been to Japan," Snake overheard Hornet's confession.

"Why don't we go there?" Shark suggested.

"Yeah, I mean, we got a chance to visit my home country, and it was a bust," Piranha recalled, "Now let's try yours."

Hornet felt hesitant with this idea, but this was what he wanted too, so he couldn't say no to this once-in-a-lifetime offer to visit his origin, "Yeah, I think that would be okay."

"Yay! The Bad Guys are going to Japan!" Wolf howled before hearing the bang of a gong.

At the cabin, it was Shark banging the gong as he held it with one fin and the other held its mallet. "What? I always wanted to do this," he struck the gong again.

The jet flew in a different direction to head for Japan.

When Wolf found a hidden place to land the jet, just behind Mt. Fuji, the other Bad Guys packed up the stuff they needed for the trip in Japan, but Snake wasn't so excited for this trip. He has no bag to bring this time, not for this country.

Wolf noticed Snake's grumpy face as he sat beside him. "Come on, Snake. Japan will be fun. You liked The Last Samurai."

"That's not how I remember it," Snake uttered. "Besides, if we wanna see Japanese people... we could have gone to Harvard University."

"Snake!" Wolf exclaimed for Snake offending Japanese people.

"What? The guy who runs the academic program is Japanese. His name is Satoshi," Snake explained. "He's in my book club."

Meanwhile, Hornet found a brochure and told his boyfriend, "Look, Piranha, the brochure was written in haiku!

Best restaurants here.
Flowers dance in air.
Watch for street races."

When the Bad Guys traveled to Tokyo, the Bad Guys found themselves a hotel where the bellhops bowed to them in their presence as they passed through the door.

"Wow, they bowed so much, they never noticed us or figured out who we are," Tarantula whispered to Hornet, who chuckled at her observation.

"Japan is so welcoming and polite," Wolf stated after receiving the key from the front desk.

The Bad Guys found themselves a room after checking in, and the doors were Shoji.

"Here's our room," Shark declared as he walked through the doors, ripping the sheets of Shoji paper.

"Shark, you're supposed to slide those doors open," Wolf scolded as he and the other Bad Guys walked through the hole Shark created.

"I don't have time for that," Shark then threw their bags into the closet that also has a shoji door. Like what he did to the door, Shark refused to slide the door open as he threw the bags through the doors, ripping the sheets and punching a large hole through it.

And just like the last two doors, Shark walked himself through the Shoji door to the bathroom. There, he encountered a talking toilet.

"Welcome. I am honored to accept your waste."

Shark pushed a button on a nearby keypad, and the toilet made dancing water like a fountain, "They're years ahead of us."

Meanwhile, while settling in. Snake turned the TV on and saw Shark above the toilet bowl.

"Hey guys. Check it out. Shark's on TV," Snake called his friends, and they gathered around to watch Shark without realizing they were watching through the toilet.

Back in the bathroom, Shark removed his pants and sat on the toilet to take a number 2.

"What a relief!" He sighed but failed to hear his friends screaming at the bedroom when they were watching TV.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" The other Bad Guys' screams muffled in Shark's perspective.

At the window, Hornet was sightseeing and could see all of Tokyo from up there.

"It's breathtaking." Hornet smiled as he saw one of the tourist attractions, "Look. There's the Himeji Castle." Then, he saw another one, "The Nara Park!" and shifted to a factory that has a 'Hello Kitty' logo on it, "The Hello Kitty factory."

As one of the trucks drove away, the cats yowled loudly from the factory inside, and smoke fumed out of the smokestacks.

Hornet looked back at his friends and asked, "Who's up for some exploring?"

"Hey, I'm still checking out Japanese TV." Snake turned the volume up. "Isn't this that cartoon that causes seizures?"

The Japanese cartoon showed a little Pokémon-like monster was ready to attack while the foreground and background rapidly flashed bright light onscreen.

The flashing light caused Snake to fall to the floor; his muscles jerked and stiffened and twitched uncontrollably.

"Snake, what are you doing?" When Wolf turned to the TV to see what Snake was watching, he had the same reaction as he fell to the floor and his body twitched like crazy.

Hornet turned to the TV as well as his eyes widened, "Hey, what the—" He fell to the floor with his wings stiffened, unable for him to flap, and twitched uncontrollably as well.

"Hey, what is tha—?" Tarantula crawled on the bed to see what was happening and had her eyes on the TV before falling on her back; her body stiffened and twitched.

Piranha took a look at the cartoon and had no effect on him at first. "This cartoon won't give me any—" But he stared at the TV for another second, and it caused him to stiffen and twitch too.

Shark came out from the bathroom and watched his friends twitching on the ground. He didn't know what was going on, so he shrugged and said, "Hmm, alright." He fell on the ground and twitched alongside them.

When the show changed to the commercial, the effect of the seizure wore off from the Bad Guys, and they got up in their normal state.

"Whoo! All that seizing made me hungry," Snake said.

"Me too. Let's go to an authentic Japanese noodle house," Hornet said excitedly.

"The toilet recommended a place called Americaworld," Shark noted.

"Shark, we didn't come halfway around the world to eat at Americaworld," the little insect pointed out.

"I'd like to see the Japanese take on the club sandwich," Piranha commented, "I bet it's smaller and more efficient."

"We now return to 'Seizure-fighting Mightymons,'" the TV proclaimed as it switched back to the episode, and it gave the Bad Guys a seizure again as they fell on the floor and their bodies twitched.

In the AmericaWorld, the tables were shaped like the states of the USA and were arranged by the right location, and on stage, there were animatronics dancing that all looked like American models, like the Statue of Liberty, Abraham Lincoln, Snoopy the Beagle, Marilyn Monroe, Muhammad Ali, and Neil Armstrong.

The Bad Guys found themselves a table that was the state of Arkansas.

"I can't believe they stuck us at "Narc-can-sas!" Shark complained as they sat down, "Hey, you know, I once knew a man from Little Rock."

"And?" Tarantula asked,

"Let's just say the stories about him are greatly exaggerated."

"Howdy, neighbors," a Japanese waiter greeted them, wearing a blue shirt, orange pants, and a cowboy hat. "I am average American Joe salaryman waiter."

Tarantula looked at the menu and complained about the price, "These prices suck. 20,000 yen for fries?"

"Don't you serve anything that's even remotely Japanese?" Hornet requested.

"Don't ask me. I don't know anything." The waiter responded, "I am a product of the American education system. I also build poor-quality cars and inferior-style electronics."

Shark laughed, "Oh, they got our number."

Later, the Bad Guys were exploring the city when they stopped by the fruit stall.

"One square watermelon, please," Shark asked as he gave the vendor a bill, and he gave him the square watermelon.

"Oh, my goodness. Shark, those are $1.50," Tarantula calculated.

"It's worth every cent. I'm tired of fumbling with round fruit," Shark admitted before the watermelon in his fins expanded into its rounded shape, and he accidentally dropped it on the ground.

"Well, maybe we should just head back to the hotel," the team leader recommended.

"But you promised me we'd do something Japanese." Hornet pleaded

"Oh, of course you're right!" Shark exclaimed, "You know, I read about the Children's Peace Monument... where it commemorates Sadako Sasaki and the thousands of— Run, Snake!" He blurted out as he and Snake rushed away from the team, deciding to explore Japan on their own.

Snake and Shark ended up in the Sumo Stadium, where they could watch Sumo wrestling. The sumo wrestler was pouring salt all over the ring while the audience was watching.

"Mmm. Fifty-dollar popcorn," Shark hummed before noticing the wrestler, "Hey, what's Baby Huey doin'?"

"Says here they throw salt before they wrestle to purify the ring," Snake replied, reading the brochure.

"Hmm," Shark looked at his food as he figured he wanted some salt on his popcorn. Shark climbed up on the ring and asked the wrestler, "Spare some salt, chubby?"

"'Chubby?'" The wrestler spoke in Japanese, "`Po tchari' to iu namae wa kizutsukimasu. Watashi no taijū no mondai wa sen ni yoru monodakaradesu. Anata wa sore o taberu tsumoridesu ka?" The wrestler snatched the popcorn from Shark, "Yoink."

"Hey, that's mine!" Shark whined as he charged at the wrestler to retrieve his popcorn, but the wrestler pinned him down.

At the edge of the ring, Shark was able to reach for Snake. He held his fin to him as Snake offered his tail to him. Shark tagged his tail with his fin, which meant to pass the fight to the one who tagged the other.

It was his turn to fight as Snake grabbed a chair and beat the wrestler with it, claiming him defeated. "Like we say in my county, 'Hasta la vista, baby.'" Shark said as he retrieved his popcorn.

Just then, Emperor Naruhito arrived, mistaking Shark for a sumo wrestler, as he approached him on the ring, "Congratulations. I am the emperor."

"Yeah? And I'm " Thrasha-minus," Shark also thought the emperor was another sumo wrestler as he lifted him up, spun him in the air, and threw him into a box of Sumo Thongs.

"All hail Emperor Thrashaminus," Shark cheered for himself, but the audience booed at him, and Snake facepalmed, knowing Shark screwed this up.

Snake and Shark were sent to prison, where they were both wearing kimonos. Shark was pouring tea on a small table, and Snake was painting Mt. Fuji.

The Japanese police unlocked and opened the prison bars and declared, "Your friends have paid your bail, Misutā Sunēku and Misutā Shāku."

Wolf, Piranha, Tarantula, and Hornet were standing right beside the cop, revealing that they were the ones who bailed them out.

"Thank golly. Couldn't take another minute in this hellhole," Shark said nervously before eating a bowl of noodles before giving the finished bowl to the female Japanese, and they bowed to each other.

When Snake exited the opening door, Shark passed through the Shoji door instead, ripping another hole through the sheets.

After they left the police station, the Bad Guys walked at the park, but Hornet was still saddened that they wasted their time and money to bail Snake and Shark from prison.

"Now can we do something Japanese?" he begged.

Shark groaned in frustration, "Oh, I'm sick of doing Japanese stuff. In jail we had to partake in this dumb tea ceremony where you sip from a bowl instead of a cup... and I wanted to have biscuits, but they made me eat dumplings."

"Then we had to do two hours of origami... followed by flower arranging and meditation," Shark added, expressing his exhaustion at jail.

"Karera ni kokoro no heiwa no himitsu o oshierubekideshou ka?" Shark asked Snake in Japanese.

Surprisingly, Snake replied to him, also in Japanese, "Īe, karera wa gaikoku no akumadesu."

"Mi amor, I know you wanna see Japan... but we're down to our last million yen," Piranha explained as he took out the last paper bill.

"Don't worry, little bug. I'll show you something Japanese," Shark gently ruffled Hornet's head before taking the money from Piranha and folding it into a crane.

"Oh, it's beautiful, Shark," Hornet complimented impressively.

"It's a crane. The Japanese believe they bring good luck."

"Oh, be careful. We need that money for the rest of our trip. Besides, we landed our jet very far, and we won't have enough money to pay for the hotel and a trip back," Wolf cautiously warned.

But then, the wind blew, and it took the folded money with it, making the paper crane fly away.

"No!" Wolf and Piranha shouted.

"Īe" Shark yelled in Japanese.

Since the Bad Guys have a little money left, they forced themselves to have a temporary job. They were now working at the seafood factory, where they had to cut the fish open, remove its insides, and throw them back into the pile.

"Every truckload of fish we gut brings us 31 cents closer to our trip home," Wolf said as he kept cutting fish before removing its insides.

Hornet felt hesitant to kill the fish and remove their insides, but he tried not to think about their deaths. He still feels bad for them. He sobbed all the way, "Oh, why do they have to die?! Why?!" He then whispered to the one he was killing, "Don't worry... you can't be hurt anymore."

"And I think I finally found what I was put on this Earth to do," Piranha chuckled joyfully as he kept slicing fish open and removing their guts. "Knife goes in, guts come out. Knife goes in, guts come out."

Just then, Piranha found a fish that could talk as he cried for his mercy, "Spare my life and I will grant you three wi—AAHHH!" But Piranha failed to see or hear the talking fish as he kept slicing him open and pulled its guts out.

"Knife goes in, guts come out," Piranha continued his ramble.

After that hard work for hours, the Bad Guys earned some money, enough to pay the hotel service. They traveled back to the hotel by foot. They didn't want to spend more money on taking a cab.

"Great. We earned just a little," Hornet mentioned as they arrived at the hotel.

Wolf decided to go ahead of his friends to give half of the money they earned to the counter, "Let's just pay back the hotel, and we'll use the money we have left to get back to the jet."

While Wolf paid the bills, there should be another to get back to the jet, fast and easy. Then, Hornet looked up, and there was a large banner hanging from the ceiling that showed an illustration of a train. This gave Hornet an idea, "Do we have enough for a train?"

Snake, Shark, Piranha, and Tarantula gazed at Hornet, readying to listen to him.

After checking out from the hotel, the Bad Guys got their bags and headed to the train station. A lot of people walked in different directions as it was one of the busiest places in Tokyo. Everyone in this country liked taking the train more than driving their cars or riding in cabs.

The Bad Guys found themselves in a line where they had to pay for their tickets for their train.

When they reached the computer, Tarantula managed to check on which plane they should get into to get to Mt. Fuji. As a tech wiz, Tarantula knew what she was doing. When the boys gave her the money they had left, she put it all into the ticket computer, and the screen showed 4 different kinds of trains: blue, red, yellow, and green. One of them could get them to Mt. Fuji. Tarantula chose green, and the machine slot slid out 6 green tickets; one for each of them.

When they got the tickets, they were trying to find where the green train was. They just had to follow the colored lines below their feet. They followed the green line, and ahead was the green train, just arrived. The gang let a line of people pass first, and when it was clear, it was their turn to move ahead to reach for the green train. But a dozen other passengers stampede on them, pushing the Bad Guys to the wrong train: a blue train! They were squeezed in very tightly in the train as there was no way to get out.

The doors were closed; the train was leaving the station. The train moved fast, like a speeding rollercoaster. The shockwave of the fast train caused the road to snap off, and the cars were flown off the ground. They were stacked in towers now. The train moved onto elevated tracks as the passengers inside were bumping into each other and the walls while trying to keep themselves standing. This caused the Bad Guys to shift from their spots and accidentally split up from each other.

Though the boys ended up near the exit of the cart, Tarantula was left behind to where they were a second ago.

"Guys, guys, where are you?!" Tarantula called out to her friends.

"Webs, we're here!" She could hear Wolf's voice, but not nearby.

Tarantula climbed out of the crowd and saw his friends at the end of the cart. Then, she had to come to them. Tarantula dove back into the crowd and crawled up on one man's sleeve. He jumped to another man and came out from the other man's jacket through the opening of its collar. Tarantula then crawled into a nearby man's jacket and appeared from the shorter man's hat. Her legs were shown from under the hat, and she crawled up to the taller man's head, which she tripped on the wig, and it landed on the shorter man's bald head. Tarantula dropped her "hat disguise" as it fell on the taller man's head, and she jumped onto the next man's pocket. Tarantula tried to squeeze herself out between two people with her rear end coming out first but didn't notice there was a sharp spike behind her, which poked her rear end and caused her to yelp.

Tarantula noticed the next group of passengers was wearing spiky clothing. With no way through without getting poked, she opened the briefcase and got herself in before lifting herself up like an elevator to the man's newspaper. She passed above the spiky passengers using the tsurikawas. Tarantula finally made it to her friends, who cheered for her for passing through that crowd and landed on Shark's shoulder.

"Good work, Webs," Shark commented.

"Now let's get…" Hornet turned around, and before he could finish, something else blocked him.

There was a fat guy blocking the Bad Guys' way to the exit with no gaps on both sides to slide in. The Bad Guys didn't know what to do now until they noticed the green train was heading the same direction as the blue train. Realizing they might have a chance to catch up with the right train, the Bad Guys weren't ready to give up. They had to find a way to get through this giant guy.

Shark was confident that he could take this guy down as he shoved his friends aside. "Step aside, my friends. Let me handle this."

But Snake held Shark's grip with his tail, recalling the incident the latter made hours ago, "Oh no. You had quite enough since that sumo ring."

"Guess I'll do what I can do best," Piranha volunteered to fix this problem.

He took his shirt and shoes off and made his pants into a loincloth. Piranha whistled to the overweight man to get his attention. When the man turned to the little fish, Piranha gestured to challenge him into a sumo wrestling match by marching both his legs apart.

Knowing this gesture, the overweight man accepted the challenge as he ripped his clothes off, having nothing but a loincloth. The overweight man and Piranha were ready to engage in sumo wrestling. The two charged at each other with screams until Piranha slid below the giant man between his legs, which fooled the larger man to crash into a crowd of commuters, giving the Bad Guys a way now to the exit.

The Bad Guys were impressed by Piranha's strategy without using violence.

"That's impressive, Piranha," Wolf clapped his paws.

Piranha smiled confidently before receiving his clothes back when Hornet saved them for him. "I'm glad I tipped that off," he put his clothes back on.

The Bad Guys had a chance to climb over the crushing crowd to reach for the exit.

Now they were outside, the Bad Guys clung to the roof of the blue train as it raced along the tracks. The train was so fast as its tracks were curved and dove down like a real rollercoaster ride. When they stood up, ahead where railroad signs as the Bad Guys narrowly avoided them all, no matter how fast this train was. They continued to keep their feet on top of the train as it headed into a tunnel.

Inside the tunnel was like a pixelated video game, similar to Super Mario Bros, when the Bad Guys hopped, dodged obstacles, and collected coins and hearts for lives.

After the blue train exited the tunnel, the Bad Guys showed to be handling a bunch of cold coins from the game. They immediately kept them in their pockets and bags, or in Snake's stomach in this case, to save them when they needed them. They then noticed the green train had pulled up alongside the red train, and they tried to jump to its roof. But their attempts to jump got interrupted when a billboard was blocking their way. They tried to jump again, but another billboard was ahead of them. They tried to jump again but were repeatedly interrupted by more billboards until the green train drifted away from them and headed down below, where the Bad Guys could no longer reach it. Eventually, the blue rain crossed over a bridge that passed over the green train's path. Seeing this opportunity, Wolf had an idea to reach the train.

"Guys, we gotta jump!" He suggested.

The rest of the Bad Guys exclaimed in disbelief," What?!"

"Are you crazy?!" Snake yelled.

"Trust me. We must jump when I say so!" Wolf instructed.

The Bad Guys leaned in closer together, waiting for Wolf's signal to jump. When the green train passed by below the blue train's bridge, it was their chance to catch the train.

"NOW!" Wolf shouted.

All the Bad Guys jumped off the blue train and fell downwards, passing the flock of ducks, and finally landed on the roof of the green train. Wolf's pants suddenly left behind, but he got the chance to retrieve them.

Right on time, the train arrived at its destination, near Mt. Fuji. When the passengers of the green train went in one direction, the Bad Guys rushed in the other direction, where they found their hidden jet plane.

Finally, they could leave this country.

Wolf started the jet as the Bad Guys fastened their seatbelts in the cabin, and they could finally rest from their complicated trip in Japan.

"Goodbye, Japan. I'll miss your teriyaki chicken and your complicated storylines in anime!" Piranha waved goodbye at the sight of Japan through the window as the jet was taking off.

"Oh, Japan, isn't it beautiful?" Hornet sighed as he gazed on the home country of his species one last time.

"I hope you're not disappointed we didn't do anything Japanese," Tarantula apologized as if Hornet was upset about their trip.

"Eh, it's fine. At least I get to see Japan and know the origin place of my species," Hornet admitted, much to his friends' delight. "And I'm never coming back to this place ever again," the bug confessed, flying into the other cabin.

The other Bad Guys were frozen in shock at Hornet's thoughts about Japan.

Cast:

Michael Godere - Mr. Wolf

Chris Diamantopoulos - Mr. Snake

Ezekiel Ajeigbe - Mr. Shark

Raul Ceballos - Mr. Piranha

Mallory Low - Ms. Tarantula

Eugene Lee Yang - Mr. Hornet

Hiroshi Kamiya - Emperor Naruhito, Japanese police officer

Kenjiro Tsuda – Talking toilet, Commercial announcer, Sumo wrestler

Gedde Watanabe – Japanese waiter, Talking Fish

Author
Aggimagination

Co-Author
MasterClass60

Next on The Bad Guys: The Baddest Trip...

Snake: Come on, Piranha, out of all the world, why do you want to go to Spain?

Piranha: I lived in Bolivia, but I feel Hispanic in Spain.

?: Worried that you might get lost? I think I can help with that.

Piranha: Fuchsia?

Shark: Wow, she seems very nice.

Piranha: Yeah, I'd never seen her this nice before

Fuchsia: That's my Pepe… That's my Pepe.

Chapter Text

Trouble In Spain

Somewhere in Spain, the Bad Guys' jet landed and parked somewhere hidden out of plain sight. Already in Barcelona, the Bad Guys entered the city, where they waited on the sidewalk for the traffic light to go. It was a busy street for them to cross without the pedestrian traffic light to signal "Go."

"Come on, Piranha, out of all the world, why do you want to go to Spain?" Snake complained.

When Piranha opened his mouth to answer, Hornet cut him off and guessed, "And don't say you want to take me out on a romantic date. The whole world is already romantic."

Piranha rolled his eyes and smiled in defeat, "Alright, fine. I wanna go to Spain because it has good Spanish culture here. I mean, I lived in Bolivia, but I feel Hispanic in Spain."

"Not to mention its historical colonization in a lot of countries," Hornet mentioned to the rest of the team.

"I also want to learn their other practices, like their sword fighting, taming bulls, and some romantic gestures."

"That also counts as asking me out on a date here."

"Trust me, it'll be all worth visiting."

When the traffic lights signaled "go" for pedestrians, the Bad Guys safely crossed the street to explore the city.

Later, they ended up near the Basilica De La Sagrada Familia church, where the Bad Guys couldn't stop staring all the way up to the top. It was a big and beautiful building they had ever seen.

"You're right, Piranha, Barcelona is a beautiful city, especially by this big church," Tarantula admitted.

"I wonder how high I can reach there," Hornet said, imagining himself flying all the way to the top of one of the towers.

Now that they had seen this place, Piranha thought there were more places to explore in Spain. "Where do you guys wanna go next?"

"Piranha, we're not familiar with the place. We don't know where to go," Wolf noted.

"Yeah, we might get lost in this country," Snake added.

"Worried that you might get lost?" A female voice called out. On their left, a female piranha held a map before putting it down to reveal her face. "I think I can help with that."

Piranha was familiar with this fellow piranha, "Fuchsia?"

"Hola, Pepe," Fuchsia waved hello at him.

Piranha rushed to the female piranha and hugged her. "Hey. What are you doing here?"

"Oh, I've been in Spain for a while. It's like it's been my home," Fuchsia responded.

"No wonder I haven't heard from you in years."

"And you've been gone for years."

"Umm, hi there," Wolf interrupted the conversation when he and the rest of the team joined them. "Piranha, can you tell us who she is?"

"Oh, right," Piranha chuckled, "Hermanos, this is Fuchsia. She was a good friend of mine since I was a kid back in my old town." Then he turned to the female piranha, "Fuchsia, these are my friends: Wolf, Snake, Shark, and Webs, and this is Hornet. He's my boyfriend," he gently held Hornet on his fin.

"Oh! Ay caramba! You never told me you like boys!" Fuchsia exclaimed surprisingly.

"I like girls too. There are people like that," Piranha noted.

"Oh yes, of course," Fuchsia smiled calmly, "You know, your family missed you."

The thought of home reminded Piranha of the incident he caused with his family. He wasn't hesitant to lie to Fuchsia about it: "I've already been home. They don't want me anymore."

Fuchsia's face dropped as she could sense it wasn't very good between Piranha and his family. "Oh. I'm so sorry about that, Pepe."

"Yeah, well, I have my friends now." Piranha extended his fins around his team. "They're family to me."

"Aww, that's so sweet," the female piranha grinned, "I can show you amigos around, huh? Maybe catch up with some lunch."

"That would be great," the little fish agreed.

When Fuchsia walked off, Piranha followed, as did the Bad Guys.

"I kinda like her," Tarantula whispered.

The Bad Guys and Fuchsia had lunch at Bodega Biarritz, where they were laughing at stories about Piranha while eating.

"He did! Pepe literally made the bees angry when we tried to get some honey from their hive," Fuchsia held her laughter while recalling that memory.

"Hey, I was foolish enough to fight those bees," Piranha admitted while taking a bite of the piece of tortilla de patatas.

"You're lucky I'm not a bee," Hornet pointed, making everyone laugh loudly.

"And you must tell me. Did Pepe ever get shot by a bullet?" Fuchsia asked the Bad Guys after they revealed their crime job to her.

"No, but he got attacked by a possum when he wanted to challenge it into a wrestling match!" Shark answered as everyone laughed hysterically, except for Piranha, who felt embarrassed by that moment.

"Come on, guys, enough about me," Piranha chuckled shamefully before turning to Fuchsia, "What have you been up to? Fuchsia? It's like you know about Spain more than anyone."

"Well, I've been a lot of places here, but I do practice fencing, and I was going to watch the bull run today."

"That's awesome! Maybe we should catch up with you, and we'll watch together."

"Yeah, it'll be so much fun," Wolf offered.

"I'd love to. And I'll pay for lunch." Fuchsia took out her wallet to find her credit card.

"Oh, Fuchsia, you didn't have to do that," Piranha insisted.

"But I want to. Anything for my good friend and his friends." Fuchsia found her wallet and left her seat to pay at the counter.

"Wow, she seems very nice," Shark commented.

"Yeah, I'd never seen her this nice before," Piranha said.

"What do you mean?" Hornet asked.

"Well, Fuchsia was a little…" Piranha was about to explain about Fuchsia when they were younger, but he realized she might've changed for the better. "Nevermind. That was years ago."

Soon after, Fuchsia led the Bad Guys to the hotel she suggested for them as they took a cab, and they stopped in front of the door.

"Thanks for showing us around, Fuchsia, and thanks for giving us a hotel," Wolf thanked her.

"It was nothing. There were so many hotels in Spain, and I figured you guys needed one. Enjoy your stay," Fuchsia declared.

"We will," Tarantula nodded as the Bad Guys went inside the hotel to check in.

But before Piranha could join his friends, Fuchsia placed a fin on his shoulder and requested, "Oh, hey, Pepe, can I talk to you privately?"

"Sure," Piranha nodded before turning to his friends, "It's okay, guys. You go right ahead."

Wolf, Snake, Shark, and Tarantula proceed, and Hornet gave Piranha a peck on the cheek before following the others. Piranha and Fuchsia were left outside to talk.

"Pepe, why didn't you want to tell your friends about us?" She asked.

"About what?" Piranha asked.

"You know, that your dad arranged for us to be married once we were grown up?"

Piranha remembered now. When he and Fuchsia were younger, his father and her parents agreed to have their children marry together once they reached the right age. Piranha then shoved Fuchsia with him further from the door so no one could hear them.

"Fuchsia, that was a long time ago."

"Well, I'm still available, Pepe, and I'm still willing to marry you!" Fuchsia threw her arms around her supposed fiancé.

But Piranha made her release him from the hug. "Fuchsia, I'm not ready to be married. I already have a boyfriend, and I'm happy living with my friends."

"Oh, then I suppose your friends and boyfriend are entitled to know that you were arranged to marry me," Fuchsia smirked.

Piranha gasped in shock. He realized he was blackmailed, and he won't allow Fuchsia to tell his friends about this arranged marriage.

Meanwhile, the Bad Guys already got themselves a room, and they decided to relax for a bit since they had been traveling by foot for hours. They could explore Spain again tomorrow.

"Isn't this great, guys? We're relaxing in Spain!" Wolf exclaimed as he dropped himself on the bed and relaxed.

But Hornet wasn't relaxing at all. He sat beside the window, worrying for Piranha, "What's taking Piranha so long?"

"Will you relax, Hornet? Piranha was only talking to an old friend. There's no big deal," Tarantula reassured him.

"Well, I… I guess you're right, Webs," Hornet tried to calm down from worrying.

Snake then grabbed the TV remote to turn the TV on. "I wonder what's on TV."

The channel showed a serie romántica. At first, Snake didn't like it because it was in Spanish, but soon, he got interested due to its theme and the language. He slowly settled down and watched.

Back with Piranha and Fuchsia, the two were at the Caravelle Café, drinking coffee, and Piranha was to settle this issue with her.

"Look, Fuchsia, I know my dad arranged for us to be married, but I left, and so did you. And Papa didn't want me anymore, so the wedding is off. There's no need for us to get married. Plus, I'm already in love with Hornet," Piranha explained in a settling way.

Fuchsia sighed sadly, "Well, he's a lucky bug, and I'm sorry for what I said. You were right. Since the town doesn't want you back, I guess that arrangement is off. I certainly don't want to cause any trouble for you and your new family. It's just that when I saw you here in Spain, I was just excited to see you."

"That's nice, but I should go. I promised my friends to go on another tour around Spain, and I promised Hornet I'd take him to a romantic date in Barcelona," Piranha said as he got up from the chair.

But Fuchsia held his fin for a moment and said, "Wait, before we say our final goodbye, what do you say we have one last hurrah? We can go to Sonar."

"Oh, I—I'm not sure that's a good idea. It feels a little weird going out with someone else when I'm already in a relationship. And I can't bail on my friends now."

"Oh, come on, Pepe, for old time's sake. Let me give us one last good memory together, and then I promise, you have heard the last of Fuchsia."

"Well, I should probably say no, but I've never been known for my good judgment. Alright, we can go."

At night, at the Sonar, the festival was so wild. The music was so loud, and lights were dancing in the air. People were cheering, shouting, and jumping joyfully. It was like a wild rave. Piranha felt uncomfortable having people pushing him in different directions while they were jumping around. This led to Piranha leaning closer to Fuchsia. Something inside him made him feel this wasn't right. He liked Fuchsia, but he moved on and had new friends and a boyfriend. He couldn't abandon them now for one last get-together with an old friend.

Piranha backed away from Fuchsia and told her, "I'm sorry, Fuchsia. This—this was a mistake. I just feel too guilty being out with someone else. I can't do this to my friends and Hornet."

"Ah, I understand, "Fuchsia chuckled in defeat, "Well, I guess there's no shame in coming in second, huh?"

"That's right. Except in, like, wars."

"Aw, you are still funny, sweet Pepe Piraña."

"Yeah, I guess so." Piranha stood up from his seat and said, "All right, I gotta go. My friends would call me any second now."

Right on time, Piranha's phone rang, and when he answered the phone, Tarantula's voice was heard on the other end of the line, "Piranha! Where are you?"

"I'm coming, I'm coming! I'm on my way!" He tried to squeeze himself through the crowd to find his way out.

"That's my Pepe," Fuchsia smiled before frowning jealously, "That's my Pepe."

The next day, the Bad Guys were exploring the rest of Spain. They were having fun as they continued strolling down the sidewalk while eating empanadas and croquetas.

"It was fun visiting Park Güell," Hornet chuckled. "I love the colorful mosaics and ceramics. And the garden is beautiful! Love the flowers, though."

"And don't forget Medieval Corridors in Girona," Shark added," It felt like a labyrinth in there! Did you know it was a film site for Game of Thrones?"

"And La Lolita Barcelona was one of the best restaurants yet in the city," Snake ate a piece of his leftover Polbo á feira.

"Speaking of restaurants, I better go explore on my own for the rest of the day," Piranha said before holding Hornet lightly on his fin, "I want to take this young bug on a romantic date tonight."

Hornet blushed, "You and your plans for dates. Wherever we go, I'm cool with it."

"Cool. I still want to find a romantic spot. I'll see you guys later."

As Piranha went in a different direction, the other Bad Guys headed in another direction, where they took a cab and drove off.

The five Bad Guys managed to get back to the hotel and decided to relax again. Snake was excited to watch another serie romántica. But as Hornet put his helmet down, he noticed a folded paper on the desk.

He picked it up and read that it said, "To: The Bad Guys," "Hey guys, there's a letter here."

"Huh. How did this letter come here?" Tarantula approached Hornet, wanting to see the letter herself. "Did we lock the door when we left?"

"Yeah, I gave the key to the desk," Wolf answered, showing the keys.

"Then how did it get here?" Hornet wondered before opening the letter and read it, "Oh, it's from Fuchsia!" He continued to read the rest of the letter, "It says here she wants to meet with us in her apartment."

"Why does she want us there?" Snake asked.

"Do we have to call Piranha?" Shark questioned.

Hornet read the letter again and found the postscript, "It says here she doesn't want Piranha there."

Wolf arched a brow, wondering why Piranha's childhood friend didn't want to meet Piranha, but just them, "That's strange."

But Shark wasn't suspicious at all, as he thought it was just a friendly invitation, "Hey, we've been invited by a friend of our friend. We can't say no."

The other Bad Guys glanced at each other. They were wondering and had their suspiciousness, but they wouldn't find out what was going on until they saw it for themselves, so they agreed to go to Fuchsia. It might be something important.

The Bad Guys followed the address on the letter, and they found Fuchsia's apartment. When they got there, the door was unlocked, and the room was dark.

"Fuchsia?" Wolf called as he entered first while holding the letter, "We get your letter that you want to meet us here?"

But there was no answer. The Bad Guys entered the room and tried to search for Fuchsia or anything else suspicious.

"Are you here?" Hornet called out.

Suddenly, the door behind them snapped closed, and the whole room was nothing but black. But then, light came out of the windows when Fuchsia opened the blinds as she stood by the windows.

"Bad Guys! Isn't it?" Fuchsia inquired.

"Hey, Fuchsia. What's going on?" Tarantula asked.

The female piranha kept the smile on her face, trying to be patient about what she might do. "Oh, I just want a teeny, weeny chat with you," she gestured with her fins on the table where there was a tea set on it.

The smile crept out of the Bad Guys, but they couldn't jump to conclusions just yet. This might be how Fuchsia smiles.

"Umm, okay," Snake said as he and the others nervously settled themselves on the table.

Fuchsia sat on her seat and grabbed the tea kettle. "Tea?" She poured some on each of the cups. Though the Bad Guys just watched her serve them tea, even with that creepy smile, they felt nervous that she might do something to them.

"Umm, you invited us to talk?" Hornet reminded.

"Oh yes!" Fuchsia put the kettle down and took out some biscuits and sandwiches. "You see, it's all about our dear friend, Pepe."

"Piranha? What about him?" Shark questioned.

"You see, he and I went way back. As in way back since we were kids, or since the day we were born. We were close friends. Best friends. We thought about our future together; that we could be best friends forever and ever. But there were some turnarounds with that promise."

Snake chuckled nervously, "Hehe, you mean us, right?"

"It depends!" Fuchsia took out a knife and sliced herself a bikini sandwich.

"Okay, I just want to defend on behalf of my team, but you seem pretty happy," Wolf noted.

Fuchsia let out a little laugh and grinned, "Right. I'm always happy."

The Bad Guys sighed in relief with Wolf responding, "Oh, alright then."

"Well, the only thing that could ever make me unhappy isif people stole something or someone from me." Fuchsia waved the knife around, making her own view that the knife was placed on Wolf, Snake, and Shark's necks. The three tried to move their heads, but Fuchsia kept moving the knife as if she wanted to cut their heads off at this view. Even Tarantula and Hornet noticed this: "When Pepe left our home to find his own life, found you, and formed a team of criminals, then that promise he and I made a long time ago just went down the drain!" She then took out a fork while laughing.

"Fuchsia, we swear we never meant to steal Piranha from you. It was fate that we found Piranha, and he decided to join the team," the team leader said cautiously while noticing she held the fork as if she wanted to stab them with it in her view.

"Oh, I know you didn't," the female piranha replied while gripping hard on the fork and gritting her teeth, "I know you didn't!" She stabbed a biscuit and ate some.

"Just to be fair, Fuchsia, you don't own Piranha. You two are just friends, and sometimes, things change with friendship. They lasted forever, but just not how you expected it to be," Hornet expressed about the facts of friendships.

Surprisingly, Fuchsia jumped closer towards the five Bad Guys, which startled them. "That is why I called you here… to get rid of you."

"Wait, what?!" Snake exclaimed.

"As soon as you five are out of the way, I and Pepe will be together again forever and ever and ever!"

"It sounded like you want him for yourself as more than a friend," Tarantula pointed out.

"Quit talking, and let's get started!" Fuchsia yelled as she wore a gas mask and sprayed something on the Bad Guys.

"Hey, what—?" Hornet was about to dodge, but it was too late.

The mist of gases sprayed all over the room as the Bad Guys accidentally inhaled its air, causing them to lose consciousness and fall on the floor. All of them passed out.

As the Bad Guys woke up, not knowing how long they were out, they realized they were no longer in Fuchsia's apartment. They were outside on the streets. The streets of Pamplona, Spain, not Barcelona anymore. They also noticed they were wearing different clothing. They all wore white shirts, red bandanas, and red sashes. Additionally, Wolf and Shark wore white pants and espadrilles. They all groaned in pain after getting knocked out and didn't know how it happened.

"Ugh, what happened?" Shark rubbed his head.

Fuchsia then showed herself, which surprised the Bad Guys again in terror. They suddenly remembered what Fuchsia did to them, and now they were on the right track.

"Oh, you guys were knocked out, so I brought you guys to a special event as your last vacation ever!" She declared.

It was revealed they were at the sidewalk with a lot of crowds cheering, and the banner titled the event "Bull Run." The streets are full of participants and loose bulls that chased them.

"Is this a bull run?" Tarantula guessed.

"Yeah, it is, and this is where you'll meet your demise," the female piranha's eye twitched while continuously holding her smile.

"Ha! Joke's on you. This is for participants only, and we're here just to watch! How could you get rid of us this way?" Snake smirked.

"By this!" Fuchsia rushed behind the Bad Guys and pushed them all into the street where they were exposed and unprotected.

The Bad Guys groaned in pain until they noticed running participants and got stampeded by them and the bulls.

"Ole!" Fuchsia cheered before the Bad Guys approached her, shading the light by their shadow.

"Ha! You won't get rid of us that easily!" Snake hissed.

Fuchsia silently pointed at their clothing. They were confused by this gesture or the clothes. The clothes made them fit right in with the crowd, just a harmless culture.

"So?" Tarantula spoke.

Fuchsia pointed her fin to the left, pointing at the bull that was glaring at them and ready to charge at them, kicking its hooves backwards. The bull was targeting them because of their red scarves and belts as it ran forward, pointing its horns at them.

"AAHHH!" The Bad Guys screamed as they ran for their lives!

They ran through the streets with crowds moving out of the way. The five Bad Guys then hid behind a truck but realized the truck was painted red.

"Oh, it's red!" Shark yelled.

"Or in Spanish, 'Rojo!'" Hornet shrieked.

A pair of horns stabbed through the truck and has been thrown by the bull, finding his target and snorting angrily at them. The Bad Guys grinned sheepishly at the bull before waving at it and running away. The bull continued to chase after them.

The Bad Guys then hid behind a wagon of flowers, which they noticed was all red.

"Rojo!" Wolf, Snake, and Tarantula exclaimed in panic. They all noticed the bull coming as the five jumped out of the way, and the bull crashed the flower wagon.

The Bad Guys continued to run for their lives while encountering several red objects, like a poster sign, a guy wearing a red helmet and riding a Vespa, and a guy playing a red guitar, which the bull trampled every one of them. The Bad Guys ran down the street and noticed a dark tunnel. This might be their best hiding place, as they rushed into it while the bull missed them heading to the tunnel.

The Bad Guys panted tiredly as they thought they were safe, but when they looked around, it was a block painted with all red!

"ROJO!" They screamed. They looked around, trying to find a place to hide before the bull would find them.

"Hey guys, that's the only thing that's not red." Wolf pointed at a wall that was painted white. "I got an idea!"

He encouraged everyone to remove all of their red scarves and belts, hiding any color they had in their skin by painting themselves white, and blended with the white wall.

When the bull arrived, everything it saw was red, which made it very angry as it trampled everything in place before galloping away without noticing the Bad Guys on the white wall.

Wolf's plan worked! The bull didn't suspect them.

"Phew!" They all sighed in relief.

Now it was clear, they could go safely and casually, exposing their natural colors without any red by removing the white paint.

When they moved to the next street, a tomato splatted on Shark's head. They turned to see where it came from. Then, another tomato splat on Wolf's head. Then, another one on Snake's face.

The citizens of the block raised their tomatoes, ready to fire. The Bad Guys realized they were in a block that celebrated some kind of tomato festival.

"'La Tomatina'?" Hornet read the banner and murmured, "Uh-oh."

The citizens started throwing tomatoes at each other, but the Bad Guys were involved in this as well, as they were covered in tomato juice. From the distance, the bull returned and saw the Bad Guys covered in red, which made it even angrier. The five Bad Guys screamed as they ran for their lives yet again. The chase led through the tomato festival, which was now flooded by tomato juice. The current carried the Bad Guys and the bull with it and flew down the street.

With their only chance of escape, Shark grabbed a nearby streetlight, and carried himself and his friends out of the river of tomato juices, and slid through the narrow gap between building, which led them back to where the bull run event took place. The Bad Guys continued to run just as the bull crashed in when it followed them, but it was all covered with tomato juice as well, making him exposed in red.

"Rojo," the bull whimpered as it noticed its fellow bulls charging at him.

The bull screamed as it ran away from its peers. The Bad Guys kept on running away but noticed the red bull was running away from the other bulls too. They all screamed in panic and ran.

But ahead, Wolf saw Fuchsia laughing joyfully, having the time of her life waiting for the Bad Guys to be tortured.

Getting tired of Fuchsia tormenting his team, Wolf couldn't run away anymore as he shouted, "I've had enough of this!" He removed his jacket and had all the red on it.

He stopped and held a hand on the bull as it and the rest of the Bad Guys stopped running. Wolf wiped all of the red from his friends and the bull, showing the latter the red, and so was the rest of the bulls. Wolf waved the red clothing around as the bulls kept following it. Wolf then threw the red jacket in front of Fuchsia. The crowd noticed this as it knew what it meant and ran out of the way. But Fuchsia wasn't alerted by this. She picked the red jacket, and the bulls were charging at her with the Bad Guys riding on them.

Confident to avoid getting trampled, Fuchsia threw the red jacket at one of the bull run participants, and the bulls followed the running participant, causing the Bad Guys to stumble off the bulls' backs and fall on crates of fruit. Now the bulls were back on track, the bull run continued, and the crowds cheered for the event.

The Bad Guys felt dizzy from all that running and crashing on a fruit stall, but they managed to recover from the torment.

Fuchsia approached in front of them and said, "You survived. I'm impressed."

"Now would you let us go?" Hornet, asked angrily as the other Bad Guys glared at her.

Fuchsia paused for a moment to think before revealing her sleeping spray again, the same one she used at the Bad Guys that knocked them out earlier. "No!"

She sprayed on them, making the Bad Guys sleep once again.

Later, the Bad Guys woke up once again, but this time, they were in an abandoned warehouse. It was quiet and quite empty. Not until they heard a loud screeching. It was Fuchsia sharpening her saber sword with a grinding metal. The Bad Guys tried to move but discovered each of them was tied up on chairs with ropes; even Tarantula and Hornet were tied up, despite their small size.

"You won't get away from this!" Wolf growled.

Fuchsia heard Wolf as she got the message that the Bad Guys woke up. She finished grinding the sword and played around with it, "Don't worry. This time, I'll let Pepe know."

Meanwhile, Piranha was strolling down the street, carrying a bag of bread, and about to buy flowers for his boyfriend. He suddenly heard his phone chiming. He reached for his phone in his pocket with his spare hand and opened it.

"Ooh, a text." He opened the message and read, "'I'm taking care of our problem. We'll be together soon. Love, Fuchsia.' Huh?" At first, Piranha didn't understand what the message meant, but as his brain kept working, he knew what he meant as he panicked and rushed away, dropping the bread he bought.

Back at the warehouse, Fuchsia walked in front of the Bad Guys with her sword.

"So, you're gonna kill us with a sword?" Shark guessed.

Fuchsia poked her fin on the tip of the blade. "The sword is not strong, but it's painful, and it's the last thing you'll ever feel once you die."

"Well, she has a fair point," Snake stated.

Right on time, Piranha arrived, panting from all that running.

"Guys! Fuchsia wants to kill you! Oh, you already know that because you guys are trapped," he figured out when he noticed his friends got tied up.

"Yeah, no sh*t, Sherlock!" Tarantula shouted.

"Pepe, I'm glad you're here to see this. You and I can finally be together," Fuchsia said excitedly before pointing her sword at the Bad Guys with a sinister grin on her face.

"Piranha, seriously, what's going on?!" Wolf exclaimed.

"She's nuts is what's going on! I don't want to be with her!" Piranha cried.

"Oh, yeah? You still haven't told them what we were?" Fuchsia hinted about their secret.

"What is she talking about?" Hornet asked.

Piranha sighed as he couldn't keep this as a secret anymore. If he won't say anything about it, Fuchsia will. Piranha gestured to his friends to lean closer to him to have all ears on him. When the five Bad Guys did, he whispered what was going on, which shocked them.

"You were arranged to get married to her?!" Hornet yelped.

"Guys, Hornet, listen to me. It's true, my dad arranged for me to be married to Fuchsia, but I don't love her as much as I love you, Hornet. It was my decision to love you," Piranha explained. Even though it hurt to find out the truth about Piranha's life back then, especially how he was arranged to get married to someone else, Hornet believed him as he smiled in response.

"But we promised we would be together!" Fuchsia shouted, still holding the sword at the Bad Guys.

"It's not my promise; you wanted this, but I don't! This is one of the reasons I left in the first place! To live out of my father's roof so the wedding will be off. But somehow, you won't let it go!" Piranha snapped back.

"I loved you first!"

"There was nothing between us. Either you let my friends go, or I'll let them go."

"I won't let you do that."

Fuchsia waved his sword, ready to strike one of them, but, to everyone's surprise, a sword pointed at her, which belonged to Piranha. He found himself a sword in the last minute when he arrived, just to defend his friends from his crazy admirer. "Then you leave me no choice."

Piranha held his sword firm, his feet apart, and got into a stance, ready to go toe-to-toe in battle.

"I would hate to scar that pretty little face of yours, Piranha, but if you aren't gonna be with me, then I'm gonna make you be with me by force," Fuchsia taunted as the blade of her sword made contact with Piranha's sword.

"En garde, tu perra loca," Piranha declared before both piranhas swung their swords at one another, the metal of the thin blades bouncing off one another as they each tried to strike one another.

Quick as lightning, Piranha and Fuchsia kept swinging their swords at one another, with Piranha trying to push Fuchsia back toward the wall so he could pin her and prevent her from moving; every time that she tried to strike him with her sword, Piranha would block with his sword to keep the blade from hitting him.

Fuchsia tried to do a high head slash with her sword, which prompted Piranha to lean back and duck under, avoiding the blade, before he used his leg to sweep under her feet and cause Fuchsia to trip and fall back. But Fuchsia quickly slammed her sword's tip into the ground to quickly pull herself up before she pulled her sword out and tried to swing it at Piranha again. Piranha blocked her strike but felt himself being pushed back as he moved backward while blocking the sword strikes.

Piranha saw that he was approaching a steel pillar and quickly climbed up it, using it as leverage to leap up and over Fuchsia, landing on his feet on the floor behind her. Fuchsia growled angrily as she charged at Piranha and tried to stab him with her sword, as Piranha held his sword tight and intercepted her slashes with some of his own, the metal of their swords bouncing off one another with slight sparks.

"Quédate quieta, bolita resbaladiza de locura," Fuchsia shouted as she tried to swing her sword at Piranha's head again but missed as Piranha dodged it and started to run up the metal stairs that led up to the steel loft up on top of the warehouse.

"You can't outrun me forever, amado," Fuchsia declared as she chased after Piranha. Piranha saw Fuchsia coming after him, and they dueled once more with their swords, back and forth, trying to push one another to a section that allowed someone to pin one another somewhere where they couldn't escape. Every strike Fuchsia swung at him, Piranha would quickly dodge or intercept with a sword strike of his own, and neither fish looked ready to bow down. Piranha jumped onto the steel banisters and kept his balance as he leaped up and tried swinging his sword at Fuchsia. However, Fuchsia was just as quick on her feet and could slide from each strike Piranha delivered as if the floor was made of butter.

Piranha then felt Fuchsia use her free hand to harshly push him back and quickly tucked under and somersaulted to the back wall to avoid a stab from Fuchsia.

Fuchsia grimaced angrily and charged at Piranha, set to slash her sword across his chest, but Piranha quickly dodged it at the last minute and saw Fuchsia land her sword into the wall, which was where the sword became stuck for a moment as Fuchsia tried to pull it out.

Piranha took a moment to catch his breath before he saw Fuchsia pull the sword back out, and they returned to dueling up close, the sound of the metal hitting one another loud as it echoed through the acoustics of the warehouse.

Piranha looked below and saw a massive pile of empty wooden boxes as he jumped onto the banister and leaped down to the boxes. Fuchsia was quick to follow; not once did the clashing of their swords stop as Piranha tried to climb onto each box, using its leverage to get up and land a hit on Fuchsia and let the boxes act like a shield, while Fuchsia furiously slashed through each box, the wood chips flying and littering the floor like confetti, but with splinters.

Piranha threw a box at Fuchsia and watched her cut right through it before she used her sword to slash the box where Piranha was standing on, and Piranha fell, losing his balance, but landed safely on his feet.

Fuchsia leapt down and tried to tackle him with her sword, both piranhas now in an almost wrestling-like hold where they tried to push each other's sword blades towards one another to deliver a fatal blow, or at the very least, knock either one off balance.

Piranha was soon pressed onto the floor as he kept pushing, locked in a little stalemate with Fuchsia, who wasn't backing down and kept pushing her sword blade towards Piranha.

"Nowhere to run, Pepe; you're mine now." Fuchsia taunted as she kept pushing, her sword blade almost overpowering Piranha's as his own blade was being pushed back, just barely missing his chin.

"Not on your life, Fuchsia," Piranha shouted as he mustered whatever strength was left to push back and, with enough force, pushed Fuchsia back, causing her to land on the ground, her sword falling out of her hand.

Piranha quickly stood up and ran towards Fuchsia with a speedy charge, set to swing his sword at her as Fuchsia rolled out of the way and got a hold of her sword again, standing on her feet, toe-to-toe with Piranha; both piranhas were getting tired but had enough energy to light a fire in the warehouse if they wanted.

"Gotta hand it to ya, Pepe; you always had a way with sharp objects," Fuchsia commented mid-pant.

"When it comes to protecting my amigos, who have been more of a family than my own familia has been, I can get crazy with knives." Piranha retorted back with determination, the pride and confidence in protecting his friends and loved ones burning in his heart and soul.

Fuchsia cackled as she spun her sword a bit, ready to deliver another swing while stating, "I'm gonna enjoy this," before giving a loud Spanish battle cry as she ran at Piranha.

Piranha shouted a Spanish battle cry of his own as he charged at Fuchsia, and both fishes dueled their swords at one another, determined to block any weak points and try to deliver a brutal hit.

Piranha kept maneuvering his sword to block each of Fuchsia's strikes that were pointed in his direction, and he fired back with one of his own.

Before long, Piranha spun and hit his sword against Fuchsia's with enough force to knock Fuchsia off her feet and onto the floor. Seeing his chance, Piranha leaped forward and was about to plant his sword into Fuchsia's neck, but Fuchsia was quick to bring her sword up and meet it against Piranha's sword, the tips of each other's blades just barely missing their necks. Both piranhas were now locked in a heavy stalemate, where either move that was made next could result in someone getting killed or injured very badly, and neither fish could be able to move from their position.

"It's over, Fuchsia; you've lost." Piranha spoke while breathing heavily, trying to get Fuchsia to admit defeat, though Fuchsia was not gonna let herself be defeated so easily.

"Listen, you're strong and I'm tired. If this continues, you'll probably escape with your friends. Here's the thing: Once I find you again, I won't go easy on you this time." Fuchsia didn't want this to be over, but she met her match. She won't win against Piranha.

She lowered her sword, got up on her feet, and walked away without a second thought of getting a chance to win. It was a fair deal to end this nonsense, and she'll get her man next time.

When Fuchsia finally left the warehouse, Piranha didn't forget his friends as he sliced all the ropes off and set his friends free so they could get out of here.

The Bad Guys finally made it back to the hotel, but Piranha couldn't bring himself to enter the building with his friends when he realized they almost got killed because of him. It was his fault. He brought them to Spain, and they encountered his crazy childhood friend.

"Amigos, I am so sorry about Fuchsia. I didn't know she would go crazy," he admitted deadly.

But his friends didn't blame him. Nobody did. It just happened in any way.

"Kinda like you," Hornet teased since crazy was always his boyfriend's thing.

"Very funny," Piranha rolled his eyes.

Wolf didn't like how Piranha thought this was his fault as he proclaimed, "Look, why don't we just have one last explore, and we can get out of here, huh?"

"Sounds good to me, hermano." Piranha made a thumbs up.

"Whatever happened in Spain stays in Spain," Snake said.

The Bad Guys nodded in agreement before heading into the hotel.

Next on The Bad Guys: The Baddest Trip...

Snake: ARE YOU CRAZY?! You've always get us all killed!

Wolf: You know I won't do that

Webs: Hey, I've got an idea! Check this out!

Hornet: Wow, and it's in Bahamas!

Wolf: Guys, I can't believe you tricked us into coming on a friendship counseling retreat!

Snake: This retreat is over! Fire up the boat! We're leaving!

Resort Staff leader: (holding a gun) We're taking this island back!

Snake: Run! Everybody run!

Shark: Look! We got to get the attention of that plane! (firing a flare gun at the plane, but got blown up, and the dead pilot fell in front of him) You got to help us!

Cast:

Michael Godere - Mr. Wolf

Chris Diamantopoulos - Mr. Snake

Ezekiel Ajeigbe - Mr. Shark

Raul Ceballos - Mr. Piranha

Mallory Low - Ms. Tarantula

Eugene Lee Yang - Mr. Hornet

Melissa Barrera – Fuchsia

Jordi Caballero - Bull

Author
Aggimagination

Co-Author
MasterClass60
TU4QU0I53T4IAN6L3

Chapter Text

Previously on The Bad Guys: The Baddest Trip...

Ms Tarantula: You're right, Piranha, Barcelona is a beautiful city.

?: Worried that you might get lost?

Mr. Piranha: Hermanos,this is Fuchsia. She was a good friend of mine since I was a kid back in my old town.

Fuchsia: "Pepe, why didn't you want to tell your friends about us?"

Mr. Piranha: About what?"

Fuchsia: You know that your dad arranged for us to be married once we grow up?

Mr. Hornet: You were arranged to get married to her?

Fuchsia: Here's the thing; Once I find you again, I won't go easy on you this time.

Mr. Snake: Whatever happened in Spain stays in Spain.

The Bahamas

Wolf was flying the jet and yawned as if he looked so tired. He always piloted the jet because he's the leader. He was good at driving the car, so he had to pilot the plane while his friends did most of the work. Meanwhile, at the cabin, Snake tried to use Instagram to post photos of himself and his friends on the trips they had been on. When he posted the latest one, he got likes from Shark, Piranha, Tarantula, Hornet, and Mira, but he noticed Wolf didn't leave a like. Snake understood that Wolf was piloting the jet, but he noticed that Wolf had been distant from him lately. They weren't as close as they used to be anymore.

"Hey Wolf, you didn't like my post on Instagram," Snake called.

"Don't worry, I'll get to it later," Wolf replied, but Snake knew it was a lie because Wolf had already said it several times when Snake made new posts. When Wolf noticed Snake was silent sadly, he didn't mean to ignore Snake, but he thought of an idea to cheer him up, "Hey Snake, check this out!" Wolf stirred the wheel, making the jet roll in mid-air. The Bad Guys screamed when the jet rolled as some objects fell on the floor and created a mess before Wolf got the jet back in its place.

Wolf had fun with it, but Snake didn't, as he was mad at his friend for it. "ARE YOU CRAZY?! You've always gotten us all killed!"

"You know I won't do that," Wolf said confidently.

"Says the guy who thinks of us as baggage."

"Are you still mad about it?!"

Shark, Piranha, Tarantula, and Hornet grew tired of Wolf and Snake arguing at each other. They tried to find another cabin, but their voices were still heard from the front cabin and the cockpit.

Shark had been covering his ears as he couldn't stand all that yelling. "How long have they been like this?"

"4 days, and I don't want to tell them anything about what I think," Tarantula answered while her eyes were glued to the screen.

Hornet groaned, "Ugh, they need to stop this. It's like they're not friends."

"What would we do?" Piranha asked.

Just then, while Tarantula was typing on her laptop, she stumbled on a flashing ad and opened it. She read the website and gasped, "Hey, I've got an idea! Check this out!" She turned her laptop so Shark, Piranha, and Hornet could see it. They beamed as they liked what Tarantula found.

"Wow, and it's in the Bahamas! Great idea, Webs!" Hornet commented before flying towards the cockpit. Snake was already near the cockpit, so he wanted to tell both him and Wolf, "Hey guys, what do you say we should go to the Bahamas?"

"The Bahamas?! Why?" Snake asked suspiciously.

Hornet didn't want to expose the real reason to take a vacation to the Bahamas, or neither Wolf nor Snake would agree to this, "Well, we do want a beach vacation, and so far, we haven't had one since the first time when we stole the jet."

"Well, Hornet was right," Wolf spoke. "Maybe a little beach vacation would cheer us all up."

"I just hope it does. I do need something to make me smile," Snake said.

"You never smile."

Wolf's words were insulting for Snake as he frowned but decided to let it slide for now.

When they landed the jet in the Bahamas, they made sure they had it hidden on an island where no one would see it. The Bad Guys took a boat to find the island where the private resort that Tarantula found was located. The boat made its stop at the dock. The gang got off the boat while bringing their luggage.

"Oh, stinger, this place is gorgeous," Hornet admired the place.

"Yeah, I can't wait to puke up a club sandwich in the pool," Snake added excitedly.

Just then, a man, who might be their tour guide, met them at the dock and welcomed them with polite greetings, "Hello, tourists. My name is Reynald, and welcome to Better Paradise," he snapped his fingers, signaling the staff to carry the Bad Guys' bags for them to the resort.

"Something about stepping onto a beach that is in a different country. It's very peaceful." Wolf exhaled delightfully.

Reynald guided the Bad Guys into the resort at the front desk.

"We have a special beach barbecue planned for you tonight, but in the meantime, please enjoy all our relaxing services," he declared.

"We will!" Tarantula said, turning to Hornet, "Come on, Hornet, let's go sit at the poolside chairs and feel too reluctant to move when people try to sit on us because we're so small."

"Yeah, I'm gonna hit the pool soon myself. Got to let the lifeguard know he better keep an eye on me," Piranha stated.

Later, Piranha was at the edge of the pool, where he slowly pushed a large plant vase into the pool, and the lifeguard noticed him.

"I'm here a whole week, papa," he smirked.

At night, the Bad Guys went to the beach to attend the Beach Barbeque that was scheduled for them.

"Ugh! I hate barbecue," Hornet gagged, "You know no one appreciates having vegetables on barbecue."

"You know, Hornet, they serve vegan kabob here too," Shark declared.

"Really? I'm in!" Hornet exclaimed as he zoomed in, wanting to get some vegan kabobs.

Just then, Snake appeared with two swim rings, and he looked all red.

Wolf turned around and observed what Snake was now. "Uh, Snake, I don't think you can go to dinner in your swim rings. And what the hell happened to you?"

"I fell asleep on the beach," Snake admitted.

"Yeah, I think you better change."

"Fine."

Snake removed his swim rings and wore his usual Hawaiian shirt.

The Bad Guys then entered the dining area of the beach where Reynald was waiting for them. Hornet caught up while holding and eating a vegan kabob.

"Welcome, everyone. I hope you enjoyed your afternoon, but now it's time to get to work," Reynald announced.

"On the rippin' and the tearin'?" Wolf chuckled with a sly look.

"Even better. We're going to work on your relationships. After all, this isn't just a vacation, it's a friendship counseling retreat," Reynald declared, revealing himself to be a counselor.

Wolf and Snake were the only ones who were surprised by this, as Shark, Piranha, Tarantula and Hornet already knew. The website Tarantula found was a friendship counseling retreat, and the four agreed that this was what Wolf and Snake needed. Tarantula already booked a reservation, which was what led them here now.

"Oh, what the heck?!" Snake yelled angrily.

"Sorry, Wolfie, Snakey. We had to trick you guys, or you wouldn't have come," Tarantula confessed.

Wolf harshly threw his glass of lemonade on the sand, "No. You can't make me. I'll get hit with a coconut, so I lose my memory of this," He shook a coconut tree, and a coconut fell on his head. Instead of having amnesia, he only had most of his memories that he wanted to forget. "Aah! I remember everything! I was abused in prison!"

After recovering from the coconut fall, Wolf scolded Shark, Piranha, Tarantula, and Hornet for lying to them about this vacation idea, "Guys, I can't believe you tricked us into coming on a friendship counseling retreat!"

"Yeah, I do not like being lied to!" Snake added that he was as pissed as Wolf.

"Sorry, guys, but you two were always at each other's throats for a while, and we couldn't take it!" Piranha confessed.

"It sounded like you two weren't friends, so we decided you need counseling to fix this," Tarantula explained.

"Trust me, you won't regret this. I'll see you all in the morning for our first session," Reynald said as he walked off.

"Sheesh, friendship counseling? This is the worst thing that's ever happened to anyone," Wolf said before turning around and seeing one of the staff had a missing leg, missing eye, and looked beat up, "He gets it."

The next morning, the Bad Guys gathered on the beach, where they were paired by 2s as closest friends. Wolf and snake were obviously paired with each other. Due to their closeness as brothers, Shark and Piranha were paired. As they were the only 2 members who weren't paired with someone yet, Tarantula and Hornet were paired with each other.

"All right, our first counseling exercise will be speaking to each other with 'I feel' statements," Reynald instructed as he turned to Snake. "Mr. Snake, please begin."

Snake sighed and spoke, "I feel unappreciated, like you don't want to spend time with me."

"Okay, I feel like I might be getting fleas," Wolf answered.

"I feel like you should take me seriously because I'm a little guy," Piranha commented.

"I feel like wanting shrimp," Shark said before calling out, "Do you have any more shrimp?!"

"I feel like I have a sunburn on my thorax," Tarantula mentioned.

"I feel hot because it's so hot outside!" Hornet stared at the sun while shading his eyes with his hand.

Later, back inside the resort, Reynald gathered the pairs for another part of the session.

"Okay, for our next exercise, let's play The Buddywed Game," the counselor chuckled. "Relax, it's just a questionnaire."

Hornet laughed at this joke, but Snake glared at him, "Really?"

"Whatever. I like liking things," the bug admitted, crossing his arms.

Reynald began by asking Wolf a question, "Mr. Wolf, When was the first time you and Snake first became friends?"

"Uh, let's see, when did Kennedy become president?" Wolf asked.

"November 22, 1963," Reynald replied.

"Wow. Okay, Reynald. Yikes."

The counselor then moved to Shark, "Mr. Shark, what is Piranha's favorite hobby?"

"Well, I think it's playing with fireworks because I am always finding soot patterns on my outfits." Shark responded.

Reynald then asked Hornet, "Mr. Hornet, what was the first thing you built from Ms. Tarantula?"

Hornet replied confidently, "A pipe… Oh, sorry, what was the question?"

The next morning, the Bad Guys were gathered back at the beach under a hut, and Reynald came to announce what he had found from the results.

"Okay, last night I did some personality assessments based on yesterday's session, and what I found was none of you couples are compatible with each other at all," the counselor said, "But, interestingly, you have high compatibility with other people in this group."

"Oh, my gosh. That is crazy," Shark pretended to care before revealing he was getting food from the buffet table as he told the staff member, "More mac and cheese. Here, just keep it going. Keep it going... don't be afraid of the burned edges. Just give me the tray." He put his plate aside and grabbed the whole tray of mac and cheese before meeting back with the others. "Wait, so what happened?"

"Anyway, I'd like to do an exercise. Just for the morning, you'll all be paired with your more compatible match. And hopefully, you'll bring some lessons back from that experience into your friendships with your close friends," Reynald suggested as he pulled out a card with a list of new pairings. "Okay, so the new pair of friends are as follows: Mr. Snake and Mr. Piranha."

"Huh, that's surprising," Snake admitted as he and Piranha couldn't see how they were compatible friends.

"Mr. Wolf and Ms. Tarantula."

Wolf and Tarantula looked at each other and were also confused about what was so compatible about them.

"Mr. Shark and Mr. Hornet."

Shark and Hornet gave each other a high-five, knowing what they had in common.

"Yay! I win friendship counseling!" Shark cheered.

With that, the Bad Guys, now in their new pairs, split up to enjoy some fun in the sun and spend time together.
By the pool, Wolf and Webs were sitting on the pool chairs, the umbrellas opened so they had some nice, cool shade while being under the sun. Wolf smiled in contentment, one arm rested under his head, while on the other chair, Webs appeared just as relaxed, a pair of sunglasses over her eyes, as it looked like the pair were just simply relaxing.
But in reality, both Wolf and Webs were looking down at their electronic devices, Webs currently typing away furiously at her laptop while Wolf was using his free hand to tap away at his phone, the two of them currently playing a racing game. Webs was racing with a blue car, and Wolf was racing with a black car, the pair neck and neck, trying to outdrive one another.

Meanwhile, over on the beach, Hornet and Shark were trying to think of something to do together. And it didn't take long for them to decide on something that seemed to fit both their interests: making a sand fort! With that, Shark and Hornet got straight to work on building their sand fort. Shark got a bucket and repeatedly scooped up wet, but not soggy, sand and tossed it over his shoulder, making a large mound. Once the mound was big enough, Hornet and Shark got to work on molding the fort into a sturdy shape, making the walls and windows of the fort and putting sticks up as added poles on the tips of the fort as well.
Hornet picked up a seashell, using it to decorate the wall of the fort, and repeatedly picked up small shells on the sand to place on the wall when he saw Shark grab an old ship's sail and tie it around his neck and place a stone that looked like it was a crown on top of his head. Hornet thought that Shark looked silly dressed as a king for their little "fort," but when he felt Shark place a small seashell on top of his head, which was his supposed "knight's helmet," Hornet smirked a bit, finding some fun in the little disguise, as they continued to make their fort.

Over by the tide pools, Piranha and Snake were on a little exploration journey, having fun looking into the little water and finding what lay underneath... Well, Piranha was having fun; Snake, on the other hand, found this to be very boring.
Piranha was looking into a very big tide pool and saw a flock of little tiny fish swimming around, a sea star moving along the sand, and a crab buried under a rock that clapped its tiny claws. Piranha gestured for Snake to come and look too.
Snake rolled his eyes and slithered over to the tidepool to see, looking very disinterested at the sea creatures inside. Personally, Snake thought that it'd be more fun to look for any valuable treasures in the tide pools, maybe a piece of gold that he could keep as a keepsake.
But little did Snake know that a lobster was crawling out from another tidepool behind the dune, and the lobster pinched Snake's tail. Snake felt something pinch his tail and looked down, seeing the lobster that was grabbing onto his tail.
Snake screamed silently in pain, waving his tail vigorously to try and pry it off while Piranha ran after Snake, trying to get Snake to calm down so he could help get the lobster off.

When the Bad Guys were having lunch, Snake, Shark, Piranha, and Hornet were eating together while Wolf and Tarantula just arrived while talking to each other.

"I can't believe I almost climbed up a tree when I saw a crab when I thought it was a spider," Wolf said.

Tarantula felt offended by this, "Hey! We arachnids and crustaceans aren't the same."

"Hey Webs, for a hundred bucks, I'll pay you to tune up my car in under 5 minutes, and for 200, I'll pay you to fix the lighting in under 10."

Snake was listening to Wolf and Tarantula's conversation and observed how he offended Tarantula as he threw the napkin and shouted angrily, "All right, that's enough! I have had it, Wolf!"

Reynald then came in and asked calmly, "So, how are the new pairings working out? Are you all gaining lots of insights?"

"No! I can see now that coming here was a huge mistake!" Snake yelled before pointing his tail at Wolf, "You're hopeless, Wolf!"

"Me? What did I do?!" Wolf questioned obliviously.

"You know what you did," Snake snarled. "For days since we had this vacation, you're nothing but just a team leader to me, to all of us! You were supposed to be fun and caring for us, but all you did was do what you do best: being just a leader, and you take us for granted, just like what happened last year!"

But Wolf didn't listen and understand Snake's scolding as he teased him to bite back, "You have a piece of dead skin." It wasn't a good punchline.

"This retreat is over! Fire up the boat! We're leaving!" Snake berated.

Later, the Bad Guys had already packed their bags and walked down the docks, heading to the boat.

"Mr. Snake, please, I urge you to finish the program," Reynald pleaded.

"No, thank you. I never should've agreed to come here. Or at least not with him," Snake snapped while glaring sharply at Wolf.

"Is there anything I can do to change—?" Before the counselor could finish, he was shot a couple of times as he bled out and fell into the water.

"AAHHH!" The Bad Guys screamed in horror at what they witnessed. They turned around to see who shot the counselor. They saw the staff carrying guns, revealing they were the ones who shot Reynald.

"Ay caramba!" Piranha yelled in fear.

"We're taking this island back!" One of the staff members, who was the leader of the group, declared.

"Yeah! Rise of the tropical species!" Shark wanted to join in just to save his own life, but the leader beat him in the stomach with the other end of the gun, "Nevermind."

When the boat operator shot guns into the air, it was a sign that the group was going to kill them.

"Run! Everybody run!" Snake cried out.

The Bad Guys shoved most of the group as they ran from the dock and rushed across the beach.

The enemy shot them with guns as the Bad Guys tried to dodge the bullets. They hid behind the large rock for protection and saw their boat, which was their only way out of the island, blown into pieces.

"What the thorax is happening?!" Tarantula shrieked.

"Somebody do something!" Hornet cried.

Just then, there was an approaching plane just right above them as Shark heard its engine buzzing.

"Look! We've got to get the attention of that plane!" Shark took out his flare gun and fired it up to get the plane's attention for help.

Unfortunately, the flare hit directly at the plane, causing it to go down in flames and explode. The plane debris fell down at the Bad Guys. Luckily, no one got hurt, but the pilot of the plane fell in front of them, injured and possibly dead. Shark shook the pilot and bellowed, "You gotta help us!"

After realizing the pilot was dead, the Bad Guys took a glance at the Bahamian rebels, who were trying to look for them.

"Man, those natives are pissed! This is like a full-blown revolution!" Hornet cringed in fear.

"Do you think me throwing full sodas into the garbage had anything to do with this?" Piranha questioned.

Surprisingly, bullets were fired directly at them when the Bahamian rebels found them, but the Bad Guys got lucky when rocks still shielded them from getting shot.

"Quick! Into the jungle!" Wolf shouted as the Bad Guys ran into the jungle, but split up into pairs.

The Bahamian rebels split up as well to capture all of the Bad Guys.

"What are we gonna do?" Hornet cried while looking back to see if the group were still following them.

Shark stopped and explained a plan, "Wait a minute, I saw this in the Jungle movie once, and maybe we just have to find a clear patch of bush and then pick it up and cover ourselves. Then, we can use it to sneak around without being seen until we could find a place to light up another rescue flare."

Hornet crossed his pants and deadpanned, "Did you watch Jungle Cruise again?"

"Yeah, like 50 times!" The large fish exclaimed.

One of the Bahamian rebels just passed the cave where Snake and Piranha were hiding in

"Thanks for changing your mind about drowning me in that river," Snake told Piranha.

Meanwhile, Wolf and Tarantula were hiding behind a large tree where they saw two Bahamian rebels just pass by.

Just then, Wolf's phone rang, and Wolf couldn't ignore it as he answered it, "Hey! You're not gonna believe this! You're practically running for our lives in the middle of nowhere."

Then, Tarantula snatched Wolf's phone and threw it away before telling him, "Sshhh."

But it was too late. The Bahamian rebels found them and pointed their guns at them.

"They're heeeeeere!" Wolf referenced Poltergeist, but Tarantula didn't get that quote when she made a confused look at Wolf. "Ah, you're too young. You don't know."

Back at the resort, the Bahamian rebels were guarding a hut where they kept hostages, as Snake, Piranha, Shark and Hornet were already captured.

"So, how did you guys get captured?" Snake asked Shark and Hornet.

"Hornet's loud when he has an itch!" Shark pointed at the insect.

"Your hand was too wide, and you can't get behind my wings!" Hornet exclaimed before asking Snake and Piranha, "How about you?"

"Someone cut the cheese," Snake pointed his tail at Piranha.

"I fart when I'm nervous and scared for my life!" Piranha voiced.

Just then, two Bahamian rebels took Wolf and Tarantula into the hut and reunited the Bad Guys.

"Oh, Wolf, Webs, we're so glad you're okay!" Hornet exhaled in relief happily.

Wolf then reported to Snake what happened when they were captured: "Hey, when we got captured, I said, 'They're heeere!' and Webs didn't get it. That's funny!"

"Oooh, from The Poltergeist!" Snake guessed.

"Well, just Poltergeist. But yeah, that's right."

"Why are you doing this? Let us go!" Piranha demanded the Bahamian rebels.

"Every year we have to deal with you American tourists! Stuffing your slob faces, taking videos you'll never watch, and asking if I'm the Captain Phillips guy," The leader said, which made Shark raise his fin, "I'm not!" He then told his companions, "Take these tourists out, two by two, and execute them."

Two Bahamian rebels put their guns behind them and decided to take Tarantula and Hornet first.

"Oh, no," Shark whimpered for his two little friends.

Tarantula and Hornet's heads were covered by small bags that fit them and were taken outside.

The remaining Bad Guys heard two shots, believing Tarantula and Hornet were shot dead.

"Oh, no! This is terrible!" Snake cried.

"Now, now, maybe they just shot Hornet twice," Wolf guessed.

Piranha slowly turned his head and glared at Wolf before yelling, "I'm gonna kill you, Wolf!"

Not before Shark and Piranha were taken next, had their heads covered, and were taken outside. Wolf and Snake heard two more shots and believed Shark and Piranha were dead.

"Boy, they're really going at Hornet," that was what Wolf thought of.

"Wolf, I'm sorry I was grumpy around you. I guess I'm just worried that you don't want to stay friends anymore," Snake confessed.

"I'm sorry too, Snake. I'm sorry I'm such a jerk. I guess I didn't appreciate you as a friend because I've been doing most of the work as the leader, but I guess it's a team effort that made the gang great," Wolf admitted. "You know, I need you the most, Snake, and I always will. And if I have to get shot by these people, I want it to happen with you. My best friend."

"Wow, that's a good speech, Wolf. Very thoughtful," Snake said sarcastically.

"Now I know that's sarcasm," Wolf stated.

It wasn't helpful to make Snake feel better, but it wasn't a lie that it was very thoughtful of Wolf.

The Bahamian rebelsthen took Wolf and Snake outside and covered their heads in a bag before pointing their guns behind them.

"Hey, I love you, Snake," Wolf muffled through the bag.

"'I love you too, buddy," Snake answered back.

"We're ready now!"

Two gunshots were heard, as though things were over.

...

...

...

All of a sudden, the bags were taken off, revealing an alive-and-well Reynald and still-alive Shark, Piranha, Tarantula, and Hornet, who were holding food and drinks. The "Bahamian rebels" applauded behind them as well.

"Congratulations, Mr. Wolf and Mr. Snake. You did it! You've successfully completed the program," Reynald congratulated them happily.

"What?!" Wolf and Snake shrieked in shock and confusion.

The other Bad Guys cheered for them too.

"We just found out, too!" Shark noted, "The whole thing was staged. Reynald dying, the uprising, all of it!"

"That's what they meant on their website: 'Staged Revolution Friendship Counseling.' It all makes sense!" Tarantula chuckled.

The staff then gave Wolf and Snake their own drinks and food as a treat before leaving to get back to work.

Reynald stepped in and explained this whole thing, "Yes, sorry to deceive you all, but we find that when friends don't respond to traditional counseling, the stress of extreme danger reminds them of what matters most in their lives: their love for each other."

Wolf and Snake just glared at Reynald silently for putting them into a dangerous experience that happened to be fake, but Wolf thought about it for a minute and realized something.

"I feel like I should be mad, but... I guess you're right. Snake and I have never felt closer," he said.

"And I did get to kill a guy," Shark recalled how he killed the pilot of the small plane with a gun flare.

"What?!" Reynald gasped. This wasn't part of the play.

"Thanks for everything, Reynald," Wolf said before drinking his drink.

Next on The Bad Guys: The Baddest Trip...

Mr. Hornet: I've never heard of this part of the world before. It says here we're in…

Mr. Wolf: Cherishtin.

Man: Oh, please, please, this is all the money we have.

Guard: Well, the king told me that he needed all the money for taxes.

Mr. Snake: Well, this king might be bad.

Mr. Hornet: Or evil.

Ms. Tarantula: Or corrupted.

Guard #2: Who goes there, and what do you want?"

Mr. Wolf: We're just here to see the king, and we're asking for jet fuel…

Guard #2: Your Majesties!

Captain: What do you think this is, open house?!

Guard #2: Captain, those were the royal siblings, the princes and the princess.

Captain: Then who're those, idiot?!"

The Bad Guys and the Royal Siblings: You look just like... I thought you were...

Cast:

Michael Godere - Mr. Wolf

Chris Diamantopoulos - Mr. Snake

Ezekiel Ajeigbe - Mr. Shark

Raul Ceballos - Mr. Piranha

Mallory Low - Ms. Tarantula

Eugene Lee Yang - Mr. Hornet

John Viener – Reynald

Seth McFarlane - Bahamanian rebel leader

Author
I.M. Rally

Co-Author
MasterClass60

Chapter Text

Previously on The Bad Guys: The Baddest Trip...

Reynald: We're going to work on your relationships. After all, this isn't just a vacation, it's a friendship counseling retreat

Mr. Snake: Oh, what the heck?!

Ms. Tarantula: Sorry, Wolfie, Snakey. We had to trick you guys, or you wouldn't have come.

Mr. Piranha: It sounded like you two weren't friends, so we decided you need counseling to fix this

Mr. Snake: No, thank you. I never should've agreed to come here. Or at least not with him.

Reynald: Is there anything I can do to change— (gets shot multiple times, and fell into the water)

Bad Guys: AAHHH!

Mr. Snake: Wolf, I'm sorry I was grumpy around you. I guess I'm just worried that you don't want to stay friends anymore.

Mr. Wolf: I'm sorry too, Snake. I'm sorry I'm such a jerk. I guess I didn't appreciate you as a friend because I've been doing most of the work as the leader, but I guess it's a team effort that made the gang great.

Reynald: Congratulations, Mr. Wolf and Mr. Snake. You did it! You've successfully completed the program.

Mr. Shark: The whole thing was staged. Reynald dying, the uprising, all of it!

Ms. Tarantula: That's what they meant on their website: 'Staged Revolution Friendship Counseling.' It all makes sense!

Reynald: Yes, sorry to deceive you all, but we find that when friends don't respond to traditional counseling, the stress of extreme danger reminds them of what matters most in their lives: their love for each other.

Their Majesties and the Bad Guys

The jet zoomed forward in the air as the Bad Guys were still having the time of their lives. While Wolf was still piloting, the rest of the Bad Guys were behind him, wanting to watch him pilot and see the sky and the clouds, while Piranha was reading the map, checking the places where they would go next.

“Alright, guys, where do we go next?” Wolf asked his friends.

“I wonder if we try Germany,” Hornet suggested.

Just then, there was a beeping noise at the instrument panel. The fuel quantity showed the needle was pointing near the “E.”

“Dang it! Low fuel,” Wolf exclaimed.

“What? When did we refuel?” Shark questioned.

“I don’t know! I lost track!” the leader admitted.

“But we have to land somewhere and refuel,” Hornet pointed out.

“We can’t just pick a place randomly. We’ll get exposed out there,” Snake explained.

“We have enough fuel for this place,” Wolf pointed to the land below as the jet descended from the sky.

“What’s that, and what country is that?” Tarantula wondered.

“I don’t know, but this is the only land I can see!” Wolf answered as he sent the jet all the way down.

The jet landed in a rocky terrain where it was surrounded by high mountains. There wasn’t any residence or civilization just yet. It was an empty space where the jet was allowed to remain hidden from sight. The Bad Guys had to leave the jet to find some jet fuel. They packed every important thing they had for this trip. But since they were in the middle of a rocky, deserted terrain, there wasn't any nearby village as they traveled by foot.

“Where are we?” Shark asked nervously.

“I don’t know.” I can’t read the map here.” Piranha was holding a world map, and he tried to search for where they landed.

“Who needs a map when you can use Google Maps!” Hornet declared as he wore his helmet and activated it to see the Google Map on his lenses.

Piranha rolled his eyes and scrolled the map before putting it in his backpack. “Right. I knew you could do that.”

As he scanned his helmet, Hornet found the red default marker for where they were now, but his eyes narrowed in confusion. “That’s strange.”

“What?” Tarantula asked.

Hornet then replied while still reading the map in his lenses, “I’ve never heard of this part of the world before. It says here we’re in…”

“Cherishtin,” Wolf stated.

“Yeah, something like that. How did you know?” The insect asked.

“It says here!” The team leader pointed up.

A banner showed the name of the place as it was revealed to be a welcome arch of the village ahead.

Snake read the arc again and tried to understand its meaning, “‘The Kingdom of Cherishtin’? I don’t get it.”

“It’s obviously a new place, or a country,” Tarantula guessed before turning to Hornet, “Are you sure we’re not in England?”

“Nope. We’re in the Northeast from England, away from Mainland Europe,” Hornet specified.

“That’s impossible,” Snake said.

“Well, impossible just became possible,” Wolf fixed his coat before deciding to walk in. “Come on, we might get some jet fuel in here.”

As the other Bad Guys followed, they casually walked down the street, where they observed the whole village had the Renaissance theme, but they still had modern-like architecture. They still had modern vehicles, but some of them had wagons with horses. The streets were more flooded with busy people than vehicles. Most of the citizens were wearing the same Renaissance-era clothing mixed with modern clothing. They raised animals right beside their market stalls and houses. Everywhere they went, it was a noisy town. A lot of people talking, children playing, and animals making sounds.

“It felt like the Renaissance here,” Shark complimented.

Ahead, the Bad Guys witnessed the royal guards taking a small pouch of money from a weeping man.

“Oh, please, please, this is all the money we have,” the man pleaded while trying to hold on to his pouch.

“Well, the king told me that he needed all the money for taxes,” One guard snickered sinisterly, “You don’t want the king to be angry, do you?”

Silently shaking his head, the man released his hand, letting the guard take his money, and listened to the guard’s laughter as he was enjoying playing with the money pouch in the air. The poor man sadly limped back into his house, where he was watched by a young female fox holding her bunny doll. She was hiding under a wagon, preventing herself from being seen by the guards.

The Bad Guys witnessed a horrible thing as they felt remorse for the man. Not just one man, but also the whole village. They saw the citizens’ hardship, and even with the king, the town looked poorer than they imagined.

“Well, this king might be bad,” Snake commented.

“Or evil,” Hornet stated.

“Or corrupted.” Tarantula added.

As much as Wolf wanted to do something for the village, he realized he and his team couldn’t do anything about it. This town was ruled by a king, and, even as long-time infamous criminals, they couldn’t go against the king. Wolf shook his head, trying to snap out of his pity for a minute, and tried to think about themselves first. “Look, let’s just lay low and find some jet fuel. Maybe this Modern Renaissance town is rich with fuel. This is a kingdom, after all.”

“But you heard what that guard said; everything here was owned by the king,” Shark reminded.

“Then we’ll ask the king,” Wolf smiled as he was heading towards the walls of the castle.

“What?!” Snake, Shark, Piranha, Tarantula, and Hornet exclaimed,

When Wolf was heading to the giant gates of the castle, Snake jumped in front of him and tried to reason with his best friend about this idea, “Wolf, are you crazy? These people are afraid of the king now that he wants all of their money.”

“Hey, we don’t live here. We’re visitors, and if the king wants us out, then he’ll give us the fuel for the jet.” But Wolf continued with the plan as he knocked on the small door of the gates in front of him.

The only response they got for Wolf knocking on the door was the voice of a royal guard. “Who goes there, and what do you want?”

Wolf volunteered to answer, “We’re just here to see the king, and we’re asking for jet fuel…”

When the guard looked through the peephole, he gasped in shock as he replied, “Your Majesties,” he stammered as he mistook the Bad Guys for royalty. The guard shakingly opened the door and bowed before them. “Do come inside.”

Snake, Shark, Piranha, Tarantula, and Hornet were confused by the guard for letting them in all of a sudden, but Wolf was confident that his plan worked.

“Umm, thanks,” Snake responded, tipping his hat with his tail before leaning to Wolf, “That was easy.”

“Told you,” Wolf winked with a smug look on his face.

The guard quickly closed the door and sighed in relief, thinking he was doing his job correctly. Suddenly, someone stepped on the guard’s foot, revealing himself to be the King’s Lord-In-Waiting and Captain of the Royal Guards, Captain Maverick Reshawls, as he picked up the guard by the neck collar.

“What do you think this is, open house?!” He yelled at the guard.

“Captain, those were the Royal Siblings, the princes and the princess,” the guard explained.

“Then who are those, idiot?!” Captain Reshawls made the guard look by the window, showing the silhouettes of the Royal Siblings inside.

Through the window, the so-called “princes” and “princess” weren’t humans as people thought they would be. Instead, there were five princes and one princess. One was a wolf, one was a snake, one was a shark, one was a piranha, and one was a hornet. The princess was a tarantula. Revealingly, the Royal Siblings resembled the Bad Guys; only their clothes were different. All wore fancy royal clothes. The tarantula princess was wearing a pink dress and a princess hat. The hornet prince had a chipped antenna like Mr. Hornet, but it was the right one instead of the left one. They were all siblings, not by blood, but by love and closeness. The King and Queen adopted all of them since both rulers were infertile. Neither of them got to choose an heir, so they made all of their adopted children their heirs. As the queen died years ago, the king had prepared his children to take the throne. But now that he had fallen ill, the Royal Siblings were forced to take their duties seriously, as they were close to being crowned kings and queen.

The Royal Siblings were in the middle of their lessons as they felt bored from listening to a lot of lessons, as they always did every day. Their teacher, Knox Kanenbury, was teaching them a new lesson about Europe while their housekeeper, Calamity Blackfeather, a common grackle, was cleaning up the furniture.

“Now to review, sires and dame,” Kanenbury declared, “Europe is made up of over 43 countries, and each of them has a particular trade route that allows the passage of goods to be brought in and out, as well as exchanging goods between one another for bettering financial connections and economic trust between businesses and entrepreneurs of the time. Royals of the past have relied on these trade routes for bringing in necessary goods to distribute to the people, as well as benefiting from essential needs for their leadership."

The Royal Siblings listened on to the teacher's lesson in the meantime, but they felt quite... bothersome. Bored, even, to be more precise. Lessons and studies felt like no fun at all, and looking out the window, seeing the kids outside playing, and adults greeting and talking to each other, all so carefree and happy, the siblings longed to be feeling that way, to feel... free.

“Your Highnesses?” Kanenbury called out to the Royal Siblings, startling them and snapping them out of their daydream, “If you could give me your full attention?”

Behind them, Calamity laughed at the fact that the Royal Siblings made fools of themselves for not paying attention.

“Name three of the most famous European countries with trade routes linked to royalty,” Kanenbury instructed.

Ignoring their teacher but still able to hear him, the Royal Siblings attempt to make fun of their housekeeper.

“You may begin,” Kanenbury said.

While they were speaking the answers, the Royal Siblings secretly hid small trumpets and used them to fire spitballs at Calamity.

“Germany,” Prince Wolfgang started, giving his adoptive brother, Prince Snakeselot, the opportunity to shoot at Calamity.

Prince Snakeselot fired first, hitting the back of Calamity’s head with a spitball.

“What the heck was that?” Calamity rubbed the back of her neck.

“The Netherlands,” Princess Webeline answered the second answer as Prince Hornlet blew his own trumpet with a spitball inside, hitting Calamity’s tail feather.

Calamity felt that as she turned around to see who hit her, “Who did that?”

The Royal Siblings looked away, pretending to have participated in class as they tried to think of the third answer.

“What is it? What is it?” Prince Sharkspeare muttered, pretending to think like his adoptive siblings.

Calamity rolled her eyes while knowing the Royal Siblings had something to do with hitting her as she tried to get back to work.

When their housekeeper turned away, Prince Piranhalliam took this opportunity to fire his trumpet, firing another spitball at Calamity.

Calamity knew the Royal Siblings bothered her with something as she turned around and found the siblings looking to their teacher and pretending to focus on their class.”

“Belgium?” Prince Sharkspeare inquired.

Calamity was really angry as she had had enough of the Royal Siblings’ antics and was annoyed by their behavior that caused her trouble most of the time. Wanting to get back at them, Calamity found a tall candlestand as she took it and inserted one of the candles inside a hollow pipe. She pointed to the bottom of the candlestand that has a hole on it. The Royal Siblings made funny faces at her, ready to be her target. As Calamity blew through the hole on the top, the candle was shot out of the hole on the bottom.

“Sire, we've been through this time and time again. It's...” The candle hit Kanenbury’s rear end instead when the Royal Siblings dodged Calamity’s ammo.

Kanunbury tried to keep a straight face as he turned around and knew that Calamity shot him. “Now, Calamity,” Calamity grinned sheepishly as she hid the candlestand behind her, “I'll have you know... that I don't find your behavior amusing at all.” Behind Kanenbury, Prince Sharkspeare was mimicking the teacher while his siblings quietly chuckled at this. But Prince Sharkspeare stopped when Kanenbury turned around, and the Royal Siblings behaved themselves, avoiding being caught by their childish behavior. “If the princes and the princess are to assume the royal duties...”

“But they started it!” Calamity yelled.

“Calamity!” Kanenbury snapped as he pointed at the door, gesturing for Calamity to get out while all of the Royal Siblings mimicked their teacher smilingly as they secretly snickered at this.

Calamity marched out of the room, mumbling frustratingly, “I'm always getting in trouble for those stupid princes and princess.”

Kanenbury then turned to the Royal Siblings, who were also as in trouble as Calamity. “And as for you, Your Highnesses, you know that your father is ill and requires rest and quiet. Now then…”

Just then, the Royal Siblings’ attention was drawn by a commotion from outside. It sounded like a group of people arguing with the Royal Guard Captain’s voice. Prince Wolfgang opened the window and found the captain taking his captives into his prison wagon.

“Hey, let us go!” Tarantula’s voice growled.

“You just let us in!” Piranha’s voice yelled.

The Bad Guys’ voices were muffled when Captain Reshawls closed the door of the wagon.

“Captain! I say, Captain!” Prince Wolfgang called out to the captain and asked, “What's the meaning of this uproar?!”

“Just some local riffraff, sire.” Captain Reshawls answered.

"Even the lowliest subjects of this kingdom deserve respect,” Prince Sankesalot stated. “Have them brought to us at once!”

The Royal Siblings closed the window and walked out of sight.

“Oooh. The princes and the princess wish to see you,” Reshawls cooed as he opened the door, letting the Bad Guys leave the prison wagon. “Allow me!”

Reshawls and a few other royal guards aggressively dragged the Bad Guys with them towards the castle doors.

“Hey, stop shoving!” Shark snapped.

“Put us down, you…!” Hornet commanded when he was gripped by the wings.

The guards opened the castle doors and pushed the Bad Guys into the castle before slamming the door closed.

The slam made a loud echo in the air as the Bad Guys stood back up on their feet after they had been thrown on the floor.

They didn’t know what they had put themselves in, but at least they were alive for now.

“Great! Now what?” Snake groaned, thinking about what they would do now that they were trapped here.

Piranha turned around and called to his friends, “Guys, look!”

The Bad Guys now realized they were in a castle. Inside a castle! They had never been in the castle before, not to mention sneaking into it. They were taken inside without being punished or tortured.

The place was filled with many banners and flags hanging under the ceiling. The hallway ahead had metal armors displayed at the right. The walls were decorated with carved designs, and display cases were settled on nearby walls. The display cases contained jewels and other collections.

“Is this… Are we in a castle?” Hornet asked as if he thought he was dreaming.

“I think so,” Wolf answered, letting the bug know he wasn’t dreaming at all.

Piranha noticed something that caught his eye. “Guys, look at this!” He rushed forward to grab an emerald that was displayed by the candlelight on a table.

“Piranha, honey, we can’t touch that!” Hornet approached his boyfriend and tried to get the emerald from him.

Wolf then saw a pendant next to the portrait of the queen. “And how about this?!”

“Wolf, come on, we had a clean slate to keep!” Snake reminded him as he grabbed the pendant and tried to take it from Wolf, who was still holding onto it.

Shark then found one of the displayed armors that was his size and shape. “I always wanted to wear one of these!” He removed the armor’s helmet and put it on.

“Boys, come on, we have to be quiet,” Tarantula told them.

But Wolf and Snake were having a tug-of-war with the pendant.

“Give me that!” Snake demanded.

“Just one last look at it!” Wolf requested.

But because Wolf was pulling himself backward with the pendant, his heel slipped on the slippery floor, bringing Snake with him since he stayed holding the pendant. When Piranha took the emerald and rushed away with Hornet trying to chase after him, Wolf and Snake stumbled onto them before the four hit Shark and Tarantula. Their roughhousing caused them to trample onto the displayed armors, and they rained all over the Bad Guys. Shark got his head stuck in the helmet, Tarantula and Hornet had another helmet fall onto them, Snake had one of the armor’s legs around him, Piranha was trapped in the breastplate, and Wolf also had a helmet fall onto his head.

The displayed armors got trampled down one by one like dominoes until it reached the door where the Royal Siblings walked out when they heard crashing sounds from the hallway.

“What the devil's going on out here?” Prince Sharkspeare wondered.

The armors fall onto the Royal Siblings as well, the same way as the Bad Guys when their faces were covered by the armor pieces.

“Calamity, if this is your idea of humor, I'm...” Princess Webeline scolded, suspecting it to be their housekeeper playing a prank on them.

The Royal Siblings tripped on the scattered armor and stumbled onto a group of someone with the armor pieces. A pair of 6s looked at each other, curiously wanting to know who they stumbled onto. The Bad Guys and the Royal Siblings took a small peek at who was there before seeing how their eyes were similar to each other. Surprised, they retreated before removing the armor pieces they were trapped in and noticed that they were looking at the people who had similar faces to them.

“Aah!” The Bad Guys and the Royal Siblings shrieked and retreated backwards.

When they had their act together, the Bad Guys and the Royal Siblings were shocked to see there was someone who looked exactly like themselves. They were moving in sync as if they were looking in the mirror but soon discovered that they were different people with the same looks.

“Aah! You look just like... I thought you were...” The Bad Guys and the Royal Siblings exclaimed in unison.

“Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, just a moment,” Prince Wolfgang halted everyone from talking as he asked the visitors, “Now, who are you people?”

“And who is your tailor?” Prince Sharkspeare added.

“The name’s Mr. Wolf, Your Royal Highnesses,” Wolf introduced himself before putting the pendant down that he took earlier before snatching the emerald from Piranha, taking back the jewels they attempted to steal, “And these are my friends: Mr. Snake, Mr. Shark, Mr. Piranha, Ms. Tarantula, but we call her Webs, and Mr. Hornet, and, uh, we…”

“Ah, I know them!” Princess Webeline yelped, “They were those infamous fugitives in California, USA: The Bad Guys!”

The Bad Guys’ faces dropped now that the Royal Siblings knew about them as Hornet stammered, “Oh, uh, so you know about us. Maybe we should go, and…”

“Well, Bad Guys,” Prince Hornlet cut him off as he and his siblings dragged the Bad Guys in their direction, “I must thank you for saving our lives.”

“Saving your lives?” The Bad Guys repeated confusingly.

“My brothers, sister, and I were about to die of boredom when you interrupted our lesson,” Prince Piranhalliam said as the siblings took the gang into their bedroom. “Do you know what it's like to be the prince?”

“Or a princess?” Princess Webeline added.

“It must be fun, though…,” Piranha guessed, but he was wrong.

“Never a moment to ourselves,” Prince Snakeselot started.

“Breakfast at 7:00.” Prince Hornlet proceeded.

“Lessons till lunch,” Prince Wolfgang added.

“Fencing till teatime.” Prince Piranhalliam continued,

“And every night, banquet after feast after banquet,” Princess Webeline stated.

While listening to the Royal Siblings, the Bad Guys had their eyes wandering all over the bedroom. The room was so big for 6 siblings. They had different large beds with one fireplace, their own dining table, a large wardrobe, display armors, and privacy dressing screens. Prince Sharkspeare and Princess Webeline opened their dressers and threw away the fancy clothes in the air that the Bad Guys found interest in, but it was what the Royal Siblings called “junk.”

“And then, 9:00, bedtime,” Prince Sharkspeare finished.

Shark and Piranha were enjoying Princes Sharkspeare and Piranhalliam’s beds as Piranha jumped on the bed and relaxed on it while Shark could snuggle onto the pillows.

The Royal Siblings noticed the Bad Guys admired all of their stuff and the bedroom, figuring that they had never experienced this lifestyle before.

“How rude of us. Are you hungry?” Prince Snakeselot questioned.

The Bad Guys turned their attention to the Royal Siblings as they stood together straight for them. When they asked if they were hungry, deep down, they did want to eat. They haven’t had food for hours since they arrived. Snake, Shark, Piranha, Tarantula, and Hornet turned to Wolf, pleading for him to say yes, but Wolf didn’t want to take advantage of the Royal Siblings.

“Oh no, we’re not hungry,” Wolf answered.

“Oh, but it’ll be disrespectful if we don’t host your visit,” Prince Wolfgang said.

“No, we don’t want to be a bother.”

“Please, we insist on it.” The wolf prince smiled. “What do you eat?”

“Well, we eat anything… except for Hornet. He’s a vegetarian,” Piranha pointed out.

Prince Hornlet made a surprising grin as he spoke, “Interesting. Because I’m a vegetarian too.”

This made Hornet smile as well. He was lucky he met another hornet who was a vegetarian like him.

“And do you have any guinea pigs?” Snake requested.

“Snake! It’s rude to ask their majesties,” Tarantula hissed as the rest of the team glared at him.

“I do have roast guinea pigs,” Prince Snakeselot said.

Much to the Bad Guys’ disbelief, Snake chuckled as he was happy that there was another snake that had the same taste as him. “His Majesty gets me.”

Calamity was sweeping the floor when Prince Piranhalliam stuck his head out of the door and called her.

“Hey, Calamity!”

The Grackle rolled her eyes and groaned, annoyed by any of the Royal Siblings’ presence, “Ugh! What now?”

“Bring us a large, fine meal, and quickly, too,” the piranha prince requested.

As much as she disliked the princes and the princess, Calamity still had a job to do. “Fine.”

Calamity continued to mumble as she marched away while carrying a broom. Prince Piranhalliam then returned to the bedroom.

Prince Sharkspeare started to ask the gang, “Tell us, Bad Guys, do you have hobbies?”

“Hobbies?” Tarantula repeated as the Royal Siblings nodded.

The Bad Guys couldn’t explain clearly about their hobbies. They didn’t do much aside from doing what they do best: being bad.

“Umm, we rob and steal?” Wolf answered sheepishly as the Bad Guys grinned in shame, much to the Royal Siblings’ discomfort.

“Do you have any other hobbies other than robbing and stealing?” Prince Hornlet questioned.

The Bad Guys glanced at each other before each of them answered.

“Well, I can sing and cook,” Piranha said.

“I play jazz.” Shark raised his fin.

“I like to read and write journals,” Hornet tittered.

“I like to hack… a lot,” Tarantula spoke proudly.

“Umm, I just like to think about guinea pigs,” Snake admitted, much to his friends’ annoyance.

Then, Wolf confessed, “Well, all I’m good at was keeping this team together, even if I let them down.” The Royal Siblings appreciate Wolf’s determination about what he was good at, not just about hobbies. Then, Wolf added, “But other than that, we used to like to do some road pursuit and take advantage of how people were scared of us.” He paused and tried to explain, “I know it’s a bad thing, but…”

“Oh, how we envy your freedom,” Prince Wolfgang replied as he and his siblings approached the mirror, imagining how the Bad Guys got to enjoy life, even if they did bad things.

“It must be breathtaking, huh? Doing everything you like,” Prince Snakeselot added.

“Well, uh...” Snake objected as he was going to say, about the gang being thrown away in prison for their crimes.

But the Royal Siblings were distracted by dreaming of freedom and doing things they couldn’t normally do.

“Play games all day long,” Prince Piranhalliam guessed.

“No studying dreary old books,” Prince Hornlet added.

“Staying up late as you like,” Princess Webeline said.

“Talking to different people.” Prince Sharkspeare stated.

“No more being worshipped wherever you go,” Prince Wolfgang sighed.

“Eating junk food.” Prince Snakeselot flicked his tongue, imagining eating other food than the same old big meal.

“So, why don’t you? You can even have fun with cellphones and all,” Wolf pulled out his cellphone.

“Oh yes,” Prince Wolfgang held Wolf’s phone and got to touch it for the first time in a while. “We had these gadgets and technologies, but we don’t use them often.”

“What? Why?” Tarantula asked.

“Because we’re too focused on our studies, ready for the throne,” Prince Webeline sighed.

“Oh, if we could take your place for just one day...” Prince Snakeselot said dreamily.

“And we sometimes dreamed of being royalty. We play with crowns that we stole a long time ago,” Snake mentioned.

When the Bad Guys and the Royal Siblings stared together in the mirror, the Royal Siblings compared how they were so similar to the Bad Guys, and it gave them the idea.

“Yes! What a grand idea,” Prince Wolfgang said.

“What?” The Bad Guys couldn’t follow the wolf prince with the idea.

“Don't you see? It'll be perfect,” Princess Webeline explained the idea as the Royal Siblings dragged the Bad Guys behind the private dressing screen. “My brothers and I take your place as normal civilians. And you 6 shall be the princes and the princess.”

When they got out from behind the screen, the Bad Guys and the Royal Siblings switched clothes with their individual doppelgangers.

“Wait? Us? Princes?” Wolf gasped.

“I can't be a prince,” Hornet said in panic.

“And I can’t be a princess. I’m not comfortable wearing a dress,” Tarantula tried to pull her dress down while fixing her princess hat.

“Even if we can, how do we act? What do we say?” Shark asked nervously.

“You needn't worry,” Prince Piranhalliam grabbed the sword to explain, “To govern, you need to say only one of two things: ‘That's a splendid idea, I'm glad I thought of it,’ and ‘Guards, seize him!’” He threw the sword in the air and accidentally hit Prince Hornlet, slicing his head off while his body was still flying.

Hornet accidentally caught Prince Hornlet’s head, much to his and the other Bad Guys’ horror.

When the hornet prince was thought to be dead, it began blinking and spoke, “Ow! Oh, I hate it when that happens.”

“AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Hornet screamed so loud, the whole castle vibrated, “Your Highness, are you okay?”

“Yeah, this just happened when you cheat death and surpass your lifespan,” Prince Hornlet replied.

“What do you mean?”

When Hornet gave Princess Webeline her brother’s head, she put it back onto his body, good as new.

“Long story short, Mother and Father gave me this when they adopted me.” Prince Hornlet tugged formerly-Hornet’s shirt collar down, revealing his own metal thorax, holding a pink glowing heart-shaped gem at the center. The Bad Guys’ jaws dropped when they realized Prince Hornlet had a life gem, just like Hornet, but a different color and shape. “Some kind of jewel of life, as I like to call it.”

“A life gem,” Hornet said.

“Uh, yeah, something like that,” Prince Hornlet hid his life gem again.

Hornet had a lot of questions in his head. How would the king and queen have a life gem for Prince Hornlet? And how would he survive, even with his head sliced off? It sounded so crazy. He began to wonder if the prince’s life gem would give him immortality or temporary life.

Without questioning the life gem the hornet prince had, the topic was cut back to the Royal Siblings wanting to take their place as civilians and the Bad Guys having to take their place as royalties.

“But your father, the king... Would he find out?” Piranha wondered concerningly.

“We'll be back in the wink of an eye. And if there's any trouble, everyone knows us by these.” Prince Snakeselot showed the Bad Guys the royal seal permanently marked on the end of his tail.

The rest of the siblings had that too, with Prince Wolfgang having his at the back of his paw, Prince Sharkspeare having his on his dorsal fin, Prince Piranhalliam’s on his palm, Princess Webeline’s on her abdomen, and Prince Hornlet’s on his front abdomen.

“Wow,” The Bad Guys were amazed by that.

“I'm not sure this is a good idea,” Wolf said doubtfully.

“You'll do fine, Mr. Wolf. Why, you and your friends are looking more royal already,” Prince Wolfgang commented as he was confident that the Bad Guys could handle this act.

Just then, someone knocked on the door. Learning that it might be the meal they requested, the Royal Siblings had to leave before someone else found out about their plan.

“One moment,” Prince Piranhalliam called out.

Knowing it was time for them to go, the Royal Siblings took the window as their way of escaping. Before they could go, they had to give the Bad Guys one last good luck.

“Let us enjoy this opportunity,” Prince Snakeselot whispered. “Just eat tonight. You’re royalty until we return.

“Goodbye, Bad Guys, good luck,” Prince Sharkspeare added, before he, Prince Snakeselot, Prince Piranhalliam, and Princess Webeline moved down the tree to hit the ground, and Prince Hornlet flew his way down, their ticket to freedom.

“Well, uh... You won't forget to come back now, will ya?” Shark reminded, but the other 5 were already on the ground, trying to enjoy their way to freedom.

Prince Wolfgang remained for a moment as he yelled, “Enter!”

The royal servants opened the door and carried a large amount of food that the Royal Siblings requested. The Bad Guys were surprised to see so much food. There was a lot of meat, kabobs, and vegetable salad. They couldn’t dream of more than this, as this was what they wanted to eat for a long time.

Wolf turned to Prince Wolfgang by the window, who winked at him, and slid down to catch up with his siblings.

Now that they were on their own, the Bad Guys had to act like their royal counterparts so they could experience the life of luxury in the castle. But their sight of the food was what distracted them when they forgot the Royal Siblings requested the food for them.

“Is there a banquet planned?” Piranha asked.

“Your Highnesses requested a large fine meal.” Calamity rolled her eyes as the servants placed all the food on the table.

“And this is it? For us?” Snake questioned in shock.

“Does this displease you?”

“No, no,” Wolf replied, still trying to play the part as Prince Wolfgang, “Is it…?”

“Is it enough?” Calamity asked.

“It’s tons!” Hornet exclaimed before clearing his throat, “It’s plenty enough.”

Calamity and the other servants just stared at each other, looking all confused as if they thought the Royal Siblings had become forgetful.

Meanwhile, the Royal Siblings walked casually as they passed by Captain Reshawls, who was smoking a cigarette.

“Hello, Captain.” Prince Snakeselot tipped formerly-Snake’s hat on his head.

But their supposed casual walk was interrupted when Reshawls grabbed Princess Webeline and Prince Hornlet with just one hand, which caused Prince Wolfgang, Prince Snakeselot, Prince Sharkspeare, and Prince Piranhalian to stop in their tracks when they noticed their two siblings were snatched away from them.

“Ah. My little peasants,” Reshawls inhaled his cigarette and blew smoke on Princess Webeline and Prince Hornet, making them cough from the fumes. “Embarrass me in front of the princes and the princess, will ya?!” He blew another puff of smoke again, and this time, it was for all 6 Royal Siblings.

“Peasants?” Prince Hornlet coughed as he and his sister fanned the smoke. “Why, Captain, we fooled you. We are the princes and the princess.”

“Oh, forgive me, my royal lieges,” Reshawls thought this group of low-life animals made a joke at him as he wanted to play along before putting Princess Webeline back on Prince Sharkspeare’s shoulder and releasing Prince Hornlet, making him fly again.

“Well, how thoughtful of you, Captain,” Prince Wolfgang complimented.

“I live to serve,” Reshawls guided the Royal Siblings in front of the open gate and pushed them out harshly. “Sayonara, sucker!” the captain laughed before closing the gates behind them.

Even though they felt that was a brutal shove they got from the captain, the Royal Siblings realized that they were out of the castle walls, just like how they dreamed of! Finally, they were finally free!

“We did it,” Prince Snakeselot exclaimed, “We did it!”

“We’re free!” Prince Piranhalliam ran in circles, embracing fresh air.

“We are good, brothers and sister! We fooled him,” Prince Wolfgang said.

“Well, for now, nothing's going to spoil our fun,” Princess Webeline mentioned.

The Royal Siblings finally get to see the village in person, without windows to shield them. It was their chance to explore the normal civilian life with no rules to stop them.

Back at the castle, the Bad Guys were ready to eat as royalties, but none of them wanted to dig in, as they had to act like royalties, and princes and princesses had to be well-behaved.

“Your Highnesses, shall we begin?” Calamity announced as the servants pulled the chair three chairs for Wolf, Snake, Shark, and Piranha to sit, while one of them pulled out two small chairs for Tarantula and Hornet.

Even though the Bad Guys figured out the chairs were for them, they felt hesitant to sit. No one had ever pulled chairs for them before, other than just themselves or each other.

Though Piranha wanted to have a little fun with it first, he picked another unmoved chair and pulled it out as his own seat. One servant approached him and offered to help him pull out the chair. Piranha then took a step to the left, and the servant followed him while the other servant moved aside from him. Piranhas took another step again… and again… and again… making his friends snort silently.

“Your Highness, please sit!” Calamity exclaimed, trying to hold her annoyance at the Royal Siblings.

Piranha quickly took the chair that he pulled out and sat. The rest of the Bad Guys sat on the available chairs they could use, including the small ones for the little ones. The servants slowly pushed the chairs with the Bad Guys closer towards the table.

Now they were ready to eat. Shark was about to get a turkey leg, but one of the servants took the whole dish as 6 of the servants carefully placed each napkin around the Bad Guys’ chests. They also placed just tiny napkins for Tarantula and Hornet. The servants then placed plates and utensils for each of them.

Since everything was prepared, it was the right time to eat. But the Bad Guys weren’t comfortable having the servants around when they ate. They glanced at each other, gesturing to see who would say their appreciation for the food.

Wolf cleared his throat as he volunteered to speak on behalf of them all, “Thank you. That will be all.”

“All, your highnesses?” Calamity repeated.

“Yes. I think we could feed ourselves… without beady eyes upon us,” Snake recommended in an uncomfortable feeling.

“But, Highnesses, um… Food must be tasted by a royal taster,” the grackle reminded.

“Why must he taste them?” Piranha pointed out, “Can any of us not taste the food ourselves?”

As much as Calamity wanted to protest, she didn’t want to talk back to the "Royal Siblings," or she would get punished. Silently, Calamity bowed, respecting the “Royal Siblings’” request as the other servants bowed down as well before they all headed out of the bedroom.

As the servants were gone and closed the door, the Bad Guys could eat peacefully and happily.

Back in town, the Royal Siblings finally experienced what it was like to stroll on the street and get to meet the citizens closely. The next thing they spotted was a stall of apples. The Royal Siblings couldn’t help but rush to it. They had never been near a fruit stall or bought something from it before. They always eat their food from the royal kitchen made by the chefs. This time, they would get food from the stalls.

“Good day. How much is one apple?” Prince Wolfgang asked.

“And ‘good day’ to you, sir,” The saleslady lied about how good the day was and answered the wolf prince’s greeting, thinking it was a common wolf that she had never met before, “More than you can afford.”

“Might we take one today and return tomorrow with double payment?” Princess Webeline asked.

The saleslady glanced at them as she couldn’t believe someone like this group of tourists would pay them double when the whole town can’t afford enough for their livelihood. “Hmm. Sounds like somebody is acting like royalty today.” The Royal Siblings began to worry that someone might know their secret. The saleslady refused to believe these six visitors would pay her double, but she had never received double the amount of price for her apples before. She had to decide the unthinkable. She took 6 apples and put them in a plastic bag. “Alright, one for each of you. Mind and bring me double payment tomorrow.”

Prince Sharkspeare accepted the plastic bag of apples and said politely, “Thank you, m’lady.”

The saleslady chuckled at these tourists’ politeness, “’M’lady.’ You belong in the palace, do you?”

“Yep. Tell no one,” Prince Hornlet stated as he and his siblings walked off with the apples.

The saleslady rolled her eyes and tried to get back to selling apples.

At the castle, the Bad Guys were trying on new clothes that the Royal Siblings owned. They looked at themselves in the mirror, liking the new look with their new clothes.

“Gosh, if our friends could see us now!” Wolf chuckled while tugging his new coat.

But Tarantula didn’t like the dress Princess Webeline owned, or even the princess hat. “Man, how can the princess be so comfortable wearing these dresses?”

Kanenbury then reminded the Bad Guys that he thought they were the Royal Siblings, saying, “Surely Their Highnesses have not forgotten their royal duties.” He released the scroll that contained the list of duties the Royal Siblings had to do, and it made Calamity laugh at them.

Of course, the Bad Guys realized the Royal Siblings never told them about their royal duties.

The Royal Siblings stumbled on a group of children playing mudball at each other. They showed themselves, and each of them created their own mudball, wanting to join the children. But instead, the children threw mudballs at them, covering the Royal Siblings with mud.

The Bad Guys had to tame a falcon, as Wolf had the bird on his arm. When Wolf took off the falcon’s hood, the falcon opened his eyes and made an icy glare at the Bad Guys, making them grin at the falcon sheepishly, knowing the falcon will attack them. The Bad Guys ran for their lives as the falcon chased after them. Kanenbury facepalmed while Calamity laughed at this scene.

The Royal Siblings found a stray dog biting a bone. Thinking they would play fetch with a dog as they learned about it. Prince Wolfgang took the bone from the dog, tapped its nose with the bone, and threw it away. The Royal Siblings pointed the bone at the dog and ordered it to fetch. But instead, the dog growled angrily at them, and the Royal Siblings knew how serious the dog was with them, and they grinned sheepishly before running away when the dog started chasing them.

In chemistry class, the Bad Guys poured every substance and chemical that they were sure what these things were. When Wolf volunteered to stir them together, he showed it to Kanenbury and Calamity, but the beaker just blew on Calamity’s face.

The Royal Siblings kept running when a pack of dogs was chasing after them. They found a large wooden fence as they jumped over it, and the dogs were unaware of where they were now, and the dogs ran in another direction. As they were safe, the siblings proceeded to enjoy their freedom as normal citizens.

Just then, they found a little fox girl playing with a wooden sword when she got out from under the wagon. Interestingly, the Royal Siblings smilingly approached the young fox, trying not to scare her away.

“Hello, little girl,” Prince Snakeselot greeted.

The young fox glanced up to see the Royal Siblings, as she thought of them as strangers. “Hi.”

“Are you playing a game of fencing with sticks?” Prince Piranhalliam question.

“Yes, I guess I am,” the fox girl replied as she pretended to strike her enemies with the wooden sword.

Princess Webeline crawled herself down from Prince Shakespeare’s shoulder and approached closer to the young fox. “You have a name?”

“Darla,” the little fox said.

The more Prince Wolfgang observed the little fox, the sooner he imagined something new when he watched this fox, “You know, with your courage and the right use of the sword, you could be part of the royal guard someday.”

Darla gasped as she couldn’t imagine being a royal guard before as she lowered her wooden sword down. “I don’t know if that is wise. There are no girls in the royal guard.”

“Well then, let’s change that law!” Prince Sharkspeare chuckled as his siblings joined. This also made Darla laugh a little.

Just then, their laughter was interrupted when they heard cries from afar. Two royal guards tried to take the pig from a crying woman, and the children wanted to defend their mother.

“Leave her alone! Right now!” A boy kicked one of the guards’ knee, making the latter cry in pain.

“Get away from her!” The other boy shouted, but the other guard swatted that boy away.

“Somebody, help me!” The woman cried, not wanting to release the pig from her hands.

“Relax, lady, it's for the king,” the royal guard smiled sinisterly.

“Yeah, the king.” The other guard repeated in front of the woman’s face.

“But it's all we have,” the woman sobbed.

“Well, then, it's all we'll take!” The guard snapped.

“Halt!” Prince Wolfgang’s voice shouted as he marched towards the guards and said, “As one of your royal princes, I command you to unhand that pig!”

The two guards looked at each other and began to laugh hysterically.

“Hey, what's so amusing?” Prince Wolfgang questioned, crossing his arms.

“Oh, forgive me,” one of the guards grabbed a pumpkin from a nearby stall, “I think you forgot your crown!” He threw the pumpkin on Prince Wolfgang’s head, covering himself with pumpkin insides as his adoptive siblings rushed to his aid.

This was definitely unforgivable as Prince Hornlet shouted, “When we return to the palace, you'll pay for this!”

“Oh, of course, let’s not forget yours too!” The second guard joked as both guards threw fruits at the Royal Siblings.

They tried to dodge the fruits from hitting them, but Prince Shakespeare got hit with a watermelon, Prince Snakeselot with an apple, Prince Piranhalliam stumbled down when a mango hit his head, Princess Webeline with a kiwi, and Prince Hornlet got his head knocked off by a grape, but Princess Webeline caught his head and put it back into place.

The royal guards laughed and walked away with the food and the pig they gathered. Darla and the other children helped the Royal Siblings up as an appreciation for trying to stand up to the guards.

“I can't believe it. Stealing in the king's name!” Prince Piranhalliam snapped while rubbing his head.

“This happens all the time,” Darla stated.

“Yeah. The king takes all our food and everything,” one boy spoke.

“We're hungry.” The other voiced.

The Royal Siblings couldn’t believe their father would do such a thing. The king was a kind-hearted man, a ruler who loved his subjects. He would never let the whole kingdom starve. This has got to be a big misunderstanding.

Just then, a truck filled with food drove down the street with the driver yelling at the people who were in his way.

"Out of the way, you slugs! Make way for the Royal Provisioner!” The driver yelled as the people stared at the food in the truck and desired to have food of their own too, “Out of the way. Come on. Move it, move it!”

Realizing that there was one way to give these people food, the Royal Siblings still had the royal seal marked on them, so it would be their duty, as future rulers, to contribute for their people. They stood in front of the truck and commanded, “Halt!”

The driver stopped in front of them.

“We are the princes and the princess. And we command you to surrender your entire inventory!” Prince Piranhalliam ordered.

“And I'm Queen Victoria III! Be off with you!” The driver yelled angrily.

“Will this help?” Prince Snakeselot smiled as he and his siblings showed the driver each of the royal seals marked on them.

The driver and the people around them gasped in surprise as it was proven that they were the Royal Siblings, children of the king, as the citizens bowed down for their presence. Though Darla found it hard to believe that they were the Royal Siblings. She just talked to them and thought they were strangers to her.

As the driver left, the Royal Siblings offered every person in the town the food they needed. They all praised them with thankfulness and polite responses.

“Thank you. Thank you, Your Majesties!”

“Yes, thank you!”

Just then, the driver came back with the royal guards as they marched through the crowd of happy people.

“All right, all right. Clear out, out of the way,” one of the guards commanded.

"They're the ones that showed me the royal seal, sir,” the driver reported.

“You there,” one of the guards threw a spear at the sausage that Prince Wolfgang held when he was supposed to give it to the people, but he and his siblings stopped upon seeing the guards were onto them. “You're under arrest.”

But then, the guards were thrown with food by the people of the kingdom, defending the Royal Siblings from getting captured.

“Run for it!” The old man warned them.

The Royal Siblings used their chance to escape, but they were already surrounded by more guards. Their only defensive weapons were the food they had around to protect themselves from the guards.

Darla watched from the distance, and she wanted to help them. She found a wagon of barrels as she unclipped the tailgate, making the barrels roll down.

The barrels struck the guards like pinballs and knocked them out completely. The Royal Siblings managed to escape but didn’t know where to go or hide.

They then heard Darla’s voice calling to them, “Come on! Follow me!”

The Royal Siblings rushed to the young fox as the latter led them to hiding.

Later, Reshawls lived in the tower of the castle where his headquarters was located. Ever since the king was ill and took advantage of taking everything from the people in the king’s name, he kept all of the people’s food and money all to himself and lived like the king he had ever dreamed of. He invited one of his guards to talk as they enjoyed their time together, eating and talking together.

“Now, I may be losing my mind, Captain,” the guard reported about today’s news, “and I know that you have said that time and time again. But all I know is they acted like nobles. And they each had the royal seal.”

This caught the Royal Guard Captain’s attention as he stopped drinking his beer and realized that that group of six strangers he tormented and kicked out of the castle gates were the real princes and princess. “The royal seal? So, it was the Royal Siblings I booted out.”

The guards took this by surprise as he spat his drink, “You threw out the Royal Siblings?!” He laughed at this and teased that the captain was in big trouble now, “You're gonna get it. You're gonna get it. Nyahh, nyahh, nyahh, nyahh, nyahh, nyahh!”

Reshawls was annoyed that the guard made fun of him as he grabbed his fellow guard by the neck collar and said, “Not if they don’t come back alive!” He laughed maniacally as he hatched a plan to get what he desired… starting with the imposters who were in the Royal Siblings’ place.

Back In the Royal Siblings’ bedroom, the Bad Guys were enjoying being royals so far, especially after the rough day they had. Wolf was fixing his new clothes while looking at the mirror, Snake was tangling on the armor display, Shark was lying down on Prince Sharkspeare’s bed, Piranha and Hornet were playing swords with the armor Snake was puppeting around, and Tarantula was trying to roll up the dress as she still felt uncomfortable wearing one.

Snake groaned tiredly, “Who would’ve thought being royals is so much hard work?!”

“It’s not as luxurious as we thought,” Tarantula noted while rolling the skirt up.

“Come on, guys. We live in a castle. Isn’t this the greatest vacation we ever had?” Wolf reasoned with his friends about the advantage of being royalty while fixing the prince's hat.

“At least we get to use these swords,” Piranha pointed out as he swung his sword at the armor’s sword. “Ha! Take that!”

Hornet did the same as he lifted his sword towards the armor, “Take that! And that!” Then, there was someone knocking on the door as Hornet accidentally swung his sword while saying, “Enter!”

That was when he realized he accidentally released the sword, and it pinned onto something.

“Ooh!” The Bad Guys cringed.

Kanenbury patiently pulled out the sword from his hat, getting used to the “Royal Siblings’” antics.

“Nice shot, sire,” Kanenbury complimented as he pulled out the sword and dropped it into the nearby vase before giving all of them the announcement, “Your Highnesses, your father is in his last hours and wishes to see you all at once.”

The king? Dying? Then, the Royal Siblings should be the ones to see him, as Wolf suggested, “Oh, well, we better tell the princes and the princess. They’d want to see him.”

Kanenbury rolled his eyes and reminded them, “You are the princes and the princess.”

The Bad Guys remembered now they were now pretending to be the Royal Siblings in their place. Piranha wanted to explain this switcheroo, “Oh, well, uh... we've been meaning to talk to you about that.”

But Kanenbury didn’t take them seriously as he still discussed the king’s condition, “Sire, he is gravely ill.”

The teacher led his students to the king’s chamber. He opened the door for them as the Bad Guys felt hesitant to come inside. There, they saw the king’s bedchamber, where the king was lying down inside. The Bad Guys felt afraid to face the king, especially because they had disguised themselves as his children and he was about to die. Kanenbury shoved them inside before closing the door. There was no going back now.

Since they couldn’t run away from the king, the Bad Guys huddled together, and Wolf said, “Look, we’ll explain everything. The king will understand.”

“My children,” the king called for them.

Tarantula volunteered to speak, “Well, we’re not really the...”

“Come closer,” the king couldn’t let Tarantula finish, as he wanted all of his children to be beside him in his final moments.

The Bad Guys gulped nervously as they slowly approached the king. They wanted to run away. They wanted to stay still. They wanted to confess they weren’t the real Royal Siblings. But they didn’t want to disappoint the king in his final time. They had to be with the king for now to keep him company as he breathed his final breaths.

“My children,” The king started, “When your mother and I adopted all of you, I tried to prepare you for this moment. I shall be gone soon, and you will be kings and queen.”

The Bad Guys were surprised by this. If the Royal Siblings won’t come back for their own coronation, then they would take the throne. It was something they imagined before, but they would never think it would happen for real.

“Wow. I… we wouldn’t have thought that…,” Shark voiced.

“Prince Wolfgang, Prince Snakeselot, Prince Sharkspeare, Prince Piranhalliam, Princess Webeline, and Prince Hornlet, You must promise. Promise me that you will rule the land from your hearts.” The king reached for his children as Wolf took his hand before the king continued, “Justly and wisely.”

Without confessing the truth, the Bad Guys replied on behalf of the Royal Siblings, “We promise.”

At the moment, the flame of the candle died down. The king passed away.

When the Bad Guys left the king’s chamber, they couldn’t believe what they just witnessed. They spoke to the king, and he died in front of them. They gave the king their word to rule the kingdom with their hearts. It was meant for the Royal Siblings, not them. When they looked at the window, watching the moon shine on the town of the kingdom, they had this funny feeling that everything they experienced about being royalty wasn’t worth the switch. They realized now that having this experience meant that there wasn’t any luxury for them, no matter which life they took or had.

Wolf broke the silence between him and his friends while they were thinking… if what they were thinking was the same, “Guys, have you ever dreamed before that we would live in a castle with all the riches in the world?”

“Yeah,” Shark replied.

“Yep,” Tarantula answered.

“Now, I never thought how important a ruler is for the entire land,” Wolf said. “Living like royalty wasn’t about being lucky and happy most of the time, but it’s about thinking of others more than ourselves.”

“Something that we couldn’t do,” Tarantula commented.

Hornet shook his head and confessed his feelings, “This isn’t right, guys. I feel bad… that we could imagine something so precious that would lead to the downfall of others.”

“And it would be so hard to make people feel as good as we tried to be good,” Piranha stated.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I don’t want to live in a castle with all this food and riches and feel proud. I like what I have now,” Snake admitted.

“Me too,” Shark nodded.

“Us, being the Good Bad Guys, this is what we’re good at,” Hornet declared.

Wolf turned back to the window and looked at the town before saying, “We gotta find the princes and the princess. They know what to do.”

Suddenly, right behind them was Captain Reshawls as he exclaimed, “Good day, my phony princes and princess!”

This startled the Bad Guys as 6 guards gripped each of them, making them face the Royal Guard Captain.

“What the... Hey!” Hornet yelped.

“Unhand us!” Wolf shouted.

“Shut up!” Reshawls snapped as he lit his cigarette, “Now that our dearly departed king is out of my way, you're gonna do every little thing I say.”

“And why should we listen to you?” Snake hissed while trying to free himself from the guard’s grip so he could bite the captain with his teeth.

“'Cause if you don't, I will expose you for the imposters that you are.” Reshawls pulled out his sword and lightly gestured it across each of the Bad Guys’ necks. “Your heads will decorate spikes on the kingdom walls.”

The Bad Guys gasped and gulped as they glanced at each other, realizing they might die if they didn’t follow the Royal Guard Captain. They had no other choice. They would rather go to jail than be executed and have their heads decorated with spikes.

Back in town, the bells of the castle were tolled, announcing the king’s death. This news was spread all over the kingdom.

In one of the houses, the Royal Siblings opened a window when they heard the bell, but they were unaware of what was going on.

Prince Wolfgang noticed a man passing by the street and called to him, “You there! What's happened?”

“The king is dead, and the Royal Siblings are to be crowned at once!” The man announced.

Guilt has driven in their hearts. They just found out that their adoptive father passed away, and they weren’t there in his final moments.

“Father...” They all whispered sadly.

They also realized they put the Bad Guys under pressure for taking their place temporarily yet had to see their father when it wasn’t part of the plan. The Royal Siblings went back inside, mourning their loss, and sat down at the dining table while Darla was cooking dinner for them as the host of her guests.

Darla put a pot of soup on the table and said, “Soup is ready. I know it’s not much, but it’s all I had.”

But her guests didn’t reply. They were still mourning their loss. They were also thinking about their kingdom and their people. Now that the king was gone, the Royal Siblings were now in charge of ruling the place. After seeing what was all around them, they had seen enough suffering, and as what was expected of them, they had to have the throne to continue what their father had worked for for the kingdom.

“Now it's up to us to right the wrongs we've seen, brothers and sisters,” Prince Wolfgang declared.

Princess Webeline nodded, “Yes. After what we had seen, it’s all horrible.”

“Children going hungry.” Prince Piranhalliam listed.

“Corruption everywhere,” Prince Hornlet added.

Each of the Royal Siblings’ royal seals was exposed on Darla’s dining table as Darla saw the proof that they were the real Royal Siblings.

“You, you really are the Royal Siblings, aren't ya?” Darla bowed down before the siblings, “Your Majesties, I’ll obey your every command.”

Prince Snakeselot patted the young fox’s shoulder with his tail. “Dear Darla, we owe you our lives. And this will not be forgotten.” The rest of the siblings smiled as they had the same feeling with the female fox.

“Come, brothers, sister, friend. We must return to the palace at once,” Prince Wolfgang said as they were about to head to the door.

But their attempts were interrupted when Captain Reshawls and the other royal guards crashed into Darla’s house and broke down the door.

“Or a visit to the dungeon, Your Majesties!” Harskhaw smirked before commanding his guards, “Get them, boys!”

The Royal Siblings tried to run away, but the guards threw their spears at them. The siblings barely got hit, but they were surrounded by the spears, trapping them in the process.

Darla took her wooden sword and attempted to rescue the Royal Siblings by fighting off the guards by herself. “Let them go, you evil men!” Darla charged at them with her sword, but Reshawls kicked the young fox to the side, causing Darla to be thrown into the closet before the door closed in front of her.

Captain Reshawls and his guards took the Royal Siblings back to the castle. But instead of their rooms, they took them to the dungeon at the lower part of the castle.

“Let us go! Let us go, I say!” Prince Sharkspeare commanded.

Princess Webeline snarled while trying to shake herself free from one of the guard’s grips, “How dare you!”

“You'll pay for this, Captain! I command you to put me and my siblings down right now!” Prince Wolfgang ordered.

“After those criminals are crowned, it will be adieu for all of you!” Captain Reshawls cackled sinisterly.

The guards laughed as well as they opened the dungeon door. Inside was Calamity, who had been thrown into the dungeon earlier, and she was trying to find a way out.

But when the door opened, Calamity thought it was her chance to reason with the guards so she could be released. “Hey, get me outta here! I'm the Royal Siblings’ housekeeper!”

But the Royal Siblings got thrown away, causing them to crash at Calamity and fall further down into the dungeon.

Calamity angrily squawked before seeing the princes and the princess around her, “Your Highnesses! Your Highnesses! We're saved!” She hugged them all until she realized the Royal Siblings were also here, being thrown into the dungeon with her as the door closed and the room was all dark. “Wait a minute! You're in here, too! We're doomed!”

The sounds of the drums and the trumpets were heard from above. This was meant to be the coronation ceremony.

“The coronation!” Prince Snakeselot gasped as he and his siblings realized the Bad Guys were about to be crowned.

In the throne room, a crowd of high-class people gathered together on this day to attend the coronation of the new rulers of Cherishtin. As the ceremony started, it began with the march of the flags of the kingdom, followed by Kanenburty carrying the crown and the soon-to-be-kings-and-queen. But the crowned-to-be-rulers hadn’t come out of the hallway yet. The guards and the people looked back as they expected their future rulers to be part of the march soon. The Bad Guys paused for a moment, trying to buy some time for the Royal Siblings to come back for the coronation if they’ll ever come back soon.

Kanenbury turned on his back and calmly called out to the “Royal Siblings,” “My Lords.”

The Bad Guys grinned sheepishly. To their side, they noticed Captain Reshawls from the curtains and had his finger sliding across his neck, gesturing to the Bad Guys about his threat to them. The Bad Guys couldn’t give the Royal Siblings more time as they stepped forward, showing that they wore the royal robes.

Back in the dungeon, it was guarded by one Royal Guard, and the Royal Siblings and Calamity had their faces show through the barred window of the door.

“This charade has gone on long enough! I demand you open this door immediately!” Prince Snakeselot hissed at the guard beside the door.

“Aw, shut up!” The guard yelled while banging the door.

Down below the stairwell, a large shadow that looked like it was holding a giant ax approached up the stairs. It must be the executioner, ready to execute the Royal Siblings.

"Well, looks like the boss isn't wasting any time,” the guard laughed maniacally as he was excited to have the prisoners executed sooner than expected.

While the guard pulled out the key to unlock the door, Calamity prayed with her wings closed together, begging for mercy from above.

“Be my guest, pal!” The guard smiled, ready to unlock the dungeon door.

The executioner then stepped on a wet floor, making him slip a little and causing him to accidentally throw his ax towards the guard. The guard shrieked when the ax was heading towards him. He ducked, and the ax missed him, pinning on the wall.

“Hey, what's the big idea?” The guard yelled at the executioner for almost killing him.

“Sorry,” the executioner revealed to be shorter and have a high-pitched voice. He was wearing a mask so his face wasn’t revealed.

Though the executioner’s voice was too familiar for the Royal Siblings, and they hoped they were wrong about who they thought that would be.

When he tried to get the ax unstuck from the wall, the hard pull caused the ax to fling, hitting the guard behind the executioner on the head with the handle. The executioner noticed the ax broke and turned to the guard, “You wouldn't happen to have an ax I could borrow, would you?”

But the guard got all ditzy after being knocked on the head and spoke in gibberish, “Thank you.” He kissed the executioner on the forehead, “I've had a lovely evening.” And he passed out.

The executioner removed his hood and was revealed to be Darla. “Gosh. I never knocked someone out before.”

“Young Darla!” Prince Hornlet exclaimed as he and his siblings were happy to see her.

“Just sit tight, Your Highnesses; I'll have you outta there in a jiffy!” The young fox said as she took the keys to find the right one.

Back at the coronation, the Bad Guys made it to the end of the red carpet, where 6 thrones were waiting for the future kings and queen, and the archbishop was waiting for them to sit on their respective thrones so he could crown them. The high-class visitors were confusingly waiting for the heirs to take their seats on the thrones. The Bad Guys couldn’t sit just yet; they were still buying more time for the Royal Siblings to arrive.

“Be seated, Your Majesties,” the archbishop requested.

“Oh. After you,” Hornet grinned sheepishly.

The archbishop chuckled at this humor. “No, no. Beauty before age.”

“Oh, no. Age before beauty,” Shark declared politely.

“Your Highnesses, you're such a sport,” the archbishop giggled at their game before yelling quietly but sharply, “Sit down!”

The archbishop’s tone really made the Bad Guys afraid of him, as they didn’t want to push his buttons any longer.

Snake chuckled nervously, replying, “Got it.”

Back in the dungeon, Darla was still looking for the right key for the dungeon door, as she couldn’t tell which was the right one. All the keys looked the same to her.

“Now let me see here. Was it the skinny one or the round one or the fatty? Maybe it was this one. Sure, I know I had it. Hey! Maybe it's this big one.”

While Darla was still looking for the key, Calamity turned to one side and noticed down the hall that a guard was whistling loudly, calling all the guards for backup, and they appeared in an instant.

“Aaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!” Calamity screamed as she took the keys from Darla and chose one key before plunging it into the keyhole. It fit perfectly.

The chase was on! The guards charged at them as the Royal Siblings, Darla, and Calamity escaped, taking another staircase and a turn to another hallway.

Right ahead, the Royal Siblings only saw a locked door, and it might be a dead end. The guards behind them threw sharp weapons at them.

There was a knife right behind Prince Sharkspeare as he continued to run to avoid getting poked by the blade. Curious while running from it, Prince Sharkspeare slightly poked the tip of the knife with his fin and felt a sting from it. “Ouch! That thing's sharp!”

The Royal Siblings, Darla, and Calamity stopped in their tracks when they only encountered a door to who-knew-where it led to. But the impact of the knife slammed on the door, pinning formerly-Shark's coat and causing the door to open, leading outside of the castle tower, and almost dragging the 9 of them to fall to their doom. But since the coat that Prince Sharkspeare was wearing got pinned on the door, preventing him from falling, the others hung onto him while Prince Hornlet flew on his own, saving his own life, and the guard clumsily fell out of the tower. The 9 swung back inside and closed the door in the process.

Returning to the coronation, the Bad Guys sat at the royal thrones, and the archbishop was about to crown Wolf first. Once he was crowned, then the rest of them would be crowned too.

The archbishop held one of the crowns above Wolf’s head, but Wolf tried to lower his head to avoid putting it on his head.

“It is both my duty and pleasure to crown you...” The archbishop lowered the crown, only for Wolf to move his head to the side. The archbishop noticed this as he tried it again, “To crown you... To...” Wolf moved his head again to another side.

“I say, a rather wiry lad,” the archbishop commented as he lowered the crown to Wolf’s head, “to... So slippery. Would you hold still?”

The upper-class audience was excited to see the first of the 6 rulers be crowned, while Reshawls grinned evilly, waiting for his plan to unfold, and the Bad Guys panicked to see the crown getting closer, ready to be worn by one of the fraudulent rulers.

They couldn’t handle buying time anymore as the Bad Guys yelled without any other way, “Stop!”

This made the entire throne room gasp, especially Captain Harskshaw, who didn’t expect the Bad Guys to halt the coronation, "What the...”

Wolf stood up from the throne as he thought of a way to get himself and his friends out of this. "Look, I'm the prince, right? My brothers are also the princes, and my sister is the princess. And whatever we order must be done, right?”

The archbishop didn’t know where this was going with that question, but he didn’t hesitate to answer honestly to the “wolf prince,” “Uh, yes.”

With this, Wolf turned to his friends and winked at them, gesturing that they had to use this power to save themselves from the captain’s manipulation.

The other Bad Guys smiled and glanced at each other. This will get them off the hook.

Snake slithered down from the throne and announced, “Well, then, the captain is an insolent scoundrel! Guards, seize him!

“Seize them!” Captain Reshawls commanded his guards as they surrounded the Bad Guy with spears, “They’re impostors.”

“But we're not, Captain!” The Royal Siblings showed themselves at the large window above.

The crowd looked up and gasped, seeing another group of anthropomorphic animals who looked exactly like the ones that were about to be crowned.

The Royal Siblings dove onto a nearby chandelier and swung all the way down while Prince Wolfgang, Prince Snakeselot, Prince Sharkspeare, and Prince Piranhalliam each grabbed a sword from the nearby guards.

"Thank you, guardsmen,” Prince Piranhalliam said when the guards noticed their swords were snatched away from them.

The Royal Siblings landed safely in front of the captain. The Bad Guys smiled because they were happy to see the Royal Siblings returned safely to save the coronation.

The Royal Guard Captain pretended to be as shocked as everyone else in the room. “What is this impertinence?”

“We are the Royal Siblings,” Prince Snakeselot declared.

But Captain Reshawls won’t let anyone ruin his plan as he ordered the nearby guards, “Arrest those riffraff!”

“Don’t lay a finger on them!” Piranha exclaimed before the guards could take the siblings away, “They were the true kings and queen.”

“Archbishop, proceed,” the captain’s voice began to tremble as he didn’t want either the Bad Guys or the Royal Siblings to expose more of this revelation.

Hornet shouted out more as he exposed the captain as well, “They know we’re not the real Royal Siblings. They know we were the Bad Guys, the infamous criminals from America. That’s why he wants to see us crowned so he can rule himself behind the scenes.”

Reshawls made a fake shocking face when the crowd gasped in horror at this fact, “This is nonsense! I am merely the captain of the Royal Guard!”

The upper-class crowd began to doubt the captain’s truthfulness but also doubted if the Royal Siblings and the Bad Guys were speaking the truth.

Seeing that the crowd couldn’t decide who to believe, Prince Princess Webeline had an idea as she announced, “Will this prove enough we’re telling the truth?” She pulled her skirt up, revealing her royal seal mark on her abdomen.

Following their sister’s gesture, Prince Wolfgang raised his paw up, Prince Snakeselot raised his tail, Prince Sharkspeare stretched his dorsal fin, Prince Piranha raised his fin, and Prince Hornlet showed his abdomen, all revealing the royal seal mark, proving their status as royalty.

Loud gasps filled the air when everybody saw the royal seals on the ones who wore civilian clothes.

“It’s the Royal Seal,” one of the noblemen pointed out.

And looking back at the ones who wore the royal robes, none of them had the seals.

But Captain Reshawls still had more power than the royalties or the imposters. He didn’t want anyone to get in his way as he angrily shouted, “Arrest them! Arrest all of them! I command you!” But the guards couldn’t do anything, especially when they realized they had to arrest the new kings and queen. They would have terrible punishments from them than from the captain.

“He said that if we won’t do what he says, he’ll have our heads decorated in spikes,” Tarantula added, revealing how cruel the captain was, much to the nobles’ horror.

“Our father never had trusted you, Captain,” Prince Wolfgang snarled.

Then your father should not have appointed me the Captain of the Royal Guards!” Reshawls growled.

“Then you admit it?” The archbishop caught him red-handed before glancing at the group with civilian clothing. “These are the king’s children.”

The nobles around them murmured in agreement, believing the Royal Siblings and their doppelgangers were telling the truth.

Instead of ordering the guards to do their work, the Royal Siblings approached Reshawls themselves to put him down.

Reshawls then pleaded for mercy. "No, no, no. Wait a minute, Your Majesties. I can explain everything.

“Very well. We await your explanation,” Prince Snakeselot declared as he and three brothers lowered their swords down.

“Your Majesties are too kind.” Captain Reshawls bowed down, smirking, only to attempt to reach for the carpet that the Royal Siblings stood on.

“Look out!” Piranha yelled.

But Reshawls already yanked the carpet, causing the Royal Siblings to flip into the air and stumble on the floor, dropping their swords and separating from each other. Before either of them reached for their swords, Reshawls took out his sword and struck at the Royal Siblings, only for them to dodge out of the way. He managed to strike them again, but they moved in separate directions to avoid getting hit by the sword’s blade.

“Geronimo!” Darla screamed as she and Calamity arrived as well, as they swung down by the chandelier and dropped themselves from midair, crashing onto a guard that almost released his arrow to hit any of the Royal Siblings. Glad that he was stopped by non-royalties.

When Reshawls swung his sword at Prince Wolfgang and Prince Snakeaslot, they dodged the blade, and before Reshawls could strike a blow, an arrow hit him from the rear, causing him to scream in pain.

The arrow came from Darla as she made her first shot with a bow and arrow. “Oh, I got you now, ya varlet!” She wanted to shoot another arrow again, but without looking, she accidentally grabbed Calamity instead and used her as an arrow before launching her from a bow. It was too late for her to realize she launched the wrong arrow. “Oops.”

But it didn’t matter anyway. It was still a lucky help, as Calamity hit several guards and was about to hit another one near the pillar. But the guard ducked, avoiding getting hit, and Calamity got her beak stuck on the pillar. But her body vibrated by the impact, causing her to hammer down the guard that avoided her.

The fight between the captain and the Royal Siblings led to the thrones as he swung at Hornet’s throne, trying to hit Princess Webilie and Prince Hornlet. Hornet dodged out of the way while the prince and princess hid behind the throne. Then Prince Sharkspeare and Prince Piranhalliam poke their heads out from behind the throne that Wolf sat on, and the captain swung his sword on that side of the throne, making Wolf avoid getting hit. As reflexes, Reshawls thought the last two Royal Siblings would appear in the middle as he struck his sword between the thrones Shark and Piranha sat on. All the Bad Guys jumped out of the way, and revealing the Royal Siblings didn’t appear between any of the thrones… but on top of them

“Fooled again, Captain,” Prince Hornlet giggled.

Meanwhile, Darla tried to get Calamity unstuck from the pillar. She pulled the grackle as hard as she could. When the fox got Calamity unstuck, they fell onto the red carpet, causing themselves to roll in the carpet and hit a nearby guard with an ax.

The ax flung all the way to a rope, cutting it and releasing a chandelier, and fell onto the running guards who were trying to defend their captain, tangling them while rolling by the chandelier.

When Prince Wolfgang, Prince Snakeselot, Prince Sharkspeare, and Prince Piranhalliam were caught in another swordfight with the captain, Prince Hornlet grabbed himself a sword and wanted to fight, but it was big and heavy for him, and he tried to swing it while flying. Upon doing that, he accidentally grazed Reshawls’s pants, causing them to fall down to his ankles.

Seeing this, the nobles laughed at the captain's underwear.

Behind him, Reshawls saw a rolling chandelier with his loyal guards coming towards him. Reshawls tried to pull his pants up while trying to run away from the rolling chandelier. “Get out of the way!” He cried.

Not wanting to let him get away with this, Snake and Prince Snakeselot hooked their tails together, and Piranha and Prince Piranhalliam stretched them apart, causing Reshawls to trip down and get caught by the rolling chandelier.

The chandelier sent the Royal Guard Captain and his loyal guards out of the window, shattering through it, and they fell down out of the castle.

Now that the captain was out of the way, the Bad Guys and the Royal Siblings were finally reunited and were happy to see each other.

“Am I glad to see...” They spoke to each other in unison, “I mean... What a time I've...” They couldn’t stop talking at the same time as each of them hugged their respective doppelganger.

The moment was interrupted when the Archbishop was still confused about the similarities of the Bad Guys and the Royal Siblings, so he still couldn’t tell the difference anymore. Even with the accidental confession from the captain, the fight made his head screw around. “But you see, I... Which... Good heavens. Which one is which?” He looked back and forth between the two groups as they laughed at this joke.

But the Royal Siblings moved forward, representing themselves as the real princes and princess.

“Sorry, Bad Guys, for being gone longer than expected,” Prince Wolfgang said.

“Just please don’t put us in this position again! Being royalty is so hard!” Wolf exclaimed frustratingly.

The Royal Siblings chuckled as they positioned themselves in front of each of their thrones, and the Bad Guys moved aside, letting the Royal Siblings be crowned.

“Therefore, I crown you,” While still holding one of the king crowns, the archbishop placed the crown on now-King Wolfgang’s head, “King Wolfgang of Cherishtin.” Then, he picked the second crown and placed it on now-King Snakeselot’s head, “King Snakeselot of Cherishtin.” He picked the large crown and reached as high as he could to place it on now-King Sharkspeare’s head, “King Sharkspeare of Cherishtin.” He picked the small crown and placed it on now-King Piranhalliam’s head, “King Piranhalliam of Cherishtin.” He took the little queen crown and slowly placed it on now-Queen Webeline’s head, “Queen Webeline of Cherishtin,” And finally, he picked the tiniest king crown and offered it to now-King Hornlet, who delightfully wore the crown himself, “And King Hornlet of Cherishtin.”

The crowd of nobles cheered for their new kings and queen. The Bad Guys offered the Royal Siblings their royal robes back, with each giving to their respective doppelganger. The Royal Siblings also received their own scepters, symbolizing their status.

As part of the ceremony, the Royal Siblings stepped out of the balcony of the castle, making their first official public appearance as co-rulers of Cherishtin to the entire kingdom. The Bad Guys were invited to make their publicity as the Royal Siblings’ confidants. The crowd of people roared in happiness for their new kings and queen. The Royal Siblings were delighted to find their place in the world, their true place, here in the kingdom.

Sometime later, Reshawls and his guards were taken to the throne room, where they kneeled before the co-rulers, and the Bad Guys each stood beside their royal counterparts.

“Captain Maverick Reshawls, you are henceforth exiled from Cherishtin, never to return,” King Wolfgang announced as the guards around him took him away.

King Snakeselot then declared, “The rest of the royal guards who were loyal to Captain Harskshaw, you too shall be exiled for tormenting the people of Cherishtin and taking all of their livelihood.”

This has shocked Reshawls’s guards, as they were taken away as well.

Queen Webeline cleared her throat to make a special announcement, “Our second decree as kings and queen is that it’s our duty to connect the kingdom of Cherishtin back to the world, letting the whole world know the existence of our nation since our ancestors’ decree of separating the kingdom from the outside.”

The Royal Siblings glanced at each of their counterparts, who all smiled at them proudly for making a good decree.

“We’ll be glad to form an alliance with other countries,” King Sharkspeare added.

“And our third decree, we appointed Ms. Darla as our new Captain of the Royal Guard,” King Piranhalliam proclaimed.

Darla, who was now dressed like a princess, was surprised by this. They did promise her she could be the new captain of the Guard.

Kanenbury, who became the kings and queen’s new royal advisor, then leaned closer to the Royal Siblings and whispered, “Your highnesses, this fox is too young to be captain.”

“We could give her a couple of training sessions, and she’ll be a captain in no time,” King Hornlet stated.

Kanenbury couldn’t argue with that as Darla squealed in excitement.

In town, Kanenbury led his staff to the marketplace where the Royal Siblings bought their apples and encountered the lady who sold the apples.

Kanunberry opened the scroll and announced, “Their Majesties Kings Wolfgang, Snakeselot, Sharkspeare, Piranhalliam, Hornlet, and Queen Webeline beg forgiveness for taking longer than anticipated to repay his debt to you.”

“They what?” The saleslady asked, as she couldn’t remember if they had encountered the Royal Siblings before, or if the strangers she gave the apples to were thought to be joking about them being royalty.

“And this is interest,” Kanenbury continued as a castle staff member poured coins on the counter, much to the saleslady’s happiness.

Later, Kanenbury found the lady two Reshawls’s guards stole the pig from and declared, reading the scroll, “These pigs are hereby presented by their royal highnesses…”

A wagon of three pigs had pink ribbons on them, and the woman was surprised that she was gifted with more than one pig that she had before.

“My pigs!” She cried with joy.

Everyone in the kingdom had the food and money they needed for their livelihood, and everyone was very happy as the Royal Siblings and the Bad Guys watched the happy people around them. They compared the misery they had before since the king’s absence, but now, it was a new era of peace and happiness in the Kingdom of Cherishtin.

“We’re proud of you, Your Majesties,” Wolf stated.

“It felt good to see other people happy again all because of you guys,” Piranha admitted.

“If you hadn’t come here and switched places with us, we wouldn’t have seen all these awful things the captain did,” King Sharkspeare said.

“Eh, I call it fate,” Snake commented.

“I don’t believe in fate,” King Snakeselot confessed, making the two snakes laugh.

Prince Wolfgang then told the Bad Guys, “If there’s anything else we could give you, you name it.”

“Anything?” Wolf repeated.

“As our appreciation for our newly found friendship,” King Hornlet claimed.

There were so many things kings and queens could afford once someone named it: money, jewelry, rooms in the castle, food, and a lot of things. The Bad Guys glanced at each other, thinking they would use this advantage to take anything they wanted. They only needed just one thing…

“We do need some jet fuel for our jet,” Wolf stated.

Tarantula jumped onto King Sharkspeare’s shoulder and clung onto Queen Webeline’s legs, crying, “Yes, please, we want to get out of this difficult kingdom!”

To the Royal Siblings, it sounded offensive for their kings, but they understood the Bad Guys were having a hard time doing their duties for them during their switch.

Later, the Bad Guys were outside the kingdom walls with their fuel tank that was tied on a strong wooden wagon that could be pulled by two white horses. They had to say goodbye to the Royal Siblings one last time.

“I hope we’ll see each other again,” King Wolfgang said.

“I hope you would come and visit us in America,” Wolf replied.

The Bad Guys and the Royal Siblings bowed to each other as their polite way to say goodbye to their new friends. As they went their separate ways, the Bad Guys pushed the wagon with their fuel tank, while the Royal Siblings went back inside the kingdom walls.

Back in the castle, the Royal Siblings were heading towards the balcony to hear more help from their subjects.

But before they came out, Kanenbury expressed his concerns with the Royal Siblings’ friends with the Bad Guys, “Are you sure this is accurate, your highnesses? Becoming friends with criminals?”

“They weren’t that bad; they were just misunderstood. Like us,” King Sharkspeare stated.

The Royal Siblings came out of the balcony and were ready to listen to their subjects’ cries so they could help them however they could.

While the people were chattering of their problems, one of them noticed something odd about the Royal Siblings as he raised his hand.

“Yes, you?” King Snakeselot pointed out the man that has his hand raised.

“Umm, Your Majesties, where are your crowns?” the man mentioned.

Wanting to check what the man was talking about, the Royal Siblings felt that their crowns were missing. The symbolic objects of their status were gone.

Everyone in the kingdom gasped that the crowns went missing. They murmured and chattered in worry as they looked around to see if they could spot any of the six crowns.

All of a sudden, the kingdom doors slammed open, revealing the Bad Guys were still outside the walls with their fuel tank and revealing they were holding each of their respective doppelganger’s crown. The Royal Siblings saw the Bad Guys with their crowns and gasped in horror.

They were the ones who stole the crowns!

“Don’t mind us, we’re just robbing this place,” Wolf said.

The Bad Guys cackled as Wolf jumped onto the front of the wagon and drove the wagon with the horse pulling them away. The guards went after the Bad Guys to retrieve the crowns as the Royal Siblings laughed delightfully with no hard feelings, knowing the Bad Guys will always be the Bad Guys.

Next on The Bad Guys: The Baddest Trip...

Mr. Wolf: Alright, guys, where do we go next?

Mr. Hornet: A lot of couples like to go to Italy for their date.

Mr. Wolf: Then, Italy it is!

Mr. Shark: I was thinking we should go to the most famous restaurant in Italy.

Mr. Piranha: Hey, the moon is bright today, and there’s music, so… May I have this dance?

Mr. Hornet: Piranha! But, alright.

Cast:

Michael Godere - Mr. Wolf/Prince Wolfgang

Chris Diamantopoulos - Mr. Snake/Prince Snakeselot

Ezekiel Ajeigbe - Mr. Shark/Prince Sharkspeare

Raul Ceballos - Mr. Piranha/Prince Piranhalliam

Mallory Low - Ms. Tarantula/Princess Webeline

Eugene Lee Yang - Mr. Hornet/Prince Hornlet

Keith David - Captain Maverick Reshawls

Mark Fleischmann - Knox Kanenbury

Natasha Lyonne - Calamity Blackfeather

Shannon Chan-Kent  - Darla

Kath Soucie - Apple saleslady

April Winchell – Distress woman

Jim Cummings - The Royal Provisioner/ Peasant / Man in Street

Yonas Kibreab – Boy #1

Ravi Cabot-Conyers – Boy #2

Frank Welker - The King / Archbishop

Dan Russell, Kerry Shale, Joey Camen, T. K. Carter – Royal Guards

Chapter Text

Previously  on The Bad Guys: The Baddest Trip...

The Bad Guys and the Royal Siblings: You look just like... I thought you were...

Princess Webeline: My brothers and I take your place as normal civilians. And you 6 shall be the princes and the princess.

Woman: Somebody, help me! (retrieving her pig from the royal guards)

Royal Guard: Relax, lady, it's for the king.

Woman: But it's all we have.

Royal Guard #2:  Well, then, it's all we'll take!

Prince Piranhalliam: I can't believe it. Stealing in the king's name!

Mr. Wolf:  Living like royalty wasn't about being lucky and happy most of the time, but it's about thinking of others more than ourselves.

King: You must promise. Promise me that you will rule the land from your hearts. Justly and wisely.

Prince Wolfgang: Sorry, Bad Guys, for being gone longer than expected.

Mr. Wolf:  Just please don't put us in this position again! Being royalty is so hard!

King Wolfgang: I hope we'll see each other again.

Mr. Wolf: I hope you will come and visit us in America.

Feeling Italian

The Bad Guys made it back on track for their trip. Their adventure had just begun.

All the Bad Guys were in the cockpit together, wanting to watch the view ahead.

"Alright, guys, where do we go next?" Wolf asked, feeling excited for their next adventure.

"Can I suggest something, Chico?" Piranha asked, tapping the tips of his fins together.

"Go ahead, Hermano."

"Well, I've been thinking that we should go somewhere where Hornet and I have time for ourselves," the little fish pulled Hornet closer to him.

"Have you already done that in Spain?" Snake inquired.

"Hey, you've been kidnapped by my ex-childhood friend who was crazily obsessed with me and almost killed you! That's not romantic!" Piranha reminded.

The other Bad Guys murmured in agreement, recalling their near-death experience.

"Well, I don't mind if it's just us alone on a date together. It's been a while since it's just us," Hornet gently stroked Piranha's face.

"I may suggest Italy. It was one of the most romantic destinations in the whole world," Shark suggested.

"Well, technically, France, too," Tarantula corrected, "but Italy has some romantic atmosphere you can feel there."

Both Piranha and Hornet were thinking this through. For Hornet, he could go wherever he wanted. So, Piranha would be the one with the final decision.

"Hmm, a lot of couples like to go to Italy for their date," he pointed out.

"Then, Italy it is!" Wolf exclaimed as he stirred the wheel and set up his GPS, redirecting their destination to Italy. Then, he turned to Snake and Shark, "You know, while these two will go on a date, when we get there, let's roam around and look for Italian babes."

"I was thinking we should go to the most famous restaurant in Italy, and I know a place," Shark said while looking through his phone. "It has the exact Italian deliciousness on their dish."

"Good idea, Shark, and we would feel Italian until we get home." Wolf responded as the jet zoomed through the air fast, heading to Italy.

The Bad Guys hid their jet somewhere in Pompeii so no one would find it. As they entered the crumbled city, they didn't mind taking a short tour before heading to their planned destination.

"When Mount Vesuvius erupted, people were overcome by volcanic ash so fast that they were frozen in whatever position they were in at the moment of their death," Hornet explained.

The Bad Guys stumbled onto a street where they encountered statues of anthropomorphic animals who were the same species as the group. The wolf statue seemed to be carrying a bag, followed by a snake carrying a vase around its tail, a shark carrying a big treasure chest, a piranha carrying a box, a tarantula grabbing a ring, and a hornet carrying an apple, but since it was frozen, it fell from the air and crashed on the ground, breaking one of its antennae.

"Savages," Snake commented.

The Bad Guys took the train to Venice, where they found the restaurant that Shark had seen online.

Shark rushed in front of the restaurant as he was so excited to try the place. "This is it! Il ristorante di Mia."

"Can't we just eat at one of the other 8000 restaurants we passed?" Wolf recalled.

Shark cringed, "No, this restaurant is the best in all of Italy."

"Well, you guys can argue about which Italian restaurant you want to eat at. Piranha and I will go out to find our dating spots," Hornet said as he landed on Piranha's.

The two smiled at each other before walking off to start their date.

"Alright, you two, have fun," Snake told them as he waved his tail at them goodbye.

After they waved at Piranha and Hornet as they left, the other four Bad Guys drew back their attention to the restaurant.

"Trust me, guys, Chef Mia is the Da Vinci of linguine," Shark described.

Tarantula shook her head. "I'm not in the mood for linguine."

"I'm not in the mood for you!" Shark snapped at Tarantula on his shoulder before moving forward into the restaurant. Inside, Shark approached a chef in front of him, who was greeting the customers. "Excuse me, are you the maitre d'?"

"I'm a-Chef Mia," the chef introduced herself.

Shark was stunned that he was talking to the restaurant owner and the chef herself as he stammered, not knowing what to say, "I-I-I," Tarantula gave a hard hit on Shark's face to snap himself out of it. "Know."

"My friend here says you flip a mean pizza," Wolf commented.

Shark thought Wolf was embarrassing him in front of the master Italian chef as he tried to embarrass him back, "I'm sorry, my friend here won't be eating tonight. He already has his paw in his mouth," But Wolf didn't find it appealing or offensive as he rolled his eyes, knowing Shark was just nervous at the famous Italian chef.

Wanting to get this over with, Snake called for a table, "Table for quattro?"

"Of course," Chef Mia replied as she went to the hostess stand and flipped the book of schedule, "Ah, I could squeeze you in at 7:30."

"Perfect," Shark sighed.

"On July 14, 2039," Chef Mia continued.

"But that's in 15 years," Tarantula mentioned.

"What if I don't feel like Italian that day?" Snake inquired.

"Next!" Chef Mia called for the next customer.

The next customer stepped into the restaurant, and it was none other than Chief Luggins in Hawaiian clothing, wearing a sunhat, shades, and a camera.

"Chief Luggins?" The Bad Guys gasped.

"Oh no," Chief Luggins groaned, as she didn't expect to see the Bad Guys here in Italy.

"What are you doing here?" Snake asked.

"I'm on vacation. What are you guys doing here, and how did you get here?" The chief asked, but the Bad Guys remained silent, not wanting Luggins to know about the stolen jet fiasco. By looking at the Bad Guys' speechless faces, Chief Luggins suspected something was up until she remembered the news back in LA, "Oh my gosh… You stole the private jet!"

The Bad Guys remained speechless. They wanted to defend themselves with a lie, but Chief Luggins wasn't a fool with their plots.

"I knew it was you! I shall have you arrested!" The chief shouted.

"Oh, well, you can't exactly arrest us," Tarantula pointed out.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you're an off-duty cop, and we're in Italy, so… you don't have the jurisdiction to arrest us," Wolf explained.

Chief Luggins was about to oppose that statement until she realized that she was on vacation, she didn't wear her uniform and badge and wasn't in LA anymore. She was in Italy. She was on vacation, supposedly away from the Bad Guys, but it was ironic they were here with her as well. Chief Luggins growled in defeat before exhaling. She won't let this vacation go to waste because of them. "Fine. I want my vacation anyway. But when I get back to LA, Bad Guys, I'll have you arrested once you get home," she continued to get her reservation at the host stand.

Snake sighed frustratingly, "Great! We're still not off the hook because of that jet."

"We'll just figure this out later. Right now, we need to think of how we can get a table," Wolf noted.

"Reservation for Ms. Luggins." The chief announced.

"Ah, right this way," Chef Mia led Luggins to his seat.

The Bad Guys jumped beside the chief as Shark stated, "We're with her."

"No, they're not." Luggins shoved all four Bad Guys out of the door as she sat on his seat comfortably.

Meanwhile, Piranha and Hornet were strolling down the City of Venice. Hornet was buying lunch for the date and set it up in a picnic basket, and Piranha carried it for him.

"Wow, Venice is a big city. They call it the City of Canals." Hornet admired the view of the city when it was just tall, colorful buildings and the Grand Canal ahead.

This gave Piranha an idea to make this a memorable date: "Why don't we try the canals then? Maybe we can have lunch there."

The little hornet nodded rapidly in excitement. The little smile meant yes as they continued to walk down the street to find themselves a ride.

When they made it to the dock that has the sign "servizio gondola," there was a gondola parked beside the dock, ready to ride in.

Piranha volunteered to ask for service first, "Hi. Can we have a ride?"

"Certo. How long would you a-lovely couple like?" The gondolier asked.

"Well, 30 minutes or longer," Hornet answered while standing on Piranha's fin while touching his other fin.

"Then it a-cost 110," the gondolier stated.

Piranha used his spare fin to reach for money in his pockets but pulled out not enough money for the gondola ride. "Dang, Wolf gave me 50."

"And I spent some of mine for the lunch," Hornet guessed when he remembered he spent the money on food for their date.

"Then, no money, no ride," the gondolier huffed and looked away from the couple.

Hornet hung his head down, looking really sad, but Piranha won't let this ruin their date in Italy. He let Hornet fly from his fin for a moment and put the basket down before rolling his sleeves and marching towards the gondolier. Piranha hopped on the gondola, snatched the oar, and swung it at the gondolier, knocking him off the gondola and into the water. Now it was empty, and they could ride on it without paying.

"Mi amor?" Piranha offered his fin to Hornet for a ride.

Hornet smiled as he carried the basket into the gondola with him. He set up two plates of spaghetti from the basket; one with meatballs and the other meatless. "I know it's not from 'the best restaurant in Italy,' but at least we have food."

But Piranha smiled as he didn't mind what food they'll have for their lunch date. All that mattered is they found themselves a gondola and rode peacefully down the Grand Canal. "I think it's good enough."

Piranha rowed the gondola away from the dock and let it float down the canal before joining Hornet to eat with him.

Meanwhile, Chief Luggins was ordering her food while reading the menu.

"After the arancini, I will have the bistecca fiorentina," she told the waiter as he smiled and nodded before leaving to take her order.

Wolf, Snake, Shark, and Tarantula were outside the restaurant by the door where Chief Luggins' table was nearby. They thought they would have a chance to eat in the restaurant if the chief would share her table with them.

"Chief Luggins," Shark called as Tarantula knocked on the window.

Luggins tried to keep up the smile on her face as she reached for the blinds and shut them off, covering the Bad Guys from her sight. Luggins thought she could go back to her peaceful vacation, but she wasn't out of the woods yet.

Wolf slam-opened the door while yelling, "Luggins!" He unintentionally startled the chief, causing her to shove a vase with roses off the table.

"Chief, I'm starving. Can we have dinner with you?" Snake requested.

"No!" Luggins shouted.

"But I want to eat here more than anything in the world," Shark pleaded.

"Well, then you should have made reservations 15 years ago."

"We haven't even met each other and formed the Bad Guys together yet," Tarantula indicated.

"What a wonderful time that must've been," the chief remarked, remembering the time the Bad Guys hadn't existed yet.

"Please. Chief, from one gastronome to another—" Wolf begged.

Shark gasped, misunderstanding the word, "Don't call her a gnome! We're trying to get on her good side."

"Look, there is only one chair," Luggins pointed the chair at the other side of the table.

"Thanks!" Wolf, Snake, Shark, and Tarantula said in unison before realizing there were only four of them and one chair, so it had to be just one of them to take it.

Moments later, Shark was seated on the empty chair with Chief Luggins as he read the menu, picking what he wanted to eat.

"I'll have the prosciutto with melon," he told the waiter beside him.

When he put the menu down, it was revealed that Wolf and Snake were sitting on Shark's lap and Tarantula remained on Shark's shoulder. Now all four of them sat on the empty seat with Luggins, much to her dismay.

"And bring some ranch dressing so I can do a dipsky," Tarantula added.

The waiter rolled his eyes as he took Shark's menu and walked away back to the kitchen.

Chief Luggins felt embarrassed and uncomfortable with the Bad Guys doing their crazy antics in front of her. "There is no lap-sitting or shoulder-sitting in a four-star restaurant."

"You're right," Shark said as he pushed Wolf and Snake off his lap and swatted Tarantula off his shoulder, dropping all three of his friends on the floor.

"Oh no, don't—" Chief Luggins didn't mean Shark had to push his friends off, but it was already too late. Shark was able to smell the breadsticks without his friends on his way.

Wolf, Snake, and Tarantula thought of Shark as being a jerk because of his desire to eat here.

By the other table, Chef Mia was talking to her customers when she heard the commotion from Luggins' table.

"Fine!" Wolf stood up and took a nearby chair and dragged it with him to sit at the same table as Luggins and Shark, but he failed to notice the chair he took was supposed to be used by another customer from the other table.

The customer didn't see that his chair was taken away as he sat down and fell on the floor.

Chef Mia had enough of her customers not getting the satisfaction of her restaurant because of the complaints as she rushed to the table and yelled, "Out! Get out of my restaurant!"

"No, I'm sorry. I didn't even see him standing there," Wolf tried to be reasonable, but one waiter took him out towards the door.

"Please! Come on!" Shark cried, but another waiter forcibly took him off the seat.

The other waiters picked up Snake and Tarantula and brought them out with their friends.

Chief Luggins was overjoyed that the Bad Guys were thrown out of the restaurant, having the table all to herself. The waiter from earlier arrived and brought her order. "Thank you. Now I can finally enjoy my meal," she chuckled excitedly.

"Her too," Chef Mia said.

"But 'her' did nothing!" Chief Luggins squeaked as she was confused why she had to be kicked out.

Chef Mia thought the Bad Guys were with her, so she was involved in their antics as well.

The waiters then forcibly shove Luggins from her seat and towards the door. "I only had a breadstick! I'll take a picture." She took a picture of the food she ordered with her camera before she got thrown out of the restaurant.

Later, Piranha and Hornet somehow went to Verona by train to move their date to another city in Italy. They might not have enough money, but they were sneaky enough to sneak in before the train left the station.

As they arrived, Piranha and Hornet explored the Piazzale Castel San Pietro, where they were sitting together on the balcony and seeing the entire city of Verona.

The view was beautiful from up here, and Hornet admired the city the most. "They said Verona is where Romeo and Juliet took place."

Piranha snorted, "Is that even too cheesy for us?"

"Kinda, but…" Hornet's smile turned to a frown while resting his head on Piranha's side. "Sometimes, it felt like this was a forbidden love for us. Your family's good reputation, and our species. I mean, who would've thought a piranha and a hornet could be together?"

"I don't care what others would say." Piranha scooped Hornet up with both his fins and leaned him towards his face. "Even if they said I'd better be with someone else, I'd rather be with you," he started snuggling Hornet's face slowly.

Hornet happily rubbed his face on Piranha's face. He appreciated his boyfriend's words of love for him, as he believed in him. He never felt love from someone like this ever. But this bothered Hornet for a moment as his smile dropped again.

"Would it mean that… we get married?" he mentioned.

This surprised Piranha as he pulled away to look at Hornet. "What?"

He didn't mean to surprise Piranha, but Hornet had been thinking about this topic since they officiated their relationship as he continued, "Have you ever thought of… marrying me one day?"

Piranha never thought of this through. All he thought about was loving Hornet, and he would never leave him by his side, but… marriage? It wasn't in his plans about their relationship at all. It happened so fast to think about it, "I, uh…"

Hornet knew Piranha was stammering. He didn't have the words for it. He knew it was a bad idea to bring it up as he pulled himself away from his boyfriend's face, fluttering an inch away from him in shame, "Nevermind! It's stupid."

Seeing his boyfriend in distress, Piranha tried to reach for Hornet with his fin but pulled away a bit, knowing it might be the best gesture for a moment as he lowered his fin down and looked away to continue to watch the view, while Hornet was still facing away from his boyfriend while watching the other side of the view, feeling guilty for bringing up the idea of marriage when they weren't that far into that relationship yet.

Back with the other Bad Guys, Wolf, Snake, Shark, and Tarantula returned to the restaurant where Wolf, Snake, and Tarantula got themselves pizza cones, and they enjoyed them, but Shark didn't have one as he didn't like to try it.

"This pizza in a cone is amazing. It's all the fun of ice cream with the nutritional goodness of pizza," Snake said as he took another bite.

Snake cringed in disgust. "I will not put that garbage in my body. Now let's look for Mia's dumpster. I want leftovers."

Before Shark could do that, Chef Mia just kicked two of her co-chefs out of the restaurant while screaming,

"Get out! You're fired! You don't even know the difference between a tortellini and a tortelloni."

Hearing this, it might be the chance the Bad Guys need to get into the restaurant. Shark chimed in and explained himself, "I do. Tortellini are ring-shaped pastas stuffed with meat and cheese; tortelloni are round or rectangular and stuffed with a mixture of cheese and vegetables."

"And cowboy-ghetti has spaghetti-shaped lassos and horse-shaped meatballs," Tarantula added.

Shark thought Tarantula was ruining the chance with a made-up food, but Chef Mia admitted in distress that she needed more chefs to cook the food for the customers.

"I'm desperate. You're hired," she told Shark, then turned to Wolf, Snake, and Tarantula, "The rest of you can help." Chef Mia walked back into the restaurant.

"I think the cowboy-ghetti thing really put it over the top, Webs," Wolf commented before the Bad Guys followed the chef into the restaurant.

Moments later, the four Bad Guys were now dressed in chef uniforms, and Chef Mia sent them to the kitchen with her.

"Hurry, hurry, hurry, huh? No eating in the kitchen," the chef instructed.

"So we can't eat anything?" Shark repeated.

"At the end of each night, the workers I have not fired join me for a delicioso meal," the chef explained before frowning, "Usually I eat alone. Now start rolling dough!"

The four Bad Guys each took a rolling pin and rolled some dough.

Shark watched Chef Mia leave for them to work and started groaning frustratingly, "I can't believe I'm next to some of the best food in the world, and I can't taste any of it." But he had another idea to feel the food without eating, "But I can smell it." Shark smelled the nearby pot of sauce, then smelled a bottle of powder next to it, causing him to snort, and faced away from the counter, "Ugh! I got chili powder up my nose! It burns!" He rubbed his snout in pain.

Snake rolled his eyes and found a ravioli from another counter. "Buddy, just take a ravioli. It's not like she has eyes in the back of her head," When Snake was about to eat the ravioli, a knife flew past him, hitting the ravioli, and pinned it on the wall, preventing Snake from eating it. Snake learned that Chef Mia was watching him, even when she was not looking. He exclaimed, "Rolling!" before his friend joined him to continue rolling the dough.

Meanwhile, Piranha and Hornet took a train to Rome, and it was a long train ride, but it would be worth the date.

Piranha had Hornet's eyes closed with a tiny blindfold after they left the train. Piranha kept Hornet close so he wouldn't get lost.

When Piranha found where he wanted their date to continue, he gently removed Hornet's tiny blindfold and let him open his eyes. Hornet gasped as he discovered they were in the Trevi Fountain.

"We ride the train for three hours just to get here?" Hornet asked surprisingly.

"Trust me. This fountain is one of the most famous fountains in the world," Piranha reassured.

"The Trevi Fountain?"

"I know it's a bit too much, but a lot of people said this is a good romantic spot."

Hornet looked back at the fountain. It might not symbolize romance since only the statues of Abundance of Fruits (Agostino Corsi), Fertility of the Fields (Bernardo Ludovisi), Gifts of Autumn (Francesco Queirolo), and Amenities of Meadows and Gardens (Bartolomeo Pincellotti) were displayed in this fountain, but it had a majestic and beautiful design, and it was romantic enough.

"It's not much. It's perfect," he commented, much to Piranha's relief.

Piranha and Hornet sat down by the fountain to just snuggle together and relax. They even took pictures near the fountain and then relaxed. Piranha even threw a coin into the fountain, whispering his wish, and Hornet didn't need to know. Whatever Piranha's wish was, Hornet wanted it to come true. After a while of just relaxing, snuggling, and just staying close together by the fountain, it was already nighttime, and a guitarist came into the place and started playing music. The music sounded good, especially under the full moon.

This made Piranha think of something, as this could be a fun way to date, "Hey, the moon is bright today, and there's music, so… may I have this dance?" He stood up from the edge and offered his fin to Hornet.

"Piranha!" Hornet blushed as he was too shy to accept it, but he couldn't say no to his boyfriend. "But, alright."

When Hornet took Piranha's fin, the two started to dance together. The two made a slow dance when Piranha was very careful when trying to hold Hornet, but the pace of a ballroom dance was the same as an ordinary same-sized couple's speed of their dance. Piranha was trying to be careful not to hurt Hornet or rip him apart because he held one of his hands, while his other hand held his back. There was still the twirling, but they balanced together. They still kept holding onto each other when they were dancing around, and even Piranha made the steps of dancing back and forth when Hornet didn't have his legs touch the ground. His wings supported his level with Piranha's so they could keep their eyes on each other.

"Where have you been hiding these dance moves, Piranha?" Hornet asked.

"Nowhere. I mean, I just keep on dancing, you know. That's what Mamá said. Just keep dancing even if you look silly," Piranha answered.

They got to the part where they danced gracefully with Piranha holding Hornet up and even dipped him down. He still pulled his boyfriend up to continue dancing while twirling together.

Piranha and Hornet laughed as they felt they were having fun dancing together. Piranha gave Hornet a little twirl before holding him again.

While he was happily dancing with his boyfriend, Hornet's face suddenly dropped, not because he was sad, but it was the face of fear and doubt.

"Piranha..., I'm really scared," he admitted.

"Don't worry, nothing will happen," Piranha reassured him.

"That's what I'm scared of," Hornet, as he and Piranha looked up at the sky where the moon shined, said, "I don't want my life determined by all these life-changing things if I get into a commitment, but..." Hornet gripped Piranha's fin tighter since his hand was smaller than the latter's. "I like just this."

Piranha held Hornet's hand in return with just his thumb, but carefully not to hold too tight. He looked down, frowning in worry, with little tears in his eyes. "Yeah. So do I."

"What if everything between us will change in the future?" Hornet asked, starting to tear up as well.

"What do you mean everything will change? You and me together...we will not be apart."

"I-I know that, but things won't ever be the same. It might be different because after marriage, we might do things that married couples would do. Starting a...family of our own together, having a house...maybe having kids.

"Well, maybe not having kids."

"A lot of married couples are expected to do that. But that meant staying away from all the adventures we have and maybe not keeping in touch with our other friends that much. Settling down for a quiet life as husbands might be... I don't... even have the words. It's like I want more adventures to continue! I mean, what if things fall apart between us after we get married?!"

"What makes you come up with the idea of us getting married?"

"Since you mentioned you were arranged to marry Fuchsia."

Piranha frowned. It all made sense now. Piranha knew Hornet loved him, but he didn't get over the fact he was arranged to be married to someone else. Hornet was scared that he wanted to marry Piranha but also scared about how it would affect their future. "Oh, Hornet. I believe that we will remain together. You are my love, and I don't want to leave you in distress."

Hornet sighed sadly, "It's still so much to take in. But...I don't really want to leave our old life behind. I love you, but...it's scary to think that we might not be able to continue the things we love as partners. It's a lot to take in."

"I know what you mean. It is scary for me as well, a little. But, being married, it won't change how I treat you. I really love all the times we did as friends, doing mischief and working together on different heists. Even if we get married, we don't need to separate ourselves from our life as friends. It would mean that we really have a special personal relationship. You are still my best friend as my love, and I don't want to change that as well."

"Yeah, you're right. I just got...scared."

"Marriage is a lot to take in. But whatever you are worried about, I am here for you. I would be worried about a lot of things after marriage as well."

Hornet smiled as he believed he wasn't alone in being afraid about his future because Piranha was also scared of thinking of their future together as well. It made Hornet feel better as he leaned closer to Piranha's face and nuzzled his cheek. "Thank you. I hope that nothing will stop us in the future."

Piranha gently kissed Hornet, not just his lips but his whole face because of his small size. "I know so. Besides, we won't get married anytime soon. We still had a lot of things to do before we could make a commitment with each other. Just don't think about it too much."

Hornet nodded. He could relax now. He didn't want to overthink about the future. For now, he had to think about the present. And the present was to be right here with Piranha, dancing together under the moonlight.

Back with the other Bad Guys, they continued working for Chef Mia when Snake was making a snowman figure out of dough and poured flour all over it. He was having fun making things out of food.

"It's Frosty the Doughman," Snake laughed, messing around with the flour.

Shark then smashed the dough man with the rolling pin. "Now he's dead as a dough-nail."

Snake yanked the rolling pin away and cupped his smashed dough man with his tail, crying, "He was so young!"

"Would you quit goofing around? I don't want to get fired before we eat," Shark snapped as he was too hungry to be cranky. "I've never eaten at a four-star restaurant…"

"Guys, look!" Wolf cut in when he noticed something on the wall. It was an award plaque that has five stars. "She got the coveted fifth star. I wanna touch it."

"Be careful, Wolf," Tarantula warned.

But when Wolf poked one of the stars with his finger, the star was dropped into a cauldron of tomato sauce. "I barely touched it. I held my breath."

"Looks like she's back down to four stars," Snake stated, "Not that I'm surprised with a careless kitchen staff."

"Wolf, those stars meant everything to Chef Mia and the restaurant! We have to get it back!" Shark yelled in panic as he tipped his fin into the sauce, but he couldn't feel the star. "I can't find it! It's too deep! Give me a boost!"

Wolf and Snake rolled their eyes, and they were the only ones big enough to boost Shark up as they carried him as much as they could for him to reach for the star deeper into the sauce.

"My spaghetti ready yet?!" Chef Mia's voice was heard from afar, startling Wolf and Snake as they accidentally dropped Shark into the cauldron.

"Oops," Wolf and Snake inhaled sharply through their teeth.

The three Bad Guys remained frozen, not knowing what to do next until Chef Mia arrived in the kitchen. The three stood straight as if they didn't do anything stupid.

"What are you doing?" the chef asked suspiciously.

Not wanting Chef Mia to know about one of her stars being gone or Shark in the cauldron, Wolf came up with a lie and replied, "I just added a little something extra to the sauce."

"You don't touch my sauce!" Chef Mia scolded

"Sorry, we'll get it out," Snake assured her as Chef Mia turned around and left the kitchen.

When she was gone, Wolf reached into the cauldron and pulled Shark out by his dorsal fin so he could breathe.

"I have tomato in places tomato should never be," Shark sobbed as he was covered with tomato sauce.

"And another thing…" Chef Mia called as she was about to come back into the kitchen, and Wolf pushed Shark back into the sauce before turning around with all three smiling casually. "I'm watching you," the chef gestured before turning back again out of the kitchen.

Wolf, Snake, and Tarantula nodded before Shark came out of the sauce while holding the missing star. "I have the star! Help me out of this thing," Shark tried to climb out of the sauce as Wolf tried to catch him and pull him out. "Hold me, hold me," Shark said while Snake was helping Wolf too.

As they tried to pull Shark out of the cauldron, Wolf and Snake noticed Chef Mia was coming after saying her goodbye to the departing customer.

"She's turning around!" Snake exclaimed in panic.

"I'm slipping!" Wolf cried as he could feel he was losing his grip.

"The spaghetti's here!" A bulky 'waiter' came in to pick up the spaghetti.

But Wolf accidentally released Shark, causing the big fish to crash into the bulky waiter.

The crash caused an impact that knocked ingredients off the shelf. Rigatoni pasta, seasoning, onion, cheese, and diced tomatoes fell all over them.

The bulky waiter was surprisingly Chief Luggins in a waiter uniform.

"Chief?!" Wolf, Snake, Shark, and Tarantula gasped.

"Bad Guys!" Chief Luggins shouted angrily.

"Hey, look. It's Shark-Lug-atoni." Tarantula chuckled until Chef Mia arrived, with her arms crossed in disappointment. Tarantula stopped chuckling and, pretending to be serious, "Shark, quit kidding around."

"You are fired!" Chef Mia shouted at Shark, "You will never taste my food."

"Oh, yeah? Watch me," Shark bit his own fin while tasting the sauce and ingredients that covered him. "Ow, I bit my skin."

The chef then shifted to Luggins, "You are fired too! You can't even deliver the orders straight to the table!"

Chief Luggins rolled her eyes and dumped his head on the saucy floor.

As Chef Mia left, Shark and Chief Luggins managed to sit up, even if they were messy.

"What are you doing, Chief?" Shark asked.

"Thanks to you guys, I had to get myself hired in this restaurant so I can eat here. What about you?" Luggins questioned

"Same thing," Wolf responded.

"Since we're still in Italian territory, I could still get you arrested for fraud." The chief threatened.

"Yes, you can, but you will be too." Tarantula corrected, "You're pretending to be a waitress just to taste someone else's food. I considered that fraud and stealing!"

This shocked the chief, as she had never thought that she had committed a crime as well.

"And what would the police department say when we get home and arrest us, and we tell them what you did?" Wolf added with a smirk.

Chief Luggins wanted to arrest the Bad Guys and caught them red-handed, but if they go down, she will also go down with them. She will get demoted and fired from the force, and she will never be promoted to commissioner if she reaches for that level.

The police chief started to beg at the Bad Guys while cupping her hands together, "Oh please, don't tell anyone! I'll do anything!"

"Just don't tell on us, only here in Italy, just this case, and we'll put all of this behind us," Wolf recommended.

"Fine! Thank you." Luggins could do anything to prevent herself from ruining her reputation.

When all of the customers left and the restaurant was about to close, Chef Mia invited her remaining employees, Wolf, Snake, and Tarantula, for a dinner with her.

"So, I want to hear more of this cowboy-ghetti," the chef was all ears.

"Fantastic." Tarantula wiped his face with a napkin. "Comes in two flavors. Tangy tomato and blazin' barbecue!" She answered with a country accent, "But, you know, your stuff is a close second."

"Grazie. Now, mangiare, my little zucchini," the chef smiled as Wolf, Snake, and Tarantula continued to dig in.

Outside, by the window behind them, Shark and Chief Luggins peeked through, and the chef and the other three Bad Guys noticed them.

Shark and Chief Luggins rubbed their stomachs and mouthed, "I'm hungry."

Silent, Chef Mia gestured to Wolf, Snake, and Tarantula to get rid of them. The three nodded since Shark had been a jerk to them all day, and Snake shut the blinds to cover them.

Shark and Chief Luggins groaned in defeat as they gave up on trying to eat in this restaurant.

Just then, Piranha and Hornet returned from Rome, and they were still dancing from earlier, they enjoyed dancing together, and they didn't want to stop. They continued dancing until they returned outside of the restaurant.

"Hey, Shark," Piranha greeted before he and Hornet were shocked to see Chief Luggins as well. "Hola, Chief," the little fish waved a little.

"Where have you two been?" Luggins asked,

"Piranha and I went to some romantic places," Hornet replied.

Luggins was waiting for more, but she didn't expect that it was the only thing the duo did in Italy. "That's it?"

"Yeah. What do you think we've been doing?" Piranha questioned

"I thought you two were…" The chief was supposed to say they might be doing another scheme or crime, but it didn't matter anymore. "Never mind."

Hornet then shifted to the bigger fish, wondering why he and Chief Luggins were outside the restaurant and Wolf, Snake, and Tarantula weren't around. "Shark, what's going on?"

"Eh, there was a disaster in the kitchen, so we got kicked out, and our friends were inside, eating with the chef," Shark blurted out.

Curiously, Piranha and Hornet peeked through another clear window and watched Wolf, Snake, and Tarantula happily eat dinner with the chef and restaurant owner.

"Good for them," Piranha complimented as Hornet nodded in agreement.

Next on The Bad Guys: The Baddest Trip...

Mira: I feel so bad for poor Callum. Being dumped is no picnic.

Octavio:  You should know. You've been at that picnic many, many... many times.

Ms. Tarantula: Mira has gone to Africa because she's still in love with Callum.

Mr. Piranha: But why would she do that? She's got so much going on in America. Like her journaling career, her life as a mother, and her friendship with us…

(pause)

Mr. Shark: OMG, she's never coming back!

Mr. Snake: Okay, Callum, where is Mira?

Callum: Why is Mira coming here?

Ms. Tarantula:  Because she's still in love with you!

Callum: What?!

Cast:

Michael Godere - Mr. Wolf

Chris Diamantopoulos - Mr. Snake

Ezekiel Ajeigbe - Mr. Shark

Raul Ceballos - Mr. Piranha

Mallory Low - Ms. Tarantula

Eugene Lee Yang - Mr. Hornet

Sandra Purpuro – Chef Mia

Alex Borstein – Chief Misty Luggins

André Sogliuzzo – Gondolier

Author
Aggimagination

Co-Author
Masterclass60
TU4QU0I53T4IAN6L3

Chapter Text

Previously  on The Bad Guys: The Baddest Trip..

Mr. Wolf:  Alright, guys, where do we go next?

Mr. Hornet:  A lot of couples like to go to Italy for their date.

Mr. Wolf:  Then, Italy it is!

Mr. Hornet: I don't want my life determined by all these life-changing things if I get into a commitment, but… I like just this.

Mr. Piranha: Yeah. So do I. You are still my best friend as my love, and I don't want to change that as well.

Trouble In Africa

While the private jet zoomed through the clouds and sky, the plane was in autopilot as the Bad Guys gathered together for a video chat with Mira through Wolf's phone.

"I can't believe you guys went through it! Stealing the jet just to have a vacation," Mira chuckled as she wasn't technically mad but impressed while a bit disappointed that her friends went back to their criminal ways again… for just stealing a private jet, "Did you even pull off some heists, though?"

"Nah. We need a little break from heists. This time, we stay true to our word. We're only taking a vacation," Wolf answered while the other Bad Guys smiled in response.

"That's good to know." Mira was relieved, but she couldn't hide the sad look on her face, which her friends noticed.

"Are you okay, Mira? You seem a little down." Hornet pointed out

Mira snapped out of her thoughts and shook her head. "What? No. Sorry, guys, I just… Sometimes, I think I made a bad decision by breaking up with Callum."

"I thought the breakup was mutual," Piranha recalled.

"It is."

"Do you still have feelings for him?" Tarantula questioned suspiciously.

"A little. I thought it was over between us, but when Mariposa came along, then… we had no choice but to remain friends for her," the journalist explained.

Hornet nodded. "It's the right thing to do, Mira."

"Have you heard from Callum?" Snake asked.

"Not a word, but I'd be happy to hear from him," Mira said.

"Where was he, anyway? I thought you two were still sharing custody for Mariposa," Shark mentioned.

"We are. He had an assignment in Africa, so I'll be watching Mariposa full-time for a while."

"Good for him," Wolf stated.

At her side, Mira heard a chime from her email on her laptop. She checked her inbox and gasped, "Ahh! An email from Callum!" But she paused when she saw her friends on the video screen, noticing the confusing looks on their faces about her reaction regarding Callum… her ex. Mira cleared her throat and said, pretending to act casually, "I mean, yay. An email from Callum. I'm pretty sure it's not about how he missed me. I'll see you guys soon!" She quickly pushed the button on the keyboard, hanging up on the call.

The Bad Guys glanced at each other with arched brows.

"She still has the hots for him," Piranha guessed as the other Bad Guys weren't sure if it was true or not.

Back in California, in the Rose residence, Mira was pacing around the living room as her father, Rose, was sitting on the couch, drinking coffee, and Mariposa was coloring a picture with a tea set in front of her.

"I feel so bad for poor Callum. Being dumped is no picnic," Mira stated while holding her tablet.

"You should know. You've been at that picnic many, many... many times," Octavio mentioned, remembering his daughter's previous dates.

"Not this time. Callum's email was so sad. Look," Mira showed her father the tablet with Callum's email to her.

"'Africa is great, and I hope all's well with you,'" Octavio read and replied sarcastically, "Clearly, he's devastated."

"He is! Read between the lines!"

"It's only one line. There's nothing to read between!"

"Obviously, I need to apologize to him again, but sending an email is too impersonal. I should talk to him," the journalist said. "Okay, Dad, can you watch Mariposa while I'm gone?"

As long as she's playing teatime on her little table, no problem," Octavio replied while taking a sip of coffee.

Mira rolled her eyes, having doubts about trusting her father to watch over her daughter, but she was in a hurry as she decided to take action on what she was going to do.

Back with the Bad Guys, Hornet was trying to call Mira through his phone, but she didn't answer.

"Hey, guys, have you heard anything from Mira? She's been offline for hours," Hornet announced. Tarantula pulled out her laptop and opened it, typing on her keyboard, "I already tried calling her. It went straight to voicemail."

"Oh, I'm not calling her. I'm checking the webcam I set up in her house," Tarantula confessed, much to her friends' shock and annoyance at Tarantula violating Mira's privacy.

"No, she's not in there. There's just a sign that says, 'Ms. Tarantula, you're a creep.'"

Instead of finding it hurtful, she found it as a compliment, "I am kind of a creep… Creepy crawly, am I right?"

"That is really funny!" Wolf chuckled before saying in a straight voice, "But seriously, Webs, stop that!"

Hornet checked her status again, and her profile orb was green. "Oh, wait, she's online again!"

When Hornet dialed her for video chat, the Bad Guys gathered together to greet Mira.

Back at the Rose residence, Mariposa was in front of her mother's laptop, playing games until she received a call from Mr. Hornet.

The little girl clicked the green "answer" button, and the screen showed the video of the Bad Guys together. "Hello?"

"Hi, Mariposa, sweetie!" Hornet cooed at seeing the little girl.

"Hi, Mr. Hornet," Mariposa waved back, happy to see the bug who she once thought was a bee.

"Is your mother there?"

"No. She's gone."

The Bad Guys paused for a moment and looked at each other in confusion but concerningly, "Gone? What do you mean 'gone'?"

"Who's that, sweetheart?" Octavio's voice was heard from offscreen.

"Hi, abuelo, it's Mr. Hornet," Mariposa answered as her grandfather bent down to see who was on the screen, which also showed himself on the video.

"Oh, hi, Bad Guys," he waved with a slight smile.

"Hi, Mr. Rose. Where's Mira?" Wolf asked.

"I don't know. I did hear her babbling something about going to talk to Callum," Octavio said.

"How? He's in Africa," Shark pointed out.

"Who knows? She just told me to look after Mariposa." Octavio answered before switching the topic, "So, guys, if you only want to talk to my daughter, wait for her. I don't want my granddaughter to talk to people online. See you later, Bad Guys." He pushed a key on the keyboard, hanging up the call.

The Bad Guys weren't focused onOctavio's opinion about them; they were too focused on thinking about Mira, especially from her father's information.

"Okay, this is strange. Mira becomes unhinged after receiving Callum' email," Hornet recalled from earlier. "Then, upon viewing his email, she decides she needs to talk to him?"

"So, she leaves and tells her father to take care of Mariposa?" Snake added.

"Which means Mira has gone to Africa because she's still in love with Callum!" Tarantula concluded.

"But why would she do that? She's got so much going on in America. Like her journaling career, her life as a mother, and her friendship with us…" Piranha listed.

This came to the Bad Guys' minds that Mira's life was not as good as they thought it would be since she wasn't a famous journalist, motherhood was stressful to her, and her friendship with the gang almost ruined her reputation and her life.

"OMG, she's never coming back!" Shark screamed with a light voice, and all the Bad Guys were worried that Mira might move to Africa forever.

Later at night, Mira returned home and found her father, half-asleep, watching over Mira, who was playing blocks on the rug.

"Hey, Dad, did Mariposa behave while I was gone?" Mira asked.

"Oh yes, she was playing tea and talking to your friends on video," Octavio replied.

"Which friends?" This caught Mira's attention.

"Those Bad Guys, of course. You were always hanging out with them."

"Oh, why did they call?"

"Oh, they were looking for you, and I told them to call back later."

"Let me see if they're still online," Mira rushed to her sleeping laptop and opened it. She noticed the chatting platform that Hornet left her a message before his profile orb went offline, "Oh, they left a message, 'Mira, we know you're going to Africa to be with Callum. We're going there to stop you,'" she paused for a moment and asked, "Wait, why would they think I went to Africa?" When she turned to her father, his eyes widened and lips shut tight. He remembered it had something to do with what he told the Bad Guys. Mira saw her father's face and stood up to berate him, "What did you tell them?"

"Just what you told me! That you wanted to talk to Callum," Octavio responded.

"On my phone! Which is the only place I have his number. That's why I dropped it off to get fixed!" Mira exclaimed,

"So they went to Africa for nothing?" Octavio started to laugh, "That's hilarious!"

But Mira didn't find that funny as she punched her father's side for making the Bad Guys think she was going to Africa and making them go there too. "Now that's hilarious!"

The Bad Guys arrived in Africa while bringing some stuff for survival, just in case they might get lost since Africa is a wild continent for them. They might be on vacation, but going to Africa for Mira counted as their vacation. They stopped at the animal sanctuary where Callum worked.

"So, guys, what do you think of Africa so far?" Wolf asked while lifting his arm wide.

"It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. Better than Japan," Hornet described, until he spotted a man lifting a heavy sack. "Scratch that. Hunk at 12:00."

"We came to get Mira back, and you already have a boyfriend. Focus!" Piranha shouted, reminding Hornet about their relationship.

"Oh, Daddy's focused," Hornet still couldn't take his eyes off of the man.

The man turned around after dropping the sack, as he was none other than Callum. "Bad Guys? What are you all doing here? Wait, are you a mirage? "Cause I get heatstroke here like twice a day." He had his palm above his forehead to check if the Bad Guys were in front of him for real.

But they ignored his question and stayed focused on the reason why they came here as Snake questioned, "Okay, Callum, where is Mira?"

"How should I know? I stopped keeping tabs on her when she said, 'I think we should be just friends,' instead of, 'I love you.'" Callum recalled their breakup."

"She must not be here yet," Piranha guessed.

"Well, she did fly…" Wolf gagged, "Commercial."

"Why is Mira coming here?" Callum asked.

"Because she's still in love with you!" Tarantula replied.

"What?!"

Shark snorted before approaching Callum, "I know. Personally, I don't see it. I mean, you have the bone structure, but you don't have the teeth to back it up. So..." He was backing away when his friends pulled him by the backpack.

Just then, a woman with a stethoscope stepped out and talked to the man, "Callum! The fence on the elephant enclosure broke! You have to fix it before Elliot the Elephant gets out again! What if he tries to cuddle with another bus?"

"Yeah, we gotta get him a girlfriend." Callum joked before introducing the woman to the Bad Guys, "Guys, this is Payton, our sanctuary's veterinarian." He then introduced the Bad Guys to her, "Payton, this is Mr. Wolf, Mr. Snake, Mr. Shark, Mr. Piranha, Ms. Tarantula, and Mr. Hornet, from America."

"Hi," Payton smiled at the Bad Guys.

"Hi," Wolf, Snake, Piranha, Tarantula, and Hornet each waved back at her.

But Shark found this woman attractive as she went over to her and took a hand. "Well. Nice to meet you, Payton. Thanks for making that 10-hour plane ride worth it." He kissed the back of her hand.

Payton knew this shark was flirting, so she warned him, "Watch it. I can neuter anything in five minutes."

"So, I've got five minutes?" Shark asked without understanding what she was talking about.

"I'll go fix the fence," Callum pulled Shark's fin from Payton's hand and took the Bad Guys with him. "Hey, guys, you want to take a tour? On the way, we'll talk about this Mira thing."

"Sure!" Shark said.

"Great!" Piranha nodded.

"Where's the Uber?" Wolf asked.

"Back in California. Here, we travel by jeep," Callum explained.

Oh, is that an African word for Uber?" The team leader questioned.

But Callum kept his mouth shut and shook his head before leading the Bad Guys to his jeep.

"Have fun! I've got to get back to Rhea the Rhino. She's about to give birth," Payton declared.

This made Tarantula scurry back into the other sanctuary, as she was interested in the birth of a rhino. "Ooh! A baby! Can I hold it?"

"Well, you can try, but it'll be about six feet long, slimy, and smell like the inside of a rhino," Payton described.

"Stink doesn't bother me. I just took a 10-hour flight sitting next to Piranha. All I can smell is my body hair burning," Tarantula snickered.

Payton let Tarantula rest on her shoulder so they could birth a baby rhino together.

Somewhere on the road of the savannah, Callum drove the other Bad Guys in his jeep, and they looked around the savannah, observing the wonderful environment.

"So tell us, are you going to steal Mira back or not?" Wolf asked curiously.

"Of course not! It's over between us," Callum admitted.

"It is? Well, that was easy. Take us back to the jet. They have pecan nuts!" Wolf pleaded.

Piranha sniffed something familiar as he inquired, "Hey! I smell French fries. Can we stop at a drive-through?"

"Ooh, the only fast food around here is whatever's running away from the cheetahs. The smell is coming from the truck," Callum answered.

"Ah, so the engine must run on biofuel," Hornet stated. "Oh, that means you put organic matter into the engine and it converts it into energy."

Snake held his tail up to halt the little bug from talking more. "Ah, ah, ah. That sounds suspiciously like science, and I'm on vacation. Hornet, you know the rules."

ornet sighed sharply, "On vacation, we only talk about food and anime girls."

"That's right."

Back at the Animal Sanctuary, Payton and Tarantula made it back after the birth of a baby rhino. Payton already wore protective gear while Tarantula was bare-handed, both of them covered with a slimy substance.

"Ms. Tarantula, wasn't that birth beautiful?" Payton sighed.

"First of all, call me Webs, and second of all… Why didn't you tell me to back up?!" Tarantula gagged after having slime all over her.

"You said you wanted a closer look."

"And I got it. I am never having children. That was the circle of yuck!"

Just then, Mira arrived at the sanctuary, looking worriedly for her friends. She spotted Tarantula and rushed towards her.

"Oh, Webs, thank goodness you're okay!" She picked the tarantula up and hugged her. "And very slimy."

"I just helped birth a rhino," Tarantula said.

"Webs, I can't believe you guys would cut your vacation to go to Africa to find me," Mirra scolded.

"We thought you were leaving us for Callum," Tarantula voiced.

"I am not getting back together with Callum. Don't believe a word my father said."

"Now you're telling us."

"Hi, I'm Payton. You must be Mira." Payton extended her now bare hand to Mira.

"Yeah. Oh, you recognize me? I can't believe my journaling reputation made it all the way to Africa!" Mira was flattered.

"No, it's because of all the pictures of you Callum put up," Payton responded.

"Aw, to remember me by?"

"No, to throw darts at. 50 points for hitting a nostril."

Mira sighed out of guilt, "I knew it. He's still heartbroken."

"Uh, actually..." Payton was about to protest, but Mira kept interrupting.

"And who can blame him? I mean, he was one 'I love you' away from all of this. Poor sweet lug. He'll probably never recover." She turned to the veterinarian and asked, "Do you know where the rest of the guys are?"

"Oh, they're with Callum out on the savannah. I'll have someone take us there, and we can show you the beautiful African countryside."

"Aw, thank you. That'd be great."

"As long as we don't pass any pregnant animals," Tarantula reminded, trying to get the slime off of her.

Meanwhile, in the middle of the savannah, Callum and the Bad Guys were at the elephant enclosure, where Callum was fixing the fence and hoped the elephant wouldn't break loose.

While standing beside the jeep, Wolf was swatting mosquitoes away that were flying all over him. "These mosquitoes won't stop biting me! Curse my perfect, sweet blood!"

"You should've used the bug spray," Callum suggested.

"No! It stinks. Almost as much as our coming here for absolutely no reason."

"Yeah, that was stupid."

Wolf then smacked Callum on his shoulder really hard.

"Mosquito?" Callum guessed.

"No," Wolf said, prompting him that he smacked him for coming to Africa with no reason was stupid.

Meanwhile, at the back of the jeep, Hornet invented something new as he wanted to show it to his friends.

"Guys, check it out! I've constructed a bug zapper from spare parts." He hung his invention by the window where mosquitoes were lured into the device and got electrocuted. The device was made out of wire and a battery pack. "Boom! And that is the miracle of science, son!"

"That's wonderful, honey," Piranha complimented.

"Thanks, sweetie," Hornet smiled appreciatively.

"What do you think, Snake?" Shark asked, wanting Snake to appreciate Hornet's work.

But Snake was nowhere to be found.

"Snake?" Piranha called.

Hornet flew around the jeep, "Snake! Snake!"

Shark gasped and assumed the worst, "Oh, no! You have been taken away by the vulture to be eaten and regurgitated to its babies! I shall avenge you!"

"Thanks, Shark, but I'm just up this tree, picking some fruit," Snake called out as he was slithering on a tree branch of a nearby tree next to the jeep.

"Oh, thank goodness. I talk a big game, but I am actually terrified of carnivorous birds," Shark admitted.

"Well, Hornet may have taken care of the mosquitos, but I'm getting us dinner. Guess you're not the only smart one in this gang, huh, Hornet?" Snake laughed with pride as he tried to reach for the fruit, but the branch snapped, making Snake fall to the ground along with the branch.

Hornet chuckled and crossed his arms, "Gravity and I beg to differ."

Snake stood up, and his shirt was covered with red-orange fluid.

"Is that blood?" Piranha squeaked nervously.

"No, it's tamarind juice. Further evidence that fruit and vegetables are the enemy." Snake said.

As time went by, the sun was close to coming down, and Callum finished fixing the fence. Wolf and Piranha were bothered by the mosquitoes as they tried to slap them dead once they hit their skin.

Snake, Shark, and Hornet came back from foraging for food and water. Shark held a cup of liquid that he collected.

"Hey, fish bro, thirsty?" He offered Piranha the cup.

"Parched. What kind of juice is this?" Piranha asked while taking a sip.

"Tamarind and armpit. Squeezed it out of my shirt," Shark explained.

This made Piranha spit the juice out of his mouth disgustingly, directly at Snake, who was now covered with said liquid.

"How refreshing," Snake commented sarcastically.

Just then, another jeep approached the group as it only dropped off three people. It was Mira, Tarantula, and Payton as they rushed towards them.

"It's Mira!" Wolf exclaimed.

This alerted Callum as he was almost finished fixing the fence, he paused for a moment when he was surprised that Mira came.

"Guys! Oh, I'm so happy to see you!" Mira rushed to the other Bad Guys and hugged them before berating them, "How dare you go all the way to Africa just to get me!"

"It was all your dad's fault," Snake stated.

"He did imply that you came here," Hornet reported.

"Just don't listen to my dad! He doesn't know what he was talking about," Mira advised.

Then, Callum stood up from fixing the fence and approached Mira while the latter had her voice calmed when she saw her ex, as she was speechless to see him here in Africa.

"Hi, Mira," Callum greeted.

Mira smiled nervously, "Callum, hey. Bet you never thought you'd see my face again."

"Unless there were darts sticking out of it," Tarantula noted while climbing onto Shark's shoulder.

"Yeah, look, about that..." Mira approached Callum. "I understand. I left you. Of course, you're still heartbroken."

"No, I'm really not," Callum said.

"Uh, Mira, I need to tell you something," Piranha raised his fin.

Mira held her hand at the little fish without turning back at him, "Not now, Piranha. I'm trying to let Callum down gently."

"Might not be the first time," Snake whispered to his friends.

"Mira, trust me, I'm over you," Callum assured his ex

"Oh, Callum, Callum, Callum… Denial isn't just Piranha's fart after eating a burrito," Mira cooed, but showed some signs that she was the one in denial.

"Can we talk about this later? I have to finish fixing the fence to keep Elliot the Elephant in." Callum walked back to the jeep to get more tools.

"Plus, these mosquitoes here are huge! That last one had a saddle!" Wolf whined while scratching his arm.

Callum held an electric drill when he noticed the battery pack in the tool was gone. "Hey, who used the battery pack from my drill to make a bug zapper?"

"It is I who will take the credit for that." Hornet flew forward with a proud look.

"Great, you drained the battery. Now I can't fix the fence!"

"It is Hornet who will take the credit for that," Snake repeated.

"Forget about the elephant fence. We've gotta get out of here before sundown."

"What happens then?" Tarantula asked.

"We become the early bird special for the lions," Payton answered.

"And they really clean their plates!" Callum added.

"Get in the truck! Get in the truck!" Shark shouted in panic.

Everyone ran into Callum's jeep as Callum started the engine, and everyone else was ready to go. When Callum backed the jeep up, they felt that they hit something and caused everyone inside to jump from their seats.

"Ugh! What was that?" Wolf questioned.

As Callum rushed to the back of the jeep and the others got out of the jeep, the fuel leaked from under the vehicle.

"Oh, no! The fuel tank got punctured by this branch," Callum declared while noticing the branch. "How did this happen?"

"I am not one to cast blame, but Snake did it!" Hornet pointed his hand at Snake, who was about to growl at the little bug.

Suddenly, the growl of a lion was heard from the distance, which caused the Bad Guys, Mira, Callum, and Payton to gasp in fear.

"Was that my stomach? Please let that be my stomach," Piranha pleaded as he hoped that wasn't what he thought it would be.

"We'll all be in that lion's stomach if we don't get out of here!" Tarantula screamed.

"Sweetheart, get everyone back into the truck," Callum insisted.

"A-ha! You called me 'sweetheart.' You do still love me!" Mira snapped with a smile, proving she was right about Callum still having feelings for her.

"I was talking to Payton! She's my girlfriend!" Callum announced.

There was silence in the air as the Bad Guys and Mira were shocked about this news that Callum had a girlfriend. The Bad Guys even turned to look at Mira, feeling remorse for her.

"Awkward," Hornet squeaked.

"Fun fact. This is the farthest I've ever traveled to be humiliated," Mira admitted. "Wait, so, Payton is your girlfriend? How could you move on that fast?"

"You moved on already," Callum pointed out.

"Then why did you send me that love note?" asked Mira.

"You mean my email that said, 'Hope all is well with you'?"

"I read between the lines."

"It was only one line! And I sent the same email to 100 people."

"Yeah, yeah. Let's just move on past that."

They heard a lion's roar again, making the Bad Guys and the humans startled.

"Speaking of moving, can we do that? Because I do not want to become a giant cat toy for a giant cat! And I have a cat at home that I forgot to feed!" Wolf exclaimed.

Back in the Bad Guys' hideout, the orange cat was meowing loudly, crying for food on its empty cat dish.

Back again in Africa, Callum was checking the fuel tank, and it was empty.

"Unless you have a way to replace the fuel, we're stuck here."

"What we need is some organic matter, i.e., animal excrement, which can then be converted into combustible material for propulsion," Hornet suggested.

"Food and anime girls! What is not clear about that?" Snake shouted, reminding the rule of vacation.

"Hornet's right! Maybe I can modify the engine to turn animal waste into energy," Callum said.

"So, in other words, you're gonna make this truck poop-powered," Mira restated.

"Oh, I get it. Like the time I stood on my skateboard and made it move by farting," Piranha recalled.

"No, nothing like that," Tarantula commented as she and Hornet shook their heads.

"I say we offer Piranha to the lions and make a run for it," Shark recommended, much to Piranha's annoyance.

"Okay, Bad Guys, stay in the truck. We'll go scoop up some poop." Mira said before turning to the veterinarian, "Payton, as a vet, I'm sure you're used to that."

"And as a mom, I'm sure you are, too," Payton commented back.

Later, Mira, Callum, and Payton were digging up animal waste and dropping it into each of their buckets. Mira and Callum were assigned to scoop waste together while Payton scooped hers in another area, away from the exes.

Now it was just them together; it was safe for Mira to talk to Callum about his new relationship. "You know, you could have warned me you had a girlfriend."

"You could have warned me you were coming to visit," Callum smiled.

"I didn't come to visit! I came to get my friends," Mira sighed after scooping another waste, and admitted, "And to think I was worried you were devastated."

"Well, I'm not," Callum admitted wholeheartedly.

"Yeah. Yeah, we've established that, so..." Mira believed him and then complained. "You know what? This stinks!"

"I know. I'm sorry. I didn't want you to find out about Payton this way," Callum apologized.

"No, no, no, no. I mean, this stinks!" Mira held up her bucket to stink, "What do these animals eat?"

"People who stop to chat."

"Good talk!"

After scooping enough waste, the humans went back to the jeep where the Bad Guys were waiting. Mira and Callum poured all of the waste into the fuel tank as they looked away and tried not to breathe, while the Bad Guys couldn't help but watch while pinching their noses.

"Ew!" Tarantula bellowed.

"Heavens!" Hornet gagged.

"Nasty!" Shark choked.

"I've smelled worse," Piranha confessed, "I've dealt with worse."

Payton wanted everyone to see the bright side of Africa to distract them from the horrible smell. "Bad smells aside, look at how beautiful Africa is. The rolling hills, the sound of the swaying grass..."

An elephant growl was heard closer as it got louder when the Bad Guys noticed an elephant nearby.

"Elliot the Elephant is coming towards us!" Snake declared.

There was an elephant as it was charging at them. It looked angry for no reason.

"Okay, everyone, don't panic," Payton advised while pointing at the frozen shark. "Just try to stay as calm as Shark."

"Oh, I'm not calm. I'm paralyzed with fear," Shark said while staring horrifyingly at the elephant. "On the inside, I'm doing this," he screamed and ran back into the jeep.

The others quickly hopped into the jeep as the elephant began to charge at them.

"We are about to be pummeled to pudding by a pachyderm!" Hornet cried before getting passed through by a fearful Wolf, "Whoa!" Despite that, Hornet managed to get into the jeep.

There was no stopping the elephant as Callum turned the engine on and stepped on it. The jeep might be fast enough to lose the elephant, but the elephant was as fast as the jeep as he kept chasing them.

"Oh, Callum, Elliot is gaining on us! We need to pull a Mira," Payton said.

"Yeah, we need to pull... Wait, wait, wait, wait. What does that mean?" Mira asked since it was her name.

"To suddenly run away," Callum said, describing Mira for running away from their relationship.

Mira felt offended by Callum and Payton using her name as an idiom. "You two have an inside joke about me?"

"We all do! Who cares? Step on it!" Snake shouted, patting Callum's shoulder to make him drive faster.

"Hey, he can have whatever he wants. You left him!" Payton scolded Mira.

"You tell her, honey!" Callum responded supportively.

"Oh, she's 'honey' now? Let me ask you this, honey, has Callum ever given you one of his neck massages?" Mira asked Payton.

"Yeah, sometimes," The veterinarian chuckled.

"I taught him that. You're welcome," the journalist pointed out sarcastically.

Just then, Piranha was seen running for his life while panting rapidly at the right side of the jeep.

"Could you possibly hash out your differences later? I could use some help!" Piranha pleaded at Mira's side.

"Not now, Piranha!" Mira said before turning to Callum and Payton, "And another thing…" But she halted when she realized Piranha was outside of the jeep running. "Piranha? What... What are you doing back there?"

"Oh, trying to sing a lullaby to the elephant!" Piranha answered sarcastically before screaming, "What do you think I am doing? Running for my life! Help me in!"

"Stop the car!" Mira commanded.

"No! We can't afford the extra weight!" Shark exclaimed.

"Seriously?" Hornet obviously pointed out the heaviest of them all.

Callum stopped the jeep as Mira got out of the jeep. "Here. Get in. I'll get in the back," she offered her seat to Piranha as she helped him into the jeep. "Here. You okay?"

"Define 'okay,'" Piranha wasn't sure if he was okay at all. "On the bright side, if we run out of gas, I have plenty of poop in my pants."

The elephant was still running towards them, letting out a loud trumpet sound from his trunk.

"Look out, elephant at 6:00!" Wolf warned

Callum quickly drove the jeep away but almost left Mira behind. Mira continued running but slowed down so she could get into the back of the truck. Wolf and Shark helped Mira into the jeep, and she pulled the cover down to protect them from the sight of an approaching elephant.

"Must go faster! Must go faster!" Shark shouted with a high-pitched tone of fear.

The elephant was close as he punctured his trunk through the covers, making everyone scream.

Wolf, Shark, and Mira tried to push the elephant's trunk out of the truck, but Wolf's coat was wrapped around the truck, causing him to lose it in the process.

"Careful not to rip my coat!" Wolf loved the coat more than the safety of his friends and Mira.

"Yes, that's top priority right behind keeping this elephant's trunk out of my face!" Mira said sarcastically while trying to shock the trunk away from her face.

Wolf continued to help Shark and Mira push the trunk out of the hole until the elephant herself pulled her trunk out along with Wolf's coat. The elephant slowed down and stopped in his tracks, getting tired of chasing the runaway jeep.

"Wow, Mira, that was so brave," Shark complimented Mira's actions.

"Thanks. Compared to catching a cab in California in smooth traffic, that was nothing," Mira said.

At sundown, the Bad Guys, Mira, Callum, and Payton, made it back to the animal sanctuary safely but got tired from all of that experience of dealing with an angry elephant.

The Bad Guys were buying food, fuel, and souvenirs while Mira was having a talk with Callum and Payton.

"Mira, I know it must have been a shock that I'm dating your ex-boyfriend, but I hope we can be friends," Payton hoped, with Callum wrapping his arm around her.

Mira answered with a warm smile, "Of course we can. By the way, have you met Callum's father?"

"No," Payton shook her head.

Mira laughed uncomfortably, but knowing what would happen to Payton if she met Callum's father, she said, "Good luck with that."

"Dad is the real reason I wanted to come all the way to Africa. And it's still not far enough," Callum explained.

Payton laughed as she told Mira, "Well, have a safe trip back."

"Thanks," the journalist replied as Payton walked off back to work.

Now, it was just Mira and Callum in this conversation.

"You know, Mira, it was really great to see you," Callum told her.

"Even though I made a total fool of myself?" Mira mentioned.

Callum thought about it, "Not a total fool."

"Okay, maybe three-eighths of a fool?" Mira chuckled.

"Whatever number it was, I'm really glad you came."

"Me too, because it gave me another chance to say how sorry I am for breaking up with you."

"It's okay. You know, it all worked out for the best. I found my soulmate in Africa, and you, uh..."

"Got a heat rash. Thanks for asking."

"Hey, at least we still have Mariposa," Callum mentioned their daughter.

"Yeah, she missed you," Mira stated, remembering how Mariposa felt when Callum left for Africa.

"Don't worry, I'll never forget our daughter, and you're still the biggest part of my life, Mira. Nothing would change that." Callum reassured his ex as he placed his hand on her shoulder, "And tell our daughter I'll be back soon. Oh, you know what helps with that heat rash? Baby powder. I'll go get you some." Callum rushed to the clinic to get the powder.

"That's why he smells like my great-aunt Racquel," Mira said.

The Bad Guys then approached Mira to comfort her if she felt sad for going to Africa to get them and found out Callum had a new girlfriend.

"Mira, are you okay?" Hornet asked concerningly.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm actually really happy for Callum and Payton," Mira said honestly. She felt okay now. There was no reason now to win Callum back out of guilt. She felt better than after that breakup. Then, she told the Bad Guys, "Okay, everyone, what is the most important thing to remember about this vacation?"

"Don't tell anyone," Snake, Shark, Piranha, Tarantula, and Hornet answered in unison.

"Very good. Well, I better head for my flight."

"Wait, Mira, you're going home?" Snake questioned.

"Yeah. What else would I do here?" Mira inquired. '

The Bad Guys looked at each other to see if it would be a good idea to tell Mira something.

"Well, we were thinking that you should come with us for a vacation," Tarantula offered.

Mira sighed sadly, "I can't, guys. I have Mariposa at home, and I have work."

"Please, Mira, at least just one trip or two," Piranha begged.

Mira wanted to hesitate, but seeing the Bad Guys' teary, pleading eyes made her change her mind as she chuckled in defeat, "Oh, what the heck. I don't wanna miss the fun."

The Bad Guys cheered excitedly. Mira was now onboard.

But then, Shark remembered something important when he checked his bag, "Wait a minute, something's missing!"

"You're right! Where's Wolf?" Mira noticed Wolf wasn't around.

"No, not him. I'm talking about my flamingo tea cozy!" Shark dropped his bag and went back near the store to find his souvenir.

Wolf returned to the sanctuary, all messy and shredded, while panting heavily and holding his coat that he lost from the elephant.

"Wolf, what happened? You're rumpled!" Tarantula noticed how messy Wolf was.

"This is my new screen saver," Piranha laughed as he took his phone and took a picture of the tired Wolf.

"I had to get my coat back from Elliot the Elephant, and he is not happy." Wolf showed his shredded coat to his friends before putting it on. "But I am!"

They then heard an approaching loud growl from an elephant.

"Looks like Elliot's coming back for round two," Mira declared when the elephant was closing in. "Time for us to 'pull a Mira'!" She used Callum and Payton's inside joke of her, but none of the Bad Guys understood that, so Mira clarified, "Run!"

Mira and the five Bad Guys ran for their lives as Elliot the Elephant made a loud trumpeting sound.

As they left, Shark returned, carrying his tea cozy souvenir. "I found it. I'm gonna nickname you ,Feathery Pink," but he heard the growling sound as he turned around and noticed the same elephant from earlier heading towards him. Shark screamed and ran away in the same direction his friends were heading.

Next on The Bad Guys: The Baddest Trip...

Mr. Snake: I got verified on Instagram. Look at that, a blue check.

Mr. Hornet: Blue check? That's green. Snake, you got hacked.

Ms. Tarantula: I hear you're looking to kill somebody.

Mr. Snake: What? No. I'm just trying to find the guy who hacked my Instagram account.

Ms. Tarantula: I can also help with that. It's in Russia.

Mr. Snake: All right, looks like we're going to Russia.

Mira: Russia? We can't go there. They're at war with Ukraine!

Mr. Hornet: No, they're not. They were ceasing fire!

Cast:

Michael Godere - Mr. Wolf

Chris Diamantopoulos - Mr. Snake

Ezekiel Ajeigbe - Mr. Shark

Raul Ceballos - Mr. Piranha

Mallory Low - Ms. Tarantula

Eugene Lee Yang - Mr. Hornet

Stephanie Beatriz – Mira Rose

Alyson Stoner – Mariposa Rose

Danny Trejo – Octavio Rose

Mark Wahlberg - Callum Kalemberg

Lacey Chabert - Payton

Author
Aggimagination

Chapter Text

Previously  on The Bad Guys: The Baddest Trip..

Ms. Tarantula: Mira has gone to Africa because she's still in love with Callum.

Mr. Piranha: But why would she do that? She's got so much going on in America. Like her journaling career, her life as a mother, and her friendship with us…

(pause)

Mr. Shark: OMG, she's never coming back!

Mr. Snake: Okay, Callum, where is Mira?

Callum: Why is Mira coming here?

Ms. Tarantula:  Because she's still in love with you!

Callum: What?!

Mr. Piranha: Was that my stomach? Please let that be my stomach.

Ms. Tarantula: We'll all be in that lion's stomach if we don't get out of here!

Callum: Sweetheart, get everyone back into the truck.

Mira: A-ha! You called me 'sweetheart.' You do still love me!

Callum: I was talking to Payton! She's my girlfriend!

(silent)

Mr. Hornet: Awkward.

Mira: You know, you could have warned me you had a girlfriend.

Callum: You could have warned me you were coming to visit.

Mira: I didn't come to visit! I came to get my friends.

Callum: You know, Mira, it was really great to see you.

Mira: Even though I made a total fool of myself?

Callum: Not a total fool.

Mira: Okay, maybe three-eighths of a fool?

Callum: Whatever number it was, I'm really glad you came.

Mira: Me too, because it gave me another chance to say how sorry I am for breaking up with you.

Callum: It's okay. You know, it all worked out for the best. I found my soulmate in Africa, and you, uh...

Mira: Got a heat rash. Thanks for asking.

Mr. Hornet: Mira, are you okay?
Mira: Yeah. Yeah, I'm actually really happy for Callum and Payton. Well, I better head for my flight.

Mr. Snake: Wait, Mira, you're going home?

Mira: Yeah. What else would I do here?

Ms. Tarantula: Well, we were thinking that you should come with us for a vacation.

Mira: Oh, what the heck. I don't wanna miss the fun.

Hacker In Russia

It was another day in the sky with the Bad Guys. This time, they had Mira with them. After making a convincing offer, Mira couldn't turn her friends down for taking a trip with them. Shark and Hornet offered her some drinks while Tarantula was typing on her laptop. While Wolf flew the jet, Snake had his eyes glued to the phone for hours. He slithered across the aisle and made an announcement in front of his friends.

"Hehe, guys, check this out. I finally made my own Instagram account. I wanted to post our vacation pictures so I would make people jealous." He expected some responses from his friends, but no one seemed to notice him, or they intentionally ignored him. Snake cleared his throat, repeating his last words from earlier, "Like I said, 'I have my own Instagram!'" He noticed Shark was putting his fin behind him. "All right, Shark's going for his phone…" It turned out Shark was scratching his back. "He... Uhp, no, he's just scratching himself. Well, anyway, I'll go pick some images I want to post and tag." Snake slithered away while holding his phone before saying, "Wow, we have our own tag name here."

When Snake was gone, Mira was free to speak up quietly, "Boy, he's sure living a lot longer than we expected."

At the other cabin, Snake was busy with his Instagram until he received a message from the website. "Whoa. A DM from OfficialInstagram?" He then said out loud, "'Hello, Mr. Snake. As a famous blogger, you are now eligible to become a verified account.' Yes! Finally!" He yelled excitedly.

"Well, maybe next you can get your ego checked out," Piranha commented sarcastically as he flipped his newspaper straight when reading it.

"Why is your paper called Hispanic Babes?" Snake read the headline of the newspaper.

"Well, what's your paper of record for Spanish curly hair?" Piranha asked, pointing out Snake's likeness of women by their hair. Snake said nothing, and Piranha smirked. "Exactly." He flipped his newspaper straight again.

Later at night, the Bad Guys and Mira landed in another country to get rest for the night. They found themselves at a hotel, and, to save money, they booked two bedrooms. Wolf, Shark, and Tarantula shared a bedroom, while Snake, Piranha, Hornet, and Mira shared the second bedroom. When Hornet was ready for bedtime, Snake excitingly approached him with his phone. He was too excited to sleep, as he was busy getting verified.

"Well, it looks like all that hard work is finally paying off. I got verified on Instagram. Look at that, a blue check," Snake declared.

Wanting to see it for himself, Hornet grabbed Snake's phone and looked at it. He saw the check alright. But it wasn't blue. It's green.

"Blue check? That's green. Snake, you got hacked," Hornet clarified.

"That's ridiculous." Snake snatched his phone back. "Someone DM'd me and said they just needed my mother's name, the last four numbers of my credit card, and the first 12 numbers of my credit card. Then they responded right away with…," Snake read the message, 'Thank you, comploted'. Huh. That's not how you spell 'completed.' Then, his phone rang. "It's my credit card company." He swiped to answer the call. "Hello? No, that wasn't me. No. No. Ma'am, I wouldn't know what to do with that many bottles of gas-treating pills."

"Yuck," Hornet gagged.

Snake hung up and admitted, "Okay, you were right. I got hacked. I'm so mad that hacker has me seeing purple."

"Red. It's red, Snake," Hornet corrected.

The next morning, the Bad Guys and Mira were set for another trip, but not before Snake told them what happened. While the jet was in the air, Snake called the credit card company and had his credit card canceled. This solution still wouldn't calm Snake down as he paced around the aisle with Hornet in the same cabin as his.

"Why are you so upset? You already canceled your credit card," Hornet said.

"This hacker is destroying my Instagram. I have a brand!" Snake exclaimed angrily.

"Posting Selena Gomez' makeup is actually Selena Gomez's brand. I think you should just give your account to the hacker. I mean, your Instagram wasn't setting the world on fire."

"And I suppose the hacker's posts are better? Look at this; it's just half a bottle of vodka that says, 'Eto vodka-chas gde-to.'"

"Snake, what does that even mean? Hit 'See translation.'"

Snake tapped the "See Translation" and read the post in English, "'It's vodka o'clock somewhere.'"

Hornet laughed. "Oh, that's very funny. That's very funny. You know, I've heard it's 'wine o'clock,' but I've never heard it with vodka. That's what... That's—that's whip smart, is what that is."

"No! No, it's not! Hornet, I need to get my account back. I-I may have sent some weird DMs to Ariana Grande that I'd rather not see the light of day," Snake admitted shamefully.

"Wicked Arianna or Nickelodeon Arianna?"

"Actually, it was in the middle of her pop star era, around when the Sweetener album came out."

After a long pause, Hornet was shocked about what Snake said about Ariana Grande as he declared, "We need to get that account back."

Later on, at lunch, Tarantula, Hornet, and Mira were eating food together on their seats. Hornet then noticed something odd in the room…

"Have we ever been alone in a room together before? All three of us?" Hornet asked.

"I remember it's just us, you and me, but with Mira? Not quite," Tarantula responded, with Mira feeling offended by this conversation.

Snake then entered the cabin, interrupting the space between the three, "So, Instagram update..."

"We're talking!" Hornet shouted.

Snake still continued about his situation, "The hacker contacted me. He's demanding $10,000!"

Tarantula overheard Snake's cries about the hacker as she put her lunch down and said, "I hear you're looking to kill somebody."

"What? No. I'm just trying to find a guy who hacked my Instagram account," Snake said.

"I can also help with that. I'm really good at finding cyberbullies. One time, I got an anonymous tweet saying that I look like a poisonous Cheeto, and I tracked the IP address to...

"Kim Kardashian," Tarantula and Mira guessed in unison.

"Yeah, that's... It's kind of her thing," Mira commented.

Snake gave Tarantula his phone to let her find the hacker. "I don't know how you're gonna find..."

"That's in Russia." Tarantula found the hacker for just 2 seconds before speaking in Russian,

"How do you know how to speak Russian?" Snake questioned.

"If you hacked into the Russian database of nuclear missiles long enough, then eventually you're gonna learn Russian. First, just the Russian words for 'please don't kill me,' but it's amazing how those are really the building blocks of an entire language."

"German's very similar." Mira stated.

"And then I was able to make some friends in a Russian AOL chat room," Tarantula added.

"You've got a whole little life going on, huh, girl?" The journalist chuckled in compliment.

"Can you figure out what city this hacker lives in?" Snake inquired.

"Okay, I'm thinking the big boys in Moscow are phishing in Europe." Tarantula tapped on the phone to look for the city where the hacker lived. "Russia has 11 time zones, so if we triangulate the activity through peak hours..." Bingo! She found it. "Yup. Just what I thought. Kazan."

"That was fast," Snake cheered while accidentally knocking a plastic glass of soda from the desk.

Tarantula quickly grabbed the cup while keeping the soda in before putting it down. "You got to move fast in this world, bro. So, are we gonna go find this guy or what?"

"All right, looks like we're going to Russia." Snake agreed.

"Russia? We can't go there. They're at war with Ukraine!" Mira warned.

"They are? Whoa, crazy." Hornet commented.

"I say we do it," Tarantula said without arguing about the war.

"We're really gonna go to a country at war, and we couldn't go to my seminar on Hollywood etiquette?" Mira complained.

"What seminar?" Snake asked.

"I show proper table manners with those of high status."

"You mean celebrities." Hornet guessed.

"No." Mira chuckled while shaking her head, "No, no, no, no, no, no."

Wolf flew the jet all the way to Russia as his friends requested. He managed to land the jet at the airport without any problem of the country being suspicious of its arrival. With Tarantula, Hornet, and Mira's expertise, they made fake passports for themselves and Snake to get past the security check. Wolf, Shark, and Piranha decided to stay in the jet in case of emergencies.

Snake, Tarantula, Hornet, and Mira made it to the security check to have their fake passports presented.

"Are you here for business or displeasure?" The security guard asked.

"We're here to find the hacker that..." Snake explained, but he was cut off with a wild guess.

"Stole your Instagram, yes." The security guard continued his sentence, "Enjoy the country where it is dirtier than the ground."

Snake, Tarantula, Hornet, and Mira took a taxi to go to Kazan. As they passed by a lot of streets, Russia seemed to be a poor and dirty country with polluted clouds covering the blue sky, dead trees everywhere, barely ruined houses, and less grass on the ground.

The taxi stopped on its route, as this was where Snake, Tarantula, Hornet, and Mira dropped off.

As the taxi left, Hornet looked at his phone, discovering something new about Kazan. "Hey, you guys, this is exciting. I'm reading about Kazan, and if it's not too much trouble, I'd love to swing by Bauman Street. It was built in 1898, and it is lined with shops, restaurants, and cafes where you get a cup of Kuz."

"Yeah, I don't know," Snake said, dumbfounded.

"Oh, you're no fun," Hornet said before turning to Mira. "Mira? Cup of Kuz?"

Snake has no interest in Hornet's research, as he wanted to stay on track of finding his hacker. "Come on, we got to find this guy. Now, think like a hacker. Where would he be?"

"Why don't we just follow this giant Ethernet cable?" Tarantula suggested, pointing the giant Ethernet cable in front of them.

The cable led to the house with a lot of giantrouters outside.

Snake, Tarantula, Hornet, and Mira followed the cable all the way to the house as Snake knocked on the door.

"Did you know Kazan is known for itsunique blend of Tatar and Russian culture?" Hornet mentioned taking more interest in Kazan. "I'm—I'm, like, pinching myself; I'm that jazzed."

The owner of the house, who was believed to be Snake's hacker, opened the door and asked, "Chto ty khochesh'?"

"Let me handle this," Tarantula volunteered to speak to the hacker on her friend's behalf. "Eto mister Sneyk. Ty ukral yego Instagram?"

"Da," The hacker then spoke in English, "I sorry. I also conveniently speak a little English. Come in, I explain over cup of Kuz."

"Oh, jackpot! And you know they're gonna have good Kuz!" Hornet exclaimed as he and his friends entered the house.

Inside, the Russian hacker poured a teakettle of coffee in Snake's drink while making good conversation with his visitors.

"First, I must know, is it true in America there's a studio where they work on dreams?" he asked.

"Uh, yeah." Snake hesitantly answered.

"Wow," the hacker replied before shifting his eyes to Tarantula while asking Snake, "So, Snake, is this beautiful American wife?"

"Me? No, I'm not married." Tarantula was flattered by how the hacker described her.

"You are like big beautiful nesting doll that holds other dolls inside," the hacker complimented.

"You really mean that?"

"Da. You are the outside one because it has to fit all the other ones."

"Aw, Webs, you're pretty in this very delusional country," Hornet cooed.

The hacker then explained to Snake, "Snake, I only stole account because it made me feel like I was living happy American life of big blogger guy."

"He has less than 10 followers," Mira noted.

"I have nobody and nothing to live for," the hacker said sadly.

"Well, you have to have some family," Snake said.

"No, they all burnt," the Russian hacker confessed.

"At least you have a place to call home," Tarantula added.

"Nyet. My apartment also burnt. This temporary. I lived in puddle for a while but sun dried up my house. I yell at sun, 'Give it back!' But it never does. That is why every day I wake up and said curse words at sun."

"That would actually make a good Instagram. Post that every day," Hornet suggested, making Snake glare at him for suggesting a hacker to post good posts that Snake himself couldn't do. "What? It would," the little bug said.

Later that day, Snake got his Instagram back, so it was time to leave Russia. Hornet and Mira were standing at the bus station with Snake approaching them while carrying his bag.

"Well, you ready to leave, guys?" He asked.

"What's that, Snake? Sorry, I'm muling quite a bit of Kuz right now," Hornet responded while holding the lower part of his thorax.

Tarantula then arrived, only without her stuff.

"Where's your stuff?" Snake asked when noticing Tarantula didn't have a bag with her.

"Snake, we came here to find your account but found something much more valuable: my happiness," Tarantula smiled.

"What are you? A hacker or a philosopher?" Mira asked sarcastically.

"I can't go back," Tarantula clarified.

This shocked Snake, Hornet, and Mira as Hornet questioned worriedly, "What? You're staying in Russia?"

"This is a country where I'm not to be afraid of, where I can access Russian nuclear codes without having a death threat over my head," Tarantula explained. "Last night, when Maxim and I ate stroganoff together, he said, 'Webs, you have accent more fluid than acid.' How sweet is that? I'm a nine in Russia, guys. I'm staying here."

Snake, Hornet, and Mira looked at each other with worried faces, realizing that if Tarantula wanted to stay in Russia, then they'd never see her again. This might be the last time they'll ever get to see her. But if Tarantula wanted to stay here, then they have to respect her.

"Well, okay. But we're truly gonna miss you," Snake sighed sadly, "And if this really is the end of our time together, we probably ought to tally up expenses from the trip."

"Oh, um, okay." Tarantula expected something heartwarming from Snake, but it wasn't like that.

Snake pulled out a pen and a notepad. "Yeah, I bought that magazine at the airport, so let's put that in the "group" column.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on!" Hornet protested.

"Yeah, no, airport purchases, we said, were all together," Snake said.

"You're the only one who read that. It goes in the 'Snake' column," the bug bragged.

"You did the word search! You filled it out!" the lock-picker mentioned.

"The word search had vegetable names. I couldn't pass up."

"Yeah. That's reading."

"That's not reading. That's just looking at a bunch of letters and making words."

"So you're saying that saying the word 'tomato' counts as reading?"

"Oh, okay, well, when I bought my Nature Valley, you said, 'Mmm, honey and blueberry, looks good.' Sounds like a group expense to me.

"No way!"

"Okay, that's enough, you two!" Mira shouted before looking at Tarantula beside them, "Webs, wouldn't you call that a personal..." But the next thing they knew, Tarantula had already left."Uhp, she's gone," Mira said.

"Yep. Guess we're covering her tiny cushions, huh?" Hornet guessed.

Snake, Hornet, and Mira went back to the airport and got up to the jet, where Wolf, Shark, and Piranha were waiting for them while playing board games.

Wolf stood up to greet his friends back. "Hey guys… where's Webs?" He noticed Tarantula wasn't with them.

"Umm… She's not coming with us, Wolf," Snake replied.

"What, why?" Piranha overheard the conversation, along with Shark.

"Well, she found someone, and we want her to be happy," Hornet replied.

"But we can't leave her here. She had so much to live for with us!" Shark squeaked in sadness.

"We can't take her away from happiness, Shark. She made up her mind," Mira defended Tarantula's decision.

"I guess we could respect," Wolf sighed. "What if we don't need to force her?"

"What are you planning, Wolf?" Snake asked suspiciously.

"Nothing. We can't leave without Webs, but we want to make sure if she's really happy here."

The other Bad Guys and Mira looked at each other to see if they all agreed with Wolf's plan. As much as they wanted to respect Tarantula's choice of staying in Russia, they still wanted to see if Tarantula was really okay here. They nodded.

"We can do that." Piranha declared.

"But how?" Hornet asked Wolf about checking on Tarantula without her noticing them.

Wolf only responded with a sly smirk on his face.

A few days later, Tarantula had been adapting to her new life in Russia and her new boyfriend, Maxim, as they were now living in a new apartment together.

"How was day working at bot farm, my love?" asked Maxim as he and Tarantula were sitting on the couch together.

"It was great. I convinced a group of teens to cash in on a fake game reward card. Ooh, then we had a big catered lunch. See?" Tarantula turned her laptop and showed a photo of turnips and beets.

"Ah, my darling has appetite of Alaskan Orca. And is just as sturdy," Maxim complimented before standing up from the couch, "You rest, lyubov'. I'll go make biscuits."

While Maxim left the room, Tarantula pulled back her laptop and sighed, "Man, I miss American food." She turned her Instagram account on on her desktop and added the photo of turnips and beets for her post, "'Onions are fine, but you know, I sure could go for a good old-fashioned Philly cheesesteak.'" When Tarantula hit "post," a dart was shot through the glass window and hit Tarantula on her rear end, causing her to faint and collapse on the floor.

Maxim rushed to her aid and checked on her. "Bozhe moy, what happen?" He noticed the dart on her rear end as he ran towards the window to see who shot her.

It was one of those Russian police, as the one with the gun jumped into the van, and the driver drove away. The shooter got his upper body out of the window and shouted while the van kept driving further, "HE will not tolerate…" His voice faded as he was driven away, "Even the mildest of criticism!"

Unbeknownst to everyone, the five Bad Guys and Mira were hiding behind the bush near Maxim and Tarantula's apartment. They saw how Tarantula got shot, and they were worried for her now.

"Oh no, Webs," Piranha cried worriedly.

"We gotta go get her!" Hornet was about to zoom inside to retrieve Tarantula, but Wolf clipped his wings to stop him.

"Wait, no!" Wolf pointed at Maxim bringing Tarantula into the car and driving away, "Let's follow them," the leader instructed as they came out of the bush and followedMaxim's car.

Tarantula was sent to the poison dart hospital, where she was lying down on the hospital bed withMaxim by her side, watching her quietly and worriedly.

Tarantula woke up and tiredly called for her boyfriend, "Maxim, w-what happened?"

"Everyone here was silenced by state for reckless tweet," Maxim replied.

"You mean that thing I said about onions for lu..."

"Sshhh! Quiet. Government is very strict about criticism of Russian way of life."

Another patient joined the conversation, Is true. Authority can be very sensitive..." Before he could finish, he was shot by a dart.

Maxim switched back to Tarantula. "Webs, I am so happy you okay. I stayed by your side all night."

"Oh, Maxim, thank you for being so good to me," Tarantula was touched by Maxim's gesture, "Well, there goes my savings on the hospital bills."

"What? Is free. Even in Russia, health care is basic human right covered by government," Maxim explained, "Surely is same in very wealthy, superior United States?"

"Well..." Tarantula couldn't explain how health care in America was completely different.

The other Bad Guys and Mira peeked through the window, watching and listening to what happened inside. They heard about the advantages of Russia that America didn't, and it'll make Tarantula want to stay in Russia for good.

"This isn't good, Wolf. We have to get Webs," Shark shook eagerly.

"Not yet, guys. Let's see where this will go," Wolf advised.

Later, after Tarantula was discharged from the hospital, she and Maxim set up a picnic date for them… in the cemetery.

"Aw. It was so kind of you to plan this picnic, Maxim. But why are we in a cemetery?" Tarantula asked curiously. It was odd to have a romantic picnic in the cemetery.

"Webs, I brings you here because cemetery is very special place. It is here where you can finally meet my family," Maxim answered. Right beside them were tombstones of Maxim's parents and siblings.

"Your family is really dead? Oh, I'm so sorry," Tarantula said wholeheartedly.

"It's okay. They died peacefully in explosion during the war, radiation exposure and ripped by dogs," Maxim said before holding Tarantula gently in his hand, "Webs, when you were in hospital, I was so afraid to lose you. And in that moment, I realized I never want us to be apart. Webs, will you marry me?"

Tarantula gasped surprisingly. It was all of a sudden for her.

"I do not have much to give, but I do have sister's engagement ring," Maxim put Tarantula down and dug up her sister's grave, punching his hand in and grabbing her sister's skeletal arm, removing the ring from her bony finger, "What do you say, Webs? Will you make me happiest man in all of Russia?"

"Oh,.. Yes, yes, yes," Tarantula didn't hesitate. She finally answered him "yes". Maxim slipped the ring around Tarantula's arm since it was too big for her hand.

The other Bad Guys and Mira hid behind random tombstones and heard about Tarantula getting married to that Maxim fella.

Snake, Shark, Piranha, Hornet, and Mira turned to Wolf, glaring at him for making them wait for the right time to get Tarantula when it was almost too late for them to do so now that she was engaged.

Wolf admitted he had them wait for too long to get Webs and said, "Okay, fine, we need to get Webs back."

At night, Maxim got him and Tarantula booked for their honeymoon, but Tarantula was still sad, despite her upcoming wedding. Maxim noticed her while drinking at the bar. He was worried for her.

"Are you okay, Webs?" Maxim asked concerningly, "You barely touched your kuz. What's the matter, not flaming hot enough? Perhaps you miss your friends, no?"

"Yeah. I mean, I love it here, but I'm sad they're not here for our wedding," Tarantula admitted.

"Hey, I have idea. Why don't we visit your friends? They can invite them to our wedding and say a proper farewell," Maxim suggested.

"Yeah, that's a great idea. I'm gonna call them right now," Tarantula jumped off from her seat, and crawled away with her laptop.

When Tarantula was heading out to get signal, she bumped onto a foot, which was Wolf's foot. She looked up to see her friends in front of her.

"Wolf, guys, what are you guys still doing here? Aren't you suppose to leave days ago?"

Wolf sighed as the jig was up. Tarantula already found them here, "Sorry, Webs, we can't leave without you."

"I thought you guys let me stay here," Tarantula recalled.

"We do, but…" Mira wanted to explain, but she couldn't bring herself to.

Snake volunteered to explain, "You're our friend, Webs, we can't leave you. And we can't let you marry that guy!"

Tarantula started to snap at her friends for not supporting her life-changing decision, "Why not?! Maxim is the greatest man in Russia, and he did nothing but take care of me since I stayed here! And you should be very happy that there is someone who also likes me! And I will marry him soon, and you can't stop me from happiness!"

"Ah, so you got pass to green card, huh?"

The Bad Guys and Mira could hear Maxim and the bartender's conversation.

"That's right. American spider fell for it. Here's to my last night in Russia," Maxim smirked as he clanged the glass with the bartender's glass, who reciprocated.

The Bad Guys and Mira gasped. All of what he did for Tarantula was a lie. A scam. Tarantula felt hurt that hers and Maxim's love wasn't real, and she was tricked.

"Oh, no. This whole thing was just another scam?" Tarantula almost cried.

The other Bad Guys and Mira felt sorry for Tarantula. They knew she didn't deserve to be tricked like this.

"Oh, Webs, we are so sorry," Shark cooed, feeling bad for his friend.

Tarantula calmed herself down and cleared her throat and mind. "It's okay, guys. I know you guys were trying to protect me."

"Aww, we love you, Webs. You know that," Hornet reminded as Tarantula nodded.

Maxim and the bartender continued to laugh, making the Bad Guys and Mira angry.

"I'll give you something to laugh about," Tarantula whispered as she opened her laptop and hacked into Maxim's Twitter account, posting a lot of critical comments about Russia and everything.

A dart was shot through the window, barely missing Maxim, and hit the wall instead.

"What the—? Oh no!"Maxim could hear the police sirens.

The Russian police and authorities charged into the hotel and targeted Maxim. He was shot by them several times until he was knocked out.

Tarantula smiled as she watched Maxim getting what he deserved. Tarantula decided to join her friends again since there was nothing left she could have here. After all, she was tricked. Her friends were glad to have their favorite hacker back. Shark didn't mind having her back on his shoulder again like usual. While the Bad Guys and Mira walked out of the hotel without intervening with the Russian police, Tarantula continued to hack Twitter and post more critical comments before closing her laptop.

Cast:

Michael Godere - Mr. Wolf

Chris Diamantopoulos - Mr. Snake

Ezekiel Ajeigbe - Mr. Shark

Raul Ceballos - Mr. Piranha

Mallory Low - Ms. Tarantula
Mila Kunis – Ms. Tarantula's Russian voice

Eugene Lee Yang - Mr. Hornet

Stephanie Beatriz – Mira Rose

John Viener - Maxim

Fred Tatasciore - Airport Clerk, Russian Police, Bartender

Author
Aggimagination

Co-author:
MasterClass60

Next on The Bad Guys: The Baddest Trip...

Mira: Callum sent me a message that he wanted us to visit him in Australia! He had been giving a lot of assignments, but now he was assigned to work in the zoo of Australia, in Melbourne. He invited us to come there.

Mr. Wolf: Alright, buckle up everyone, we're going to Australia!

Mr. Wolf: Alright, guys, maybe we should split up. We like to do different things here. I wanna go to the Koala exhibit. I want to take a shot of the cute little koalas.

Mr. Snake: I'm not going anywhere.

Mr. Shark: Oooh, come with me, Snake. It'll be fun.

Mr. Snake: Fine! I'm going with the big guy.

Mr. Piranha: Well, we know where Hornet and I will be going.

Ms. Tarantula: Can I go with you guys? I don't know what I'm going to do here.

Mr. Piranha: Do you have to? We're on a date here, Webs!

Mr. Hornet: It's okay, Piranha. Maybe Webs won't mind if we're on a date.

Ms. Tarantula: Hey, I don't mind you guys, I'll just… look away while you two attend to your… business.

Chapter Text

Previously on The Bad Guys: The Baddest Trip..

Mr. Snake: I got verified on Instagram. Look at that, a blue check.

Mr. Hornet: Blue check? That's green. Snake, you got hacked.

Ms. Tarantula: I hear you're looking to kill somebody.

Mr. Snake: What? No. I'm just trying to find the guy who hacked my Instagram account.

Ms. Tarantula: I can also help with that. It's in Russia.

Maxim (the hacker): Is this beautiful American wife?"

Ms. Tarantula: Me? No, I'm not married.

Mr. Hornet: Aw, Webs, you're pretty in this very delusional country.

Ms. Tarantula: I'm staying here.

Mr. Wolf: Hey guys… where's Webs?

Mr. Snake: Umm… She's not coming with us, Wolf.

Maxim: Webs, will you marry me?

Ms. Tarantula: Oh... Yes, yes, yes,

Mr. Wolf: Sorry, Webs, we can't leave without you.

Bartender: Ah, so you got pass to green card, huh?

Maxim: That's right. American spider fell for it. Here's to my last night in Russia.

Ms. Tarantula: Oh, no. This whole thing was just another scam? I'll give you something to laugh about.

The Tales Of Australia

It was another trip in the sky as the Bad Guys were doing their own routine in the jet. Mira was scrolling on her phone until she received a notification. Curiously, she tapped on the phone to open it and gasped when she got an exciting message.

"Hey guys, guess what?" She announced to the whole cabin, "Callum texted me."

"Mira, we've been over this. Callum wasn't in love with you anymore," Hornet recalled the Africa incident.

"I get that, but he sent me a message that he wanted us to visit him in Australia!" Mira declared.

"Australia? Wasn't he in Africa a week ago?" Snake mentioned.

"He is, but he had been giving a lot of assignments, but now he was assigned to work in the zoo of Australia, in Melbourne. He invited us to come there."

The Bad Guys glanced at each other, wanting to know what they think about taking a trip in Australia.

"Do we have to? I mean, was Australia part of our trip plan?" Piranha asked.

"Well, I don't see why not, right? I mean, our plan was to take a vacation around the world, and Australia was one of the places we hadn't gone yet," Wolf clarified about their vacation plan.

The rest of the Bad Guys were silent, waiting for someone to argue or object to this idea. Since no one seemed to be against this plan, they murmured in agreement.

"Alright," Snake said.

"Fine by me," Tarantula shrugged.

"Yeah, I'm in," Hornet added.

"Alright, buckle up everyone, we're going to Australia!" Wolf exclaimed as he sped up the jet forward.

The Bad Guys and Mira arrived in Melbourne, Australia, and headed to the Melbourne Zoo, where Callum stood at the entrance, waiting for them.

"I'm glad you guys made it," Callum greeted.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world, Callum," Mira answered.

"And you can't get rid of us that easily, huh?" Piranha smirked.

"Or you can't get rid of me, considering we just saw each other a week ago," Callum chuckled, recalling their adventure in Africa. "Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy your trip to the zoo. You'll see amazing things here." He stepped aside and let the Bad Guys and Mira in.

Seven of them gasped in awe when they entered the zoo. It was big and had a lot of animal habitats where many animals can roam freely without obstacles that stand in their way.

As they passed by a habitat, Shark noticed something strange in it as he called his teammates, "Umm, guys?"

Wolf, Snake, Piranha, Tarantula, and Hornet retreated to see what Shark was pointing at. They began to cringe at the sight.

It was a habitat of six different animals living together without any trouble. There was a gray wolf sitting on a flat rock next to an Eastern brown snake. A great white shark was swimming in a large aquarium, and a red-bellied piranha was swimming in a freshwater puddle. A Redknee tarantula was hanging on a tree where an Asian giant hornet was flying around its empty nest.

"I know, Shark. Don't think about it too much," Tarantula commented.

The Bad Guys slowly backed away and walked forward, trying to ignore the animal version of themselves.

They stopped at the center of the zoo as Wolf faced his friends to make a plan for their trip in this zoo.

"Alright, guys, maybe we should split up. We like to do different things here. I wanna go to the koala exhibit. I want to take a shot of the cute little koala." Wolf took out a camera that he brought with him.

"I'm not going anywhere." Snake raised his tail, feeling bored about this trip.

Shark then wrapped a fin around Snake tightly. "Oooh, come with me, Snake. It'll be fun."

Snake groaned in defeat, "Fine! I'm going with the big guy."

"Well, we know where Hornet and I will be going," Piranha smirked at Hornet while playfully bopping his eyebrows, which made Hornet blush.

Tarantula then cut in between them, "Can I go with you guys? I don't know what I'm going to do here."

Piranha growled frustratingly, "Do you have to? We're on a date here, Webs!"

"It's okay, Piranha. Maybe Webs won't mind if we're on a date," Hornet said calmly.

"Hey, I don't mind you guys. I'll just… look away while you two attend to your… business," Tarantula teased, making Piranha feel embarrassed.

"How about you, Mira?" Wolf asked.

"You guys go ahead and do whatever you want. I think I have something else to do here," Mira answered.

"Alright, then. We'll see each other here before the zoo closes. Have fun," Wolf declared as the group split up to go with their plan for this trip.

THE WOLF AND THE KOALA

Wolf carried his camera and walked around the zoo to take pictures of exotic and endangered animals. They were all interesting, like gorillas, frogs, and kangaroos. After taking a picture with the last animal, Wolf was checking his camera until he heard a crowd cooing at an exhibit. Wanting to know what the crowd was looking at, Wolf squeezed himself to the front and saw a baby koala clinging to a tree branch.

Wolf smiled as he thought this koala would be so cute for the photo. He quickly grabbed the camera to take a picture, but when he looked at the koala, it was facing the opposite side while hiding behind the tree trunk. Knowing that this won't take a good picture of the koala, Wolf decided to change sides and found a spot where the koala was facing him. Wolf held the camera up, but the koala covered itself with a giant leaf. Wolf lowered his camera down and found the koala was displaying his cuteness. Wolf raised his camera, and the koala was wearing glasses with a fake nose and mustache. Wolf became annoyed by the koala's behavior as he lowered his camera again. The koala once again showed himself, sitting on the tree, and Wolf raised his camera again. This time, the koala was shown slouching on the tree branch with cucumbers on its eyes, a mask on its face, and sipping a glass of lemonade.

Wolf growled, almost breaking his camera. The koala once again showed itself. Wolf predicted it might do something to ruin his photo taking, but he might get a clear shot this time. When Wolf raised his camera, the koala had a large moustache. Wolf lowered the camera again, and the koala has no moustache. He repeated what he was doing and had the same results with the koala with a moustache.

Wolf grew impatient as he gritted his teeth and accidentally dropped his camera, hitting one of his feet. Wolf felt the pain on his foot as he held onto it and cried, "Ooh, ooh, ooh!"

"Ooo, ooh, ooh!" A sound repeated Wolf's cries. Wolf looked up, and it was just a monkey hanging on the vine.

Ooh!" the monkey playfully swinging on the vine.

Observing the monkey, Wolf just had an idea to get that koala's good side for the picture. He climbed up to the roof of the exhibit next to the vine. He jumped and grabbed the closest vine, making him swing across, and landed on a large rock. There, he got a better view of the koala. It was his chance to take a picture as Wolf held his camera. Before he could take a shot, an elephant trunk was blocking his shot, as the rock Wolf was standing on was an elephant as it grabbed him and threw him away.

Wolf was hit by a statue at first before flying straight to a tree, where he was knocked out for a moment.

All of a sudden, the monkeys gathered around him, revealing he was at the monkey exhibit. Wolf then woke up, gasping for air and shocked that he was surrounded by monkeys. He froze in fear as he couldn't make sudden movements to avoid getting attacked by monkeys. One of them pokes his ear. Wolf quickly climbed up the tree and made it to the top. He was safe from the monkeys for now, but he realized he got another better view of the koala. It was his chance to capture the cute moment. But once Wolf had his cameras up, a hand covered the lenses, and he discovered the monkey grabbed it.

The camera started to speak nervously, "Help me."

The monkey threw the camera away, and Wolf didn't hesitate to try to retrieve it. Wolf chased his camera all the way down, sliding the giraffe's neck, and it flipped him and his camera into the air.

Wolf "swam" closer to his camera while in the air and caught it in his paws. Wolf gave his camera a big kiss, happy to retrieve it. While in the air, Wolf noticed the koala waving at him. This is his chance to take the picture of the koala, and this time, he might get it.

Just then, an old vulture was flying by and coughing until Wolf collided with him. The vulture's feathers were all gone.

"I needed a 'aircut anyway," the vulture said while flying featherless.

Wolf crashed on the ground, and his fur was covered in dust after hitting that vulture. He was okay but realized he didn't have his camera with him. He looked around and saw the koala behind him, holding his camera. He also realized he was in the koala exhibit now.

The koala walked away with Wolf's camera as Wolf got up and chased after the koala to get his camera back, saying, "Hey."

The koala passed by the tree, and Wolf tried to catch him, but the branch of the tree hit him in the eye. Wolf continued to chase the koala to get his camera back, but when the koala turned around and passed by the same tree, Wolf failed to see the branch in front of his face, hitting his other eye. Wolf's eyes became bitty, and he stumbled down around the adult koalas. The koalas thought Wolf was a koala with his dusty gray fur and bitty eyes. The koala then took care of him like he was their own pup.

The koala was outside the exhibit with Wolf's camera and took a picture.

A DATE FOR A SNAKE

Snake and Shark were strolling around the zoo. Shark was delighted by the visit while looking around, while Snake seemed unsatisfied when he saw nothing more than sad animals trapped in cages.

"So, Snake, anything you're interested in?" Shark asked smilingly.

Snake groaned in disgust, "Ugh! It's a zoo, Shark. All of the animals we know are in prison. THEIR OWN PRISON! Even some who are so cute and friendly were also in prison." He pointed out the penguin exhibit with his tail, "They have the same rights as ours."

"Relax, Snake. They're not the same as us. We're… you know, us. And they are them. Wild animals who can't talk or walk on their own feet." Shark lifted his foot but looked down to realize Snake has no feet. The big fish grinned sheepishly. "They won't mind. Besides, they'll go scot-free one day, just like us."

Snake rolled his eyes, which made him spot a blue female snake in a yellow dress and a sun hat with a pink flower on it. The blue snake suddenly glanced at him, making Snake lean closer to Shark.

"Shark, we have a problem," he whispered. "Someone over there is onto us. Don't look now, but there is another snake over there by the giraffe habitat. She knows we're the Bad Guys," Snake said, referring to the blue snake behind them. Shark tried to turn around to see for himself, but Snake made him turn back to keep Shark from looking at the female snake. "Didn't I say don't look?!"

Shark responded with a smirk on his face as he chuckled, "You're right, Snake. I noticed that female snake minutes ago when we got here. Seems to me she has quite a little crush on you."

Snake was bewildered by this. "What?"

"G'day," The two were startled when the blue snake was right behind them as she spoke, "Wat's yah name?" she asked Snake.

"Hi, uh… I'm Mr. Snake, and this is Mr. Shark, a friend of mine," Snake responded nervously while Shark kept an exciting grin for his friend.

"G'day, Mr. Snake, my name's Mahrgahreth. I was wonderin' if ya would liyyke ta stroll ahround the zoo with me? Maybe we would get ta know each othah," the female snake inquired.

Snake was stunned by the offer. Before he could respond, Shark cut in between the two snakes and answered for his friend, "He'd love to!"

"Great. I'll meet ya in front of the black swan exhibit."

Margareth slithered away as Shark threw his fin around a bewildered Snake, with a large smile on the fish's face as the latter glared at the former.

"Why would you say that? We just knew her!" Snake yelled at his friend.

"Come on, Snake. This is a good opportunity to socialize, not just with your only friends." Shark squeezed Snake in his fin real hard. "Time to meet new people once in a while."

Snake felt like his eyes were popping out from Shark's squeeze as he tried to understand what Shark meant about socializing with other people. Snake realized that he was too afraid to bond with other people than his friends, and he didn't even meet anyone special for years. He sighed in defeat, as he was too proud to tell Shark he was right. "You're impossible."

Shark considered this as a yes, and that Snake agreed with this date as he hugged him tighter, "But first, let's fix you up for a bit. To the men's room!" He headed off to find the men's room while carrying Snake, as the latter wanted to sob.

Things went chaotic in the men's room when Snake's struggling voice and Shark's insisting voice were heard from inside, and the other men ran out of the room. Minutes later, Snake came out, wearing a light-blue T-shirt with a white collar and dark-blue bow tie decal, as Shark came out following him.

"Glad I packed that shirt, huh?" Shark giggled as he smacked Snake's back playfully.

When they arrived at the black swan exhibit, Snake and Shark noticed Margareth coming their way.

"Here she comes! Good luck!" Shark winked and patted Snake's head before zooming away, leaving Snake alone to face Margareth for their "date."

"Hey. Well, look at ya," Margareth cooed while ruffling Snake's shirt. "Ya look so cute."

"It took my friend ten minutes to fix my clothes." Snake cleaned his shirt before Margareth grabbed his tail and dragged him with her.

Snake and Margareth were eating at Lakeside Café, where Snake ordered Chicken Schnitzel while Margareth ordered Summer Vegetables & Beef Lasagne.

"So, howdya liyyke Australia so fahr?" Margareth asked.

"It's okay," Snake answered while fiddling with his food.

Margareth took a bite of the vegetables and questioned Snake, "Wadaya liyyke ta do fawr fun?"

"Nothing." Snake responded, still fiddling with his food.

Then, the waiter approached them and addressed Snake, "Excuse me, mate. Would ya 'n yah girlfriend cahah fawr dessert?"

Snake yelled in an assertive tone, pounding the table. "She is not my girlfriend!"

The café became silent as everyone's attention focused on Snake. The waiter walked away, and Snake turned to look at Margareth, who was munching on the beef lasagne.

Snake stared at the sight in surprise for a moment. "You have ... quite an appetite for a girl."

"Umm ... thanks?" Margareth replied uncomfortably, trying to take it as a compliment, "So, mr. Snake, where were ya 'n yah friend livin' befawah ya came here?"

"Well, we're from America. We only came here for a vacation."

"Aww, that's so sweet. Hey, I want ta show ya one of my favawrite places in the city."

"What? We're going to leave the zoo? But—"

Margareth took Snake's tail and dragged him out of the café to follow her. "Don't wawrry, it won't take long"

Snake and Margareth left the zoo and took a cab to head to the place Margareth loved. It wasn't that far, but they arrived.

It was the Fitzroy Gardens. They wandered around the garden as they went into the conservatory to see blooming flowers and hanging plants, passing through the miniature Tudor Village, taking a small tour in Cooks' Cottage, and strolling down the path of the garden where Snake and Margareth had their tails intertwined together.

"The Fitzroy Gardens ah my favawrite evah. We get ta see a lot of beautiful things, 'n not just the bloody plants, but how they designed the gahrdens," Margareth sighed dreamily.

"I gotta say. These places weren't half-bad," Snake admitted. "They are beautiful, especially the small village we passed through. I bet there are little guinea pigs living there like if it was their little town!"

The two snakes laughed, showing their share of their love for guinea pigs.

"You'ah so funny!" Margaret giggled.

When their laughter died down, Snake and Margaret paused to stare at each other. As Snake closed his eyes, Margaret went closer to him. But before they could kiss, Snake immediately jumped back away from her. He stood for a second, looking at her before turning his back and beginning to slither away.

"Wat's wrong?" Margaret asked curiously.

It's complicated," Snake whispered. "I have to go."

Snake continued to slither away, leaving Margaret alone and puzzled. The truth was Snake wasn't ready to open up to other people yet. He just met this kind young snake, and he was afraid to not just hurt her but to get hurt himself. It was good to meet other people and bond with them, but not too close just yet.

Snake took a cab back to Melbourne Zoo, where he squeezed through the crowd, who complained at him for cutting in line.

Callum took notice of him and asked surprisingly, "Snake, why are you out here? Have you already checked in?"

"I kinda… got sidetracked," Snake said without telling Callum about the date he had.

Seeing Snake's face, Callum could guess the reptile seemed distraught. He moved aside to let him in before addressing the crowd, "It's okay, he's with me."

The crowd groaned frustratingly. They had been waiting in line for hours, and they couldn't get in quickly.

When Shark was waving smilingly at the wombats, he noticed Snake passing beside him.

"Hey, Snake, how was that date?" He asked kindly before Snake ignored him. Shark could tell the date didn't go exactly as he expected because of the way Snake responded. Just nothing. Shark understood that look as he stopped asking about the date.

But then. "It was nice," Snake finally answered and formed a small smile. Shark smiled back, knowing things were okay.

It might not have been the best date, but, at least, it was an unforgettable one.

LOST IN THE OUTBACK

Piranha held Hornet in his little fin as they strolled through the Butterfly House. "Hey, look, Hornet, look at those butterflies!" Piranha pointed out two butterflies clinging to each other while hanging on the stem of a plant.

"Yeah, they're really close…" Hornet then squeaked while hugging Piranha's fin he was standing on, "Like us!" Piranha then brought Hornet closer to his cheek to reciprocate the hug.

"Oh yeah, they're really tying the knot there," a voice interrupted their moment when Tarantula was just right beside them while looking at her phone as he said sarcastically, "Oh, sorry. It's still a date for you guys."

Piranha growled as he angrily marched off, trying to find an exit in this butterfly exhibit. Hornet quickly followed him, and Tarantula went along while looking at her phone.

"Piranha, where are we going?" Hornet called.

"Away from her, where we would be alone!" Piranha grumbled, not caring if Tarantula was listening behind them. Then, the fish noticed a manhole ahead, thinking of a good idea where he and Hornet could spend their time alone. "Ooh, what about here?"

Hornet glanced at where Piranha was pointing as he deadpanned, "That's the sewer, Piranha."

"Better than being with Webs." Piranha quickly snatched Hornet and ran towards the manhole. Piranha jumped into it, having the lid flip counterclockwise before it stopped, covering the hole completely.

Piranha and Hornet fell into the sewer as they made a splash on the sewer water, and noises echoed around the place. They were now alone with nothing but sewer water.

"Now, where were we?" Piranha puckered his lips for a kiss.

Hornet slightly backed away and placed his hand on his boyfriend's lip before hinting, "Yeah, I don't wanna kiss you while I smell stinky in here."

"Yeah, Piranha," Tarantula chimed in when she appeared to be behind them. "You should pick a better dating place next time."

"Ugh, you're always interrupting our date…!" Piranha yelled at Tarantula until they felt something vibrating. "Wait, what's going on?"

Piranha, Tarantula, and Hornet felt the vibrating from the walls and heard the sound of a flushing toilet."

"It's the flush!" Hornet alerted.

The holes in the walls started to burst out water onto the trio, getting them all wet.

"Run!" Piranha screamed as he, Tarantula, and Hornet ran forward. They didn't know where to go, but they had to get away from the water before it hit them.

But the water came out too fast as it carried the three through the sewers. It was a strong current, as if they were in a water park, riding along the water slide, or surfing in the ocean. As Tarantula and Hornet were swept away by the water easily, Piranha was slammed into every wall when the water hit a lot of turns. Piranha was able to catch up with the two when the water dragged him calmly.

Then, Piranha spotted a mysterious white ball in front of him. "Ah! What's that? Is that an eyeball? Aah! I'm pretty sure that's somebody's eyeball! Ugh! I swallowed it!" The water brought Piranha into the waterfall, sending him into another sewer canal, where Tarantula and Hornet were there.

"That was fun!" Hornet laughed.

Right until they felt the air was blowing upwards. Piranha, Tarantula, and Hornet were sucked into a ventilation shaft, and it blew them all the way to the end, where they encountered an exhaust fan. Luckily, they were so small, the three got through the fan with Piranha breaking one of its blades and were flying into the air.

They got the moment to see the surroundings while they were in the air. They could see the whole city from up… until they fell down, landing on top of the roof of the bus.

"What?" Piranha landed headfirst before shaking it off. "Where are we?"

The bus then suddenly made a sound as it sped forward.

Tarantula looked at the edge and noticed something familiar. "We're in the moving bus!"

"Where is this bus going?" Piranha questioned.

Hornet stared behind them and answered, "Umm… away from the city?"

Piranha and Tarantula looked behind them when they were surprised about Hornet's answer. They discovered that the bus was driving away from Melbourne City to who-knows-where.

It was a long trip. It felt like hours they had been on the roof of the bus, but they didn't know how long. They felt that the bus made a complete stop. It was now their chance to hop off before the bus would take them any further. They were actually at the gas station. Piranha, Tarantula, and Hornet quickly rushed to the other side of the road; just in time, the bus took off.

"Glad the bus stopped for gas," Tarantula said.

"Look, we should hitch a ride back to the city, or our friends will be worried," Hornet suggested.

Piranha, Tarantula, and Hornet held their thumbs up on the street, trying to hitch a ride from any vehicle passing by, but there seemed to be little to no luck for them. There were barely even vehicles passing by, and they had been like this for an hour or so. Some that were passing by didn't give them a ride at all.

"Ugh, we're not going to hitch a ride anytime soon, and it's getting hotter!" Piranha complained as he felt his sweat rolling down his face.

"I think it's time for drastic measures," Hornet announced.

Another bus was about to pass by as Piranha, Tarantula, and Hornet were on top of the roof of the gas station. The bus stopped to take some gas as the trio were ready to take their shot.

"Ready?" Hornet declared as Piranha and Tarantula nodded. Hornet then shouted, "Go!"

The three leapt and landed on the roof of the bus.

And right on time, the bus was leaving the gas station. The three were confident that this was their ticket back to Melbourne.

"There! We'll be heading back to the city in no time!" Hornet said confidently.

It was another long trip. Piranha, Tarantula, and Hornet didn't know how long they had been asleep. They fell asleep in the middle of the ride. All they knew was they just woke up, and they were still on the roof of the bus. They looked around and realized they weren't in any town or city anymore. They were in… a different place… of a big Australia.

"Umm, guys?" Hornet turned around and noticed something that shocked him and called out to his friends, "Is that plateau getting bigger?" As Piranha and Tarantula turned around, they noticed the giant red plateau when they were approaching it.

That was when the three realized this bus wasn't heading back to Melbourne. It was heading farther away from Melbourne, and they were in the middle of the outback.

"We're in the wrong direction?!" Tarantula shrieked.

Piranha couldn't take this anymore as his eye twitched and he began to cry, "AAAAAAAHHHHH!" His voice echoed around the unpopulated area of Australia.

Piranha, Tarantula, and Hornet managed to get off the bus the second time, and this time, they were lost in the middle of nowhere with no way back to Melbourne, where their friends were probably waiting for them.

"I can't believe we ended up in the middle of the outback!" Tarantula bellowed.

"None of this would have happened if you just left me and Hornet alone!" Piranha yelled at Tarantula.

"It's my fault? You're the one who went to the sewers for your 'romantic' private date," Tarantula snarled at Piranha.

Hornet cut in the middle between the two to separate his ex-girlfriend and boyfriend from hurting each other further. "Okay, enough, you two! Fighting isn't going to solve our problems anymore. We'll just find a way to get out of the outback and return to the city."

"Sounds liyyke ya mates needed help," they heard a soft, calming, motherly voice from behind them. Piranha, Tarantula, and Hornet turned around when they were covered by a large shadow.

It was an anthropomorphic saltwater crocodile, wearing a sleeveless shirt with a golden wattle pinned to it, blue jeans, and a black purse. The crocodile waved smilingly at them, "G'day, little ones. My name is Jennifer, 'n i see ya three ahah lost."

"Oh, hi, uh, we don't need help. We can figure this out for ourselves," Piranha said, but Hornet elbowed at him, glaring at him for ruining their chance of needing help to get back to Melbourne.

"You'ah tourists, right?" the crocodile asked.

"Well, we're from America," Tarantula answered.

"Ya won't survive in this outback ta get back ta the city, dahrlings. Ya need experts ta make it back."

"Okay, so how could you help?" Piranha questioned.

"Me? Oh, not just me. Many of us wanted ta help mates in need wen they got lost in the bloody outback awr wanted ta make it ta the outback," Jennifer said.

"Oh, is that so? Will you take us to them?" Hornet pleaded.

"Certayynly, mates, but I can't take ya fahr back ta the bloody city. Ya can make some stops so ya would be guided by the others."

"That's fair enough for me," Piranha shrugged.

"Would you take us then?" Hornet inquired.

"Follow me." Jennifer led the way by going in the other direction to where Piranha, Tarantula, and Hornet came from.

"So, why do you like to help other people?"

"Well, ya know that I'm a crocodile, but theah is mawah ta us than just dangerous animals."

"We know the feeling," Tarantula mentioned.

Jennifer then left the three to a group of wallabies. They led Piranha, Tarantula, and Hornet in the same direction from where they came, following the road. The three listened to their guides as they made conversations with them along the way.

"It's funny that everyone thought of us as small bloody kangahroos," Wallaby #1 said.

"But we'ah not bloody kangahroos, we'ah wallabies. There's a difference," Wallaby #2 complained.

The three then ended up riding on the backs of two female emus. Piranha and Hornet rode together on one emu, while Tarantula rode on the second one.

"Dya really think we'ah scahriah than ostriches?" Emu #1 asked before turning at the back and noticed their three tourists were shivering in fear upon seeing them. "Yer, I reckon ya do.

Emu #2 nudged a wing on her partner. "Hey, don't scahah them, mate. I can feel them shivering!"

Then, the three encountered an echidna, who didn't hesitate to lead them in the right direction.

"'n they think I looked liyyke that echidnah in the bloody movie with a hedgehog." The echidna asked while looking at his guests.

Piranha, Tarantula, and Hornet kept their mouths closed as they didn't know what to say while thinking what the echidna would say to them if they either said yes or no. "Uuhhh…"

The echidna would guess that they agree about the movie as he rolled his head and sighed while continuing to lead them.

Then, the three were led by a timid marbled scorpion.

"You're pretty cute for a scorpion," Hornet complimented.

"Thank you. Oh, watch out." The scorpion held a claw, stopping them from moving as a car was crossing their way. They waited until there were no vehicles left. "We always look both ways befawah crossin' the bloody road," they soon crossed the road, but it left Piranha grumbled in jealousy when Hornet complimented the scorpion a second ago.

Then, they stumbled in a wide, clear area until the scorpion held a claw again. "Oops, watch it theah."

"It's fine. The way is clear!" Piranha said there wasn't anything there but a wide open area as he proceeded to move forward.

"Piranha, no!" Hornet yelled.

"Relax, it's safe to cro—" Before Piranha could finish while walking backwards, he was run over by a flock of emus.

Piranha was accidentally riding at the back of one of the emus that he, Hornet, and Tarantula met earlier.

Emu #1 looked at her back and was familiar with the piranha she had on her back. "Oh look, mate, it's that little piranhah agayyn."

Piranha couldn't help but hold on tightly.

The three met up with a female kangaroo.

"Is it okay for us to ride in your pouch?" Tarantula requested.

"Of course, ya can ride along with my joey heah." The kangaroo opened her pouch, and her joey came out. "Olivia, say hi ta our guests."

"Hi," the female baby kangaroo waved at them.

"Aawww!" Piranha, Tarantula, and Hornet cooed at the cuteness of the little kangaroo.

The kangaroo carried not just her joey but the three in her pouch and jumped across the field, the huge clear field of the outback.

Then, after that fun ride, the three ended up with the female thorny devil with a sarcastic and self-assured attitude.

"So, ya two weah hidin' in the bloody sewers ta get away from yah tahrantulah cobber, then she found ya, 'n all three of ya got washed away, landed on several obstacles, 'n ended up here?" The Thorny Devil summarized the story of how the trio got lost in the first place.

Tarantula nodded. "Yep.

Hornet continued, "That's the whole story."

The thorny devil only looked at them with a deadpan stare and commented, "Ya mates ahah weird."

They ended up following a population of koalas, but the leader continued to spread gossip at a rapid speed.

"Oh, my goodness, ya simply will not believe wat i overheahrd Mrs. Higgins from the bloody eucalyptus grove down by the creek sayin' about Mr. Fitzwilliam, the one with the bloody pahrticulahrly bushy eahrs. Ya know him, right? He's always munchin' on those silverleaf stringybahrks, 'n appahrently, she saw him, yes, saw him with hah own two eyes, shahrin' a saplin' with a possum! A possum! can ya imagine the bloody scandal? 'N not just any possum, mind ya, but that scruffy one, bahrnaby, wo always smells fayyntly of fermented berries, 'n everyone knows he's been tryin' ta get his paws on the best sleepin' branches in the entire western sectawr, the ones with the most mawrnin' sun, 'n Mrs. Higgins, bless hah heahrt, she was just beside herself, absolutely aghast, because as we all know, koalas 'n possums, well, it's just not done, not in polite society, 'n she was wisperin' about it ta Mrs. Grummond, wo, by the way, 'as been tryin' ta get hah joey into that prestigious eucalyptus-chewin' academy fawr ages, 'n this wole incident, it just throws everythin' into question, doesn't it? I mean, wat ahah we ta make of such flagrant disregahrd fawr ahrbawreal etiquette? 'N then, just wen ya thought it couldn't get any wilder, there's the wole business with little joey buttercup 'n his unfawrtunayyte incident with the pahrticulahrly sticky wattle tree—appahrently, he got himself so tangled, they 'ad ta call in the bloody kookaburrah rescue squad, 'n ya know how they liyyke ta make a scene, all that cacklin' 'n cahrryin' on; it really disturbed the peace, 'n poawr Mrs. Buttercup, she was just mawrtified, absolutely mawrtified, especially since she'd just 'ad hah fur professionally groomed fawr the annual gum leaf gala, 'n now, with all this commotion, hah reputation is practically in tatters, I tell ya, in tatters!"

The trio had been listening for hours as they walked, and they felt their ears hurting.

Tarantula growled quietly, "I can't take it anymore!"

Even Piranha felt miserable. As he couldn't listen to that koala's gossip anymore, he pulled out a gun and pointed the barrel into his mouth, ready to kill himself.

Tarantula turned around and noticed Piranha was going to do the unthinkable. "Piranha!"

Even Hornet noticed him too, "Oh no you don't!"

The two tackled Piranha down and were about to retrieve the gun from him, but the latter held onto it. The trio were squabbling with a fight cloud covering them, and neither they nor the koalas noticed that they were separated from each other when the latter continued to walk while the leader was still talking.

" 'N furthermawre, speakin' of gum leaf galas, did ya heahr about the caterah they hired fawr the last one? Apparently, he sourced his leaves from the bloody nawrthern slopes, 'n everyone knows the nawrthern slopes av a slightly highah tannin content, wich, fawr delicayyte koalah palates liyyke ours, can be quite, well, unpleasant, 'n i heahrd from a very reliable source, a magpie wo absolutely nevah exaggerates, that fahkin' several of the bloody attendees grew crook from it!"

The trio then walked across the forest, where they were guided by three animals.

"Aren't you Tasmanian Devils?" Piranha guessed.

"We sah ahah," the leader of the group said.

"Then, why aren't you in Tasmania?" Tarantula questioned

The Tasmanian Devil leader stretched his arms. "Vacation, but always stoked ta help tourists wo lost their way."

"Thanks. We need all the help we can get," Hornet sighed in relief.

The trio then met up with a male funnel-web spider, who was performing the mating dance ritual since it was mating season for him, and he was doing that in front of Tarantula.

After that dance, the spider paused for a bit, wanting to hear what Tarantula was thinking about.

All Tarantula did was hold up her hand. "Not interested. Sorry."

"Wawrth the shot," The spider shrugged while continuing to help the trio lead in the right direction to Melbourne.

At the swamp, a brown platypus pushed a waterlily pad where Piranha, Tarantula, and Hornet were sitting, helping them cross the swamp.

"Everyone thought that theah was a teal plachoopus. I mean, there's no such thin' as teal plachoopuses. They'ah just cahrtoons! in the real wawrld, we'ah brown," the platypus complained.

"Yeah, I think we get it," Hornet chuckled.

Up on a tree, the trio met the flying foxes, who were willing to help them get back to the city, but since it was daytime, they were living in this tree to sleep.

"This is weah you'll sleep fawr the night… awr day. Ya need a lot of rest fawr a couple of hours," the Flying Fox leader said.

Piranha, Tarantula, and Hornet were hanging upside down by the branch, mimicking the flying foxes since this was how they sleep.

While hanging, Piranha felt so dizzy and had headaches while his vision became blurry. "I'm not comfortable with this."

"Sshhh!" The Flying Foxes hushed since they were in the middle of sleeping.

After that long, uncomfortable rest, the trio got out of the forest and met a frilled-neck lizard. They were on one side of the street, trying to cross to the other side.

"This is how i cross the bloody street." The lizard demonstrated his way of crossing the street by extending the frill around his neck and running towards the humans standing by while shouting, "Alalalalalalalalalalaaaaaaaa!" The humans were alerted by the lizard's presence as they started running away, thinking he might hurt them.

Piranha, Tarantula, and Hornet stared confusingly at the lizard, wondering if that was his technique for crossing the street. They glanced at each other, wanting to know what each of them was thinking. For a moment, they just shrugged and decided to do what they lizard was doing before they could lose them, "Alalalalalalalalalalalalalalaaaaa!"

Even the humans were afraid of their crazy act.

After leaving the lizard, the trio met a female sugar glider, and they ended up using the trees to travel. The sugar glider made a conversation while flying from one tree to another as the three followed.

"I know we sugahr gliders ahah cute, but we sometimes take advantage of our looks," the sugar glider said.

"That sounds… bad." Hornet followed behind her, along with Piranha and Tarantula behind him.

"It is bad, but we take the good as gold with the bad," the sugar glider explained.

At last, Piranha, Tarantula, and Hornet made it to the city, but it would be a long trip back to Melbourne Zoo, where they had to meet up with their friends. Upon arriving, they met up with a line of processionary caterpillars, as they would give the trio a ride.

"Stick with us, 'n you'll be alright, mate." The caterpillar leader said when he and his group carried the trio on their backs to cross the street. But then, a female human with high heels almost stepped on the leader, and he shouted, "Hey, watch it, lady! We'ah crossin' here!"

"Sawrry, mate," the female human apologized as she continued walking in the opposite direction without stepping on the caterpillars.

The leader rolled their eyes and told his group, "Come on, boys, let's continue."

The caterpillar proceeded to cross while carrying their guests.

The trio ended up with a cluster of female redback spiders, and they pointed out the sewers as their way to get back to the zoo.

"The sewers, again?!" Piranha squeaked in shock since he has his own trauma with sewers. It might be the same sewer where he, Tarantula, and Hornet ended up getting lost from the zoo in the first place.

"Do i rathah eat ya instead?" The leader of the cluster recommended.

"No!" Piranha yelled in panic.

Hornet placed a hand on Piranha's side, calming him down before turning to the spider leader, "Sewer's good."

After taking the same sewer joyride, the trio ended up at the Fitzroy Gardens. They met a tiny katydid, and he guided them out of the garden as he flew.

"Sorry that I almost ate you. I thought you were a leaf," Hornet admitted.

"No wawrries, mate. Everybody sees us as leaves… always… well, except fawr that little red heelah I met at hah house. She's so sweet," the katydid mentioned.

Lastly, they met a dingo in a business suit, carrying a briefcase, and he guided them all the way in front of the Melbourne Zoo.

"'N here's the zoo," the dingo declared.

"Wow, gracias, hermano," Piranha told him.

"Anytime. So, excuse me, i betder get garn. I'm layyte fawr my wawrk." The dingo took out his phone and called his secretary before walking off. "Shana, move my appointment ta 3pm."

To the trio's surprise, Wolf, Snake, Shark, Mira, and Callum rushed towards them in worry.

"Piranha, Webs, Hornet, they you are!" Wolf panted.

"Where have you guys been? We've been looking everywhere for you after you've been gone for two days!" Callum explained.

"We've been gone for two days? Wow, that was brutal," Tarantula commented.

"Seriously, where were you?" Mira shrieked in worry.

Piranha, Tarantula, and Hornet glanced at each other, wondering what they would explain to their friends about why they were gone for a few days. But since it would be a long explanation, they decided to shorten it up with one sentence.

"Let's just say, we had a good Australian experience!" Hornet answered.

"You did?" Shark inquired.

"Yeah, whether it's a date…" Piranha lent a fin to Hornet to let him land on.

"Or three's a crowd…" Tarantula squeezed between Piranha and Hornet.

"We had an adventure," Hornet finished the answer.

"Well, you guys were lucky," Snake voiced enviously. "I had a date, and I wasn't ready for that."

"And I got outsmarted by a koala!" Wolf cried, trying not to shed a tear.

"That would be funny to see." Mira whispered to Callum as they snickered together.

Wolf then stepped forward to announce, "Well, at least we all had our adventure in Australia. Can we go and find another place to take our vacation?"

Piranha threw himself on Wolf's face and pleaded loudly, "Oh, please, let's get outta here, Hermano. Everyone had 'bloody' and 'mates" in their sentences!" He didn't want to mention the talkative koala that made him almost kill himself.

Hornet took out his notebook and looked at his list of places they planned to go. "Well, we have a couple more countries to go. Yes, we can go."

Mira then interrupted the subject matter, "Umm, guys, I was thinking that maybe I'll stay here until my flight back to LA arrives in 12 hours."

"What? Why, Mira?" Wolf questioned surprisingly.

"You don't like going with us?" Piranha cooed sadly, showing his own sad puppy eyes.

"No, no, I do! I do love going with you guys," Mira clarified her reason. "And for the past two trips, it was fun, but I have a daughter waiting for me back home, and I still have a job, so… maybe a short vacation is just enough for me." The Bad Guys whined and hung their heads down in unison, sad that Mira won't join them for their next trip anymore. Mira then reassured them, "I'll see you guys again when you get back home. I promise."

Despite being against Mira's choice, Hornet had to support his friend's decision. "Well, we'll see back in LA, Mira," he fluttered towards Mira and hugged her cheek.

"Oh, Hornet, don't make this a goodbye," Mira's voice cracked, and she felt like crying as she caressed Hornet.

After Hornet broke the hug, Shark instantly squeezed Mira, wailing loudly while his tears burst from his eyes, "Waaaa! I miss you already."

When Shark released Mira, the rest of the Bad Guys one-by-one hugged Mira, with Wolf being the last one.

"Have a safe flight, Mira," Wolf advised.

"You guys too," Mira said, allowing them to break their hug.

The Bad Guys then walked away, heading back to where they hid their jet while looking back at Mira with smiles on their faces.

Mira smiled back while waving at them. Callum, however, felt empathy towards his ex and her friend since all of them were saying their goodbyes as if it would be the last time they saw each other.

"Are you sure you don't want to go with them?" Callum suggested.

"I'm fine, Callum," Mira assured him before looking back at her friends, "and they will be too."

Cast:

Michael Godere - Mr. Wolf

Chris Diamantopoulos - Mr. Snake

Ezekiel Ajeigbe - Mr. Shark

Raul Ceballos - Mr. Piranha

Mallory Low - Ms. Tarantula

Eugene Lee Yang - Mr. Hornet

Stephanie Beatriz – Mira Rose

Mark Wahlberg - Callum Kalemberg

Isla Fisher – Margareth

James Patrick Stuart – Waiter, wallaby #1

Jacki Weaver – Jennifer

Hugh Jackman – wallaby #2

Margot Robbie – Emu #1

Rose Byrne – Emu #2

Idris Elba – Echidna

Angus Imrie – Marbled Scorpion

Kylie Minogue – Mother kangaroo

Alyla Browne – Female joey

Miranda Tapsell – Thorny devil

Celeste Barber – Female Koala leader

Lachlan Power – Tasmanian Devil

Guy Pearce – Vulture, Funnel-Web Spider

Dee Bradley Baker – Platypus

Liam Hemsworth – Flying Fox leader

Dan Brumm – Frilled-neck Lizard

Cate Blanchett – Sugarglider

David McCormack – Processionary Caterpillar leader.

Aislinn Derbez – Redback Spider leader

Melanie Zanetti – Katydid, woman crossing the street

Dingo – Aaron Blabey

Author
Aggimagination

Co-Author
Masterclass60 (in  LOST IN THE OUTBACK only)

Next on The Bad Guys: The Baddest Trip..

Mr. Wolf: Alright, guys, we made it to France. Anyone have plans here?

Mr. Snake:  I'm going out to see France all by myself. You know, get some a little me-time!

Mr. Wolf:  I'd rather stay here and watch the jet. You can't be too comfortable with France.

Ms. Tarantula:  While I need to go to the Eiffel Tower. Let's see if I get enough signal to hack the entirety of France's power system.

Mr. Piranha:  Let's play hide and seek!

Ms. Tarantula:  Someone's at the door, Shark. I don't know this guy. He looks scary and wants to get in.

Mr. Snake:  Piranha?!

Mr. Piranha:  Snake?!

Mr. Snake:  Wolf!

Mr. Wolf:  Snake, what's going on?

Mr. Snake:  Well, I just got myself some espresso, and Piranha was somehow in my bag! He must have snuck in there.

Mr. Wolf:  We've got bigger problems, Snake. Webs got kidnapped!

Mr. Shark:  Doesn't look good. Hornet, I think there's only one way we're ever gonna see Webs again. You and I have to take matters into our own hands.

Chapter Text

Previously on The Bad Guys: The Baddest Trip..

Mira: Callum sent me a message that he wanted us to visit him in Australia!

Mr. Wolf: Alright, buckle up everyone, we're going to Australia!

Mr. Wolf: Alright, guys, maybe we should split up. We like to do different things here. I wanna go to the Koala exhibit. I want to take a shot of the cute little koalas.

Mr. Snake: Shark, we have a problem. Someone over there is onto us.

Mr. Shark: You're right, Snake. I noticed that female snake minutes ago when we got here. Seems to me she has quite a little crush on you.

Mr. Snake: What?

Mr. Shark: This is a good opportunity to socialize, not just with your only friends. Time to meet new people once in a while.

Ms. Tarantula: I can't believe we ended up in the middle of the outback!

Mr. Piranha: None of this would have happened if you just left me and Hornet alone!

Ms. Tarantula: It's my fault? You're the one who went to the sewers for your "romantic" private date.

Mr. Hornet: Okay, enough, you two! Fighting isn't going to solve our problems anymore. We'll just find a way to get out of the outback and return to the city.

Jennifer: Sounds liyyke ya mates needed help. You'ah tourists, right?

Ms. Tarantula: Well, we're from America.

Jennifer: Ya won't survive in this outback ta get back ta the city, dahrlings. Ya need experts ta make it back.

Mr. Piranha: Okay, so how could you help?

Jennifer: Me? Oh, not just me. Many of us wanted ta help mates in need wen they got lost in the bloody outback awr wanted ta make it ta the outback

Mr. Hornet: Oh, is that so? Will you take us to them?

Jennifer: Certayynly, mates, but I can't take ya fahr back ta the bloody city. Ya can make some stops so ya would be guided by the others.

Mr. Piranha: That's fair enough for me.

Mr. Wolf: Piranha, Webs, Hornet, they you are!

Callum: Where have you guys been?

Mr. Hornet: Let's just say, we had a good Australian experience!

Mr. Piranha: Yeah, whether it's a date…

Ms. Tarantula: Or three's a crowd…

Mr. Hornet: We had an adventure.

Mr. Snake: I had a date, and I wasn't ready for that.

Mr. Wolf: And I got outsmarted by a koala!" Wolf cried, trying not to shed a tear.

Mira: I was thinking that maybe I'll stay here until my flight back to LA arrives in 12 hours. The past two trips, it was fun, but I have a daughter waiting for me back home, and I still have a job, so… maybe a short vacation is just enough for me. I'll see you guys again when you get back home. I promise.

Mr. Hornet: Well, we'll see back in LA, Mira.

Mr. Wolf: Have a safe flight, Mira.

Mira: You guys too.

Separated in France

Wolf found a place where he could land the jet hidden from the public. For this vacation, the Bad Guys visited Paris, France. The beautiful city of love. Though they didn't exactly have plans together for how they would spend their vacation here, they had to make the most of their days for their vacation, especially in France.

Wolf stretched his body after flying for hours and left the cockpit to head to the cabin. "Alright, guys, we made it to France. Anyone had plans here?" He asked the couple, "Piranha, Hornet, another dating vacation?"

Piranha and Hornet glanced at each other and smiled confidently while shaking their heads.

"Eh, we're taking a break from dating in another country this time," Hornet answered.

"The last time we went on a date in another country, we got lost in the middle of nowhere!" Piranha screamed.

"That was a few days ago," Tarantula recalled.

"It was unforgettable!" The fish shouted.

"Well, I'm going out to see France all by myself. You know, get some a little me-time!" Snake cut in while putting his shades on, "I have to pack some of my stuff, and I'll head out later." He slithered back to the next cabin.

Shark asked, "What about you, Wolf? Any plans?"

"I'd rather stay here and watch the jet. You can't be too comfortable with France," Wolf responded.

"I need to go to the Eiffel Tower. Let's see if I get enough signal to hack the entirety of France's power system." Tarantula closed her laptop and hopped off her seat, crawling towards the open cabin door.

"Alright, be careful, Webs. You'll never know what's out there if you're all alone." The leader warned with concern.

"Trust me, Wolfie. I can handle myself," Tarantula said before heading out of the jet.

When Tarantula left, Hornet then asked his boyfriend, "So, what do you want to do, Piranha?"

"Hmm," Piranha tried to think of what to do for this vacation. "Let's play hide and seek!"

"Do you think that's a little childish?" Hornet said.

"Come on, mi amore. It's fun!"

"Fine. I'll count, you hide." Hornet covered his eyes while Piranha quickly ran away to find a place to hide, "One, two, three…" When Hornet opened his eyes, seeing Piranha wasn't around anymore, he fluttered towards Shark and admitted, "I don't wanna play hide-and-seek with my boyfriend. Do you have plans?"

"We can play Go Fish." Shark showed Hornet a set of cards.

"Yeah, alright," Hornet agreed.

Meanwhile, Tarantula went to the Eiffel Tower and made it up to the top. Tarantula was sitting on the railings and breathed the cold, clean air. She could feel the wind blowing on her face. She could see the whole view of the city from up here. The other people on this level didn't mind her. They were busy with their own business on the very top of the Eiffel Tower. What mattered to Tarantula was she was finally here, where she wanted to be, in France.

"It feels good to be alone once in a while," she sighed before pulling her laptop out and placing it on her lap when she crossed her front legs. "Okay, time to practice hacking."

As Tarantula began pushing buttons on her laptop, a French guy stood far behind her while holding a cigarette, narrowing his eyes and smirking at her. He was planning something sinister when he had his eyes on Tarantula.

Back in the jet, Shark and Hornet were still playing Go Fish while Wolf was passing by.

"Hey guys, I'm gonna get some soda; do you want some…?" When Wolf opened the fridge, he was surprised by what he saw inside. "Oh, good golly!"

Piranha was shown hiding inside the refrigerator as he showed a goofy smile, "Pretty cool spot, eh, Wolf? Does everyone know what a good spot a closed-door refrigerator is?"

"No. Don't ever hide in there," Wolf scolded. "Could you even breathe?"

Piranha popped his head out. "No. It's a good thing you were looking for me."

"Piranha, no. That's very bad." Wolf carried Piranha like a baby and spanked his bottom.

Piranha was bothered by Wolf's gesture. "What the heck was that?"

"A spanking. That was me spanking you," Wolf put Piranha down.

"That's it? Wolf, you either gotta be that guy or-or not be that guy. I-I don't... I don't know what that was," Piranha said before walking away.

Back with Tarantula, she took a taxi to a hotel and checked herself in to stay for a couple of hours to rest. She only had a few things, so she only put her laptop bag on the bed.

"Boy, all of that hacking made me tired already." Tarantula made a long yawn before stopping midway, "That's weird. I never got tired." Then, she shrugged it out. "Oh well. This is a good place."

Little did she know that the same guy that stared at her at the Eiffel Tower was standing in front of the hotel entrance. He pressed the speed dial and called his associates, "Hey, it's me. I've got a fresh one for you?"

"How is she?" The man at the other line asked.

"On a scale from un to dix, she's about a quatre."

Back with the boys, Piranha rushed towards Wolf as he was shaking in excitement.

"Hey, Wolf. Wanna play hide and seek again?"

"Not now. I'm trying to get this TED Talk onto my phone," Wolf said while his eyes were glued to his phone.

Piranha narrowed his eyes and said, "I can see the pictures of dogs with muscles reflecting on your big, wet wolf eyes, you knucklehead."

Wolf then put his phone down and said, "Honestly, Piranha, I'm getting pretty bored of hide-and-seek. Even your boyfriend doesn't want to play with you."

"Oh, please, Wolf, just one game. Please?" Piranha begged like a little child.

"Okay. But no more hiding in the fridge, in the overhead bin, or under the seats," Wolf suggested.

"Oh, no, I'm way better now. I might be the best player in the world. Okay, I'm gonna go hide. Count to 20," Piranha quickly ran out of the cockpit to look for a place to hide.

When the fish was gone, Wolf turned his phone back and looked at the furries content with the screen reflected from Wolf's eyes. "I'll probably count to, like, six or seven minutes."

When Piranha went to the cabin to hide somewhere, he spotted a bag. "Oh, baby, that's the spot." He quickly ran towards the bag and jumped into it before zipping it closed.

Unbeknownst to him, it was Snake's bag, as he has his vacation things inside for him to bring for his alone time. He took the bag and headed to Wolf's cockpit.

"Okay, I'll be out for my 'alone time.' Don't call me. I'll call you," Snake said, but Wolf didn't pay attention to him. Snake narrowed his eyes and saw the reflection of the screen through Wolf's eyes, knowing what he was staring at. "You're gross." Snake quickly headed out.

Meanwhile, Tarantula took out her cellphone to call one of her friends.

It turned out she was calling Shark, as he answered his phone, "Hello.

"Hi, Shark, it's me," Tarantula announced.

"Webs, where the heck are you?" Shark asked worriedly.

"I'm at the hotel. I need some rest before I can get back to the jet. Just wanted you to know I got here safe.

"And sound?"

"Yes, Shark, and sound."

Shark sighed in relief, "Oh, good. The 'sound' is what concerns me."

"Oh, it's so amazing here, Shark. You should see it. The hotel I'm staying in is huge and has an incredible view of..." While Tarantula described Paris to Shark, she heard someone knocking on the door. "Someone's at the door, Shark." Tarantula climbed up the door and took a peek through the eyehole. She saw an unfamiliar-looking man, who seemed scary and dangerous. Tarantula gasped as she crawled down the door and backed away. "I don't know this guy. He looks scary and wants to get in."

"All right, Webs, I need you to listen to me very carefully: panic. Pay no attention to detail. Let your mind race. Take short, rapid breaths. Then hide under the bed, but leave all of your legs and your rear sticking out."

When Tarantula crawled under the bed as soon as there was loud banging on the door.

Tarantula stayed quiet while holding her phone. She even covered her mouth so she wouldn't squeak. She heard the door being kicked open, and two feet were shown from Tarantula's point of view.

"Oh, my God, Shark. Are they gonna take me? I've never been this scared my whole life," Tarantula whispered until she was pulled away from under the bed and screamed.

Shark could hear Tarantula's scream from the other side of the line as he tried to call out for her, "Webs? Webs?"

Shark could only hear a man's heavy breathing.

"I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want. But I have a very particular lack of skills. I will never be able to find you, but what I do have is a silver necklace and a dress from Lady Gaga. You can have one of them," Shark whispered.

The only reply Shark received was a deep, menacing voice, "Drakkar Noir."

The man hung up the phone as Shark ended the call at his end. "These guys are serious. Guys, Webs' dead!"

Meanwhile, Snake found a café, and he ordered espresso and a croissant. He wore his beret and sunglasses as he sighed blissfully, "Finally. I get some relaxing time here." He took a sip from the mug and commented, "This espresso tastes good!" Snake reached for his bag and opened it to get something, but, to his shock, he only found Piranha, who just woke from his nap after he had been hiding inside the bag for a while. "Piranha?!"

"Snake?!" Piranha exclaimed.

Snake groaned frustratingly, "So much for my me-time. Stay right there, Piranha. I'll call Wolf." Snake took out his phone and dialed Wolf's number. "Wolf!"

"Snake, what's going on?" On the other line, Wolf answered with a distraught tone.

"Well, I just got myself some espresso, and Piranha was somehow in my bag! He must have snuck in there," Snake reported.

"Oh nuts, Is he okay?"

"Yeah, he's eating one of those weird French street ham things right now that aren't good but are also amazing. Look, how soon can you come get him? I've got some activities to do that I can do all by myself! For once, I wanna do things alone."

"We've got bigger problems, Snake. Webs got kidnapped!" Wolf declared.

Snake exclaimed, "What? How was that even possible?"

"She went to hacking practice at the Eiffel Tower, and she somehow got kidnapped by these men when she was resting in a hotel. We have to find her."

"Great, we got two things to worry about."

"Listen, Snake, you got this. You can look after Piranha while the rest of us will find Webs. I mean, come on. You're such a sweetheart to take care of a little fish," Wolf cooed teasingly.

"Stop! I can't believe this!" Snake sighed sharply, "Okay, I'll watch him. But I'm not happy, Wolf. Just find Webs and get this over with." Snake hung up the phone.

When Wolf exited the phone app, he scrolled into his contacts and dialed Tarantula's number. Her phone was ringing, but no one answered. He sighed sadly, worrying for his hacker friend, "Webs, how can we ever find you?"

Shark peeked through the door of the cockpit, witnessing Wolf was worried for their hacker friend. He quickly backed away and headed to the seats where Hornet was trying to contact Tarantula through his helmet.

"What's going on? Do you think Webs is all right?" Hornet asked.

"Doesn't look good. Hornet, I think there's only one way we're ever gonna see Webs again. You and I have to take matters into our own hands," Shark suggested.

"What? What are you talking about?"

"Look, aside from Webs, you're the only one who's got the know-how and the technology to help us track her down."

"Hmm. Interesting. Last week, all my gadgets were 'hooey,' I think was the word."

"I didn't say..."

"You said 'hooey'!" Hornet shouted before getting back to their track about Tarantula, "All right, the first thing we've got to do is to check the hotel where Webs was abducted and see if we can find some clues."

"That sounds good. That's what I was thinking. Webs' kidnappers could be anywhere in France by now," Shark groaned, knowing this was going to be hard to find Tarantula.

"Well, we do have one lead, Shark. I have a recording of the kidnapper's voice," Hornet mentioned.

"What? You do? How?"

"I recorded the kidnapper's phone call with you earlier. You see, Shark, I record all phone calls coming in or out of the hideout." Hornet pulled out a recording device to show Shark.

"Y-Y-You do?" Shark stammered nervously.

"Yep. This one's one of my faves." Hornet then played the device.

"Hello, Fundamental Industries. How can I help you?" A woman's voice was played in the device.

"Yeah, um, is this... is this Exotic Exquisites?" Shark's voice was in this conversation too.

"Yes."

"Oh. Okay. I-I-I'd like to cancel my subscription."

"Uh, what's your name?"

"Mr. Shark."

"And which site did you belong to?"

"Uh... Wild Thang."

"And how are you spelling that?"

"Uh... uh, 'Wild,' full word, then 'Thang,' T-H-A-N-G."

"Okay, I'm checking."

"You know, in-instead of an 'I' in the middle, it's an 'A.'"

"I'm sorry, sir. I'm not finding that site. Uh, what was the subject matter?"

"Um... a guy and a chick dressed as, uh, wild animals."

"Okay, I'm checking."

"The, um...," the sound of a clearing throat was heard, "A guy dressed as an explorer with a female dressed as a panther, both surrounded by lions who are also other guys, and then all that stuff happened."

Shark quickly snatched Hornet's device from him, who made a smug face, "Okay, you made your point."

Meanwhile, back with Snake and Piranha, Snake booked a room in the hotel nearby and let Piranha watch TV.

The TV showed the commercial of the Louvre Museum with a lot of photos of the interior and exterior parts of the museum with fading transitions, "Come visit the Louvre Museum! Take a look at all the most famous pieces of art in French history! Gander at some of the most well-crafted statues! Become lost in a sea of colors and designs, unlike anything you have ever seen before! The Louvre Museum: The prettiest art place in all the Earth."

The TV switched off when Snake used the remote to do it.

"Oh! Can we go there? Please?" Piranha pleaded, shakingly.

"The only place you're going is this hotel and the jet. Kind of thought you'd be asleep by now," Snake said.

"I'm smart but not 'put myself to sleep' smart," Piranha deadpanned.

"I'm just gonna put on some music for a bit to calm down." Snake took out his phone and swiped up to find some music. "What do you like?"

"Samba."

"The sauce?

"Zumba!"

"Zumba? Now you're talking my language!" Snake tapped at any of the Zumba-themed songs. When the music played, Piranha started dancing like there was no tomorrow. "Hey. Hey, you got moves, man."

"Yeah, I mean, I used to do a lot of salsa dancing back in Bolivia with my brothers. I know what I'm doing," Piranha explained.

Snake then turned the phone off and suggested, "Hey, do you want to jump on the bed? See how high you can get? Go ahead."

Piranha gasped happily, "Is... A-Are we allowed? Is this really happening?" He started jumping up and down.

Snake watched the little fish jumping joyfully as he realized he wanted to try it. "Hey, that looks fun!"

Snake jumped onto the bed with Piranha, and both of them jumped up and down.

Back with Shark and Hornet, they tracked the hotel where Tarantula stayed before she got kidnapped.

"Well, this is where Webs was staying," Shark stated.

Hornet looked around and commented, "Oh. I thought Paris would be a bit more picturesque. Instead it's just traffic and some big guy using a jackhammer.

"But monsieur, this is not a jackhammer. It is a 'Jacqueshammer.'" The French engineer corrected as he used his jackhammer, as it sounded like laughing in France.

"Oh-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho..."

When Shark and Hornet went inside Tarantula's room, they observed the whole place was a mess, as if there was a struggle or a robbery.

"Oh, God, it's worse than I imagined. You know, maybe it'd help if we just tried to track Web's movements from the moment she went out alone from the jet," Shark said.

"That's a good idea, Shark. Let's try Google Earth," Hornet recommended.

"Worth a shot."

Shark and Hornet went to a nearby computer, and Shark typed on the keyboard to search for Google Earth on the internet.

"There. Enhance," Hornet pointed to the spot on the globe.

Google Earth then zoomed in farther and farther until it showed the image of Tarantula on the Eiffel Tower typing on her computer while a guy behind her was staring at her.

"Wow, I never knew you could do this on a computer," Shark spoke in shock.

"'Course not, you spend all your time on this watching Wild Thang." Hornet mentioned before observing the photo, "All right, we've got to find this man."

"Let's see, this was taken at the Eiffel Tower. He could be some sort of lookout who spots tourist girls checking the tower," Shark described.

"Yes, you're probably right, Shark." Hornet agreed before gritting his teeth, "Such scum. I'll bet they target young girls the way restaurants target obese people."

With Snake and Piranha, the two were tired from jumping on the bed and decided to rest on the bed together for a moment.

"You know, I envy you, Piranha. I used to be innocent like you," Snake said.

"I've bitten people," Piranha mentioned.

"Then I got my heart broken at seven by our strangely male maid."

"Respect."

"I know you're just a kid, but... I feel like you really understand me."

"I can understand you, hermano."

Piranha then started to yawn as Snake shifted his gaze at him.

"Aw, you've been awake for the entire flight. You must be tired," Snake cooed until he felt Piranha was snuggling beside him. Snake thought it felt good to be appreciated by one of his friends as he wrapped his tail on sleepy Piranha's shoulder, "There you go, little buddy."

Snake slowly and quietly reached for the remote to turn on the TV but kept the volume low.

On their way to the Eiffel Tower, Shark and Hornet were looking for the man in the picture they found on Google Earth. As they arrived, they saw the familiar-looking man talking to young girls.

"Oh, my God, Hornet! There he is!" Shark pointed.

Shark and Hornet quickly approached the man with demanding eyes at him.

"Hey, buddy, we've got a few questions for you!" Hornet exclaimed.

But the man interrupted him. "Excuse me, but this is a 'smoking only' area." He pointed to the sign on a streetlight that showed a red line across the "non-smoking" symbol.

"Oh, sorry. Do you have a, uh...?" Shark was about to ask if the man had any cigarettes with him.

The man put each cigarette in Shark and Hornet's mouths before lighting them up with a lighter.

"This is nice," Hornet smiled.

"Look, we need to know: have you seen this girl?" Shark took out a photo of Tarantula with the man behind her.

Of course, the man recognized her as he was alerted and ran away.

"Quick! He's getting away!" Shark shouted as he and Hornet dropped their cigarettes and chased after the man.

The French man then ran towards the nearby buildings behind the Eiffel Tower as he parkoured himself on the balconies.

"Oh, no, he's one of those parkour, free-running guys. We'll never catch him!" Hornet said.

When the man made it down to the streets, he was hit by a bus.

Shark and Hornet gasped as they ran towards the man, hoping that he survived to find Tarantula's whereabouts.

"Oh, no. I have chateau'ed myself," the man said weakly before dying.

"Damn it. He died before he could tell us anything," Shark snapped.

"Shark, he's the first guy. The first guy always dies," Hornet noted.

"How do you know that?"

"You do know I read mystery novels, right?"

"Well, I'm sure he didn't work alone. Maybe there's something in here we can use." Shark took the man's wallet from his pocket and opened the Velcro wallet with a ripping sound.

"Ugh, this guy has a Velcro wallet. Grow up," Hornet gagged.

Snake and Piranha went to the Louvre Museum for a fun tour. Inside, they encountered the Mona Lisa painting. "They say Mona Lisa's eyes follow you wherever you go."

When Piranha took a bathroom break, he was looking at his phone while taking a dump. He looked up to see the Mona Lisa painting outside his cubicle, and her eyes took a peek through the narrow opening of the door.

"Yeesh. Snake was right. Somebody's in here!" Piranha declared as the Mona Lisa painting moved away to the next cubicle. Piranha heard the door of the cubicle next to him close and a flatulence noise. "Oh, her expression is gas!"

Back with Shark and Hornet, they arrived in front of the apartment address that they found on the previous man's wallet.

"All right, this is the address that was in his wallet," Hornet said.

"Yeah, but how are we gonna know for sure if these are the guys who took Webs?" Shark asked.

"Well, we have the kidnapper's voice on tape, remember?" Hornet took out the recording device and played it.

"Drakkar Noir."

"I can use the voice recognition software in this recorder to confirm a match. Now, here. Take this briefcase." Hornet gave the briefcase to Shark and put mustaches on himself and Shark. "We're Eastern European cologne salesmen. We ask them what they want, and when they say 'Drakkar Noir'—which they all will—we'll know if we have our man."

When the two reached towards the door, Hornet pushed the doorbell button with a speaker on top.

"Drakkar Noir?" The man through the speaker spoke as Hornet's device lightened red, confirming the voice wasn't a match.

The door then opened, letting Shark and Hornet in. "All right, well, that's not him, but this is gonna be easy," Hornet whispered.

At the kitchen, the disguised Shark and Hornet were interrogating three men with their cologne samples and waited for any of them to speak "Drakken Noir" to match the voice in Hornet's device.

"Well, gentlemen, now that you have smelled all of our colognes, what'll it be?" Hornet asked.

"I will take some Drakkar Noir," one of the men answered.

Shark and Hornet checked the device, and it lighted "red," declaring the voice wasn't a match.

"How about you?" Shark asked the second man.

"I am disgusting, so I will take two bottles of Drakkar Noir," Man #2 answered.

The device lightened "red" again, not a match.

"How about you, chief?" Hornet asked the third man next to him.

"Hmm. Let me put on a stoic face and think, " Man #3 made a stoic face and rubbed his fingers on his chin while thinking, "I will take Drakkar Noir."

The device lightened green, confirming a match.

Instantly, Hornet grabbed two cologne bottles and threw them onto Man #1 and Man #2, knocking them down unconsciously before Man #3 flipped the table, throwing Shark and Hornet off their chairs. Man #3 grabbed a knife and charged at Hornet, who flew out of the way. Hornet dodged every swing Man #3 gave with the knife while trying to punch him and kicked the knife away. Hornet drew another punch at Man #3 near the stove before trying to shove his face into the fire. Man #3 quickly took a nearby saucepan and swatted at Hornet with it.

When Hornet fell to the ground, Man #3 directed his knife at him, but Hornet held it with both his hands by the blade. Behind him, Shark was getting something from the fridge.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Hornet shouted while trying to hold the knife blade from him.

"We haven't eaten since we got here. I'm starving," Shark said.

Hornet quickly slid down just as he released the knife blade. He flew towards the upside-down table and took one of its legs. He hit Man #3's chest and knees with the table's leg and hit him on the face. Man #3 had his face thrown in the sink with water, and Hornet kept him there. Man #3 struggled to get out until he ran out of air.

Feeling Man #3 got tired, Hornet threw him onto the ground, and held him down by pointing the same knife at him by the neck while showing the picture of Tarantula, "Where is this girl? Where is she?!"

"We keep girls upstairs," Man #3 answered exhaustedly.

"I hope you burn in hell along with Adolf Hitler," Hornet commented angrily.

Upstairs, Shark and Hornet ran through the messy hallway where there were many rooms with open doors. They checked every room they passed through.

"Webs?" Shark called while checking one of the rooms. Tarantula wasn't there. They checked the next room. "Webs?" She wasn't there either.

They checked the next room, but there wasn't any sign of Tarantula, just girls on their beds with handcuffs around one of their wrists.

"Help... me," a human girl pleaded softly.

"Oh, we're here to help somebody else, sweetheart," Hornet said with sympathy before flying backwards while pushing Shark away. "Go, go, go, go. Don't... Don't look at her. Don't look at her. That was my mistake."

Shark and Hornet checked every one they passed by as they made it to the last two rooms. Shark checked one room, and Hornet checked the other.

"Hornet, I don't see Webs anywhere," Shark said on his end.

But Hornet found something in his end. "Shark, look!" He pointed at a female tarantula who had the same color scheme as Tarantula, curling herself while crying with a handcuff around her waist.

Shark and Hornet rushed towards their "friend" and hoped it was her.

"Webs!" Shark yelled until the tarantula showed herself with a different face. This wasn't Tarantula. This one was too feminine to be her with blonde hair.

"What the thorax?" Hornet exclaimed.

"Where'd you get those headphones?" Shark pointed the headphones around the tarantula's neck.

"Uh, a fellow tarantula gave it to me," the blonde tarantula answered.

"Well, what did she look like?" Shark questioned.

"She gave me a sarcastic comment when I told her the internet was ridiculous."

"That's her," Hornet stated.

"Where is she? Is she here?" Shark inquired.

"No, uh, they took her just a little while ago. Every Tuesday night, they auction some of the girls off," the blonde tarantula explained.

"Tuesday? What a weird night to auction girls off into slavery," Hornet said.

"Well, you know, on the weekend, people probably have plans," Shark remarked.

"Have plans? What are you doing that's more important than buying somebody?"

But Shark ignored Hornet as he returned to ask the blonde tarantula again, "Look, where is this place? Where do they have the auction?"

"I don't know, but there is a courtesy shuttle that runs every 30 minutes," the blonde tarantula replied.

"What?" Shark exclaimed before he and Hornet went to the window, and, right on time, they noticed the shuttle just left the street. "Aw, damn it. We just missed it. What do you wanna do for 30 minutes?"

"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm gonna work out. That's how you stay in shape. You just fit it in when you have free time, wherever you are, wherever you can." Hornet touched the ground to get some push-ups until he felt something dirty. "Gross. There's dirty stuff on this floor."

"Yeah, keep telling yourself that," Shark voiced.

Somewhere, Snake and Piranha stopped by at a restaurant and ordered themselves some wine as they drank together at the table.

"You know, Piranha, this wasn't the free time I had planned, but I'm having a lot of fun with you," Snake admitted.

"Me, too. It's so fun; I don't even mind that so many men here wear striped shirts," Piranha added, pointing at the man wearing a white shirt and red stripes. "Wear something plain, you jerk," the little fish yelled.

When the night came, Snake and Piranha had already drunk more than 3 bottles of wine and felt drunk. The two drank another glass of wine for each of them.

"I love you, man," Snake said dizzily.

"I love you, too, man," Piranha replied. "And, hey, you know, I—I know Wolf and everyone says that y-you drive like—like a woman, but y-you drive well…"

"And, hey, off-topic, but you-you don't think I drive like a woman, right?

"Yeah, no. No, no way, chico."

"Okay, good, good, good. Yeah, 'cause Wolf's always saying stuff. I-I mean, I love Wolf, but he's-he's just... He's not very sensitive."

They drank another sip of wine from their respective bottles.

Shark and Hornet arrived at the auction where there were only rich men entering at the entrance. Shark and Hornet hid behind the bushes, and Shark noticed another entrance.

"Hornet, look!" He pointed to the line where the captured girls were taken into auction and were tied up by their wrists. "We gotta get in there!"

"I have an idea," Hornet declared.

By the entrance where the girls were taken, Hornet dressed as a rich businessman, while Shark dressed as a frightened captive woman who wore just undergarments, a face veil, and a brunette wig.

"Hey, got one more here!" Hornet told the guard.

Shark pretended to be a damsel crying in a Boston accent, "Oh, where are we? I'm from New Jersey. I don't know where we are!"

"Hey, you better hurry. They're starting soon," the bodyguard said, letting disguised Shark and Hornet in.

"You know what's messed up? I wore white undergarments for this," Shark proclaimed.

Shark and Hornet went to the next room ahead and hid in the next hallway, where they won't be encountered by rich men and guards.

"I hope we're not too late," Hornet said.

However, they were encountered by one of the guards, who said, "You should not be out here. Bidding is about to start." He took Shark with him as he grabbed him by the fin.

"What the heck?" Shark voiced.

"Shark!" Hornet shouted. He only watched his friend get taken into another room.

Hornet looked around and found a slightly opened door. He flew through the door, and it closed behind him. He was in the room where rich people had to buy people on the stage in front.

"The current bid is $200,000," a female announcer declared as a girl was standing depressingly, letting herself get bought.

"Oh stinger," Hornet cried disgustingly.

"Going once, twice... Sold for $200,000," the announcer said as a staff led the girl away. Another staff member took another girl on the stage, but this one was Shark in disguise. "Our next item appears to be a late entry. It is not in the catalog."

"Double stinger," Hornet deadpanned.

"All right, fellas, bring the lights up a bit, play the CD I gave you, and let's do this!" Shark gave the signal as music started playing.

When "TikTok" by Ke$ha was played in the background, Shark started dancing, which caught the rich men's interest.

One man pushed a button.

"I have $50,000," the announcer called.

Another rich man pushed his button.

"I have $75,000. Do I have $100,000?"

"Oh, for golly's sake," Hornet pushed the button and called his price, "$500,000."

The announcer declared, "We have $500,000. Going once, going twice, sold... to the man who doesn't quite get auctions."

The staff brought Shark out of the stage and into the room where Hornet was.

"That was so fun," Shark giggled.

"How do you be paying?" the staff asked Hornet.

"Oh, I, uh, I don't have any money. Can we work it out, uh, maybe, some... other way?" Hornet squeaked, tapping the tips of his hands together.

"Wait a minute. Something doesn't smell funny here." The staff removed Shark and Hornet's disguises. "You're not rich people! You two are coming with me." The staff pulled out his gun and pointed it at them.

"This next girl is perfect for all of you small guys."

The announcer caught Shark and Hornet's attention as they turned to the stage, where another staff member brought a helpless Tarantula to the middle.

"Oh no, Webs!" Hornet cried.

"Wonder what music they're gonna use for her?" Shark wondered.

The only music played was cricket chirping.

"Huh, seems about right." Shark remarked.

Snake and Piranha, still drunk, went to the Metropolitan Train Station and caught the train. The two sat down and relaxed while the train moved.

Piranha glanced to his left and noticed a little red-haired girl who was wearing a yellow uniform and a yellow hat.

"Ay caramba, it's Madeline! She must have snuck out of the nunnery. She's kind of a bad girl," Piranha smirked.

The train made a stop as Madeline exited the train.

"I got to shoot my shot with her," Piranha said as he hopped down and followed Madeline out of the train.

Piranha watched the little girl walking away as the environment turned into a children's book theme. Piranha quickly followed Madeline as the train's door closed, and the train zoomed away.

Back in the train, Snake looked so sleepy and didn't notice Piranha wasn't by his side anymore.

"We are approaching the end of the line. Please grab all bags and baby-like friends," the conductor announced through the PA.

The announcement caused Snake to wake up. "Piranha, we got to get off." He turned to his side to notice Piranha wasn't with him anymore. "Hey, Piranha, stop messing around. This is our stop." As the train stopped, Snake looked around to look for Piranha, but he wasn't there at all. "Piranha!"

As the door opened, Snake got out and cried, "Piranha! Where are you?!" He quickly approached a man nearby. "Oh, please, you got to help me. I'm looking for a little piranha with a white shirt, suspenders, and black shorts."

"Are you looking to buy or to rent?" The French man asked.

"What? No! How is Paris considered a classy city?" Snake exclaimed angrily.

"The buildings are beautiful. The people are trash," the man replied.

Snake went all over the places he and Piranha had been through to find him, but there was no Piranha in sight.

"Piranha! Piranha!" He shouted as Snake continued to cross from one street to another while the people around ignored him, "Piranha!" He then encountered a passerby. "Sir, have you seen a little piranha-mango-shaped head wandering around?"

"Yes, all piranhas have a mango-shaped head," the passerby said.

"No, like a real mango. The kind that sell out in the summer within weeks," Then he waved his tail as he approached the taxi driver by the sidewalk, "Taxi!"

"Taxi rapid transfer garbage strike. It began a moment ago and will end the moment you leave," the taxi driver declared.

Snake went back to their hotel, hoping that Piranha might have returned. He went up to their room and tried to find the little fish there.

"Piranha? Are you here?" Snake looked under the bed, then in the bathroom, but Piranha wasn't there either. Snake hopelessly slithered to the bed and sobbed, "I'm screwed. I'm totally screwed." With no other options, Snake took out his phone and called the one friend who could help him find Piranha.

In the jet, Wolf was slumped with worries until his phone rang. Just his luck. One way to distract himself from his situation.

"Hey Snake, what's up?" He answered in a tired and stressful tone.

"I lost Piranha. We got separated, and I can't find him!" Snake exclaimed in worry.

"What? Did you call the police?" Wolf asked.

"On strike!" Snake added.

"Great! First Webs, then Shark and Hornet, now Piranha!"

"Wait, what do you mean? Where are Shark and Hornet?"

"They went missing too. Are all of my friends gone missing in this crazy country?"

"Look, they probably gone out to find Webs. They'll be all right. We still have a Piranha situation here. Can you help me find him?"

"Fine. Just tell me where you are, and I'll find you so we can find Piranha together."

Both Wolf and Snake hung up.

Shark and Hornet were chained up with handcuffs around the pipes in the basement.

"Damn it. We were so close to saving Webs!" Shark snapped frustratingly.

A man came in to check on the prisoners as Hornet demanded an answer from him, "Hey, where's my friend?"

"She's probably having her webs spun as we speak. I heard that from A Real Bug's Life from Disney+," the man answered.

"Ah-ba-ba-ba-ba, I haven't seen it yet." Hornet blocked that big spoiler of one of his favorite documentary shows.

"That doesn't hurt the story. And now prepare to..." When the man pulled a gun and was ready to shoot the two, Shark used the pipe that he was chained up to and knocked the man down. The man groaned painfully, "We have a jail cell. I always tell them, 'Put the prisoners in the jail cell,' but they always say, 'Just chain 'em up to a pipe.' Idiots."

Hornet slammed him with a chair to knock him unconscious. "Hey, that was some good teamwork, Shark."

Now that they escaped, Shark and Hornet had a chance to save Tarantula. They heard the car engine starting as they saw Tarantula getting in with the men that bought her.

"There she is! Hurry!" Hornet said as he and Shark ran towards the car.

The car drove away and made a turn. Hornet decided to go in another direction.

"Hornet, what are you doing? We'll never catch a speeding car on foot," Shark stated.

"Haven't you ever seen an action movie? All we have to do is cut diagonally across any nearby field," Hornet hinted as he and Shark ran across the nearby field and stopped in the middle of the next street, where the car that took Tarantula stopped in front of them. "See?"

But the car went around them and headed down the nearby river. As the car parked beside a yacht, the men took Tarantula inside.

"Aw, gosh, they're taking her onto that yacht," Shark remarked.

They went down the river and headed towards the car chased earlier. Hornet punched the driver at the back of his head, knocking him down. Shark took the driver's seat, and Hornet took the passenger seat.

"All right, we just gotta catch up to the boat," Shark said.

"Well, how are we gonna do that?" Hornet asked before noticing the GPS in front of him, "Oh, cool! They got Car Chase GPS." He clicked the Car Chase GPS icon, and it started making instructions.

"Back up dangerously into traffic."

As followed, Shark reversed the car back up into the streets, blocking two cars that he passed between them.

"Proceed wrong way down busy street for 500 meters."

Shark stepped on it and took the wrong way, dodging a lot of cars that headed in the opposite direction.

"Say 'hang on' and drive down staircase."

"Hang on!" Shark said as he turned to the right, taking the staircase while the people on it threw themselves to the side, dropping their stuff.

The car turned right, still taking wrong way just to follow the yacht on the river. It was going to cross under the bridge ahead of it.

"Poorly edited shot where driver is obviously stuntperson," the GPS voice mentioned.

The car was definitely driven by a stuntperson, as the car drove up the bridge where the yacht was moving under it. The car stopped as Shark and Hornet left the car and rushed to the other side of the bridge, where the yacht came through. Shark and Hornet dove down and landed at the stern platform.

"Leave fart in closed car like an idiot," the GPS from the car mentioned.

"Sorry about that!" Shark apologized from down below.

Wolf and Shark walked on the streets and passed more buildings to find little Piranha.

"Where else could Piranha be? Should we look in, like, an alley?" Wolf guessed.

"'In, like, an alley?'" Snake repeated Wolf's words in disbelief, "I brought you here for this level of insight? I thought you knew him!"

"I do know him, okay? And I would have taken a lot better care of him!" Wolf shouted, "You lost him, Snake! How do you do that? What, did you go to a bank and sneak in to open a vault while leaving him tied up outside?"

"No! We went out to dinner and drank some wine, just like every adult in France," Snake admitted before hanging his head down sadly. "But you're right. I lost him. And now he's gone, and it's all my fault. I'm a loser. I'd do anything to get him back. I really miss him."

"You do?" Wolf asked in shock, as he had never seen this side of Snake before.

"Yeah. We really bonded. It was nice," Snake cried smilingly.

"He's a special little guy, huh?"

"Yeah. He sure is."

"We just got to find him. And in a city called 'City of Love,' he could literally be anywhere."

Piranha was still safe and okay for now. He turned to the corner where he witnessed most of the lights around him being switched off while the streetlight he stood under was still flickering.

"Where am I? What am I going to do?" Piranha hugged himself as he felt cold. Then, he spotted a sign of the open gate that said, "Père Lachaise Cemetery." Piranha walked towards the entrance and said, "Hornet's guidebook said Marcel Proust is buried there. He'll know what to do."

Piranha walked into the cemetery, but he started to feel frightened when he saw all the tombstones and graves all around him. There was a fast-moving shadow following him. He noticed it again when it was flying at the corner of his eyes.

"Aah!" Piranha quickly hid behind one of the tombstones and panted rapidly until he heard a hiss. He looked to his right and saw a cute gray cat.

"Meow."

"Ah!" Piranha yelled as he ran away but bumped into a tombstone. It was the famous French mime Marcel Marceau's grave. "Ah!" Piranha screamed as he turned away to run, but he bumped into another grave. It was still Marcel Marceau, but it was his invisible box.

"Aah!" Piranha quickly ran away as fast as he could until he stopped in front of Marcel Proust's grave with words in it. It was Marcel Proust's quotes in it.

"Ugh. Can't even get through his tomb quote," Piranha gagged before starting to cry. "I wish Wolf were here to pretend he gets it." His voice cracked as he sat down with his back leaned against the tombstone and sobbed hard.

At the same street where Piranha was, Wolf and Snake turned to the corner and passed the flickering streetlight.

Snake then pointed, "The Père Lachaise Cemetery. We were supposed to go before we got separated!

"Yeah, and while we're here, I wouldn't mind taking a leak on Marion Cotillard's grave," Wolf smirked.

"She's still alive," Snake said.

"Really? How?"

Wolf and Snake entered the cemetery to find Piranha as they called for him, "Piranha! Piranha!"

Wolf then saw something as he pointed out, "Hey, look!"

They finally found Piranha as he was hugging his knees and crying.

"Piranha!" Wolf called.

"Wolf!" Piranha was alerted by Wolf's presence. "What... what are you doing here?"

"Snake called me…," Before Wolf could explain, Piranha continued to cry. Wolf didn't want Piranha to feel helpless after being lost in the city as he came up with a half-lie: "And, um... and… he told me you guys were playing hide-and-seek but that you were too good a player for him."

"He... he did?" Piranha sniffed.

"He did. He said he needed my help because I'm a wolf and I can smell you," Wolf continued, "You're too good to be found any other way. You know, this is probably the best hiding place. I've ever seen."

"But it's not... It-it wasn't... You really think so?"

"I know so. Nobody would ever look here. It's too scary."

Piranha sniffed again and admitted, "It is pretty scary. Am I the best hide-and-seek player in the world?

"Uh, yeah," Wolf answered as he gave Piranha a hug.

"There's the best little travel buddy in the world!" Snake wrapped himself around Wolf and Piranha for a hug.

The three broke the hug, and Piranha was proud of himself for what he did today. "Whoa! I guess I'm really good at lots of stuff! I'd say we should get a room, but we already have one."

For a moment, Wolf read Marcel Proust's tomb quote and pretended he understood what it said, "Yep. Totally."

"I missed you, you big bad wolf." Piranha sighed.

Wolf, Snake, and Piranha decided to leave the cemetery and head back to the jet, but not before Snake tossed a coin at a nearby accordion player.

Back with Shark and Hornet, they were at the upper deck, thinking of a plan to find and rescue Tarantula.

"All right, they're probably holding her below deck. You take the right side. I'll take the left." Hornet pulled out a gun and gave it to Shark. "You're gonna need this."

Shark hesitated to take the gun. "What? I-I-I've never killed anybody before."

"Relax, they're rich people. They're so rich that they cut off their families. No one will miss them." Hornet had his own gun, and he flew away, splitting up from Shark.

Just then, a man spotted him and yelled, "Hey!" He fired a gun at Shark, who dodged out of the way and hid behind a lifeboat.

"Oh, man," Shark uttered. Since his only defense was a gun, Shark jumped out and shot the man. "Oh. This is like a video game." Then, a bullet almost hit him as two more men climbed up the upper deck. Shark then fired his gun and shot the two men. "Ah, I'm kinda good at this." Then, another yacht passed by, and he shot a waiter from it, "Later, dink."

Shark went down the lower deck and entered the hallway inside the yacht until he encountered another man. Shark pulled the trigger, but there wasn't any ammo left. The man smiled as he slowly pulled out his gun. Shark threw the gun at the man's face and fought him, but the man overpowered him and threw him out of the window. Shark fell on the floor outside, and the man picked up his gun before heading outside to aim his gun at Shark to kill him.

Shark closed his eyes, ready to take the blow. Then, he heard the gun fire, but he didn't feel getting shot. When he opened his eyes, the man bled from his chest and fell on the floor dead. The shot was from the same yacht that Shark killed the waiter on.

"That's for shooting one of our guys!" One of the passengers laughed.

Everyone in the second yacht cheered happily for getting even.

"We got you! In your face!"

"Our boat! Our boat!"

"This boat!"

Shark quickly took the dead man's gun and quickly proceeded to find Tarantula and meet with Hornet.

Inside the hallway of the lower deck, Shark found a door that could've been a private suite. Then, Hornet came by, and he was still clean and calm.

"There wasn't one guy my way," he mentioned.

Inside, Tarantula was taken into the suite, where a slightly old rich man was waiting and sitting on a bed.

"Let me go! I will never let you have your way with me," she shouted angrily.

"You misunderstand, young lady. I did not buy you to be my toy. I bought you for my son, and not to be his toy, but to be his wife."

"Wife?" Tarantula gasped.

"Zacharie," the rich man called for his son as the teenage boy walked in with a smile on his face. "This is Zacharie, my son and the heir to my company." The father then walked away, leaving the two alone.

"My father was correct. You're the most beautiful arachnid I've ever seen," Zacharie complimented as he stared in Tarantula's confused eyes, "Mademoiselle, it is my hope that you will agree to be my wife, but the choice is yours. If you say 'no,' I will give you back to your family. But if you say 'yes,' I will spend the rest of my days making your every wish come true. Will you be my wife?"

This was the most confusing outcome that Tarantula had ever received. No one had ever wanted her to be someone's wife or saw her as beautiful. It made her face blush red when someone said something nice about her. It was a good offer that someone would make her every wish come true. Everything she wanted.

Tarantula looked away to hide her blush and smile while she was thinking about this offer. "Wow, I-I mean, I… It was a tempting offer, but… Nobody has ever said anything like that to me before. It was… nice," she sighed while looking at this dreamy boy in front of her. This would be a life-changing decision for her. "Well, I say y—"

Before she could say her answer, Zacharie was shot in the head and fell dead on the floor right in front of Tarantula.

"Nooooo!" Tarantula screamed in horror, seeing the boy she just met and loved die in front of her. She turned around and saw Hornet with a gun, revealing he was the one who shot the boy. "Hornet?"

"Hi, Webs," Hornet greeted before using the neuralyzer at Tarantula, flashing a very bright light.

Days later, Shark and Hornet finally returned to the jet with Tarantula, where Wolf, Snake, and Piranha waited until their arrival and were happy to see them together again

Wolf was hugging Tarantula and wept delightfully, "Oh Webs, we are so glad to have you back, but you really don't remember anything?"

"Not really, Wolf. I mean, one minute, I was being proposed to by a handsome French teenager, and the next thing I know, I'm waking up in a French hospital."

"Well, we're glad to have you back, Webs," Snake responded.

"Thanks, Snake," Tarantula smiled.

Piranha then turned to Shark and Hornet. "What about you two? Were there any exciting things you encountered while you were rescuing Webs?"

Shark and Hornet glanced at each other, questioning if they would tell their friends the whole detail about their rescue mission, including the part that Tarantula couldn't remember.

"Nope," Hornet answered.

"It's just easy as pie," Shark replied.

"We'd rather not talk about what happened."

"Yeah, and we found her just close by."

There was silence between them and a long pause. Wolf, Snake, Piranha, and Tarantula glanced at each other to know what they thought of Shark and Hornet's answers.

"You're lying," Tarantula said.

Cast:

Michael Godere - Mr. Wolf

Chris Diamantopoulos - Mr. Snake

Ezekiel Ajeigbe - Mr. Shark

Raul Ceballos - Mr. Piranha

Mallory Low - Ms. Tarantula, Kidnapped Lady #2

Eugene Lee Yang - Mr. Hornet

Alex Borstein  - Fundamental Industries Lady, Kidnapped Lady #1, Stripping Announcer, GPS

Julius Sharpe - Kidnapper #1, Zacharie, French Guy #1

John Viener  – TV Announcer, Jack Hammerer, Kidnapping Chief, French Guy #2

Bill English – French Guard

Fred Tatasciore - French Assistant, Kidnapper #2, Zacharie's Father, Taxi Driver

Author
Aggimagination

Co-author:
MasterClass60

Next on The Bad Guys: The Baddest Trip...

Mr. Snake: So, you decided to have a vacation in Greece.

Mr. Hornet: Yep. I say Greece is one of the most magnificent countries that contributed a lot to the world.

House Mouse: You tourístes? Loipón. My name is Eleftherios. I'll show you Greece.

Mr. Wolf: Eleftherios, I think there's another reason why you're taking us on a boat trip, isn't there?

Eleftherios: Okay, the reason I took you on a boat trip is because… I wanna take you to Crete to meet with my family.

Mr. Shark: Your family?

Eleftherios: I want to make a good impression that… I have a family, and I was thinking you can be my… "beautiful loving family"?

The Bad Guys: WHAT?!

Mr. Hornet: Look. I think it's that whirlpool from The Odyssey by Homer!

Mr. Piranha: If it is, we're screwed!

Chapter Text

Previously On The Bad Guys: The Baddest Trip…

Mr. Wolf: Alright, guys, we made it to France. Anyone have plans here?

Mr. Snake: I'm going out to see France all by myself. You know, get some a little me-time!

Mr. Wolf: I'd rather stay here and watch the jet. You can't be too comfortable with France.

Ms. Tarantula: While I need to go to the Eiffel Tower. Let's see if I get enough signal to hack the entirety of France's power system.

Mr. Piranha: Let's play hide and seek!

Mr. Snake:  Piranha?!

Mr. Piranha:  Snake?!

Ms. Tarantula:  Aaaaahhh!

Mr. Shark: Webs? Webs!

Mr. Wolf: We've got bigger problems, Snake. Webs got kidnapped!

Mr. Shark: Hornet, I think there's only one way we're ever gonna see Webs again. You and I have to take matters into our own hands.

Mr. Snake: Hey, Piranha, stop messing around. This is our stop. Piranha! Piranha! Where are you?!

Mr. Hornet: Where is this girl? Where is she?!

French Man: We keep girls upstairs,

Mr. Snake: I lost Piranha. We got separated, and I can't find him!

Mr. Wolf: Great! First Webs, then Shark and Hornet, now Piranha!

Mr. Snake: Wait, what do you mean? Where are Shark and Hornet?

Mr. Wolf: They went missing too. Are all of my friends gone missing in this crazy country?

Mr. Shark: Damn it. We were so close to saving Webs!

Mr. Hornet: Hey, where's my friend?

French bodyguard: She's probably having her webs spun as we speak

Mr. Wolf: Piranha!

Mr. Piranha: Wolf. What... what are you doing here?

Mr. Wolf: Snake called me… And, um... and… he told me you guys were playing hide-and-seek but that you were too good a player for him."

Mr. Piranha: He... he did?

Mr. Wolf: He did. He said he needed my help because I'm a wolf and I can smell you,"

Mr. Piranha: Am I the best hide-and-seek player in the world?

Mr. Wolf: Uh, yeah.

Mr. Snake: There's the best little travel buddy in the world!

Mr. Hornet: All right, they're probably holding her below deck. You take the right side. I'll take the left."

Zacharie: Mademoiselle, it is my hope that you will agree to be my wife, but the choice is yours. If you say 'no,' I will give you back to your family. But if you say 'yes,' I will spend the rest of my days making your every wish come true. Will you be my wife?

Ms. Tarantula: Wow, I-I mean, I… It was a tempting offer, but… Nobody has ever said anything like that to me before. It was… nice. Well, I say y—

(Zacharie was shot dead)

Ms. Tarantula: Nooooo! (turning to see Mr. Hornet behind her) Hornet?

Mr. Hornet: Hi, Webs.

(Mr. Hornet flashed a very bright light with a neuralyzer.)

New Friend In Greece

The Bad Guys were set off on another adventure when they zoomed through the skies after leaving France. They were off to the next country. The country that Hornet suggested.

Greece.

"So, you decided to have a vacation in Greece," Snake complained, as he couldn't understand why Hornet chose this country for their next vacation.

"Yep. I say Greece is one of the most magnificent countries that contributed a lot to the world."

Tarantula asked, "Really? Like what?"

"A lot! Rich histories, natural beauty, the Olympian games. Many archaeologists want to come here to study Ancient Greece. Mythology is my favorite thing in Greece, with the gods and goddesses and a lot of great wars, like the Trojan War!" Hornet chuckled hysterically.

"I thought that was fictional and mythical," Wolf pointed out.

"Some people say it's a real history," Shark whispered.

"Well, real or not, I want to learn more about this country," Hornet implied.

When they arrived in Greece, they were still up in the air since they couldn't find a place to land while hiding from the public. They need to find a secret place to land so no one will find them or their jet.

The jet was now flying over the forest around Mount Olympus as the Bad Guys were quarreling over which spot to land.

"Land over there!" Tarantula suggested.

"No, over there!" Snake recommended.

"Shut up! I'm the pilot here!" Wolf yelled as he couldn't focus on flying the jet while trying to find a place to land in secret.

"Go, go up!" Piranha squeaked as the jet was so close to the trees.

"No, down! Faster!" Shark instructed.

"Don't listen to him!" Snake bawled.

"Go left!" Hornet yelped, "Wolf, honestly, please, just listen to me. Okay? I have over 10,000 hours of flying on my own. I know how the jet flies while landing in a secret place."

Wolf scoffed at his annoying friends and said sarcastically, "Maybe I will crash us."

"Exit stage right," Hornet flew out of the open window as he headed down and landed in front of an empty cave. "Set her down by this cave!" He took out two marshalling wands to guide Wolf with the landing. "Ease her in. Easy. Ten more feet to the left. Got it, and..."

Instead of a gentle landing, the jet crashed on top of Hornet as the landing gear pinned him down. The cabin door opened, and a ramp slid out as the end touched the ground.

"Perfect," Wolf said as he and the others slid down the ramp and hit the ground. "Well, those were good first steps in Greece."

"Oooowww," Hornet groaned in pain as he was still pinned down under a landing gear. Lucky for him, he survived, as the life gem kept him alive.

When they successfully helped Hornet out from under the landing gear, the Bad Guys set off to find the road to start their vacation in Greece. They eventually found the road and hitched a ride to the closest town from Mount Olympus: Litochoro.

They weren't really familiar with this time. All they could find was a brochure of this place, as Tarantula took one while Hornet was reading the book about Greece and its map on the last page.

"I heard their food is sour with a lot of vinegar." Piranha licked his lips, eager to taste Greek food.

Unbeknownst to the gang, there was another group who followed them from behind, and it seemed like they were ready to 'take care' of them.

As the Bad Guys continued to explore, Hornet sensed that there might be something or someone right behind them as he slightly turned his head so that only the side of his eye could see before turning away.

"Umm, guys," he whispered.

Wolf twitched his ears as he could hear footsteps from behind. "I think we've been followed."

Knowing they were going to be in trouble anyway, the Bad Guys turned around to face their intruders. There was a group of anthropomorphic animals: a pine marten, an adder, a kri-kri (Cretan goat), an ermine, a hawk moth, and a fire salamander.

The residents of this town closed all of their doors and windows to avoid being involved and watching this showdown.

The adder suddenly spoke in a threatening tone, "Hey, we don't want strangers here."

"Hey, listen, we're not here for trouble. We're just tourists wanting to explore this country," Wolf

The leader of this gang, the pine marten, demanded loudly, "But not in my territory!"

"I thought Greek guys were not such weirdos," Hornet whispered very softly.

But the ermine could hear him pretty well. "Are you making fun of us?"

"No no, I'm just pointing out facts, and…" Hornet panted nervously as he couldn't think of anything to say to get himself and his friends out of this mess before deciding to try to be nice instead. "You know that I adore anything Greek."

Piranha stepped in to defend Hornet. "My boyfriend was just complimenting you with politeness!"

"Why don't you just go back to where you came from?!" The kri-kri huffed angrily.

That was it. No more Mr. Nice Animal. The Bad Guys and the other gang were engaged in a fight.

Like lightning, both groups of anthropomorphic animals lunged at one another, unleashing a massive brawl. The pine marten threw a barrel at Wolf, who had to jump up to dodge it. He thought at first that he had easily avoided it, but then, the pine marten threw another one at Wolf, and it hit him in the gut. Wolf got pummeled by the barrel and dragged around it as it spun around and around like a top.

Meanwhile, Snake and the adder were going head-to-head with one another. Snake tried to lunge at the adder and wrap his long body around him in the hope of constricting his opponent's movements. However, the adder was fast and grabbed a pan from his pocket before swinging it like a baseball bat. With a strong swing and a loud BANG, Snake was hit in the head with the pan. He wavered around a bit, swaying back and forth, his eyes having swirls from being dizzy from the hit.

Shark grabbed a long, thin pole that was on the ground and started to spin it around with expertise, like it was a kendo stick. Meanwhile, the kri-kri picked up a stray rake that was left in a garden and a broom that was lying on the ground. He spun them around with both hands, ready to combat with Shark. Shark made the first move, swinging around the pole, being intercepted every time by the kri-kri's quick thinking and use of the rake and broom, moving them to block the pole's hit.

Piranha and the ermine, however, both broke into a catfight, brawling with one another with hands, feet, fists, and bites alike. A dust cloud formed as they hit each other back and forth, playful sound effects emerging with every hit that they delivered to one another.

Tarantula, meanwhile, scaled up a lamp post and jumped onto the hawk moth's back, trying to use her legs to hit his back and knock him off balance. But the hawk moth was agile in the air and started to spin, trying to shake her off. Tarantula shouted as she held onto him as tightly as she could to avoid being thrown off.

Meanwhile, the fire salamander used his tail to grab a chair and swing it at Hornet, who flew from side to side, avoiding getting hit by it. He flew under another swing of the chair before he grabbed a rock and gave it a mighty toss, hitting the fire salamander in the face. He let out a shout and dropped the chair, using his hands to cover the bruise on his face as Hornet flew and did a small headbutt into his gut.

Suddenly, a house mouse came out from his mouse hole that was enclosed by a door. He was angry when he heard sudden noises from the streets of the town.

"Hey, what is all the ruckus?! I was trying to study here!" The house mouse shouted until he looked at the street and gasped. There was a brawl here.

Snake was being stretched out and tied around Wolf and Shark by the kri-kri and the adder. The fire salamander and the pine marten tackled Piranha together, and the hawk moth was holding Hornet back in the air by his wings and arms, and the ermine used a jar to hold Tarantula back, making it impossible for her to help her friends out. The Bad Guys were being utterly decimated in the fight, and the Greek bullies easily overpowered them.

The mouse knew that he couldn't just let these people get bullied like this any longer. He cracked his knuckles and charged at the bullies with quickness and agility that could rival an Olympic gymnast. He scurried up the pine marten and pulled on her eyelids, causing her to become disoriented, before he proceeded to jump up and bite the fire salamander's tail. The Fire Salamander screamed in pain, and they both got off Piranha, letting him be free.

The mouse then jumped again and kicked the jar out of the ermine's hands, which caused the jar to fall and break, freeing Tarantula. He then proceeded to pick up one of the glass shards and threw it at the hawk moth, who frantically flew to the side to dodge it. But the movement was so erratic that it allowed Hornet to wiggle free.

The mouse then turned and faced Snake, grabbing him with surprising strength and untying Wolf and Shark. He then spun Snake's body like a whip and snapped him at the adder and the kri-kri, making them scurry back to avoid getting hit. Once the bullies were dealt with, the mouse placed Snake back down and politely adjusted his hat before the mouse then turned towards the bullies.

"Go on, get out of here! All of you!" The house mouse roared, making the other gang make a run for it, not wanting to feel a lot of pain the mouse might do to them next. They hid behind a building while taking a peek at why the mouse suddenly helped some strangers.

"Are you okay, kýrios kai despoinís?" The house mouse asked the Bad Guys as he wiped the dust off of Wolf's sleeve and helped Tarantula get up, "I'm sorry that guy picked on you. He just doesn't like strangers around 'his' territory. He thinks he owns the place." Just then, the group's appearances sparked the mouse as he recognized this sixsome before. "Wait, you guys look familiar," he asked them one by one. "Eseís, kýrios Wolf?"

Wolf nodded.

"Eseís, kýrios Snake?"

Snake nodded calmly.

"Eseís, kýrios Shark?"

Shark gave a thumbs up.

"Eseís, kýrios Piranha?"

Piranha grinned.

"Eseís, despoinís Tarantula?

Tarantula winked in response.

"Eseís, kýrios Hornet?"

Hornet nodded happily.

"Wolf, Snake, Shark, Piranha, Tarantula, and Hornet?" The house mouse pointed at each of the Bad Guys while saying their rightful names. Instead of screams, the house mouse let out a laugh, "You. Criminals. Not-So-Criminals. Americans? "That's so funny!" he continued to chuckle. "You tourístes?" The Bad Guys only responded with a silent nod, "Loipón. My name is Eleftherios; I'll show you Greece."

The house mouse guided the Bad Guys to show them Greece as they let him lead. They suddenly stopped in their path when they noticed a nearby restaurant.

"You guys wanna eat?" Eleftherios asked politely.

The Bad Guys glanced at each other before chattering agreeably.

"Yeah, we could eat." Shark rubbed his tummy.

"Sure," Snake shrugged.

Inside the restaurant, the Bad Guys made themselves comfortable at their table while Eleftherios ordered their food. He didn't mind that he'll pay for their food. The Bad Guys were his guests, and he was the host. He wanted to give the tourists a warm welcome to Greece.

Eleftherios came back with a tray of many kinds of food. Each grabbed the food they wanted to try. Wolf got himself Saganaki, Shark gobbled some Moussaka, and Tarantula chewed on Feta me meli.

Snake gathered most of the zucchini fritters and tomato fritters as he stacked them together into a tower of fritters and ate all of them at once. But once he swallowed, the food made a line-up of lumps that were shaped like the fritters in his neck.

Hornet observed as his jaws dropped with a smile as he found this funny. Hornet laughed so hard, his eyes were closed shut. Eleftherios noticed Hornet hadn't eaten his food yet. He took an olive from a glass of olive oil and threw the olive like a football towards Hornet. When Hornet laughed so hard, having his mouth open wide enough, the olive flew directly into his mouth as he was misshaped into an olive shape.

Even Piranha observed this as he laughed hard as well without noticing Eleftherios running towards him while carrying a gyro before shoving it into the fish's mouth.

The tour continued as Eleftherios took the Bad Guys across Greece to show them the places that tourists adored. Unbeknownst to them, the gang that bullied the Bad Guys earlier had followed them everywhere they went.

Eleftherios showed his guests the Panathenaic Stadium as they passed by it. "Right here is the Panathenaic Stadium, the first stadium of the modern Olympic Games in 1896," they continued, taking a stroll while the other gang followed them from behind while staying in the shadows.

Next, they arrived at the temple of the ancient Agora, or whatever is left of it. Eleftherios pointed out, "Way over there is the Ancient Agora of Athens!"

Later, they traveled to Corinth, where they stopped by the balcony of one of the buildings to see the whole view of the city.

"And here is Corinth," Eleftherios said. "Isn't it beautiful?"

The little mouse started singing the Greek version of "Beloved Greece," showing his love for his homeland. The Bad Guys wouldn't mind and let him sing as they listened, even if they didn't need to understand.

O ílios chýnei chrysáfi stis eliés
To Aigaío psithyrízei sto aeráki,
Pétrina monopátia pou elíssontai mésa sta chrónia
Kratóntas gélia, kratóntas dákrya.

Right behind them, the Greek bullies finally catch up to their victims. They were ready to get their revenge against Eleftherios and the Bad Guys. They angrily marched at them, showing how tough they were now.

As they were listening to Eleftherios' song, the Bad Guys quickly noticed the gang who bullied them before, and they quickly ran away, hoping Eleftherios would open his eyes and run with them.

The Greek bullies stood behind Eleftherios as they watched him singing. They couldn't interrupt his song, as it wouldn't be fun without someone like this, and the mouse would feel afraid of their presence.

O, Elláda, kardiá mou, spíti mou
Káto apó ouranoús ópou kápote
Periplanióntousan theoí.

Káthe lófos, káthe thálassa
Kaleí tin psychí mou aiónia.

Káthe lófos, káthe thálassa
Kaleí tin psychí mou aiónia.

Eleftherios' song finally ended as he burst into tears, "I'm sorry. I always cried when I sang that song," he confessed as he thought he was talking to the Bad Guys, but he realized once his eyes were opened, he looked up, and noticed it was those Greek bullies that he took care of single-handedly. And this time, he wasn't ready to beat them again, and Eleftherios started to run.

Eleftherios rushed down the street to find a place to hide. Suddenly, they heard a whistle. He turned to see the Bad Guys by the booth of cheese. Eleftherios quickly ran towards the booth as the Greek bully gang chased after him.

Eleftherios quickly climbed up the booth as he and the Bad Guys dropped six feta cheese wheels down the steep hill. The cheese wheel rolled faster towards the Greek bully gang as the latter were shocked by the incoming cheese attack.

The bullies ran backwards while trying to avoid getting hit by the cheese wheels. The bullies continued to run backwards when the cheese wheel kept chasing them on curvy roads. The ermine was separated from the group, but one of the cheese also chased her. The chase was brought around a fountain before the ermine was back with her group again, and so was the cheese wheel.

The Greek bully gang ended up at the edge of the dock as they tried to balance themselves not to fall into the water, but the cheese wheels caught up to them and shoved them down the dock, splashing into the water. The cheese wheels finished their job as they rolled back to where they came from.

The Bad Guys and Eleftherios caught up to the chase and checked if the bullies were really defeated and fell into the water.

"Ha! Glad we showed them who's boss!" Piranha exclaimed.

"They will come back. Come on. I'll show you something!" Eleftherios said as the Bad Guys followed him.

Eleftherios ran to the next dock, where there was a boat being tied up. He jumped onto the deck and rushed to the captain's helm. The Bad Guys caught up to Eleftherios as they made it to the deck.

"What's this?" Snake asked.

"It's my boat. Untangle the ropes!" Eleftherios commanded.

Shark, Tarantula, and Hornet untangled the ropes that tied the boat and the pipe of the dock.

While untangling, Hornet noticed the bullies from earlier came back for some more. "Eleftherios, they're coming!" The bullies were even angrier than ever.

Eleftherios gasped; he quickly launched the accelerator, allowing the boat to move forward. The bullies were so close to catching up to the boat, but luckily, they ran out of dock, and they couldn't reach for the boat in time as it drove away from the shore.

Now that they were safe, the Bad Guys and Eleftherios cheered victoriously for their escape.

"Alright!" Shark yelled.

"We did it!" Tarantula added.

"Yay! Now let's sail!" Eleftherios exclaimed as he stirred the wheel with all his might, despite that the wheel was too big for him.

"Wait, where are we going?!" Snake questioned

"Uh, I'm showing you more of Greece!" Eleftherios answered nervously before focusing on driving the boat.

The Bad Guys were suspiciously shocked, as they thought their vacation in Greece was almost over, but there was more.

"Umm, alright," Wolf said without any more questions.

It has been 2 hours since they left the shore as they were on the water for a while, the Bad Guys started to feel bored, but Eleftherios put up a cheery attitude to give his guests the vacation they deserve.

"We're passing Andros. Ahead was Naxos," Eleftherios explained as if he were a tour guide on a boat.

Snake stuck his head on the edge of the boat as he felt like throwing up. "Ugh, I hate it when I already feel seasick." He quickly puked, not just his digested food but also the stuff he stored in his stomach.

"I bet that we have time to head to Rhodes before heading to Crete," Eleftherios announced.

Wolf was surprised by that announcement, as he believed this wasn't a vacation anymore. It felt like a suffering trip. "Crete?! Okay, I know something's going on." He walked towards the helm. "Eleftherios, I think there's another reason why you're taking us on a boat trip, is there?"

"Well, I'm thinking this is going to be a good trip for your vacation in Greece," Eleftherios grinned sheepishly, but the Bad Guys' glares threatened him to tell the truth. He sighed and confessed his intention, "Okay, the reason I took you on a boat trip is because… I wanna take you to Crete to meet with my family."

"Your family?" Shark inquired.

"They live there, and it's my mom's birthday. I want to make a good impression that… I have a family, and I was thinking you can be my… 'beautiful loving family'?" Eleftherios squealed at the last part.

"WHAT?!" The Bad Guys shouted in surprise. They never thought their vacation in Greece would come to this: posing as the family of a mouse stranger they just met.

"Slow down there. We just met you. How could you make us your 'beautiful loving family'?" Snake hissed, flickering his tongue as a warning to Eleftherios that he would eat him unless he answered.

"I live alone in Mt. Olympus, and I don't have that many friends. And when I met you, I used this as my opportunity to impress my mother," Eleftherios explained sadly.

"So… You didn't just take us around Greece; you're using us?" Tarantula guessed.

"Not using! It's just… borrowing you for a bit!"

The Bad Guys were mad at the mouse for fooling them by taking them on a boat trip to meet his family without telling them beforehand. They were only here for a vacation, and yet they were lured into a trap.

"I'm calling a huddle," Wolf declared to his team as the Bad Guys moved a little far from the helm and gathered together for a secret meeting. "What do we do?"

"I say I'm gonna eat that rodent!" Snake suggested.

"Settle down, Snake. Eleftherios did nothing but be friendly to us. Sure, it took an unexpected turn, but we can't just snap at him like that. Besides, he's our only ticket out of here. So, I suggest we go through with his idea," Hornet recommended.

"Are you saying we have to be a family with someone we just met?" Shark repeated the plan.

"Hey, I know what it's like to impress a parent, I think maybe we should give him a shot," Piranha said.

The other Bad Guys silently agreed with this plan, but Snake felt hesitant until his friends stared at him. They wouldn't stop staring unless he agreed with them.

Snake groaned in defeat, "Fine! The sooner we finish this, the better." The Bad Guys broke from the huddle as Snake approached the mouse captain. "Alright, kid, we'll be your fake family in front of your mother." Eleftherios sighed in relief, but he was suddenly afraid when Snake gritted his teeth at him and warned, "But you better not make us regret this."

Eleftherios held a hand up as a sign of promise. "Oh, I won't! I swear."

Later on, Eleftherios enjoyed sailing the boat now that his new "friends" agreed with the plan to help him impress his mother in Crete.

"How about a sailor song?!" He started singing a song.

They threw him overboard
They threw him overboard
They picked him up by the scruff of his neck
And threw him overboard

He turned to his friends who didn't sing along with him, "Come on, fíloi. Why aren't you singing old sailor songs with us?"

"We don't know any sailor songs, even though I used to live in the ocean," Shark answered, feeling bored of staying on the boat and listening to the song.

Eleftherios left the helm and asked his guests, "You don't know 'They Threw Him Overboard'?"

"Nope," Piranha said.

"'My Leg Is Gone, My Leg Is Gone'?"

"Never heard it," Tarantula stated.

"'Overboard He Fell'? 'We're Killing the Captain', 'Who's In, Who's In'? 'Let's All Bugger Out of Boredom'? Come on. These are classics," Eleftherios said before going back to the helm to drive the boat.

As the mouse steered the wheel, the boat continued to move in different ways, causing Snake to puke overboard.

"Eleftherios, can you steer a little less aggressively? I've thrown up more than I think I ate, and I lost some of our stuff I stored," Snake requested before puking a vase with paintings that contained some histories of Greece.

Eleftherios replied, "I'm steering as carefully as I can."

"Just stick to the coastline. The radar wasn't so clear here," Hornet declared when he pointed to the screen with just static.

"'Stick to the coastline'? Who is wearing the captain's hat?" The mouse pointed to the hat on his head, showing his status as the captain of the boat.

"Guys, back of the boat, now," Wolf commanded his gang as the Bad Guys moved to the back of the boat.

"It's called a poop deck, and yes, you can," Eleftherios chuckled about that "pun" of that name.

When they were really far from the helm so that Eleftherios couldn't hear them, the Bad Guys stayed at the stern with Wolf scolding them.

"Come on, guys. You five have been challenging that mouse since we found out his intention, and I am sick of it."

Tarantula complained, "But, Wolf, he doesn't even know what he's doing. He just has this idea in his head about 'beautiful loving families" that for some reason involves this boat—"

Wolf cut her off, "And that makes him happy. Besides, I thought we were practicing doing good with others now that we're the 'Good' Bad Guys. Clearly, the mouse's ego is at stake, and I don't care why, but I will not spend the next few days or years feeling guilty for not helping this helpless little guy. It's the most incredible drag, and I will kill you rather than have you saddle me with that. Are we clear?!"

"What if we get lost?" Piranha pointed out.

"Then we'll find our way. We have Hornet."

Hornet was just staring at the sky without realizing he would be the one to get them out if they would get lost since he was the only one who could fly and see land from afar. "Huh?"

"Now you three are going back over there, and you are going to smile, and you are going to make him feel supported by his 'beautiful, loving family.'"

Moments later, and who knew how long, the boat was caught up in a heavy storm as it made strong waves that swayed the boat side-by-side. Even with Eleftherios happily singing while driving the boat in the storm, the Bad Guys were also singing along but were unhappy now that they were wet and cold with no food or water with the storm blowing on their faces.

All: Nothing to eat
And nothing to drink
I think I'm going to diiiie

"Wonderful boat, isn't she? I love how she dances on the waves," Eleftherios cheered.

All: The watery grave, the watery grave
We're going to visit the watery grave

As the song finished, the storm eradicated, and the boat finally stayed still.

"Look, the storm is clearing. We should be coming up on that lighthouse about now," Eleftherios said, but when he looked around, they were still in the middle of the ocean with no land or island nearby. "Hmm. Well, apparently, we're a little off course. Not to worry. The far bigger emergency right now is I've lost my hat. Where could you be?" He hopped off the steering wheel to find his hat.

Snake couldn't handle this anymore when he watched the mouse trying to find his hat. He approached Wolf and told him, "Wolf, we have been good, we have been supportive, but Operation Indulge Eleftherios has been a bad idea that's only getting worse. Can we please let us help getting ourselves to Crete?"

"Hmm, he is looking for his hat, so I suppose we could give a little push in the right direction," Wolf suggested before turning to Hornet. "Hornet, can you fly up there and get a sense of where we are?"

"Alright. I'll be way up there." Hornet hovered way above the boat to see if there was any land nearby, but when he looked around, there was nothing but sky, clouds, and water around. "Where are we?" He flew in different directions to find any land, but there was nothing but water. "There's nothing here. No!" he flew back towards the boat.

Back on the boat, the Bad Guys were waiting for Hornet to see if he found anything.

"Well, Hornet will figure it out soon enough. He'll get us back on track and—" Wolf hoped until he heard someone crying.

"Oh, no! Ooh!" Hornet crashed on the floor, sobbing that he couldn't do anything to help getting out of the ocean, "I have no landmarks! I'm helpless! My sight is worthless when I'm this disoriented! I could fly across the ocean for weeks and still be nowhere, and then how would I get back to you? I would never find my way back! I'd be lost! I am lost! We're all lost! We're lost! Ohh!" He continued to cry and flew around the boat in distress.

"And we're going to die," Wolf admitted, feeling defeated that his friends were right about this trip.

"Good news, everyone. I've found my captain's hat!" Eleftherios announced.

"This is terrible." Wolf hung his head down.

"If anyone needs me, I'll be here, for eternity." Hornet lay down on the floor while cradling himself and feeling so useless. Piranha couldn't help but pick Hornet up and cradle him in his fins like a baby.

"I'm having fun. I'm friggin' loosey goosey over here." Shark didn't feel distraught but danced like he had the time of his life.

Eleftherios approached his guests for further announcements about their situation. "All right, first and foremost, I have my hat, so that's covered. And I wouldn't say we're lost. I'd say we're in between periods of knowing where we are."

"Perfect spin as always, Captain Eleftherios," Snake complimented sarcastically.

Then, Eleftherios wanted to give his guests a quiz, "Now, I have a question. What is the part of the boat underwater in the back?"

"The rudder," Tarantulas answered.

"No, not that. It's under. It's made of steel," Eleftherios described.

"Keel?" Shark guessed.

"Hull?" Snake added.

"No. It's way in the back. It's made of steel," the little mouse repeated.

"Everything here is made of wood," Wolf pointed out.

"You're talking about the rudder," Hornet responded.

Eleftherios shook his head. "No, not that."

"The strake! Gunwale! Planking?" Piranha listed his guesses.

"Now you're making things up. It's in the water."

"The rudder," Hornet replied.

"It's made of steel!"

"It's the rudder!" Tarantula exclaimed.

"Oh, hang on. It's the rudder. I kept thinking udder, and I knew that wasn't right," Eleftherios admitted. "Anyway, the rudder's broken. And the engine too."

"Are you kidding?!" Wolf growled in frustration.

"Relax. It's just one little part of a very big boat," the house mouse said.

Wolf finally snapped impatiently, "All right, that does it. I'm taking over. I'm the captain."

"What?" The other Bad Guys and Eleftherios gasped.

"I tried to be patient with you, and I had had it. You, Eleftherios, let us down yet again, so I'll get this fake 'beautiful, loving family' to your dumb mom's dumb island! And I'm taking this." Wolf snatched Eleftherios' hat and wore it, even though it was too small for him. "Now, as I see it, there are two things that need our immediate attention: fixing the motor, which requires mechanics and engineering,"

"I'm on it, Wolfie," Tarantula said as she took out her toolbox… that she suspiciously brought everywhere they went on this trip.

"And fixing the rudder, which requires a strong swimmer," Wolf added.

"I got the rudder!" Shark dove overboard into the ocean.

It didn't take too long for Shark to fix the rudder and for Tarantula to fix the engine. She was really small to fit in the hull and fixed broken wires. When she started the boat to test it, the rudder was working fine.

"Great. See that? It's us, the Good Bad Guys, the tourists, who have to clean up your mess," Wolf bragged at Eleftherios. "Now, how could we get to Crete?"

"No luck on that, Wolf. We have no signal here," Tarantula said as he showed her laptop that there was no signal for GPS or Wi-Fi.

"Okay, but did you say there's a way to navigate by looking at the sun?" Wolf suggested.

"Tricky, because you only get one shot before you go blind," Hornet warned.

"Why don't we just ask the skeleton?" Piranha implied.

"The skeleton?" Wolf repeated.

"Yeah, that guy." Piraha pointed to a human skeleton who was wearing rags and a straw hat, holding an oar, and standing on a rock with a seagull on his hat.

"Oh, I wouldn't ask the skeleton. If he knew where to go, he'd still have skin and the other stuff," Eleftherios informed his guest.

"You don't get to vote. You screwed up enough already." Snake glared at the mouse, who took a step back frightenedly.

Wolf called out to the skeleton man as he stuck half of his body out of the boat, "Excuse me, Skeleton Man." The skeleton turned to Wolf as the seagull flew away. "Can you point us towards Crete?" The skeleton pointed forward. Wolf smiled. "Thank you. Is, uh, there anything we can do for you?" The skeleton just shook his head and held up an arm, declaring that it didn't need anything. "You sure? Some drinking water? An umbrella or something?" The skeleton only bowed, declaring he was good. "All right, well, thanks for the directions." Wolf turned to Eleftherios, smiling proudly. "There. Tell me I was wrong now."

Before they knew it, as they traveled in the direction where the skeleton pointed, the Bad Guys and Eleftherios ended up swirling on the outer waves of a giant whirlpool.

"Look. I think it's that whirlpool from The Odyssey by Homer!" Hornet screamed.

"Wow, do you really believe in that? That was Greek Mythology," Snake gritted his teeth as he bit on the railings to avoid falling from the boat.

"Well, we're in Greece, are we? So, whatever natural things happen in Greece, they are based in Greek mythology stories!" Shark reasoned.

"If it is, we're screwed!" Piranha wailed.

Because of the strong waves of the whirlpool, Wolf fell on the floor behind Hornet, who was exactly who the former needed right now.

"Hornet, I know you're dealing with being lost in the vast expanse of the ocean, but you know where you're not lost? Helping us out of this situation!" Wolf spoke, wanting to give Hornet the confidence to help out.

"I wish I could help," Hornet was still desperate; he couldn't help his friends get out of the ocean by searching for land.

"But can you at least push the boat out of the whirlpool?" Wolf suggested, much to Hornet's confusion.

The boat was now too close to the center of the whirlpool. If no one could do anything about it sooner, the whole boat would sink and everyone would drown.

Hornet quickly got up, drowning his helplessness and depression with newfound confidence, and flew to the back of the boat.

"Come on, Hornet! You've got this!" Wolf exclaimed.

Hornet pushed the boat as hard as he could. Surprisingly, he felt the boat was a little lighter than he thought. He easily pushed the boat along in the direction of the whirlpool but turned it away from the center to bring it back up to the clear surface of the ocean, finally escaping the dangers of a giant whirlpool.

"I am Mr. Hornet, the 'Eye in the Sky' of the Bad Guys, and I can push a boat out of a maelstrom," Hornet declared with pride before flying back into the boat.

Wolf exclaimed victoriously, "We did it! We did it! We—"

But the victory was interrupted by a giant tentacle that emerged from the ocean surface and slammed onto the boat, causing the Bad Guys and Eleftherios to be crushed along with their boat. The boat broke into pieces, but the Bad Guys and Eleftherios survived while holding onto the pieces of the boat so that they could stay afloat as the waves carried them away.

The seven made it out of the storm but still stayed afloat with broken pieces of the boat. They were stranded in the middle of nowhere in the ocean.

"This will not impress my mother," Eleftherio groaned sadly, as it was all he could think about. The boat was destroyed, and everyone was soaking wet.

"That's your main concern?!" Snake shouted.

Eleftherio shrugged, "Well, I wanted her to see my beautiful, loving—"

Wolf cut him off and yelled angrily, "'Beautiful, loving family,' yes, of course! And we all know now what that means; being on a boat and acting a certain way. Well, guess what: Family isn't about appearances. It's an obligation, and I would have thought, as our tour guide in Greece, you'd at least feel an obligation not to strand your so-called family on driftwood!"

Eleftherios huffed at Wolf's rage, "Now who's being selfish?"

Hornet flew between Wolf and Eleftherios to stop them from arguing. "All right, just stop! This is hard for all of us, but however we define it, family is the only thing keeping us—" Before he could finish, Hornet spotted an island nearby, and as he could guess it was Crete, "Oh, thank the Greek gods! We made it!" He quickly flew towards the island as soon as the stormy clouds moved away, letting the sunlight shine on the island of Crete.

Since Hornet was the only one who could fly, the other Bad Guys and Eleftherios were left behind on the floating boat debris.

"So we'll just... float in, I guess," Piranha said.

When they made it to the island, the Bad Guys and Eleftherios walked through the hedge walls, and they entered a gathering party in the garden. There were pillars of statues of mice with graceful poses, matching the heroes from Greek mythology. There were only mice in the gathering, complimenting each other and enjoying the food before they were bothered by the newly arrived guest and the "black sheep" of the family.

"Okay, wow. This is fancy," Snake described, unsurprised.

"I thought we had money. This is some Greek money here!" Piranha declared surprisingly.

Eleftherios spoke to his guests, "I want to make sure we're presentable for my mother. Now, what can we do about our looks?" He pulled out a comb and raked his fur on his head with it.

"What the thorax is going on? Who is this?" Tarantula asked confusingly.

"Can you just clean up? I'm going to be a minute with the grooming, and I'll probably have to spit up some hairballs," Eleftherios said.

"'Clean up'?" Hornet repeated.

"I just want my mother to like you."

"Shouldn't she like us already since you told her you have a family?" Snake reminded about the lie the mouse made.

"Well, she thinks I can't do anything right, so all I wanted to do was sail into this harbor on a beautiful boat with my beautiful, loving 'family.'"

"So we're just props. You dragged us through the underworld just to make yourself look good. Absolutely perfect," Wolf rolled his eyes and felt upset for being used by a mouse who needed their help.

"Stop using Greek mythology words!" Snake shouted as he couldn't handle more Greek mythological elements.

"A lot of people all over the world use 'Underworld' for Hell. It's the same thing," Hornet proclaimed.

"Well, you missed the family polo match," an elderly woman's voice was heard as the Bad Guys and Eleftherios turned around to face an elderly female mouse, "But I suppose we can find a place for you at dinner or nearby, at any rate. We hired a painter to take a family painting. It was very expensive, so do see if you can clean up your… family, if they are your family." She stared at the Bad Guys when she noticed they weren't exactly the same species as her own.

"Hi, Mamá," Eleftherios greeted.

"What?!" The Bad Guys screamed in shock.

The Bad Guys and Eleftherios followed the latter's mother through the garden, heading to the dinner table where a family of mice were gathering for lunch.

"It was my family reunion too, and I didn't want to come, but it was a coincidence that you guys came along, and… well, you know the rest," Eleftherios whispered, not wanting his mother to know his real intentions with his guests.

"You never told us you came from a rich family," Shark said.

"What's there to tell?" The mouse deadpanned.

Eleftherios' mother introduced her son's guests to the statue that was still under construction, "This is a statue of my favorite son being done by my second-favorite son."

"Oh, no argument here. Ioannis is spectacular," the second favorite son admitted without the feeling of jealousy.

Ioannis just grinned and winked, looking too good and too proud.

The dinner table was really small, fit for just rodents, as Eleftherios' mother noticed that four of her son's guests were too big for the table. "Oh, right. Few of your guests are huge. I'm afraid we don't have any bigger chairs or enough chairs for the other ones." There were only two chairs left available. One for the birthday mouse and the other for Eleftherios, and the Bad Guys remained standing up. The mother mouse announced to all of her relatives, "Everyone, I just want to thank you all for coming here. I couldn't choose a more beautiful family to turn 50 with." The mice applauded cheerfully as Eleftherios remained silent, knowing his mother wasn't referring to him. His mother turned to one of her sons and his family. "Georgios and Chloé brought their beautiful children all the way from Rhodes."

"We came on our new boat," Georgios explained. "You simply must see our new boat."

"Oh, I've got a new boat as well. Aren't boats fun? We should have a family trip on my boat sometime," the other mouse said as she drank her wine.

"Yay! I love family boat trips," Georgios chuckled.

"This family and boats," Tarantula whispered to Shark, who nodded in agreement that this mouse family were obsessed with boats.

"And you all look so beautiful and perfect, except for Eleftherios and his 'family,' but we didn't expect anything more from him, did we?" The mother mouse insulted her son as she and her family laughed. So was Eleftherios, who laughed with a mix of cries from his face.

"Wow. Eleftherios' mama really did a number on him. Kinda like Papá," Piranha recalled about his father's abuse towards him.

"Or my colony," Hornet added, remembering how his queen and fellow hornets treated him unfairly.

Eleftherios continued to laugh hysterically and sadly while drinking a chalice of wine. His "laughs" were gurgled in the chalice.

It was lunchtime, and the mice were eating quietly and with manners while the Bad Guys tried to enjoy the food since Wolf, Snake, Shark, and Piranha were too big for the cuisine, and Tarantula and Hornet weren't delighted with the food.

"So, Eleftherios, you're still living out there among humans and other animals?" Eleftherios' mother asked.

"Yes, mamá," Eleftherios answered.

"And you've been foraging?"

"Yes, mamá."

"I suppose I should congratulate you on at least trying not to be a massive disappointment."

"Mhm," Eleftherios took a sip of his chalice.

Then, the human painter for the portrait cut in and told the family, "Are we ready to take a family painting?"

"Oh, yes, please. Everyone, gather round," the mother mouse instructed.

The mice gathered around for the portrait, and the Bad Guys joined in since they were Eleftherios' "family."

"Why don't we have the guest of honor in the middle?" The painter said as the mother mouse moved to the center, "Excellent, and the grandchildren up front?" All of the young mice sat in front of the older mice. Then, the painter instructed Eleftherios and his guests, "Maybe you could move a little towards the right?"

The seven of them stepped to the right.

"Uh, a bit more," the painter requested.

They continued to step aside to the right.

"Just one more."

"It's like we're out of the picture!" Piranha yelled.

"Do you see how the drinking figures into this? This is why the Greek gods love to drink," Eleftherios said while taking another sip of wine from his cup.

Wolf confessed what he felt about Eleftherios now and understood why he did all this to him and his friends, "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I thought you were weird at first, but you do have a sad past and…"

"Does this end somewhere positive? 'Cause I'm rather in a dark place," Eleftherios continued to drink his wine until he finished them all up.

"It does. I really sympathize with you, Eleftherios. Feeling like an outsider is kind of my specialty." Wolf said before calling out to Eleftherios' mother, "Hello! Excuse me!"

"Not now. We're taking a portrait." The mother mouse held her hand up.

"Yes, now!" Wolf shouted, wanting to speak on Eleftherios' behalf, "I thought family was about responsibility and obligation, but I see now what that gets you. Family and friendship are supposed to be about supporting each other for exactly who we are, and I'd much rather live with screw-up crazy friends than with a mean-spirited, condescending, disrespectful mother!"

"Excuse me!" Shark spoke in a distressed woman's voice as he dressed up as a middle-aged woman, like a real mother.

"Not you, Shark! Her!" Wolf corrected.

"Eleftherios, take your insolent, devilish family out of here," the mother mouse demanded at her disappointment of a son.

Eleftherios had enough of his mother looking down on him, and since his friends stood up to her, he wanted to stand up to her for himself and his friends. "They are not exactly my family, they're my new friends. I have no regrets about lying to you like this. I have a better idea than listening to you." Eleftherios stood in front of his mother and turned around, raising his rear end that pointed at her.

"What? What are you doing? No! No! No!" His mother bellowed as she observed what her runt son was doing.

Eleftherios grunted, farting at his own mother, much to his family's horror, because the "black sheep" of the family would do something disgusting and impolite.

"How is that an idea?" His mother gagged at such absurdity.

Learning that this family hated imperfection and disaster, Wolf charged at the small dinner table, kicked the table, spilling all the food on the ground, and threw the plates and goblets all over the place, breaking them into pieces.

Following Wolf's actions, Snake took a candle and set the sweet treats on fire. "Oops! Looks like the desserts are flambéed tonight."

"I've never seen anything so rude in all my life!" One of the mice huffed as the entire family stormed towards Eleftherios and his guests to stop making such chaos.

But the mice attack didn't stop them, as Eleftherios joined his new friends to ruin his mother's birthday and the family reunion by throwing all the food on the catering table and shattering his mother's ice statue.

Shark, Tarantula, and Hornet watched as they were a little confused about what was going on.

"What in the underworld are we doing here?" Tarantula asked.

Wolf held a tray as a shield to protect himself from being hit by food that the mice threw at him. "We're doing what we do best- ruining things."

"On it!" Hornet agreed as he, Tarantula, and Shark joined in.

Shark smashed a vase of wine before grabbing a whole tablecloth to blind some mice from engaging in an attack.

Hornet grabbed a mouse and flew towards another mouse, pinning the latter down, and shoved the mouse he grabbed into the pinned mouse's mouth.

"Eat meat, cannibal!" Hornet roared.

"That's my cousin!" The pinned-down mouse muffled.

"Eat her, then!" Hornet continued to shove the female mouse into her cousin's mouth.

When some mice attacked Snake's behind with sticks, Snake turned around and stood larger, shadowing the mice that attacked him. The mice started to feel frightened when they realized they just angered one of their vicious predators.

"Who needs this fancy food when I've got a whole buffet right here?!" Snake chuckled sinisterly as he flicked his tongue and made a hungry hissing sound.

"AAAAAAHHHHHH!" The mice screamed as they ran away, and the snake chased them down.

Tarantula was busy pulling two mice with big blonde hair and said, "Your hair was so out-of-style. Let me help you with it!" She continued to yank their hair harder.

"OOOWWWW! MYYYY HAAAAIIIRRRR!" The two female mice cried in pain.

The whole party became a disaster and chaotic as Eleftherios and the Bad Guys fought the other mice with nothing but rudeness and dirt, ruining what was supposed to be a pleasant dinner for the reunion and a birthday celebration.

The painter didn't care what was happening as he painted the portrait anyway. Whatever happened in front of him, he painted it. The portrait was finished. It was never perfect! Just a portrait of disaster

"My painting!" Eleftherios' mother sobbed that her supposed family portrait was all ruined. A bowl of food crashed on it, ruining it even more.

After that chaotic party, the Bad Guys and Eleftherios quickly escaped before the mice would get even angrier.

"So, shall we fly home?" Eleftherios questioned

"I got a better idea!" Shark suggested as he and Piranha brought a cruise ship, "Let's sail!"

The other Bad Guys and Eleftherios were surprised that they were having a new boat to sail as they climbed aboard.

"Your brother Georgios was right. It is a beautiful boat," Piranha commented.

Wolf then put Eleftherios' captain hat back on his head, making him the captain again.

They sailed back to the mainland without a problem in the ocean. They made it back before the sun set. The Bad Guys and Eleftherios hopped off the boat, and everything seemed… safe.

“Well, that was… an anticlimactic sail,” Wolf observed about their trip from Crete back to Corinth.

“Yeah. We get back to the mainland without a problem,” Tarantula discovered, regarding their smooth sailing back to the mainland.

“You think so!” the familiar voice of the hawk moth yelled behind her.

The Greek bullies were standing in front of the dock, waiting for their victims to return from their trip. They waited for a long while, but it was worth it to get back at the Bad Guys and Eleftherios.

“Oh, boy,” Tarantula deadpanned.

“You’d think this is over?!” The fire salamander growled.

“We’re not done yet,” the pine marten cracked her fist as the six bullies approached their victims.

The Bad Guys and Eleftherios groaned tiredly as they had to face these bullies all over again.

“Well, better face the music, I guess,” Snake suggested as the seven of them prepared for another match.

The next day, the Bad Guys and Eleftherios hitched a ride back to Litochoro, where the adventure started, and it was near the forest that surrounded Mount Olympus, where they hid their jet.

“Eleftherios, we want to thank you for making our vacation in Greece memorable,” Wolf said.

“And giving us some exquisite food,” Snake hiccupped without acknowledging to everyone that he ate some of the mice from yesterday at Crete.

“It’s not perfect like your dumb ol’ family, but it was fun,” Piranha admitted.

“I’m just glad I have new friends like you,” Eleftherios smiled. He was happy that he had someone who made him feel like family.

“So, are you sure you’re going to be okay here?” Shark asked concerningly.

“Yeah, I don’t think they could win back their territory when I'm around,” the house mouse nodded, pointing his thumb behind him.

The Greek bullies have once again been defeated, tied up in ropes, and their mouths were covered as they muffled through the cloth. The Bad Guys and Eleftherios brought them back to Litochoro with them.

“It’s time for us to go,” Hornet stated as he and his friends left Eleftherios to leave the town.

“Come visit anytime!” Eleftherios waved goodbye to his new friends.

It was a fun adventure in Greece. It wasn’t exactly the vacation they expected, but it was one of the most memorable vacations they had so far.

Cast:

Michael Godere - Mr. Wolf

Chris Diamantopoulos - Mr. Snake

Ezekiel Ajeigbe - Mr. Shark

Raul Ceballos - Mr. Piranha

Mallory Low - Ms. Tarantula

Eugene Lee Yang - Mr. Hornet

Tate Donovan – Eleftherios
Mario Frangoulis – Eleftherios' singing voice

Tina Benko - Pine Marten

Roger Craig Smith - Adder

Shomari Love - Kri-kri

Krizia Bajos - Ermine

Darren Barnet - Hawk Moth

Keith Douglas Habersberger - Fire Salamander

Samantha Eggar – Eleftherios' mother

Author
Aggimagination

Co-author:
MasterClass60

Next on The Bad Guys: The Baddest Trip...

Mr. Hornet: Hey guys, look at this!"

Mr. Shark: Oh, my God, I haven't seen these in years!

Mr. Piranha: What is that, Shark?

Mr. Shark: This is Spring of Love. It was a Korean soap opera that I was in.

Mr. Hornet: You were in a Korean soap opera?

Mr. Shark: I was playing a guy named U.S. Lysses Finn.

Mr. Snake: Well, let's see if you're so good in this one.

(The Bad Guys watched all of the episodes of Spring of Love that was provided. They finished the last one)

Ms. Tarantula: Oh, my golly.

Mr. Wolf: Hornet, play the next episode.

Mr. Hornet: There's no episode left!

Ms. Tarantula: Shark, we need that episode. We got to know what happened!

Mr. Shark: Guys, I'm sorry, but it was years ago, and it never aired outside Korea.

Mr. Hornet: So... we go to Korea.

Chapter Text

Previously On The Bad Guys: The Baddest Trip…

Mr. Snake:  So, you decided to have a vacation in Greece.

Mr. Hornet:  Yep. I say Greece is one of the most magnificent countries that contributed a lot to the world.

House Mouse:  You tourístes? Loipón. My name is Eleftherios. I'll show you Greece.

Mr. Wolf:  Eleftherios, I think there's another reason why you're taking us on a boat trip, isn't there?

Eleftherios:  Okay, the reason I took you on a boat trip is because… I wanna take you to Crete to meet with my family.

Mr. Shark:  Your family?

Eleftherios:  I want to make a good impression that… I have a family, and I was thinking you can be my… "beautiful loving family"?

The Bad Guys:  WHAT?!

Eleftherios' mother:  You all look so beautiful and perfect, except for Eleftherios and his 'family,' but we didn't expect anything more from him, did we?

Mr. Wolf:  I thought family was about responsibility and obligation, but I see now what that gets you. Family and friendship are supposed to be about supporting each other for exactly who we are, and I'd much rather live with screw-up crazy friends than with a mean-spirited, condescending, disrespectful mother!

Eleftherios' mother:  Eleftherios, take your insolent, devilish family out of here," the mother mouse demanded at her disappointment of a son.

Eleftherios:  They are not exactly my family, they're my new friends. I have no regrets about lying to you like this.

Mr. Wolf:  Eleftherios, we want to thank you for making our vacation in Greece memorable.

Mr. Piranha:  It's not perfect like your dumb ol' family, but it was fun.

Eleftherios:  I'm just glad I have new friends like you.

Famous in Korea

The jet plane zoomed through the skies as the Bad Guys were relaxing on their seats with Wolf piloting the plane while declaring to his friends at the back.

"That was the greatest trip we had ever been on, guys. I think we have a good record here!"

"Do you think it's time for us to go home?" Tarantula suggested while she was typing on her laptop.

The other Bad Guys stared at Wolf, waiting for answers.

"Well, we've been everywhere, and I think we've 'borrowed' the jet for too long now. I think it's time to get back home and return this jet before we get arrested without bail," the leader responded.

The other Bad Guys murmured in agreement, as they felt they had been on vacation for longer than planned. They went back to their seats to continue their relaxing time.

"Well, since we'll be in this jet for hours, might as well watch some movies." Hornet tapped the TV screen in front of him and searched for a movie to watch. He then stumbled onto the TV category and found an icon that looked familiar to him. "Hey guys, look at this!"

Everyone, including Wolf, who set the jet on autopilot, gathered around Hornet's seat to see what was on his TV. It was an icon of a Korean soap opera series with a familiar face in one of the main characters.

"Oh, my God, I haven't seen these in years!" Shark exclaimed.

"What is that, Shark?" Piranha questioned.

"This is Spring of Love. It was a Korean soap opera that I was in," Shark explained.

Hornet inquired, "You were in a Korean soap opera?"

"Yeah, back then before I met you guys, I saw an ad in the paper for guys who have good acting skills, and I was the only one who showed up. Next thing I know, I'm on TV, playing a guy named U.S. Lysses Finn."

"Wow, I didn't even know you were an actor," Wolf stated.

"I thought your biggest dream was becoming an actor. You already were one," Tarantula mentioned.

"Oh no, this is just my part-time job. It didn't last long. My dream is to become a full-time actor in Hollywood," Shark clarified.

"Well, let's see if you're so good in this one." Snake tapped the screen with his tail to play the first episode.

With Wolf hoping the jet would keep flying throughout the episode, the Bad Guys sat down and kept their eyes on the screen, watching the episode.

Shark played the character named U.S. Lysses Finn as he dressed as a handsome guy with a cool haircut wig and an American-printed jacket. He was having lunch with his human Korean co-workers.

"U.S. Lysses Finn, hyudaepon jom chiwo. Jeomsimsigan-inde (U.S. Lysses Finn, put your phone away. It's lunch break)," one Korean co-worker advised.

"Saelo on jig-won deul-eobosyeoss-eoyo? yeppeun yeojayeyo (Have you heard of a new employee? She's a beautiful woman)," the second Korean coworker announced.

Right on time, a female Korean human came into the lunch hall, looking for someone who could welcome her since she was new in the office.

The three co-workers spotted the new employee, and the first co-worker commented when looking at her, "Wa, ne mal-i maj-ass-eo, Hoon. geu yeoja neomu yeppeugo, jeongmal jeolbaghae boyeo. (Wow, you were right, Hoon. She's so pretty, and she looks really desperate.)"

U.S. Lysses Finn then stated, "Aleumdaun yeoseongman-i jasin-ui gomin-eul pyohyeonhal su issgo, geunyeoegeneun chinguga pil-yohabnida (Only a beautiful woman can express her distress, and she needs a friend)", U.S. Lysses Finn left his seat and approached the newbie. "Annyeonghaseyo, yeppeun agassi. jeoneun log-aenlol-eul yeonjuhal su iss-eoyo (Hello, beautiful lady. I can play rock and roll)."

Hornet asked Shark in surprise, "Wow, Shark, you speak Korean?"

"A little bit. I took several Korean-language sessions, and I said random words that I can't translate," Shark admitted.

"So, you never knew what you were saying?" Snake inquired.

"No, in fact, the directors just let me speak however I wanted, and they made clear subtitles for everyone to understand."

They continued watching the show as Wolf was pointing at a character, "Wow, that girl's hot."

"That's a guy," Shark corrected.

Then, Wolf pointed at another character. "That other guy is handsome."

"That's a girl," Shark rectified.

"That cat is cute."

"That's a dog."

"What is everything?!"

The Bad Guys almost reached the end of the episode as they were eager to know who Seo-yeon ended up with.

"Oh, gosh, if Seo-yeon and Eun-woo don't get together, I'm gonna kill myself!" Piranha squeaked.

"You're crazy! Eun-woo is completely dishonorable! He brought a personal item to work!" Snake hissed.

In this scene of the episode, the female character, Seo-yeon, was seen together with another guy named Eun-woo on the bridge, admiring the moonlight. Then, they turned to each other face-to-face.

"Eun-woo, kiseuhaejwo (Kiss me, Eun-woo)," Seo-yeon requested.

When Eun-woo leaned closer to Seo-yeon's face to kiss her, he removed his mask, revealing himself to be U.S. Lysses Finn all along.

"Nollabji! nega salang-e ppajin geon balo nayeoss-eo (Surprise! It was me you're in love with)," U.S. Lysses Finn smirked.

"Oh, my God!" Wolf shook like an excited, giggling fangirl.

"No way!" Tarantula gasped.

"I told you! I told you!" Piranha cheered.

"Wow, I guess he didn't die in the printing and scanning machine," Snake sighed.

And that was the end of the episode. The picture froze as credits rolled up and a song was played along.

"What?! It's over?!" Piranha shrieked.

"Should we play the next one?" Hornet questioned.

"Of course we should. We are binge-watching this whole show," Wolf answered.

For hours, with one stop in Guam, the Bad Guys continued to watch the entire series, and they were at the scene where U.S. Lysses Finn and Seo-yeon were getting married.

U.S. Lysses Finn and Seo-yeon were having a Korean wedding. U.S. Lysses Finn stood at the aisle, and Seo-yeon was under the arch of flowers. Two bridesmaids assisted in walking her down the aisle.

On the street, a bus was driving by until one of its wheels hit a stone, and the driver lost control of the bus as he steered the wheel to the left. The bus was driving towards the wedding.

The ceremony was interrupted when everyone noticed the bus coming towards them. The guests and Seo-yeon's bridesmaids ran for their lives, but only Seo-yeon was left standing in the bus' way. Seo-yeon had no time to run as she watched the bus coming towards her.

A bright light flashed, never showing what happened to Seo-yeon during that. U.S. Lysses Finn helplessly watched his love getting hit by a bus when he tried to reach for her. The flame from the candle was blown out.

Seo-yeon stumbled down to the ground, unconscious, hurt, and injured. U.S. Lysses Finn rushed to her aid and caressed her.

"Andwae! Nae salanghaneun gongjunim-i neomu apa! Neomu keun solilo ul-eoseo neomu goelowoss-eo! (No! My sweet princess is hurt! I cried so loud and in anguish!)," U.S. Lysses Finn cried in distress while the wedding guests watched pitifully.

The picture froze, and a song played while the credits rolled.

"Oh, my golly," Tarantula commented.

"Hornet, play the next episode," Wolf requested.

When Hornet swiped the screen, there wasn't anything next after the current episode. "There's no episode left!"

"What?! Where's the next one?" Piranha squeaked eagerly.

Tarantula swiped on the screen, but the screen couldn't scroll to the next episodes anymore. "He's right. Oh, my God! What do we do?!"

"Shark, tell us what happened! Did Seo-yeon live to have the baby?! Did Kim secure a position at the hydroelectric plant?!" Wolf pleaded for answers.

"I don't know. I don't remember," Shark replied.

"How can you not remember?!" Snake bellowed.

"It was many years ago. We shot out of order. I-I never even knew what I was saying. I didn't care. I was living the life. Just acting, hanging with co-workers, and eating cabbage, you know."

"Aw, crap, what do we do about our show?" Piranha cried.

"Now I know how that German movie producer felt," Hornet said.

For hours, Tarantula was searching for the last episode on the internet through her laptop.

"That episode's not online anywhere. I even tried the Korean search engine Bing Bong," she said.

"That's not real," Hornet chuckled.

"All right, it's not," Tarantula admitted before turning to Shark, "But, Shark, we need that episode. We got to know what happened!"

Shark answered, "Guys, I'm sorry, but it was years ago, and it never aired outside Korea except for private travels like our jet. I guess they didn't put the last episode there."

"So... we go to Korea," Hornet said, giving the solution to this problem.

"Yes!" Piranha yelled excitedly.

"Heading there now." Wolf walked back to the cockpit to start the plane and head to Korea.

Shark still thought this wasn't a big deal. "Come on, guys, it's just a dumb, forgotten TV show."

"Shark, we have to know how Spring of Love ends," Tarantula reminded.

"This show is our whole life now," Snake added.

"Yeah, if we don't find that tape, we're screwed," Piranha remarked.

Since Seoul International Airport was the largest and busiest airport in the world, Tarantula hacked into the airport's system, where she certified the jet to land on their runway. Once cleared, Wolf safely landed the jet and arrived at the airport with fake tickets and passports.

They made it to the arrival terminal without any travel.

"Man, Epcot nailed Asia," Piranha stated.

Just then, a Korean man noticed Shark and gasped, "It's U.S. Lysses Finn!"

The crowd got his attention as they all gathered around Shark, calling him by his character name from the show.

"Holy moly, Shark, you're famous here!" Wolf noticed.

"It's U.S. Lysses Finn!" One of the Koreans in the crowd took a picture with his phone.

"U.S. Lysses Finn is back!" Another Korean declared.

The Bad Guys traveled to Seoul, where they went to a hotel called "Imperial Cutey Baby." As they entered the hotel, the Koreans noticed Shark coming in and chattered about him being U.S. Lysses Finn.

At the front desk, the receptionist also recognized Shark as he welcomed him by his character name, "Welcome, U.S. Lysses Finn. We give only best room for you. Would you like smoking or chain smoking?

"Uh, smoking, I guess?" Shark chose randomly.

"Yes, and how many ridiculous things would you like your toilet to do?"

"Do you have one that goes, 'Yum-yum-yum-yum-yum'?" Piranha requested.

"Ah, presidential suite!"

Later, while waiting for them to be checked in, the Bad Guys sat in the waiting area with Hornet calling someone on his phone.

"Well, Mira made it back to LA," he declared, "but we should probably head out to find the last episode of that Korean soap opera."

"Yeah. Where's Wolf?" Tarantula questioned.

"Oh, he went to get plastic surgery," Shark answered.

"He did?"

"Yeah, Korea's the plastic surgery capital of the world. Nobody here thinks you look good unless you have big, round eyes and a tiny little nose and chin."

Wolf appeared with a new face. His eyes got bigger and prettier, and his snout got smaller. "Hey, guys."

"Wolf, are you all right?!" Snake asked.

"You know what? I feel good. I feel like I want to giggle behind my hand at a lot of things and hold, but not eat, a big ice cream cone," Wolf said.

Later, the Bad Guys drove around the city to search for the last episode of Spring of Love in every video store they could find, but to no avail.

"There were more birds than videos in there," Snake stated.

"Yeah, and no sign of Spring of Love," Hornet added.

"Shark?" A woman called the big fish, who was surprised to see him, "Mr. Shark?"

"Young Mi?"

The Korean woman smiled as she ran towards Shark. Shark rushed towards her as well. The two embraced each other warmly and happily.

Wolf gasped as he recognized that woman. "It's Seo-yeon! From the show!"

"I don't believe it," Piranha beamed.

"She's so beautiful. She's so beautiful!" Snake cried with joy.

Shark and Young Mi broke the hug as he asked her, "H-How did you find me?"

"I heard that U.S. Lysses Finn was back, so I started following you on the new 'Where U.S. Lysses Finn?' app." Young Mi showed Shark her phone with the app.

"Ah, it's so great to see you, Young Mi. You look just as pretty as ever."

"I've waited every day hoping you would return."

"And I never stopped thinking of you."

The way Shark and Young Mi looked at each other, there seemed to be some genuine attraction between them.

Even the other Bad Guys noticed their feelings between them.

Hornet gasped, "Were you guys... involved?"

"We were, Hornet," Shark answered.

"Korean O-M-G!" Piranha squealed.

"Young Mi, we actually came here to find the last episode of Spring of Love," Wolf explained. "Would you happen to have it?"

"Of course," Young Mi agreed.

"Can we see it?" Piranha asked excitedly.

"Why, yes. Tonight," Young Mi said before turning to Shark, "Shark, you and your friends must come to my home for gross Korean dinner."

"Man, look at them. They make such a cute couple," Tarantula commented.

Young Mi guided the Bad Guys to her humble home and welcomed them inside.

"I'm so happy you all could make it tonight. We will have many things you will nibble at and not eat. Then I will give you a pizza," Young Mi remarked.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's great. Hey, can we watch that last episode of Spring of Love now?" Wolf impatiently reminded.

"We will watch together after dinner. In the meantime, feel free to watch Korean pop videos." Young Mi turned on the TV and showed a music video of a K-pop song, "Run To You" by STAYC.

Wolf, Snake, Piranha, and Tarantula stared at the TV in amazement but were confused at the same time about what they had just watched.

"What is this, and how can I make the rest of my life about it?" Wolf said in a monotone.

Hornet was dancing along with the music. "It's called K-pop, Wolf. One of the famous music genres of modern history."

Shark and Young Mi came out from the kitchen, and she announced, "Dinner will be ready soon." She turned to Shark. "But, Shark, I have a surprise for you. Do you remember Marigold?"

"Who's Marigold?" Piranha questioned.

A wrinkly old turtle came out from the kitchen and looked at Shark happily.

"Oh, my God, I can't believe Marigold is still alive!" Shark cooed as he bent down and hugged the little

"Alive and well," Young Mi stated.

"Wait a minute, you named a cat Marigold?" Snake laughed, "Only Shark."

"And you know, Shark, after you moved away, Marigold had baby turtles," Young Mi revealed.

Shark gasped in disbelief, "What?"

"That's right. You're a grandfather!"

More young adult turtles came out of the kitchen and gathered around Shark. The Great White couldn't be happier.

The Bad Guys and Young Mi were having Korean dinner, where they had to eat on a short table and had to kneel on the floor with pillows under them.

Shark sighed in relief from all that eating. "Ah, that was a great dinner, Young Mi. I've missed you so much. I'd forgotten how happy we make each other."

Wolf just finished a cup of dessert and said, "Okay, I'm done with this sweet rice water that has a pine nut floating in it. Nice dessert, by the way. Can we watch the thing now?"

"Of course. Here it is, the last episode of Spring of Love." Young Mi gave Wolf the tape of the last episode of Spring of Love.

"Oh, my God! This is everything I've dreamed of," Wolf admired the sight of the last episode's tape.

The Bad Guys and Young Mi watched the last episode of Spring of Love together. They were now at the very last scene of the episode.

U.S. Lysses Finn walked towards the small plane, where he climbed up the stairs before turning to Seo-yeon, "Annyeonghi gaseyo, nae salang (Goodbye, my love)."

"Naneun dangsin-eul, uliga hamkke han chueog-eul, geuligo dangsin-ui aleumdaun eolgul-eul gyeolko ij-ji anh-eul geos-ibnida (I will never forget you, our memories together, and your beautiful face)." Seo-yeon tearfully replied.

The airplane took off with U.S. Lysses Finn heading back to America. Seo-yeon watched the plane fly as tears rolled down her cheeks. The picture froze, and the song was played as the credits rolled up, concluding the series.

Wolf, Snake, Piranha, Tarantula, and Hornet cried at the very last scene. It was a bittersweet ending.

"Why?! Why would U.S. Lysses Finn leave Korea? He had everything! Love! A family! Why would he go back to his sad, pathetic bachelor life in America?! He's got nothing there! Why would he ever want to go home?!" Wolf wailed before wiping his tears and turned to Shark. "Okay, Shark, let's go home."

Shark thought about what Wolf said. As he looked at Young Mi and said, "Well, you know what? You're right, Wolf. U.S. Lysses Finn never should've left. It was the only time he was ever happy."

"What? What are you saying?" Wolf wanted to clarify what Shark just said.

"Hey, Young Mi, your TV says it's 21:00. What is that in real time?" Piranha cut in.

"I'm saying I'm not going back to LA," Shark declared.

"What?!" Snake exclaimed as he and the other Bad Guys were shocked by Shark's sudden decision.

"But we've-we've seen the last episode. We did what we came here to do," Wolf noted.

"Wolf, everything you just said is true. I don't have anyone waiting for me in LA," Shark said, "But here, I've got Young Mi. I've got Marigold and our grandturtles. I've got a family. I'm not gonna make the same mistake U.S. Lysses Finn did. I'm staying here."

"WHAT?!" the other Bad Guys gaped in horror.

"Shark, you can't stay in Korea. We all got lives back in LA," Wolf reasoned.

"That's just it, Wolf. You guys have lives. You all have plans there. And I have nothing waiting for me back there," Shark replied, "But here, I have a family. Plus, everyone can be an actor whenever they want."

"Wolf's right, we can't just leave you here. Who am I gonna get all my seaside puns from? You're my seaside guy!" Snake cried.

"Snake, I got those from a book," Shark confessed.

"I wish I didn't know that. Definitely didn't 'sea' it coming, huh?"

"Sorry, guys, you're not gonna change my mind. I just feel like I belong here with Young Mi," Shark informed as he and Young Mi stood up while holding two of their turtles and left for the kitchen with the other turtles following them.

"What are you gonna do? It's a powerful thing when a woman pays you even the slightest bit of attention," Wolf remarked.

"Yeah, God knows I've been there," Piranha stated.

A flashback showed Piranha and Hornet were having a date in a restaurant, and they just came in to get seats.

"Welcome to Chili's," the hostess greeted. "We're through," Piranha told Hornet.

The remaining Bad Guys went to a Korean bar to get some drinks while thinking about the situation of leaving Shark behind.

"Can't believe Shark isn't coming back with us." Piranha said sadly.

"We just got to accept that Shark has made his decision. There's nothing we can do about it," Snake proclaimed.

"Yeah, I guess as far as Shark's concerned, he's totally Korean now," Wolf sighed.

A K-pop music video, "As If It's Your Last" by BLACKPINK, was played on TV behind them as it interrupted their thoughts about Shark. The song was so good, the Bad Guys bopped their heads to the music.

This was where Wolf realized he had an idea to get Shark to change his mind about living in Korea. "Guys, there's only one way to get through to a Korean." Snake slowly regurgitated a police baton before Wolf continued his sentence, "Through their music."

"Uh-huh. Yeah," Snake quickly swallowed the baton back. "We can try your thing."

The next day, in Young Mi's house, Shark was watching TV with Marigold on his lap. The other Bad Guys burst in from the door.

"Shark, you're making a mistake," Wolf declared.

"LA is where you belong," Snake added.

"That's right. And if you won't listen to us, maybe you'll listen to, um... us," Piranha said.

"But singing," Hornet noted.

Piranha:  Shark!

Snake:  Shark!

Hornet:  Do, do, do, do, do, do, woo!

Wolf:  Your new romance has you lost in a global trance! So, we're breaking the spell with a K-Pop dance!

Tarantula:  Do, do, do, do!

Wolf:  Give our song a chance!

Tarantula:  Do, do, do, do!

Wolf:  Everything in Korea's a sight to see
but it doesn't have the special memories!

Tarantula:  Do, do, do, do!

Wolf:  Come home where you belong!
L.A. is your home!

Snake, Piranha, Tarantula and Hornet:  Oh, Shark!

Wolf:  You can't stay here in Korea!

Snake, Piranha, Tarantula and Hornet:  Come home!

Wolf:  'Cause back home, we'd really miss ya!

Snake, Piranha, Tarantula and Hornet:  L.A.

Wolf:  So, tell your sweet girl, "Hon, see ya!"
Come on, come on, home! L.A. is your home!

Piranha:  Bro!

Stars, fast cars, and Hollywood!
Wavy palms with sturdy wood!
Our home base where us Bad Guys stood!

Snake, Piranha, Tarantula and Hornet:  Gold coins!

Wolf:  Only in the U.S.A., hey!
Come on home, today!

Tarantula:  Do, do, do, do!

Wolf:  Confusing Dance Break!
Random names of food now!

Wolf, Snake, Piranha, Tarantula and Hornet:  Hotdog! L.A.! Twizzlers!
Hotdog L.A. Twizzlers!

Wolf:  You only belong in L.A.!

Wolf, Snake, Piranha, Tarantula and Hornet:  Come home!

Wolf:  You love the nice outfits
Here are just Hanbok!

So buddy, please run
Don't jog, and come on, come on, come on home!
L.A. is your home!

Piranha:  Bro!

Hornet:  Do, do, do, do, do, do, woo!
Do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do!
Do, do, do, do, do, do, do, woo!

After the song ended, the Bad Guys were still wearing the same. From their song. As predicted, the song didn't make Shark change his decision.

"Sorry, guys. I know those New York Giants jerseys weren't cheap, but I'm staying here, and that's final." Shark was serious about his choice as he carried the sick Marigold and walked off, much to his friends' devastation.

At night, while Shark knew his friends headed back to the hotel to pack for their trip home tomorrow, he and Young Mi shared a bed together as they were ready to sleep.

"Well, I pressed our matching beige pantsuits for tomorrow," Shark told Young Mi as he got on the bed with her. "Good night." Before Shark could turn the lamp off next to him, there was an old man standing next to the bed. "Aah!" The old man stared at him blankly. "Who's that?!"

"This is my grandfather. He is going to live with us, in the Asian tradition. So will the rest of my aunts, uncles, and cousins," Young Mi revealed as more of her relatives came in with their sleeping mats and pillows.

"They will?" Shark asked in shock.

"Of course. And have you met Great-Grandma?" Young Mi pointed to her grandma next to Shark.

Young Mi's great-grandma's body looked translucent as Shark exclaimed, "I can see through her! I-Is she a ghost?"

"We don't know. She won't answer." Young Mi said, "Tomorrow, you take her to town to buy root vegetables. After that, you will get psychopath wig so you look like one of us."

Shark sighed sadly about all those responsibilities Young Mi asked of him.

Young Mi noticed the look on Shark's face as she questioned in concern, "What's the matter, Shark? You don't seem completely emotionless."

"No, no, no, no, I am, I am. I'm emotionless," Shark answered as he and Young Mi turned the lights off.

"Good night, Shark. Oh, and just so you know, three of my cousins have night terrors," Young Mi noted before going to sleep.

Shark stayed awake and realized the responsibilities he had to do for Young Mi's family. And since Young Mi has a lot of relatives, he would do a lot of them. He would even wear a wig that matched her family's as well.

While thinking about his decision, he could hear three cousins screaming in terror in their nightmares.

The next day, the remaining Bad Guys went to the airport to find their jet and leave the country.

"It's crazy we're going home without Shark. What are we gonna do without him?" Piranha questioned.

"Sell his outrageous clothes, enjoy the profits?" Snake suggested.

Wolf, Piranha, Tarantula, and Hornet went silent for a bit about Snake's idea, but it didn't seem like a bad idea.

When they arrived at the gate of the airport and into the runway where their jet was almost ready, the Bad Guys still looked back, thinking about Shark, but they knew he wasn't going with them.

"Good-bye, Shark. We're gonna miss you, buddy," Wolf whispered as they headed towards the gate.

"Guys, wait!" They heard Shark's voice calling for them.

Shark, Young Mi, and her family arrived just in time as they wore cute American-styled clothes and danced to the same song the other Bad Guys sang for him the other day.

Shark:  You can't stay here in Korea!
'Cause back home, we'd really miss ya!

Shark, Young Mi and family: Hotdog L.A. Twizzlers!
Hotdog L.A. Twizzlers!

After the song, Shark approached his friends and confessed, "What I'm trying to say is... guys, I'm coming back to LA with you."

"You are? Oh, that's great!" Wolf exclaimed happily.

"Welcome back, fin bro!" Piranha smiled.

"But wait, won't that upset Young Mi and your new Korean family?" Hornet wondered.

"What, are you kidding? They all got to be in a K-pop song. That's all anyone here wants," Shark explained. "Look, Great-Grandma is so happy, she finally died and became a ghost."

Great-grandma became a ghost as she flew happily in the air with stars, hearts, and colorful words around her.

The Bad Guys' jet left Korea and flew across the Pacific Ocean to get back to LA. After hours of travel, the jet landed at the runway of LAX, the place where they stole the jet in the first place.

"Thanks again for convincing me to come home, guys," Shark thanked his friend.

"No problem, Shark," Tarantula replied.

"Yep, I thought I wanted a family, but I already had one all along," Shark admitted.

"Guys, Mira texted me 'heads up,' and Diane texted me she's not bailing on us this time." Hornet announced while looking at his phone.

There were red-and-blue lights flashing through the windows, and sirens were heard from outside. Wolf sighed in defeat as he advised his friends, "Well, we all know how this goes."

The Bad Guys opened the cabin door and walked down the stairs that the airport crew provided, in case there was a plan B. They made it down to the ground and had their arms folded behind their heads. They knew what was coming to them when they stole the jet and went on a vacation for the whole summer, so they knew the drill.

Guns and rifles pointed at the Bad Guys to keep them surrounded.

"We're doing it!" Wolf shouted.

They would be in prison for a long time.

Cast:

Michael Godere - Mr. Wolf

Chris Diamantopoulos - Mr. Snake

Ezekiel Ajeigbe - Mr. Shark

Raul Ceballos - Mr. Piranha

Mallory Low - Ms. Tarantula

Eugene Lee Yang - Mr. Hornet

Mela Lee – Young Mi

Sung Kang – Soap Opera Actor #1

C.S. Lee – Soap Opera Actor #2

Robert Wu – Hotel Front Desk Clerk

Chapter Text

The Bad Guys Go To The North Pole

Christmas has arrived once again, and everybody was getting ready for the holidays. Today, the day before Christmas, everybody was making up their Christmas list. They wrote everything down on paper, the things they wanted to ask Santa Claus for this year.

After four months in prison for stealing a private jet, the Bad Guys were paroled, and just in time for Christmas. All they did after their release was to get back to the headquarters and start making their list. They might've been in prison, and stealing a private jet was a crime; they hoped their good behavior in prison and parol would get them back on Santa's nice list.

Wolf: Glimmering jewels and golden stars!
A new dashboard for my car!
Is all I really want for Christmas this year!

"Well, that's just not practical," Snake mumbled while reading a book.

Tarantula: Brand new hard drives and plug-in hookies!
A laptop to break those web cookies!
Is all I really want for Christmas this year!

"Oh, that's terrific, Webs! What about you, guys?" Wolf then let his other friends talk about what they asked Santa for.

Shark: I would love some new high heels,
to go with my dresses!
Though I really don't wear them so much!

Hornet: I want a brand new journal set!
And another year with my friends!

Wolf: Oh, and that reminds me; new four-wheel drive gear!

Bad Guys sans Snake: All these happy wishes
And lots of Christmas cheer is
All I really want this year!

"Santa's got his work cut out for him," Snake interrupted.

"Oh, we ain't even gotten started yet!" Wolf said, letting the song continue.

Tarantula: I want a sweet new high-tech drone!

Wolf: The number of Diane's phone!

Wolf and Tarantula: Is all I really want for Christmas this year!

"Wait, what?" Tarantula almost heard Wolf's line clearly.

"Forget it; keep going," Wolf excused.

Shark: I want the latest hoiseries!

Hornet: For once, not being compared to bees!

Shark and Hornet: Is all I really want for Christmas this year!

Piranha: A small velvet ring box; never mind the reason
Also, a new cookbook and a ball!

Snake: Doesn't this seem like too much stuff?

Wolf: Eat my shorts; they're not enough.

Piranha: Why don't you go out and pick locks, you queer?!

"Look who's talking!" Snake voiced before slithering off the couch.

Bad Guys sans Snake: All these happy wishes
And lots of Chistmas cheer is
All I really want this year!

"I'm just saying that this seems a bit excessive," Snake reasoned about all of these stuff to ask Santa for.

"Oh, get off your grump box, Snake; it's Christmas!" Tarantula reminded.

"And Christmas is all about getting! Everyone in town knows that!" Wolf added.

At this cue, everyone in Los Angeles sang their lines of the song, expressing what they wanted for Christmas this year.

Diane: A week with not doing paperwork!
Some tech upgrades from my old line of work!
Is all I really want for Christmas this year!

Mrs. Gardener: Platinum plated silverware!

Mr. Gardener: The chance to regrow my hair!

Mr. and Mrs. Gardener: Is all I really want for Christmas this year!

Mira: I would love to have my stories on the public news!
And out-report Tiffany for once!
Like come on! Seriously?!

Tiffany: I want a new mic that won't wail!

Chief Luggins: Hundreds of handcuffs for those criminals
Already got a name list right here!

Mira, Tiffany, and Chief Luggins: All these happy wishes
And lots of Chistmas cheer is
All I really want this year!

Callum: I want a new pair of hiking boots!

Mariposa: And a unicorn that's cute!

Callum and Mariposa: Is all I really want for Christmas this year!

Commissioner Griffin: I want a big box of donuts!

Unnamed Cop: I would like some new lug nuts!

Commissioner Griffin and Unnamed Cop: Is all I really want for Christmas this year!

Nickel: I just want new toolbox
For old car repairs

Rusty: I want a MP3 to play my tunes!

Daxton: I want a collection of CDs!

Dusk: I want to get a puppy!
I can care for it and name it Juan Pierre!

All sans Snake: All these happy wishes
And lots of Chistmas cheer
Is all I really want! This! Year!

The Bad Guys went to the mall when Piranha requested to meet Santa Claus so he could ask something from him in person. Piranha was so excited, like a little child giggling for a surprise.

"I am so excited to see Santa Claus," he admitted. "You know what I think is really wonderful? Of all the malls in this great country of ours, he chooses to come here. Year after year. You know, I mean, who... Who are we? You know? I'll tell you who we are... The lucky ones."

"Yeah, I mean, lucky enough we served four months in prison and are finally free so close to Christmas." Tarantula reminded, "Even though we're still on parole."

"Well, stealing the jet wasn't that big of a deal. At least we came back with it in one piece, and with community service, we were pardoned quickly," Wolf explained.

As they continued forward, Hornet halted himself and his group when he noticed something right ahead, "Uh-oh."

There was a long line in front of them, leading to "Meet Santa Claus" in the middle of the mall. There were a lot of children and adults wanting to meet Santa Claus as they waited for each turn before going on next.

"Oh man, look at the line!" Shark exclaimed.

"Damn it, we're gonna be here forever," Snake complained.

The Bad Guys decided to stand at the line like everyone else. The people in front of them seemed to be nervous by their presence. They were still not over their fear of them. They were still called "The Bad Guys" for some reason, despite that they acted good now. Some still had distrust of them since they did steal the private jet that summer. But since it's Christmas, it would be better to mind their own business than to judge these "reformed" criminals.

The Bad Guys were in line for 2 hours, and the line was so slow to move.

"What the hell! Why isn't it moving?" Snake hissed impatiently.

"I don't know. It's always the same thing. Some fat kid sitting on Santa's lap taking all day," Hornet guessed.

Hornet was right. It was someone fat sitting on Santa's lap for a while, but it wasn't a kid; it was Commissioner Griffin, asking what he wanted this Christmas. The other people on the line glared at him in annoyance and impatience.

Hours went by, the line got shorter and shorter, and the Bad Guys were nearly close to Santa. The last kid before them was sitting on Santa's lap while his mother took a picture of him.

"Geez, doesn't the mall close soon? We've been here forever," Tarantula wondered without looking at the clock.

"Would you relax? We're right here. I'm next," Piranha said.

After the mother took one last photo of her kid with Santa, the mother took her child away, and it was the Bad Guys' turn.

Piranha was so excited to finally meet Santa as he approached him with his friends behind the fish.

"Hello, Santa. Now, um, we've got a slight problem here, because I have been rather naughty like my friends since we did steal a private jet this summer. But you're a businessman, and I'm a businessman. I'm sure we can work... something... out." Piranha pulled a $100 bill, making a bribe out of it.

The 'Santa Claus' looked at his watch before standing up and placing a sign that said, "CLOSED TO FEED THE REINDEER. SEE YOU TOMORROW," and walked away.

"Wait. What are you doing? Santa? You can't leave now!" Piranha shouted.

"Hey, wait... Wait, buddy, buddy, we've been in line for, like, two hours," Wolf called out.

"Sorry. I'm done. You want your kid to sit on my lap? Meet me at the bar at Denny's," 'Santa Claus' said exhaustedly as he turned and continued to walk away.

"Aw, that sucks," Hornet bellowed before feeling sympathy towards his boyfriend. "Sorry, Piranha."

"That son of a gun! He just turned his back on me. I can't believe this!" Piranha threw a tantrum as he jumped up and down aggressively, stomping the floor.

Knowing Piranha might be doing this for more than an hour or after the mall closes, the Bad Guys decided to leave, with Tarantula and Hornet grabbing his head fins and dragging Piranha on the floor with them.

Back at their home base, the Bad Guys were decorating their home with Christmas decorations.

But Piranha had other plans. He was already changing into his winter clothes and wearing a backpack. He approached Wolf and demanded, "Hey, give me your keys. I need your car.

"What? You're not taking my car," Wolf stated.

"Very well, then. You're driving me. Let's go." Piranha held Wolf by the tail and dragged him along.

The other Bad Guys noticed how Piranha was behaving as they caught up to him and Wolf.

"Driving you where?" Hornet questioned.

"To the North Pole to see Santa Claus," Piranha answered. "If that overweight, bearded guy thinks he can just blow me off like that, he's got another thing coming!"

"Look, Piranha, I know you're disappointed that you didn't get to see Santa, but I... I'm not driving you to the North Pole," Wolf responded.

Then, Shark interjected into the conversation as he realized something, "Hold on, Wolf, maybe we should consider it. I mean, we did go to prison for stealing a jet. What if we should take a trip again without the jet, you know? It'll be our Christmas vacation this time. Another memory in our book."

Wolf didn't think it would be a good idea to go to the North Pole, but when he noticed Shark, Tarantula, and Hornet's eyes became big puppy eyes, they were signs of begging, while Snake just shrugged with his body, not caring what he thought about it. Wolf admitted he liked the vacation they had that summer, and a Christmas trip would be good too.

"All right, let's go to the North Pole," Wolf declared.

Shark, Piranha, Tarantula, and Hornet cheered excitedly, "Yaaay!"

The Bad Guys were off on a road trip to the North Pole. It was a long one-and-a-half-hour trip, and Piranha was sound asleep. Still, Wolf couldn't take the whole gang to the North Pole. It was too far away. While Piranha was asleep, Snake thought of an idea to make Piranha think they made it to the North Pole, so Wolf followed Snake's advice and took a different turn.

The Bad Guys arrived at what was thought to be the North Pole, but it was actually "SkyPark at Santa's Village."

Wolf found a parking spot, and he and Snake turned to the back seat to check on Piranha.

Shark, Tarantula, and Hornet had been watching him sleeping like a baby. It was Shark's cue to wake him up.

"Hey, Piranha, wake up. We're here. We're at the North Pole." Shark shook him away.

"Oh, uh. What? What? What? Uh, North Pole?" Piranha groaned in his sleep before snapping his eyes open to look at the window. He saw an open gate entrance with the sign above it that said, "Santa's Village."

"North Pole! North Pole! There it is!" Piranha bounced excitedly as Shark opened the door for him, and he got out happily. The other Bad Guys got out of the car to join him. "Dios Mio, I really must have been asleep!"

As the Bad Guys entered, Piranha stopped by the pole sign that said, "NORTH POLE."

"Ah, look at this. The tip of the Earth, amigos," Piranha sighed. "Okay, let's go see Santa Claus."

"All right, let's go," Snake played along.

As the Bad Guys walked ahead, Piranha observed the place. It still had a lot of Christmas decorations but had some civilians strolling by, saying, "Well, this is rather festive, isn't it?" He described noticing an electronic kiddie ride with a deer and a sleigh. "Small," he said, turning to notice a "reindeer pen" that has a weak donkey with "antlers" made out of sticks taped on his head and a child trying to feed it with a carrot.

Wolf realized Piranha became suspicious as he tried to come up with a fake reason, "Well, it has to be small because of all the tiny elves."

"Ah, that's right. Good. Good point. Elves," Piranha responded calmly.

The Bad Guys then approached a candy stall where a male teenager was holding out merchandise to new visitors.

"Hello there, little guy! Can I interest you in some candy cane-themed boots?" he asked, holding red and white boots.

"Piranha paused fdor a bit in deadpanned before asking his friends, "Guys, why does the North Pole have tall elves?

"Uh... 'cause... From, uh, Hurricane Patricia?" Snake answered, making up another lie.

"Ah, of course. All right. Well, uh, I just have one more question, then." Surprisingly, Piranha pulled out a gun and pointed it at all of his friends. He was so angry at them for lying to him, "DO YOU THINK I'M AN IDIOT?! HUH?! DO YOU?!"

Their cover was blown. There was no point in lying to Piranha now. The other Bad Guys jerked away when they noticed Piranha holding a gun at them.

"Look, Piranha, the North Pole is a long and dangerous..." Before Wolf could finish his reasons, Piranha kicked him on the leg, causing Wolf to fall down while Piranha pointed a gun at his face.

"You can't jerk me around when it comes to Santa Claus, Wolf! There is a Ferris wheel here, and a guy hosing vomit! Nobody vomits at the North Pole! Except for Santa's wife because she has an eating disorder!" The little fish yelled.

"What?" Tarantula inquired.

"Yeah, 'cause he can have anyone he wants, and she knows that!"

"Piranha, just pull yourself together," Hornet tried to calm his boyfriend down.

But Piranha refused to listen to reason shouting, his fist held high, "I won't! You all tried to trick me like those commercials for those upcoming movies!"

*flashback*

Piranha was sitting on the couch, watching TV, as a commercial aired for an upcoming movie. "This summer, from the guys that brought you 'Smurfs: The Lost Village', comes an exciting new comedy!"

But Piranha found that commercial to be a little bit off-putting, commenting, "Ugh,  Chico,  I hate it when they do that. Which guys are they talking about? Are they talking about the writers or the wardrobe people in the back? They don't specify."

Just then, as Piranha changed the channel, another movie commercial started up afterward. "From the studio that brought you "Sonic 3!"

Piranha scoffed, commenting, "Who cares? It's such a broad association!"

Piranha changed the channel again, and another movie commercial played on the TV. "From the species that brought you Trolls: World Tour!"

Piranha was getting really annoyed now, shouting at the TV, "Oh what, humans? Animals? Who else is making movies?!"

Piranha changed the channel again, and yet another movie commercial was on. "From the same basic molecular elements that brought you "Final Destination: Bloodlines!"

Piranha cast a confused look as to how these commercials were going, a stunned "What?" escaping his throat.

The commercial followed up with, "And "IT!"

Piranha officially gave up, leaning against the couch cushions and muttering, "TV sucks these days."

*End of flashback*

Piranha proceeded, pointing his gun at his friends, and demanded, "Now you get your butts back into that car and take me to the North Pole now!"

Snake then slithered forward and told Piranha, "Look, I know you're upset, but why... Why don't you just sit down and write out your Christmas list, and I promise I will mail it to Santa Claus?"

"Screw that. This was never about Christmas presents, guys."

"Well, then why do you want to go all the way to the North Pole?" Shark asked.

"Because... I'm going to kill Santa Claus!" Piranha confessed.

This shocked the Bad Guys the most. They never, ever, EVER thought of Piranha to kill someone. He was the toughest fighter and a crazy, violent competitor in the crime world but never finished someone off to their end.

"Wait a minute, why the hell do you want to kill Santa?" Shark asked in shock.

"Because that fatty blew me off at the mall, and he shall taste my wrath!" Piranha explained, still feeling angry about what happened at the mall. "Now, let's go. I've got it all planned out. I'm gonna see the workshop, pet a few reindeer, take a few pictures of me and Santa, and then I'm gonna blow his brains out, hopefully with his old wife watching."

"This is ridiculous... We are not going to the North Pole. Trust me, it's a waste of time... You're not gonna find Santa," Snake commented.

"Why not?" Piranha asked.

"Because there's no such..." Snake halted for a moment, not wanting Piranha or any one of his friends to know what he thought of Santa, or it'll hurt them. "Because when you get there, you may find out it isn't what you thought it was, and I wouldn't want you to be disappointed."

"That's it? That's your reason?" Wolf deadpanned, not believing what Snake said about the real reason.

"Hey, I'm giving out my opinion," Snake said.

"Well, you know, you know why nothing works out for you, Snake? Because you've got a negative attitude," Piranha remarked.

"That's not fair. I don't think I have a negative attitude," Snake defended himself. "I just... I... I don't think it's a good idea for us to embark on a potentially dangerous journey whe..."

"Uh, Snake," Tarantula interrupted him, "Piranha's gone."

The Bad Guys noticed that Piranha just disappeared without a trace in front of them.

"Piranha?" Hornet called out.

When a large truck passed by, it sounded its horn as Piranha was sticking his head out of the passenger's seat window.

"Say yes to life, guys," Piranha shouted in triumph. "I'll be home for Christmas." He waved his crew goodbye as the truck left onto the highway. The Bad Guys only helplessly watched their little fish go.

"What the thorax!" Tarantula commented.

Wolf sighed desperately, "Let's just go and get 'em."

The rest of the Bad Guys got into the car and followed the truck that Piranha rode in. When reversing, Wolf accidentally hit two cardboard Christmas trees before driving off to follow the truck.

In the truck, Piranha wanted to have a good conversation with the driver along the way.

"So, what are we hauling, good buddy?" He asked.

"Oh, I got a flock of birds that were too tired to fly back north," the truck driver answered.

The long trip is on! The truck continued to drive north while the Bad Guys were right behind it. It was a very long trip. There wasn't even any break during this one-way trip. They passed the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. As they entered Canada, they made it past Vancouver.

The trip to the North Pole was a long way to go, and Piranha already felt bored on this trip. He opened the glove compartment and found a small gun.

"What is this? This is a weird gun." He pulled the gun out of the compartment.

"Yeah. Don't touch that," the truck driver warned.

"Oh, it's a flare gun," Piranha guessed.

"Maybe you should put that back," the truck driver recommended.

"I'm just holding it. Is this the trigger?" When Piranha pulled the trigger, the gun shot a shoot flare as it bounced all over the vehicle until it crashed to the back of the truck. The truck was set on fire as Piranha and the truck driver screamed.

The truck was driving out of control across the highway as it crashed into dozens of vehicles and also caused other vehicles to crash into each other. The birds from behind the truck flew away on fire.

Behind the truck, the Bad Guys' car was caught in a chaotic road crash as Wolf stirred the wheel as quickly as he could, dodging every obstacle ahead.

The truck continued to drive in zigzags until it crashed into one of the cars ahead, causing Piranha to fly out of the truck through the windshield. Piranha fell into the snow. Luckily, the snow was soft for a safe cushion. He wasn't out of the woods yet. The truck uncontrollably shoved the car in front of him towards Piranha. The little fish quickly jumped out of the way as the car flipped upside down, and the truck fell off the cliff, exploding.

Wolf was still driving the car, dodging debris and destroyed cars. A huge tire crashed into the windshield, only hitting the middle seat, with none of them being hit by it. Startled, Wolf stepped on the brake pedal, trying to stop the car, but it touched some spilled oil on the road, causing the car to slide forward.

Ahead was Piranha shoving snow off his shoulder. Wolf kept stirring the wheel to avoid hitting his little friend. Luckily, the car missed Piranha, and it ended up lightly crashed behind him. The other Bad Guys were okay, but the airbag was deployed in front of Wolf, and he fell out of the car by a broken door. Snake, Shark, Tarantula, and Hornet also crawled out of the car after the trauma they had experienced. They noticed Piranha looked uninjured but were still worried for him.

"Oh, gosh, Piranha, you all right? What the hell happened?" Wolf bellowed.

"Eh, just some stupid stuff went down," Piranha murmured.

"You could have been killed! We could have been killed!" Tarantula yelled, "Look at the car!"

"Well, you know, if you guys had just taken me to the real North Pole to see Santa, none of this would have happened!" Piranha accused them before raising his thumb up to the road.

"Wh... Wh... What is this? What are you doing?" Hornet questioned impatiently.

"Hitching a ride. I'm gonna keep heading north until I find Santa," Piranha replied.

"Piranha, you're not gonna find him," Snake said.

"You do what you want, Snake, but I am going to the North Pole, and I'm gonna kill that jerk!"

"Piranha, you're putting me in a hell of a position here, but I have no choice." Snake slithered forward towards Piranha and confessed, "You're not gonna kill Santa Claus, because he doesn't exist.

Wolf, Shark, Tarantula, and Hornet were shocked by Snake's confession, "What?"

Piranha chuckled, hysterically, "R... R... Really, Snake? He doesn't exist?"

"That's right, he's not real," Snake nodded.

"Snake, how could you say that?!" Shark cried in disbelief.

"Yeah, I mean, you believed that Santa existed since… forever!" Tarantula reminded Snake about the past Christmas years they celebrated together.

"Look, I didn't wanna say anything because I don't wanna ruin your holiday spirit, and I only played along because I know you guys believe in Santa," Snake confessed, feeling pity for his friends. "But the truth is, he doesn't exist."

"Come on, Snake. Everybody believes in Santa," Hornet noted.

"Hey, you're the logical one. Why do you believe in him?" Snake-voiced.

"I believe in a lot of things. Sometimes, they're real. Even if I don't want to believe, I just… believe," the little bug confessed.

"Listen to my boyfriend, Snake. Educate yourself, Mr. Grumpypants," Piranha uttered before raising his thumb up back to the road again.

Wolf intervened in the conversation, as Santa Claus' existence wasn't the issue here. "Look, Piranha, if you'd just listen for a sec..."

"No, you listen!" Piranha snapped, I'll tell you what, you take me to the North Pole, and if Santa isn't there, I'll do something for you, Wolf."

"What?" Wolf asked.

"You know, Diane invited me for a stakeout at Boyle Heights next Sunday." Piranha declared, but noticed a jealous glare from his boyfriend, "It's a stakeout, nothing more!"

"Why you?" Hornet asked suspiciously.

"I know a lot of Hispanic criminals. I'll see one when I see one," Piranha explained before looking back at Wolf. "I'll let you take the invitation for me, Wolf."

Wolf was struck by Piranha's offer. "Are you serious?"

"Si," Piranha smiled.

Wolf gave himself a minute before saying, "Okay, you got a deal."

"Seriously?" Snake deadpanned.

"Alright, let's get going!" Shark squealed excitedly.

The Bad Guys hopped back into the car and hoped it still worked to drive.

Wolf turned the keys in the ignition, but the car wouldn't start. "Damn it, it won't turn over." He tried again, but to no avail. "Great! Not even halfway through Canada, and we're stuck."

While the Bad Guys tried to check on the car's engine, a truck came by, and the driver hopped off to chat with them.

"Oh, hey there. You having some car troubles, eh?" The truck driver was revealed to be a Canadian.

"Yeah, we're trying to get to the North Pole," Snake said.

"We need help with the car," Tarantula added.

"Oh, I see. Yeah, looks like you got some water leakage," the Canadian truck driver stated. "I can probably take you to a gas station, eh? You have cash, eh?

"Look, we don't have enough cash to fix the car, and we're kind of on our way to the North Pole," Wolf responded.

"Oh, a car won't take you there, anyway. But if you like, you can take my snowmobile." The truck driver pointed the snowmobile at the back of his truck.

"Really? You'd just... give it to us?" Hornet bewildered.

"Oh, sure, that's what Canadian hospitality's all about. If you like, you can have all my money and my leg," the Canadian truck driver offered.

The Bad Guys paused in disgust for a bit after hearing that last offer.

Piranha didn't mind though. "Okay."

The Bad Guys took the snowmobile that could fit all six of them, with Wolf driving it and Shark behind him while carrying the rest of their friends. Piranha was holding the Canadian truck driver's leg when he accepted the offer.

"Why'd we take his leg?" Tarantula questioned.

"Well, we're in their country. We have to observe their customs," Piranha replied before a small bump caused him to lose the leg. "Oh! Oh, dear," the leg was dropped in the middle of the snow. "Well, at least we're done with the first leg of our journey."

"Ha!" Hornet laughed.

"Damn right, ha," Piranha chuckled.

The Bad Guys continued their travel north. It was a smooth ride in the snow with the snowmobile. There wasn't any problem, obstacle, or anything. Just snow under the bright moonlight.

"Wolf, how long do you think we've been driving?" Snake asked.

"I don't know; I've lost track. Could be 8 hours, could be 8 years, I don't know. I lost track," Wolf admitted.

"Well, we must be pretty far north by now," Tarantula stated.

"Yeah, you're right. Look... There's the Aurora Borealis," Hornet pointed up in the sky. It was the Aurora Borealis, waving brightly in the night.

While the Bad Guys continued to watch the aurora, the snowmobile suddenly became slower until it made a full stop.

"Oh, no!" Wolf yelled.

"What's the matter, Wolf?" Shark inquired.

"We're out of gas," the leader said.

"Out of gas? But, Wolf, it's freezing out here! What are we gonna do?" Snake felt the chills on his body.

"We'd better think of something," Hornet cried helplessly, also feeling frozen.

"Maybe if we walk through the snow, we can find a place to stay and warm up for the night," Tarantula suggested.

"Yeah, I think you're right, Webs," Wolf agreed. "Come on."

The Bad Guys hopped off the snowmobile and headed straight forward on foot to find a place to stay.

They had traveled half an hour, and the Bad Guys were caught up by the snowstorm. The snow fell on them really heavily and coldly. They couldn't stop going forward. They had to find the cabin to keep warm from this storm. Finally, they made it to the cabin. It was their only place to rest. The Bad Guys pushed themselves towards the cabin, resisting the heavy snow. Upon arriving, they realized the door was shut tight. Shark used his body strength to shove the door open, letting himself and his friends inside.

Once everyone was inside, Wolf closed the door behind them. They looked around, and the place was completely abandoned. There were cobwebs on the ceiling, the curtains of the windows were torn, and the furniture was old and dusty.

"All right, this should do for the night," Wolf declared. "Look, guys, now that we have a moment, I think we should really try to call Diane and tell her where we are."

"Oh, don't worry... I've got that covered," Tarantula said.

In Diane's house, Diane was eating a Christmas feast, and she invited the Bad Guys. But they were just holograms, as Shark's hologram glitched and switched off.

Diane knew it was too obvious as she sighed, "Whatever they are doing, I'm not gonna bail them out." She took a sip of wine and spoke, "Oh, what am I talking about? It's Christmas."

The next morning, the Bad Guys left the cabin and set off to the North Pole on foot. They were shivering when they traveled as it got colder. They reached the top of a high hill where they could see a huge lake on the other side.

"What the scales do we do now?" Snake asked.

Suddenly, a giant glowing snowflake descended in front of them as it spoke, "You must find the key to the gates of the North Pole."

"Who are you?" Hornet asked.

"I am the Great Snowflake of the North," the giant snowflake replied. "To find the key, you must swim three miles across the mystic lake to the Isle of Many Quests. There, you will find—"

"I'M SICK OF THIS SH*T!" Piranha shouted in anger, "Alright? I'm not swimming across the freezing cold lake to the isle of total bullsh*t, alright?! Now, give me the stupid key!" He took out a gun and aimed at the snowflake.

"Okay, okay, dude! I've got an extra key right here!" The giant snowflake held the key with one of its arms.

"Give me that!" Piranha demanded.

"Jeez, relax, man!" The snowflake gave the key to Piranha.

"You relax!" Piranha snapped.

"Look, if anybody asks, just say you solved my riddles three—"

"That's the sh*t I'm talking about! Shut up!"

"Look, don't kill me, man! I got twins waiting at home!"

"That's a lie. No two of you are alike."

The rest of the Bad Guys, especially Hornet, were surprised that Piranha would be so mercilessly angry and violent for a snowflake.

"Gosh, Piranha," Hornet spoke.

"Sorry, what?" Piranha pointed his gun at his gang.

The other Bad Guys jumped backwards while holding their hands up, and Wolf stammered, "Nothing-nothing! Let's-let's just go. Good-good job."

The Bad Guys continued their journey on foot. Since there weren't any rides in the middle of this deserted snow, they had to walk to get there, even if they had to get through another wave of snowstorm. They felt so tired and cold and nearly gave up going any further. Piranha was determined to reach the North Pole to kill Santa Claus.

The Bad Guys stopped for a moment to catch their breath and energy after their long walk. But then, slowly, they looked up and found a giant gate that might've been made out of peppermint candy with a Christmas star on top.

"Dios Mio! We made it, Chicos! The North Pole! See? Boom! Right there!" Piranha cheered victoriously, happy that he was right all along, before turning to Snake, "I told you! This is where Santa Claus lives! In your face!"

Snake still had his eyes widened in shock. The North Pole… was here… right in front of him. It was real all along. "I don't believe it. It's here."

"And we're here," Wolf added, also in shock. "We're standing right… in the North Pole.

"Damn right, it's here!" Piranha exclaimed in confidence, "Now, while you think about the fact that you're never going to have a stakeout with Diane, I shall open the gate." He excitingly rushed towards the gate, used the key that the Great Snowflake gave to him, and gave it a gentle push.

Only one push, and the large gate continued to open widely. The Bad Guys couldn't wait to see the North Pole. But when they looked inside, it wasn't exactly what they expected. Supposedly, the North Pole was a little cheerful village with little cute elves rushing to work to make toys and presents. Little houses with Christmas decorations and Christmas carol singing all over. And Santa's workshop should be made out of candy and such. But this… this wasn't like it at all. The workshop looked like a large factory with large smokestacks, and black smoke was released into the air, covering the night sky.

"This can't be it. This can't be Santa's workshop," Piranha voiced. "This looks like Bridgeport, Connecticut," but he continued to march forward towards the door so he could see Santa Claus himself while his friends followed him from behind. "Well, whatever sort of trick this is, this won't stop me from doing what I want to do. I'm not leaving until Santa Claus is dead."

Piranha knocked on the door loudly before pulling out a gun and aiming at the door. He expected Santa to answer it so he could shoot him.

The door slowly opened. The inside was too dark to see someone who was behind it. Stepping out of the shadow was Santa Claus himself, but he wasn't as jolly and healthy as anyone imagined. This Santa Claus was weak, thinner, and miserable.

"Oh, my Stinger! You're... You're Santa Claus!" Hornet exclaimed as he and his friends stared in awe at the sight of the Santa Claus.

"Yeah. Who are you?" Santa asked.

"I'm Mr. Piranha of the Bad Guys; you've probably heard of us, and I'm going to kill you!" Piranha aimed his gun at him.

Instead of screams, fear, and begging for mercy, Santa sighed in relief, "Ah... Thank the heavens!"

"What?" Piranha slightly redrew his gun.

"Do it! Please! Put me out of my misery!" Santa pleaded as he knelt down and placed his head in front of Piranha's gun.

"You... want me to kill you?" Piranha asked in disbelief.

Santa grabbed the barrel of the gun and placed it into his mouth while muffling, "Come on! What are you waiting for?! Pull the trigger!"

But Piranha pulled away, losing his mood to kill Santa now when he begged for it, saying, "Well, there's no fun in that now."

Santa Claus started to cough harder while collapsing onto the ground.

The Bad Guys helped the old man out as Shark asked in concern, "Oh, my, are... Are you all right?"

"I'm okay. I'm okay," Santa continued. to cough more, "I just need to catch my breath."

"I... I don't understand. I thought you were supposed to be jolly and happy," Wolf mentioned.

"Don't believe in that, Wolf," Tarantula stated, disbelieving the fun facts about Santa.

"I used to be, a long time ago." Santa stood up and explained. "I made toys for little boys and girls. I loved my work, and they loved me. But it just got out of hand. The world's population kept growing and growing. Kids wanted more toys, fancier toys! We used to make toy boats and squeaky toys. You ever tried to make a laptop?! I've got orders for millions of 'em!"

"Oh, that reminds me... I need a new version of Apple," Tarantula requested.

"Look at the toxic waste we're producing." Santa showed the Bad Guys his workshop, which had become a factory with chemicals spilling from the pipe and black smoke coming out of the smokestacks. "In fact, I think the toxins are taking even more of a toll than the inbreeding."

"Inbreeding?" Snake inquired out of curiosity.

"Take a look!" Santa led the Bad Guys inside his workshop with Piranha keeping his gun somewhere behind him. "I started with one family of magic elves, and every year I needed more and more to keep up." The workshop was revealed to have many "mutated" elves sitting on long tables to work on the toys, and the wrapped presents were placed on conveyor belts. As the Bad Guys followed Santa, the elves all looked miserable with mutated appearances. "Now they're just a sickly race of mutated genetic disasters. At least 55% of them are born blind."

One of the elves was hammering a nail into a wooden toy train but didn't see that he hammered a nail completely into his hand. It took the elf 3 seconds before feeling the pain of the hammered nail on his hand, making him scream in pain.

"The workload destroys them, but they don't know anything else," Santa continued as he explained the elves' behavior. "It's gotten so their instincts take over, and near the end, they just walk out into the snow and die."

A flashback example showed one of the mutated elves unknowingly went outside in the cold snow and collapsed to death. Just then, in the shadows, red glowing eyes started appearing, and sharp, drooling teeth were showing with deep growls. They were revealed to be feral reindeer.

"Then the reindeer eat them, which has turned the reindeer into wild, feral creatures with a bloodlust for elf flesh."

The reindeer savagely ate the dead elf with Santa watching by the window of his room.

"I don't even pray for them anymore. Seems pointless. What God would allow this?"

"This is in none of the songs or poetry. It's a horror show up here!" Shark shrieked.

"How could you let this happen?" Wolf asked.

"Me? I didn't do this. Christmas did!" Santa answered.

At cue, the elves simultaneously destroyed the toys they worked on, and the song started when they gathered around Santa Claus and the Bad Guys to explain what they thought about Christmas now.

Santa: Each bell would peal with a silvery zeal
As the holiday feeling was filling us.
But now instead, all we're feeling is dread
Because Christmastime is killing us!

Elves: Each Christmas list gets us more and more pissed
Till the thought of existence is chilling us.

Santa: I'll tell you what. Shove your list up your butt, because...

Santa and Elves: Christmastime is killing us!

Shark: But can't you see that what you do
Is a dream come true?

Piranha: Can't you see that every smile
Makes it all worthwhile?

Santa: No, screw you! It's all but through,
There's too much to do.
All those dreams are nightmares
And blank, icy stares.

Each little elf used to fill up a shelf
Making playthings and selflessly thrilling us.
Now they're on crack and it feels like Iraq
Because Christmastime is killing us!

Elves: Each model train only heightens the pain
Of the workload that's straining and drilling us.

Santa: Fingers all bleed. And look! That guy just peed
Because Christmastime is killing us!

Wolf: But can't you see our point of view?
We rely on you.

Hornet: Can't you see that Christmas cheer
Gets us through the year?

Santa: My whole crew is black and blue.
Can't you take a clue?
You may think I look great,
But I'm twenty-eight!

Santa and Elves: Each jingle-bell is a requiem knell,
And while you think it's swell, we are toiling in Hell!

Santa: Take a look, you can tell, as a man, I'm a shell!

Santa and Elves: Because Christmastime is killing us!
Killing us!
Christmastime is killing us!

After the song, Santa coughed once again so hard, and, this time, he was coughing blood before collapsing to the floor, much to the Bad Guys' horror.

Santa was taken back to his room, and the Bad Guys called an elf doctor to check his condition. There, Santa was laid on his bed so weakly with the Bad Guys standing beside him and the elf doctor holding the results.

"I don't know, everyone, he's in rough shape," the elf doctor declared.

"Doctor, you've got to do something for him. It's Christmas Eve," Piranha begged.

"Christmas is the problem. He can't keep this pace up anymore. If he goes out tonight, he'll die," the elf doctor said.

"Well, then who's gonna deliver all the presents?" Shark inquired.

Snake raised his head and spoke, "We will."

Wolf, Shark, Piranha, Tarantula, and Hornet, and the elf doctor exclaimed surprisingly, "What?!"

"Guys, look, you were right. Santa is real. And he needs our help," Snake admitted before turning to Santa and holding his hand with his tail. "Don't worry, Santa. We'll make sure there's a Christmas this year."

"Thank you, Mr. Snake. That brings me peace in this hour. I knew you were good all along," Santa said weakly.

"Yeah, save your luck." Snake wiped his tail on his shirt. "All right, guys, let's go get the sleigh ready." He slithered off before his friends followed him.

"It's weird that Snake is leading us this time," Hornet mumbled.

"Well, let him have this moment. I would like to gloat to him about this once this is over," Wolf smirked.

The Bad Guys had the sleigh ready with a big bag of Christmas presents and had the feral reindeer tied to the sleigh. The Bad Guys also wore Santa outfits as they were playing Santa tonight.

"All right, guys. Let's do this," Wolf declared as he flipped the rein to make the reindeer go, but the reindeer didn't do anything. "Go on." Wolf snapped the rein again, but the reindeer didn't respond. "Giddy-up," he did it again, but to no avail. "Come on, you dumb deer," he snapped the rein the fourth time, but the reindeer ignored his command.

"It's not working. I think they need to be coaxed," Tarantula said.

"Santa said they eat elf flesh," Hornet mentioned.

When the Bad Guys looked around to find an elf, Piranha spotted one beside them.

"Uh, oh, oh, excuse me? Uh, sir?" Piranha tried to call for the elf, but he didn't answer. "Mr. Elf, sir?" The elf still didn't answer as he stood there and stared at nothing. "Hello? Young man?"

"I... I don't think he even knows where he is," Snake guessed.

"Do... Do you want to just...?" Shark asked Piranha about what they would do with the elf.

"Yeah, I mean, uh, I'll just... try and do it, I guess." Piranha got out of the sleigh and approached the wandering elf. "Hey. Hey, chico?" Piranha tried to shake the elf by the shoulder to get his attention, but the elf was still standing and staring blankly. The elf didn't even blink or breathe. It might probably be dead. Since the elf didn't respond, Piranha took out a pocketknife, flipped up a blade, and sliced one of the elf's arms. The elf didn't even respond to his arm being sliced. When Piranha sliced the arm to the end, the elf was still standing and staring with no reaction at all while the arm was bleeding slowly. Only small drops of blood fell on the snow. "Um... Okay… Bye." Piranha waved the elf's arm goodbye before going back to the sleigh.

Snake regurgitated out a fishing pole for Wolf to use, and Piranha came back with the arm. Wolf hooked the elf's arm and threw it in front of the reindeer.

The feral reindeer sensed the elf flesh and chased after it. Wolf pulled the arm up with the fishing pole, causing the reindeer to fly up, carrying the sleigh into the air. Now that they were in the air, Wolf put the fishing pole down and continued to "drive" the sleigh.

The reindeer were headed toward the factory, and Wolf tried to control the reindeer to fly upward. They almost couldn't make it as the reindeer flew through the smoke, and the sleigh barely grazed the tip of the smokestack.

But they made it. Off to deliver presents to everyone all over the world.

The Bad Guys traveled across the sky for their first delivery of Christmas presents.

Shark read the world map to point out which place they would deliver the presents first. "All right, according to this map, we're approaching the North Central of the USA. "Get ready to land."

The sleigh passed above Mount Rushmore and made it to Sioux Falls for at least a minute.

"All right, guys, this is it, our first town. I'm gonna head for that roof," Wolf announced as he flipped the rein, causing the reindeer to nosedive. The Bad Guys felt that they were diving all the way down.

"Wolf, why are we tilting?" Snake questioned.

"Look, I've never landed one of these things before, okay? It's not the same as a car," Wolf answered.

The reindeer were going faster as they were heading towards a house.

"You're coming in too fast! Look out!" Hornet warned.

With Wolf controlling the reindeer, they flew up, avoiding the house, and the sleigh hit two trees. The flight was out of control as the sleigh hit some obstacles along the way, like a chimney and dozens of trees. The reindeer crashed into a huge tree, and the sleigh was detached from them, causing the sleigh and the Bad Guys to be launched onto the snow roof of a house. The Bad Guys were flipped off the sleigh, but they landed on top of the roof as planned.

"All right, this is good. In and out of this house and onto the next one," Wolf said.

"What about the reindeer?" Shark reminded, pointing at the reindeer that were stuck in the tree.

"Yeah, we'll cut them down afterwards," Snake replied. "Now let's get down the chimney."

Hornet went down the chimney first since he's the smallest, then Tarantula, followed by Snake, then Wolf, and, lastly, Shark.

When Hornet made it inside, he was squished by all of his friends when each of them fell out of the fireplace.

"Ow! I can't breathe!" Hornet screamed as the Bad Guys heard his muffled voice down under. They all got up, and Hornet was free. He tried to catch his breath and exhaled, "Okay, let's get the presents under the tree."

"All right, any of you have em'?" Wolf asked his friends, but they all murmured "no."

"Oh, for the love of goodness, they're still in the sleigh!" Snake yelled.

"Oh, thorax! On the roof?!" Tarantula guessed.

But then they heard a loud metallic scraping sound on the roof. They could follow the sound of the metallic scratching all the way to the edge, where the sleigh plunged into the front yard.

"No, it's... It's in the yard," Piranha said.

The Bad Guys got out, and each of them picked dozens of presents that they could find. When they could get in with the presents, Wolf twisted the doorknob, but it was locked.

"Aww, man," Wolf groaned.

"Didn't you unlock the door when we left?" Shark questioned.

"You were the last one out!" Piranha snapped.

"Well, how the hell are we gonna get back inside?" Hornet asked.

"All right, find a rock," Snake suggested.

Inside, a rock crashed through the window. Snake broke a couple more window shards on the edges so he could slither easily and uninjured inside to open the door for his friends to come in with the presents.

When the Bad Guys went towards the Christmas tree to put the presents down, Snake instantly threw them down.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! What are you doing?" Piranha alerted.

"I'm putting out the presents." Snake said.

"Not like that, you're not. Tall in the back, short in the front," Piranha instructed.

"And show some care, Snake. You know, those... Those aren't socks and underwear donated by the fire department to some battered women's shelter. Those are Santa gifts," Shark added while arranging the presents. "You know, you... You have to...

They heard munching noises as they noticed Wolf eating a cookie and holding a glass of milk.

"Wait. What... What are you doing?" Tarantula asked surprisingly, "Did you just eat that whole cookie off the mantel?"

"What? They left it out for Santa. We're Santa," Wolf stated.

"Yeah, but you're not supposed to eat all of it. You take a bite and a sip of milk. That's how the kids know Santa was here!" Hornet explained.

"Don't yell at me!"

"I'm not yelling at you. I'm just... I'm telling you how it's done. They... They need some kind of indication that Santa was here."

Snake groaned at this argument as he took the glass of milk from Wolf and spilled the milk on the carpet. "Oh, okay, how about this? Look. Hey, now they know he was here. See?"

"Stop it!" Piranha shouted.

"Look, guys, we're here giving out free presents! All right, we'll do what we want! You know what? I might even make a sandwich!" Snake slithered in another direction.

"Wait. Where are you going?" Wolf asked.

"I'm going into the kitchen. I'm gonna make a sandwich, get some chips, or something." Snake went to the kitchen as his friends decided to follow him and hoped he wouldn't mess things up.

Snake opened a cupboard and found a bag of chips. He used his own body and tail to try and open the bag.

"Snake, knock it off!" Shark bellowed.

The bag of chips popped open, and the chips were scattered all over the floor.

"Aw, great," Snake hissed.

"Dang it, Snake!" Wolf growled.

Just then, the lights of the kitchen went on, and there was a man standing by. "Hey, who the hell are you?"

"Uh... Hello?" Hornet spoke.

"What are you doing in my house?" The man demanded an answer.

"We're Santa Claus... ses," Shark stuttered.

"Yeah, you're Santa Claus. That's why you broke in through the window. I'm calling the cops." The man grabbed the phone to call the cops.

"No, no, no. I... I can explain. We... We came down the chimney, but we... We forgot the presents." Wolf chuckled nervously, "It's... It's actually... It's kind of a funny story..."

Before Wolf could explain, Piranha hit him violently with a bat that has a red bow on it.

"What the thorax did you do?!" Tarantula shouted in panic.

"He was gonna call the cops, hermana! You can't call the cops on Santa!" Piranha yelled, "Now help me move this guy's body!"

The Bad Guys dragged the unconscious man's body all the way from the kitchen to the living room. Piranha quickly opened the closet, and his gang put the body into the closet.

The man suddenly woke up, groaning in pain.

"Ugh! He's still alive!" Piranha hit the man with the bat again to make him stay unconscious. "All right, tie him up. I'm gonna make it look like a burglary." Piranha quickly flipped a small drawer and broke a few things on the floor.

"All right, look, let... Let's just go," Shark said in worry while tying the man's body together with a rope.

"Right, right. We'll go. I'm gonna rewrap this bat for, um, Bobby," Piranha read the tag on the bat. "Let me just clean his father's blood and hair off it."

"Daddy, I want a drink of water."

The Bad Guys heard a little girl's voice from upstairs as they stared in horror that there were still problems they had to face.

"****," The Bad Guys murmured.

A little girl tiredly walked down the stairs as the Bad Guys showed up to her.

"Hey, there. How you doing?" Hornet smiled nervously, trying to act casually.

"Who are you?" The little girl asked.

"We're Santa," Wolf replied.

"You're Santa?! Do you have my new cell phone?"

"Uh, well, I'm not sure it was on my list." Wolf looked at the paper before turning to Shark. "Do you have her cellphone, Other Santa?"

"Well, I have a cell phone," Shark answered.

"Oh, so we do have your cellphone!" Snake said with a fake cheery tone.

"Uh, well, it's… I have my cellphone," Shark corrected.

"No, we have your cellphone," Piranha said before telling Shark, "Give her the cellphone, Shark."

Shark sighed sharply as he took out his cellphone and gave it to the little girl.

"There we go, Merry Christmas," Tarantula said while making a fake smile.

"Yeah, Merry Christmas. That has all my contacts in it," Shark deadpanned.

"Who's Lisa Little Ceaser's Sweet Fashion Mean Spirit?" the little girl checked Shark's contacts and noticed the name of the girl that sounded disgusting.

"Look, why don't you go back to bed, alright?" Tarantula suggested, ignoring the girl's question

Then, the mother came down and gasped in horror as she pulled her daughter away from the Bad Guys. "Who are you? Where's Damien?"

The lady looked at the closet and noticed her husband lying down dead from the closet.

"Oh, my God!" The lady gasped as she picked up her daughter and ran away.

"Oh, no!" Hornet exclaimed.

Snake and Shark caught the lady and pinned her by the legs, preventing her from breaking free from their grasp.

"Quick, anyone! Get the bat!" Shark yelled.

The lady tried to kick Snake and Shark off her legs while crying for help, "Help! Help!"

Hornet quickly hit the lady with the bat that Piranha used earlier.

"Mommy!" The little girl screamed as she rushed towards her mother and sobbed while hugging her face.

"It's okay. It's okay," Hornet tried to calm the girl down before calling out to one of his friends, "Wolf, see if you can find some duct tape!"

Wolf frantically dug in the drawer to find the duct tape. Once he found it, he threw it to Hornet.

"Mommy! Mama!" The little girl cried louder until Hornet wrapped duct tape around her to keep her mouth shut.

"All right, let's get this place cleaned up," Tarantula said.

Moments later, the Bad Guys were cleaning the messes they made. They cleaned up the blood of the couple they knocked out and tied them with duct tape while the couple were still unconscious (or presumably dead), while they tied the little girl onto the chair.

"All right, that's the last of the blood," Wolf said while putting the mop down, and told Shark, Piranha, and Tarantula, "You three, go check on the other kid."

"What other kid?" Shark asked.

"Bobby, the one who's getting the bat," Wolf clarified.

Shark, Piranha, and Tarantula went upstairs to check any kiddie bedroom.

"Wolf, there's only one bedroom up here!" Piranha declared.

"What?" Wolf turned to the tied little girl. "Do you have a brother?"

The little girl shook her head 'no.'

"Well, then who the hell is Bob...?" Snake then snapped out of realization, "Oh, no, we're in the wrong house!"

Just then, police sirens were heard from outside, coming closer and getting louder.

"Damn it, we tripped the alarm. Guys, the cops are coming. Let's go!" Hornet yelled.

Shark, Piranha, and Tarantula came back from upstairs as Tarantula asked, "What? We're just leaving like this? What about not wanting to ruin Christmas?!"

Hornet shouted stressfully, "It's already ruined! This was one house. We've been here for an hour and a half! An hour and... First of all, we're not even Santa anymore. This has been a home invasion. But an hour and a half, guys! It's gonna be light in six hours, and we have to deliver to the whole rest of the world! There are two apartment buildings on this block alone!"

"No wonder Santa lost his mind. This is ridiculous! We can't do this!" Piranha admitted.

"Nobody can. It's inhuman!" Hornet exclaimed.

"All right, come on, let's get out of here!" Snake recommended.

The Bad Guys rushed out of the house and hopped onto the sleigh.

"Aw, damn, what about the reindeer?" Shark reminded.

"Forget the reindeer! Look, they're all eating each other, anyway!" Tarantula mentioned, as she pointed out the reindeer, which were still stuck in a tree, were eating each other piece-by-piece. "Besides, we don't need 'em. I made a few modifications. Hang on!" Tarantula took out her laptop and typed onto it, unleashing wings from the sides of the sleigh and rocket boosters from behind.

The sleigh flew into the sky as soon as the cops arrived. It was a close call, but it didn't make things better for Christmas.

"That was a disaster," Hornet said.

"I can't believe it. We were supposed to save Christmas, and we completely blew it," Wolf added.

"We failed Santa." Piranha hung his head down sadly.

"No. No, we didn't fail Santa. The world failed Santa," Snake corrected. "He gives and gives and gives, and everyone just takes him for granted. Hell, I... I didn't even think he existed until last night."

"Well, what are we supposed to do now? Christmas is doomed," Shark said.

"Maybe, but there is one thing we can do," Snake replied before telling Wolf, "Move over."

Wolf scooted aside as Snake took control and boosted the sleigh to go faster.

The sun rose in the city of Los Angeles. It's finally Christmas morning, and everybody was excited to see the presents under the tree given by Santa Claus. But when the people of Los Angeles checked their tree and stocking, they received nothing! There were no presents under the tree or anything in their stockings. They even asked their friends, families, and neighbors, but they received nothing at all.

Tiffany Fluffit reported this unexpected big scoop of a story as she was standing in front of a giant Christmas tree that has no presents under it.

"Good morning, everyone. Breaking news… Santa Claus skips Christmas. Hopeful citizens worldwide woke up to disappointment this morning when they discovered no gifts from Santa under their Christmas trees. Local officials are going with the theory that everyone was bad this year. The investigation continues into this mysterious...

"Wait!" Snake popped in, closer to the camera, "I know what happened to Christmas!"

By her house, Diane was also watching the news and was shocked to see Snake on TV. "Snake?"

When Snake turned to his left, making Tiffany and her cameraman point where Snake was facing, the Bad Guys hopped off the sleigh with Shark carrying the weak Santa Claus, and Piranha and Wolf unfolded his wheelchair before Shark put Santa on it, and they pushed him towards the camera to show the world Santa's condition.

The cameraman gasped in horror to see Santa so weak, almost lowering the camera he was holding.

Even Tiffany gasped to see Santa Claus in person, but not as everyone expected, "Santa Claus!

"That's right! It's Santa Claus. And you've got to listen to me," Snake announced to the camera. "The reason there was no Christmas this year is that this man is sick. Very sick. And he needs our help. He's been bludgeoned by years of greed and avarice. The workload of filling our Christmas lists has overwhelmed him. And at the rate he's going, he may not make it another year. But there's a way for us to help him." As Snake continued, the rest of LA watched the news as they listened, "If all of us everywhere can just cut back our demands and ask for only one Christmas present every year, there may still be hope. I know it's in our nature to resist sacrifice, even in hard times, but if we don't, we may have to give up Christmas altogether."

After this big and sad story of Santa Claus, it was Tiffany's turn to chime in, and she clarified this horrible news, "Well, folks, you heard him. Looks like we have a choice. One Christmas gift a year for each one of us. Can we live with that?"

Diane was watching the news on her tablet and commented, "I can agree to that."

At the police station, Chief Luggins and the police officers were gathered by the TV and seeing the news. All the officers nodded in agreement while Luggins commented, "That seems fair."

A taxi driver was listening to the news on the radio and commented, "I can do that."

The food delivery guy was watching the video on his phone, "Me too."

Callum and Mariposa were sitting on the couch as they watched the news. Mariposa looked up at her father and said, "We can do that, daddy."

"Couldn't agree with you more, sweetie" Callum responded, agreeing with his daughter.

A construction worker was hearing the story on his walkie-talkie and commented, "I can do that too."

Mira was watching the news and commented, "One is fine."

The art museum director was watching the news and stated, "I can live with one."

Mr. Gardener and Ms. Gardener were watching the news on their phones during their lunch break, as they both nodded in agreement and said in unison, "We can do that."

Commissioner Griffin was hearing the news on his radio, and he stated, "One is okay."

Mira's parents were watching the news at home, and they both agreed together, "That seems fair."

A diner waitress was serving a customer coffee while the news was on the restaurant TV. She commented, "I'm okay with one."

A male lifeguard was overhearing the story on his boombox, and commented, "That's cool with me, man."

A runner on the treadmill at the gym was listening to the news through his headphones and commented, "I guess that's ok. But if it's a duet book, I will be having problems!"

A year later, it was Christmas again, and this time, people all over the world kept their promise: each person asked Santa Claus for one gift. Things at the North Pole changed for the better. There weren't any large factories, smoking smokestacks, or flowing radiation chemicals. The North Pole became what it was before: a cheery, beautiful, and magical place. Santa's workshop became a small, clean cottage again. The inside wasn't so dark and gloomy. It contained normal-looking, non-mutated elves who enjoyed making presents for the holidays. They created cute toys, delicious candies, and cleanly wrapped presents. Santa Claus, alive, well, and healthy, watched his little elves working on the presents. He was proud that the world kept their promise to him. On Christmas Eve. Santa courageously delivered the presents with newly young reindeer carrying his sleigh.

On Christmas Day, everyone received the presents they wanted. One for each.

Commissioner Griffin received a magnifying glass for his commissioner career.

Tiffany Fluffit earned a new pair of reporter pantsuits that resembled her old one.

Mr. Gardener got a new toupee, while Mrs. Gardener got a red flower vase.

Nickel received a new pair of headphones.

Rusty got a model rocket set.

Daxton got a bucket full of edible gummy worms.

Dusk got a knitting kit.

Rachel got a new phone cover.

Callum received a new set of hiking boots.

Mira received a new camera film, and Mariposa opened her present to find a box of plush animals, each of which looked like a member of the Bad Guys. The small girl hugged each of them warmly.

Chief Luggins received a shiny new set of handcuffs.

Diane received a framed photograph of herself with the Bad Guys. She happily held the image warmly.

In the Bad Guys' hideout, the gang also received their respective presents from Santa.

Wolf got a photo album to save all of his images from memorable moments with his friends.
Snake received a new hat that is identical to the one he now wears; he removed his old one and put on the new one.

Shark got a fresh set of wigs for his disguise collection.

Tarantula received a drone with a remote control, which she tested around the room.

Piranha removed his present from the box, showing it to be a small yet heavy dumbbell.

Hornet got a pot of pre-planted carrot seed.

At last, Christmas was back to the way it was supposed to be. Everyone got what they wanted for Christmas, and Santa was finally back to his jolly self and continued to deliver presents all over the world again.

We can get out of any mess
If we learn to live with less.
And with Santa's love, there's nothing to fear.

All these happy wishes
And lots of Christmas cheer
Is all I really want...
This...
YEAR!

Cast:

Michael Godere - Mr. Wolf

Chris Diamantopoulos - Mr. Snake

Ezekiel Ajeigbe - Mr. Shark

Raul Ceballos - Mr. Piranha

Mallory Low - Ms. Tarantula

Eugene Lee Yang - Mr. Hornet

Bruce McGill – Santa Claus

Zazie Beetz – Diane Foxington

Alex Borstein  – Chief Misty Luggins

Seth McFarlane – Commissioner Griffin

Stephanie Beatriz – Mira Rose

Mark Wahlberg - Callum Kalemberg

Alyson Stoner – Mariposa Rosa

Zehra Fazal  – Tiffany Fluffit

Brian Stepanek  – Mr. Timothy Gardener

Allison Munn  – Mrs. Angel Gardener

Aidan Gallagher  – Nickel

Casey Simpson – Rusty

Mace Coronel – Daxton

Lizzy Greene  – Dusk

Danny Smith – Elf doctor

Ralph Garman  – Truck Driver, Damien

Tara Strong – Damien's Wife

Karley Scott Collins  – Little Girl

Chris Sheridan  – Canadian Truck Driver

David Boreanaz – The Great Snowflake of the North

Chapter Text

Home Alone, Away From The Grand Canyon

Wolf came home to the Bad Guys' hideout surprisingly with a card in his hand as his friends were watching TV. He came out of the elevator and stood in front of them. "Hey guys, guess what? I got a free gas card for being the 500th customer at the store!"

"Wow, Wolf. A free gas card. This could save us a lot of money, so we won't steal anything for a while," Tarantula beamed.

"It's a good advantage," Hornet poured some lemonade into his glass from the pitcher and drank it but spat it out when he tasted that the drink wasn't lemonade at all. "What the stinger is in here?"

"Oh, I threw out all your lemonade, Hornet. We're a gas family now," Wolf announced.

"You put gasoline in Hornet's lemonade pitcher?" Snake scolded.

"Bleugh!" Hornet gagged as he still tasted fuel in his mouth.

Later on, the other five Bad Guys came out of their hideout and went to the river canal where Wolf texted them to meet him. There, they noticed something shocking with their eyes widened.

"Wolf, what the scales is that?!" Snake asked.

It was revealed that Wolf had large turbo rockets at the back of their car. "I put bigger rocket boosters on our car, Snake. I figured with unlimited free gas, we could afford to make this car drive faster than the speed of light."

"Why is it every time I come out, you seem to be in some vehicle you've inexplicably acquired?" Snake asked as if it was a rhetorical question, "I don't want you trying to drive like that. It wasn't tested yet to qualify for safety."

"Relax, Snake, nothing bad ever happens to me. Now, stand back." Wolf started the engine, and the car launched forward, leaving a trail of fire behind it. His friends couldn't help but watch.

Three days later, Wolf finally arrived home, where his friends were waiting for him.

"I'm back, and I travel around the world, everybody," Wolf declared after showing up from the elevator.

"You got lucky, Wolf," Snake commented.

"How was it?" Shark wondered.

"Oh, mind-boggling, Shark! Barreling around the earth at five miles per second. Watching the sun rise over the Philippine Sea, it's indescribable. I had lots of time to snap some selfies," Wolf described.

"Wolf, instead of wasting your gas on a series of comedic stunts... why don't you use it more constructively?" Snake recommended, "I mean, we could go on a road trip."

"Yeah, that's a great idea, Snake," Tarantula agreed.

"Have we already taken a vacation? I mean, was last summer a lot?" Piranha recalled their vacation last summer.

"This would be different. We should just use the car instead of stealing a jet. Since we're still on parole, we should take an honest trip. We'll just take our after-winter vacation on the road," Tarantula explained the difference between their around-the-world vacation and road trips.

"Maybe we can go to the island from Temptation Island," Shark said.

"No, that island was too toxic for my taste," Hornet growled.

The next morning, it was the day to go on a road trip. Wolf then blew the horn loudly with the Reveille music to make all of his friends wake from their sleep. It was early in the morning, so the other Bad Guys were still too tired to wake up.

"Everybody up, we're going on vacation. Car leaves at 6 am sharp!" Wolf declared as he continued to blow the horn with the Reveille music again.

As the other Bad Guys woke up, they got out of their rooms, still in their pajamas. Snake passed by Wolf, who blew the horn in his face. Snake winced at the sound of the horn. Next was Hornet, for whom Wolf also blew the horn at. The little bug covered his ears when he passed Wolf.

Then it was Tarantula's turn, but she didn't take it so well, as she yelled angrily at Wolf, "Ow! Are you kidding me?! You blow that freaking horn again, I swear on all that is bad, I will web that up and shove it down your furry throat!"

The car was parked at the canal, and it was ready to set off on a road trip. There were few bags stored above the roof and inside the trunk.

Wolf put some of the bags inside the trunk as he called, "All aboard for the Grand Canyon."

When Piranha and Hornet got out of the tunnel, Piranha looked so sleepy as he yawned loudly.

Hornet noticed his boyfriend looking tired as he cooed. "Oh, I know you're tired, Piranha, but you can sleep all you want in the car." Hornet guided Piranha up to the car before leaving him to get back to the hideout to get more of their stuff.

Piranha sat on his baby seat and yawned, "Oh, 6am. I shouldn't have stayed up all night trying to come up with a new burrito recipe."

When Snake helped Wolf arrange the bags they needed for the road, he noticed Wolf was carrying a glass box of starfish.

"What's with all those starfish?" Snake asked.

"My starfish collection. Just in case," Wolf said.

"Just in case, what? We're not gonna need a dozen starfish," Snake pointed out.

"Oh, I was not aware that you could see the future, Snake. Can I go ahead and get tomorrow's lottery number?" Wolf scoffed as he put the glass box of starfish in the back seat.

"Wolf, you are not putting those starfish in the car."

"Oh, well, then I guess we're not going on vacation."

Piranha overheard Wolf and Snake's argument as he thought he was clear of what Wolf just said. "Good, then I'm going back to bed." Piranha unbuckled his seatbelt, hopped out of the car, and walked into the tunnel to get back to the hideout.

Snake sighed in defeat as he couldn't argue with Wolf all morning. "All right, Wolf, you can bring the stupid starfish."

"Yay. You're letting me be myself!" Wolf cheered before declaring, "All right, everybody, let's go!"

When the Bad Guys rushed to get into the car, Wolf drove the car up from the canal and into the street to start their road trip to the Grand Canyon.

"All right, everybody, off we go. We are gonna have such a great time together," Wolf said.

Unbeknownst to the other Bad Guys, Piranha was left behind in their hideout as he was sleeping in his bedroom without knowing his friends left him behind. He woke up happily, as he had a good sleep after waking up early.

He yawned before calling to his friends, "Hey, chicos, I'm up." Usually, any of his friends would come to his room and say good morning to him, but no one responded to his call.

Piranha got out of his room and found the living room empty. "Hermanos? Hermana? Mi amor?" He called to his friends and boyfriend, but they weren't here. "Where is everyone? This place is more deserted than a desert itself."

Piranha proceeded with his morning routine, cooking breakfast for everyone. He served the food on the table and sat on his chair, "Just waiting for anyone to have breakfast with me." But still, there was no one with him at the dining table to smell and eat the food he made. "Guys!" he called. "I know how to get their attention." He jumped down from his chair and rushed to the fridge before opening it and taking a can of soda. "Hey, Snake, I'm about to drink punch soda. Better come stop me." He flicked the soda open and took a sip. "Mmm. That must be the sugar. Dios mio, that's good!" He drank the whole can before feeling so giddy and shaky. "Suddenly I want to run." Piranha ran around the room happily, laughing like a joyful child. It took him 5 minutes before the sugar wore off as he stopped running. "Oh, now I'm sad."

Meanwhile, on the road, the other Bad Guys took their time to relax in the car while heading to the Grand Canyon, unaware that Piranha wasn't with them.

"Hey guys, do me a favor and check on Piranha, would you?" Snake requested.

"He's fine," Shark replied without checking on Piranha's baby car seat.

The car seat was covered with a blue blanket, and everyone thought he was sleeping peacefully under the blanket.

"He's kinda quiet though," Hornet suspected.

"Hey, what do you say we sing a driving song?" Wolf said as he started singing the song.

Wolf: If I should stay
I would only be in your way
So I'll go, but I know
I'll think of you every step of the way

The Bad Guys (except Piranha): And I will always love you
I will always love you

Wolf: You
My darling, you, mm-mm

Bittersweet memories
That is all I'm taking with me
So goodbye, please don't cry
We both know I'm not what you, you need

The Bad Guys (except Piranha): And I will always love you
I will always love you

Hornet: I hope life treats you kind

Shark: And I hope you have all you've dreamed of

Tarantula:  And I wish you joy and happiness

Snake: But above all this, I wish you love

The Bad Guys (except Piranha): And I will always love you
I will always love you
I will always love you
I will always love you
I will always love you
I, I will always love you

Wolf: You
Darling, I love you
Ooh, I'll always, I'll always love you

After the song, Wolf turned to his friend and commented, "Okay, that was good. That was good. Shark, you were a little early at the start of bar four. How did that sound from your end?" He asked the record producer on top of the car hood who was listening to their song with audio equipment.

"Sounded great. You want another?" The record producer spoke through the mic.

"No, if that works, we're fine," Wolf replied.

"All good on my end."

"All right. That's a take."

Back at the Bad Guys' lair, Piranha was still searching for his friends and boyfriend, but they weren't here at all. The whole place was so empty and quiet, and Piranha rested near the couch where they usually hang out together.

"There's no sign of them anywhere," he called his companions one last time to check if they were here or not, "Hornet. Wolf. Shark. Webs. Snake," There wasn't any response at all. It was just… silence. "They're gone. I'm all alone." Instead of feeling sad or scared, Piranha smiled, finding his new sense of freedom. "I can do whatever I want."

The first thing Piranha did was sneak into Tarantula's old tiny laptop. Tarantula has a dozen laptops, as Piranha took one of them to see what she stored. He looked into the photo of images that she saved on her laptop.

"Webs do have a lot of pictures of us. And I thought Wolf likes to take pictures out of all of us." He noticed some of the pictures were of him and Hornet with Tarantula behind them, including herself in the photos. He gagged in disgust about this, "I hate it when she photobombs me and Hornet like that."

The next thing he did was enter Snake's room, which was the place that Snake still restricted others from entering.

"Let's see what fascinating pubescent treasures Snake has got hidden away." Piranha looked under Snake's bed and found a magazine. "Ooh, Hustler magazine. I finally get to see what a…" When Piranha opened the magazine and found a page to see what he wanted to look at, he yelped in fear as he dropped the magazine and screamed, "Aah! Dios Mio! Oh, God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God," He ran out and brought a baseball bat with him before smashing the magazine with it, tearing the magazine into little pieces. He was still horrified of what he saw as he panted heavily, "You can't… hurt… anyone… anymore."

After hours of traveling, the Bad Guys made it to the Grand Canyon. Wolf parked the car a little farther from the edge but could see the whole canyon.

"This… is the Grand Canyon?" Shark asked with just silence in the air.

"This doesn't look so grand to me," Tarantula commented.

"The sheer emptiness. Cavernous abyss of absolutely nothing." Wolf described.

"The vertigo. Intoxicating," Snake added.

Wolf continued to describe more about the Grand Canyon, "It's just us, the captivating beauty of the great American outdoors, and the wonderful sound of silence."

Meanwhile, Hornet checked on the back seat to wake up his boyfriend, whom he thought was still sleeping under the covers on his car seat. "Wake up, Piranha. Let's get you out of that seat and see the Grand Canyo…" When Hornet pulled the covers, he noticed that the car seat was empty, realizing Piranha wasn't in the car this whole time and he was left behind in their lair. "Ah! Guys, Piranha's not in the car! We must've left him at home!" He yelled, getting his friends' attention.

"Oh my thorax. That… is… hilarious," Tarantula chuckled as she could imagine how Piranha would react when he was left at home alone. "He is probably freaking out. I would give anything to see his face right now. He's probably all like... 'Ay Caramba. Where is everyone?'" Tarantula laughed until Snake looked at her in deadpan. "I can't really do a good Piranha," she admitted.

"Oh, my golly. What kind of a boyfriend am I?! Guys, we gotta go home right now," Hornet cried in panic.

"Great, now we gotta bail on the whole vacation. This sucks. Now every time I come back to this place... it's gonna be associated with one particular bad memory," Wolf complained.

"Actually, we could call Mr. and Mrs. Gardener. They can go and check on Piranha. They'd look after him till we got home," Snake recommended.

"Well, okay, I guess so," Hornet sighed.

"Yeah, Mr. and Mrs. Gardener are great with kids and young guys like Piranha, even though they don't have children of their own," Wolf said.

Meanwhile, back in the Bad Guys' lair, Piranha was at the the laundry room, where he could wash his own clothes without anyone helping him. "I wonder if I can wash my clothes on my own." Piranha climbed up the open washing machine, took off his clothes, leaving just his undergarments, and threw his clothes into the washing machine before closing the lid. He turned the knob to start the washing machine, and it began to vibrate, causing Piranha to enjoy the feeling of vibration all over his body. "O-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-h-h-h-h—h-h, t-t-t-t-h-h-h-a-a-a-a-a-a-t-t-t-t i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-s-s-s-s-s-s-s s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d —Ah!" Piranha suddenly fell off the washing machine when the vibration bounced him all the way to the edge. When he was on the floor, he could hear the bell of the elevator ring. He realized someone entered the lair, and it might not be his friends. "Intruders!"

It turned out his intruders were none other than Mr. and Mrs. Gardener. They eventually found the Bad Guys' hideout, and took the elevator to their main room.

"Mr. Piranha, you in here?" Mrs. Gardener called.

While looking for Piranha, the Gardeners looked around and observed that this is the Bad Guys' secret hideout. Mr. Gardener wondered, "Is this the Bad Guys' home?"

"I thought it would be too fancy," Mrs. Gardener said. "Looks like a dump. No wonder Hornet needed a job."

"You think Mr. Piranha's here?" Mr. Gardener inquired.

Unbeknownst to them, Piranha appeared from the ceiling, holding onto a rope while wearing a gas mask. He sprayed sleeping gas at the so-called intruders. Mr. and Mrs. Gardener fell fast asleep. When Piranha dropped to the floor, he took off the mask and was familiar with the intruders he knocked out.

"Oops. It's Hornet's bosses. Oh well, the damage is done. Better get them out of here. I'll shackle them in the basement... with a 24-hour broadcast of the DirecTV Help channel," Piranha planned out.

Sometime later, the Gardeners woke up from their unconscious sleep. Once their eyes were open, they realized they were in a different room now and they were chained up by the wall.

"What the…? Where are we?" Mr. Gardener stammered.

Right in front of the couple there was a TV showing a broadcast of the DirecTV help channel, "Getting to know your remote is easier than you might think. These buttons at the top control volume, channel... and the power on your receiver. To see what else is playing, press 'guide'... and scroll through the menu by pushing the arrow button. Or to scroll even faster, use the channel up or channel down button. Now you're on your way to experiencing all that DirecTV has to offer. Now we've learned the basics..."

"This may be messed up. But am I the only one who needs to pee right now?" Mr. Gardener told his wife.

"Is there anything that doesn't make you pee right now, honey?" Mrs. Gardener deadpanned, knowing her husband always mentioned he wanted to pee soon.

"People who use 'rubbish' when they mean garbage," Mr. Gardener stated.

"Really?" His wife asked.

"Yup, not even a wiggle down there."

"Your shows will appear on my playlist," the TV broadcast continued.

Eight hours later, the Bad Guys were still on the road, and they stopped at the gas station to fill up the car, and they were buying some snacks for the road.

Hornet just got back from calling his bosses, but no one answered his calls. "Wolf, it's been eight hours... and I haven't heard back from the Gardeners. I even tried Mira."

Back in Los Angeles, at the newspaper department, Mira couldn't find any scoop to write. She tried to research online or in the fieldwork, but there was nothing new.

"All my years of work, I've never seen a day with less exciting news. If only the Bad Guys were here," Mira sighed as she felt less motivated. "Why aren't there any signs for me to continue this path to journalism?! Lord, send me a sign!"

While waiting for signs from above, there was a huge explosion outside of her window, and gunshots were heard down below. Mira couldn't see or hear anything from outside the glass window as she was still waiting for signs.

The Bad Guys were back on the road. They were still 230 miles from Los Angeles.

Shark was saddened that they didn't stay at the Grand Canyon for a while as he cried, "Oh, this sucks. I wanna stay at the Grand Canyon for a little longer!"

"I'm sorry, Shark, but we are not leaving Piranha by himself. We're going home," Hornet said.

While driving, Wolf noticed the car ahead of them had a TV facing the back seat. "No way, those guys have a TV in their car. Heh, heh. They're watching Madagascar there!"

"Wolf, watch the road!" Snake warned.

"Snake, get off my back. I'm trying to watch TV," Wolf snapped at him.

Snake growled while looking away, "I swear to God, I think your head's screwed on backwards. I mean, do you have any idea...?" When he looked back at Wolf, he discovered he wasn't in the driver's seat anymore.

Wolf appeared magically in the car next to them, with the TV in the back seat, and he sat with the children to watch Madagascar.

Snake, Shark, Tarantula, and Hornet realized no one was driving the car as it was driving off the road.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" The four remaining Bad Guys screamed as the car fell off the road and crashed down.

Snake slithered painfully from the front seat, and Wolf just watched his crew from the road.

"Hey, crashie, what are you doing down there?" Wolf teased.

Meanwhile, back with Piranha, he checked the fridge and noticed that it was empty. He realized there wasn't any food left for him to eat.

"Well, I'm out of food and just about everything else. Which means I've got to get a job," Piranha decided.

Piranha got himself a job at Target, where he was working as a backroom associate. He was stacking goodies in the backroom.

His manager came to him with a mop and a bucket.

"Mr. Piranha, you've got to clean the bathroom," he commanded.

"No, no. I'm not going back in there," Piranha hesitated disgustingly.

"I'm not giving you a choice. You've gotta go clean that up." The manager offered him the mop.

Piranha refused this assignment as he shouted, "No. No. It was literally only on the floor. There was no attempt to get near the toilet. It's like they just pressed their butt against the wall. The only part of the floor that didn't have poo... was the part that had a baby on it."

"Go!"

Meanwhile, back with the Bad Guys, they went to the train station in hopes of taking a train back to Los Angeles. Snake, Shark, and Tarantula were waiting for Wolf to buy the tickets.

"Wolf, did you get the train tickets?" Snake asked.

"Actually, no, Snake. There was a guy selling shower curtain rings. So I bought a bunch," Wolf confessed.

"Wolf, that was the last of our cash!"

"These ones have helium, so they are very light."

Snake just had enough of Wolf's stupid decisions as he yelled at him angrily, "You are unbelievable. The last few days have been a living hell. Piranha is at home all by himself. Yet instead of getting us home, you've managed to make things worse. A monkey would be a refreshing step up from you. A monkey would talk less!" Snake's words suddenly snapped Wolf's head in realization that his reptile friend was angry at him for his stupidity. "Here's a tip: If your instinct tells you to do something, don't! If your instinct tells you not to do something... it's probably the right thing to do."

Wolf was about to cry, but deep down, he was mad at Snake for disliking a part of himself that made him who he was, even if that part made him silly and stupid from time to time. "You wanna hurt me? Go ahead, if it makes you feel any better. I'm an easy target. Yeah, you're right. I talk too much. I also listen too much. I could be a cold-hearted cynic like you. But I don't like to hurt people's feelings. Well, you think what you want about me. I'm not changing. I like... I like me. My friends like me. My other friends like me. Because I'm the real article. What you see is what you get."

Snake realized the Wolf's speech made him think that he didn't like his own best friend in any part of him, and he regretted blaming his stupidity for their misfortunes. Snake also realized that, as Wolf's best friend, he would've liked him for who he was. Nobody was perfect, and Snake couldn't expect Wolf to be like that.

The other Bad Guys watch this scene as they recognize this somewhere. Shark laughed as he stated, "Ha, ha, ha. Movie references."

Hornet then returned and told his friends in a hurry, "Guys, I found us a ride to LA in the back of a truck. Hurry!"

"Oh, thank goodness!" Tarantula sighed in relief.

"Let's head home before Piranha gets hurt," Wolf declared.

Back in LA, Piranha was still working at the backroom, placing new shipments of products in the storage area. Suddenly, his manager approached him, and he was very serious this time.

"Mr. Piranha, can I see you in my office for a second?" The manager requested.

Piranha dropped everything and asked, "Yeah. What's up, Rory? Everything okay?"

"Yeah, just come into my office," the manager said as Piranha dropped everything and followed his boss to his office.

In the manager's office, the manager discussed Piranha's unacceptable behavior in this job. "Mr. Piranha, Cheryl said she saw you sneaking food."

"What?" Piranha made a fake shocking expression as if he was claiming to be innocent.

"She said she saw you in the backroom sneaking a bag of potato chips," Rory the manager repeated.

"Oh, come on, dude…" Piranha stammered as he couldn't make a good excuse for this as he confessed, "Yes, okay. But the thing was five minutes past the throw-out time."

"Well, be that as it may, Cheryl took these pictures on her cell phone." The manager took out his phone and showed Piranha the pictures that another employee sent to him.

The photos showed Piranha opening a bag of chips, looking behind him to see if someone saw him, then eating the chips, then looking behind him before eating another bag of chips, then eating some more before throwing up, and then eating more of the chips again.

"You're fired," the manager said.

Later at night, Piranha went home jobless and moneyless, and the whole place was a mess. He was poor, had no food, and ran out of clean clothes as he couldn't wash his own clothes properly. He slouched on the couch sadly.

"I'm broke. I'm jobless. There's no food left. I'm out of clothes. And I'm down to Snake's last Hawaiian shirt." Piranha was wearing Snake's Hawaiian shirt as a substitute for his clothes. "I'm doomed. Let it be written on my tombstone that my life was considerably better... with my friends around. And I didn't realize it until it was too late."

Suddenly, Piranha heard an upcoming truck approaching near the hideout. He jumped off the couch and looked at the window. There he could see his friends at the back of the truck, where they were riding for the whole trip back to LA. When the truck made a complete stop on the bridge, the Bad Guys got off from the back.

Piranha was delighted to see his friends, as he couldn't believe that they cancelled their vacation and went back home early to see him. "Wolf. Snake. Hornet. Shark. Webs. They're home!"

The Bad Guys thanked the truck driver for their ride before walking down to the canal to find the tunnel to their hideout.

Piranha stood in front of the elevator to wait for their friends to come in. Right on time, the elevator rang, and the doors opened. There, his friends were here, finally home with him, he was glad he wasn't alone anymore.

"Amigos, you're home!" Piranha exclaimed happily as he rushed towards his friends.

"Piranha!" Wolf, Snake, Shark, Tarantula, and Hornet gathered around Piranha, and, together, they formed a group hug.

"I promise with all my heart that I'll never say or do... anything bad to you all for the rest of the evening," Piranha cried with joy.

"Oh, honey, I'm so glad you're all right." Hornet snuggled on Piranha's face before giving him some butterfly kisses.

"No thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Gardener. Wonder what happened to them?" Wolf mentioned as the gang hasn't heard from the Gardeners for a while after their last call from them.

Mr. and Mrs. Gardener were still stuck in the basement, still chained up to the wall, and watched the DirecTV help channel broadcast, as it was set up for 24-hour repeat. They had to watch this help channel for so long they already memorized what the guide of this channel said as they followed along.

"And now you're ready to enjoy the full range of exciting DirecTV programming options. And remember, for answers to any questions you may have, you can consult the onscreen help menu, or 24-hour online assistance is available at help. So, sit back and enjoy DirecTV. Thanks for joining us. Welcome to the DirecTV Help Channel. Your destination for getting started with your new DirecTV system."

"Should we get a spin-off?" Mr. Gardner wished.

Cast:

Michael Godere - Mr. Wolf

Chris Diamantopoulos - Mr. Snake

Ezekiel Ajeigbe - Mr. Shark

Raul Ceballos - Mr. Piranha

Mallory Low - Ms. Tarantula

Eugene Lee Yang - Mr. Hornet

Brian Stepanek  – Mr. Timothy Gardener

Allison Munn  – Mrs. Angel Gardener

Stephanie Beatriz – Mira Rose

Steve Callaghan  -  DirecTV Announcer

Tobias Jelinek  – Rory the Target manager

Next on The Bad Guys: The Baddest Trip...

Mrs. Gardener:  We're going to visit Joanna on her farm, and you're invited!

Mr. Piranha:  You have a sister?

Ms. Tarantula:  Why did she invite us?

Mrs. Gardener:  She wanted to meet you in person to show her surprise.

Nickel:  I don't think that's a good idea.

Rusty:  She banned all four of us from her farm because of the whole quilt incident last year.

Joanna:  You Good Bad Guys inspired my newest passion and latest entry into the county fair. The Bad Guys in butter.

Mr. Wolf:  Wow. That's that… wow.

Mr. Snake:  I would've gone with "why?"

Mr. Gardener:  Nut.

Mrs. Gardener:  Fun-loving!

Chapter Text

Previously on The Bad Guys: The Baddest Trip…

Mr. Wolf: Hey guys, guess what? I got a free gas card for being the 500th customer at the store

Mr. Snake: We could go on a road trip.

Ms. Tarantula: Yeah, that's a great idea, Snake.

Mr. Wolf: All right, everybody, off we go. We are gonna have such a great time together,

Mr. Piranha: Hey, chicos, I'm up. Hermanos? Hermana? Mi amor? Where is everyone? This place is more deserted than a desert itself. There's no sign of them anywhere. Hornet? Wolf? Shark? Webs? Snake? They're gone. I'm all alone. I can do whatever I want.

Mr. Hornet: Wake up, Piranha. Let's get you out of that seat and see the Grand Canyo… Ah! Guys, Piranha's not in the car! We must've left him at home!

Mr. Piranha: Let it be written on my tombstone that my life was considerably better... with my friends around. And I didn't realize it until it was too late. (seeing his friends by the window) Wolf! Snake! Hornet! Shark! Webs! They're home! Amigos, you're home!

Mr. Wolf, Mr. Snake, Mr. Shark, Ms. Tarantula & Mr. Hornet: Piranha!

County Fair In Texas

The Bad Guys went to FasTogether to eat their lunch, but they were ashamed to get in, especially Hornet, since they stole the private jet last summer that got Hornet suspended from work.

"Are you sure Mr. and Mrs. Gardener won't mind if we can eat here? I mean, after what happened last summer, I don't think they feel the same about us anymore, especially you, Hornet," Wolf spoke.

"Yeah, I mean, you were one of their best employees, and we made you break their trust," Piranha added, worrying for his boyfriend's relationship with his bosses.

"Come on, guys. I know Mr. and Mrs. Gardener. They won't hate us. Plus, these are people who believe in chances, and they only suspended me, not fired me," Hornet reassured his friends about his bosses being so nice to him.

"Well, they're probably not holding a grudge," Snake stated.

"Bad Guys!" Mr. and Mrs. Gardener yelled as they were holding a cleaver, a utility knife, and a chef's knife.

The Bad Guys yelped in fear, seeing the two humans holding knives as if they were using them to threaten the group.

"We're gonna teach you all a lesson…!" Mrs. Gardener growled as the Bad Guys braced themselves, "About food art."

Mr. Gardener placed a wooden chopping board on the counter, containing animal figures made of different types of food. "It's our new hobby."

The Bad Guys sighed in relief as they thought they were done for, but it wasn't what it looked like.

"Well, we're glad to see you two, and we're really sorry about stealing that jet last summer," Hornet apologized to his bosses.

"Yeah, we're sorry too," Mr. Gardener said, "but we're still not gonna take you back, Hornet."

Hornet exhaled sharply, as he knew he was going to receive that news once he came inside the restaurant.

Mrs. Gardener clarified, "But you're still not fired. We're still giving you a few more weeks of suspension."

"Understood," Hornet nodded.

"Hey, we're just here to eat. Are we still allowed to?" Shark asked politely.

"Well, we can't push valued customers away, but it's better to just avoid the people here who are still mad at you," Mrs. Gardener warned as she pointed to the customers around as the Bad Guys noticed everyone around them gave warning glares at them, remembering what they had stolen that summer.

"Umm, we just want the usual," Wolf quickly ordered.

Mr. Gardener already put three trays of their order on the counter. "Here you go. They're all ready."

Wolf held one of the trays, Shark took the second one, and Piranha grabbed the third one before the Bad Guys shamingly passed through the glaring customers as they decided to eat outside, where there were still more tables to sit at.

Moments later, the Bad Guys were eating their lunch peacefully but were bothered that the people hated them for stealing that jet, as they lost their appetite, thinking about it.

"I get it. Everyone still hates us," Tarantula voiced.

"They even hate us more for stealing that jet," Snake mentioned.

"It made me wonder if there were still other people out there who like us," Wolf wondered.

Surprisingly, six strawberry milkshakes were served on their table by the Gardeners themselves, as they wanted to join the conversation to make the gang feel better.

"Well, there is someone," Mrs. Gardener stated.

"Thanks, Mrs. Gardener, but we know you. We know you like us," Hornet said.

"Oh, no, no, I'm talking about someone else," Mrs. Gardener corrected. "I'm talking about my sister Joanna."

"You have a sister?" Piranha inquired surprisingly.

"Yeah, she lives in Texas. I used to live there too, but I moved here, met my husband, and here we are, opening a restaurant together," Mrs. Gardener explained.

"So, why do you suddenly mention her to us?" Snake asked curiously.

"We have news for you, guys: Pack your bags!" Mr. Gardener declared.

"You're kicking us out?!" Shark shrieked in panic.

"No! We're going to visit Joanna on her farm, and you're invited!" Mrs. Gardener announced excitedly.

The Bad Guys were shocked that they were invited to go to Texas by someone they haven't met yet.

"What?! Wow!" Wolf chuckled.

"Seriously!" Piranha squealed.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Dusk interrupted the celebration as she, Nickel, Rusty, and Daxton came out of the restaurant and stopped by at the Bad Guys' table with their bosses. "We can't help but overhear. Ms. Joanna invited the Bad Guys to her farm?"

"I don't think that's a good idea," Nickel expressed his worries.

"Why won't that be a good idea?" Hornet asked.

"She banned all four of us from her farm because of the whole quilt incident last year," Rusty replied.

"It was an afghan," Dusk corrected.

"It was a throw," Nickel recited.

"Kinda not the point!" Mr. Gardener shouted to stop their argument.

"Yeah, you kids completely ruined Joanna's entry into the county fair." Mrs. Gardener scolded.

"That's not how I remember it," Daxton responded while eating fries.

*Flashback: a year ago*

Nickel, Rusty, Daxton, and Dusk were amused by the quilt that Mrs. Gardener's sister made for the county fair. They extended it to see the whole thing and its design.

"Wow, cool blanket thing," Daxton complimented.

"It's a quilt," Rusty corrected.

"No, it's an afghan, Dusk pointed out.

"It's a throw," Nickel argued.

The four fought over the entry as they stretched it apart in four directions until it was ripped. They each held one of its pieces.

Joanna rushed into the barn and cried, "NNOOOOO! You completely ruined my entry into the county fair!"

*end of flashback*

"Huh, that is how I remember it." Daxton took another fry.

The Bad Guys shifted their gaze to the Gardeners as Tarantula wondered, "But why did she invite us?"

"Won't she hate us?" Piranha worried because of their reputation.

Mrs. Gardener shook his head. "No, in fact, she wanted to meet you in person to show her surprise."

"A surprise, huh?" Wolf smirked.

"Why doesn't she come here to show her surprise to us?" Snake made a solid point.

"I'm pretty sure she just doesn't like making the drive here. It stresses her out," Mrs. Gardener replied.

"Everything stresses her out," Mr. Gardener murmured.

"Yeah, like when people talk about her out the side of their mouth," Mrs. Gardener spoke through the side of her mouth.

"Well, here's something out of the front of my mouth," Mr. Gardener expressed his opinion about his sister-in-law. "She's a nut job, Angel."

"No, honey, she's just-she's just fun-loving."

"Yeah, a fun-loving nut."

Wolf had no complaints about this next vacation on the road. "Well, I don't mind going there. This might be our next road trip plan."

"Going to Texas? I'm in!" Shark smiled.

"Even though my plan to live in the country was stressful, I still want to go to a farm," Tarantula recalled her experience on the farm.

"And the farm is a perfect place to take pictures for our vacation album," Hornet suggested.

Mrs. Gardener protested the Bad Guys' plan during their visit, "Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no. I promise Joanna that you guys would behave. As we know you, you intended to steal anything and cause chaos!"

"No, we don't!" Snake objected until he accidentally revealed the tip of his tail with a pearled necklace that he took from Mrs. Gardener's pocket.

Mrs. Gardened offered Snake her hand, demanding to have his necklace back. Snake rolled his eyes and gave the pearls back to her. She continued her favor to the Bad Guys, saying, "Hey, this is important to me. I really miss going there, so no shenanigans."

Rusty then warned them, "Trust us, once you make a shenanigan, you're banned from the farm forever."

"Good luck with that," Dusk wished the Bad Guys luck before she and her coworkers went back inside the restaurant to work.

Wolf then reassured the female blonde, "Well, Mrs. Gardener, we don't participate in shenanigans."

"Ooh, we could tip a cow!" Tarantula proposed.

"Shenanigan!" Mrs. Gardener pointed to the example of a shenanigan.

"Or mud wrestle a pig," Piranha suggested.

"Shenanigan!" Mrs. Gardener did it again.

"Ooh, llama race," Shark recommended.

"Well, Joanna doesn't have llamas, but if she did, shenanigan!" Mrs. Gardener said.

Shark sounded disappointed. "No llamas? What kind of farm is this?"

"It's a dairy farm," Mrs. Gardener reported.

"Well, nut job or not, Joanna got a great back porch, and I can't wait to get there and smell that fresh dairy air," Mr. Gardener remarked.

The Bad Guys were confused yet disgusted at that last part, as it sounded like a different term.

Days later, the Bad Guys and the Gardeners arrived in Texas as they made their stop at Mrs. Gardener's sister's farm. They parked their cars at the side of the street and went straight to the farm, just at the back of Joanna's house. The Bad Guys decided to bring their cat along since, as a pet, it would've liked the farm. They even had it dressed up like a farmer.

"Breathe it in, guys." Mr. Gardener took a deep breath to smell the farm scent before exhaling, "Ahh, you can't smell that at home."

"Except when Piranha farts," Tarantula murmured through the side of her mouth, making Piranha feel offended.

Joanna came out of her house and was surprised to see her little sister coming to visit. "Angel!"

"Oh, Joanna!" Mrs. Gardener opened her arms as her sister rushed to her, and they hugged lovingly.

"Thanks for inviting us, Ms. Joanna," Hornet said.

"Oh, please, call me Joanna," Joanna insisted.

"Well, you have a good farm here, Joanna," Wolf commented nicely.

"Yeah, this is awesome," Shark added as he looked around.

"I can't believe you invited us out of all people, and sorry about our bad reputation," Piranha confessed.

"Oh, it's all in the past. You did turn yourselves in, and it proved you are good," Joanna recalled about the time the gang turned themselves in. "I mean, I didn't like you back then, but I like you now."

Tarantula whispered to her friends on the side of her mouth, "I think she only liked us from the moment we surrendered ourselves to the cops two years ago."

Hornet also mentioned about her loss at the county fair, thanks to his co-workers, "And sorry you didn't win the fair last year."

"Oh, that's okay. I didn't win the year before that year… or the year before that year. Or the year before that year. Or clearly any year before that. But this… this is my year! And I have got something cool to show you. That's why I invited you here. Come on," Joanna guided the Bad Guys and the Gardeners inside the barn as Wolf put the cat on the ground, letting it walk around.

"Nut," Mr. Gardener described his sister-in-law quietly to his wife.

"Fun-loving!" Mrs. Gardener defended her sister.

Joanna showed her family and guests her project on the table in front of the air conditioner.

"You Good Bad Guys inspired my newest passion and latest entry into the county fair." She revealed the statues of the Bad Guys made of butter.

Joanna only made statues of Wolf, Snake, Shark, and Piranha's heads, while Tarantula and Hornet's statues were their whole bodies. Since they were so small, Joanna made them easily. The Bad Guys stared at their respective statues with disturbing feelings.

"The Bad Guys in butter," Joanna entitled her entry.

"Wow," Wolf was the first one who spoke to say what he thought about these statues. "That's that… wow."

Snake leaned to Wolf's side and said his opinion, "I would've gone with 'why?'"

"Think of these butter sculptures as a symbol of my forgiveness for all of your crimes that you committed for years," Joanna grinned warmly.

"Who knew butter could look so lifelike?" Tarantula commented.

"Yeah, it's so realistic," Hornet observed.

"And they'll stay that way thanks to this magic cooling box." Joanna pointed at the air conditioner behind her.

Hornet then stated quietly, "She knows it's called an air conditi—"

"Leave it alone," Snake shushed him, letting Joanna call it whatever she wanted.

"Well, I have to say, Joanna, I'm really impressed." Mrs. Gardener felt proud of her sister's skills.

"Oh, well, now we both have special friends, Angel. Maybe Mommy will finally see us as equals," Joanna whimpered.

"Okay, so can we take a picture of them as part of our memorable vacation album?" Wolf pulled his phone out.

"No!" Joanna yelled, startling her family and guests, "I'm sorry, everyone, I'm sorry. What I meant to say was, NO!" She meant her words, "I don't want any photographs getting out ahead of the judging."

"Aaawwww." The Bad Guys groaned frustratingly.

Though, Piranha was curious about the butter sculptures since that was a lot of butter, "So, where'd you get all that butter?"

"Well, I make it the old-fashioned way. I milk old Camryn over there, and then I churn the butter myself." Joanna introduced her guests to her cow at the cow pen and moved over to the butter churn. She started plunging the rod into the barrel. "Turns out it's a great stress-reliever. Churn, churn, churn, churn. And I am a little bit tense, you know, this being my year and all." She continued to churn the rod stressfully and cried, "Churn, churn, churn. I need this win."

The Gardeners and the Bad Guys found Joanna's behavior odd, the way she churned in stress as they just nodded in agreement, "Okaaaaayy."

"We're just gonna go and get settled in our rooms," Mrs. Gardener excused as she, her husband, and the Bad Guys ran out of the barn.

Finally, they made it out of the barn and were finally free to do what they wanted.

"Well, I know how I want to settle in. With a nice little porch nap," Mr. Gardener pointed to the porch with two chairs where he and his wife could take a nap.

Now that the couple settled down, it was the Bad Guys' chance to plan on getting pictures around the farm.

"So, when do we sneak back into the barn and get the butter sculpture picture?" Piranha rubbed his fins together in excitement.

"We don't," Hornet answered.

"We don't? But that's what we do," Shark stated.

Tarantula reminded, "Not this time, boys. Remember, no shenanigans? We have to prove that we're… partly good now. And I think being good means we have to behave."

"We're just gonna have to find something even better than butter heads to put in our vacation album," Wolf added.

While the Bad Guys were thinking about what they would do to make their vacation memorable in Texas and could take pictures, Shark couldn't help but stare at the chicken pecking on the ground.

"Chickens are funny," Shark laughed.

Hornet stared at the chicken and thought of an idea, "That's it! We can take a picture with it laying an egg!"

Shark continued to observe the chicken and laughed at it, "Look at its legs. They're like chicken legs."

Piranha then had his own ideas, "Even better, I could cook an omelet, and you guys can hold the chicken over the pan and act surprised!"

Tarantula agreed and added her idea, "Yeah, it'll look like the chicken laid a fully cooked omelet!"

"Look at the wiggly thing under her chin, like my grandma," Shark observed the wattles under the chicken's chin. "I wonder if she'll let me play with it, like Grandma." Shark started to chase after the chicken. "Come on. Come on," the chicken just ran away.

"We should help him," Hornet suggested.

Snake then held Hornet with his tail. "But… not right away," he smirked, wanting to see how funny Shark was for chasing a chicken.

"Aaaahhh!" But things got topsy-turvy when Shark ran away and the chicken was now chasing him. He screamed, "Help! She's faster than my grandma!"

"Okay, now," Snake insisted.

The Bad Guys started to chase after the chicken and tried to grab it, but the chicken was too fast for them, and it dodged every hand it saw on its way.

"Come on, get it, get it, get it!" Tarantula yelled.

"Got it, got it, got it!" Piranha exclaimed, following the chicken.

"Here, chicky, chicky, chicky!" Wolf tried to call the chicken's attention.

"Wait! Wait!" Hornet declared, halting everybody, "We're never going to catch it like this. We have to think like a chicken."

"Not a problem," Shark said confidently as he acted and clucked like a chicken.

The other Bad Guys shrugged as they acted like chicken and rounded up the chicken, but the chicken still dodged out of the way.

Joanna suddenly came out of the barn and watched the Bad Guys playing chicken. "Aww, look at you guys, playing like chickens. It's like you're 'hatching' a scheme to rob my chickens!" She laughed at the pun before asking in a serious tone, "Now, why are you riling up my chickens?"

The Bad Guys stopped playing chicken as they sighed in defeat.

Wolf confessed, "Well, the truth is… we like going on vacations lately. We're just trying to take a cool picture of life on the farm in Texas."

"Oh, well, in that case, I've got just the thing. Come on," Joanna instructed, leading the Bad Guys back into the barn.

Later, Joanna decided to have the Bad Guys feed the baby goats as they memorable vacation picture. Though, only Wolf, Snake, and Shark. Tarantula and Hornet were feeding the baby goats with baby bottles.

"Sorry we only had five baby goats, Mr. Piranha," Joanna said.

Piranha was only feeding the cat with the baby bottle. "'I'm good!"

"Make it a four," Snake said.

Wolf turned to Snake and called him out, "Snake, don't eat that!"

Snake had his mouth open, ready to eat the innocent baby goat, but Wolf had already scolded him as he retreated and rolled his eyes.

"Everybody say 'goat cheese'!" Shark grinned.

"No, don't say 'goat cheese.' The goats hate that," Joanna warned.

"Well, then what should we say?" Hornet questioned.

"I'm just kidding. You can say 'goat cheese.' The goats don't understand English," Joanna chuckled. "Only cows understand English, right, Camryn?" She told her cow, but there was no response as the Bad Guys stared at her. "Don't make me look stupid in front of these people, Camryn," the cow mooed, which made Joanna feel embarrassed. She turned to the Bad Guys and held Wolf's phone to capture the moment. "Okay, picture time."

"Everybody say 'cuckoo.'" Wolf murmured on the side of his mouth, describing Joanna's behavior.

"Cuckoo!" the other Bad Guys repeated as Joanna took the picture.

"Aww, that's cute," Joanna cooed before noticing one of the goats was missing. "Mr. Snake, stop eating my goats!"

Snake had a goat-shaped lump in his stomach, giving Joanna the clue that he ate one of her baby goats.

"Bleugh!" Snake regurgitated the baby goat as it dropped to the ground, covered with drool, and it was traumatized. "You no fun."

When Joanna gave Wolf his phone with the picture of them feeding the goat, Wolf looked at the photo and smiled, "Now this is the best picture for our Texas vacation, guys."

"Hey, Wolf, send it to me so that I can post it on Instagram," Tarantula pleaded.

"Sure thing, Webs," When Wolf opened his SMS app, he noticed the signal bar wasn't showing. "Uh, guys, there's no cell service here. This is bad."

"Baaaaaad," a goat sound repeated Wolf's word.

"Goat gets it!" Shark pointed out.

"Oh, no, that wasn't the goat. That was meeeee," Joanna mimicked the sound of a goat. "I was just agreeing with you, because cell service around here is more rare than me winning something at the county fair," she started to sob again. "I need this win!"

For an hour, the Bad Guys were wandering around the house and the farm to find the signal on their phones while Mr. and Mrs. Gardener were sound asleep on the porch, and the cat was sitting on the small chair that was on top of a table between them. The Bad Guys gathered back together if either of them had any good result.

"So have you guys had any luck finding a signal?" Wolf asked his friends.

"No, we checked everywhere," Hornet replied.

"This place is confusing. I got lost in the corn maze, the cabbage maze, the grass maze…" Shark reported.

"None of those were mazes," Piranha shook his head.

"Dang it. Joanna's right. There is no signal," Tarantula whined.

The Bad Guys continued trying to find signal as they went back to the barn again.

Joanna came out of the door from her house and declared, "Well, I'm off…" No one seemed to hear her, as her sister and brother-in-law were still sleeping. To get their attention, she continued her sentence loudly, "To the contest!"

Her loud voice snapped awake the Gardeners.

"Nut!" Mr. Gardener screamed.

"Fun-loving!" Mrs. Gardener objected.

When Mrs. Gardener was fully awake, she comforted her sister and rubbed her shoulders.

"I'm gonna be touring the other contestants' farms with the judges to look at their butter sculptures. And then my house is last, so we'll be back here later today," Joanna explained.

"Oh, good luck!" Mrs. Gardener held her sister's hands.

"Thanks. You'll make sure the Bad Guys behave, and you know I need this win, right?" Joanna repeated her wishes.

"Oh, yes, of course." Mrs. Gardener felt her sister grip her hands tighter. "Ow, ow." She released her hands from the pain and told Joanna, "We won't let them out of our sight. Just look at them over there. No shenanigans or anything bad in that bunch," she pointed at the Bad Guys and waved at them.

The Bad Guys smiled and waved back at them.

"Good luck," Mrs. Gardener told her sister as Joanna excitedly and nervously left her house.

Now that her sister was gone, Mrs. Gardener got back to sit down on the chair, and she and her husband went back to sleep while the cat watched them.

When Joanna left, and Mr. and Mrs. Gardener were asleep, with no one watching them, it was time to put the Bad Guys' plan into action!

"It's Bad Guys' shenanigan time," Wolf whispered as his team nodded in agreement. "Okay, as soon as Mr. and Mrs. Gardener fall back asleep, I'm going into town to go post that photo on Instagram."

Snake protested Wolf's plan, as the town was far away for him to reach. "To town? It'll take you forever to walk there!"

"Who said anything about walking?" Wolf smirked.

"Snake just said it," Shark clarified.

"Don't ruin my moment," Wolf said before repeating his words with a confident smirk again, "Who said anything about walking?"

"Seriously. Snake just said it," Shark cleared up, as he didn't understand about moments of having alternative ideas.

Wolf's idea was to use an ATV that was parked on the farm. It would be fast enough to get to the town in no time.

"What if Mr. and Mrs. Gardener see you?" Tarantula didn't think this would be a good idea.

"I think we're good." Wolf pointed at the porch where Mr. and Mrs. Gardener were snoring and the cat was staring at the couple.

"Are you sure you know how to drive that thing, hermano?" Piranha asked in concern.

"Guys, come on. I'm Mr. Wolf. I'm a good driver. The best driver of all time. How hard can it be to drive a zero-turn lawn mower?" Wolf turned the engine on and held onto the steering levers. When he pushed the levers forward, the lawn mower drove forward as Wolf had no idea this would happen. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!"

"Pretty hard, apparently," Tarantula answered that question.

"We should help him," Shark suggested before engaging to help Wolf.

But Snake placed his tail on Shark's shoulder as he grinned, "But not right away." He wanted to see how funny this was.

"Aaaaaaaaaahhhhh!" Wolf screamed as he was in reverse. He tried to push the gear, but it made him go forward again. "Aaaaaaaahhhhh!" When Wolf was in reverse again, the cat just watched him helplessly while Mr. and Mrs. Gardener were in a deep sleep and couldn't hear Wolf's screams, "Aaaaaahhh!"

"He keeps going in circles!" Hornet observed.

The mower was spinning in circles as Wolf had no control over the vehicle. "Aaaaaahhhhh!"

"I think she needs directions to town," Piranha said as he pointed with his fin. "It's that way!"

"Where's the brake?!" Wolf yelled as the mower spun faster, and the cat covered its head with its paws. It couldn't watch anymore.

Wolf kept screaming more as the mower continued to spin, but the cord was caught around the mower.

"Oh no! Wolf just ran over that extension cord," Shark noticed.

"And it's wrapping around him!" Snake added.

The cord was wrapped around Wolf as the mower continued to pull the cord until the end of it popped out of the barn door. The mower spun Wolf round and round, as the cord tied him up, until the mower just ran out of gas and it stopped.

Wolf felt a little dizzy, but his arms were tied up with the cord around his body. "Guys… a little help?"

"No thanks. We need to find out where the cord came from," Shark said as he and the other Bad Guys rushed into the farm, leaving Wolf still tied up.

The Bad Guys entered the barn as their eyes wandered to find the origin of that cord.

"I wonder what that cord was plugged into?" Piranha questioned.

Wolf came into the barn, still having the cord tied around him, as his only option was to jump in. "I said, 'a little help'!"

"Oh, sure. Your shoe's untied," Shark said.

"What?" Wolf looked down until he tripped to the ground. "Whoa!" As he fell, he rolled towards his friends, unexpectedly untying the cord from his body, and he stood up, free from the cord. "Wow. That actually worked."

Hornet turned around as he noticed the problem. "Uh, guys," he rushed to the table of Joanna's butter statues and held the outlet of the air conditioner. "I think I found what that cord was plugged into."

"The magic cooling box," Shark widened his eyes.

"It's not blowing. There's no magic!" Piranha exclaimed.

"The sculptures are gonna melt!" Tarantula cried.

"Don't worry. I can just plug the cord back in." Wolf went back to get the extension cord, but he noticed the plug was missing a prong. "Now we might have a problem."

"We need to get another extension cord fast!" Snake urged his friends before noticing something horrid, "Look!" He approached the butter statue of himself as it showed a sign of melting from its closed eye. Snake scooped the melted butter liquid and felt it on his tail. "I already have a butter tear."

"Don't worry. I mean, how fast can butter melt? Come on," Hornet said as he and the Bad Guys went out of the barn to get another extension cord from the house.

The butter statues were left unprotected from the heat.

Moments later, after the Bad Guys found an extra extension cord, they returned to the barn, only to find the butter statues were completely melted, six puddles of butter on the table.

"Come on! How fast can butter melt?!" Hornet screeched in defeat.

"What are we going to do?" Tarantula inquired.

"I got something that will help." Piranha took out a loaf of bread, which didn't help with this situation at all as his friends glared at him. "What? Can't let all this butter go to waste." He scooped the butter with a slice of bread and ate it. "Mmm. My butter lump tastes good."

While thinking of a way to fix the mess they made, Hornet went back outside to check on Mr. and Mrs. Gardener while Piranha continued eating the butter bread.

Hornet came back and reported, "Okay, Mr. and Mrs. Gardener are still asleep."

Wolf exhaled sharply. "What are we gonna do? This is a disaster."

"I know, now we'll never be able to post our picture on social media," Shark whined.

"No, Joanna needs this win. So we've got to fix the sculptures before she gets back with the judges," Wolf recommended.

"How? None of us can sculpt," Snake retorted.

Tarantula then volunteered, "Maybe I can. I did take a pottery class when we were in prison two years ago. I can just use some of this butter and see what I can do. In the meantime, you guys get more butter." Tarantula scooped some butter to start sculpting.

"Where are we gonna get enough butter to fix this?" Snake wondered.

Suddenly, the cow mooed behind them.

"Quiet down, Camryn. We're trying to think where we can get butter," Shark demanded.

Wolf, Snake, Piranha, and Hornet stared awkwardly at Shark for not realizing the cow has the answers. Butter was made from milk, and milk came from the cow. The four approached the cow, leaving Shark still wondering.

"Now, where does butter come from?" Shark thought before the cow mooed loudly again, "Camryn!"

The boys gently cared for the cow first before letting her out of the cow pen so they could milk her. While they had the bucket ready, the boys stared at the udder, as they had no idea how to milk.

"All right, so what do we do?" Snake asked.

"We, uh… we grab one." Wolf chuckled nervously as he put the bucket under the udder and rubbed his paws together. "Just like shaking hands with an old lady." He cracked his fingers and held a teat with one paw. "An old lady with one gross, boneless finger." He cringed in disgust. He started squeezing it and could feel the milk coming out. "It's oozing!"

"Ohh, oozing? I'm in!" Piranha took an interest in this milking business as he rolled his short sleeves and approached the udder. Wolf let Piranha take this as the latter squeezed the teats, squirting the milk out into the bucket. "Yeah, this feels right."

As Piranha continued to milk, Wolf invited the other boys to join them.

"Come on, Snake, Shark, Hornet. Grab an old lady finger," Wolf offered.

Shark decided to join in, but Snake and Hornet felt hesitant, as they felt a little disgust on touching the udder.

The cow mooed softly as Piranha patted her side, "I think they're beautiful, Camryn."

Tarantula was making progress with her sculpting as she announced, "Uh, guys, I took a stab at it."

When she got the boys' attention, Tarantula turned the statue, showing that she was making a butter statue of herself, but it looked like it was literally drowning in sorrow as it was in the middle of the process of melting.

The sculpture's appearance made the boys scream in horror, "Aah!"

"Stab it!" Shark pleaded.

"I thought you said you could sculpt," Hornet said.

"I didn't say I could sculpt. I said I took a pottery class," Tarantula confessed.

"What does that have to do with sculpting?" Piranha inquired.

"Clearly nothing!" Tarantula shouted and exhaled, "How are we going to sculpt all of this butter to look exactly like our faces?"

Suddenly, Hornet noticed the butter on Tarantula's face as he smeared it, and he looked at the butter on his hand. "Who said we have to sculpt it?"

"Webs just did," Shark answered as if it was a non-rhetorical question. "Am I the only one who listens?"

Near the end of the day, the judges and contestants of the county fair arrived at Joanna's farm as Mr. and Mrs. Gardener woke up from the nap. They all gathered in the barn to see Joanna's entry.

"Okay, in here you'll find my sculptures for this year's fair." Joanna showed the butter statues of the Bad Guys. "The Bad Guys in butter!"

The sculptures were actually the real Bad Guys, as Wolf, Snake, Shark, and Piranha were covered in butter. There was thick butter around the scalps of their heads and Snake's hat while their faces were painted with light butter, and their bodies were hidden under the table, while Tarantula and Hornet had their whole bodies painted with light butter and thick butter planted on their scalps. They were all frozen like statues with their eyes closed.

The judges and contestants applauded Joanna's work, as they didn't realize they were the real Bad Guys in butter.

Joanna then asked quietly to her sister, "Where are the Bad Guys? I want to show the judges how realistic this is."

"I'm sure they'll be here in a sec. They're around. We know because we were totally awake the whole time you were gone," Mrs. Gardener lied, as she and her husband had no idea where the Bad Guys were since they both fell deeply asleep.

"I'm gonna stall the judges," Joanna said as she guided the judges and the other contestants to the cow pen. "Before you meet the butter, let's meet the udder!"

While Joanna distracted the judges and the participants, Mr. and Mrs. Gardener huddled up to talk about the Bad Guys' whereabouts.

"Where are the Good Bad Guys? She needs this win, Timothy. She's gonna lose it," Mrs. Gardener said nervously.

"I thought you said she was fun-loving," Mr. Gardener recalled.

"She's a nut!" Mrs. Gardener admitted about her sister's behavior.

Suddenly, a fly just flew onto Wolf's nose. The fly was tickling Wolf's nose as he tried to wiggle it to shoo the fly away.

"Hey…," Mr. Gardener barely noticed Wolf moving. "Did Butter Wolf just wiggle his nose?"

Wolf tried to blow the fly away while his eyes were open for a second before closing them, trying to ignore the fly.

"I don't know, but he just opened his eyes." Mrs. Gardener almost noticed that too.

"Stop opening your eyes," Shark whispered.

"WAAAHHH!" Mr. and Mrs. Gardener were startled to see the statues move. They realized they were the real Bad Guys all along.

Their yelps caught the judges' and the participants' attention as they turned to look at them. Realizing the Bad Guys were pretending to be statues, the Gardeners had to play along to avoid making Joanna lose this fair.

Mr. Gardener started as he and his wife pretended nothing wrong happened with her sculptures. "We mean…"

"Aahhh," The Gardeners made it look like they yelped in amazement.

"It looks just like the real Bad Guys," Mr. Gardener chuckled.

"Who are still not here," Mrs. Gardener grinned sheepishly.

The Gardeners laughed as the judges and the participants returned their attention to the cow. Now that they were distracted, the Gardeners turned back to the Bad Guys.

"What the heck are you guys doing?" Mr. Gardener gritted his teeth in anger.

"The details aren't important. All you need to know is that we ruined another one of Joanna's entries," Hornet spoke softly.

"And this was your way of fixing it?" Mrs. Gardener scolded.

"Should we just tell your sister the truth?" Tarantula suggested an alternative solution.

The judges and the participants were enjoying the cow's company, as Mr. and Mrs. Gardener couldn't let Joanna know about her destroyed entry, or she'd be crushed.

"No, no, no, no, no, no. Absolutely not. She needs this win," Mrs. Gardener implored.

"Just shut your eyes and be better butter!" Mr. Gardener demanded.

Right on time, Joanna led the judges to her entry. "And that leads us to my masterpiece."

Mr. and Mrs. Gardener tried to act casually as they tried to keep their mouths shut about the Bad Guys being the statues.

"It only takes a quick glance to see that this is a winner," Mrs. Gardener insisted, trying not to let the judges look closely at the statues, or the Bad Guys would get exposed.

"Oh, no, no, really feast your eyes on it. Really soak it in," Joanna persisted, letting the judges observe her statues.

The judges approached the butter "statues" as they leaned closely in each of them. One of the judges was too close to Snake's "statue" as he looked really REALLY closely at him. Joanna prayed that the judges would like her butter sculptures. The lead judges leaned a little closer towards Snake's face. Mr. and Mrs. Gardener were nervous that the Bad Guys might blow it. The lead judge then noticed a tear rolled down from Snake's closed eye, as the judge believed it might be the butter slightly melting.

The judges looked at each other to see if they agreed on what they were thinking about these statues.

"Well, this is the most realistic butter sculpture we've ever seen. This one even appeared to… weep." The lead judge was very impressed as he announced while holding the blue ribbon, "We have our winner."

Joanna was beyond happy that she finally won after years of trying to win. The lead judge gave the ribbon to her, and they took a picture together. "Ohh, yes! I so needed this win!" She shoves the ribbon to the other contestants. "In your face, ladies. You too, Rodney." The farmer with a hat hung his head down sadly. "Oh, let's get one with Camryn." Joanna rushed to the cow pen to get her cow.

While everyone was distracted, Wolf was free to talk for a second. "Guys, we did it. Just one more picture," the Bad Guys went back to close their eyes and froze.

Joanna dragged her cow close to her entries. "Okay, Camryn, picture time. This time, don't make the duck face."

Joanna posed with her cow while holding a blue ribbon.

The cow then licked Piranha's buttered face with her big tongue.

"Aahhhh!" Piranha screamed in disgust when he felt the tongue rub his face.

"Aahhh!" The other Bad Guys screamed for being exposed, thanks to Piranha.

"Aahhh!" The judges and the participants yelped in horror, seeing the statues just "come to life."

"Aahhh!" Mr. and Mrs. Gardener pretended to be as shocked as them.

"Aahhh!" Joanna cried as she churned on the butter churner stressfully, knowing her statues were ruined, thus ruining her chance of winning.

The Bad Guys couldn't keep playing this charade anymore, as their cover was blown. They were free to open their eyes and move, but it cost Joanna to lose this contest.

"Sorry, Joanna, but as you know, dipping people in butter is a definite disqualification. Not to mention you're associating with the notorious Bad Guys," the lead judge announced as he extended his hand, demanding Joanna give up her ribbon, as she sadly did.

Since they were no use of help anymore, the Bad Guys got up from the table, with Wolf, Snake, Shark, and Piranha having their bodies out of the table with just their heads covered in butter.

"I'd be surprised if this is even butter at all," When the lead judge scooped a piece of butter from Snake's hat and tasted it, he realized it was real butter and it tasted good. "Mmm. Actually, it is butter, some of the best I've ever had." Then, he approached Joanna, giving her the good news, "You may have lost the ribbon for your sculpture, but you deserve one for the best home-churned butter. First prize goes to you." He gave her the ribbon back.

Joanna might not have won with her sculptures, but she won in a different way, and it counted. The judges, other participants, the Gardeners, and the Bad Guys applauded for her success.

"Yes! I am a winner! In your faces!" Joanna squealed happily. Once again, her hard work did pay off. She rushed to her sister as they embraced, "Oh, I'm so excited! I can't wait to tell Mom! If only I had cell service. I hate this farm." Joanna marched out of her barn as she passed through the other contestants. "Out of my way, Rodney!"

Now that the judges and the participants left the barn, the Gardeners stayed to have a little discussion with their… acquaintance.

"Well, Bad Guys, you may have screwed things up, but you fixed things in the end. You guys are good after all," Mr. Gardener congratulated them as the Bad Guys felt flattered.

Mrs. Gardener then told her "best employee," "And Hornet, because you and your friends 'sorta' helped my sister win, we're gonna reduce your suspension weeks."

Hornet gasped excitedly as his friends were happy for him that he would get his job back sooner than expected.

"See you real soon," Mrs. Gardener stated before she and her husband left the barn.

Before they could leave, the Bad Guys noticed the photographer was checking her camera. She might have captured everything earlier.

"Oh, excuse me. Do you think you could email us that picture?" Wolf asked the photographer.

"Yeah, we need it for something," Snake added with a smile.

As they returned to LA, the Bad Guys posted the photo of them in butter with Piranha getting licked by a cow on social media, and they received a lot of likes. This would definitely be in their vacation album. They went to FasTogether to celebrate with mugs of root beer.

"Well, guys, we did it," Wolf said.

"This is the vacation we will never forget," Hornet remarked.

The Bad Guys cheered for each other and themselves as they clung their mugs together victoriously.

Cast:

Michael Godere - Mr. Wolf

Chris Diamantopoulos - Mr. Snake

Ezekiel Ajeigbe - Mr. Shark

Raul Ceballos - Mr. Piranha

Mallory Low - Ms. Tarantula

Eugene Lee Yang - Mr. Hornet

Brian Stepanek – Mr. Timothy Gardener

Allison Munn – Mrs. Angel Gardener

Jennifer Aspen - Joanna

Aidan Gallagher – Nickel

Casey Simpson – Rusty

Mace Coronel – Daxton

Lizzy Greene – Dusk

Stan Sellers– Head Judge

Next on The Bad Guys: The Baddest Trip...

Ms. Tarantula: Wow, Shark, I can't believe you were so good with jazz music.

Mr. Shark: Well, other than my skills of being a master of disguise, there were other things I'm also good at, and that's jazz.

Mr. Hornet: I just don't understand why you couldn't share some of your talents with us or other people.

Mr. Shark: Well, sometimes, people think Jazz wasn't for me. I mean, I remember some people told me I should quit jazz because they couldn't see a shark like me doing jazz.

Mr. Wolf: Hey, don't listen to them, Shark. You're good at it.

Mr. Piranha: Yeah, you shouldn't give up on your dreams.

Mr. Shark: I can't play! I just can't! It's in my head, but my hands won't do it! I have the yips!

Mr. Hornet: Look, Shark, if you don't feel like playing jazz anymore, you should go to a place where jazz is appreciated and played all the time.

Ms. Tarantula: In New Orleans?

Mr. Hornet: That is where we'll help you get your jazz back!

Mr. Shark: I don't know, Hornet. You don't have to bring me to New Orleans to get my spark for jazz back.

Mr. Wolf: Eh, maybe this is another trip we need to get out of this city. What do you say, Shark?

Mr. Shark: Alright, let's go to New Orleans.

Mr. Piranha: Woohoo! Another road trip!