Partners In Crime

Partners In Crime - Veil of Villainy

Diane, Wolf and Piranha were immediately greeted to an amber set of lights stemming down from the ceiling, all bound by flexible metallic ropes as these lights flickered above them. Below their feet, they caught sight of an extravagant coating of quartz that coaxed them further into their discovery as the thunder of the world above them started to toss them around due to the wind seeping into the meteorite and creating a vortex.

Before them lay two corridors which both conveniently wrapped around 180 degrees, guided by lights that were embedded in the walls as well as a venting system that warmed them up from the moment they entered. A robotic voice suddenly welcomed them by announcing "Welcome, Officer Cuddles", invalidating their doubts regarding this belonging to Marmalade indirectly.

Foxington was immediately allured by the screen presented in front of them, which happened to be covering the release of The Bad Guys alongside Professor Marmalade's escape. It was also noted that directly next to them stood a whiteboard that appeared to have several images of semi-famous celebrities, tycoonists or innocent civilians alongside plans that were written next to them.

All the while, Tarantula was currently crawling around the massive central control room and figuring out how to turn off the electromagnetic scrambling technology so she could use her methods of communication once again. She flicked around with many buttons, levers as well as a keyboard before typing in a command that killed part of the power but also ensured that she was able to talk to the others, leaving the others in darkness and forcing them to draw their flashlights in the process.

"Guys! Everyone! Oh my goodness... THERE'S A WHOLE FUDGING LABORATORY DOWN HERE!" Tarantula's excited voice beamed through the radio all the while Wolf, Foxington and Piranha pressed the buttons of their earpieces together as the rock formation shut them inside of the presumed entrance to this colossal research centre.

"WE KNOW!" Everyone shouted down the radio at the same time, stunning Tarantula as she sought to take a peek around her. She couldn't help but notice that she was in the main control room and that there were doors leading off into every direction. Massive, security-controlled black doors with a jade finish stood before her with their titanium finish as well as immovable force deterring her.

"Myself and Wolfie here found our way in because there appears to be a control panel that recently was revealed due to decay. We need to figure out if this place is operational or if someone's been here immediately- all we do know is it belongs to that sly minion known as Cuddles!" Foxington poked her muzzle around and was admittedly rather excited to take off her night vision sunglasses as well as poke her head around the facility. "Webs? Is there any way you can disable the surveillance system so I can-"

"Ten steps ahead of ya, foxy! Go ahead and reveal yourself to the world so you can take a good look at this masterpiece- whoever made it! I can't believe this was hiding underground the whole time! Just look at all of this technology!" Webs suddenly patched a feed onto the massive projector near the entrance of the facility to show herself alongside this massive control room which was filled with buttons as she turned the lights from amber to white.

"You're enjoying yourself a little too much with this technology sitting in front of you, aren't ya, Webs?" Wolf playfully remarked as he soon took off his hood and removed his mask to reveal himself to the world all the while Piranha practically ripped off his latex suit. "Piranha! You might need that if this place ends up being some elaborate trap... I don't think that's the case, though... This place might have an air conditioning system but it looks like it's been desolate for months," Moe started following the red carpet that was sat in the middle of the quartz walls lined with paintings of Cuddles and Marmalade together before turning 180 degrees near a corridor in their pursuit of finding Webs.

"Luckily, I bought a spare latex suit for him considering I knew he wouldn't keep it on forever!" Foxington brought her paws against the quartz walls before sneezing after investigating how much dust was truly left behind. "Achoo! Wow, this place is virtually ancient! Yet it's still running and we need to figure out how," Webs had left the communications between everyone permanently open and had a rebuttal for the Governor.

"This place has its own independent power source... I'm not sure what from but if I were to take some guesses, this place is a massive research lab that Marmalade and Cuddles constructed before he was locked up to do research on the meteorite by intermittently taking samples from it and crushing it to dust. There are some tubes here that have samples dating back several years but there are also architectural plans that stem into the earlier months of this year before everything suddenly went silent for a project known as Passageway Emerald," Tarantula searched through the control panel and the computer software before she could only go so far. "Alright, people... This place is heavily encrypted! I'll assist you with getting to me but beyond that, we need to figure out how to get through this place and to find out if there are any connections between this lab and Marmalade's escape; why not do all of that with all of this technology at our fingertips?"

"Hermana, perhaps you could do a little less fangirling and a little more directing us? This place is built like a labyrinth and I feel like a bull in a china shop right now!" Piranha's quip festering with irritation brought some laughs to the rest of his crew. "What? It's true! I've got no clue where I'm going and I have a feeling that if I take one wrong step then my entire world and everything I know is going to shatter around me!" Piranha defended himself by folding his shoulders and pouting slightly before Webs managed to hijack the security systems for the doors and even lit up the walls with arrows leading everyone directly to her.

"Well, that's convenient... No need to be so melodramatic, buddy!" Wolf reassured Piranha as they soon sprinted through hallways decorated with expensive and presumably stolen artefacts on their way to Ms. Tarantula. Of course, Wolf felt the urge to steal something due to his old habits all the while Diane spent her time slapping his paws away from those priceless and presumably rigged possessions as they finally made their way to the control room, tripping onto the carpeted floor and landing in a heap to serenade their arrival.

Their eyes were greeted by an eccentric sight fueled by the remarkable technology surrounding them as Webs amused herself by ensuring the air vents were blowing warm air upon her to make her position atop a small golden podium more dramatic. Meanwhile, Moe and Diane were busy preoccupying themselves with the sighting of massive golden spotlights spanning across the entirety of the metallic silver ceiling standing roughly sixteen feet above their heads.

Piranha happened to catch sight of a massive red button, of which everyone's mission at that point went from merely appreciating the elaborate nature of their newest discovery to restraining him from pressing that button. When their mission was finally complete and Piranha was issued a stern warning about touching massive red things, Tarantula drew everyone's attention towards three massive TV screens that preoccupied the walls and were filled with camera feeds.

"Alright gang! From what I've gathered from flipping through the security feed in the last twenty-four hours, Cuddles and his long nose hopped into a minecart destined for Passageway Emerald roughly ten hours ago and has not been seen since. I will be pursuing this trail with Piranha whilst Wolf will be in charge of searching the rest of the doors and where they lead with a radio wave jammer to make sure he passes whilst Foxington will evaluate the valuables and ensure nothing is amiss," Webs closed her small laptop and instead focused her attention towards the massive computer keyboard in front of her. With one tiny USB going into a massive port, she was able to override the majority of the security system and begin tracking down the source of the power. "It appears the source of the power is originating from a source which can be found on our way to the passageway, so we'll stop there first, scales!"

"Hey, hermana! How come I'm the one who has to come with you down a dark and spooky tunnel? I might be crazy but I am not crazy enough to face the darkness, that stuff is scary and a constant reminder of what we used to do once the sun had set on the city!" Tarantula merely folded her furry red, orange and black arms whilst letting off a huff.

"Hey! How come myself and Foxington have gotta split up? Shouldn't we be sticking together to ensure none of us gets spooked or caught off guard... How come I have to play detective duty in this massive laboratory when you can already see the majority of it on your fancy-pants screen here?" Wolf started scratching his chin all the while glaring at an extremely irritated Webs.

"Perhaps it's because... THERE AREN'T ANY CAMERAS INSIDE OF SOME OF THESE ROOMS THAT ARE WORKING AND WE NEED SOMEONE TO FIND THEIR WAY!" Tarantula hopped up from her position and remained suspended in the air the entire time she erupted with anger. "Phew, apologies for that, Wolfie... I'm just a little focused on making sure nothing goes wrong here and I need you to do this alone; I know you want to spend some time with your governor girlfriend and you can get back to that once you've scanned all the rooms, got it?" Ms. Tarantula wiped some sweat off her forehead as Wolf anxiously nodded all the while she hopped onto Piranha's head.

"I'm beginning to understand how this crew managed to slip into denial... All of that internal bickering really deals some damage to a seemingly invincible crew. Why deal with that when you can just do things by yourself instead," Foxington smugly smirked at Webs all the while she shot a wink at Wolf whilst putting her mask and hood back up. "Of course, I know which one of you is the good boy and I will admit that doing things solo became a little depressing but it's time for us to scout out this guinea pig's cage!" Diane clapped both of her paws together and mysteriously disappeared, leaving behind no trace of her exit other than the fact she had opened up a door that led inside of a room merely titled "The Treasury."

"I guess I better go and track down those rooms that you're telling me about and plant some cameras inside so you can get a better idea of what's going on," Wolf reached into his pocket and pulled out six cameras that could be stuck to the side of walls inside of the laboratory, allowing Tarantula to gain a full understanding as every single light lit up with the colours of the rainbow as their synchronised sequence. "It's time to see which one of these little piggies decided to stay at home," Moe slipped his sunglasses back on his face, hiding his brown orbs as he tried to make a smooth exit like Foxington. Instead, he left behind a trail of dust as he sprinted towards the first door which was merely linked to the experiments room.

"Alright, Mr. Scaredy Scales, it's time for us to explore this treacherous tunnel!" Tarantula slapped her legs across Piranha's scales as well as head, soon prompting him into walking forward and cowering near the door as Webs swiped a circular disc underneath the control panel to override it. "Wow, this tunnel system is massive! It's not air-conditioned and it's way too dusty for my liking!" Webs soon slipped her mask on alongside Piranha as they equipped themselves with their own version of night-vision goggles and ventured into the rocky abyss before them.

As Tarantula and Piranha pressed forth, soon finding themselves cloaked in complete darkness if it weren't for the night vision goggles guiding them as Webs crawled along the ceiling and Piranha rushed along the floor which was riddled with minecart tracks, Wolf found himself coming across his first discovery and soon took planed one of the cameras with a neat notification lighting up Tarantula's laptop.

Wolf activated the camera and soon struck a pose in front of it, revealing that the experiment room was filled with gold as well as technology seemingly from an age ahead of ours. He was holding a black gun with white and red lights attached to it, shot at a coin and watched it explode into a mountain of gold all before turning on communications with Webs.

"Webs! Woah-ho-ho! Cuddles seems to be quite the engineer! Check this out!" Wolf flipped a coin into the air with his paw, shot it in mid air whilst standing beneath it and watched as his fur was showered with gold. "Reminds me of that one story about that rich guy known as Midas except this gun somehow controls that element... I have no clue how- hold on," Moe started investigating the ammo compartment, carefully disassembling the weapon in front of Webs' eyes whilst a mountain of gold, sapphire, various rubies and ancient valuables lit up the room and glimmered around him.

"Wolfie! Don't do anything stupid! You're working with an experiment here!" Webs advised, watching in horror as Wolf finally disassembled the ammo compartment and revealed a massive tube filled with pure meteorite dust was powering the Golden Gun. "What the-"

"It's apparently got the label of 'Ammo for the Golden Gun - Earth's Materialistic Downfall...' - This sounds like one massive plot to disrupt the economy with these valuables! Maybe Marmalade or Cuddles saw that their mission was in vain and they instead want to unleash terror by filling everyone's pockets or perhaps just their own as the entire world grovels before them..." Wolf put the weapon back together and soon placed it back on the table, observing other pieces of weaponry such as a telescope that could supposedly see into the future and fire galactic rays of destruction as well as a pendant that could temporarily halt time with the expense of the energy around them being drained to fuel the device. "Alright, I won't poke my head around too long as I don't want to end up getting stuck in a sewer; I'll keep you posted!" Wolf soon exited the room and headed into another somewhat eerie corridor only lit up by a red light.

"I wonder what treasures lie in here..." Moe was about to use his interception device to break into the door manually but instead found a keyhole which his camera could perfectly slip into if he timed his shot right. He made sure to bring up his phone as well as the remote camera app, shone his flashlight through to get a basic idea of what sort of operation was running inside and tossed the disc onto the ceiling; allowing everyone to get a birds eye view. "Jackpot!" As the camera powered on, Wolf's head tilted to the side as it was revealed that an automated machine of some sort was building a submarine that was ready to be unleashed into the collapsed seawall at command so long as it was complete before the time was ripe.

All the while this was happening, Diane was busying herself with carefully investigating the seemingly legitimate treasures that had been stolen in the past year mainly due to petty theft alongside discovering some things from other states or countries that had inexplicably gone missing. She made sure to capture many photos with the snapshot feature built into her glasses as she soon came across a golden record alongside a sapphire-encrusted record player.

"Who in the fluff would keep one of these around in the twenty-first century? Wait-" Foxington shone a light onto the record to reveal that it was signed by a musician who went by the name "Gazelle". "That's interesting, never heard of a Gazelle that makes music around here or the world before and I'd know that considering I've been to my fair share of places... That name seems a little familiar but I'm not sure if it belongs to our world or another," Foxington pondered all the while Wolf privately patched himself into Diane's communications.

"Sorry for interrupting you but it's so unbelievably sweet being able to hear you, uh... How do I put this? Ramble about your whereabouts as well as talk to yourself- it's- heheh- quite cute if you ask me," Wolf remarked all the while he was on his way to the third room that he'd be placing a camera inside of alongside investigating.

"Wait- WAIT... YOU COULD HEAR THAT? THE ENTIRE THING?" Foxington's face lit up sunset red beneath her mask as Wolf let off a snicker through his intercom. "Webs never turned the intercoms off for me, did she?" Diane sighed as she placed another scrambling device underneath the black and jade control panel that would lead into the room, watching as the titanium door squeaked open to reveal the next experience illuminated by the amber lights above.

"I never turned them off for the either of you but Piranha's been amusing himself by laughing his h–d o– the entire time-time *CRACKLE*" Tarantula's intercoms were disobeying her as she tapped on her headset twice inside of the tunnel before halting Piranha and walking back a bit. "I wish I could continue poking fun at you two lovebirds through the radio but we're about to exit your range for a bit so you two can continue flirting to your heart's content, haha!"

"Don't get up to anything unsanitary whilst you're both left there alone! I've read the love letters that Wolf turns to the side thinking that this amigo can't read from my own perspective and I can just tell you're thinking about something nefarious right now! Alright, gotta go! Webs is going to bite me if I don't move my butt!" Piranha's communications soon fizzled out as they exited the range of their comrades and suddenly felt slightly alone inside of the tunnel, even shivering thanks to that bone-chilling sensation of being watched suddenly running up their spine. "Is it just me who feels like they're being watched right now, camarada?" His fin quivered all the while felt her thorax twitch.

"You're not the only one... I should get down from here and stay close to you to make sure you don't end up gassing up this tunnel-"

"YOU'RE TOO LATE FOR THAT!"

"PIRANHA NO-"

*FART*

As their vicinity was lit up by a toxic stench brought on by Piranha's rebelling stomach and sense of nervousness, Wolf and Foxington found it amusing how their communications with Piranha and Webs didn't officially cease until the fart originating from their amphibian friend's bowels temporarily stunned them and led them to snicker.

"Haha! I can tell Piranha just entered somewhere a little darker than he prefers or the social anxiety of only having one person around him instead of the whole crew really is doing a number to him!" Wolf was on the verge of wheezing all the while his infectious laughter was inching closer to Foxington's barrier for maturity.

"I refuse to laugh- at a guy who- has to deal with a nightmare every time he's- spooked- PFF" Diane soon lost sense of her composure as she was exploring a room mostly filled with fossils whilst taking some pictures of her own. "Does that ever become a problem on Halloween..? Like when you guys are robbing people during the trick or treat hours... Does it ever become compromising when something scares him?" Foxington's curiosity was buzzing at this point and Wolf couldn't help but answer back with a quip of his own interrupted by intermittent wheezing.

"We tried a Halloween robbery once and let's just say... There was an old witch that ended up calling in a biohazard team for the house that we were stealing from and that property is still vacant to this day as that smell lingers," Moe was on the verge of tears from giggling when he suddenly heard white noise emitting from the third door that he was standing outside of. "Hold on, my partner in crime, I'll be back with you once I've unveiled the mystery of this room," Wolf abruptly shut off his communications, twiddled the disc wielding a camera between his paw and soon flipped it into the air whilst using a jamming device to open up the door obstructing his view of the room within.

Mr. Wolf soon advanced into the room to see it was lit up by overzealous cyan lights and that the white noise originated from the water gushing from the various slides as well as pools kept inside of this secret waterpark. He flipped his camera into the air and stuck it to a mount for a real camera that was presumably taken down or never completed all the while he took in his sight.

Everywhere for the eye could see he observed water pouring down from fake rocks, tiny houses as well as rubber rings situated inside of this waterpark itself. It appeared as if Marmalade or Cuddles had taken inspiration from a waterpark they had seen in person and decided to model it regardless of the fact it would see some use or not. Moe crept towards a hot-tub when he suddenly got another communications request from Foxington.

"So, my good boy... What did ya find? Was it anything interesting or is it a letdown?" Diane was overwhelmed by the rushing of water and Wolf soon perked up upon hearing his lover's voice once more. "Moe? Where are you?" She pondered as Wolf unwrapped his mask and his hoodie, using the waterproofing of the latex suit and technology he already had on his person to begin relaxing in the hot tub.

"Oh, no need to worry about me, darling... I've just come across a massive waterpark contained underneath here and I'm about to put my feet up inside of a hot tub," Wolf beamed a massive smile on his face as he took out his waterproof phone and snapped a picture of him relaxing on a hot tub which had quartz tiles lining the sides with golden lights illuminating it alongside him. "You can take a look for yourself... The more I adventure through this place, the crazier it gets. I'm only halfway through my little adventure with setting up cameras and I'm having a blast! - If there's one thing a guy can give credit for regarding that scheming guinea pig, it's the fact that he knows how to party!" Moe then sent that picture he had taken with him submerged in water and enjoying himself to Foxington, who remained silent for around a minute.

"Uh, Diane, sweetheart?" Upon basking within the silence for a little too long and becoming anxious as to his lover's whereabouts, the door to the waterpark suddenly started to twist open as the mosaic of waves rushing and Professor Marmalade surfing on a wave split apart to reveal nothing but Foxington herself in a modified form of her latex suit which more or less resembled a swimsuit. "Holy sh-"

"Like what you see, Wolfie?" Diane smirked as she strut towards the hot tub Moe was chilling in, inadvertently cutting him off in the process. "I couldn't help but see my sly and divine puppy chilling inside of a hot tub and when it comes to being partners in crime... I guess you can't exactly resist trying to relax even when you're trying to pull off one of the biggest heists against evil the world has ever seen," Foxington soon backflipped into a seat directly adjacent from Wolf, leaving his jaw agape all the while the camera he had mounted blinked.

"Heheh- I- huh- I guess so," Wolf couldn't help but stare directly at Diane's feminine features all the while she sassed him by placing a paw on her hip. "Sorry, just not used to seeing so much fur considering I've been trapped in prison for a year and this happens to be my first mission where I've been able to see more than the Crimson Paw's mask, suit and planning capabilities-"

"Wolf, Governor Foxington... WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Webs suddenly blast through their earpieces, prompting both of them to stand up and for their fur to rise as their eyes gazed upon every single object contained inside of the waterpark before ultimately landing on one another.

"Relax, Webs, we found a really nice room and we're chilling out; it's not like anything bad is going to happen considering we've poked our heads around everywhere and we've barely found anything alarming, let alone rigged," Wolf placed his hands behind his head and started to relax all the while Diane crossed her legs and followed Moe's lead.

"There's only a few things here that are noteworthy and should be turned into the chief once we've finished our investigation, it's not like the world is going to end if we decide to put our feet up... Besides, it's Wolf's first day out of prison and we haven't slept so of course we're going to find a way to compromise whilst looking the part," Foxington and Wolf appeared to let their egos and arrogance get the best of them as Tarantula's method of communication began to fade and was soon replaced by Piranha screaming into their ears.

"WHILE YOU TWO WERE BUSY SIPPING SMOOTHIES AND HAVING A FIESTA WITH ONE ANOTHER, WE TRAVELLED THROUGH THIS MASSIVE TUNNEL AND WE'VE DISCOVERED AN INTERSECTION WITH A HEAT SIGNATURE THAT MATCHES MARMALADE'S BEING MADE A MERE HALF HOUR PRIOR!" Piranha's yelling immediately humbled Wolf and Diane, who started stepping out of the hot tub as Tarantula and Piranha watched from the shadows of their tunnel as they seemingly discovered a reinforced portion of the lair. "Don't just start creeping out of the hot tubs! Accept your shame and accept that you're amusing yourselves a little too much! Tarantula, give them the recap!" Piranha soon took off his miniature headset and handed it to Webs.

"Alright, I don't blame you two for having a little bit of fun but you're needed here immediately. We're here to unveil villainy, not party with one another! Wolfie, I hate to say it but other than finding some nice things to report, those scouting cameras are going to be necessary for something else. We appear to be underneath a portion of the city which lies on the outskirts yet beneath a mountain. We believe that one of the tunnels leading to this intersection originates from the island that formerly held us captive, was eradicated and then rebuilt to house Marmalade before he ended up travelling here," Webs started typing on her computer as she triangulated their location and made sure to begin using her whispering voices instead of loudly shouting. "This tiny mountainside which is almost like a large hill in the desert lying outside of the city is situated on a fault-line which means there is most likely some geological activity taking place here. That geological activity can be used to harness energy from the earth itself or ensure that inventions are made. Either way, this mountain is a perfect place for someone to reside in and keep an eye on the city without being caught. We would love to go ahead and apprehend Marmalade as well as bring down this operation before it gets off to a start but we're going to need you two to assist us! We'll brief you once you're here!" Tarantula's communications soon ceased and Wolf picked up the camera lining the inside of the room whilst reaching for Diane's briefcase.

"What do you say, my love? We go on a little bit of a joyride throughout this oversized laboratory before helping out our friends and bringing justice to the city long before Marmalade's name turns from a whisper to a shout, hm?" Wolf confidently unfolded Diane's briefcase and soon watched as her latex suit turned from being moderately revealing to obscuring as both flipped on their hoodies and masks.

"Our first joyride as a couple together... Oh, please! You're spoiling me!" Diane joyously cooed as she secured herself on the back of the motorbike. "Be careful when turning those corners, baby... You don't want to end up causing us both to go over the front, do we?" Soon after, Foxington's teasing ceased as the pair of them began to retrace their tracks. Wolf busted into the previous two rooms which involved him quietly sneaking up the side of the wall and onto the ceiling of the submarine room before going back to the room housing the artificial treasure, taking his camera back and heading for the entrance leading into Passageway Emerald.

"You know, for something that emerges when you unfold a briefcase, this thing isn't that bad of a ride... Hm, perhaps I should become a motorbike driver so I can have the finesse of four wheels with the subtlety of two," Wolf leant forward as Diane put on some lyricless electronic music to further enhance their journey forward with the headlights illuminating the minecart tracks ahead of them. "I do wonder how the pair of them got so far in such a short amount of time, then again; we were exploring for a shabby amount of time and they may have used an abandoned minecart," Moe was pondering the speed of his two comrades as the GPS on Foxington's bike lit up, indicating that he was around a mile away from both Tarantula and Piranha.

"You know, seeing you learn how to ride a motorbike would be extremely entertaining but would also be tremendously attractive~" Foxington remarked with Wolf letting off a sarcastic cackle.

"Hah! You say 'but' like that's a bad thing! I'm already a natural at driving a car and I'm getting the hang of this bike, it won't be long until you're attracted to a Mr. Wolf who happens to be on the right side of crime, one that can make a work trip look like a breeze all whilst arriving to pick you up as I wear a leather jacket and flip up my visor," Foxington suddenly wrapped her paws around Wolf's shoulders, prompting his fur to puff up and for him to feel a heatwave in the form of an intense blush coat his grey cheeks.

"I'm saying if you learned how to drive a motorcycle, I may not have as much self-control as I do for you right now and I wouldn't test the will of a fox who's lost their sense of control for another animal," Diane made the effort of leaning into Wolf's back, temporarily distracting him and leading him to take a rockier route before regaining his sense of stability. "As we've said before... A wolf and a fox are not so different and you should see me when I don't get my way or perhaps I'm yearning for something that doesn't necessarily come after a rough day of work as the governor," Foxington was on the verge of massaging Wolf's shoulders when their electronic music suddenly cut out and it became much warmer around them.

"I- uh... I appreciate the compliments and the creative consideration but I have a feeling we should start acting like professionals... We don't want to end up getting personal and professional on a mission now, do we?" Wolf's snout went into the air and he could suddenly smell a potent metallic scent spreading through the air alongside the repulsive odour of coal. "You smelling that? It smells like coal mixed with metal..."

"We must be travelling directly underneath a melting facility set up by Marmalade... The real question is how long has he been working on that structure? You don't just set that up as one guinea pig with a minion," Diane thought intensively, even going as far as loosening up her grip on her canine companion to stroke her muzzle. "I have a feeling Marmalade's might is much larger than we thought. With all of that good preaching as well as shady dealings with government officials as I've read the paperwork and been dismayed by how easy it is to bribe someone, I assume that it's a lot more than him and Cuddles that constructed the laboratory."

"I've got a feeling that Cuddles solely was responsible for this tunnel though as it seems to be shrinking before our very eyes... Hold on, I think I can see Webs and Piranha!" Wolf and Diane came into view with the motorcycle headlights shutting off as both of them jumped up into the air, held hands and landed on their feet mere inches away from Piranha and Tarantula all the while both of them rolled their eyes. "Hey guys, couldn't help but make an enthusiastic entrance after you caught us in such a compromising position," Moe flicked off the last of the water droplets staining his latex suit as he handed Foxington's briefcase back to her.

"You two couldn't be more of lovebirds and something about this relationship makes me think that you two are going to struggle keeping your composure even when it's time to confront Marmalade head on," After hearing Tarantula's remark, Diane and Wolf both exchanged flustered glares through their masks of their latex suits as the pair recalled the infamous moment they felt themselves recall that moment Diane was revealed to be the Crimson Paw before the guinea pig's eyes and joked in the face of danger. "As for the briefing, I've crept around some corners and even ventured onto the roof and found out that this mountain is most likely housing a variety of technology that can be compromised. I've already broken into the 'reinforced' locking mechanisms this place is secured by, it's a matter of finding Marmalade and locking him up with some rope or a cage if we have it lying around-"

"I might be a little loco for suggesting this but I don't think it's going to be that easy, hermana Webs! It might be easy breaking into their systems with whatever you're doing there as well as securing yourself with that USB stick I stuck some software on but we need to be cautious for once," Piranha was physically laughed at by Foxington as well as Wolf as Tarantula merely folded up her shoulders yet again and shot him a condescending stare.

"Since when have you ever thought about being cautious, Piranha? You're always the one who's preaching about how we should get in there first and ask questions later! Having you around us is like carrying around a powderkeg eager to feed off a spark!" Webs was dropping shrapnel directly into Piranha's lap as he let off a small toot to accompany his nervousness. "You're nervous, too? Where did your confidence go?"

"Uh- Webs..?"

"What is it, Wolfie?"

"You might want to turn around..." Sitting directly in front of them and casually minding their own business was none other than Cuddles, Professor Marmalade and an unknown security guard escorting them to another portion of the mountain lair.

"This whole thing is nothing but a decoy. I know The Bad Guys will come chasing me down eventually. They're nothing more than arrogant narcissists. They attempted to put away someone who was as good as me, someone who has done right for this world and someone who frankly deserves to do a little bit of wrong? This was never about making money but about proving that the cheeriest amongst us can be villains," As Piranha, Tarantula, Diane and Wolf broke away in the hopes of remaining in the shadows as each one of them stalked Professor Marmalade and his henchmen, they listened on with intrigue as Marmalade hopped onto Cuddles' hand as they advanced up the black and jade spiral staircase. "Do they really think they unveiled my villainy when it comes to them stealing all of that money back? I wanted them to steal that money back and depose me. It's a shame that the Crimson Paw alias belongs to me but at least I have a little more glory to work with in the grand scheme of things. Me? The Crimson Paw? You best believe people on the black market are begging to work with that sort of talent... Hey, what's that?" Professor Marmalade pointed towards a glowing pair of red eyes which suddenly erupted from the shadows, proving it to be none other than Ms. Tarantula who started to climb over him.

"Gotcha- WHAT?" Webs looked down to see that nobody was in sight and that Professor Marmalade was already bolting back down the stairs alongside his henchmen.

"Ah, finally, the party has arrived! Around two thirds of you... And would you look at that, you even brought the governor along again!" Professor Marmalade stood by the exit to the intersection with his finger on the manually activated button that would let him out as Moe, Foxington, Piranha and Tarantula attempted to corner them.

"You're not getting out of this one so easily, Marmalade! You may have been lucky to escape prison but you have a lot more time to serve under the justice system!" Foxington boldly spoke as she pointed a yellow and black taser at him. "If you dare move, you and your clooneys shall be tased and you will be imprisoned inside of the-"

"Yadda-yadda... Well done, you've foiled my plans... Or have you? - There's one thing you should know about me, Foxington. No matter what you do, no matter how hard we worked together or how much philosophy I had to offer for the likes of yourself... And no matter how hard you had to chase me before I was eventually caught; you'll never stop playing catch-up with me. Would you like to know why?" Marmalade innocently held up one of his paws as his shadow-like henchman lowered his arm over the button leading to their safety.

"Time will catch me first."

With an inexplicably blinding flash striking the band of ex-criminals sent by their own volition to compromise Professor Marmalade's plans and a rumble of thunder filling the chamber in which they stood; half of them opened their eyes to discover something truly horrific...

Professor Marmalade was gone... And he had seemingly brought Webs alongside Piranha with him.