Chapter Text
A family was having a backpacking trip in the forest around Greater Los Angeles. It has been months since The Bad Girls were stopped and The Bad Guys were presumed dead. The family sat at a campfire they made, next to their trailer. The father decided to tell spooky stories to get his kids out of their phones. The daughter, an emo kid, was unbothered but curious about the 'scary' part. The younger child, a male and the most precious child a parent could ask for, was instantly intrigued and eager to listen to his father. The mother was already trying to sleep, so seeing her husband taking care of the kids made her content enough to do just that.
"Alright, kids. Maybe just one story, but a REALLY unsettling one. My own parents told it to me. It's like a rural legend" the father spoke before fully immersing himself and his kids in the story.
It happened long ago. Back when the grandparents were young. Back then, almost no country in the world knew that other than regular animals, they are also anthropomorphic ones - much smarter, basically human other than the wild instinct of theirs. The United States wasn't welcoming them in unlike many other countries, and so many animal species avoided the country. However, years later, about fifty years ago, the U.S. made a deal with the anthropomorphic animals. To enter the country and live in it, you must be taken for a bunch of tests. Most of those were simply agression or health tests. But some species, like dangerous predators or very smart kinds of animals, were tested much more thoroughly and aggresively. They even force-cut their claws or tails just to prevent danger. To that point, the story is confirmed by many documents and historians, and the United States aren't really proud of their actions. One day, the border check found a male anthropomorphic spider monkey. His fur was gray, so he moved quietly through the night and the building's shadows. He didn't speak much, but constantly observed. Just like his animalistic counterpart, he was very smart, very fast and seemed peaceful. But when one guard accidentally stumbled onto him, he choked him with his tail. Soon after, the alarm rang and the red lights of it exposed him. He was taken for interrogation, but he didn't break. He didn't reveal his name, and yet somehow he correctly guessed that the interrogation officer was a frustrated widower who blamed himself on losing his wife due to her being killed in a drug raid caused by human gangsters cooperating with anthro animals. Stunned, the officer asked how the nameless spider monkey knew all that. He didn't answer. Just smiled, kept observing, almost as if a rough interrogation with all the mindgames was the calmest moment of his life. He was taken for tests. The cameras caught him choking the guard when trying to sneak past border control, so the first operation was taking his tail away. But that was America's biggest mistake. The observant spider moneky was quickly nicknamed Tailless. He was mad at what happened to him. He observed the same happen to other animals. Keeping a smart, and now-vengeful aimal under limited control due to an overwhelming ammount of anthro animals all over the American border was another error. The Tailless got out just a day after his tail was gone. No one knows how, but he somehow understood every scientist's routine and somehow got to know her personal lives without even talking to them. He apparently used that to not just maipulate the doctors to let the animals go, but to then also rally the patients against them. Those quickly became Tailless Cultists and Tailless himself, despite being a mere teenager, became uncatchable. The police tried finding him for years and got nothing. He was the original animal bad guy, befre the likes of D.V.Cougar or The Bad Guys. He apparently ruled from the shadows, manipulated or mentally broke human-friendly anthro animals into joining his cult and targetted humans all over America, with ambitions to endanger humans all over the world. However, a few years before The Bad Guys became notorious criminals, back when Diane Foxington was just a small-time politician, The Tailless' operations were stopped due to him apparently not adapting to the newest technologies. One day, there was a raid on what was his apparent hideout. There, the police hunted everyone down, bringing the cultists to justice. They also found a truly terrifying sight - a spider monkey male who hung himself just before the raid. That's how the legendary human-hating brilliant mind presumably died. Soon, the memory of this was gone, just as the hatered towards anthro animals. Well, we still hated D.V.Cougar or The Bad Guys, but the former disappeared and the latter became heroes together with Diane Foxington, the Crimson Paw, when they died to save us. The best part of this story, the real scary part, is that the Tailless may not even be real, even though many believe him to be. Some say the cult was just a gang who adopted the idea of a hurt brilliant mind seeking revenge, treating him like a god to their scheme to make animals hate humans and get into war with them. Some say, the Tailless did exist, but that he was just a spider monkey. Some say the raid was just on a regular drug mob and that the hanging was made up. Everyone has a different version of the legend of the Tailless, and since there are no records of a spider monkey entering the facility all those years ago, he may not exists. Or maybe, just maybe... it's all true. Maybe the Tailless did exist and truly was a danger to all of humanity. Maybe the vengeful genius truly ruled over the crime of America from the shadows for years. Some even state that the spider monkey who hang himself was a different spider monkey than the Tailless, but one so blindly loyal to him that he cut his own tail and took his own life just to protect the one he followed. The entire story, just like the existence of anthropomorphic animals, has many question. But one of the answer may be this: The Tailless is real, still alive and still plotting revenge on humanity!
"And maybe... him or his followers will appear in this very forest at this very moment!" the father finished his story, raising his hands like a wild bear attacking to scare his kids.
The daughter rolled her eyes.
"Oh, please, dad. I read romance fanfictions scarier than this..." she commented.
"No way! That was so awesome and scary, dad! And awesomely mysterious!" the son spoke, his eyes shining with gratitude for his dad telling them the story.
But then, heavy breathing could be heard. It was followed by two rushing sets of legs or maybe paws. The kids and the dad looked at each other. Now, even the daughter was scared.
"It's-It's-I'ts the Tailless!" the son screamed.
The trio jumped into the camper and drove away in cartoony panic. Just then, two figures jumped from the bushes. One of them was small but very buff and the other was tall. The former was Rupert Marmelade IV, the good guy who turned out to be the real villain in the city. His accomplice was Kitty Kat, the ex-leader of The Bad Girls. The duo looked annoyed as they entered the empty camper lot.
"Oh, come on! Really? No luck with a getaway!" Rupert commented.
"Ugh... you're hopeless, you fool! I can't believe I looked up to your apparent genius!" Kitty pouted in rage.
"Now, now, Kitty. It is true that my plan to bust out of jail was not perfect, and the jumbled-mind croodiles that helped us were not the best help due to their constant rambling about their leader 'knowing everything', but at least we are out" Rupert countered, making air quotes on the 'knowing everything' part.
Rupert was imprisoned after being released when he stopped pretending to be a good guy because he needed the thrill of the crime. In jail, he was placed close to Kitty, who swore that The Bad Guys were still alive and swore revenge on them. Her theory was proven right later, so she decided to cooperate with Rupert to escape, which worked thanks to two delusional crocodiles serving as a distraction for the guards with a screaming match about their mysterious 'leader'. The dynamic guinea pig - snow leopard duo used that very distraction to get out, only for ISGLOP to find out about that immediately and sending The Bad Guys, or rather The Good Guys, who were also presumed dead guys, after them. Rupert guided Kitty here to find a getaway camper and hide somewhere remote to plan their next crime, but The Good Guys were already on their tail.
Just then, a vehicle steered into the woods in a rush. Inside it was the group we all know so well. Mr. Wolf in his agent clothes and sunglasses nudged us all closer to him.
"Heeeey! It's you again... again! Awww, you missed us, didn't you?! Well, you missed a lot, buddy. So, come on, join us and let's refresh your memory and catch you up with everything!" he spoke before turning to his girlfriend, Dianne. "Babe, wanna do the honours of catching those two with Webs while us, guys, surround them?" he asked.
"Sure thing! Ready, Tarantula?" Diane answered.
"Always!" Tarantula answered, climbing on Diane's arm.
The girls jumped out. Diane had handcuffs ready to cuff the criminal duo. Meanwhile, Mr. Wolf steered the vehicle to block the escapists. He turned back to us all and lowered his sunglasses.
"So, basically, we're dead now. Ha! But not really! We're PRESUMED dead, and that's a difference! And for the past few months, we were ISGLOP's best agents! We stopped crime all over the world. I always wanted to treat Diane to a trip to places like Paris or Tokyo, and well, we were there, stopping criminals from spreading viruses, committing tax fraud and so much more! It was fun, but eventually, our good old police chief called with a message that our previous enemies got out of jail together. Well, that's a rather desperate attempt! Oh, but enough about our missions! You probably want to see the team, eh? Well, let's catch up with them!" Mr. Wolf explained before smiling. "First is me, the not-so-big-bad Mr. Wolf! I'm just a driver. But the rest are my squad!" he added.
We cut to Mr. Shark posing as a forest ranger. His name tag read: 'Roger Rangerson, Forest Ranger!'. He stopped anyone trying to get to the woods from entering, but he did let the escaping camper through.
"That's Mr. Shark, our disguise specialist. He's still great at his job. No one saw through his disguises!" Mr. Wolf commented.
We cut to Mr. Snake unlocking a modern shed with all the ranger tech and vehicles with remote steering using his tail like a lockpick.
"Come to Snake... give me the money..." he spoke as he worked on the lock until it clicked open. "Voila! That's French for... the prize is Snake's!" she commented with unmatched confidence.
"And that's Mr. Snake, my best friend. He's our lockpicker and he's also very slithery if you need him to sneak to a vault. Not that we do that anymore. Well, unless the criminals lock themselves in a bank" Mr. Wolf commented.
We cut to Mr. Piranha laughing like crazy as he gets into one of the vehicles Mr. Snake unlocked by opening the rangers' shed.
"Oh yea! Time to go loco!" he screamed before driving through the woods like a maniac.
"That's good old Mr. Piranha. He's always crazy. Better that than him being stressed, I must admit. He's deadly, but his stress farts? Oh boy, that's REAL deadly!" Mr. Wolf commented.
We cut to Ms. Tarauntula, who uses half her legs to crack the code to the remote vehicles while holding onto Diane's shoulder.
"That's Ms Tarauntula, or Webs. She's the tech expert" Mr. Wolf commented.
After he said those words, Webs did her thing. The code worked and the drones and remote vehicles started going towards the escapists.
"And they call that defences? Please..." Ms. Tarantula commented.
"Well, you know... nothing's hard for us" Dianne commented.
"My world... that sexy confidence... That's my beloved Diane. She's perfect, fearless and... okay, okay, I know I'm sugary sweet today. But what can I do? She's the best that happened to me! and hey, she's probably th smartest and most skilled from us! Good to have her on our side. She has the strategy, the power and the beauty to compliment her mission successes. And hey, she's also the famous, or maybe infamous, Crimson Paw!" Mr. Wolf explained.
Just then, all the vehicles surrounded the escapists.
"Not again!" Rupert commented.
"Grr... you really chose the good, huh?! Well, sham on you, 'Good Guys'!" Kitty screamed in rage.
But then, the drones released sleeping gas they used on enraged normal animals. The two escapists fell asleep. Diane spun the handcuffs around her hands while Webs jumped onto Mr. Wolf's new, black and snining, car.
"This is rather pathetic but... their whole escape was, so... You're under arrest, sleepyheads" Diane spoke.
She cuffed the sleeping duo. The team sat in the brand new and big ISGLOP mission car, where they could all fit effortlessly. Ms. Tarantula turned the drones and vehicles back to the shed and Mr. Snake locked in.
"That... was... such a great comeback to the city, Amigos!" Mr. Piranha shouted in joy.
"It sure was. Now let's get out of here before the local police recognises us as not dead" Webs commented.
"Agreed. Drive us to the agency, babe" Diane said, smiling warmly at Mr. Wolf.
He did his recognisable two-fingered salute.
"As you wish" he spoke teasingly and drove for Mr. Shark.
"Halt! No one was supposed to cross through here!" he spoke before laughing. "Did I get you?" he asked hopefully.
"No" Snake answered bluntly.
"He wanted to say totally" Mr. Wolf corrected his best friend.
"Really? You're the best, guys!" Mr. Shark spoke and got in, tossing the disguise to the back of the car.
"ISGLOP will take us from the abandoned docks near the prison. Let's go" Webs read the message from ISGLOP she got on the laptop.
The team drove with wide smiles and sunglasses on. Mr. Wolf turns to us all.
"So yea, that's us. The Good Guys, best agents of ISGLOP and a happy family! And no mission will break our spirits!" Mr. Wolf spoke before pressing gas and rushing to the docks, where a big transport agent plane was waiting.
"Great job as always, Good Guys!" the pilot complimented them.
"And a well-timed pickup, Amigo!" Mr. Piranha commented, his smile maniacal even though it was meant to be sincere.
The pilot got a little spooked and started flying immediately.
"Alright, team. Let's relax and wait for our next mission" Mr. Wolf spoke.
Just then, Diane dragged him away from the car with a seductive smile and a longing stare.
"We need to catch up, Wolf~ There's a lot of training and even more breaks awaiting" she spoke flirtatiously.
"Well, only if the mighty governor finds the time~" Mr. Wolf flirted back before going with his beloved.
"And you all said me and Doom were gross..." Mr. Snake commented.
"She was... In. Your. Mouth!" Mr. Shark snapped playfully.
While the team laughed and waited to get to the hidden ISGLOP headquaters, Kitty and Marmelade were placed in the same, but now-reinforced cells with a new electricity function. When they woke up, they were furious.
"Here again... them again... Ugh! I hate those idiots! I hate the team that betrayed me! I hate being inferior!" Kitty screamed.
But then, she noticed that Marmelade was calmly drinking warm tea that was left for him. He took a calm sip before focussing on Kitty.
"Oh, sorry. Were you talking, dear? I got distracted by the perfect consistency of this tea. The cup is very nicely made, too! It has little black hearts! And the taste was... simply divine" he spoke calmly.
"Grr... I swear to..." Kitty started to scream at her accomplice, but then she smelled fresh meat in her cell.
It laid there and looked tasty. Something about its smell made her leopard senses go wild, so she dug into the meat. The two crocodiles were still in their cages.
"Oh, so you didn't get out? Well, no worries, we can tell you what you two missed!" the first crocodile spoke.
Even from their look or their dopey smiles one could guess they are rather dumb.
"Shut up, idiots..." Kitty growled while still munching at the meat.
"We will, but only when we mention that this food and tea wasn't given by the guards. In fact, they were confused when they brought you here, but decided to let you keep it. How nice!" the second crocodile chimed joyfully.
"Really? Then who made such marvellous tea?" Rupert asked.
"Why, our great leader, of course! He always finds a way to lure his next recruits!" the first crocodile spoke in an almost innocent, ditzy voice.
"Leader? That imagination of your small brains is getting out of hand..." Kitty commented harshly.
The two crocodiles let out a laugh that sounded almost infantile.
"Believe like us, and you'll be much happier! And our leader will be much kinder" the second crocodile spoke.
Rupert and Kitty rolled their eyes and finished their food and drink respectively. But soon after, their bodies went numb. They collapsed onto the ground, eyes barely open. They were unable to speak, unable to move. They lost control of their bodies.
"What the hell?" Kitty thought to herself.
And then she noticed it. In the corner of her barely-opened eye, in the dark corner of her cell, something was moving. And that someting, or rathr someone, dangled the keys to her cell in front of her.
"It seems I have placed just the right ammount of unchecked chemicals... perfect..." a calm male voice spoke.
The ex-escapists could only listen in horror. Rupert couldn't even see, as his head laid barely conscious turned to the wall far from the mysterious person.
"Boss!" The two crocodiles shouted in ditzy happiness.
"Fang and Claw Seablood... pleased to see you once more" the mysterious man spoke.
"Tail? Fang? Seablood? Those are the names of notorious criminals who terrorized African people for years with their planned-out crimes. They couldn't possibly be this dumb..." Kitty thought to herself. "Unless... maybe what happened to me and Rupert, happened to them, but worse... Oh my world... who is that man?" she asked herself in the thoughts, her almost unconscious body suddenly horrified.
"It is time to go back, my friends. And please, do help me bring our new recruits back to base. You need not worry about the guards. I let in sleeping gas that only works on humans. Truly a marvel of chemistry..." the mysterious man spoke as he stepped out of the shadows to open Kitty's cage from the inside.
As he walked past her barely-open eyes, she saw a part of him. Dark, but partially graying, fur, long legs and... whatever remained of a cut-off tail. Kitty knew the story, but didn't believe it. Now, whoever this was, stood in the cell. Calm, dominant, and sure of his every step. He opened the cell. Then, he let out his crocodile followers. Kitty didn't see more. Her and Rupert's bodies gave out and they lost consciousnes, but not their lives. The crocodiles, very buff and strong, took their bodies. Their hands had knife marks on their scales marking the lives they took while there were still being the infamous criminals - the Seablood brothers. Now, they were idiots, but they were blindly loyal to their leader. He calmly moved to the TV room, where Tiffany Fluffit was narrating a report on the recapture of Rupert and Kitty.
"The Good Guys... such a foolish crew... I need to fix them..." the mysterious, calm man spoke. "But to do that, I need a bait... And she is perfect..." he added.
Then, he broke the TV by shattering it with a knife. Said weapon also held a piece of paper with a short poem. The man left the prison calmly, with his followers carrying his new 'recruits' after him as they disappeared into the forest.
When the guards woke up, they didn't immediately call for aid. That's becaused as they rushed to the cells and then the TV room, their leader, an older man, took out the knife and then read the poem out loud.
YOU MAY CUT THE BODY, BUT NEVER TRAP THE SOUL.
YOUR KIND HAS NOTHING TO OFFER, AND YET IT SEEKS CONTROL.
THE WORLD DOES NOT BEND TO YOUR FOOLISH GAINS, UNLIKE WHAT YOU WISH.
YOU MUST REMEMBER WHO IS THE HUNTER...
AND WHO IS JUST THEIR DISH.