Chapter 26

'Today's a new day,' Rani reminded herself as she clocked into her work at Polar Corner. A few regulars stared at her with suspicion while most of the staffs eyed her with such hate. Rani wanted to look away but knew that would mean letting them walk all over her.

She wasn't going to let that happen again!

"Hey, what's with the face? Did I miss the memo?" Rani asked casually as she placed her bag in her designated locker, not caring the fact that it was scribbled with insults and poorly drawn sketches that were supposed to be her.

While she was churning the fresh flavours in the ice cream machine, a hand from behind grabbed her by the wrist. It was none other than her manager, who's face looked like he was stuffing at least six lemons in his mouth.

"Hey, you're hurting my wrist!" Rani hissed in pain when she wrenched her hand away from him.

"Not as hurt as used," Evelyn spat at her with venom in her tone. "Ever since you made a scene of yourself, police have been coming in to question us. Not once did they order anything from the menu!"

"And?" Rani faced her with her eyes slightly narrowed. Her wrist was really bruised when her manager grabbed it. Her heart was thumping, an all-knowing feeling was welling up inside of her. Her manager continued, his veins were very visible on his forehead. "You have soiled Polar Corner's reputation. I'm letting you go, so don't bother coming back."

If there was a scenario that would described this moment, Rani figured that it would be getting shot in the face after confessing a crime. However, this crime was boiling the insides of a cool place such as Polar Corner. Rani only nodded, walking back to the locker to gather her things. She just couldn't believed that her employment would end just like this.

However, she was not going to walk out without a final say!

She walked past Evelyn, who gave her a stink eye while her boyfriend wrapped his arm around her waist. Rani eyed her with pity and commented, "I would let the boss know that some of the flavours have become... lukewarm. Best to say that you added your 'special' ingredient."

"The fuck is that supposed to mean?" Evelyn spat out the question, letting her boyfriend act like a bouncer between them. Rani clicked her tongue as a response before opening her phone to show her social media feed. She does her best to hide her mischievous grin when she played the video.

Apparently a certain someone had uploaded her and her boytoy porking out in the storage room. It became the most exciting news that was number one on the trending list...

Evelyn's face was red to the point she was ready to slap Rani in the face. Luckily, Rani caught her hand and squeezed the wrist. "It's best you two do your job rather than screw around. Funny that a snake that was a former criminal is a much better company than every one of you in this shit-hole."

The soon-to-be ex-manager grabbed her by the shoulder, causing Rani to stomp on his foot to make him let go. If she had to compare him to an animal, it would be a paralysed rat with rabies in his mouth. It doesn't matter that she had to lift her head up to challenge him to try at her again.

"Enough is enough! I've had it with your fucking snakes in my fucking establishment," her manager spat out as she walked pass him. 'As if I don't know that!'

She doesn't care for the fact that the customers were watching this drama with their phones out. Polar Corner may have a shaky reputation after that creep revealed himself to be a former employee.

With that, Rani left without looking back.

...

It was the first time she had ever been fired from her job. As much as it pained her to know the amount of bills she had to pay and an everyday meal, Rani found herself her first freedom.

No more expectations.

No more vindictive co-workers.

And certainly, no more creepy guys who are scarier than fiction!

Taking a deep breath, the young woman entered the gym to workout. So far, she had gone through a few trainings with the police chief but today, she could go at her own pace. From treadmill, cycling, shoulder-pressed weights and leg press.

"Not bad," a voice behind her commented. "It's odd to see you here in broad daylight."

When she finished using the equipment, Rani lifted her head to meet the curious gaze of Governor Diane Foxington. This made her straighten up her posture and then cleaned up the equipment. She felt intimidated by the vixen's aura.

But her eyes softened as if she knew what Rani was thinking about. "Hey, hey, I don't bite. I just happened to be a member of this gym too. How are you feeling, Rani?"

"I'm doing alright," she replied with a smile. "Hope I'm not distracting you from your workout and all."

Diane giggled. "Not at all! Just checking in on you after your recovery. I heard you are going to the zoo once you are out."

Rani nodded, inwardly smiling to herself. Ever since Mr. Snake made his debut to the zoo with her, more people were starting to appreciate reptiles as their own species. Of course some were still scared but a few were curious about them, especially snakes.

Also it was another reason for her and Mr. Snake to check on the rescued snakes. She wondered if snakes could experience trauma just as much as mammals. Plus, it was a good way for Mr. Snake to bond with that baby corn snake again.

"Governor Foxington-"

"Please, call me Diane,"the vixen insisted, adjusting her tank top. "I gotta say, you really proved to everyone that Mr. Snake can be just as good as the rest of the Bad Guys."

Rani smirked, filling up her bottle with more water. "He's still the same ol' Mr. Snake but on the right path. So what's this gala's charity for? Another children's hospital?"

The vixen was training with a punching bag while chatting with her. Rani admitted that the governor was not someone to mess with if she could beat up the punching bag similarly to those of fighters in an action movie.

"Thinking of something different since Mr. Snake deserves the Good Person Award for rescuing you and displaying his sensitive side," said Diane. Rani covered her mouth to laugh, knowing Mr. Snake doesn't like to admit that he had a soft side. "Maybe something to do with wildlife."

"Like wildlife trafficking and smuggling?"

The governor nodded. "Exactly! Ever since the news came out, more people are starting to become fascinated with animals they considered to be evil like a vicious wolf, a tricky fox like me or a snake like him."

Rani had a lot to think about. Not only were the Bad Guys getting some positive recognition but there might be a chance for Mr. Snake to see that some humans do care about reptiles. Herpetology and Steve Irwin were the result.

"Well, we'll see how it goes. I might to go to the zoo to check on the rescued snakes. I still can't believed that the creep made his wine out of snakes. It's just as bad as the animal testing lab for those guinea pigs."

Just then, Rani felt something crawling on her shoulder. It was Ms. Tarantula, who was sporting some AirPods and a matching tracksuit. Rani shook her head, a small smirked plastered her face. "You did it, didn't you?"

"Yup," Ms. Tarantula puffed up her chest proudly. "I'll take it down in about an hour. Poor guy's gonna experienced a breakup any second now. So...day off?"

"Fired," Rani replied with a relieved sigh. Noticing the arachnid's concern expression, she added, "don't worry about me, Webs. I just want to focus on my recovery and everything else now that I'm free. Got any ideas about what to wear for the gala?"

She shrugged. "Probably my suit like the last time. But knowing me, the gala is full of people I can scope out for a drama. Wanna take part in the documentary?"

Rani laughed. "I'll leave that to you. Come on, we could play something while walking on the treadmill."

...

Mr. Snake hummed to himself as he was leading Rani to a restaurant for lunch. He heard about her getting fired and how much she was pushing herself. Clearly, the unemployment and disownment from her mother took a toll on her. He decided to text her if she wanted to join him for lunch.

"So are you going to tell me where are we going?" asked Rani, nudged him with her shoulder. He chuckled and kissed her on the cheek. "Then it won't be a surprise anymore."

"Aww, not even a hint?"

"Nada. Trust in me, Rani, we'll be there soon."

Rani's eyes softened but she followed him with the same high spirit she had every time he or anyone from the gang invited her to hang out. At their hideout, she would join in on their schemes by showing them what kinds of deeds they could do and help Mr. Shark with his makeup.

No matter what was thrown at her, Rani was the most resilient human being he had ever met.

'I gotta take her out to some fancy restaurant for dinner,' Mr. Snake thought to himself as he slithered ahead to their destination while Rani held his tail. Despite slowly being painted into a good light, Mr. Snake wore his disguised that consisted of makeshift arms, his pink sunglasses and a band shirt.

Rani let out a soft gasp when they reached their destination. The Eastern brown snake smirked, jerking his tail at the restaurant. "Snake... Hard Rock Café?! That place's almost impossible to get in during lunch hour."

"Not for me," he chuckled, offering his makeshift arm for Rani to hold. "Come on, sugar dumpling, let's eat."

Not only were the food good, there were a few memorabilia Mr. Snake wanted to check out. However the downside of this place was that the choice of music never made out of the 80s. Mr. Snake was eager to shake up the place, even if it meant a few things he wouldn't wish upon himself.

"Lively place. I remember walking passed this place thinking, 'it'd be nice to eat here but the food's expensive' and here we are! I wonder what songs they're playing?" Rani commented as they both sat down at their seats. A waitress came over, her eyes widened at the both of them. Mr. Snake kept his glasses in his shirt collar, arching a brow at the waitress. "Problem here?"

"O-oh, not at all!" the waitress waved off, opening her notepad. "Ready to order?"

Eventually, the both of them ordered chicken-related dishes. When the waitress left, Mr. Snake told Rani about the deal he had done with the doctors at the hospital. Because of his venom, the hospital would pay him once a month if he milked his venom. As much as he loved to save more of his venom, he needed the money.

Plus, it was legal.

"Other than that, I hope they don't get off on my venom. I'm not a milking machine..." Mr. Snake sipped his glass of sparkling water. He was still musing on the fact that people were willing to pay a few grands for a beaker.

"Yet you clearly enjoyed it when I did it to you," Rani teased him by booping him on the snout. Mr. Snake darted out his forked tongue. "I really change you from cold-blooded to hot-blooded."

"That's because you're my main squeeze, sugar dumpling~"

She leaned forward, lips very close to where his earhole was. "Then...squeeze me hard in the next round~"

"Only if I get you hear your cute sounds," he replied huskily.

Rani let out a snort before drinking, making him laugh as well. He couldn't help but noticed her wrists were healing up from the attack. He was tempted to pay the skeletal guy a social call but he had better things to do. "Snake, how's your tail?"

He waved his tail before showing her the faint bite marks. "I'll live. I'm glad your wrists are healing up."

Rani nodded, reaching over so that she could kiss his faint bite mark. This made the serpent flustered, trying his best not to be putty under the touch of her soft lips. "You know, after the whole ordeal, I think I've been researching lately."

"Oh?"

"I think those snakes we rescued from that house made me search up crimes about wildlife. Like illegal poaching, wildlife smuggling and trafficking, and traditional medicine made out of...you know..."

He nodded, understanding why Rani doesn't want to say it. The kidnapping and seeing those glasses filled with snakes that were made into wine could make anyone shaken up. He wrapped his tail around her hand, giving it a squeeze.

"Hey, that sounds not too bad of an idea," Mr. Snake smiled. "Maybe we should tell Wolf about this idea. You and us going on a heist that involved a few casualties? In fact, it'd be better than the heist Marmalade put us through..."

Just the sound of Dr. Marmalade's name puts a bitter taste into his mouth.

The band was playing a song from the Beatles, something that's common but he figured he could spice things up. Giving his woman a wink, he slithered over to the band that was playing. Whispering something, the group murmured in agreement.

'Welp, it's now or never!'

He removed his makeshift arms, causing a few gasps to utter out. Mr. Snake cleared his throat, leaning his head towards the microphone. "Hey everyone. I'm just borrowing the stage for a bit to try out something. Don't worry, it's still a rock music! This place is called Hard Rock after all."

Smirking to himself, he nodded to the band before coughing out his own bass guitar. Strumming a few lines, followed by trumpets, and keyboards, he was ready to charm the audience with a music that would be described as a heist music that belonged in a Tarantino film.

'Budos Band's always a classic!'

He caught Rani staring at him with adoration, wishing that he could kiss her on the spot. However, the Eastern brown caught a glimpse of something at a table. Wrinkling his snout into a small sneer, he couldn't believed that they were here.

It was none other than his gang!

From Mr. Wolf giving him a 'thumbs up', Mr. Shark and Mr. Piranha whooping and cheering; and finally, Ms. Tarantula filming his whole performance!

Sorry for the late update. I've been super busy lately and I still haven't finished writing my novel yet!

I've been thinking...after finishing this fanfic, do you want a spicy smut or something with Mr. Shark/ Mr. Piranha with another OC? It's a fanfic idea I have in mind with either of them