Chapter 11:
(So, I hope the story's still good so far. Hey, I wanted to ask if you guys wanted me to create one-shots of events after the movie. I wanted to add a few, at least, you know. I'll see what you guys think. Enjoy the chapter! :D)
"Did you sleep, buddy?" Wolf asked, still worried about his son. "Y-Yeah…I slept on the way to home." Zeke said, Diane looked at Wolf and shook her head. Wolf looked at his son upset, and patted his head. "You should get some rest, son." Wolf assured, realizing he putting on a tough face to not deal with the pain. Zeke's eyes grew teary again, thinking about his aunt and uncles, how Snake basically told him he hated him.
"Okay…" He sniffled, still not feeling right. He tried his best to get some sleep.
Wolf patted Zeke's head to comfort him while he slept, but at the same time during the drive, Wolf was dealing with what happened as well.
His closest friends turned their backs on him, Snake blamed him and his son for their current position. All he could feel was anger and sadness. Diane could only watch as the two struggled to cope. She heard Zeke mutter when he tried to sleep, "Lord, was I being too selfish?" She stopped the car when they reached her house.
"You okay?" She asked, "No, I'm not okay. I'm very, very un-okay." Wolf said, "I just left the only friends I have ever had." He looked at his son and patted his head once more. "My son was just abandoned by the only family he's ever known…So what am I…What am I doing?" Diane sighed, "I know this isn't easy, leaving everything behind." she said, "Do you?" Wolf asked, still falling back on how little he knew Diane.
"Yeah. I was the best thief in the world. Fast, fearless, inventive. I just had one thing left to steal." She explained.
"The Golden Dolphin. So you went after it." Wolf said, "I didn't just go after it. I HAD it, and a clear escape route. But…all I saw in the end, was the tricky fox they always told me I was." She said, remembering her days as the Crimson Paw. Zeke woke up to realize that they were stopped at Diane's house. "It changed everything. So, now, instead of hurting people, I'm helping them." She chuckled. "I'm still me. I'm just—me on the right side. You're doing the right thing." Diane said, patting Zeke's head. "Both of you are. And someday, your friends, if they're real friends, I think they'll understand." Wolf and Zeke smiled, trusting Diane's word. "Now come on, let's get inside. You look like you just busted out of a prison." Diane joked, and Zeke chuckled. Then all of a sudden, a guinea pig jumped onto the hood of the car. Its eyes were glowing blue. "Guinea pigs?" Diane asked as it walked off the car, they all gasped in that moment. "Marmalade!" The three of them shouted, they nodded. "Let's bounce." Wolf said.
Diane's house was small, and pretty quaint. "So, this is the hideout of the great Crimson Paw?" Wolf said, back to his charismatic self. Zeke just smirked when he walked up to Diane, who was typing in a code on her microwave. "Snack-break? Okay, oddly timed, but you do you." He said, the part of the kitchen opened up to reveal the true entrance to her hideout. Wolf shrieked and jumped back in surprise. "Identity Verified. Welcome, Diane." An automated voice said, Diane brought Wolf and Zeke into the elevator as it ran downstairs. "Whoa!" Wolf was in awe, Diane chuckled and ran ahead and sat on a podium. "Feels so good to be home." Diane said, "Are you kidding me? Laser-sighted zip line? The XM 2400 Radar Jammer? No way!" Wolf was busy looking through all her tools, "Fanboy." Zeke said, bluntly, before grabbing a few things. I actually prefer the earlier model." Diane admitted.
"Agree to disagree. This stuff is nice, too." Wolf said, messing with a lip-stick container, before it launched fire up. "Yeah, that's a blowtorch. Also, not really your color." Diane said, slyly. Zeke cleared his throat. He put on a small cloak and held a huge throwing star in his hand. "Many know me as a beguiling ninja. Others: the world's greatest Materia hunter! But who am I truly?" Wolf chuckled, glad his son was happy again. "Cheered up a little, kiddo?" Wolf said, Zeke smiled a little. "If it's to cheer you up, then yeah." He said, giggling as Wolf patted his head.
"All righty. Marmalade, what are you up to, you fuzzy little weirdo?" Diane turned on the podium's screen, searching for a specific app. "Let's see if we can hack into the government's surveillance satellite." She said.
"But you're the governor. Couldn't you just ask?" Wolf asked. "Yeah, but the paperwork." Diane said, obviously not wanting to deal with paperwork, the situation itself doesn't call for it right now, anyway. She picked up the whole layout of the city. "Those are guinea pig heat signatures." She said.
Zeke nodded, "Yeah, Marmalade had us bust them out from the lab to control them." Zeke understood the professor's strange activity much more clearly now. "But to do what? There are no obvious targets." Wolf picked up the charity map from the gala. He showed it to Diane. "That's because they're moving targets." Zeke looked, Diane gasped.
"The charity money. He's gonna steal the money, raised in his own name?" Zeke frowned, of course. Stealing from his own charity event would ensure that suspicion was put off from the professor. "It's the greatest heist the world's ever seen." Wolf said, "One billion dollars inside trucks, on their way to charities all over the city."
"We need to cut off Marmalade's communication with his guinea pig army." Diane said.
"If there's no signal…" Wolf said,
"There's no heist." Diane said. Zeke watched them both as they said, "We have to steal the meteorite!" They said, figuring out the solution. "That was very cute…what we just did there." Diane out on a sly look and then walked, "All right. Put on your big girl pants. We're gearing up." She handed him his own jumpsuit. "So…Do you guys have a…you know…a thing for each other?" Zeke said to the two of them, Wolf and Diane blushed. "No, no!" They both said, wondering why the child would suggest that. They prepare all their gear and got ready to leave. Diane opened up an area, revealing she stole Wolf's car. Zeke looked at a few things, keeping on the small hoodie. "Uh, Zekey?" Wolf looked at his son, "Listen, you stay here, okay?" Zeke looked at his dad, "But what about—" Diane chimed in.
"You're dad's right, kiddo. It's better that you stay here, where it's safe. Okay?" Diane told him.
"B-But…Okay…" Zeke agreed, knowing they wouldn't let him go with them.
"We'll be back, okay?" Wolf said, kissing his son's forehead. "I love you, okay?" Wolf said, walking out.
"Love you, too, Dad." Zeke said. He saw them about to drive off to Marmalade's compound. He looked at the giant throwing star he was playing with. "If Yuffie's the leading lady, I'm the follow-up performance." He said. Zeke ran out jumped quickly, so Diane and Wolf wouldn't see him hiding behind the car. "Whoa! D-Drive slower, would ya?!" The kid was in for a bumpy ride.
Snake and the others pouted as they were in the elevator to their hideout. Well, Snake was still mostly angry, but he was still upset. Wolf and Zeke left them behind, but…he didn't just write them off completely, he guessed. The door opened up and they all gasped upon sight. Everything was gone. "All our stuff?" Piranha asked. They all started, Piranha went and check their rooms, "Where is everything?!" Snake asked, worried. "It's all gone!" Shark was spinning in a circle, "My disguise closet!" He said, "Where's my things?!" Taratula shouted, "Zeke's stuff is gone, too!" Piranha said, still hoping to have something to remember his nephew. "Whaddya care about his stuff for? He never had anything worth of value." Snake said, "Video games, his art supplies." Webs said, not wanting to argue, but pointing out things Zeke did have. "Wolf gave away all our loot! We stole it fair and square!" Snake said, "Now I understand what it feels like to have things stolen from you." Piranha paced around in a childish manner. "I don't like it. I really don't like it!" He shouted. Snake looked at all the pictures on the fridge. But then irritatedly opened the door for a push-pop, finding only one in the freezer.
"We got no food. We got no money. We got not money we could use to buy food. No food we can sell for money." Shark said, freaking out still. Shark started crying, about everything. "All right! Okay, okay! Here, here. Take it." Snake gave his push-pop to Shark. "Now stop crying, buddy." Shark enjoyed the push-pop. Webs walked up on Shark's shoulder. "Um, Snake, what did you just do?" She asked, confused.
"What? My friend was sad. I was just cheering him up." He said, not understanding why it was a big deal. "You…You did a good thing. For me." Shark said, cheerfully. "Don't be ridiculous. I just put your needs before my own." Snake said, still not getting it. "Yeah. You're being good." Webs said, bluntly. "I'm not. I was simply making a sacrifice so that Shark could be happy." He said, oblivious once more. "That is the actual definition of being good." Tarantula said, getting irritated at how he wasn't getting it. "Snake! You! The worst one of us! The most selfish." Shark said, "Spiteful." Webs added, "Terrible." Shark added. "Sneaky." Piranha added, they told him more of his character traits. Dishonest, insensitive, snake-like, stanky. "And your point is?" Snake said, deadpanned.
"I think Wolf was right. Maybe we could be more than just scary villains." Webs felt something wag behind her. Shark and Piranha's tail fins were wagging as well, "Is this…Is this wagging?" Webs asked, Snake realized he his tail was wagging. "We're wagging!" Webs said, excitedly. "No! No! No!" Snake said, fighting back the wagging. "We'll always be BAD GUYS!" He shouted, angrily before shutting the freezer door. He slithered off into the elevator.
When Wolf and Diane finally got to Marmalade's compound, she parked it on the outskirts of where it was. Most of the day had already been over and nightfall began to set in. "Once we steal the meteorite, we take it straight to the police." Diane said, "And all will be forgiven." Wolf said, hoping the full-pardon was still on the table. "I don't know about "all," but it's a start." Diane said, knowing the pardon would not be accepted. Wolf and Diane jumped the fence and ran to the rooftop, to find an entrance directly into the meteorite. Zeke jumped the high fence. "Okay, all I gotta do is offer distraction." Zeke said, throwing the giant shuriken at a nearby window. This did cause Marmalade some commotion. Zeke heard his voice coming closer to the window. "Hey! Piggy! I've got a bone to pick with you." Zeke shouted, hoping to get the professor's attention. "Oh! It's my favorite strange child!" Marmalade said with malice in every word. He walked out to see the child. "I must say, you're the last person I expected to see try to stop me. Why you'd make a rather reckless move like that is beyond me." He said, wondering what the rabbit's miserable goal here is. "Well, you know, I had to try to stop you somehow…But still I don't know how I'M going to do that." Zeke said, Marmalade squinted his eyes. "So, that's why your dad's handling that plan?" A voice shouted from behind him. Zeke jumped back when he realized who it was.
"Hey, Zekey." Snake said to him, grinning badly.
(Uh-oh…Things aren't looking too good for Zeke. So, I hope the FF7 reference wasn't too cringey. As always, stay strong and awesome! And remember not to be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good!)