Chapter 13 - Crimson Paw

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by pvences1
by pvences1
                                    
                                              [A wave transitions to the next scene, where the Bad Guys and Teresa are on a boat that's taking them to a Super Ultra Crazy Max prison. A sad Wolf looks up and sees this through the window. It's a big and oppressive building. Then, the Bad Guys are lead inside in handcuffs.]
Shark: (crushed; to the crew) I can't believe we got double-crossed by a tiny rodent.
Teresa: (angrily; to the crew) Oh, we got double-crossed by a rodent all right, but, uh, not a tiny one.
Shark: (confused; to Teresa) What?
Snake: (angrily; to the crew) This was supposed to be us conning Marmalade. It turns out it was Wolf conning us.
[A guard wrings Snake's neck, making him spew out stuff including a clock on the desk.]
Snake: (angrily; to Wolf) Does that sound familiar to you, Wolf?
Wolf: (as he's being searched; to Snake) Why-why would you think that?
Teresa: (angrily; to Wolf) Oh, I don't know, maybe because you just sabotaged the biggest heist of our lives. I think you owe us an explanation, bud. 
Wolf: (sighs; to the crew) Okay. You're right. This is what happened. Back in the museum, I just tried to steal an old lady's purse.
[He grins as he gets his mugshot taken.]
Wolf: (continues speaking; to the crew) Classic snatch and grab.
Tarantula: (while putting her legs on the ink; to Wolf) Tried to? (a cop stamps her legs on the paper like ink prints; quizzically) Since when do you try to steal something and not just steal it?
Wolf: (frowns; to the crew) I was trying to steal the purse when the old lady fell and... (clears throat while a guard hands him prison clothes) I kind of helped her.
Snake: (confused; to Wolf) What?
[Snake gets his mugshot taken.]
Wolf: (as he changes clothes; to the crew) I kind of helped her.
Piranha: (smiles; to Wolf) But then you stole her purse.
[Pirahna gets his mugshot taken.]
Wolf: (chuckling after putting on prison clothes; to Piranha) No, I didn't. I saved the old lady, and she hugged me, and my tail wagged, and I didn't know what it was, but it felt, uh, you know... good.
[Shark, Tarantula, Teresa, and Piranha gasp in shock. Snake just glares.]
Piranha: (smiles; to Wolf) Ah. But then you stole the purse.
Others: (annoyed; to Piranha) NO!
Snake: (angrily; to Wolf) You know, I heard what the pig said to you about cutting us loose.
Teresa: (shocked; to Snake) What? 
Shark: (crushed; to Wolf) Wait. Like, "us" us?
Snake: (angrily; to Wolf) But I never thought you'd actually do it, man.
Wolf: (frowns; to the crew) Hey, hey, hey, hey. I-I would never... I was trying to... I was trying to find us a better life.
Teresa: (angrily; to Wolf) Our life was perfect until you decided to ruin it.
Wolf: (frowns; to the crew) I didn't. You guys felt it at the gala. The clapping, the cheering. We were more than... than just scary villains. They loved us. And Tess, you could have a better life than to stay a villain, you know. 
Snake: (angrily; to Wolf) Oh, yeah? If they "loved" us so much, how come we're in prison for a crime we didn't commit? 
Teresa: (angrily; to Wolf) You know what? I'll give Marmalade this. At least he sees the world for what it is: a place where some people are scary and some people are scared.
Wolf: (angrily; to Teresa) Oh, yeah? Well, I'm tired of being scary. I'm-I'm tired of being an outcast. Maybe I don't want to be a...
Teresa: (angrily; to Wolf) What? A Bad Guy? Don't want to be a Bad Guy anymore, huh? Say it, Wolf. (Wolf says nothing) Yeah, I thought so. And us, your lifelong friends? And me, the so-called "albino freak" you took in when I first met you guys. We're just holding you back?
Wolf: (angrily; to the crew) Yeah, maybe you are!
[The others gasp in shock and Snake is taken aback. Teresa was crushed.] 
Snake: (snarls and leaps onto Wolf, tying him up; angrily) TAKE IT BACK!
[Wolf and Snake proceed to fight each other. Snake wraps around Wolf's body, fangs and claws are bared, and Wolf tries to attack him. The others gasp.]
Snake: (while fighting Wolf; angrily) TAKE IT BACK! APOLOGIZE!
[Guards rush in and break up the fight.]
Female Guard: (holding Snake back; to Snake and Wolf) Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey! Prison is no place for fighting! 
[Suddenly, a guard drops down near them.]
Guard #2: (groaning; to the female guard, points up to something) Tell that to him.
Wolf: (confused) Huh?
[They look up to see a lone figure. It leaped down and landed on the ground.]
Teresa: (gasped with excitement) The Crimson Paw! 
Wolf: (chuckling) What?
[Guards started to attack him, but the figure kicked and punched the guards, throwing them aside and kicking them down. The Bad Guys watched as the Crimson Paw continued fighting.]
Guard: (scared; to the other guards) Run!
[The figure grabbed a shoe and kicked it at the two guards. Then she locked them up.]
Shark: (surprised; to the Crimson Paw) Oh!
Wolf: (backing away in fear; to the Crimson Paw) W-W-Wait, wait. Ho-Hold on.
[The Crimson Paw removes her hood to reveal she's actually...]
All: (shocked; to Diane) Diane?
Teresa: (shocked; to Diane) What...?
Piranha: (shocked; to Diane) But how do you know how to do all of that kick-kick-punch-punch?
Wolf: (shocked; to Diane) Wait a sec, you're the Crimson Paw?
[Diane grins while her Crimson Paw name flashes next to her. We see her in her business suit entering the shadows before emerging in her Crimson Paw outfit.]
Wolf: (voiceover; explains to the viewers) The queen of cons, acrobatic Swiss Army knife. Stole the Zumpango diamond twice. Once for profit, second time just for fun. Never identified, never caught.
[Cut back to present day.]
Diane: (chuckles; to the crew) Guess I'm still the best bad guy the world has ever seen. (sees a blood cut on her suit) Ugh, at least I used to be. (rubs at the cut until the alarm blares, flashing red, she and the others notice. Diane puts her hood back on while the others turn around.)
Tarantula: (notices) Huh?
[Tons of guards come out and surround them. The Crimson Paw leaps up and flies down. She holds her fist out. Cut to her and the Bad Guys leaving on a boat as the prison explodes behind them.]
Diane: (smiles; to the crew) Nope, I'm still the best. Just like riding a stolen bicycle. (notices a small fire on Piranha's fin; to Piranha) Oh, uh, you got a little... (puts the flame out with her fingers; gets hurt) Ouch. 
Wolf: (shocked; to Diane) Hey, wh-why did you save us anyway?
Diane: (explains; to Wolf) After the gala, I knew something wasn't right, so I did some investigating, and that meteor...
Wolf: (knowingly; to Diane) I know. Some kind of cosmic mega-super-antennae thing.
Diane: (confirms; to Wolf) Right. If conducted through an array of ionizes crystals, it will generate a massive psychokinetic field the size of a city. Oh, my gosh. Did I interrupt you? Were you gonna say that?
Wolf: (nervously; to Diane) Uh, I-I-I was gonna be a little more technical, but you got the gist of it.
[Diane chuckles.]