#Rupert Marmalade | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

xandriagreat · 3 months ago

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Fate Be Changed

Chapter 8: Cleaning up/Dig a little Deeper

First chapter | Last chapter | Next chapter

Author’s note: reminder: The song’s lyrics are going to be bold and italic.

Notice/warnings: naked, showers/cleaning, food, scary moment, pain, transformation

▪▪▪

As they followed Granny Gumbo to her place, there were some stilt houses and there were some other people living.

It felt like a whole community.

Diane noticed the sound about people talking to each other, music playing, the chirping of birds and crickets, and the water streaming. To her, the sounds made this community all more alive.

Then they soon got to some type of tree house. Of course it was big and beautiful. Almost like a mansion but it was almost like a cottage somewhere around the late 18th to early 19th century.

The lights inside were on as they approached the tree house.

When they went inside, Diane saw Ruby (who was still human) and an alligator wearing a suit.

The both of them just finished talking about something.

Diane gasped excitedly when seeing Ruby. “Ruby!” said Diane, running to her.

Ruby turned around and her eyes lit up with excitement. “Diane!” Ruby exclaimed, hugging her when she got to her.

“Thank goodness you're ok!” Ruby said, looking at Diane again after they hugged.

“Same with you.” Diane said, smiling.

Ruby’s eyes sparkled with excitement when looking at Diane, gently petting her fur. “You are so fluffy!!!” Ruby exclaimed with a big smile. Then she pulled her hand away and quickly said, “Sorry, I should have asked.”

Diane blushed a bit red after her fur was touched. “I am fluffy but thank you for stopping.” she said

Ruby nodded and looked at Lou, Pepe, Moe, Herbert, and Webs. “Are those one of your new friends?” she asked, looking back at Diane.

The ‘fox’ looked at them before looking back at Ruby, nodding. “Yes, this is Lou, Pepe, Moe, Herbert, and Webs.”

Ruby hummed and nodded with a soft smile, waving at them.

While that was happening, Rhonda was still carrying Webs as she walked over to the alligator wearing a suit. Then she offers Webs to him, as if to say ‘Here’.

The ‘alligator’s’ eyes lit up in excitement and in relief when seeing the spider, smiling big. “Webs! You okay?” said the ‘alligator’, picking up the ‘spider’ from the ‘Tasmanian Devil’.

Webs stared at the ‘alligator’ in confusion before her eyes widened in realization. “Wait… Milton?!” Webs said in shock, realizing that it was her other friend.

“Yes! It's me!” Milton said, putting Webs on a nearby table. “You, Moe and Herbert weren't at the place of the meeting and showed you guys a place to stay. So I knew something was up finding you until I found you guys with-”

“Yes, Marmalade, and we made a dumb deal with him.” Webs said flatly as she got on a table.

“Yeah, I was completely affected by it by the time I alerted Granny Gumbo about it.” Milton explained.

Webs nodded before pausing and stared at him in silence for a bit. “Wait… How did you get infected.” she asked, pointing at him.

“It's a long story.” Milton said “But that’s why I’m also here. To see what’s going on and see if it can be reversed.”

“Ah. Got it.” Webs humming, nodding.

Then everyone looked at Granny Gumbo as Granny looked at the two ‘water animals’ and asked, “Do you two fishes need a bath too?”

“We’re good but thanks.” Pepe said, shaking his head.

Granny Gumbo looked at Diane, Moe, Herbert, and Webs. “I’ll show you four where the showers and baths are.” the old woman said to them. “Did you bring extra clothes?”

The four looked at each other before looking back at Granny Gumbo. “Well… uh… Lou made us some clothes.” Moe said, pointing at Lou.

Lou took a bow and smiled. “I can go get them.”

“Alright.” Granny Gumbo hummed with a soft smile. Then she looked back at the four. “Now, let's get you four washed up.”

Moe, Diane, Herbert, and Webs nodded to her.

Diane picked up Webs before Granny Gumbo began to guide the four to the bathroom.

◇

The four followed Granny Gumbo to the bathroom.

“So, how long have you four been animals?” Granny Gumbo asked.

“Two days.” the four said in unison.

Granny Gumbo hummed and nodded before opening and going through the door to the bathroom.

Moe, Diane, Herbert, and Webs followed after her and the four ‘animals’ looked surprised when seeing the bathroom as they got in.

There were multiple showers and a few bathtubs. There were even some sinks. There were also a few wooden benches. It was like it came out of another country.

The bathroom looked more like a bathhouse, just with privacy options and curtains.

“Well, this is very interesting.” Moe said, continuing to look around.

The other nodded in agreement.

Then they looked at Granny Gumbo as the old woman got a basket. “This is for dirty clothes.” she explained before she plugged one of the sinks and began to fill it up with water. “And this is for Ms. Spider.”

“Thank you.” Webs said.

Granny Gumbo nodded and then pointed at one of the cabinets. “There’s soap, shampoo, and conditioner in there, along with fresh towels.” she said before turning around. “Now I’ll leave to give you four privacy.”

Then she left the room to give them privacy, closing the door on her way out.

Moe, Diane, Herbert, and Webs looked at each other.

“So, how should we do this?” Diane asked as she put Webs on the counter.

“Well, let's get the toiletries and towels out first.” Herbert said, slithering over to the cabinet.

Moe walks over to help as the ‘snake’ opens it and pulls out a few towels. The ‘wolf’ got the bottles and both of them put them on the counter.

Moe looked at the cabinet one more time and pulled out a med kit before closing it. “Just in case.” he said, pointing it at Diane.

The ‘fox’ hummed and nodded in agreement.

Then the four start to sort the bottles, for who gets what bottles and who gets which shower.

There’s liquid hand soap and travel bottles of shampoo and conditioner set up for Webs. The others are the normal-size bottles for the animal's fur, like for Moe and Diane. And lastly the other bottles are good for scales, like for Herbert.

After sorting the bottles and picking which shower, they all start to realize something.

It seems Granny Gumbo has been prepared for this.

“It looks like Granny has been doing this for a long time.” Diane said as she realized.

Moe, Herbert, and Webs nodded, looking very worried.

“Let’s get clean.” Moe said, taking his bottles and towel to the shower that he’s going to use.

The others nodded.

Diane and Herbert got their bottles and towels, taking them to their showers that they’re going to use.

Then they each got undressed, putting the very dirty clothes in the basket (except for Webs’ hoodie and Herbert’s hat, those were put on the counter) before going to wash up.

Webs got in the sink while Moe, Herbert, and Diane got in their showers after getting them going.

Diane, Moe, and Herbert begin taking a shower while Webs was taking a bath in a sink, washing off any dirt from their bodies to clean and getting their furs and scales soft.

They start to feel clean as they clean themselves.

After cleaning and washing up, Diane shook her body a bit to get some water off of her before she got her towel and wrapped it around her as she got out of her shower.

She dries herself a bit as looked around to see Webs just got out of the sink and got the hand towel over herself.

Then Webs looked at her and the both of them made eye contact, both starting to blush a bit.

“I- sorry!” Diane started, sounding panic as she covered her eyes with one hand while the other kept her towel up.

“It’s ok!” Webs reassured, wrapping herself in the towel to cover herself. “I promise it’s fine!”

Diane, slowly, uncovered her eyes and lowered her hand to look at Webs, who was still covered by her towel and got something from her hoodie pocket and started to unwrap it.

Both the ‘fox’ and ‘spider’ looked at each other for a moment.

“I've been bathing and showering whenever I can while on the run and doing my business. I normally use gym showers, sometimes rivers, motel bathrooms, or bath houses, depending on the area that I’m in.” Webs explained a bit embarrassedly. “I hope that wasn’t too much.”

Diane hummed and nodded. “It’s ok.” she reassured her, getting her undergarments.

Webs looked at her for a moment before smiling softly and then pulled out a new light green tank top, which got Diane looking confused at her.

“I told Lou earlier to just make a new hoodie. I have a spare top.” Webs said as she got her backup sports bra on before getting her new tank top.

“Ah, got it.” Diane said with a hum, getting her undergarments on before grabbing the aid kit to get a new bandage on her foot.

“How’s your foot?” Webs asked, tossing the dirty hoodie into the basket.

Diane looked at her and shrugged. “Meh…” she said as she got to one of the benches and sat down. She opened the kit and set it down next to her before lifting and checking her injured foot.

Diane looked at her foot after unwrapping the bandaging.

The cut was still there but the bleeding had stopped.

“Hm…” Diane sighed softly and started to clean her foot with disinfecting cream, which got her to hiss a bit in pain.

The sounds of running water stopped and then Moe asked, “Need help?”

Diane looked over to see Moe and Herbert just got out of their shower, with their towels over themselves.

Diane nodded. “Yes, please.” she said, putting her towel over herself to cover herself.

“Alright. Give me a moment, then I’ll help.” Moe said, walked over to get his undergarments. After he got his undergarments on, he went to Diane and knelt down in front of her. He checked her foot before getting new bandages from the kit.

It looked like he knew what he was doing as he wrapped her foot.

“I did this all the time back when I was young and while I was on the run with Herbert and Webs.” Moe said, continuing to wrap carefully the foot.

Diane hummed with a soft chuckle. “That’s interesting.” she said, nodding.

Then the ‘fox’ looked at the ‘snake’, who was looking at the door, as if to either distract himself or know something was coming.

Then there was a knock on the door, which got all four of their attention.

“I’ll get it.” Herbert said as he slithered over to the door, holding his towel around himself tight so it wouldn't slip.

He carefully opened the door to see Lou, who was holding the new outfits.

“Hi. I’m back with the new finished outfits.” Lou said, showing the outfits in a folded pile.

Herbert nodded with a hum and carefully took the pile from him, bringing them inside.

Lou turns the other way as he gives the outfits to him.

“Thank you, Lou.” the four ‘animals’ said as Herbert put the clothes on the counter.

“No problem.” Lou said, his head still looking the other way. “Could one of you put the basket of dirty clothes out? There’s a washing machine that Granny has, it’s fast and quick with cleaning.”

“Alright. Here you go.” Herbert said, taking the basket and putting it out into the hallway before closing the door.

The four ‘animals’ looked at the door as they listened Lou pick up the basket and then walked away.

Then Moe went back to bandaging Diane’s foot. “Alright, here go.” Moe said when he was done.

“Thank you.” Diane said, wiggle her toes for a moment before standing up. Then Diane started to sort out the clothes in order while making sure her towel doesn't fall off her back.

“Ok, I just sorted out the outfits so we don’t get a bit of a mix up.” Diane said when she was done sorting.

The other ‘animals’ nodded and all four got their clothes.

Diane, Moe, Herbert and Webs smell great, they hadn't washed up since yesterday, aside from the river. They got dressed after they finished washing and drying off.

Diane got on her clothes, which is a violet purple pinafore dress over a royal blue t-shirt, and black flats that fit perfectly.

Wolf got an ocean color blue suit coat along with a gorgeous grass green swirl design on it, green pants, white socks and even brown shoes.

Snake got a white shirt with a unique ruby red snake scale-like design on it. He put on his bucket hat back on.

Webs got on cyan blue hoodie with red lining.

All four of them looked at their reflections and they were amazed by their reflections.

The four animals left the bathroom when they were ready.

◇

When Moe, Herbert, Webs, and Diane got to the others, they could hear some of the conversations.

The four of them looked around as they entered the room.

Granny Gumbo was the first one to notice them as they entered the room. “Ah! I see that you four are done.” she said to them before pointing at a nearby table. “I made warm drinks for the four of you.”

“Thank you.” the four ‘animals’ said together.

They noticed warm hot drinks for them on a table as the four went to the table while Granny left the room with Lou and Pepe.

Diane put Webs on the table when they got to the table.

It's been a while since they had warm drinks. There were three normal cups with one small cup.

They each picked up one of the cups.

Moe sniffed his cup before drinking it.

Herbert and Webs looked at their cups before drinking theirs.

Diane blew her cup before she drank hers.

The drinks tasted good.

They were able to drink some of it.

When Diane finished drinking her drink, she got up and went after Granny Gumbo.

“Hey, wait for us!” Moe called after her as they put their ups down and started to follow her to get the same answer.

They found where Granny went around the house.

It looked like she was looking for something.

“We are so glad we found you, Granny Gumbo. Pepe and Lou have been telling us all about you. We’ve been traveling quite a long way. And you can’t imagine what we’ve been through.” Diane said, walking over to Granny Gumbo, who looked like she was looking for something. “And we heard that yo-”

Then Granny Gumbo began to interrupt her by calling out, “Zee!”

Then a lizard jumps onto a desk and squeaks, getting Granny Gumbo’s attention.

“Come on, over here, you bad boy. Give me some love now.” Granny Gumbo said with a smile, offering her hand to Zee.

Zee got on her hand, nuzzling, as Granny Gumbo gently pets him and said, “You just missed your mama, don’t you?”

Diane, Moe, Herbert, and Webs all look at each other with weird looks.

Granny Gumbo chuckled as she put Zee on her head. Then she looked at Pepe and Lou, smiling at them. “Again, it’s good to see you both again, Pepe and Lou.” she said as she went to a recliner. “How's everything been since we last talked?”

“Yeah, it has been a while.” Pepe said, smiling.

“We have been surviving but we’re good.” Lou said with a soft chuckle.

Granny Gumbo sat down in the recliner and laughed warmly, “That’s nice.”

Diane, Moe, Herbert, and Webs went to Granny Gumbo, who got comfortable in her seat.

“Granny Gumbo… We don’t want to take too much of your time.” Diane said

“You want some candies?” Granny asked, opening her hand to reveal some candies that looked a bit old and could break your teeth if you tried to bite them.

The four look at each other

“No, not really.” Moe and Daine said while Herbert and Webs said, “No, no thank you.”

Granny looked at them and hummed, nodding slowly.

“Well now, that’s too bad.” she started as she took one of the candies, putting the rest away and wiping one of them off the dust before eating it. “This is a special candy. Woulda turn y’all human.”

After hearing that, Moe, Diane, Herbert and Webs’ eyes widened in a panic. “No, no, no, please!” the four said in a panic. “We’ll take it!”

Granny Gumbo just started laughing, like she just pulled a good prank. “I’m just messing with y’all!”

Moe, Diane, Herbert, and Webs sighed in relief after realizing that it was a bit of a joke, laughing a bit and calming down.

Diane smiled at the others as she started “How on earth did you know that we want to turn back-?”

She was cut off when seeing Granny Gumbo napping in the chair.

“Um… Granny Gumbo?” Herbert asked, tapping her arm a bit with his tail.

Then Granny Gumbo jumped out of her seat, startling the four (again), and ran into a different room, shouting, “Zee! Why didn’t you tell me my gumbo was burnin’?!”

“Gumbo?” Diane asked before smelling air to smell the scent. It was one of her favorite father's cooking when she was a kid (No offense to her mother's or her friends or even her own).

She followed the old lady to the kitchen, seeing her stir a big pot.

“I can’t believe this…” Granny Gumbo grumbled to herself. “Got to do everythin’ around here…”

Diane glanced over to see what was in the gumbo pot before looking at the old woman. “What type of gumbo is it?” Diane asked, checking and inspecting. She's seen many different types of gumbo, so much so though she couldn't identify which one exactly it is.

“It’s a recipe that I made.” Granny Gumbo said, glancing at her as she stirred the gumbo. “You can taste it if you like.”

The old woman pulled one of the nearby drawers to show where the silverware was.

Diane got a spoon out, so she could taste it. She got a spoonful of the gumbo and tasted it. She noticed that it was a bit sour and a bit sweeter than any gumbo she had tasted.

“Well? What do you think?” Granny Gumbo asked, looking at her.

“Hm… Your gumbo is pretty amazing actually unlike anything I have seen since I was child but… add a little cumin, hit the parsley, lemon zest, additional cinnamon, with a mix of Tabasco and red peppers and it'll have a good taste.”

Granny Gumbo hummed and went to a cabinet, looking for the things that Diane suggested.

Zee got the cheese grinder out, for the lemon zest, with his mouth holding onto the handle of it, while Granny Gumbo got the things on the counter.

The others peaked in as Granny Gumbo got the things into the pot and then stirred the food together.

Then she began taking a taste after letting the ingredients mix together.

It tasted better than expected.

Granny Gumbo started to laugh and exclaim excitedly, “That got some zydin’ to it! I guess that’s what we needed.”

“No problem.” Diane said with a confused chuckle.

Granny Gumbo chuckled and looked at her. “Now, you figured out what you need?”

Diane was confused by the question as Webs crawled onto her shoulder while Moe and Herbert walked over to them.

“Uh… Well… It’s just like you said, Granny Gumbo. We need to be human.” Diane said, pointing at herself and then at the others.

Granny Gumbo’s smile faded into a frown and then she gave a loud forced laugh in her face, making the ‘fox’ jump back a bit and bump into the ‘wolf’.

Webs quickly got onto Moe's shoulder after the bump, clinging onto him.

“You are blind to what’s in front of ya!” Granny Gumbo said with sass, pointing at Diane in the chest.

Diane was confused about what saying and looked at Webs, Moe, and Herbert to see if they understood what she’s saying.

The three of them looked equally confused.

“What’s going on in here?” Pam asked, walking in with Emmlylou, Joy, Rhonda, Ruby, and Mitlon.

“Well the thing is-” Herbert started but was interpreted by Granny Gumbo clearing her throat, which got everyone’s attention.

“You want to be human…” Granny Gumbo started, sounding calm. “But you blind to what you need.”

“What we want, what we need… It’s all the same thing, yes?” Moe asked with a shrug.

Then Granny gave the ‘wolf’ an angry glare before slapping on the back of his head.

“Ow!” Moe exclaimed a bit in pain, rubbing where he got slapped.

“It’s the same thing? No!” Granny Gumbo shouted at him before walking away, going to the .

“Come on, there has to be something!” Ruby said angrily. “I don’t want my friends to be hurt or dead because of an animal mix up from hunters!”

Granny Gumbo began to think for a moment as she walked to the main room, where there’s a huge open sunroof on the ceiling and some neighbors went over by the rooftops.

“Well I got an answer.” she said, turning a crank of a record player to play music.

Everyone (except for Pepe, Lou, Milton, and the other guests) were confused of what’s going on.

Granny Gumbo around to look at everyone, chuckling, “You all better to listen to Granny now!”

She set the tone as she hopped back a bit, smiling at them. Then she begins to sing, “Don't matter what you look like!”

Granny Gumbo summoned a sort of cane as she continued, “Don't matter what you wear! How many rings you got on your finger, we don't care!” She summoned magical rings on her fingers, showing it to the four animals before making the rings disappear.

“No we don't care!” The neighbors (suddenly appeared on the rooftop) singing like the chorus, which startled most of the ‘animals’ again.

Granny Gumbo chuckled softly as she picked up Zee and put him on the floor.

“Don't matter where you come from. It doesn't even matter what you are.” Granny Gumbo sang before snapping her fingers. “A dog, a pig, a cow, a goat! Had 'em all in here!

She turned Zee into different animals as she listed the animals before turning him back to a lizard.

“We had 'em all in here!” The neighbors repeated.

Granny Gumbo chuckled and spun around a bit as she continued, “And they all knew what they wanted, what they wanted me to do. I told 'em what they needed. Just like I be telling you! You got to dig a little deeper! Find out who you are! You got to dig a little deeper! It really ain't that far! When you find out who you are, You'll find out what you need! Blue skies and sunshine guaranteed!”

Granny Gumbo got her magic cane out and did a digging motion.

“You got to dig!” “(dig!)”

Then Granny Gumbo looked at Moe, Herbert, and Webs. They looked like they were about to step out of the room, like this doesn’t infect them.

The old woman got a crate that was near them, looking down at them while they tried to step out.

“Hey, Mr. Wolfy, Mr. Snakey, and Websy.” Granny Gumbo sang as Moe stepped away with Herbert and Webs. They stopped and looked up at her when she tapped her magic cane.

“Hey!” the three exclaimed as she pulled them back into the spotlight to them.

“You wanna keep on running with your lover? That ain't gonna make you happy now, Did it make you happy then?”

Moe and Webs were about to say something but were cut off by Granny Gumbo shouting “No!”

With the tap of her cane, Granny gumbo begins to use some wind with her magic spinning all around the three of them.

“Running means no stopping! Running means to let go!”

Moe and Herbert held onto each other while Webs clung onto Moe’s suit jacket like her life depended on it.

“All you need is to stop and look around.” Granny Gumbo explained, tapping her cane and the magic wind stopped blowing. “Make yourself a brand new start! You got to dig a little deeper.”

Moe and Herbert let go and looked at each other before starting to laugh while Webs started to slide off the suit jacket and onto the crate, looking at Granny Gumbo in confusion.

The old woman smiles down at her while she hops down from the crate and then points a hand to someone as she explains to her, “Don't have far to go.”

Webs looked to see that Granny Gumbo was pointing at Diane, who was dancing Rhonda.

The ‘fox’ looks happy and beautiful while dancing.

“You got to dig a little deeper!”

Webs start to recognize that she did feel different when she was with Diane. She stared at Diane in awe, a small smile and blush a little appeared on her face as she started to realize what Granny was singing.

“Tell the people Granny told you so!” Granny Gumbo chuckled, putting a gentle hand on Webs’ back. “Can't tell you what you'll find, maybe love will grant you peace of mind. Dig a little deeper and you'll know!”

Webs looked up at Granny and nodded to her, showing that she started to understand.

Granny Gumbo chuckled softly as she gently patted Webs’ back before she started to walk over to Diane.

Then Moe gently tapped the crate top, getting Webs’ attention. She looked up at Moe and smiled softly at him. “... Moe, can I ask you something?” Webs asked, walking over to him.

“Sure.” Moe said, offering his paw to her. “You want to talk about something?”

Webs smiles soft and nodded, climbing up his hand and up his arm. “Yeah… The question is this… How do you tell someone that you… like or love them?” the ‘spider’ asked a bit embarrassedly, looking at the ‘wolf’.

“Here are a couple of suggestions. Pick a good time to tell the person how you feel and don’t rush into it. Also be your real self and be the better person that you want to be.” Wolf explained as he looked at Webs, a soft smile on his face.

Webs nodded before looking at Diane again. ‘Maybe I’ll ask her.’ she thought, smiling softly.

Diane stopped dancing when she noticed Granny Gumbo walk over to her.

“Miss Foxy, might I have a word?” Granny Gumbo asked.

“Yes, ma’am.” Diane said, nodding.

“You're a hard one, that's what I heard.” Granny Gumbo chuckled as she took Diane to the kitchen and to the gumbo, while her friends followed them and stood by the doorway.

It shows Diane a memory of her childhood with her parents (the one with them at the potluck).

Diane’s eyes lit up when seeing the memory, smiling softly at it.

“Your father is a loving man. Family through and through. You are your father's daughter. What he had in him you got in you!”

Granny Gumbo patted Diane's back and guided her out of the kitchen by a different door, taking her up the stairs to the rooftop.

“You got to dig a little deeper! For you it's gonna be tough. You gotta dig a little deeper! You ain't dug near far enough! Dig down deep inside yourself, you'll find out what you need!”

Everyone starts to follow them, very into the song.

… except for Ruby.

Ruby looked dizzy as she tried to follow everyone but kept on stumbling until she just stopped and leaned on the wall, panting softly while watching everyone go to the next level as the song continued.

“Blue skies and sunshine guaranteed!”

“Open up the windows! Let in the light, children!” Granny Gumbo exclaimed, using her magic to light up the darkness.

“Blue skies and sunshine! Blue skies and sunshine!” Everyone sang happily.

“Blue skies and sunshine!” Diane sang, a big smile on her face.

“Guaranteed!” Granny Gumbo sang.

Everyone sang and held a long note until the music finished as a grand finale, the magic lights shined bright.

Everyone started to talk with each other when the music stopped.

Diane had never felt this joyful since New Year's Eve of Y2K.

The neighbors talked with each other as they went back to their homes

Lou and Pepe thought the music was still on but Milton snapped them out of it by tapping their shoulders. “Hey, it’s done.” Milton said to them.

The two looked at him and gave (more of tried) a thumbs up.

Granny Gumbo chuckled softly and looked at Diane as she asked, “So, Ms Foxxy? Do you know what you need?”

Diane nodded excitedly. She didn't know what to say but before she could say anything, a loud crash came from down stairs and a loud scream, “SOMEBODY HELP ME!”

Everyone jumped and looked at the direction where it came from.

It was Ruby… and she sounded like she was in a lot of pain…

Diane was the first to snap out of the shock. “Oh my- Ruby!” Diane exclaimed worried, rushing over to where Ruby was.

“Ruby!?” Diane, Pam, Emmily Lou, Joy and Rhonda called out, quickly rushed downstairs to help and see what’s going on.

The other ‘animals’ and Granny Gumbo quickly followed after them.

“Ruby-!” Diane started as she got to the room but she stopped when seeing what was happening to Ruby.

There were different colors spinning around the friend.

Ruby was on the floor, she stopped screaming as different colors spin quickly around her, starting to transform her into an animal.

When the transformation was done, the different color lights were gone and Ruby was a German Shepherd. Ruby panted as she passed out from pain.

The five friends stared at their passed out friend, processing what happened, as the rest of the others and Granny Gumbo just got into the room.

Before anyone walked over, Ruby let out a groan, “UGH…”

Ruby slowly opened her eyes as she slowly sat up and looked at everyone, confused about what happened.

“What… happened?” she asked, looking at everyone before looking at herself. Her breathing became heavy and quick, tears peeking at her eyes. “What… What happened to me?” Ruby whimpered, fear in her voice as her ears went back to her head and she looked at her hands that just became paws.

Pam and Granny Gumbo quickly went to her and checked on her.

Ruby looked at both of them, hoping there was an answer to what was happening.

Everyone was worried and wanted an answer for what’s going on too.

“Is she ok?” Emmy Lou asked, worried.

“Does it look like she is ok?!” Diane snapped angrily at her.

Emmy Lou looked at Diane, a look of confusion on her face. “I’m just asking if she’s ok! I’m worried for her. We’re all worried!”

Diane froze for a moment and then took in a breath, trying to calm down. “I… sorry about that…” she apologized.

Then Diane walked out of the room to get herself to calm down.

Moe looked at where Diane went before going after her. “Diane?” he called out to her.

Diane was in the hallway, leaning against the wall. She took a deep breath before looking at him.

“Hey… You ok?” Moe asked, walking over to her.

Diane stared at him for a moment before looking at the ceiling and sighing, “I don’t know what I’m feeling… Mad? Upset? All I know is that the emotion I’m feeling it’s at myself…”

Moe nodded in understanding. “Can't blame ya.” Moe said, shrugging a bit and looking up at the ceiling. “When Herbert, Webs, and I woke up after our transformations, I was mad and upset at myself…”

Diane looked at Moe. “You were?” she asked.

Moe nodded sadly, looking down. “Yeah…”

They pause for a moment, silence filled the air in the hall.

Then Diane started to ask, “How are you so calm?”

“What do you mean?” Moe asked, looking at her again.

“I mean you sometimes calmer in situations.” Diane said

“Well, remember I told you about how I grew up with my mother?” Moe asked with a chuckle.

Diane nodded.

“I was taught to be calm during situations.” Moe explained, a small smile on his face. “Ever since Young age with my mother's guidance but not only that but along with some of my father figures.”

“Father figures?” she asked “I didn't know you had father figures other than your mother?”

“Yeah. It does also make sense on how I act and treat others.”

Diane hummed and nodded.

Then they looked down the hallway at the room where they came from, seeing Herbert slithering over to them.

“Everything ok?” he asked, looking at both of them.

The two ‘canines’ nodded.

“Yea… I feel a bit better now.” Diane said.

“That’s good.” Herbert said before pointing into the other room. “Granny and Pam just finished checking on Ruby. We’re most likely going to have an answer about what’s going on.”

Diane and Moe nodded before they both followed Herbert back into the room where everyone else was in.

The others were still in the room when they got back in.

Granny Gumbo and Pam finished checking Ruby to see what was going on with her.

“Oh… this is bad… this is not good…” Granny Gumbo said under her breath, shaking her head.

“What’s wrong?” Pam asked, worried.

“This curse is different from the others… The curse is spreading.” Granny Gumbo answered loudly, turning around to look at everyone.

“What?!” Milton shouted angrily, walking in. “Granny! You said that it wouldn't spread unless it was fresh made contact!”

“She didn't touch any of the water.” Pam said while Ruby said “I didn’t touch the water.”

Granny Gumbo sighed and looked at the ‘animals’. “This curse is acting more like a sickness that can spread like wildfire instead of just infecting a few people at a time…” the old woman explained, worried in her voice.

Pam’s eyes widened when hearing this, like it reminds her of her studies. “Like a plague…” Pam said, very worried.

Everyone’s eyes widened in shock and worry, unsure of what to say.

The quiet silence filled the room.

“Is there a way to break this curse? Or is there nothing?” Herbert asked, breaking the silence.

Granny Gumbo looked at him before nodding and pointed at Herbert, Moe, Webs, and Diane. “You four, follow me.” she said as she started to leave the room.

As the four began to follow her, Diane looked back at her friends then at Granny Gumbo.

Diane had a lot of things going through her head and it made her worried. ‘Hope everything will be okay and this will all be fixed.’ she thought.

“There’s one way to break this curse.” Granny Gumbo said to them as they walked out of the room and into the kitchen.

They made it to the kitchen, seeing that Zee was helping with the gumbo by watching it and making sure it didn’t burn again.

“And that’s what?” the four ‘animals’ asked together as they watched Granny Gumbo as the old woman got a spoon out, tapped it and made it glow gold.

“Look in the gumbo pot.” Granny Gumbo said as she got to the gumbo pot, putting the spoon into the pot and begins stirring the gumbo

The four ‘animals’ went to the gumbo pot and looked at the gumbo inside as Granny Gumbo started to chant something.

“Gumbo, gumbo in the pot…” Granny chanted as she stirred. “We need answers, show what you got!”

The gumbo shined for a moment before showing Marmalade with Cuddles in a hotel room.

“Huh?” Diane, Moe, Herbert, and Webs asked, confused and looked at Granny Gumbo.

“Just watch the gumbo.” granny said, repeating what she said earlier as she pointed at the pot.

The four ‘animals’ looked back at the pot to watch the scene.

“Everything will be ok.” Marmalade reassured Cuddles.

(But what we don’t-!) Cuddles started to sign but stopped when Marmalade shouted, “We will!”

Cuddles stared at him, worried on his face.

Marmalade took in a breath, calming down, and then smiled softly.

“Thankfully, I have a plan,” Marmalade said, taking something out of his jacket pocket. It was a voodoo doll.

The voodoo doll looked like Vinny Wolf.

“Once the shadows come back and we get the Wolf’s blood, things will get back on track. You play as Mason Wolf for the wedding.” Marmalade explained, showing him the voodoo doll. Then a dark smile around his face as he said, “After the ‘I do’s, Vinny Wolf will be taken care of.”

Cuddles look at him, unsure about all this. (Ok, but what about Mary? She will find out that I am not Mason.) Cuddles signed.

Marmalade stared at him before smiling softly at him. “Don’t worry, everything will be ok, Cornelius.” Marmalade reassured him, putting the voodoo doll back in his jacket pocket.

Then Marmalade went to the door, “I’ll be back.” he said to Cuddles, looking at him as he opened the door.

Cuddles nodded.

Marmalade left the room and closed the door before walking down the hallways.

He sighed as he went down the hallway and went into the stairwell.

Marmalade got something else out of his jacket as he went to one of the walls of the stairwell, drawing a door.

When he was done drawing, he snapped his fingers together and the drawn door started to glow before it became a real door.

The door was a dark purple.

He opened the magic door and entered this new magic room.

It was a dark room, full of other voodoo dolls that look like they’re from different centuries. In the middle of the room, there was a table. On it were some tarot cards, a candle, a science kit, and a spell book.

Marmalade walked over to the table, flicking his wrist and the candle lit up.

He got the Talisman out, looking at it with his shadow. Marmalade sighed as he looked at the Talisman.

“Come on, now… I’m running out of time, I need more for the harvest- wait…” he said to himself then an idea popped into his head. Then he looked at his shadow with a dark smile before grabbing and opening the magic book.

Marmalade looked at a page with his shadow.

On the page, it showed how to combine a good soul along with a sinister soul.

“Combining two souls, one good and one sinister, it’ll make a bigger soul. That’ll be more than enough for the harvest.” Marmalade said out loud, pointing at the page.

A sinister smile began to form on his face while his shadow nodded.

Then Marmalade looked at his shadow and asked, “Could you get some more of the shadows?”

The four ‘animals’ were shocked and looked at each other then at the gumbo again.

Marmalade’s shadow showed a bit worried by -body- shadow language.

“Don’t worry.” Marmalade reassured the shadow. “It’ll give us a bigger chance.”

Marmalade’s shadow showed calmer and nodded as Marmalade smiled at his shadow.

Then the vision in gumbo faded away and went back to being gumbo.

“This can't be happening…” Moe breathed, worried as he looked at Herbert, Diane, and Webs. “We need to stop this from happening. If he does this, who knows what horrors will happen…”

Herbert, Webs, and Diane nodded.

Then they looked at each other before looking at Granny Gumbo.

“What should we do?” Diane asked, worry in her voice.

“There is one way to break the curse.” Granny Gumbo said, putting up a finger. “Break the talisman.”

The four ‘animals’ nodded.

“Ok… Break the talisman…” Webs repeated, recapping what was told before asking, “Then what?”

“I’m getting to that.” Granny Gumbo said, looking at her before stirring the gumbo again.

The gumbo glowed again and showed the silhouette form of the talisman.

“You four, or at least one of you, need to break the talisman.” Granny explained, pointing at the silhouette of the talisman “When you do, BOOM!” She tapped on the form and a burst of light shined and then showed everyone’s silhouettes as human in the pot. “The curse will stop and you’ll all turn back to human!”

The four started to smile with excitement but then stopped when Granny held up a hand and added with some worry, “But… if the four of you aren't back being human again after the talisman is broken… then I’ll try and find something else to help.”

The four ‘animals’ looked at each other, worried expressions on their faces.

“Like a kiss or something?” Webs asked, looking back at Granny.

Granny Gumbo stared for a moment before shrugging. “Maybe.”

That didn’t ease their worries.

“We need to go and stop this from happening.” Moe said, looking at the others before starting to leave the room with Webs. “Come on!”

Herbert nodded and followed after them while Moe talked to the others in the other room.

Diane was about to follow them but stopped by Granny Gumbo grabbing her arm.

“Hm? Granny?” Diane asked, confused.

The ‘fox’ tried to shake her arm to get Granny to let go of her, but the old woman had a tight grip on her arm.

Granny looked at Diane, worried in her eyes. “Diane, I need you to be strong when you face Him.” the old woman warned, not letting go of her arm.

“Um… What do you mean?” Diane asked, getting more confused and worried.

“I see two paths when you face him.” Granny Gumbo explained with warning in her voice, still holding her arm. “He gives you a deal, a deal that you can’t refuse. You MUST say no to him.”

“And if he eventually wins then that means…?” Diane asked, starting to get scared.

“Everyone will be nothing but food and play things to his ‘friends’ while he joins them as being a powerful being… along with you…” Granny Gumbo explained before begging, “So, Please… when the time comes, say no to him!”

The ‘fox’ snapped out of the fear and nodded. “I understand. I won’t let you down.” she reassured her.

Granny Gumbo sighs with a small smile as she lets go of Diane’s arm.

Diane looked at her before leaving the kitchen, looking at the other ‘animals’.

They all begin checking everything and getting their things before they leave.

Diane walked over to them, going to Ruby first.

Ruby looked at herself in the mirror, looking at her new form in the reflection. She looked like she was close to crying, whimpering a bit as her ears went back to her head.

Diane went over to her and asked, “Hey, you ok?”

Ruby looked at Diane and shrugged. “I don’t know…” she replied, holding her hands close to herself.

“Everything will be ok.” Diane reassures her.

“But what if I never-” Ruby started, sounding panicked, but was cut off as Diane held her hands to get her attention and interrupted, “You will go back to being human again, along with everyone else. I promise.”

“That’s right.” Pam said.

Ruby and Diane looked over to see Pam, Emmy Lou, Joy, and Rhonda nodding in agreement.

Ruby started to calm down before hugging Diane, who hugged her back.

Meanwhile, Webs was on a table as she looked at Daine with her friends. She sighed softly and hugged herself.

“Webs?” Milton asked with a blank around his face

Webs look up to see Milton walk over to her. He had a satchel bag full of something.

“You ok?” Milton asked when he got to her.

“Hm? Oh, I’m ok.” Webs said, trying to sound reassuring.

Milton raised an eyebrow and gave her a look. “Come on, I know you. Something is on your mind.” he said.

“It's just…” Webs started, trying to get out what she wants to say. “I’m just thinking… of asking someone out… It’s stupid…”

Milton hummed softly, nodding. Then he noticed the others starting to leave.

“How about you tell me while we leave?” Milton asked, looking back at Webs.

Webs nodded.

Then she looked at that satchel bag. “What’s in the bag?” she asked, pointing at the bag

“Some light. Just in case those Shadows come out and attack.” Milton said, adjusting the satchel bag on his shoulder.

Webs hummed and nodded.

Milton smiled softly and offered his hand to her, so she could crawl up.

She got on his hand and crawled up his arm.

Milton started to walk as Webs explain, “It's just… being on the run for so long and just going from place to place, barely stopping. I just… I’m also scared she would say ‘no’… after everything.”

Milton hummed softly and nodded as he continued to walk. “Well… you can still ask her to see if she wants to. It’s good to ask.” he reassured, smiling softly at her as they got outside.

Thank you.” Webs said, smiling back before then realized something. Then she looked at him and asked, “Wait… how did you and Diane’s friends get here?”

Milton got quiet for a moment before laughing softly. “Well… It's a long story. A complicated one, but…to cut it short, we got here by a yacht that Emmly Lou owns.” Milton said

Webs hummed and nodded. “Interesting.”

Milton nodded with a chuckle. “Yeah, but anyways, you got this. Ask her.” he said as he continued to walk.

Webs nodded a bit before looking at where Diane was, who was talking to Pam and Ruby for a bit.

Webs couldn’t help but smile at her. ‘Got to dig deeper and tell her.’ she thought, chuckling softly.

▪▪▪

Author’s Notes: Just to explain, Granny is older and she doesn’t always remember the right things. Like the witch from Brave; she forgot the bit of the spell when Merida left but then remembers sometime later.

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xandriagreat · 2 months ago

Text

Howling 20s

Chapter 3: Runaway and Mafia Marmalade

First chapter | Last chapter | Next chapter

Notice/warnings: food/eating, homesick, escape/running away, rain, cold/sick, tackle, arguing, brief nudity/naked, undergarments, nightmare (waking up from one)

▪▪▪

Three weeks passed and apparently it was good but also wasn't going too, well,…good.

Diane is already getting used to living in Wolf Manor and its rules.

Though she often worries about her family and even walks through every room before bed or even in the early morning to find any escape board and surprisingly… none… as of now.

Apparently with a mansion this huge, it's going to be difficult to find some way to escape and takes some more time.

She wondered how her family was doing. She could imagine scenarios already in her head, one her family is alive and good but in another her family is hurt badly.

She did enjoy some of the company from Wolf's four friends and Bella, along with some of the staff.

But Diane was still in shock of what she saw with Mr Jonstone.

Diane was still terrified of what Wolf would do to her if she stepped out of line. She tried to stay out of trouble as much as she could.

And tried her best to not get close to Wolf and talk to him as little as possible, worried that she’ll say the wrong thing and make him upset.

But there were a few times she was happy.

◇

Diane was walking around inside the manor, stopping by a window to look at the garden before the sun started to set.

The garden was almost complete.

Diane smiled softly as she looked at the beautiful flowers.

It made her smile a bit more and get an idea.

‘Maybe just a bit of fresh air was setting me out for the night.’ she thought, ‘Just a quick trip to the garden and then back inside to my room before anyone noticed.”

She walked down one of the hallways, going to her room. But she stopped by the corner when she saw two maids leave the laundry room.

When the maids were gone and no one was in the hallway, Diane went to the laundry room, having an idea in her head.

◇

Wolf was in his office, doing some paperwork.

Then he heard a knock on the door.

“Come in.” he said, looking up from the last page that he was reading.

The door opened and in came his four friends; Stefaine Webs, Louis ‘Lou’ Shark, Pepe Piranha, and Cedric Snake.

“Hey… we just wanted to check in on you.” Shark said as they got to him.

They noticed the paperwork of the other clients' deals and a couple of photos of the clients, even a few new arrangements on schedule that were just written down. There was also a small glass cup of a drink of whiskey even though it was completely banned, along with the other alcohol.

“I’m alright.” Wolf said, playing the pen in his hand.

“Wolf, you’re drinking whiskey.” Snake pointed out.

“Yeah, so… I know it's illegal here, but you know-” Wolf started but was interrupted by Snake saying, “Yes, we know, Mason. But you only drink it when something is bothering you.”

Wolf took a big sigh and sat down in his chair. “It’s been a couple of weeks and… I’m having… I guess some doubts and worries.” he said, looking at his friends.

“Want to talk about it?” Piranha asked.

WoIf took a deep breath, and began putting his work back in order by pile. “I’m just worried that our, Diane and I, relationship will end up like… Theirs.” he said, picking up his drink after putting work away.

“Oh, you mean your-” Piranha tried to speak but was cut off by Snake putting his tail over his mouth to make him stop talking.

Wolf glares for a moment before nodding and then looks at his drink.

He really needs it.

This drink.

Then he took one big gulp of his cup of whiskey before slamming it onto the desk and lay his forehead on the desk.

His four friends looked at him for a moment before looking at each other.

“Maybe we can give you a few suggestions?” Webs asked, looking back at Wolf again as she jumps from Shark’s shoulder and lands on the desk.

Wolf raised his head, looking at her and asked, “Uh… Ok? What is it?”

“One is that you could go on a date.” Webs said, pointing at Wolf. “A real date.”

“Another is to have you try and get to know her better.” Shark added, nodding.

“OH! What if you have her freedom for every couple hours of the week?” Piranha suggested after getting Snake’s tail off his mouth.

“To add on with what Shark said, try talking and listening to her.” Snake said, pointing at Shark and then waved his tail a bit in the air.

Wolf looked at his four friends and nodded. “I’ll… try.” he said, a small smile appeared on his face. “Maybe I’ll show her that I’m not always the villain that everyone talks about.”

His friends nodded.

Wolf’s smile faded as he thought of something and instantly began to doubt. “But there’s no way she could warm up to me.” he grumbles, looking down for a moment.

“Apart from the fact that you are the big bad-?” Piranha started but got cut off by Snake covering his mouth with his tail again.

Wolf glared at him for a moment before taking in a breath and calming down, shrugging a bit. “Something like that.” he said, getting up from his seat. “The both of us are different. From status, class, and species.”

“But she also came from a wealthy family, yes?” Webs asked, trying to see if she remembered right or not.

“Yes. But it’s recently from the ground up. Also, she’s the daughter of one immigrant from the United Kingdom.” Wolf answered, picking up a file tilted: The Foxingtons.

Wolf opens it and shows his friends the files inside.

Apparently he did find the foxington family through not only Mr. Booker, but also by some history files.

Apparently according to immigration reports, Margaret came from a wealthy family.

Owen was a child born in the states from one of the poorest neighborhoods in San Francisco while Margaret was an immigrant from London to New York, being the second generation of the Foxingtons. Diane is the only one of the Foxingtons who was born in the states and was the third generation of the Foxingtons.

Piranha took Snake’s tail off of his mouth and asked, “Is there a problem with that?”

Wolf shook his head with a small smile. “Nope. There’s no problem with that.” he said, closing the file and putting it back on the desk.

Then Wolf looked at the time.

It was 6:31.

“It’s going to be dinner time soon.” Wolf hummed, picking up his glass and starting to walk to the door.

Shark picked up Webs from the desk and the four friends followed after him, going with him down the hall.

The five of them were quiet for a bit, but the silence was broken when Wolf said, “You are right, Piranha.”

“About what?” Piranha asked, curious about what he meant.

“The ‘big bad wolf’ thing.” Wolf started, glancing down at him as the five went.

The four friends noticed that the wolf was smiling a bit with a chuckle, which got them confused.

“Ok, what's up between you and Diane?” Webs asked.

“Well, on her full first day here, we had a bit of a talk.” Wolf explained “It was about how I run the empire. Then she said that, along with the villain in every story.”

The four friends start to get worried

"It's like she said, I'm the villain in every story." Wolf said to his friends. "But that young foxy woman is quite smart."

His friends nodded slowly, remaining quiet for a bit.

“Well… She is a bit right but she’s also wrong.” Snake said, slithering over to him. “She doesn’t know that saying those words hurts.”

Wolf looked down as he paused and took in a breath before looking at Snake, who smiled reassuringly at him. “Maybe you both can talk about it when you both talk.”

Wolf couldn’t help but smile softly and chuckle, “Alright.”

He starts to walk again with his friends, getting to the dining room.

When they got to the dining room, Diane wasn’t there.

“Where is she?” Wolf asked, confused as he looked around a bit.

Then one of the servants walked in with a plate of food, which got the five’s attention.

“Pete?” Piranha asked the servant, getting his attention. “Where’s Ms. Foxington?”

Pete looked over to look at them. “Ms. Foxington had turned herself in for the evening but wanted her food delivered to her room, sir.” he said, putting the plate down on the table.

Wolf stared at him for a moment before nodding. “Alright.”

◇

Diane was in her room, she just finished her bath and got dressed in her green satin nightgown, now on her bed and eating some dinner on a Silver-plated tray.

Dinner was good, along with tea.

When she was done eating, she noticed that the sun had gone down and it was dark out.

‘I can still have a walk around the garden. Just a small walk around the garden then I'll get back inside before anyone notices.’ the fox thought as walk out of her room with the tray.

She placed the tray by her door after closing and then checked her breath before going to the bathroom to clean her teeth.

After cleaning her teeth, Diane quietly went back to her room, got out the spare sheets that she got from the laundry room. She tied them together into a long rope.

She tied them on the bed frame with the window frame and slowly and quietly climbed down while making sure no one was watching on the outside.

When she carefully got to the ground, placing her toes onto the grass, As she began letting go of the rope, both of her feet were on the ground.

With a gentle giggle, Diane spun around in her flowing nightgown, the fabric swaying gracefully with her movements. Her bare feet brushed against the cool, dewy grass, creating a sensation as she immersed herself in the moment. She paused occasionally to inhale the sweet fragrance of the flowers, savoring their delicate scents. Finally, she let herself fall back onto the soft, lush grass, her arms spread wide.

As Diane gazed up at the vast night sky, dotted with beautiful shimmering stars, a sense of peace and wonder washed over her, making her feel as if she were a part of something much larger.

Then Diane looked at the different flowers in the garden, Marigold flowers and Orchids flowers.

She started to feel home sick.

She could remember as a child where her parents used to take her into her mansion's garden all the time around spring and summer. Where she looked at the pond and heard the crickets chirping and sometimes playing like a tomboy.

Diane sighed softly as she began to reminisce about one of her favorite childhood memories with her parents.

◇flashback◇

6-year-old Diane was running around the garden playing with her parents and chasing after some birds.

Then she began catching sight of the marigolds and orchids blooming.

"Daddy! Daddy!" Diane called out to her dad before pointing at the flowers. “The flowers are blooming! Are they pretty?"

Diane’s father walked over to her and looked at it. “Yes, they are.”

"Mommy! Mommy! Come, Come, there's flowers!" Diane said to her mother, pointing at the flowers

Her mother walked over and smiled. “Those are pretty flowers, Dia.”

Diane began to laugh and hugged her parents, who hugged her back.

◇End of flashback◇

Then Diane snapped out of it and back to reality, sighing softly.

Diane was about to go back to the rope to climb back inside but she stopped when she found something in the garden wall.

Diane walked over to see what it was.

There was a hole in the wall. It looked big enough that she could squeeze through it.

She couldn't help but wonder if it was her chance to escape.

She decided to take the chance.

Diane took in a breath and sighed, looking around just in case someone was watching her before she walked to the hole.

Then she starts to carefully go through the hole in the wall, which was easy at first but gets stuck for a moment.

She took in a breath and then exhaled to be a bit thinner, getting herself freed from the wall and able to move again, getting to the other side of the wall.

She began to rub her hips as she looked at the hole. ‘Wow, the hole in the wall is definitely something…’ the fox thought.

Then she looked around to see that she was out, which got her to smile as she stepped away from the wall.

She looked out the woods in the distance and the first step to getting home or in case of her freedom.

Diane began to run to the woods without being aware that one of the staff noticed. ‘I'm out of here!' Diane thought happily as she ran.

◇

As Wolf in his nightwear when someone knocked on the door. “Come in.” he said, looking at the door.

The door opened and a security guard walked in. “Sir, I need to tell you something.”

“What is it, Mathew? Can it wait till morning?” Wolf asked tiredly, about to head into bed.

“No. I think you would want to hear it now.” Mathew said. “It’s about Miss Foxington.”

Wolf’s ears went up as he froze for a moment and then looked at Mathew. “What about her?”

“The thing is… she’s… gone… She’s not in her room.”

Wolf’s eyes widened when hearing that. “What?” he asked, looking at him. "But how-" Wolf started but then stopped as he remembered that there was a hole in the garden.

He didn’t remember if it was fixed or not yet.

So, Wolf got quickly on his night robe and slippers before began to rush outside to the garden.

‘No, she couldn't-!’ he thought as he quickly rushed to the garden wall, noticing the piece of fabric on one of the thorns on the roses by her nightgown and smelled her scent.

Then he noticed the rope of sheets out of the bedroom window when he got to the garden wall.

“Oh no… oh no no no no no!” Wolf growled, clenching his fists tight.

Wolf took in a breath to calm down as he looked at Mathew and some of the other security guards walking over.

"Get the rest of security and find her!” he ordered. “Also inform the associates who are still here!"

The guards nodded and quickly went off to find Diane.

Snake and Webs came out just after the guards went to do that. The both of them wanted to talk to Wolf about something urgent. “Sir-”

“Not now.” the mafia boss growled as he was about to walk inside.

“But sir, this is about Him.” Snake said, sounding scared.

Wolf stopped in his tracks and looked at his two friends. “What about Him?” he growled again.

“It’s about the offer with Him that he keeps on bringing up.” Webs reminded him. “He wants to meet up at his place for lunch.”

“When?”

“Tomorrow…” Webs said, still sounding worried.

Wolf sighed before nodding. “Alright… But I will still give him the same answer as before.” he said to them before he started to walk again, going inside.

Snake and Webs nodded, fear still in their eyes.

“Wolf? You ok?” Snake asked, following Wolf with Webs on his hat.

Wolf was quiet, trying to think of how to describe what he was feeling. “I don't know… Diane’s gone… I feel like things are getting bad and are about to get worse…”

Snake and Webs exchanged glances before looking back at Wolf.

“We will find her.” Snake reassured him, slithering a bit closer. “Nothing bad will happen.”

Wolf took in deep sighs and looked back at them before looking out a nearby window, seeing storm clouds in the distance.

He got a bit worried; however, he had thoughts if she could be in danger, but the thing that popped into his head was what he was going to do and what he would say to her. ‘When she's found, she's going to get punished…’ he thought as he took a breath to calm himself down.

Once composed, Wolf started to go to his office.

Snake Webs noticed and Snake followed him as Webs held onto Snake. “Wolf?” they called out, worried.

Wolf stopped walking and looked at Snake (who just stopped slithering when he got to him) and Webs. “You guys go to bed. I'll be in my office.” Wolf said to them.

“But what about your sleep?” Webs asked.

Wolf shrugged. “I’ll probably fall asleep at my desk.”

“Mason-” Snake started, trying to reason with him.

“Cedric, I’ll be fine. I promise.” Wolf reassured, smiling softly at Snake and Webs. “I'll try to keep myself awake and occupied while waiting for the call from one of the associates after they get Diane back.”

Snake and Webs stared at him for a moment before nodding. “Alright… But do get some sleep. You’ll need it.” Snake said, pointing at him.

Wolf nodded to him and went to his office.

When he got to his office and got inside, he went to his desk.

Wolf opened the drawer of his desk that held something he was hiding from everyone except for himself.

It was his sketchbook, filled with car model drawings sheets that he made in his spare time in-between work in secret.

Wolf opened the page that he was working on and started to sketch for a bit.

◇Meanwhile◇

It felt like a couple of hours since Diane ran from Wolf Manor. Huffing and puffing, going through the woods away from the manor. As she ran, every near tripping from her feet, every energy she could handle as her nightgown got more ripped and torn in the process by twigs.

At one point, she looked at the night sky to see where she was going.

The night sky was just covered with dark clouds.

‘Great…’ Diane thought, annoyed. ‘Could this get any worse?’

Then drops of light rain started to fall from the dark clouds, which made Diane groan before starting to walk again.

Then she heard voices coming from afar.

It sounded like it was one of the associates trying to find her so she had to act fast.

The fox started running again before any of the associates could spot her.

The light rain started pouring down harder.

Diane quickly looked around, trying to see if could find somewhere to hide or she'd be stuck in the mud and get found.

Then she found the biggest tree, perfect to hide her.

Diane didn't know if she could climb up this far however. But when the noise was coming from, she began to climb up the tree. She got to the top and waited, carefully pecking to check to see the associates on the ground.

The associates on the ground might have felt tired after chasing after her and looking around everywhere in the woods for her.

But thanks to the tree branches, she isn't seen.

Then one of the associates sighed and looked at the others. “All right boys. Let's try to get out of here. We'll try to find her in the morning, when the rain stops.” one of the associates said to them.

“The boss isn't going to be happy about this…” another associate said.

“Just forget about it. All of us are tired…” Another one of the other associates said. “We should leave.”

“But at least he’ll give us another chance.” one more of the associates said as they started to leave.

When they were gone, Diane sighs in relief. Diane noticed that she’s very tired and wet.

She's lucky the branch she's on is strong enough to hold her up. The downside is the rain becoming a bit heavier.

Diane tried to make herself comfortable and yawn a bit before falling into a deep sleep.

The sound of the raindrops sounded a bit comforting, lulling her to sleep.

◇

In the morning, Diane began hearing the sounds of chirping birds as she woke up.

The branch still held her up in the tree and it looked like the rain had just stopped pouring hard at some point, which got Diane smiling a bit in relief.

Drops of the rain fell from the leaves and to her muzzle and head as she stretched a bit before she started to get down from the tree.

She began to stretch on the ground, however she felt sore after all the running last night.

Diane looks around, still trying to find her way home.

She was lost in the woods.

'I guess I went too far.' Diane thought as she looked around.

Diane noticed a lake in the distance and began to walk to it.

When she got to the lake, she sat down on a nearby rock and began looking at the lake, resting.

She looked at her reflection in the water and then looked at her nightgown, which was torn up a bit. There were some holes and rips on the sleeves, A bit of a tear on the left of the abdomen, and several torn from the bottom exposing her calves.

Diane looked like a mess.

She felt like a mess too.

She noticed that she was shivering and started to feel both hot and cold.

She sighed and closed her eyes, thinking she was home with her parents, her home, her room, wanting to escape this reality for a moment.

Then she felt a rumble in her stomach, bringing her back to reality and opening her eyes again.

It seems she felt hungry.

Diane stood up and looked around. She wanted to go down the hill back to Los Angeles but she had some thoughts, ‘What if the moment Wolf catches me? What if one of his associates in the city finds me? Where am I going to be now? I have no money and can't go back to the manor to get my purse… How do I- wait… I need to find a nearby road.’

However, she noticed something another way to the city. Good thing is that she's far from the manor.

Diane started to walk away from the lake and into the woods again.

She soon found a road and started to follow the road path to the city again.

Luckily there was no traffic today, so that's a good sign.

But then she stopped when she heard the sound of a car.

Diane turns around to see a limo going down the road.

From the look of it, a different model of a limo, different than Wolf's.

The limo stopped at her.

Diane held herself to cover herself as best she could while two of the limo doors opened.

A tall thin man steps out of the drivers' side while a guinea pig steps out from the back.

The Guinea pig was dressed nicely in a red suit.

He looked at Diane with concern. “Hello there miss, are you lost?” the Guinea pig asked with a comforting voice.

Diane stared at the Guinea pig before nodding. “Yes…” she said, nodding as she still hugged herself. “I am… Lost…”

The guinea pig looked at her for one moment before nodding. “Do you want some help?” he asked, pointing a hand to the limo. “My place isn’t far from here.”

Diane looked back at the woods, thinking for a moment.

If she says ‘no’ and goes back to what she was doing now she would most likely get caught and brought back to Mr. Wolf or get more lost and then suffer and starve.

“If… that’s ok?” Diane said, looking back at the guinea pig.

“Of course.” the guinea pig said, nodding with a smile.

The tall man helped the guinea pig back in the limo

"Come in." the guinea pig said with a comforting voice.

Diane was hesitant but she got in the limo.

The tall man closed the door behind her and then went back to the drivers’ side to start driving.

Diane looked at the guinea pig when the limo started to move.

“Thank you- ahh-choo!” she said and then sneezed and coughed a little in her arm to cover her muzzle.

“Bless you!” the guinea pig exclaimed with a soft chuckle.

Diane sniffed as she looked at him. “Thank you… My apologies… I was in the rain last night…” Diane explained, lowering her arm as she got herself seated in the limo. Then she looked at herself before adding “I also apologize for looking like a mess…”

The guinea pig could tell that she is a mess but wasn’t bothered by it. “Oh, don’t be! It’s fine.” The guinea pig reassured her. “If you want, I can give you a remedy for that.”

“Really? You mean it?” she asked, tilting her head a bit. “I thought it was impossible, unlike The Spanish flu…”

The guinea pig nodded. “I do mean it.”

Diane smiled softly, feeling grateful for the help. “Thank you again, Mr… I’m sorry, what’s your name?” she asked with a soft chuckle.

“Oh, where are my manners!” The guinea pig laughed softly at himself before clearing his throat and then offered his hand to her. "I'm Rupert Marmalade the 4th but a lot of people just call me Marmalade." He properly introduced himself to the fox.

“I’m Miss Diane Foxington.” the fox introduced herself to the as she shook hands.

“Nice to meet you.” Marmalade said with a smile. “When we get to my place, I will make sure that you get a nice bath, new clothes, the remedy, something to eat, and maybe a room for you to rest.”

Diane smiled, feeling grateful for the help. “Thank you so much! I really needed it after last night.” she said softly.

As they drove to Marmalade’s Mansion, the ride was quiet but Diane looked out the window and saw everyone on a day-to-day basis in the city.

There's people going in and out of shops going to work, women shopping, others with families and everyone pretty much going on with their day as usual.

Diane started to feel free as she sighs softly.

She knew the first thing after getting to the mansion was planning a way to get out of here and find her parents.

‘Mother and Father probably went back home after that night.’ Diane thought as she continued to look out the window.

It was a long hour ride from Los Angeles, definitely far away from Wolf Manor.

Apparently they are heading near Malibu.

They soon arrived at Marmalade's Mansion.

Diane looked at the mansion when the limo stopped and they got out.

"Welcome, Diane, to my lovely palace." the guinea pig said to the fox, hoping out of the limo.

Diane was in awe from the ‘palace’ outside, which is a glorious two-story Mansion with an art deco design.

Marmalade’s place is quite big, beautiful, and welcoming.

Diane hummed and followed both Cuddles and Marmalade inside.

It looks a lot warmer and lively than wolf manor or more gorgeous than her own home.

Diane looked around a bit while Marmalade talked to some of the staff as some staff came in.

There were a few green plants in pots and there were a few paintings that hung up on the walls. One was a painting of a sun set.

Diane smiled softly before looking at the staff.

It looks like an even mix of animals and human staff.

Diane has seen a mixed staff before but not an even mix before, normally there would be more animal or human staff than the other. But here, it’s an even mix.

‘Interesting.’ the fox thought.

Marmalade looked at Diane from head to toe over and over. "My dear, you must be tired from your journey.” he said softly.

Diane nodded. “I am tired…”

"You also must be hungry and messy too.”

Diane nodded again.

“Don't worry, we'll get you all cleaned up and feed you.” one of the maids said, walking over to Diane and offering a hand to her.

Diane took it and the maid led her down a hallway.

As they went, Diane heard one of the butlers say to Marmalade, “Sir, you have a lunch meeting today.”

“Right. Thank you.” Marmalade said to the butler.

◇

Diane looked around when she got to the bathroom with the maid.

It was a big bathroom.

The walls were a beautiful green.

The windows are quite big with sunlight rays coming and draw with beautiful royal purple curtains, But the floor has a unique light blue hive like design.

The tub looked like a flower-shaped pond, inside of the place which is filled with water and covered in rose petals and daisy petals as well next to a waterfall.

The whole bathroom did almost look like a garden.

Diane hummed softly before looking at the maid.

The maid was looking at her a bit more,

“Now let's get rid of that dirty nightdress.” the maid said to Diane.

Diane took her nightgown off and handed it to the maid.

The maid took it and then her eyes widened when looking and feeling the texture of the nightgown. “Sweet heaven at the cathedral! Your nightgown is dirtier than I thought to have ever seen.”

Diane smiled awkwardly at her and laughed a bit, rubbing the back of her neck. “Well, uh… I was in the woods last night and it was… storming.” she explained, still an awkward laugh.

The maid looked at the nightgown then looked at Diane, who was covering herself with her arms and tail, then back to the nightgown.

The maid slowly nodded. “Alright.”

The maid exited the room to give Diane some privacy as Diane changed out of her undergarments.

Diane put her hand in the water, testing it before she got in.

The water was warm

Then she got in the water, began to float a bit in the water as she washed herself.

Diane started to feel better.

It felt like she was in a luxurious roman bath.

When she began going to the waterfall and feeling the water fall onto her fur. It felt like the weight of the world and badness fades away as she continues to clean herself.

She scrubbed and scrubbed as all that dirt began to leave her fur, making her clean.

After getting all cleaned up and getting out of the water, she noticed some towels beside her, which are the perfect size for her.

The fox got a towel as she got out, drying herself off.

Then Diane sat down as she dried off, waiting for the maid to come back.

There was a knock on the door, getting Diane’s attention.

“Come in.” Diane said, adjusting her towel to cover herself.

The door opened and in came the maid.

She carries a new pair of undergarments (A bra, corsettle, brown stockings, and bloomers), a gorgeous pale yellow dress and matching shoes.

“Here you go, dearie.” the maid said, handing over the pair of clothes.

“Thank you.” Diane said, taking the pair of clothes from her.

The maid began brushing and taming her fur as Diane started to put on the undergarments.

Diane did struggle a bit with some of the garments but was able to get them on before getting the rest of her outfit on.

After getting the clothes on and taming her fur, she looked in the big mirror.

Diane looked beautiful in her new outfit and completely smelling like a flower garden.

Diane couldn’t help but smile and looked at the maid. “Thank you.”

The maid nodded to her before walking out of the bathroom.

As Diane followed the maid to the dining room, she saw some rare and beautiful viables.

Just in case she might need it to sell for money and save it for later.

Diane looked at the different objects around the place as she followed.

There's a lot of priceless vases, along with many statuettes.

She just needs something for her to carry just in case to help her get back on her feet.

She thought of a moment as she continued to follow the maid.

They soon got to the dining room, where breakfast was served, a serving of pancakes, eggs, and fruits. It also has some salads, other delicious vegetarian meals, and two pictures of drinks like milk and orange juices.

Her mouth started to watered and her stomach growled the moment she saw all that food.

She was able to keep herself calm as she walked over.

As she walked over, Diane noticed that Marmalade was seated at the table.

“Ah, Diane!” he explained with a smile. “Just in time! My chefs had made this meal This morning. Can't let you be better on an empty stomach.”

The fox smiled back as she got to a seat. “It smells good.” Diane said, pulling out a chair and sitting down at the table.

Both of them started to eat the food.

The food was very good.

Although Diane was really hungry since she didn't eat a lot after dinner last night, she ate politely.

“This is good.” Diane said after swallowing her food. “Thank you.”

“I’m glad that you like it.” Marmalade said, nodding to her. “You must have been really hungry.”

Diane nodded.

They continued to eat.

"I hope you don’t mind me asking, where are you from?" Marmalade asked at one point, looking at her.

Diane froze for a moment as she looked at him, feeling her heart race in her chest.

She had to make up something to cover up.

“I’m from Los Angeles.” she said finally after swallowing. “I was trying to get home.”

"And which part of Los Angeles are you from?" Marmalade asked, being a bit suspicious.

“It's mostly in the Hollywood district.” Diane answered, looking down at her plate. She remembered she's actually from Boyle Heights.

"All right, then." Marmalade hummed, nodding.

They soon finish eating after a bit.

Diane got up as one of the maids walked over to her.

“Follow me, miss. I’ll take you to one of the guest rooms so you can rest up.” the maid said to her.

Diane nodded. “Ok.”

Before she followed the maid to the room, Marmalade got a small medic bottle out. “Here, this is the e remedy he said, showing her the bottle.

Diane looked at the bottle before looking at Marmalade, a bit unsure. “Is this remedy safe?” She asked, slowly taking the bottle from him and then looking at the bottle a bit closely.

She had some medical professionals check on her when she was a baby up until she was 2, due to her immune system and even her family but the best medical care they can afford.

Marmalade nodding with a smile. “Yes, the remedy is safe.” Marmalade reassured her with a chuckle. “You may feel a bit sleepy after taking it but you will feel better after a nap.”

Diane hummed and nodded, holding the bottle close to herself. “Thank you.” she said to him before following one of the maids.

The maid led her to a bedroom.

Of course the room looked a little boring. Nothing but a bed, a drawer and a window but it was good enough for her.

Diane hummed softly and looked at the maid. “Thank you.” she said to her, walking into the room.

The maid nodded and left, closing the door on her way out.

Dianeook off her r shoes as she looked at the medicine bottle.

She got the cap off of the bottle and sniffed the medicine before drinking some of it.

After putting the cap back on and putting the bottle on top of the drawer, Diane starts to feel a bit sleepy. ‘Marmalade wasn’t lying. It'll make you sleepy.’ she thought befo she slowly crawled in the bed.

The bed was warm.

She slept on a warm bed, slowly closing her eyes into a deep sleep.

◇meanwhile, back in Wolf Manor◇

Around that same time, back at Wolf manor, Wolf groaned as he woke up at his home office desk, still in his nightwear.

He hadn't slept well since last night.

It had already been hours since Diane ran away.

He looked at his desk, seeing that he slept on his sketchbook. Thankfully it was closed, so none of his designs were ruined.

Wolf put his sketchbook away before he got up from his seat and stretched a bit as Shark came in with a cup of coffee for him.

“Morning, Wolf.” Shark said, walking over to him.

Wolf looked at him before waving and saying, “Morning, Shark…”

Shark puts the cup of coffee on the desk, asking, “How are you doing?”

Wolf stared at Shark, tiredly, before yawning a bit. “I’m tired and still stressed…” he answered, beginning to stretch again and cracking his back.

Shark nodded and hummed in understanding.

Then Wolf looked at the cup of coffee and then looked at Shark again. “For me?” he asked, pointing at the cup.

Shark nodded.

Wolf smiled at Shark as he picked up and began taking a sip of his coffee.

Wolf starts to wake up more from the drink. “Thank you, Shark…” he said to him before drinking more.

“You’re welcome.” Shark replied.

Wolf finished drinking the coffee and put the cup back on the desk, feeling the sleepiness fade and being more awake. “Did the associates have any sign of her?” he asked, looking at Shark again.

Then Shark started to awkwardly smile just as the others came in.

“Morning.” the three friends said as they came in.

“Are you feeling cranky this morning? Because you won't like what we're about to say-” Piranha started but stopped when seeing that Wolf didn’t look like he slept well last night.

“Is it about Diane?” Wolf asked, looking at them. “Has she been found?”

Webs, Snake, Piranha stared at him for a moment in silence.

“Well…” Webs started, breaking the silence. “You see, when I got word from the associates that they tried to get her but… it started to storm and they lost her scent… so, yes they did start to find her but also no, she hasn’t been found and got back yet…”

Wolf sighed with a growled, looking at the ceiling to try to calm down. When he had calmed down, he looked at his friends and asked, “What time is it?”

Webs got her pocket watch out to look at the time. “It’s 9:13 in the morning.” she replied, looking back at Wolf. “So, a few more hours before the lunch meeting with… Him.” There was fear in her voice when saying ‘Him’.

The others got a bit of fear when she said that too.

Wolf sighed and gently rubbed his forehead, muttering to himself, “Right… almost forgot because of all that stress…”

Then he started to leave the room, informing them, “I'll get clean up and ready by then.”

The four friends nodded.

“Want me to make you something to eat?” Piranha asked.

Wolf stopped at the doorway, gently tapping at the frame with his fingers before nodding. “Sure, just something light. Don’t want to be full by the time of the meeting.” he said before walking out to go to his room.

When Wolf got to his room, he took a bath, brushed his teeth, brushed his fur, and got dressed.

Wolf looked at himself in the mirror after all was done. He looked serious with some tiredness in his eyes. He shook his head to try to get the tiredness out and sighed.

‘Diane, we are going to have a talk when you’re back.’ Wolf thought as he started to leave his room.

He noticed Bella walking past his room with some of the other servants as he came out and started to go to the dining room to get some food.

Wolf called out to them and suggested that they do something for him while he was at his meeting.

◇a few hours later, at Marmalade’s Mansion◇

Diane woke up from her nap, feeling much better than earlier.

She noticed her nightgown, which is now folded, cleaned and fixed on top of the foot of her bed.

Diane hummed softly and got up, stretching a bit.

‘Marmalade is really nice.’ she thought.

She picked up the nightgown, seeing that it was sewn back to normal with the golden yellow silk as the patches to cover up the holes.

She smiled at her fixed nightgown and felt the new fabric that patched up the holes.

As soon as she put on her shoes again, she left her room and went to the dining room where she could tell the food was served by the smell.

It seems lunch is already served, mostly delicious ham, along with the same salads and vegetarian meals from earlier.

Diane was about to go in but stopped, as could hear Marmalade talking to someone.

She could also smell the scent of a wolf in the room and she started to feel a bit weary.

‘He’s meeting with someone…’ Diane thought, backing away from the doorway. ‘I should wai-’

“Diane?” someone above her called out.

Diane looked up to see Webs on the ceiling, her eyes wide when seeing her.

“W-Webs?!” Diane asked in shock as Webs crawled down the wall to be at eye level with her. “What are you doing here?”

“What are YOU doing HERE?!” Webs exclaimed, her voice filled with worry and fear.

They were silent for a moment and stared at each other.

“Webs? What’s going on?” Wolf called out from the dining room.

Diane jumped when hearing Wolf’s voice, now realizing that Marmalade was meeting with Wolf. She quickly started to run down and left the hallway.

Luckily she was swift just in time before he walked in.

Diane had to get out of here as she went down the other hallways.

She could hear footsteps approaching and recognize a shadow of someone coming.

She quickly ran up as fast as she could. However, the clicking of high heels made noise.

She went through the halls, dipping and almost tripping on her heels.

Diane was almost close to the stairs, feeling her heart racing in her chest.

‘ I got to get out of here FAST, before Mr. Wolf catches me and-!’ Diane started to think but she stopped running when she noticed some servants going in and out of the top floor back and forth from the stairs.

Diane started to panic but took a breath to calm down.

She begins slowly sneaking, passing through the many servants and running towards the halls getting her way to the top, leaving her high heel shoes on the steps in the process. Luckily she found a window with a big oak tree outside.

Diane started to get an idea and went to the window, opening it when she got to it.

She began trying to climb out of the window, climbing out of here trying to grab onto the tree and climb down. Then was immediately spotted by someone looking at her, someone must have got up.

"Is that your bride?" Snake asked Wolf.

She began going on to the branches continuously until her dress sleeve got caught in one of the twigs.

‘Not again!’ Diane thought angrily as she tried to get her sleeve out of the twig.

It ripped a bit.

Diane didn’t mind it as she was able to continue to climb down from the tree.

As she climbed down, she was soon noticed by a few people inside.

“Hey!” someone shouted from inside.

Diane stopped and looked at the window to see Wolf and some of his associates, along with Marmalade. Then she continued down the tree, more quickly.

"Don't let her get away!" Wolf ordered his associates.

Then Snake opened and got out of the window to get onto the tree, slithering down the tree quickly as Diane got to the outside ground and start to run.

Diane was about to get out but then the next thing she knew was Snake quickly wrapped his tail around her legs, making her fall.

"Hey!" Diane shouted as Snake wrapped his tail more around her. "Let me go!"

Diane tries to get free by wiggling but Snake’s hold on her was so tight that she couldn't get out of it.

“Diane, you need to stop.” Snake hissed at her, worry in his voice.

Diane stopped and looked at him, noticing that he looked scared and was looking at something from the direction of the Mansion. She looked at what he was looking at to see Wolf and Marmalade walking over.

Snake didn’t let her go until Wolf walked over.

"Got her." Snake said, trying to make sure Diane doesn't leave again.

"Good." Wolf said coldly, picking Diane up.

Wolf got Diane to face him and hold her by the shoulders as Snake lets go of her.

"Do you know how long we've spent out looking for you? My associates and I have been looking for you since last night and this morning!" Wolf said angrily, his hands on her shoulders.

Diane didn’t look at him or at anyone else.

“Well?!” Wolf shouted, wanting an answer.

Diane still didn’t look at him as tears started to fill up in her eyes.

Wolf started to notice that Diane was almost close to crying. “Diane…” the mafia leader said worriedly as he looked at her to see what’s wrong. “I-”

“What’s going on?” Marmalade asked as he looked at what was happening along with Cuddles and the other wolf associates.

It took Marmalade a moment to realize that Diane and Wolf might know each other. “Oh! Diane, you know Mason? Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked them, which got Wolf’s and Diane's attention.

“I didn’t know that you knew him as an associate-” Diane started as she looked at Wolf but got cut off by Wolf, keeping his anger under control, saying, “We’re not associates.”

Diane hummed and nodded slowly as she looked at Marmalade again.

"So, how do you know Diane, Mason?" Marmalade asked, the light tone of his voice started to become a bit dark. “And what's going on?”

Diane tries to get out of Wolf's grasp but couldn't escape as he had a tight grip on her.

“I know her because… she’s my fiancé.” Wolf answered, looking at Marmalade. "And she's heading back home with me.”

"Fiancé?" Marmalade asked in confusion, looking at the two different canines.

Wolf was about to speak but was interrupted by Diane quickly saying in one breath, “I did it to save my family.”

Everyone looked at Diane before looking back at Wolf, who quickly covered her mouth with his hand before she could say more and glared at her.

"Well then." Marmalade said, popping his lips and smiled at them. "Congratulations on the marriage, Ms. Foxington. I will make the deal with you some other time, Mr. Wolf."

Wolf nodded, nodding to him. “Thank you.” he said calmly, but his eyes glared at him as he grabbed Diane by the arm by force.

Then he looked at Diane with a disappointing look as they left. "Come on now, fox." Wolf said quietly to her. "Let's go home."

It's over now and now Diane was going to be in big trouble…

◇

Wolf glared at Diane in the limo ride back to Wolf Manor. “You know, you are lucky that we didn’t see Marmalade's bad side.” he growled.

"What do you mean by that? He only fed me well and treated me right." said Diane with a shrug, like it wasn't a big deal.

Then she went silent while Wolf was talking then he began to scold her.

Wolf sighed and rubbed his forehead, figuring out that scolding her wasn’t going to get her to talk.

“Diane…” Wolf started, his voice calmer. “When we get back, we'll have a discussion, along with a… surprise.”

Diane got curious by that and she looked at him. “What do you mean by that?” she asked.

Wolf began to change the subject by saying, “Ah, so you were listening to me. I was wondering if you were going to say more or just be quiet.”

Diane started to glare at him. "Go ahead, scold me, sir." Diane said, looking out the limo window in a sarcastic mood. "It's not like you have power over me."

The four associates could only watch this awkwardly.

Wolf looked at her for a moment then he sighed, “Look… I don’t want to fight with you.”

“If you don’t want us to fight, then please try to listen to me.” Diane said, looking at the mafia boss. “I’m trying to get used to this new life and I don’t want to sleep with you, not now.”

Wolf looked at Diane as she asked, “Could you do that?”

The wolf nodded. “As you wish.”

It became quiet for the rest of the ride.

◇

It took about 30 minutes before they finally made it back to Wolf Manor.

When the door opens, Wolf forcefully takes Diane by the arm, taking her out of the limo and leading her inside.

The moment they got inside, some of the servants whispered to each other as the fiance fox entered in her new (now dirtied) yellow dress, along holding her folded fixed nightgown.

Diane ignored them as she walked straight to the direction of her room.

Diane went straight to her assigned room only to find that her bags were outside of her bedroom door.

“Huh?” she started, picking one of her bags and started to twist the door handle to see that the door was locked. “What the-?!”

“There you are.” a voice called out as footsteps approach.

Diane dropped the bag and turned around to look at Wolf walking over to her. “Surprise.” he said when he got to her.

“What’s going on?” Diane asked, wanting to know what's going on. “Why are my bags out of my room? Why is the door locked?”

Wolf looked at the bags and the locked door for a moment before looking at Diane again, explaining calmly, “Well, after what you did last night, I thought I might take away your personal room.”

Diane couldn’t believe what she heard. “What?… Then… where am I going to sleep?” Diane asked. “Am I going to get this room back?”

Wolf looked down at her before shrugging. “Depends… This room isn't yours anymore.” Wolf explained, pointing at the door before pointing at himself. “This time, the room you'll be sleeping with me where I keep an eye on you. Besides, you've been asleep away from me for too long.”

Diane’s eyes widened at this. “What?!” she shouted in disbelief.

Wolf looked unbothered by this and nodded. “You heard me right.”

Diane tried to be calm by taking in a breath. “We BARELY met! Ok?” she started, trying to be calm.

Wolf starts to get angry and starts to walk forward to Diane, making her back up to the lock door.

“We met three weeks ago!” he growled, putting up three fingers before putting two down to show just one finger. “You met and fully trust Him after one day?! It's Only been a day and yet you trust him while you've known me for almost three weeks and you still don't trust me!”

“It's different.” Diane explained, pointing at herself. “Marmalade helped me!”

Wolf shook his head and sighed, “Diane, listen to me… Marmalade isn't who you think he is. He's dangerous and someone who should NEVER be messed with.”

Wolf backed up a bit to give each other some space.

The two canines stared at each other for a moment in silence.

Diane sighed and began to talk, “I told you back at the limo and back at the beginning of the three weeks ago. I’m trying to get used to this life and I don’t want to sleep with YOU right now.”

Wolf glared and growled at her. “I don't want to do this either and give you more time to adjust but since you broke a few rules, you're facing the consequences.” he growled, pointing at her.

Diane started to feel anger boil inside of her. “You're being unfair!” Diane growled at him.

Wolf was still for a moment as his eyes were filled with anger. “You want to talk about being fair? I'll tell you to be fair! I have thought about giving your freedom back so you could go outside and feel better but NO, you blew it and ran off!” Wolf shouted at her. Then his eyes widened and he quickly shut his mouth like he said too much.

Diane was shocked by this. “What?” she breathed as she stared at Wolf. “You… you were going to do that?”

Wolf sighed and lowered his hand from his mouth as he stared at Diane. “I was…” Wolf growled. “But now I've decided that you should wait a bit longer.”

Diane couldn’t believe it.

She could have been free but since she ran off, it was ruined…

It's clear she is now going to get punished.

“What… else is going to be part of the punishment?” Diane asked, worried in her voice.

Wolf stared at her for a moment and then started telling the list of punishments to her, “You're going to stay inside at all times where I make sure you don't do anything like that again. And of course I don't want you making a call to anyone, and I mean ANYONE, during this time. Is that clear?”

Diane stared at Wolf before nodding. “I… understand…”

Wolf hummed softly and started to walk away but stopped and looked at her again. “From this day onward, I'm going to keep a close eye on you to ensure you don't escape again, along with some extra security while I’m out. This will continue until you learned your lesson about leaving without permission or without telling me beforehand. Oh, and just to let you know… the hole in the wall in the garden that you went through has been all fixed.” he said to her before walking away.

Diane felt that she heard too much and it didn't feel fair.

Her anger was in control.

The next thing she knew was that she grabbed him by the back of his vest shirt, so he would stop walking, and turned him around to face her.

“That quick?!” Diane asked angrily.

Wolf looked at Diane as she pointed at his chest.

“Listen, I didn’t ask for this.” she growled, glaring. “I didn’t ask for any of this! The reason I agreed to marry is for the safety of my family since you threatened my father with death!”

Diane panted heavily as she stared at Wolf.

Wolf looked down at her with a deadpan look before nodding.

“I do remember the deal and how it went,” he said calmly, “you're mine now and…” Then his face changed from hard and cold to almost soft as he added, “I'm just trying to protect you.”

Wolf tried to reach for her, however Diane backed a few steps away from him to not be touched.

“From what?” Diane asked, unsure.

Everything went silent as they stared at each other.

Wolf wanted to say something but didn't know what to say to her.

Then Diane sighed, turned around and walked out of the corridor, leaving Wolf alone.

Wolf sighed as he went back to being hard and cold.

◇

As dinner was about to be ready, Diane kept looking at the door across the living room as she sat at the dining table.

If what Wolf said was true, she wanted to see for herself.

Diane got up from her seat and started to walk slowly but just was about to run to the door when the security guards grabbed her in the nick of time, grabbing her by the arms.

"Hey!" she yelled at them. “Let me go!”

Then Wolf just came in and was leaning on the door frame of the dining hall, tisking with his arms crossed.

“I told you that you can't leave.” Wolf said, reminding her.

Diane felt a bit embarrassed after finding out that the punishment was true. “I was just checking if you were being serious or not about me not going outside…” Diane said, glancing down.

Wolf hummed and then with the snap of his fingers, the guards pushed Diane to Wolf's shoulder.

Wolf caught her and held her gently.

Diane started to blush a bit as Wolf held her and took her back to the dining room.

Dinner was served and placed on the table. Tonight is steak, baked potatoes, and some corn.

The sides are salads and chicken soup.

The drinks served are an expensive 1910 french red wine and a pitcher filled with clean water.

For dessert, baked alaska and ginger pudding.

Diane hummed when seeing the food.

Then she glanced at Wolf, noticing that he was thinking about something as they sat down at the table.

“Something on your mind?” she asked a bit hesitantly, getting some food on her plate.

That got Wolf out of his head and looked at her. “Just thinking.” he said, shrugging a bit before getting some food.

“About…?” Diane asked before starting to eat.

“A lot of things… mostly of what happened today.”

Diane slowly nodded in understanding.

There was a pause and it became silent as they didn't speak a word while eating dinner.

It turned out pretty good but Diane passed on the wine.

At one point while they ate, Wolf broke the silence by saying, “I'm just glad you're safe now.”

Diane didn’t know what to say to him after hearing that.

◇

When they were done eating, Wolf and Diane got up and left the dining room as some of the servants came in to get the plates and did save the desert and leftovers for tomorrow.

Diane began to follow Wolf into his room, which already had her stuff unpacked and placed.

Diane hugged herself and looked around when they got to his room.

The room was pretty huge, and had a lot of cream color all over with tan and gold color all over.

There was a king size bed with the most expensive indian silk seashell white sheets, egyptian satin emerald green pillowcases, and the covers are a light gray rayon fabric, along with a folded thick soft red blanket.

Diane looked around the room, and didn't know what to feel at that moment.

“Hm… Wolf?” Diane asked, looking at Wolf.

“Yes?” Wolf said, looking back at her to see what she needed.

“Could… could I wash up?” Diane asked, hugging herself.

Wolf nodded and he led her to the masters bathroom.

It was bigger than her old bathroom from her old guestroom, along with her own bathroom back home.

Diane looked around a bit as Wolf got a bath going for her.

It was more… like a real beautiful design of a Gothic lilypad pattern with hints of red and gold and there was a circular glass ceiling window revealing the night sky.

Diane’s eyes widened with wonder as she could see the stars in the night sky.

She noticed that the glass ceiling had a unique rose design.

“Here you go.” Wolf said, turning off the water when the tub was filled at the right amount.

Diane looked at him and the tub as she walked over.

Wolf took a few steps back so that Diane could look at the tub.

The fox put her hand in water, feeling the temperature, before taking it out and shaking some of the water off.

Then Diane noticed that Wolf just left the bathroom and into the bedroom.

It seems that Wolf is showing that he’s keeping his promise to Diane by giving her some space/privacy.

But… Diane felt like she can't trust him… not yet.

‘Why doesn’t he trust Marmalade? He's nice.’ she wondered.

Diane changed out of her clothes and then got in the tub.

The water felt warm and nice.

Diane hummed softly and started to clean herself.

She felt some of the dirt get off of her fur, (probably when Snake got her back from the Marmalade's mansion).

Slowly having her fur getting cleaned by using some conditioner and washing off.

Diane was about to get the soap when Wolf stepped in, his towel around his waist. He was carrying a few things.

Diane looked at him with a deadpan look as she sank down in the water a bit. “Don’t think about it.” she warned.

Wolf didn’t look at her as he put the things on the counter. “Don’t think about what? Jump in the tub?” Wolf asked before shaking his head. “Nah, I’m still keeping the promise.”

Diane kept an eye on him as she reached for the soap, saying, “Good.”

“By the way, I ask Shark and the maids to get your nightgown and undergarments, along with a towel.” Wolf said to her, still not looking at her as he turned around and left the bathroom.

Diane still watched him until he left before looking at the clothes and towel.

The clothes and towel were placed nicely on the bathroom counter.

She hummed and then continued to wash herself.

When she was done cleaning herself, Diane got out of the tub and wrapped a towel around herself.

She unplugged the tub to drain the water as she dries herself.

She changed into her undergarments and night clothes after drying off. Diane got into a new light pink silk nightgown.

She looked at the bathroom mirror to see her reflection.

She looks beautiful.

Then she noticed Wolf, who was running another bath.

“Is that for you?” she asked, looking at Wolf.

Wolf looked at her and nodded. “Yes. Do be in my bedroom, get yourself comfortable.” he said to her.

Diane nodded and went to the bedroom while Wolf got into the bath.

As she looked around the room again, Diane looked at the bed and noticed some of the extra pillows on the bed, which gave her an idea.

Diane went to the bed and had started to put some of the extra bed pillows on the bed, making a wall/separation from each other. She even got the extra blanket for herself to wrap around almost like a cocoon.

◇

Wolf just finished his bath and got out, dried off with his towel, and got changed into his usual nightwear, which is a cotton cream colored pajamas.

Wolf watched her wrap the extra blanket around herself as he walked in and buttoned his nightshirt.

“Are the extra pillows that made a pillow wall and the blanket cocoon necessary?” Wolf asked, pointing at the pillows and then the blanket that was wrapped around Diane.

Diane stared at Wolf before responding, “Yes.”

Then she got into bed, getting herself comfortable while putting the rest of the blanket sheets over herself.

Wolf chuckled a bit as he got into bed, getting comfortable.

Diane begins to cuddle warmly into the blanket around her before falling asleep.

Wolf looked at her before he fell asleep.

Diane looked calmer than Wolf has ever seen from her.

Wolf couldn’t help but smile a bit before he fell asleep.

◇a couple hours later◇

Diane woke up from a nightmare in a cold sweat.

The last thing she remembered in her nightmare was being chased by something or someone, she couldn’t fully remember.

She looked out the window from the bed, looking up at the sky full of stars, trying to clear her mind and breath calmly.

‘It’s ok… You’re ok… You're Diane Foxington…’ Diane thought, calming herself down. ‘You’ve done and can do hard things, you just have to give it time and wait.’

When Diane calms down, she looks at the sleeping Wolf.

Wolf looked calm as he slept.

Diane couldn’t help but smile a bit and began to yawn before laying back down and going back to sleep again.

▪▪▪

Author’s Notes: You are probably wondering why Wolf room hasn't been described yet until this chapter is because Wolf would have been used to it and was very tired. So we also see the room with Diane too. Also we want to show how Marmalade and Wolf are almost the same but also different.

#the bad guys #howling 20s #mr. wolf #mr wolf #ms. tarantula #ms tarantula #diane foxington #mr. piranha #mr piranha #mr. shark #mr shark #mr. snake #mr snake #professor marmalade #Rupert Marmalade #the bad guys fic #the bad guys au #Mafia au

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