Chapter 202: Make Her Leave, Don’t Cause Trouble Here
Chapter 202: Chapter 202: Make Her Leave, Don’t Cause Trouble Here
"So this is where you were hiding," Renee Jennings said calmly.
The alligator peeked open one eye and grumbled, "You touch me and I’ll bite your leg clean off."
Judging by his tone, this alligator didn’t have as good a temper as Patty and Teddy.
"So, were you the one who bit the tourist at the hot spring?" Renee Jennings asked.
The alligator was defiant. "Hmph! I was sleeping soundly. Those two-legs disturbed my rest. They deserved to get bitten!"
Renee Jennings frowned, her tone turning serious. "Let’s get something straight. This is a human hot spring, not the pool in the Alligator Pavilion. You’re occupying human territory and disrupting their daily lives, and you think you’re justified?"
"I don’t give a damn about that!"
"What’s your name? Patty and Teddy are already back at the zoo."
The alligator’s eyes shot wide open as he stared at her in astonishment. "Huh? Are you for real? Those two good-for-nothings actually went back? Aren’t they scared of being bothered by that stinking female Phoenix again?"
Renee Jennings explained calmly, "Phoenix has been moved somewhere else. They don’t have to worry about her harassing them anymore."
"What?" The alligator was even more stunned. "Why would Phoenix agree to go?"
"You don’t need to worry about that." Renee Jennings asked again, "What’s your name?"
"The name’s Fiona. And don’t get it twisted, I’ve got nothing to do with that Phoenix!"
Renee Jennings recognized the name. According to Phoenix, Fiona had been the ringleader of the escape.
She sighed. "No one’s getting it twisted. Phoenix is gone, so you can go back to the zoo now, rest easy."
Although Fiona didn’t enjoy life on the outside either, he didn’t want to agree so quickly. It would be a total loss of face.
"I’m not going back to the zoo!" he blustered.
Renee Jennings raised an eyebrow. "And why is that?"
Fiona replied, "Because I’m not! Now that I’m out, I’m not going back!"
"Is that so?" Renee Jennings refused to play along, her tone flat. "Then don’t. You can fend for yourself out here."
With that, she turned to leave.
Fiona’s eyes bulged. "Wait!" he yelled desperately.
’Why isn’t this two-leg playing by the rules?’
’I said I wasn’t going back, couldn’t she at least try to coax me or beg me a little?’
"Is there something else?" Renee Jennings glanced back at him.
Fiona said awkwardly, "Why didn’t you ask me a few more times?"
"You already decided not to go back. What good would asking again do?"
"You..." Fiona glared at her, fuming. "You’re so dense! If you’d asked me a couple more times, I might have said yes!"
"Suit yourself." Renee Jennings scoffed. "This world out here isn’t as great as you think. A smart alligator would choose to return to the zoo for a happy life. A stupid one would just stay out here and wait to die."
She took Sawyer by the arm and started walking away.
Seeing this, Fiona hurriedly scrambled after them on his four stubby legs.
Director Quincy stared anxiously in the direction Renee Jennings had gone. When their figures finally reappeared, her eyes widened slightly, a spark of hope and anticipation igniting within her.
The others weren’t paying much attention to Renee Jennings and Sawyer. They just wanted to find the missing alligator quickly so they could clock out and go home.
"They found the alligator!" Assistant Lowe yelled, overjoyed.
At the sound of his voice, everyone turned to look.
Renee Jennings and Sawyer were walking ahead, with a Chinese alligator scrambling to keep up behind them.
One of the firefighters reacted, grabbing his equipment and charging forward. "Get back! I’ll grab it."
"Don’t move," Renee Jennings called out at once. "He won’t hurt anyone."
Fiona, apparently startled by the scene, scrambled into a nearby hot spring to hide.
Renee Jennings was speechless.
She crouched by the edge of the pool, a faint smile in her voice. "Fiona, you’re this much of a coward, yet you were the one who talked everyone into escaping?"
Fiona poked his head out of the water and retorted unhappily, "I’m not a coward! Didn’t you see that two-leg had a weapon? I’m not an idiot, was I supposed to just wait for him to grab me?"
"You’re a clever one, aren’t you."
"Of course I am!"
Assistant Lowe hurried over to the firefighters, explained who Renee Jennings was, and warned them not to make any sudden moves that might scare the alligator off again.
Everyone looked on with surprise and suspicion. They couldn’t believe Renee Jennings had such an ability and figured the zoo was just desperate to find the alligator, willing to try anything.
"This is just absurd! Get her out of here! Stop making a mess of things!"
"I know your zoo is in a hurry—so are we—but can you please stop fooling around?"
"You people from the zoo... Ugh, forget it. I’m not even going to say it."
"..."
Assistant Lowe opened his mouth, feeling unjustly blamed.
"You two need to leave, now!" someone shouted, moving to drive Renee Jennings and Sawyer away.
Seeing this, Fiona dove back underwater.
’These two-legs are all bad guys! They’re just trying to bully me!’
Renee Jennings’s delicate brows furrowed. She stood up to face them. "If you hadn’t all rushed over, I would have had the alligator out of here by now."
Someone laughed and shot back, "How can you blame us? My colleague was just worried about your safety!"
"I know, and I appreciate that. But I also warned him not to move," Renee Jennings said calmly. "Now, please, I need you all to move back. If I can’t get the alligator out, I won’t bother you again."
"Fine!" The young firefighter let out an exasperated laugh. "But if you can’t do it, you have to apologize to all of us!"
Renee Jennings gave a calm nod. "Deal."
She gestured for them to go.
Everyone backed away, including Sawyer.
Renee Jennings crouched by the side of the pool again. "You little coward," she said lightly. "I made them all leave. You can come out now."
Fiona stayed submerged, warily scanning his surroundings. Only after confirming that the weapon-wielding two-legs were gone did he slowly poke his head out.
"Why did those two-legs want to bully me?" he asked.
"They weren’t trying to bully you," Renee Jennings explained earnestly. "They’re protecting people, but they’re also protecting you."
Fiona snorted. "Protecting us? Could’ve fooled me!"
Renee Jennings looked at him, her expression serious. "I’m going to ask you one last time: do you want to go back to the zoo?"
"Fine, I’ll go back to the zoo. But let’s get one thing straight: it’s not because I can’t make it out here. I’m just worried about those two wimps, Patty and Teddy. What if Phoenix starts bothering them again!" Fiona said, stubbornly looking for an excuse.
Renee Jennings didn’t call his bluff. She just frowned. "And what’s with the tough-guy talk? Where’d you pick up that nasty habit?"
"I’m not telling you!"
If Renee Jennings had anything to grab, she’d have loved to knock him on the head.
"All right, come on out."
Fiona slowly crawled out of the hot spring.
"Let’s get this straight. No more hiding. Nobody here is going to hurt you," Renee Jennings said, pressing a hand on his head to emphasize her point. "If you hide again, I’m going straight back to the Alligator Pavilion to tell everyone what a little coward Fiona is."