Inside a broom closet, we see several jars of a bright yellow liquid lined up on a shelf. Humming can be heard as we zoom out, revealing Mr. Kleen polishing one of the many containers before placing it back where it once stood.
“Do you know why snake venom is often harvested?”
The former janitor waits for a second as he grabs another container of what we presume to be venom.
“It’s mostly for medicinal purposes. Snake venom is used to create antivenom, which create antibodies that disable the toxins for that venom. Sounds simple enough, right?”
Beat.
“Now how do you get said venom in the first place? There’s a number of ways to do it, but the most popular is as follows.”
The boss of the ACA gestures to the shelf of jars.
“First you have to prepare a container, much like these jars. Then you agitate the snake enough to get it to bite it. When it does, you have a choice here. You can either massage the glands that produce the venom, or you can electrically stimulate the muscles around them to get it to secrete it.”
He chuckles.
“That’s basically how it’s done. All that’s left is to freeze dry it and then sell it to the Arcadian Medical Institute to make antivenom.”
Another short pause.
“At least, that’s what you’re supposed to do. In the Yellow Python’s case, the Zookeeper harvests their venom just so they don’t kill people like I have. That may sound like a noble cause, until you learn that the people that were being killed were terrible monsters that deserved it.”
Kleen places the jar he grabbed back on the shelf before reaching out for his mop.
“A Python’s venom is saved for human filth that purposefully anger it. People like drug peddlers, slave traders, and other disgusting criminals should have it injected into their veins. It shouldn’t be secreted into jars in order to render the snake harmless before the big mission.”
The boss takes a couple steps back once the mop is in his hands.
“How does it feel to not be able to do the one thing that would make Arcadia a better place, Python? There are scumbags out there that deserve to be killed, and yet you lack the courage to bite anything but the jars the Zookeeper holds in front of you.”
With a war cry, he charges at the jars of venom before swinging his mop into them, breaking them and spilling their contents all over the floor. He takes a couple breaths before speaking again.
“Me? I’m still full of venom. I’ve bitten each one of your friends and colleagues and they’ve all met their fate. You can cause me as much pain as you like, but you’ll never be able to take me down since you lack venom.”
Beat.
“I’m going to finish the job I’ve started and end the Kingdom once and for all. At the end of it all, my hands will remain clean.”
We fade out as Kleen cleans up the mess he made.