Chapter 8: Birthday Bash at Rat Land
As the morning sun began to rise, I kept watch on the roof of the old restaurant we were camped at. I was also keeping an eye on Aurico, who had decided to stand guard with me last night. The reason for that was that we had just found out that Kipo was more than she seemed. And, what I mean by that, was that she was something that Fenyx had become years ago, the one thing that Axel is. I can't really explain what that certain something is. I barely have any idea on what to call them. Though this led to the conclusion that the girl's father knew something about this, something neither Fenyx or Melody would tell me. At that point, I had begun to wonder. How exactly did Mr. Oak know Fenyx in the first place? Could it be that Kipo's father was… from where Fenyx met Melody? I didn't have time to think much about it before I heard Aurico yell out and tackle somebody nearby to the ground.
"Whoa! Whoa!" Said Benson who was holding up his arms in defense as he tried to shield himself and both my nephew and I saw it was him. "Rico, it's me! It's just me!"
"Benson?" Aurico groaned as he rubbed his eyes while standing up. "What the hell? I could've killed you."
"Uh, yeah. That's an understatement." He retorted. "If you're like this every morning, now I know not to wake you up."
"Yeah? Well, you should see how 3 is when you wake him up." Aurico told him, remembering how Axel was when he tried to wake that boy up. "Sorry about the tackle."
"Apology accepted. Now help me up." Benson requested and Aurico did just that"
"Benson, what are you doing up so early?" I asked the teen.
"I kind had to take care of a 'little business'." He answered me. "But never mind that. I noticed Rico wasn't down with the others." From there, he then spoke to Aurico. "Did you seriously stay up here all night?"
"Keeping watch, mostly." Aurico told him as he sat back down, smacking his lips after he yawned. He then noticed there was an apple right in front of him. "What's up with the apple?"
"Found this down there." Benson told him before offering it to him. "Want half?"
"Sure." Aurico then took the apple before tossing it into the air. There, he used his metalbending to slice it in half, the halves landing in the two teens' hands.
"Well, we're gonna have a long day today." I said as I walked over to the teens. "Hopefully, the message Kipo found can lead us to her people."
"That is if Kipo can figure it out." Aurico added.
"I'm sure she'll figure it out." I told him, feeling confident in Kipo's abilities. "Axel is sure of that as well."
"True that." Benson said, finishing his half of the apple. "Can I ask you something? I've been really curious since I've met you guys."
"Not at all." I said to him. "Ask away."
"How did you guys meet Kipo?" Benson asked.
"Well, Benson, that's actually quite the story." Aurico said as he told him what happened. "It was when me and the others were out scavenging. Honestly, I don't think any of us expected to be a part of something like this. Up until days ago, we were just scavenging through for food and other stuff that caught our eye. Then this flush flood came around and brought Kipo with it."
"No kidding?"
"Yeah, me, Musa, and 3 were the ones who found her." Aurico chuckled a bit at the memory. "Man, you should have seen 3 when he found out she wasn't breathing. He was freaking out so hard that Musa had to literally slap some sense into him. He gave her some CPR, but just after he did, Kipo freaked out and bumped heads with 3 and knocked herself out."
Benson laughed at the last part. "For real? You're not joking?"
"Nope!" Aurico tried his best to tell the rest of the story. "When we brought her over to the Tribe, 3's sister Miwa and Uncle Donnie were just surprised to see her. Miwa more than anybody."
"Why was she so surprised?"
"Because, unlike the rest of us, she knew who Kipo was. After she found out we brought her, she told me and 3 to get her some things. When we got back—boom!—Kipo comes running in and bumps into 3 at full speed, knocking them both of their asses down on the floor!"
"Wow, there's something not right about that!"
"I know. Hell, if you don't believe me, ask Kipo and 3. They'll confirm what I'm saying is true."
"Nah! I believe you."
"By the way, I see you got a Walkman like 3."
"He's got one too, huh?"
"Yeah. It belonged to his old man, who gave it to 3's bro Yoshi, who then gave it to him. It came with some of the mixtapes, some tapes Yoshi found while going around. The rest? He actually dug up from scavenging."
"I feel that. I do the same thing too. It's amazing what you can find."
"No. What's more amazing is the fact that somehow these things have lasted over the past two hundred years. And the fact they still work? That's a miracle."
"Oh, yeah. For sure. So do you listen to what he's got?"
"Sometimes."
"What do you like to listen to? I'm into pop and rap."
"I'm more into rock. But, every once in a while, 3 does manage to play something that makes everyone groove. He does manage to find what he likes."
"I can support that." I said as the three of us sat on the ledge of the roof. "I remember the many time he would play that music and you kids would start dancing."
"I can respect that." Benson said before he took out his Walkman. "Want to listen to some of the tunes I found?"
"Well, it's gonna be a while before everybody else wakes up. So sure." Aurico answered him.
"Yeah, it'll pass the time and I would like to see what you've gotten into." I told him as Benson then played his Walkman.
"You know, it is a nice morning." Benson said as the music played.
"You got that right." Aurico said as we listened to the music.
Within what appears to be a palace (which looked rather extravagant despite the state it was in due to the vegetation), there seemed to be some kind of fancy party going on, people dressed in 18th-century European clothing, the attire consisting of red jackets with both oversized and small blue bowties, white lace cuffs, dark blue breeches, and stockings of the same white. Only a few were wearing powdered wigs while they all had white ballroom masks that concealed their faces. Around the room, there were a great number of primates surrounding the people on the dance floor, dressed in the same attire and some adorning wigs. Instead of masks, the primates wore opera makeup. The primates present consisted of quite the variety with gorillas, orangutans, chimpanzees, spider monkeys, baboons, ringed-tail lemurs, and tarsiers. As the people in masks danced, the pianist laughed as he played with grace. The one playing the piano was a mandrill who was dressed like his primate brethren, but had a long, blue bowtie around his collar. His face was adorned with a few scars which he refused to conceal. This was the lording Wonderbeast on top of the food chain, the one of which all Wonderbeast Packs fear. The one who started the Second Beast War, Scarlemagne. Beside him was actually a being that seemed out of place. Though he wore the same clothing as the primates surrounding the humans, the individual was clearly a reptile, a snake to be precise.
Unlike the Umlaut Snäkes, his tail only made up his lower body while the rest of it looked more human. His arms were crossed behind his back, concealing his hands. The most distinct feature was the large triangular helmet of bronze and silver that covers his entire head, having only two holes that reveal his glowing, green, reptilian eyes. This albino serpent was Scarlemagne's personal bodyguard Venomous Kong.
"Heh-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Allegro!" Scarlemagne cried out as he continued playing. "Allegro, my lords and ladies! Faster!" The primates sang out like opera singers, providing a chorus Scarlemagne continued to laugh like a maniac. As he was doing so, Venomous Kong wiped off a thick amount of sweat from his brow, revealing his hand as a snake head that held the handkerchief in its mouth. He then took the handkerchief and ringed it out, letting his master's sweat to drop into a small glass container all while the mandrill continued to laugh. "Dance faster!" Scarlemagne continuing his mad laughter as he made the dancers increase their pace. "What's that you say? Even faster? Okay! He-he-ha-ha-ha-ha! Play faster!" He raises his hands up and continues to increase his playing speed with the dancers doing the same with their dancing.
As it seemed the party would reach its climax, a loud shriek was heard as a massive two-headed flamingo flew into the room. As it did, Scarlemagne then stopped playing and snapped his fingers, instantly making the dancers stop and allowing them to catch their breath. As the flamingo landed, Scarlemagne turned his head slightly to see the two heads were each carrying a wolf before dropping them down. It then removed the burlap sacks over their heads to reveal them as the leaders of the Newton Wolves White and Black Billions who looked around the area and laid eyes on Scarlemagne.
"Master Scarlemagne, it seems we have party crashers." Venomous Kong said as Scarlemagne sat up from his chair and looked to the front of him.
"Hm! How rude." The mandrill said before he slammed his hands down to close the cover on the keys and turned around to look at the Newton Wolves alphas. "Oh, the two egg heads!" Scarlemagne brightens up as he recognized the two. "Have you found my new army yet?"
"Huh." White Billions commented as he readjusted his glasses. "Scarlemagne's palace in the real." He then spoke out to the mandrill with a nervous smile. "I've love what you've done with it."
"Smells like weird perfume in here." Black Billions noted after he took a whiff of the air.
"Oh, that?" Scarlemagne said to them as he snapped his fingers, making all the dancers stand up straight and align with one another to make a path for Scarlemagne as he walked over to the wolves with Venomous Kong following behind. "It's a natural fragrance. Made it myself. Literally, from my own pheromones." As he said this, one the dancers fell forward, the sound of his panting showing he was very exhausted. As this happened, Venomous then brought out the same glass container he used to put his master's sweat in, not having a cap on it to reveal it as a perfume bottle. "Don't worry. It won't work on you canines. Just primates." Scarlemagne then snapped his fingers before his bodyguard gave him the bottle and the mandrill went over and sprayed a small mist of his sweat into the dancer's face, making him stand back up. "But I only use it on a certain class of primate." Scarlemagne then haves Venomous Kong take back the bottle before he then removes the dancer's mask, revealing he was a human who had a forced smile while sweating nervously. "The lesser ones." Scarlemagne rubbed a single finger across the human's face, the man looking at it with fear. "Even a monkey has his standards. He-ha-ha-ha! I renamed him Francis. He just learned the can-can. Show them, my good man." The dancer did just, obviously against his will by the look of his face. This amuses the Wonderbeast as he gains a small chuckle. "Never gets old. Now…" He then turns his attention back at the two wolves, gaining a stern look. "Why did you make my flamingos bring you here?" Instantly, the two got nervous and scared, leading to Black Billions to elbow White Billions.
"Come on, man! We did rock, paper, scissors." Black Billions whisper to his brother. "You tell him why."
"Um… So, uh…" White Billions began nervously. "You remember that telescope that we—He-he-he!—used to have?"
"Mm-hmm?" Scarlemagne hummed as he grinded his teeth, knowing this was going to be news that he was going to like.
And his suspicions were correct and he then had Venomous Kong chase them out of the place for they now lost what made them useful to him. After the Billions brothers were gone, Scarlemagne then ordered his servants to mount themselves on flamingos and prepare to head out into Las Vistas. Beyond furious, Scarlemagne slammed a fist into his piano, making a few keys pop out before he spoke out to his servants with Venomous Kong beside him.
"I've lost my eyes to the city!" He yelled out in frustration, addressing to the apes and the dancers perched on many two-headed flamingos in front of him. "Now I need new eyes! Eyes to find the humans who escaped from that Burrow! If there's a human out, I want it dancing for me by dawn!" With their orders given, Scarlemagne's minions and slaves rode out of his palace, all while Scarlemagne gave off a burst of maniacal laughter as they flew off.
[City ruins]
After we all woke up and got moving, we went to the ruins and managed to find what Kipo saw: a billboard with "3.2662" written on it. As the sun was beginning to set, we were all climbing the ladder. Being the most eager, Kipo went up first and I followed behind her as I carried Mandu with my tail. Behind me was Benson (who had Dave riding on his back), Brook, Caldwell, Gordy, Stella, Musa, Sora, Hikari, Hotaru, Brandon, Nadu, Aisha, and Wolf. The others and Uncle Donnie flew up ahead of us.
"3.2662?" Gordy said, questioning Mr. Oak's method of giving us a clue. "If your father was gonna leave a message, couldn't it have been something more simple? Like an arrow?"
"Then anyone could follow it." Kipo said as we all got up there, examining the message her dad had left.
"Good point, but I'm with Gord here." Sora said as we all looked at the message. "This isn't a good clue."
"No, this is perfect." Kipo said with a smile on her face. "It's big enough so he knew I would see it, but only I would know it was a message."
"And do you know what means?" I asked her.
"No. I don't have a clue." Kipo answered, surprising most of the group.
"But it must mean something to you." Wolf pointed out. "Otherwise, we wouldn't be here."
"In light years, 3.262 is the length of a parsec." Kipo said as she began to pace around, trying to think.
"A what-sec?" Wolf questioned in confusion.
"A parsec. It's an astronomical unit." Kipo answered. "Dad's a bit of a science nerd."
"Yeah, we're aware." Dave said as he got onto the railing.
"It also happens to be my birthday." Kipo added, making us all look at her.
"Really?" I asked her, surprised by this.
"Yep! March 26th at two AM." She answered. "That's why it was Dad's favorite number. And guess what today is, Mandu." Much like the piglet, we all caught on what she meant. Well, almost all of us.
"Laundry day!" Dave said, not getting it.
"March 26th…" Uncle Donnie said as he finally got it. "That's today!"
"Whoa!" Benson said in surprise. "Kipo, is today your B-day?"
"If you mean my dad and I decorate the exact state of my calendar with balloon stickers, Yes." She answered.
"Kipo!" Aurico said with a bright smile. "This is awesome! Today's your birthday, I mean. Not the calendar thing."
"Whoo! First birthday on the surface!" Thora said as she came over and gave Kipo a hug, smiling cheerfully.
"Kipo's first birthday topside!" Dave exclaimed. "Don't know why, but it sounds big."
"Well, what'd ya expect?" Gordy raised a brow at the Wonderbeast. "She grew up underground her whole life, so of course it's big!"
"So how old does this make you?" Caldwell asked her.
"As of now? 13." She answered him.
"13?" I said, surprised by this. "That means you're officially a teenager!"
"Darling, this is truly a tremendous occasion!" Kylo excitedly said as she walked over. "You're finally taking your first step towards womanhood."
"Well, this means you're one of the third youngest members of the group." Uncle Donnie spoke up. "Along with Nadu, Brook, Caldwell, and Sora."
"Welcome to the club, girl!" Sora said to her with a friendly smile.
"Hold on, 'third youngest'?" I asked, confused by this. "Uncle Donnie, I thought you were counting yourself in this matter."
"He's not." Aurico said as he came over. "He's also not counting Dave since we're not really sure how he works."
"Then what does he mean by 'third youngest'?" I asked him.
"Well, turns out we got someone older than me, along with Musa, Kylo, and Hotaru."
"Really? Who?"
"It's Benson." Hearing that, I was just surprised by this.
"Wait, he's older than you?"
"Yeah. Benson's actually 16."
"Benson, you're 16?" I said to Benson, shocked by this discovery. "That means you're two years older than me!"
"That is correct." Uncle Donnie spoke up as he then began listing down the ages in our group. "Benson is indeed the oldest out of you kids. The second oldest being Aurico, Hotaru, Musa, and Kylo; the third oldest being Axel, Aisha, Gordy, and Riku; our third youngest now being Kipo, Nadu, Brook, Caldwell, and Sora; our second youngest being Thora, Brandon, Aisha, and Hikari; and our youngest being Wolf and Mandu."
"Enough about age difference." Benson said as he stood up. "It's Kipo's B-day and we need to celebrate! We should go out! For a city where nothings open ever, there's surprisingly a lot to do here." Instead of being excited, Kipo was depressed as she took a seat.
"Ugh! I can't celebrate until we figure out this clue." She said before she then mimicked her father's voice. "'Kipo, the answer is in front of you. Apply yourself.'" Kipo then acted like she was replying. "I'm trying, Dad. You know, you make this really difficult to solve." She then mimicked him again. "'Because challenges, build character.' I don't need any more character! I just need to find you!"
"Man, that reminds me of my father's lessons." I said before using my voice-manipulation ability to replicate my father's voice, clearing my throat as I recalled what he told me. "'Axel, you must be willing to adapt to your surroundings. Think smart and always improvise. Keep thinking on your feet.'"
"That's Uncle Fenyx for ya." Aurico commented.
"Then again, those were some pretty good lessons." I said as I used my normal voice before we looked to see Wolf had shredded up the sign with her staff.
"Now we're the only ones who know about this clue and only we can follow it." Wolf said proudly. "You're welcome."
"There's a word I'm looking for." Dave said as Kipo got up and walked to the board. "Uh, what is it? Overkill!"
"Relax." Uncle Donnie said, holding up a photo. "I managed to take a picture of it before she tore it up."
"Thanks, uncle." I told him as he gave me the photo and I spoke to the Burrow girl. "Kipo, can you figure out what these numbers mean?"
"I'll try, but it'll take some time." Kipo said as she took a look at the photo. "Any of you got anything to write with?" Benson then pulled out a piece of chalk from his backpack and gave it to her. "Parsec, parsec, parsec…" Figuring this was going to take some time, I brought out his headphones and Walkman before I put a mixtape in.
"What are you listening to?" Benson asked in curiosity, sitting down beside him.
"Probably some music you've never heard before." I answered him. "You care to listen?"
"Yeah, I don't mind." He said to me.
"Well, alright. Enjoy the show." I said as I twirled the other earpiece around so he could listen and played the mixtape.
"Hey, let me get a listen to this." Aurico said as he joined us.
There, we all waited for Kipo to figure out what the numbers meant. Wolf, Caldwell, Sora, and Uncle Donnie were on watch while Dave, Thora, and Hikari were playing with Mandu, Gordy decided to take a nap, and Benson and I were listening to some music. Over the hours, Benson and I took turns listening to what music we'd found throughout the city. And, for Benson, he was more than pleased upon hearing a few songs, especially the long ones. Ones like Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, Help!, Shelter from the Storm, Peace of Mind, Backstreets, and Goodbye, Yellow Brick Road. After a while, we stopped as we were now beyond bored as hours had passed and Kipo was just finishing up solving the clue her father left. The sun already set and most of our group was asleep. All except for the four who were keeping watch.
"Just one is nineteen trillion miles…" Despite all the complicated math equations she had done, Kipo was still having a hard time figuring it out and groaned in frustration. "Maybe that's how far away my people are."
"Kipo, you've been at it for hours!" Aurico said to her.
"Yeah, let's take a break." Benson groaned out. "Look, sometimes Dave and I get stuck in old crosswords and, when we get stuck, we put it down and we go away for a little while."
"Yeah!" Dave spoke up as he woke up for a split second, stretching himself out a bit. "And the answers present themselves." Just like that, he went back to sleep.
"You know what? You both actually got a point." I admitted as I stood up and stretched myself out, my stiff bones loosening back to normal. I then grabbed the chalk from her hand. "Getting yourself all worked up and overloaded won't help. It hasn't been easy so far, so let's take a break. You're 13, right?"
"Yeah." She answered me.
"Then it's settled it." I said, punching my fit into my open palm. "We got to go and celebrate. Today's also a big deal. It's your first birthday on the surface."
"Yeah." Aurico said backing me up. "Perfect time to let loose." I was hoping to convince her and looked over to Benson before motioning my head over to her for some backup.
"Oh, yeah, totally." He said as he provided me the backup. "Plus, I'm sure wherever your dad is, he would want you to take some time and have fun today." There, we managed to get through to Kipo and I gave Benson a thumbs-up for his efforts.
"I do love birthdays." She said with a smile before she looked over to Wolf who had been perched in the same spot the whole time. "When's your birthday, Wolf?"
"I don't know." She answered, shrugging her shoulders.
"What do you mean you don't know? Everyone knows their birthday."
"Not this everyone." Wolf said.
"The…" Kipo said before I stopped her, putting a hand on her shoulder.
"Kipo, she was alone when that pack found her." I said to her. "And, judging by how she is, I doubt those wolves were considerate in making a birthday for her."
"Oh. Never mind." She said before she then walked over to Wolf. "Well, guess what, Wolf. We're going to be birthday sisters today. I'm going to celebrate my first surface birthday and you're going to celebrate your first birthday!"
"That is a great idea!" Benson agreed with it as well.
"Yeah, there we go!" I said as I was liking the sound of her idea. "We can defiantly do that!"
"Yeah, a double-birthday bash!" Aurico exclaimed and it was at that moment, Thora shot up awake while smiling brightly.
"Did someone say we're celebrating two birthdays?" Thora asked excitedly.
"You got it, girl!" Benson said to her. "But first, Wolf and Kipo have to get each other presents."
"Let's split up!" Aurico suggested before speaking to the rest of the group.
"Yeah!" Benson said before he headed to the latter. "Anyone who wants to help Kipo celebrate her first B-day on the surface, follow me!" With that, Kipo, Aurico, I followed him down.
"Yay! Let's do this!" Thora cheered excitedly, flying down to the ground.
"I'm in!" Brook said, coming over to the ladder.
"Me too!" Caldwell then came over with Gordy behind him.
"Count me in!" Hikari then ran over, followed by Musa.
"Hey, you coming, Stella?" Musa asked, our cousin standing beside Wolf.
"Oh, no. You go ahead." Stella answered her. "I'm gonna stay with Uncle Donnie and go find a present for Kipo."
"Wait, presents?" Wolf said, surprised by this.
"Of course! They're the best part about birthdays!" She said as she got on the ladder. "Meet back here when you find something! Oh, I also like things that are purple and board games. Good luck!" After she started her way down, I waited for a moment before I joined her. As I went down the ladder, I managed to Uncle Donnie speak to Wolf.
"Don't worry, Wolf." He said to the little warrior. "We'll help you find a gift for Kipo."
"Oh, yes!" Kylo said, sounding excited. "I happen to know a good clothing store nearby!"
"Great." Wolf said, not sounding like she would enjoy it.
With that, we followed Benson to an old pharmacy to search for something Benson said he needed to find before we got to his present for Kipo and that Kipo could find a present for Wolf. While the others walked inside with him, I noticed Kipo was looking a little worried and went over to calm her down.
"Hey," I said to her as I gently took her hand. "It's okay. We're fine." Though I spoke in reassurance, Kipo looked away from me for some reason. Before I could even ask her if there was anything wrong…
"Hey, guys!" Gordy called out. "Come in here and help!" With that, we then went in and saw shelves full of all kinds of stuff from the old world and, thanks to the moon, we had enough light to look around.
"Alright. Let's get started." I said I let go of Kipo's hand and we all spread out to look around, carefully searching through the area.
"Somewhere in here, we'll find Wolf the perfect gift." Kipo said while picking up an old lunch bag.
"Right." Benson confirmed as we all kept searching. "Like they say, 'one man's trash is another man's treasure'."
"Don't you mean 'another man's junk is another man's treasure'?" Aurico asked while he was checking through the shelves, throwing aside an old box of cereal.
"Oh, yeah." Benson nervously said. "And, uh… we've got ourselves a real treasure heap." He was now looking at another shelf. As we were doing so and I kept my eye out for something, I noticed Kipo seemed a bit troubled.
"Something on your mind, Kipo?" I asked her while continuing to look through the cluster of stuff.
"Be honest." She said while doing the same. "Do you think they'll be okay out there? My people, I mean."
"Why are you asking that?"
"Because something is always trying to capture you, eat you, step on you…" She suddenly gasped, making her the rest of us walk over to her. "Or worse." We all looked and saw that there was a small painting of a human family with their dog covered in paint with the words "Human Scum" right over it.
"Yeah, sometimes you see stuff like that around here." Benson said, talking about the ruined picture. "It's best to ignore it." He and the others then continued to look through the pharmacy while I stay with Kipo, knowing she needed some comfort.
"Look, Kipo, I know you're worried about your people and your father." I said to her, trying to ease her woes. "I know that feeling. But we have to remember what we've learned. There were no signs of anyone back in your Burrow and that Mega Monkey told us everyone got away somehow." I then placed a hand on her shoulder in reassurance. "We'll figure out where they are. I promise. So for right now, don't worry." From there, she then looked at me with a smile along with a little blush. Wasn't really sure why she was blushing, but I pushed that aside and smiled back at her. It was only a brief moment before…
"Awww!" Musa, Hikari, and Thora cooed as Kipo and I lost our smiles and looked to see them along with the guys (minus Benson) who had smirks on their faces.
"What the…?" I said as I was shocked to find there, taking my hand off Kipo as I walked over to them. "How long have you guys been standing there?"
"Long enough." Gordy said to me, teasing me. "Didn't know you had some moves."
"Moves? What?" I said to him, confused while my cheeks started to heat up. "I, I, uh…"
"Hey, guys, look!" Caldwell exclaimed, teasing me as well. "I think he's blushing!"
"I am not!" I told him before Brook spoke up.
"I think he's actually turning red!" With that, he and Caldwell started laughing, getting on my nerves. With that, I growled at them before putting out my claws on my right hand and held them in front of me. That got them to stop laughing as they looked at my claws in surprise before giving each other looks of worry. "Uh, maybe not."
"Okay, move it along." I told them, putting my claws away as they all got back to looking around. "Let's keep searching."
"Hey, Axe, look!" Kipo said as she managed to spot something sticking out of a nearby pile.
"Wow." Aurico said as he and I kneeled down next to Kipo. "That's, uh… treasure alright." With his nervous laugh, I then elbowed him for being rude.
"It is." Kipo said as she reached down and grabbed it, ignoring what he said. "It's the perfect gift for Wolf."
With that, we all started heading out of the pharmacy. Before I left, something managed to catch my eye. Well, it was actually somethings. Seeing as they would be the perfect presents for Kipo and Wolf, I grabbed and put them in my bag.
"Mission accomplished." Kipo said as I joined them outside. "A little sooner than expected. Where to now?"
"There's something I want to show you." Benson said, opening his backpack and pulling out a metal can. "It's my present for you."
"Canned Cheese?" Kipo said in confusion. I was confused as well as she read the label. "'Made with twelve percent real cheese'. What's the rest of it made of?" She wondered for a brief moment before changing her mind. "You know what? It doesn't matter. I love it."
"Really, dude?" Aurico questioned him with a raised brow. "Spray cheese? That's your present to Kipo?" It was then that Benson started laughing.
"Ha-ha! Oh, the looks on your faces!" Benson said before slowly stopped laughing. "Tha-that's not it." After getting himself together, he then started walking forward. "The real gift is way better. Come on." With that, we all began to follow him as he led the way.
[With Donatello's group]
As we traveled through the city to towards that store Kylo was talking about, I noticed how Wolf was and saw, even though she wasn't really into getting presents or celebrating birthdays, she was willing to try for a friend like Kipo.
"Ah-ha! Yes!" Dave exclaimed as we looked to see he picked up a rim cover of a car. "Look what I found!" As he held it out, I knew I wasn't the only one who wasn't impressed by this. "Boom! Nailed it!"
"Nailed what?" Sora asked, not really seeing what the rim proved to be anything. "That's not a present, that's just a tire rim!"
"Actually, it could be more than that." Dave said, showing us what it could be. "Could be a hat, could be a frisbee. Kipo loves fashion. Hell, Kipo loves fun."
"Frisbee?" Wolf asked as she never heard of one.
"It's a kind of toy from the old world." I explained to her.
"Yeah! Check it out!" Dave said before he threw it like a frisbee and Mandu tried catching it. But the Sub-beast missed and the rim broke through the window of an auto shop across the street. Then we heard a Mega Mutant call and ready ourselves for a fight, but quickly relaxed as we discovered it wasn't nearby.
"Yeah, that's not a good gift for Kipo." I said, seeing how Dave nearly put us in trouble.
"Correct you are, grandfather." Hotaru agreed.
"Yeah, I think we'll have better luck looking for a present at the store." Stella said to him.
"Okay, Beast, new rule." She said firmly as she digs a circle around her in the dirt with her staff. "From now on, this right here is a Wonderbeast-free zone." Mandu then tried to sit in the circle before Stella went over and picked her up.
"Oh yeah?" Dave said to her, glaring back. "Well, this is a Wolf-free zone. No wolves allowed over here! Oof!" When he bent down to draw a circle of his own, he made a wrong turn in and fell back.
"I can live with that." Wolf said as she walked away, not caring at all.
With that, Kylo helped Dave to his feet before we all then ran to catch up to her.
"Okay, the store isn't too far from here." Kylo said as she led the way. "Just a few more blocks and we'll be able to find a gift for Kipo."
"What kind of gift are we looking for anyway?" Dave asked in curiosity, speaking to Wolf.
"I'll know it when I see it." She answered him.
"Oh, going with your gut. I like that." Dave said to her. "That's how I roll too."
"That sounds something Aurico would say." Stella added. "He always follows his gut."
[With AF3 and the others]
After walking for a while, we reached an alley which didn't really give much of a good feeling. I wasn't the only one who was feeling it. I could see it with Kipo (who was in front of me) and those who were behind me.
"3, my gut isn't liking where this is heading." Aurico whispered to me.
"Yeah, I'm not liking this either." I said to him before I spoke to Benson. "Benson, where are you taking us?"
"Hey, trust me." He said as he looked back at me. "This is gonna be cool." It wasn't long until we then entered a small clearing that looked like some kind of room.
"Oh, wow, it's so…" Kipo said as we all stopped, seeing the words "Surrender, Humans" written on the wall. "Festive."
"Sometimes on the surface, there's more than what you see on the surface." Benson said grabbing Kipo's hand in reassurance while holding the can of cheese in the other. We all then watched as he walked off before he kneeled down, shaking the can and spraying the cheese into a small twirled tower.
"Uh, Benson…" I said as I was confused by this.
"Hold on." Benson said, stopping me. "They should be here any second."
"They?" Gordy asked before we heard an engine running and looked to see a speeding van come over, turning sideways as it parked in front of us.
Despite it having rust, the vehicle looked like it was in perfect shape with the lights on and everything. There was also a fake rat tail attached to the end. The door to the driver's side opened slightly as a hand reached town, taking a finger scoop of what Benson sprayed on the ground. After the door closed, the side door of the van opened up on its own.
"You're chariot awaits, birthday girl." Benson said as he motioned Kipo to go into the van. She did just that as the rest of us soon followed. I sat with Kipo and Benson while the others sat around along the floor. Gordy then decided to take the passenger rider seat as it was getting cramped.
After strapping on our seat belts, the van drove off. The inside was a bit messy and there were a small few plastic patches taped to some of the windows, probably to cover whatever damaged the glass sustained. There were also different types of cheese hanging around inside, all in different shapes: cube and round. Seeing this, I took a few, hoping to surprise Plagg with them. As it turned out, the driver was a Wonderbeast Rat with black and white mottled fur and the classic light pink ears, nose, hands, feet, and tail. It wore a lime green vest and green cap along with a pair of shades. After a while of riding in there and seeing how nervous Kipo was, I decided to talk to the driver.
"Uh, excuse me?" I said as the rat kept driving. "I was wondering if you can tell us where we're going. I know that Benson might have told you to leave it as a surprise, but I'm actually starting to—Oh!" It was at that moment, the driver took a sharp turn, the momentum pushing Kipo into me and pressing my face against the window. Despite that, Benson was actually calm. Too calm, in fact.
"Uh, wall! Wall!" Kipo screamed as we all looked and saw we were heading for a wall.
We all prepared ourselves for the crash before I heard the honk of a horn and watched as the walk split open and revealed an entrance. The rat drove right through before spinning and parked, the wall closing back up.
"Bonier, ya'll! And je m'appelle Amy." The rat greeted us with a smile, removing the sunglasses to reveal her magenta eyes. "That's French for 'my name is Amy'."
"Um… hello." I said to her as I had no idea how to react to this.
"Holla! And bein venidos abordo." A black rat said as he popped in from the open window, surprising Gordy. He had the same eyes and attire as Amy. "I'm Brad." He and Amy then left as I watched them open the side door.
"Welcome to Rat Land!" Amy said, gesturing to the very location before us. It was actually an amusement park. There were lights, vendors, different rides, and there were even fireworks going off.
"Is this… an amusement park?" I said as we all walked out of the van, still in awe as I never thought I get to see one like this or expect something like would be hidden in the ruins.
"Holy crap!" Aurico exclaimed as we were amazed by the sight.
"See? I told you it was good." Benson said, walking up beside us.
"Not this good." Kipo said before hugging him. "Benson, thank you so much! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
"Heh-heh! No worries." Benson said as he freed himself from her hold. "Happy Birthday."
"This is amazing!" Musa exclaimed at the very sight. "Come on, let's check it out!" With that, the others then ran off to explore the amusement park. Kipo and I were about to join them when Benson stopped us.
"Hold up. Kipo, wait here." He said to her before he grabbed my arm. "Can I speak with you for a minute?"
"Sure." I told him as we went off somewhere else. "Quick question though: we don't have to worry about anything, right?"
"No, it's cool." Benson answered. "The rats made this place a safe zone. So we'll be fine."
"Okay, then why'd you want to talk?" I said to him.
"Because I want you to spend some time with Kipo." He told me. "I'll keep everybody else busy while you and Kipo go have your own fun time in Rat Land."
"Wait, you mean you want me and Kipo to explore away from everybody?" I was greatly confused by this. "Why? Kipo wants us all to celebrate with her."
"I know, I know. But I'm letting you seize the opportunity."
"Opportunity?" I was still lost in what he was trying to tell me. "I don't follow."
"Well, one reason is because, besides that you've known her the longest out of all us, I sort of noticed… that you may like her." I was surprised by this and couldn't help but chuckle.
"Yeah, good one." I thought he was kidding until Benson gave me that smirk and raised eyebrow. "Okay, maybe a little. But I don't know. Come on, no way she thinks of me that way. We're just friends."
"Not from the way I've seen it."
"Let me get this straight." I then began to piece together what he gave me. "Not only are you presenting Kipo a birthday surprise, but you're also being my wingman?"
"Bingo." Benson confirmed.
"Huh. Wow. I don't what to say. I didn't expect this at all." From there, I was becoming a bit curious about him. "Wait, Benson, I gotta ask. What's your aim in this?" I crossed my arms as I thought he might have another motive for this. "I figured you'd take advantage of something like this."
"Why would I?" He raised an eyebrow.
"Because you like her too?"
"Ohhhh." Benson said, getting what I was saying. "Okay, I get where you're going with this." He then cleared his throat. "Look, I only like Kipo as a friend and also…well, you see… I'm gay."
"What?" I said before I took it in. "Oh. Oh! Okay. Wow, really read that wrong."
"I didn't make this awkward, did I?"
"No, no, no. It's fine. You just took me by surprise, that's all. And for the record, I'm not judging you or anything like that."
"Nah, it's perfectly okay. We're cool." He said before he ran off into the park. "You guys have fun!
"Where's Benson going?" She asked as I walked over to her.
"Uh… He wanted to go on ahead to see if they added any new rides." I said to her, making an excuse for Benson. "So… you want to get started?"
"Sure." She said to me as we both walked into the amusement park.
[City Ruins clothing store]
After finally reaching the clothing store Kylo was talking about, we all began searching. Well, almost all of us. While the rest of us searched, I had Sora and Mandu on the lookout. It was only after a while Sora and Mandu came over to me with looks of fear.
"Uncle Donnie! Uncle Donnie!" Sora called out as he and Mandu stopped right in front of me.
"Sora, what's wrong?" I asked my nephew.
"Flamingo!" Sora told me, panicking. "Me and Mandu saw a flamingo fly right over us!"
"A flamingo?" I said as I knew that a flamingo sighting only meant one thing. "Scarlemagne." It was there I then remembered half our group was out there. "Oh, no. Axel! Kipo!" With the realization, I went on to call the others. "Everyone, huddle up!"
"Aha!" She pulls out a small gold medallion. "It's perfect!"
"What you find, Wolf?" Nadu asked as he walked over, Dave popping out from behind a dressing room curtain.
"It's, uh… a mace!" Wolf answered before she began twirling it around the air. "See?" It was then that I came over and took it from her.
"Wolf, this is a medallion." I told her, holding the neck accessory. "You don't hit anybody with it, you wear it as an accessory. Though I think you may have found the perfect gift for Kipo." I then gave the medallion back to her. "Its gemstone is in Kipo's favorite color."
"Well, I found the greatest gift of all time." Dave said, perking up her interest before pulling back the curtain for a second. He opened it again, revealing he was wearing a spiked leather jacket. "I mean, we still gotta look for Kipo's gift."
"We already did." I told him. "And we are going now."
"What's going on, Uncle Donnie?" Brandon asked as he came over.
"We got a big problem." I answered.
"Yeah! Majorly big!" Sora exclaimed. "We just saw one of Scarlemagne's flamingoes flew by!"
"Scarlemagne's here?" Aisha asked with shock.
"Guess he heard what we did to his telescope." Riku added.
"Wait, the others." Hotaru said, making the same realization I did. "They're still out there!"
"Oh, crap!" Dave exclaimed before he went into his muscular form, tearing the jacket to pieces in the process. He looked into the mirror and gained a look of despair. "Oh, man!"
"We'll get you a new jacket." I told Dave. "Right now, we have to find Axel and the others." I then spoke to the group. "Let's spread out and look for them! Kylo, you and Hotaru head north. Nadu, you and Brandon check the south. Wolf, you, Mandu, and Dave go west. Hotaru, Sora, Riku, and I will check the east. Go, go, go!" With that, we all ran off to search for the others.
[Rat Land]
A while after Kipo and I went on to explore Rat Land, we found a boat tour and decided to take it, Amy and Brad manning the boat as we took a cruise through the rivers of the park.
"Welcome to the Rat Land Wonder Cruise!" Amy said to us as she drove the boat, going past some old-looking robotic sculptures along the shoreline. "Remember to keep all tails, paws, feet, and wings inside the boat at all times. S'il vous plaît."
"This place is amazing." Kipo said, admiring the sight before she looked to me. "Did you know this place here?"
"Not until now." I answered her. "I never knew this place existed, let alone a whole amusement park that was still running."
"But we'll be fine here, right?"
"I asked Benson the same thing and he said the rats made this place a safe zone, all species are welcome apparently."
"Well known fun fact," Amy said as she turned to us, "easily the best cruise in town if I don't mind tooting my own horn." She did just that and three speeding objects were heading towards them.
"Hang on! Looks like a real party down there, Amy." Brad said as they looked forward.
When I got a better look, I saw what was coming. It was a group of three Wonderbeast Skunks riding jet skis. Seeing how they were wearing biker jackets with colorful patches, I had to guess they were Scooter Skunks, another Wonderbeast Pack here in Las Vistas. Seeing as they were leaving a spray trail behind them, I knew what was coming.
"Oh, no." I said as they went past us, leaving us a cloud of their spray behind. We didn't even have time to cover our mouths and noses and ended coughing over the smell. "Oh, man! Ack! That was bad!"
"No kidding!" Kipo added as she was going through the same thing. "Phew!"
"Oh, Brad, look!" Amy said, getting our attention. "Dead ahead! Is that a Mega Pug I see?" She pointed forward and jumped off the boat before running off somewhere. After she disappeared, we watched as this sign in the shape of a pug lit up and gave off a bark. I had no doubt that Amy was the one who turned it on.
"Don't worry, Amy. I think his bark is worse than his bite," Brad jokingly said, playing along as we passed it before she ran out and got back on the boat.
"These are some of the worst jokes I've ever heard in my life." Kipo whispered to me.
"Well, you got them credit for trying." I whispered back. "These two aren't half bad."
"I know and I think I love this ride."
"I heard rats love cheese, but now I believe it." I said, my joke earning a quick laugh from Kipo.
"I couldn't have thought of a better way to spend my birthday." Kipo said, looking over at me with a smile. "Thanks for coming along, Axe."
"No problem and you got something on your face."
"Where?" She then tried getting it off with her right hand as I put one hand in the water.
"Lower. A bit lower." It was when she brought her hand to her nose that I decided to strike. "Yeah, right there." I then splashed her with some water and gained a grin from it. "And now it's off." She managed to return the favor before it turned into a full-on splash fight. I think I can speak for both of us that we were having a blast.
[With Aurico and the others]
As we were walking around, me and the guys were trying to figure out what to do when…
"Hey, guys! Look!" Thora said as we came over and looked down at the river below to find 3 and Kipo in a boat, laughing while having a splash fight.
"So this is why Benson brought us here." I said, figuring out Benson's plan. "He wanted to give 3 some alone time with Kipo."
"Why would he do that?" Brook asked, confused by this. "Kipo's a primo babe! Why would he give something like that up?"
"I don't know." I shrugged, not really much getting it either. "But I think he made the right decision. If she's anything like 3, then he's the only guy who can handle a girl like that."
"What makes you say that?"
"Remember that mission we went on with the Order? Do you really want to have something like that around you?"
It was only a moment before he got scared and said "Oh, yeah. Good point. Better to have 3 deal with it."
"Besides, there's more fish in the sea, as they say." I then went on to remind him of our main goal with helping Kipo. "Especially if it's the fish from down below."
"Oh, yeah. Can't wait to see what selection we'll get down in the Burrow."
"Maybe we can find a pair of twins and get a double-date going."
After the cruise ride, Kipo and I went on to play some games and go on an assortment of different rides, most of which wouldn't even operate. But somehow the rats were able to make the whole place come alive. Walking through there, we saw all sorts of different species of Wonderbeasts.
"I can't believe they have cotton candy and it doesn't have mold in it!" I exclaimed as I happily ate the sugary treat.
"I know. This is just crazy." Kipo said as we walked amongst the crowd. "Heck, there's even Timbercats here."
"With Umlaut Snäkes, no less. Makes me wonder if Yumyan and the others knew this place was here."
"Hey, check it out! A Ferris wheel!" Kipo said, pointing to said ride that had a big donut decorated in the front of it. "Let's go on there."
"Sure. I don't see why not." I said to her, swallowing the rest of my treat. "I haven't been on a Ferris wheel before."
"Neither have I." She said before we joined in the line. After waiting for a little while, it was finally our turn to ride.
"Let the riders off first!" A Wonderbeast Elephant said, coming off with a younger elephant pulling him along. "Respect the rules of the park!"
"What was that?" Kipo said as the elephants walked off, a bit confused as we took a seat setting down the bar.
"No idea. Maybe some regulars?" I guessed, shrugging my shoulders while feeling the same way.
"Well, at least they're not chasing us." She said as we pulled the handlebar down, locking us in. "In fact, this is the first time we've seen Wonderbeasts and haven't had to run." With that, two rats started turning a crank, making the wheel slowly rotate counter-clockwise and raise us up.
"Or get captured or having to feed them." I added, receiving a chuckle from her. There, we both looked and saw almost everything in the park. "You know, this is really nice. This is proof that even for a brief moment, humans and Wonderbeasts can have fun together. I bet this was what it was like back when the Tribes first formed. It might not seem like that now, but there's hope for there to be peace for all."
"Yeah, I know what you mean." Kipo said as we gazed up at the sky, getting a nice view of the stars shining up there. With two shooting stars, I then heard her giggled.
"Can you name some of them?"
"Yeah. I see Arcturus, Ursa Major, and Leo. Hey, I've been meaning to ask you. Miwa said you were gonna be 14 soon. When's your birthday?"
"October 24th." I answered her.
"Ah, then that makes you a Scorpio. Which I can see right now."
"Sweet. What about that big one?"
"Hmm…" She then took a look at it before she answered. "Not a star, it's a planet. It's Mars."
"Mars, huh?" I was surprised that I actually spot a neighboring planet. "Did you know Mars was also the name of the Roman god of war?"
"Actually, yes. How'd you know that?"
"My father."
"Okay, spill the beans. My dad is a science geek, what was yours?"
"My father? He was more of a historian, to be honest. At least that's how he seemed like. Much of how my mother was more of a zoologist than a biologist." I told her. "You know, it's funny. While I learned what they know, you know what's up there more than I do, stuff that always manages to surprise me." When I looked at her, I became confused as Kipo was staring at him. The way she was looking at me actually confused me. "Kipo? You okay?"
"Yeah." She said, almost like she was in a daze of pleasure.
"You sure about?" I was starting to get a little uncomfortable from the way she was acting.
"Oh!" Kipo gasped, snapping out of it. "Uh, yeah. Just wish everybody else were here too." She laughed nervously as she tried to change the subject. "They're missing out on all the fun!"
"Eh, there's always next time. We just gotta have some cheese." I said before looking toward the night sky, sighing in content. "You know, Kipo, I never would've thought I'd be doing something like this, having this much fun and celebrating a friend's birthday. Up until days ago, I was just spending my day scavenging for stuff to help my Tribe survive, barely even leaving it to see what's out here in Las Vistas." I then looked down at the lights as we kept going up higher into the air. "Now, after finding you, having all these misadventures, seeing all this, I've learned that there are good places on the surface like my own home, not just bad things. I also feel more alive than I ever had in a long time. I'm living and enjoying life." I then looked over to her with a smile. "And, in some way, I got you to thank for that."
"Wow. That's really deep, Axel." Kipo said as she then looked at me, only it was a bit more different than the other times.
"Something wrong?"
"I don't know if it's because I'm turning 13, but I feel really different right now… and I just feel that I really need to tell you that… I think I like you."
"Okay, that's cool."
"Axel…" I turned to see her smiling. "I mean, I like-like you." My eyes widen as I was surprised by this. For a moment there, I leaned forward while trying to process everything that was happening right now. Though I snapped out of when I heard Kipo gasp as she lightly leaned up against the seat. "You don't feel the same, do you?"
"What?" I said, getting her attention. "No, no! That's not it!" With that, I then lightly gripped her hand. "Kipo, I actually am interested, honest. But I'm not exactly sure if what I have is the same. I need some time to sort out my feelings before I give you an answer first. If I'm going to do it, then I need my answer to be every ounce true." As I finished up, I could feel my cheeks heat up a bit. "Look, hopefully when we find your dad and people, I'll have everything figured out and give you my answer. Can you just give me some time and wait for my answer? I promise I will give it to you after I thought it all over."
With this, I heard Kipo sighed and thought she was going to reject it before she then hugged me.
"I understand. I'll wait for your answer." She said as she kept on hugging me. "But just don't me make me wait too long, okay?"
"Don't worry, I won't." I said to her, smiling as I returned the hug. When I heard a screech, I looked over Kipo's shoulder and spotted a Wonderbeast Flamingo which was being ridden by someone wearing a white mask come down at us. "Get down!" We narrowly avoided getting snatched and watched as the bird circled around. "That's one of Scarlemagne's flamingos!"
"I thought Benson said this was a safe zone!" Kipo cried out.
"Apparently, Scarlemagne doesn't care about that!" I said, right as the flamingo came back around, knocking off the top of the seat we were on and sending us both down.
Luckily, Kipo managed to grab onto a railing and me at the same time. I had to do something quickly as I felt her grip was loosening and, if it wasn't bad enough, the flamingo was coming back around. Though, as it approached, I looked up and watched in surprise as Kipo suddenly gained new strength as she gripped the bar and threw me up while narrowly getting grabbed by the two-headed bird. Despite being surprised by this, I knew it wasn't the time to be impressed.
"Rollercoaster!" She said, pointing to a nearby rollercoaster.
"Right, let's go!" I said, grabbing her hand. "Together!"
We then made a mad dash before jumping off from the Ferris wheel and landing onto the moving rollercoaster, which apparently was made of shopping carts instead of the normal kind of cars. Because we weren't strapped in, we were holding onto for dear life. At the speed we were going, it caused us to go flying off the tracks and into the air, going right at the nearest building and crashing through a wall. Despite the brief crash landing, we luckily managed to make it out unharmed. Behind us, the flamingo stuck out its two heads through the hole. My vision was a bit blurry for a second until I shook my head. "Kipo, are you alright?" I gasped as I saw her arm was covered in purple-spotted fur, which actually explained the new strength.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I don't even know what came over me." She said to me, not noticing the fur.
"Kipo…" I tried to get her attention but she kept on talking.
"It was almost like something else was in control."
"Kipo!" I finally got her attention and motioned to her arm. "Your arm!"
"Aah!" She yelled as she saw the state her arm was in. "What's wrong with my arm? Why is it all furry? Axel, why is my arm all furry?"
"Kipo, calm down! We'll talk later!" I said as I grabbed Kipo by the shoulders. "Right now, we need to find Benson and the others! They're in danger!" From there, the hole burst apart as the flamingo and its rider got through, making its way inside. "Move, move!" I then let go of her and took her hand as we both ran as fast as we could, the flamingo right on our tail.
[City Ruins]
"Kipo! Axel!" Wolf called out as she and the Wonderbeasts continued to look for the other members of their group. "Where are you?"
"Hey, Wolf." Dave said, flying in front of her. "Mind telling Kipo that medallion is from both of us? Not really sure if I can top it with a hub cap."
"Wait, what was the name of that store where you found that thing?" She asked him.
"I don't know. Parts something." He said before he then remembered the name. "Oh, 'Parts Etc.'! Check out mind, razor-sharp."
"Of course!" Wolf said as she had a realization before they trailed back and made their way back to the store. It was there Wolf noticed something about the sign. There were two T's missing, which made it spell a different word. "P, A, R, S, E, C. Parsec." Wolf then realized this was what Kipo's father wanted her to find. "Dave, you're a gen…" She cut herself short before saying the word, getting a look from the bug. "Uh… I mean, great job, be—well, good job. Job, Dave, job."
"I did not follow a word of that." He said, shaking his head.
"This is perfect. We just found Kipo's gift!" She then noticed they were one person short. "Where's Mandu?" Said pig was standing right next to a car in fear before she dashed right underneath it. From above, Wolf noticed there were two of Scarlemagne's followers in the air, riding flamingos. As Dave was about to fly, he cried out in pain before he molted his skin, becoming an elderly version of himself.
"It's like realizing you're useful causes you to not be useful." Wolf said before dragging the now old bug and his skin into the store, just as the two primates landed
"Uh… sure you saw something down here?" The orangutan asked, sounding doubtful.
"You doubt my eyes?" His Tarsier companion asked as she blinked, taking off her mask.
[Rat Land]
After managing to find the stairway, Kipo and I went out and headed down them, managing to find an exit which was barricaded.
"I just want this to go away, but it won't!" Kipo cried out, gripping her new furry arm while I moved stuff aside as fast as I could so we could escape.
"Humans, wait!" The rider said, coming out onto the stairs. "Scarlemagne wants you both to dance for him."
Just as the flamingo lunged at us, I decided I had enough and stepped in, turning around and giving out a loud roar, my roar unleashing a force that stopped the flamingo in its tracks.
[With Aurico and the others]
As me and the guys were talking, we were all surprised to hear a loud roar. It actually sounded a lot like Aunt Melody's. Though we all knew that there was only one other person who could give a roar like that and knew what it meant.
"Was that…?" Gordy asked, knowing the answer as much as I did.
"Come on!" I said as we all headed out, going to look for 3.
[With Kipo and AF3]
After that roaring stopped, I tried to take a look in front of me. Though it was weird. That roar… it sounded like Mrs. Frank. But she couldn't be here. If she was, then the ground would be shaking. Just as I was wondering what was going on, I saw the flamingo just standing there. It looked like it was afraid to move. It wasn't long until I looked right in front of me and saw Axel standing there and growling like his mom. Though that wasn't the only thing that shocked me. When I tried to reach for him, I saw that both his arms were furry, just like mine. The fur they had was as blue as he was and had black and white stripes like on his hair instead of spots.
"Does Scarlemagne really think I'm gonna let him turn me and Kipo into his puppets? Well, here's a question for him." Axel said, sounding like when he was being an alpha. "Who the hell do you think I am?" Just like that, he rushed over and slammed the flamingo into the wall, then did a backflip as he got back over to me, panting as he looked back at me. "You okay, Kipo?"
"Axel… Wha-what…" I said as I couldn't believe what I was seeing or what I'd just saw as he looked down and saw the fur on his arms. "H-how…"
"Questions later." He said before kicking the door open and we both rushed out with the flamingo getting back up and right behind us again. Up ahead, we saw Benson walking over, eating a snow cone.
"Hey, guys!" Benson said as he saw us. "Where—Whoa!" Axel didn't greet him, but just grabbed him and put him over his shoulder. "Whoa! What's going on? Axel, since when do you have fur? And why is there a flamingo chasing us?"
"Not now, Benson! We need to get out of here!" Axel told him as we ran past the elephants we saw at the Ferris wheel.
"Respect the rules of the park!" The elephant yelled out, distracting the rider. It was thanks to him that the guy didn't notice the van that brought us here come up and smack the flamingo out cold before driving next to us.
"Guys, get in!" Rico said as he opened the door, the others with him. There, Axel threw Benson inside before he leapt in and helped into the van. As the door closed, I poked my head through the window to look back and was shocked to see the mask of the rider fall off, I gasped as I saw he was human.
"He's a human." I said as I couldn't believe what I was seeing. "Guys, do you see that? That's another human!"
"Holy crap, she's right!" Caldwell said as they all came over and saw the guy.
"So that's why Scarlemagne is looking for humans." Axel said, surprised by this. "He uses that spray that controls the Mega Monkey to turn them into his slaves!"
"You mean the masked army is made up of humans?" Kylo said, just as surprised.
"See? I told you they couldn't get that many monkeys!" Brook said, pointing at Gordy.
"Yeah, you were right, Brook." Gordy said to him before he spoke to Axel. "Think that's what he did to most of the Tribes?"
"No question about that." Axel said to him. "No wondering the Order have so much trouble dealing with him. He haves warriors from all different Tribes!"
"That's what Scarlemagne does with the humans?" Benson said in disbelief. "No thanks!"
"Ditto." Rico agreed and was frightened a bit by this new realization.
"Attention, Rat Land VIPs." Amy said, holding a microphone. "The park will be closing early due to an unforeseen air raid. Better step on it Brad!"
"Before you go, can we ask you sign this survey rating your experience here in Rat Land?" Brad said, holding up a form paper to us.
Not too long after the rats helped us escape, we arrived back at the spot where they were picked up. While the others all filled in the surveys, Kipo and I were still filling out our own.
"If you could try and forget the whole 'flamingo rider' business, we'd really appreciate it." Amy nervously said.
"Consider it forgotten." Thora told them.
"Please give us a ten, please give us a ten." Brad begged under his breath.
"Stop it, Brad!" Amy said to him. "You're gonna make them feel like they have to!"
"Actually, you have nothing to worry about for our reviews." I told the two as I gave them mine and Kipo's surveys. "We had a blast."
"Yes!" They both said after looking over the surveys, pleased with the good rating they got for their amusement park. Once they were done, they headed back to their van and drove off. As they left, I looked over and watched as the fur on Kipo's arm instantly disappeared, her appendage returning to normal.
"It's gone." Kipo said, surprised by this.
"For now." I said to her as I closed my eyes and made my own fur disappear. "But there will be more."
"Axel, what's happening to me?" She asked me, beginning to panic. "What was that? Why did you grow fur?"
"Look, I'll answer your questions later." I told her. "Now's not the best time."
"How can this not be the best time?" She asked, sounding a little frustrated.
"I've seen a lot of weird things on the surface before," Benson said, just shocked by it all, "but I ain't never seen anything like what you two have."
"Welcome to our world." Aurico said to him.
"My dad's a scientist." Kipo said in realization. "Maybe he'll know what's happening. If we can find him. Until then, can…we all keep this to ourselves?"
"Why, of course, darling." Kylo said to her. "Although, this inner circle you want to make is larger than you think."
"Yeah, almost everybody in our group knows about this." Aurico added. "The only ones who don't know are Wolf and Dave. Pretty sure Benson just found out now."
"So you guys knew about this the entire time?" Kipo asked in disbelief. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Miwa told us not to tell you." I told her. "She thought it would be best if your father told you." I then turned to look at Benson. "Benson, mind keeping this from Wolf and Dave? Not so sure how either of them are gonna react to this. Especially with how Wolf is."
"Of course." Benson answered. "Besides, who knew a first surface birthday can be so epic?"
"Axel!" We all turned to see Uncle Donnie along with Hotaru, Sora, and Riku running over to us.
Back with Wolf, she and her two companions were still hiding as the primates were still on patrol. Hiding underneath a car, she and Dave felt one of the flamingos sniffing underneath until she threw aside the bug's old skin which was eaten by the bird. When Dave started snoring, she then covered his mouth to prevent the primates from hearing.
"Huh. I guess I must've imagined it." The tassier said. "I should probably have myself checked. Wanna move on?"
"Yeah, this place is dead anyway." The orangutan said before they took off into the air, allowing the trio to leave from their hiding spot.
"Who's he calling dead? I'm alive!" Dave said before the three head off into the store.
"Hello? Kipo's dad?" Wolf called out as they looked around. "Are you in here?" But there was no answer.
"Oh, excuse me, young man." Dave said, being delusional after bumping into a mop. "No, excuse me."
At that moment, Wolf noticed something sticking out. Going deeper into the store, she found the letter T's for the sign outside, crossed together like an X. With her interest peaked, she moved them aside and she found an envelope with a purple symbol on it.
"What is it?" Dave asked, walking up to her. "Also where are we?"
"It's a rams head." Wolf said as she knew what the symbol was. "That's Aries, Kipo's birth sign." Turning it around, she opened it and found a message inside. She then went on to read it out loud. "'Kipo, if you're reading this, that means you found my letter and are looking for me. Here is something that will help you find… the second Clover. Love, Dad'."
"Someone drew spaghetti on the back." The old bug said as he pointed to the back, making Wolf turn it around to see the numbers "3262" like on the sign and other symbols.
"It's a map, grandpa. A map to the second Clover!" Wolf said with eyes widen in surprise. "Which means…Kipo's people have a second Burrow!"
"Oh, my! This is the perfect gift!" Dave said in surprise. "Our little butterscotch will be so happy. She can finally be able to head back underground with her mole people and forget we ever existed. I'll always remember her." As one of his antennas fell off, Wolf sighed as she looked back at the map, feeling very conflicted.
After regrouping back at the sign, Benson went to tend to Dave who reverted back to being a baby while Kipo and I told Wolf what had transpired at the park and what we'd seen. All except for the fur, of course.
"We saw those Flamingo riders too." Wolf said. "Maybe that's why Scarlemagne is after your people. I think he wants to turn them into more of those… weird nobles."
"No, Wolf. He wants to turn them into his slaves." I said to her, earning a look from everyone. "Now we know the truth of why he's targeting humans. That guy we were chased by said that Scarlemagne wanted us to dance for him. Hearing that gave me an answer: to that tyrant, humans are just entertainment as much as soldiers for him."
"Even my dad?" Kipo asked sadly.
"That would be an accurate estimate." Hotaru answered her.
"Now we have even more reason to find him and your people." I said to her, lightly gripping the Burrow girl's right hand with both of mine in reassurance. "The sooner we figure out the clues he left for you, the sooner we'll find them. After we do, I promise we'll figure out a way to save those enslaved humans."
"Thank you, Axel." She said with a light blush. Hearing a snicker, I looked to find Aurico and Benson giving me smirks before I then let go of Kipo's hands and cleared my throat, feeling some heat coming to my cheeks.
"So, Uncle Donnie, do you think we can be able to free everybody from Scarlemagne?" I asked as we looked to the elder.
"Well, from what we've witnessed from the Mega Monkey, I do believe so." Uncle Donnie answered as he explained. "The collar Scarlemagne placed on it is both filled and set to spray whatever concoction he uses for it, the hypnotic effect it haves seems to be temporary. If we find the source of the spray and cut it off, he'll lose control over the humans he captured."
"Great." I said, the heat leaving my cheeks before Thora spoke up.
"Uh, guys?" She said as she went over to Kipo. "Aren't we forgetting something?" Kipo then shook her head as she calmed herself down.
"Right! Present time!" She said as she stood up. "This is supposed to be our birthday." She then reaches into her pocket and it wasn't long until they both had their hands against their backs. Wolf suddenly flinched at how close Kipo was touching her, but then she became at ease when she received her gift: a pink flower hairpin.
"Something to hold your hair up." Kipo explained to Wolf. "Because I noticed, whenever you fight, your hair gets in your eyes."
"It's, uh…" Wolf said as I had no doubt she didn't expect Kipo to notice that problem and address it. "Useful. Thanks."
"Your turn, birthday twin!" Kipo said, eagerly.
"Uh…" She said as she pulled out a leather sleeve.
"Aww! It's from the jacket I liked." Kipo said, feeling touched as she slid the sleeve onto her right arm. "I love it. Thank you." As she started flexing it a bit, I decided to give them my gifts for them.
"Hold up." I chimed in. "We're almost done." I then reached into my bag and pulled out a red bandana with a flaming, red skull with a pair of black shades on it and a purple button pin with a star on it, making Kipo gasp in surprise.
"Axe, you got gifts for us?"
"Yeah. I noticed these as we were leaving the store and figured why not." I then walked over to them. "First, this for you, Kipo." I then placed the star pin on the front of her shirt, right next to the little planet. "And here's what I got for you, Wolf." I then kneeled down to Wolf's level and began tying the bandana around her right shoulder. I stood back up after I was done. "There we go. Now you got something that makes you look more fierce."
"Thanks, Axe." Kipo said, already liking her pin while Wolf gazed at her latest accessory.
"Sweet sleeve!" Benson said as he came around with the others, holding Dave who was still an infant again. "One man's trash or junk…"
"Is another girls fashion statement!" Kipo said, finishing off the rest of the line. "I don't know about you guys, but I am ready to get back to cracking that clue." She then walked over to the ladder. "In fact, I feel like walking. It's nice to know it's always deadly on the surface." She then started going down, followed by the others. I was going to join them when I heard Wolf sigh and looked to her picking up her weapon. Curious, I went over to talk to her.
"Wolf, you okay?" I asked her, getting the little warrior's attention.
"I'm fine." She said as she walked off. "Better hurry up before we fall behind."
As she went down the ladder, I heard a snort and saw Mandu glaring at her. I had a feeling that Mandu knew something I didn't, something that Wolf wasn't telling me. Seeing as she wasn't ready to tell, I decided to wait for Wolf to prepare herself to tell me and the rest of group.
"Come on, girl." I said as I picked up Mandu with my tail and then got to climbing down the ladder. "Let's join the others."
After we found someplace to set up camp in the more open areas, Uncle Donnie, our fellow Tribe members (except Benson), Kipo, and I went off to explain to Kipo about what she saw and experienced, what we didn't tell Wolf. We took a spot near a river to explain.
"For the longest time, I had tried my best to keep this a secret." I explained to Kipo. "Uncle Donnie already knew about it. Brook and Aurico were the first ones to find out. Gordy and the others here ended up finding out in other unexpected ways. To truth is," I then looked to Kipo right in the eye as I told her. "I'm part Wonderbeast. I was born like this." I then went on to tell her how I knew about this. "You see, when I was little, my father told me that he was a hybrid, being half Wonderbeast. I inherited the Wonderbeast genes from him." I then brought the fur back onto my arm. "Things like this happen from time to time. I tried to keep it under control as best I can. Up until now, I thought I was the only one. But, as you saw today, I found out not alone." Closing my eyes, I turned my arm back to normal. "You're just like me, Kipo."
"Did you know?" She questioned hesitantly. "Did you know all along?"
"No." I told her. "I just recently found out. Back when we fought the Newton Wolves, I saw that your eyes had changed. That's how you were able to see those wolves. Your Wonderbeast genes allowed you to see them."
"Then why didn't you tell me before?"
"What would've I said?" I questioned. "To tell you that you didn't fully know what you really were? What would've you have done if the roles were switched?"
"Probably the same thing, I guess." Kipo answered before I then place a hand on her shoulder.
"It's alright. You're just confused and scared. I understand." I told her.
"Yeah, 3 pretty much freaked out when he got those powers." Aurico said, reminding me of that day.
"Yeah, I don't think any of us would have expected to anything he had to come with cat fur." Brook added.
"Now I see why Miwa didn't want me to tell you that I was a hybrid." I said.
"Your sister knew about this?" Kipo asked with surprise.
"Yeah, no doubt the whole time." I answered her. "And I know she didn't tell you for the same thing. Stress makes it harder to control those powers."
"Kipo," Uncle Donnie said to her, "Did your father seem… normal?"
"What do you mean?" She asked.
"I'm trying to figure out where you inherited the genes from." Uncle Donnie answered. "If not him, then your mother maybe? What was she like?"
"I… don't really know." Kipo became depressed when she said that. "My mom passed away when I was still a baby."
"Oh, I'm so sorry." Uncle Donnie said.
"So you knew about this?" Kipo asked him.
"Well, sort of." He told her. "Up until recently, the only hybrids I ever met were Axel and his father." There, he began to tell the tale of how he first found out. "It happened so fast. It was before Axel was even born. That day, Fenyx had left to go check up on some old friends of his. When he came back, it all seemed fine. It was only a while later that I discovered his… new development. Seeing him like that, I was beginning to worry, wondering what was happening to him. I questioned him constantly, pressured him, tried to force him to tell me what had happened. Hell, I even questioned Melody. But neither were willing to tell me. After a while, I chose to accept it and waited for them to tell me." He then sighed before he continued. "But they didn't even get the chance to." Though the mood seemed grim, Uncle Donnie then brightened up. "Though now I see why those two were keeping it from me. Those friends he saw before it happened… those were no doubt your parents."
"Wait, what?" Kipo asked, surprised by this. "You're saying my mom and dad had something to do with this?"
"I would say so." He told her. "And I bet whatever they did, also led to how you became like Axel."
"Which is why Miwa wants me to talk to your father." I said to Kipo. "No doubt he knows about this, which means he might hold the answers to why my father became a hybrid, how you and I are hybrids. And it might be possible, if what happened to my father might be responsible for what happened to my mother, he knows how to change her back."
"Really? Wow. That's amazing!" Kipo said to me with a bright smile before she instantly lost it as she looked down.
"This fact about us being hybrids isn't your only concern is it?" When I got no response, I saw what she was worried about. "You're worried about Wolf finding out."
"What will she think of me?" Kipo asked with worry in her tone. "I know she doesn't like Wonderbeasts, but I don't want our friendship to end."
"Don't worry. You'll know when the time is right." I told her. "But, if you want your friendship to continue, you have to tell her the truth." With that, she then smiled at me with hope in her eyes, making me smile back.
"Well, I believe that's enough telling for today." Uncle Donnie said as he stood up. "If we're going to find more answers, you kids need to have your rest. Let's get you all back to bed."
"Right." I said before we all got up and back to camp to sleep for the night.
Though it was quite the night. We celebrated Kipo's 13th birthday and, now that she knows about the secret we were keeping, the group and I can help her get control of her new powers. With Scarlemagne now taking notice of us, I have a feeling that we're gonna need them if we're gonna be able to get her home. Also something tells me, when Kipo tells Wolf the truth, that won't be the only secret revealed. The way that little warrior said she was fine back at the billboard clearly along with Mandu glaring at her meant she was hiding something, the only question is what is Wolf hiding?
Author's Note: Hey, guys! Sorry it took me so long. I hoped you like the chapter. Now this was one eventful birthday, huh? And you get to learn more about AF3. And I hope you caught a few references I put into the story. Just a little heads-up, I'm just starting my new year of college. Can't really go into details, only that there will be a slight delay in further chapters, but I will be updating as soon as I can. That's all I got for now. Don't forget to leave a comment to tell me how you think of it. See ya in the next chapter!