Chapter 11: Beast-Eat-Beast World
Well, we finally did it. After helping a community of Wonderbeast Raccoons and Scavengers get rid of the Mega Pidgeon Twin Beaks, the group and I had found the second Clover. We were finally one step closer to reuniting Kipo with her father along with her Burrow. However, just when it seemed our goal was at hand, things took a turn for the worst. From discovering Kipo was part Wonderbeast, Wolf ran away from the shock. With leaving Kipo with Dave, the rest of the group and I ran off to get Wolf back. Getting through some bushes, we managed to find her and tried to call out to her.
"Wolf, stop!" Benson said, making the little growled at him. "So what if Kipo's part Wonderbeast? Everyone has secrets! That one's just a little bit bigger!"
"Yeah, the point is that it shouldn't matter at all!" I said as the group and I got out of the bushes and stood in front of her. "Can you at least try to understand her reason?"
"Yeah. Come back with us and let Kipo…" Aurico started before Wolf gave us a grunt and continued running.
Growling in annoyance that she wasn't gonna give Kipo a chance, we all then continued our pursuit when I said "Guys, come on!"
"Her legs are so short." Benson said, running out of breath. "How is she so fast?"
"Comes from years of training on the surface." Uncle Donnie told him. "Being a survivor, she's built up a lot of stamina."
"I still can't believe this is happening." Stella said, shocked by how Wolf was acting from finding out Kipo's secret.
"Yeah, after days of being with Wonderbeasts, she decides to run after finding out Kipo is one herself?" Musa questioned, not seeing any sense in Wolf's actions. "Why exactly is that a problem?"
"No idea." I told her. "Which is why we need to catch up to her so we can find out what's wrong." For knowing how Wolf was, I could tell that this was gonna be a long day.
[With Kipo]
"Let us go!" Kipo said to Jamack as I tried to get free, my wrists tied while I holding baby Dave. "This is not a good time to get kidnapped! We're kind of in the middle of something."
"Ha! Oh, sorry about that." Jamack told me before he gestured to how high up we were. "Hop off anywhere you like." I knew that I'd probably die if I tried anything, especially from this height.
"Fine! Land and then let us go!"
"And then what, Burrow Girl? Every Pack in the city is after you."
"What?" I was really confused from hearing that. "Why would they be after me?"
"Scarlemagne." Jamack said as he turned to me. "He knows where you're from and that you can lead him to your dirt loving humans. And, with them, he'll have an army large enough to conquer the surface. Whoever hands you over gets to live in his palace, wear fancy clothes, and be the second most powerful Wonderbeast in the Las Vistas! Let's just say I've already set my measurements."
"You wouldn't hand me over to Scarlemagne." I said. "Deep down, you know it's wrong. I saved your life!"
"Oh, what? From the Newton Wolves? I would've escaped on my own. Eventually."
"Really?" I raised an eyebrow at him. "ʹCause the way I remember it, was all... 'Oh, woe is me! I have to die here alone with the Burrow girl'! And I was all 'I'm gonna bust you out of here'."
"I'm gonna bust you out of here." Jamack mimicked in a mocking tone before speaking normally. "Face the facts! It's a beast-eat-beast world up here and you're a human!"
"You sound just like my friend, Wolf! Except she's more of a 'humans rule, Wonderbeasts drool' kind of gal. And I'm like 'Can't we all rule'?"
"Well, you sound like a headache. So…" He was cut short because something flew into his mouth, making his cheek puff up. After he spat it out, I saw it was a Dubstep Bee who was very pissed off by what just happened before Jamack smacked him away. "I'm just gonna pretend that didn't happen."
"I'm not." I said with a smug grin.
"Oh, just shut up!" The frog cried out. "You're my prisoner now and that Tribe boy boyfriend of yours ain't here to save you."
"Not yet, he ain't." I said to him, talking to myself. She just hoped that Axel and the others were having some luck trying to bring Wolf back.
Under an old bridge, we managed to catch up with Wolf while Aurico helped Benson walk over.
"You sure you're okay?" My cousin asked while Benson was panting heavily.
"Yeah. Yeah, totally." He answered before walking forward. "Just…way out of shape." He then spoke to Wolf. "Are you doing cardio in your sleep or something? Aaaahhh!" Wolf used her staff to trip Benson and made him land on his back, pointing the stinger right at his face.
"Turn back now before you get lost." She said before I grabbed the staff, raising it up.
"Not without you." I told her before she tried to do the same to me, but I dodged her attack with a jump and blocked with the use of my metalbending.
"Whoa, whoa!" Benson said as he quickly shot up. "Let's all calm down for a minute." He turned to Wolf. "Look, we get where you're coming from. We're all surface people. We're the same."
"Yeah." Gordy added backing him up. "We're all survivors."
"So we know that you think Kipo is different." Stella said, supporting them. "We all think she's different."
"Yeah." Thora added with a bright smile. "Kipo's like an erupting volcano of sugar and spice, a fountain of rainbows and teddy bears."
"What's a teddy bear?" Wolf asked as she pulled her staff back and raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"Exactly!" Benson exclaimed. "I know it's weird she's part Wonderbeast, turning into a Wonderbeast, or whatever's happening…"
"She's part Wonderbeast, that's all." I said as I canceled my metalbending before walking over to Wolf. "We all know it's weird that this happening to her, but she's still the same Kipo who I brought to you for help, the same person for who we all decided to help get back home. Kipo is Kipo, no matter how weird she might be."
"Yeah, she's still the same girl you made friends with." Aurico said, backing me up. "You're not really gonna bail on her, are you?"
Hearing the sound of motors and catching a smell I haven't smelled in a while, we all quickly ducked into a bush for a cover as a trio of Scooter Skunks parked where we were standing.
"Are we sure the Burrow Girl and her friends are down here?" one of the skunks said.
"They aren't on the road." The one leading them said. "We keep searching. Nobody hands them to Scarlemagne, but the Scooter Skunks!"
After they drove off, using their spray to increase their speed, the group and I popped our heads out of the bushes, shocked by what we just learned.
"Scarlemagne is after us?" Benson asked as we got out of the bushes. "This is bad, real bad. Even worse than that smell. Wow, those skunks are ripe!"
"Tell me about it." I said, trying to fan the stink away with my hand.
"He's after you." Wolf clarified as she walked off. "There's no 'us'. I'm getting out of here."
"Seriously?" Musa said as she couldn't believe what she was hearing. "We're this close to getting Kipo back to her dad! We can see the second Clover from the Trash Pit! We have to go back there!" Then all of the sudden, a familiar squeal was heard and we all watched as Mandu came running in.
"Mandu?" Benson said, surprised to see her out here.
"Whoa! Calm down, girl." I said, kneeling down to the piglet's level. "What's wrong?" She kept squealing, making me really wish could I could understand what she was saying right now.
"Mandu, we don't speak squeal." Mandu glared at Brook with a serious look.
"Wait, if she's here, then…" I said as I soon realized with horror. "Where's Kipo?" There, I then spoke to the piglet. "Mandu, are you trying to say Kipo and Dave got captured?" The pig nodded her head.
"Oh, no. This is terrible." Uncle Donnie said, knowing how dire the situation was.
"Wolf, come on!" Benson called out. "We gotta help them!"
"I don't gotta do anything, but survive long enough to get out of this death trap." Wolf retorted before she jumped up a van to get higher. "I won't be hunted over a couple of Wonderbeasts." She then started walking away.
"Wolf, maybe you never had a friend before," I said to her, making her pause for the moment. "but Kipo is your friend and this is not how friends treat each other!"
"And I was stupid enough to believe to believe she was." She said before she started running again.
"Guys, come on!" I said as I continued on. "We got to keep going!"
"3, give it up!" Gordy told me. "Wolf wants nothing to do with us."
"Yes, I'm afraid I have to agree with him." Kylo said, agreeing with him. "She obviously wants us to leave her be."
"I don't care. We can't leave her behind like this." I told the group. "We survived for this long because we all stuck together. We need her to save Kipo and she needs us just as much. No one gets left behind, especially in our group. So are you coming or not?"
"Well, when you're right, you're right." Aurico said as he and the others (except for Benson and Mandu) started coming over to join me. "We leave no man or woman behind."
I then watched as Mandu squealed while pushing up against Benson's legs, urging him to follow.
"I know, I know. He's right." He said before we all then went back to chasing after Wolf.
[With Kipo]
"Yeah, and she just ran off! After everything we've been through!" I said as I told Jamack what happened. "We faced a Mega Monkey, fought a two-headed bird, braided each other's hair…" She paused at that last part. "Okay, we haven't braided each other's hair, but it's gonna happen! And now she's willing to throw all those good things away just because well...One thing that even isn't my fault! "
"Oh, boo-hoo!" Jamack said to me. "So your friend just ran off on you. At least she didn't snip your tie and kick you out of the only home you've ever known!" He snapped.
"Man, that sounds rough. Wanna talk about it?"
"No! No more talking!" Jamack snapped, making me sigh at what he said before I looked to the right and saw a Mod Frog jumping through the clouds.
"Uh...Jamack?"
"I said no more talk—Huh?" When he heard that other buzz, he looked over to see it was his old friends.
"Knock-knock, Jamack." The red-eyed frog greeted.
"Oh, it's you two." He said to them. "Nice try. But the Burrow girl is mine!"
"Oh, you know we're gonna take her from you." The big frog said. "We got the Mod Frogs at our back and all you got is a stolen dragonfly."
" Also, your tie?" the red-eyed frog said to him. "It's uneven." With his friend laughing, Jamack then made his dragonfly ram into theirs, which started a whole fight and I ended up in the middle of a tug of war.
"Sounds like you guys are dealing with some rough stuff." I said, trying to get them to take this fight down to the ground. "We should all land and talk this out."
"Fat chance!" Jamack said before he rammed at his old pals at full speed, causing them to let go of me. I'm not sure how, but I was able to overhear what the frogs were saying as I fell with Dave in my arms.
"Oh, give it up, Jamack." The eyed tree frog said. "You've always been a loser since you were a tadpole."
"Hey! That's not fair!" I told him. "He managed to get me this far all by himself! That's got to count for something!"
"Wait, are you and the human pals?" the big frog asked before she and the red-eyed frog laughed.
"Would you stop defending me?" Jamack told me before he shot his tongue out the big frog's head and spring himself forward, grabbing me with his tongue and getting us back to his dragonfly. We both watched as his old buddies crashed into a branch, making him laugh. "Heh-heh-heh. I still got the old magic."
"You sure do." I said to him with a grin before tossing baby Dave into the air and caught a branch, catching the bug with my legs and getting us both off the dragonfly. The branch then snapped and we landed back on the ground. As I helped Dave up, he shed his skin and turned into a toddler. After biting the rope off my wrist, I then grabbed Dave and tried to make a run for it. "Come on! We got to warn the others!"
"Oh, nice try, Burrow girl." Jamack said as he landed in front of us. "But you forget. You're at the bottom of the food chain and I plan on going to the top." Before he could take us back to his dragonfly, the ground broke apart and we fell into a hole.
"Ew! Why is it so dusty in here?" Dave said as I looked to see he was now a teenager. "I'm not scared. It's just weird." Just then, a cloud of dirt fell on his face, literally making him sneeze out of his teenager stage and into an adult. "Whoa!" He quickly backed away and avoided nearly getting stepped on by a sleeping baby Mega Bunny.
"Nobody panic." Kipo said as I saw the whole bunch of baby Mega Bunnies in front of us. "I think we fell into a Mega Bunny warren." Looking over, I saw Jamack was hyperventilating and shaking in slight fear.
"Not the bunnies. Not again." He said before I then realized how cute these Mega Bunnies were while they were asleep.
"Look at that snuggly, little snoozy bunny face!" She said, holding my hands against my cheeks before snapping myself out of it and putting my hands forward to remind myself what happened last time. "No, no. We can't pet it. Remember what happened last time." I was tried my best to resist the urge to pet the Mega Bunnies. "Unless we wash our hands… NO! Re…sit…the urge…to…pet…" With a loud stomp, we all looked to a tunnel and saw the shadow of the mother getting closer.
"Aah! What do we do? Where do we go?" Jamack said as he panicked. "Wait, we'll just bury ourselves!" He then got on his knees and started digging. "It's the only way!"
"Whoa! This dude is full-on freaking out." Dave commented as we were going to leave, but I could help but I feel like I shouldn't leave him like this.
Even though he was the reason why I was in this mess and my gut was telling me to leave, my heart said differently so I ran up to Jamack, pulling him away from the babies. As the Mega Bunny was getting closer, I looked around to see if there was a way out and managed to find a large open pipe. Getting all of us in, we managed to avoid getting crushed as the mother laid down on her babies.
"I'm just gonna say what we're all thinking." Dave said as he ate some dirt, Jamack trying his best not to croak by covering his mouth. "This dirt tastes good."
"Come on." I told them as I lead the way through the pipe, the two Wonderbeasts following behind two mutes following behind.
[With AF3]
After a while of following her, we came across a few mud puddles much to Benson's displeasure.
"Man, they stopped making these 200 hundred years ago!" Benson whined as his shoes now had mud on them. "You know what I had to do to get them?"
"Oh, calm down. They can be cleaned." Aurico told him.
"Yeah. All they need is a little scrub down and they'll be as good as new." I said, supporting my cousin.
"Stop following me." Wolf demanded. "You're gonna get us caught."
"Then stop running and we can keep up." Benson said, causing Wolf to do the opposite.
"Oh, come on!" Benson exclaimed as we all continued the chase, following Wolf as she easily made her way over what used to be an old ice cream truck.
We weren't far behind with Benson carrying Mandu on his back. While most of the group and I went around the truck, Brandon and Benson went through and accidentally turned on the music of the vehicle, making Wolf growl for the music would attract the Packs.
"You here that?" Looking up, we all saw a small group of Humming Bombers flying over us. "6'o'clock!" With those birds flying down, we all then went into hiding, holding onto the side of the bridge we were on. "Eyes peeled for boogies!" We tried to keep still with one wrong move, Brandon made some pieces of concrete fall causing one of the hummingbirds to start walking over to investigate. Thinking fast, we all then managed to get under the bridge and hang onto some protruding bars to avoid being seen.
"I say we drop some nectar bombs." A female bird said, coming in a rather excited tone. "Smoke them out of whatever hole they're hiding!"
"You think this is a toy? One slip and we're a Sunday roast!" After a moment, I gave a sigh in relief when I heard "There's nothing here. Humming Bombers, let's fly!"
"Whoo! That was close!" Benson commented after we climbed back onto the bridge.
"That was stupid!" Wolf said, scolding him. "We could've died! Just go away! I can survive on my own!"
"Aren't you tired of just surviving?" Benson inquired her. "Obviously, you can handle yourself."
"Yeah." Aurico said, agreeing with him. "I mean, you jumped up over a whole truck out there. Like, how did you do that? You're four feet tall and it was a truck!"
"That's enough, Rico." I said to my cousin before speaking to Benson. "Benson, you were saying?"
"Thanks." Benson said to me before he spoke to Wolf. "Look, Wolf, I know you don't need us or Kipo to survive. But without us, that's all you do. Don't you want to see what else there is? Don't you want to see what we could all do together?"
"Yeah." Brook said, backing him up. "You've already seen what it's like playing nice with others."
"I'm done playing nice with others." She said before using the end of her staff to vault herself down into the forest.
"Wait!" Benson called out, but she ignored him and kept running. "Now we're never gonna catch her!"
"Oh, yes, we will." I said before jumping across. "Come on! We got to get ahead of her!"
[With Kipo]
After reaching the end of the pipe, I knocked out a grate and we all got out to find ourselves in a sewer tunnel.
"Come on." I said to Jamack and Dave as we walked through the tunnel.
"So…about what you saw back there?" The frog said dusting himself off. "I wasn't scared! I was just… Look, promise you'll never ever tell anyone about this! Ever!"
"Ooh! I love making promises." I said, liking how he wanted me to keep a promise. "Almost just as much as I love keeping them."
The frog growled before he said "You nauseate me. Who keeps promises? Wait, you should though."
"Hmm." Holding up my hand, I found out where the wind was coming from. "Breeze is coming from the left. We should head this way." She began to walk in that direction.
"How do you know which way is left?" Jamack asked as we walked down the path.
"My dad taught me." I told him. "That one's left and that one's right. It's pretty basic stuff."
"N-no. I mean, how can you see?" he asked as Dave bumped into a pipe. "It's pitch black in here."
"Where is everybody?" Dave asked, using his arms to tell what's in front of him.
"It is? But you can see."
"Well, that's because I'm a frog and frogs have impeccable night vision." He told me. "But humans can't see in the dark, yet you can, so…" When I turned around to face Jamack he gasped in shock. I was confused at first, but I then realized what spooked him. Seeing how Axel's eyes changed, I knew that my eyes changed too, which explained how I could see in the dark. "What are you?"
"I don't know." I told him. "I think I could… maybe be… part Wonderbeast?"
"Part Mute?" Dave said as he came up, shocked by this. "What the bug in the rug?"
"You're a human and a Wonderbeast?" Jamack said in disbelief. "What kind of freak are you?"
"Finally." I said before sitting down. "Something we can agree on."
"What? You want to talk about it?"
"Yes!" Turning to face him, I vented out everything that's been on my mind since this whole thing started. "Okay, so all my life, I've been just an average person with an above-average reading level and then finally I turned thirteen and everything just goes crazy! I mean, my dad told me about body changes after I turned thirteen, but nothing like this! I have fur that pops out of my arm and then it goes away! Where does it go? And I can see in the dark and, I haven't told anyone this, but I can also smell like everything. It's disgusting."
"You've been a Wonderbeast this whole time?" Dave said, not knowing what he was pointing at was a pipe and not me. "Am I the last one to find out?"
"But the worst part is that my best friend hates me for it." I turned around and looked down at ditch, sad from remembering how I lost Wolf as a friend.
"Uh…okay." Jamack said to me. "I'm guessing that's the short, intense one?"
"Wolf, yeah." I told him. "I was afraid to tell her because I thought she wouldn't want to be my friend anymore and I was right."
"She had it out for me ever since we met." Dave said, still thinking he was talking to me. "I'm gonna go ahead and say it. Wolf—Aah!" Looking over for a bit, I saw he fell off the edge and into the ditch. "Haves issues. Ow!"
"I don't know." Jamack said as he sat down beside me. "Maybe she's just scared."
"I don't want her to be scared of me."
"N-no. Not scared of you. Scared of change." Hearing him say that, I looked over to him. "When you spend your whole life believing one thing and it gets ripped away, you do some pretty drastic stuff. Not always smart stuff." Hearing him being so open actually made me feel better. I even smiled at what he was saying. "So what I'm saying is she's weak right now. Perfect time for you to use your Wonderbeast powers to hunt her down and break her. Or use your psychical supremacy to become Queen of the Humans and make her your servant. You're welcome." Though the last part he said didn't really seem like an option I want, the rest did help me figure out what to do.
"I think I'll just give her some time." Kipo said. "You made a really good point, Jamack. She's probably just scared."
"I said that?" He said and I nodded. "That doesn't sound like me."
"And there's also a good thing. I'm not the only one who understands me more than others."
"Wait, what?" Jamack raised an eyebrow. "Who?"
"Axel. He's part Wonderbeast too, like me."
"Hang on, you mean that Fire Dragon? He's a Wonderbeast too?" I nodded at his question. "How many of you are there?"
"Yo, Jamack!" Dave said, getting our attention while pointing to a whole above that was shining light from outside. "How much height can you get?"
"Oh. Get on." He said and that's what we did before Jamack jumped high into the hole, getting on the ladder and climbing up. I pushed the cover off and we were back on the surface.
"Phew! So what happens now?" I asked.
"Now I hand you over to Scarlemagne, obtain the power I so rightfully deserve, and get revenge on everyone who's ever wronged me." Jamack said with a smile.
"Seriously?" She exclaimed. "After all that, I was hoping you'd say 'Now we turn around, find Wolf, and convince her to let you braid her hair'." Just when I said that, the same Dubstep Bee from earlier flew over to Jamack.
"Oh, you again? Get out of here!" Jamack said as he was doing his best to swat it away. "You didn't seriously think we were becoming friends—Ow! Leave me alone!"
"I was hoping we were." I said, feeling sad that we weren't friends. "Because, now it means I have to do this!" I then pushed him back into the hole and put the cover back on. "Come on, we've gotta find Wolf!" With that, I grabbed Dave as we made a run for it, accidentally ripping off his arm.
"Ahh!" He groaned in annoyance as he tried to catch up. "Wait up!"
After managing to get ahead, we set up a trap and wait for Wolf to come around. When she did, we all watched for her to look around. Once she thought she lost us, we watched as he walked right into the trap, getting ensnared and held up in the air by a refrigerator.
"Finally! Got ya!" Aurico said as we all came out of hiding. "Not only did we manage to catch you, but I also got you back for trapping me and 3 way back. Ah-ha! Yeah, you got Sloan'd!"
"Now if you ever want to experience freedom again, you have to tell us what's doing on!" Benson said to her, the piglet on his head squealing in agreement. Wolf then use her staff to slice the rope and getting herself down.
"Wolf, you know that fighting us isn't gonna solve anything." Uncle Donnie said to her, making her walk away.
"Oh, come on, Wolf." I said to the little warrior, trying to get her to tell us what was wrong. "You helped us teach both the Scavengers and the raccoons how to fight, you had plenty of chances to kill Dave and you didn't take a single one. And Benson told me you once pet Mandu." After listing all the things she's done as I watched Mandu walk over to her. "Seeing all that, it's clear to me that you don't hate all Wonderbeasts. Not with the same hate you showed me when we tracked down the wolves who raised you."
"Hold up!" Aurico said as I realized what I just said. "You tracked down who?"
"Yeah. That's what I helped her with." I said, telling the group exactly what Wolf owed me. "What she owes me is for my help in tracking down the wolf parents of the pack that took her in. You know that cloak she's wearing? That's actually the mother wolf of that pack." That last detail both disgusted and shocked the group with horror.
"She skinned one of the wolves that raised her?" Musa said with shock.
"Jesus! No wondering you didn't want to talk about it." Aurico said to me, understanding why I wasn't willing to tell the story of how Wolf came to owe me a favor.
"The point is," I said as I spoke to Wolf, "this clearly has nothing to do with you hating Kipo for being a Wonderbeast. If that's not the case, then what is this actually about?"
Wolf paused for a moment before she said "She lied to me."
"Yeah, well you lied to her too." I pointed out. "You didn't tell her that about the map to the second Burrow and she forgave you for that. Why can't you do the same?"
"She lied about who she is!" She snapped. "There's a difference!"
"There is nothing different about this!" I told her as I marched over to her. "You were scared of having to say goodbye and losing your friend! Kipo was scared of being rejected and losing you as a friend! Both of you lied for the exact same reason, because of your friendship with each other."
"If that's true, then how am I ever gonna trust her again?"
"Because your friendship isn't a lie. You're practically sisters. You can't fake that."
"You're wrong." She told me angrily as she walked away. "You can fake it."
"So you're just gonna run away like a coward?" I asked, making Wolf pause and growl at me.
"What did you say?" Looking over her shoulder, I saw her eyes were filled with the intent to kill.
"Um, Axe…" Benson said, trying to get me to stop.
"You heard me." I said, ignoring him as Wolf walked over and glared at me. "Instead of facing this problem head-on like I've seen you done before, you're just making a coward's move by running away."
"And what about you? You've lived up here longer then I have. When haven't you run away?"
"I only ran because I wanted to live." I told her. "There were other times from when that wasn't the case, but that was when I had no choice. What you're doing is entirely different. Sure, rescuing Kipo could get you killed, but I can see that all this is because you don't want to confront her about her being part Wonderbeast. Honestly, you act like she betrayed you or something!" From there, I then began to piece it together. It was at that moment that I realized that Wolf's reason for running away was the same reason why she hunted the wolves who raised her. More importantly, it was the reason why she didn't trust Wonderbeasts. "You were betrayed before, weren't you? The wolf pack that raised you, they betrayed you."
"Yeah." Wolf said as she turned her back to me.
"Wolf," I said to her, speaking to as a friend, "it's time to tell the truth."
Wolf took a moment before she then spoke "It was only a few years ago. A pair of wolves took me in and raised me as one of their own."
[Flashback; the forest, dusk of night]
A young Wolf is seen dressed in a school girl's uniform, her hair tied in pigtails as she stood around in front of a house, watching the wolf pups practicing fighting techniques with the parent wolves watching from the house. After seeing one doing an overhead toss to the other and seeing them have a little laugh, Wolf slowly walked over to them with a friendly smile. Though her actions cause the two pups to lose their smiles and run off to practice somewhere else. After adjusting her tie, she looked back to another pair of pups doing getting into a slap fight before one tries to lift the other, the action resulting in her dropping her sibling on top of her. After seeing them share a laugh, Wolf walked over and waved at them, being met with the same reaction.
"She hasn't made much progress." The mother wolf said, her and the father wolf looking upon Wolf with emotionless expressions.
"We only found her a year ago." The father wolf pointed out. "Give her time."
Though it seemed this wouldn't be the case. Walking around, Wolf only watched as the pups simply walked away from her, not wanting to be around the human girl. Just when it seemed like she was going to give up, Wolf looked over to find a wolf pup sitting by herself. Walking over to her, Wolf saw that the pup was picking flowers from a nearby bush and making them into a flower crown, one that she instantly put on before she turned to Wolf with a smile. Seeing this, Wolf returned the smile. Taking her by surprise, the wolf pup took off the crown and used her teeth to break the band before she then stood up, grabbed Wolf's arm, and used half of it to make a bracelet around her wrist. She used the other half to make one for herself before they both held them up in front of each other as a sign of friendship with each other. From there, the two joined the other pups in practicing, the pup beating Wolf as the others came around, right before Wolf brought her down and the children all shared a laugh. Seeing this, a corner of the father wolf's mouth curved a small bit, his indication of feeling proud that Wolf had managed to get along with his pups.
"So you made friends with one of the wolf pups?" I said, surprised to find that Wolf actually had a friend before Kipo.
"Margo." Wolf said to me, telling me the pup's name. "She was the first friend I've ever had. My best friend. Or at least, I thought she was."
"Wolf…"
"I practically grew up with the wolves and trained with them. They taught me almost everything I know in order to survive."
[Flashback]
Wolf is seen running through an obstacle course with some of the wolf pups, the pup Margo flowing behind. While those behind were unable to catch up, Wolf and Margo kept going, belly crawling to the last obstacle, Wolf was able to close in on the finish line easily while Margo fell into the water the minute she stepped on a log. Before she crossed, Wolf looked back at went over to help Margo over to the finish, the two girls sharing a laugh as they reached the end. They both stopped laughing as they looked to see the parent wolves looking down at them. the two looked at each other for a moment before the parents actually smiled proudly at Margo and Wolf.
"Welcome to the pack." Margo said before she and Wolf shared a howl, a wolf's way of celebrating, before hugging each other.
"They made me feel as if I was home, that I was like their own. They treated me like a member of the pack." Wolf said as I could feel the pain she was feeling from remembering what happened between her and her old pack. "But that all changed one day."
"I managed to get away." Wolf said to me finishing her story. "After that, I promised myself that I would never have anything with Wonderbeasts so I will never be tricked like that again."
[Flashback]
Wolf is standing with the wolf pups, holding Margo's paw as they listen to what the mother wolf was telling them with their father wolf standing behind.
"Today is our first family hunt." She said to her children. "You've proven yourselves to be swift, strong, and skilled." She placed a paw on Wolf's shoulder as she looked at the little girl with a smile. With this, Wolf then walked with her as the two of them stood in front of pack. "But so…has your pray."
Hearing this, Wolf was shocked hearing that the first family hunt would not be with her hunting with the pack, but being hunted by the pack. Seeing anger in the wolf pups eyes, Wolf then started running, heading into the forest with her pack right behind her. With the moon shining down on her, she kept running as she heard the sounds of howling, knowing that the wolf pups were not far behind. From looking back with tears in her eyes, Wolf failed to see the branch in front of her and tripped. Wolf looked back, tears still following from her eyes from being betrayed by the wolves she actually considered family. Picking herself up, she tried to run again but stopped when she realized she lost the bracelet Margo made for her. She ran back to get it and got it while wiping the tears from her eyes, but soon realized that she couldn't escape as the pups now had her surrounded. Looking forward, she saw Margo and her mother walk over to the father wolf, said wolf growling at Wolf like his children.
"But… you said we were a pack." Wolf said in disbelief.
Margo looked to her mother, the mother wolf motioning her head for her daughter to join the pack in capturing Wolf. With regret in her eyes, Margo glared at Wolf.
"We're wolves. You're… a human." Margo said, feeling conflicted as she spoke before she growled at her.
With being betrayed by the entire pack who raised her, Wolf glared back as her hatred and anger for them had now ignited within her.
"I managed to get away." Wolf said to me finishing her story. "After that, I promised myself that I would never have anything with Wonderbeasts so I will never be tricked like that again."
"So after everything they done for you, the pack just turned on you and hunted you down as prey." I said as I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "No wonder you don't trust Wonderbeasts." It was there, I truly understood why Wolf ran off like that. "That's why you ran away. You're scared that Kipo is going to betray you like your old pack."
"I returned the favor I owed you." Wolf said as she started walking away. "We're done. You can get her back home yourselves." Before she got any further, I got in front of her and stopped her. "Get out of my way."
"No."
"Axel, get out…"
"No." I said once again, raising my voice a little higher. Suddenly she then swung her staff, trying to trip me but I easily dodged it.
"Wolf! Stop!" Stella said as she and the others were running over to me.
"Stay back!" I said as I continued dodging Wolf's attacks, stopping them. "Let me handle this!" As Wolf brought her staff down, I managed to catch the pole and managed to stop her attacks. "Wolf, you can't keep doing this. I know you had a rough past, but those scars you have are only gonna hold you back."
"How would you know?"
"Because I've been through the same thing you're doing. At one time in my life, I experienced something truly awful. It tore me apart. I wanted to run away, run from everything and forget all the pain I had. But running away from your problems never solves anything, that the only way things will get better is if you have to face them head-on. I know you feel hurt, but let me ask you. Do you really Kipo would want to hurt you? That girl haves more heart than anyone I've ever seen in my whole life. She is willing to help others, she wants to experience new things, and she really isn't one to hold a grudge, even to Wonderbeasts who tried to kill us in these days alone." Seeing Wolf was trying to convince herself not to listen to me, I sighed as I knew I only had one option left, the only thing to show her that will get her to understand. "Look, I'm sorry for what happened to you, but you can't keep living in the past. If you run now, you'll be left with nothing but regret for the rest of your life. A life of solitude brings no joy. That's what I learned from it." From there, I kneeled down and put the stinger rip up against my neck, shocking everyone with the group gasping and Wolf not yet understanding what I was doing. "If you really hate Wonderbeasts…" With that, I then made my fur appear on my arm, revealing the secret I had been keeping from her, "then you'll have no problem killing me." Looking at her straight in the eye, I watched as she gasped and her eyes widened.
"You're… a Wonderbeast too?" Wolf said to me, shocked to find that I was like Kipo.
"A hybrid, but yeah." I told her. "I didn't you because I was afraid of what you might think of me, that you would hate me. If you want to kill me for being like this, I understand. But would you kill Kipo for what she is too? For being a Wonderbeast?"
Wolf didn't have time to answer before we heard howling coming in from all directions. Being put on high alert, we all then huddled together and prepared for a fight. With one very close howl, Wolf gasped as we all turned to see Black Billions who was joined by his brother White Billions.
"Hello, Jolene." Black Billions greeted. "Remember us?" Just then, more wolves appeared, all growling, snarling, and baring their fangs as they surrounded us.
"We had you all right under our noses and we couldn't sniff you out." Good Billions said. "Won't make that same mistake again. So tell us, where is she?"
"If you're looking for Kipo, then you're out of luck pal." Aurico told him.
"Yeah, we don't know where she is!" Benson answered.
"Even if we did, we would never sell her out either!" I added, getting into stance and preparing for the inevitable fight.
"Pity." Black Billions commented. "We'll find her soon enough."
"In the meantime, you'll do fine as a nice mid-hunt snack." Good Billions said with a grin. Hearing a clang, I looked to see Wolf dropped her weapon. It didn't take me long to realize that she was in shock from remembering what her old pack did to her, caused by the appearance of the Newton Wolves.
"Wolf, calm down." I said, trying to get her to snap out of it. "Wolf!"
Just when the wolves were going to attack, I looked to see Kipo running over to us. I then watched as she skids to stand in between us and the two alpha wolves and kicked up Wolf's staff, pointing at the Billions with a serious expression on her face.
"Kipo?" Wolf said, snapping out of her trance and shocked to see Kipo ready to fight.
"I'm here too, just F.Y.I.!" Dave said as he ran over to us.
"Don't hurt them! I'm the Burrow girl!" Kipo said. "I'm the one Scarlemagne wants! Take me instead!"
"Instead?" Black Billions said with a chuckle. Suddenly, the sound of engines came in and it wasn't long until three Scooter Skunks came from a broken road above, landing down behind us.
"Not so fast, moon boy." One of the skunks said.
"Excuse me?" White Billions asked, irritated by the comment while adjusting his glasses.
"Hand her over," The leading skunk said, "or things are gonna get real…stinky." With that, all their tails gave off light fumes.
"Fools!" We then turned to see the Mod Frogs appear, their boss Satori coming down with the use of her flies. "The Mod Frogs were the first to find the Burrow girl. She's ours." With the wind starting to pick up, we all then watched as the Humming Bombers we came across flew down.
"Coming in hot!" The leading humming bomber yelled out, him and his flock flying over us and perching themselves on a few branches. "Hand over the human, groundies, or we're all heading up to the sky."
"I'll do it!" The eager female bird said, holding up one of their vails of explosive nectar. "I'm craaazyy!"
Now we were in a bad situation. Now there wasn't just one Pack to worry about, but four of the most dangerous Wonderbeast Packs in Las Vistas. Yet despite this, I couldn't help but smirk before giving them a taunt for them to give us everything they got. However, before any fighting could happen, the sounds of dragonfly wings were heard, accompanied by a familiar laughter. We all turned and were surprised to find that it was Jamack.
"Hehe, alright, okay. Everyone, take a seat." He said as he walked toward his old accomplices and boss, but ignored her. "Hey, you two. Good to see you back on your feet." He then pats them on the shoulders. "Because, remember? You fell?" Satori growled from seeing him as he walked over to the Billions, patting them on the head. "Oh, wow! Everyone's here. Perfect stuff." He dusted off his hands as he then walked to the group and I. "Hell of a show everyone applause." The former mod frog then pulled out some very long rope, no doubt wanting to use it to tie the group and me up. "Thanks for holding onto my prisoners, folks, but I'll take it from here, okay?" He then went on and tied us up. "Why don't you all head out before things get messy?" Everybody was confused by this for a moment before the Packs all broke down laughing, hardly believing his threat. "Yeah, yeah. Keep it going, everyone. You're gonna love it. It's gonna be great." He then sighed in content nervously. "You idiots." Nearby, the wolves' noses were picking up on something. I took a whiff of the air and found a familiar scent.
"Hey, why do I smell Mega Bunny?" I asked before I looked to see that one of the Newton Wolves had a clump of white fur on his coat.
"Mega Bunny fur." Kipo said, recognizing the fur instantly.
"Huh." I said before I looked back to Jamack, impressed by this. "Never knew you had the guts to do something like that."
All of the sudden, the ground began to shake and it wasn't long until Jamack's old accomplices found the fur Jamack put on them, gasping from realizing what he had done. Upon seeing they had fur on their suites. Within seconds, the adult Mega Bunny burst straight out of the ground, sending everyone flying into the air. After screaming and flying through the air with the group, I then watched as Jamack then used his tongue and the red-eyed tree frog to propel us forward, getting us on the Mega Bunny's back. As we ran down the Mega Mutant's back, a Scooter Skunk appear, coming right at us. Making quick work, Jamack jumped, snagged the scooter, and began driving it down the Mega Bunny. I used my metalbending to grab everyone as I ran to keep up with Jamack, carrying everyone with me. As they were doing so, the Humming Bombers got right on our tail. The crazy female hummingbird pulled the pins on two vails while laughing like a maniac. But Jamack put the scooter's brakes on make him shoot forward while the two-wheeler crashed into the birds. I jumped and was preparing to put everyone down when I looked to see that some of the vials of nectar fly right past us, all of them fall straight to the ground. From smashing on the ground, the vials created a massive explosion to send even the Mega Bunny flying. Luckily, Jamack managed to use his tongue to hold onto us as he rode all of us out on a dragonfly.
After getting out of the store, me and the others watched as Uncle Donnie, Musa, and Wolf spray Thora, Stella, and Kipo down with spray, the three girls coughing as they got sprayed. We were all pretty much quiet as we thought Jamack was taking us straight to Scarlemagne. But, oddly enough, he actually took us back to the city ruins and just stood there, not even looking back at us.
"So I guess this is it." Kipo said, breaking the silence. "You're gonna get everything you wanted, huh?"
"There's something you don't understand, Kipo." Jamack said as he turned around to walk over to her, surprising me that used her name. "Up here, you have to be selfish to survive. You don't seem to know how to do that." He claps his hands together and puts on a fake smile. "You insist on helping and talking. One day, it'll be your end." With a grim look and without hesitation, he then untied her and the rest of us, one by one. "Now take your friends…" He then turned around and went back to where he was standing before. "And go."
"What?" the group and I said in disbelief that he was letting us go.
"You're letting us go?" Aurico asked.
"Just go…before I change my mind." He told us.
"Whoa! She changed your heart, dude!" Dave said before he got a tongue lash from the frog, scaring him. "He's changing his mind! Bail! Bail!" While Kipo and the others ran, I actually stopped, knowing that I had to do something before leaving.
"Why are you still here?" Jamack asked me.
"Because there's one thing I have to do before I leave." I said as I walked over to him before holding out my hand.
"What are you doing?" Jamack questioned.
"What's it look like? I'm giving you a handshake."
"I don't shake hands with humans, especially with you Fire Dragons." Jamack sneered.
"I know." I said as I had the fur appear on my arm, my hand turning a claw. "But we're not like the others, are we?" After a moment, Jamack gave a sigh of annoyance before he accepted the gesture and shook my hand (or claw in this case)
"There, you happy? Now go." With that, I broke the shake and got going, turning my hand back to normal.
"I owe you one, Jamack." I told him with a grin while looking over my shoulder towards the frog. "And trust me, if there's one thing we Fire Dragons know, it's how to repaying back a debt."
"Yeah, I don't think that's gonna work out." The frog said. "I got plenty of ways for you to do it."
"We'll figure it out somehow." I said before running over to join the others.
[With Jamack]
"Huh." I said to myself, feeling a little respect for the kid. "That kid is really weird." I was taking in the moment, but then that damn Dubstep Bee from earlier got onto in my face. I tried to squash him, but slapped myself in the face instead.
After thanking Jamack, I was able to rejoin the group as we headed towards the direction of Mega Dog Valley, managing to get enough distance from the Mod Frog before he went after us again. Seeing Wolf lacking behind, I came up to her and nudged her with my shoulder, silently telling her to talk to Kipo before I ran ahead to give them some space.
"I'm sorry I ran." Wolf spoke up, getting Kipo's attention. "I was scared of what was happening to you, scared that you'd hurt me. I am still am, but…I'm tired of running."
"I'm scared too." Kipo said, walking up to her. "But, whatever happens on the outside, who I am on the inside isn't gonna change. We're sisters, no matter what." After a brief moment, Wolf then hugged her, making the Burrow girl gasp. "You're hugging me?" Even I was shocked to see it.
"Deal with it." Wolf said, repeating what Kipo said when she first hugged her and Kipo returned the gesture.
"We're here!" Benson called out.
"Yeah, come on!" Aurico added as the three of us caught up gazed right into a massive valley full of dandelions
"I can't believe it!" Kipo said, getting excited. "We're almost to the second Clover and my dad!"
"You're finally gonna get home, Kipo." I told her before one of the Mega Dogs came running by, making us shield our eyes.
"If we can make it through without the Mega Dogs chewing us to bits." Wolf said as they watched two of the Mega Dogs play with each other while the third one ran past them.
"The rottweiler will probably rip us apart." Uncle Donnie said as he looked at the dogs. "The only thing we have to worry about is the komondor and the corgi accidentally crushing us."
"Yeah, as friendly as they may look and how much they make you want to pet them, Wolf's right." Aurico admitted. "We're gonna need something to help us through here."
"I have an idea." Kipo spoke up. "Axel, can you bring out that can of tuna?"
"You want to use it? Okay." I said before I reached into my bag and pulled it out, passing it over to her. Once she had it, she clicked it open and released an odorous cloud from it. "Yeah, the Timbercats are gonna come running here now. I bet they can smell it from their village." From there, we then waited for some Timbercats to show up to help us.
Outside of Scarlemagne's Palace, the same Dubstep Bee from earlier was seen flying towards it. Inside, Scarlemagne was playing his piano while his "servants" were looking on, Venomous Kong standing beside him, the same human the Wonderbeast had named Francis, and the same flamingo rider AF3 and Kipo encountered in Rat Land seemed to be crying, tears following down their faces. As the mandrill continued to play, the bee came up to Venomous and began speaking to him in its own language, one the reptile was able to understand. From this, he then whispered into his master's ear, telling him what the Dubstep Bee told him.
"He… let… her… GO?!" Scarlemagne said in anger, slamming his fist on the piano in rage. He then took a moment to think before he gained a smile. "Wait, he let her go." Grinning, he then pulled a splinter from his knuckle. "It's genius!" The primate laughed as he turned to his servants. Keeping his grin, he then spoke to his bodyguard. "Venomous, ready my flamingos! I believe it's time I give the Burrow girl a visit."
"Yes, master." Venomous replied before he slithered off to do what he was told.
Author's Note: Hey, guys! Sorry it took me so long. I hoped you liked the chapter. Well, now you know more about Wolf. And now Wolf knows that Kipo and AF3 are hybrids and the bond between the sisters-in-arms has grown even stronger. Even better, Kipo is finally almost home and close to reuniting with her father who might hold the answer to the very mysteries that loom around the two hybrids. But, with Scarlemagne now planning to make a move, the conclusion to this journey is yet to come. 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!