Chapter 12: Close to Home

[A few weeks earlier, the Clover Burrow]

After the large wooden spike came through the ceiling, everyone in the Burrow began to panic and try to run to safety.

"Attention, Burrow residents!" said a voice over a P.A. system. "We are under attack! This is not a drill! We are under attack! Report to the emergency bunker immediately!"

With that, all of the residents of the Burrow began running towards the emergency bunker, all while avoiding collapsing debris from the ceiling. When the ceiling was completely gone, the Burrow residents all looked to see the one responsible was a Mega Monkey, the same one that AF3 and Kipo would encounter long after this. The wooden spike (as seen with the carvings on it) is revealed to be the Scratching Tree of the Timbercats, stolen by the Mega Mutant sometime prior to this. After it dropped the tree and it roared out in anger, everyone in the Burrow immediately all ran towards the bunker as fast as they could. Three of the residents (a couple of youths about Kipo's age) were captured by the Mega Monkey before they reached the bunker. Before the Mega Mutant could do anything else, its attention was dragged away by the sound of clanging, the source of it being Lio banging a metal pipe against a crash can.

"Hey! Yo, down here!" Lio called out, trying to help the kids escape. "Take me, not them!" With this, the Mega Monkey dropped the three close to the ground and went after Lio. "Hey!" Glaring and baring its teeth in anger, the Mega Monkey grabbed Lio and brought him up for it to look at him straight in the eye. Even though Lio glared back, it quickly changed into a look of understanding as he spoke to the Mega Mutant. "I know who sent you. This isn't you."

Oddly enough, the Mega Monkey instantly calmed down and gained a look of regret, Lio managing to calm it down like Kipo. Though this moment didn't last long as a familiar beeping was heard, the collar on the Mega Monkey's neck releasing another spray of Scarlemagne's hypnotic pheromones and placing the Mega Mutant on a rampage. While it began to attack the Burrow again, it lost its grip on Lio and Kipo's father began to fall. Luckily, he managed to get hold of one of the Mega Monkey's arms thanks to his guitar pick (the same one that Kipo would use in her attempt to calm the Mega Monkey in her first encounter with it) getting caught on some of its fur. Though he did not want to lose it, Lio had no choice but to remove his guitar pick, allowing him to safely get to the ground and run straight towards the bunker. Though, as everyone was running there and the doors were closing, Lio managed to injure his leg and wasn't able to run.

"I got you, Mr. Oak." Said one of the kids that Lio saved, the boy helping the teacher up and getting them both to the bunker.

It was a close call and the Mega Monkey was about to attack them, but Lio and the boy managed to get into the bunker just as the doors closed behind them. The Mega Monkey try to attempt to break into the bunker, but instantly gave up and began to leave.

"Did everyone make it through okay?" Said a man with blonde hair, revealing himself to be the voice from the P.A. system.

"Not quite." Lio told him, revealing that one member of the Burrow was missing. "I had to get Kipo out through the aqueduct."

"Why would you do that?" the man questioned him, shocked that Lio had done such a thing. "If the Burrow is ever breached, you are to report here to the bunker. We have to evacuate to Site B!"

There was a brief moment of silence until Lio spoke up and said "What is Site B?"

"Somewhere we can all be safe in case the Burrow was breached. The council kept it a secret so it wouldn't be compromised." the man explained to him as the wall at the back of the bunker began to move, revealing itself to be an entrance to a tunnel. "Out there is a labyrinth of old subway tunnels and sewer canals." As he continued, the people began to head into the tunnels, guide by certain members who one could only guess were specialized personnel. "And at the heart of it is a fully equipped backup Burrow, our new home."

"I have to go up to the surface to find Kipo!" Lio said, worried about his daughter. "If I had known there was a backup, I never would have sent her up there!"

"Well, I'm sorry you didn't follow Burrow protocol." The man said, showing that finding Kipo was not his main concern. "But, if you ever want to find Site B, you will march with us."

From this, Lio was shocked that the Burrow was going to a new Burrow and leave his daughter on the surface with no way to find them. Looking to the three kids he saved (who had stayed behind and looked to him on what he wanted them to do), Lio then motioned for them to follow the others to the backup Burrow. As the three walked down the stairs, Lio stood there as he put some thought on what he should do. With a sigh of sadness, Lio saw he had no choice but to go with the others and find Site B.

"I'll make sure you can come home, Kipo." Lio said to himself, praying for Kipo's safety. "I promise. Just stay safe." With that, he then went on and followed his fellow residents to the backup Burrow.

After opening that can of tuna about two hours ago, the group and I all wait for the Timbercats to arrive, everyone doing something to pass the time. Sora was telling jokes that he had thought of on the journey (which no one actually laughed at), Riku and Gordy were doing combat training, Aurico taking a nap, and Musa and Benson were comparing music. As for me, I was with Uncle Donnie as he was removing my bandages. Apparently, the time for my wing to heal had already past so I could be able to fly again.

"And… there!" Uncle Donnie said as he finished removing the bandages. "All done! How does it feel?"

"Good as new." I told him after giving a few test flaps, not feeling any pain. "Can't wait to fly again."

"You'll get to fly soon." Uncle Donnie told me, putting my bandages in my bag. "But first, we need to make sure Kipo gets home in one piece."

"Right." I said to him as I put my wings away, remembering we were almost to the second Clover. "I still can't believe we've gotten to the last stretch to Kipo's Burrow."

"Yes, I have to agree. It is astounding." I could tell that Uncle Donnie was smiling by the sound of his voice. "Not only do we get to help a girl return home and reunite with her family, but we also get some answers to very important questions we've had, especially some new ones we gained along the way."

"Yeah, like how my father became a Wonderbeast hybrid or how Kipo and I are hybrids like him. Along with how we can turn my mother back to normal."

"Even with why Fenyx had Nooroo swore to keep it all a secret."

"Yeah, speaking of Nooroo, him and the other kwamis haven't been very talkative ever since we found that first clue Mr. Oak left us. They've been mostly talking amongst themselves."

"I'm sure that they are trying their best to stay hidden so we don't draw attention to ourselves. Know how some of them are, it would be best to keep silent."

"I guess you're right, but still…" Before I could say any more, I felt someone come up behind and quickly turned around and grabbed them by the hand. Hearing them gasp, I found out that the person behind me was actually Kipo. "Kipo!" Trying to steady myself, I instantly let go of her hand and clutched my chest. "Sorry about that."

"It's okay." She told me, forgiving me for my actions. "I just came over to tell you that Yumyan and Molly are here."

"Oh, great." I said before the three of us joined the others and I saw Yumyan and Molly were there along with Pierre (who I had no doubt they used to get here so quickly). "Hey, Yumyan. Hey, Molly."

"Axel, my boy. Great to see ya." Yumyan said as he and Molly got off Pierre, the two walking over to us. "You opened the can of Tuna. Do you have it?"

"Right here." Kipo answered, presenting it to him and the Axe Lord took it.

"You've been making a lot of noise since we last saw ya." Molly told us with her paws crossed. "Word around town is…" She stopped talking because Yumyan was chewing his food loudly and continued once he was done. "Scarlemagne's put a bounty on your heads. We heard you took out four Packs with explosive nectar. I'm impressed, but…" She walks over and stands right next to Yumyan with him giving her the can, using a single claw to take the last piece of tuna inside. "Not enough to take you through that dog park." She licked the contents off her claw and then threw the can away.

"It's the one thing we absolutely cannot do. We are Timber Cats, which means we don't go near dogs." Yumyan firmly said before he gave a short explanation. "It's kind of an ancient rivalry thing."

"He is correct. Cats and dogs don't really have the best history in being friendly with each other, especially when the dog is bigger than the cat." Uncle Donnie said, making Kipo sigh before and Pierre then nuzzled his head up against her. As she gently grabbed the flea's head, I watched her smile as she gained an idea.

"Could we borrow Pierre?" She asked the Timbercats.

"Yeah, that we could do." Molly answered.

"Um, excuse me, Molly?" Yumyan said, not liking the idea of us borrowing his pet. "I am not loaning them Pierre!"

"They opened the tuna can and you ate it." Molly said. "You know the rules."

"They'll get dog slobber on him!" He argued, trying to convince her not to give Pierre to us. "It'd take weeks to get that stench out." She ignored him and began walking towards the flea. "And I just gave Pierre a bath!"

"Here. He's really good at jumping." Molly said as she gave Kipo the end of Pierre's leash.

"I'm the one who gets to decide which human gets to use my personal war parasite and I say…" He was cut off by seeing his beloved pet tickling Kipo with his tendrils, making the Burrow girl laugh. "Doooh!" After that groan, Yumyan then sighed as he gave up trying to argue. "Just…make sure you bring him back to me in one piece." Molly elbowed her leader in the gut for not having faith in us.

"Don't worry, Yumyan." I told him, reassuring him that Pierre would be fine. "If he survived long enough while you were up in a tree, then he can handle a few dogs." I then turned to the group. "Come on. Let's get to higher ground and figure out where we're going."

After managing to get to the right elevation, Kipo then put on the 3D glasses her father left her and looked around for the Clover.

"Which way do we go, Kipo?" I asked her as she kept searching.

"That way!" Kipo told us, pointing forward. "We're almost there!" Now determined to get across the valley, Kipo, Wolf, Benson, Dave, and Mandu mounted Pierre as we head into the field of large, mutated grass, the rest of the group and I walking alongside Pierre as we headed for the Clover.

"Great idea having Pierre tagging along." I said to Kipo, seeing how a Mega Flea can help us. "I read fleas have been able to elude dogs for years and manage to get the drop on them. Since Pierre is a Mega Flea, he can help us slip right past the Mega Dogs."

"Thanks, Axel." She said to me before she spoke to Wolf. "Hey, Wolf?"

"What?"

"I'm glad you came back."

"Me too." She flatly said.

"Oh, cheer up, Wolf." I told the young warrior. "This is a big day. We're finally getting Kipo back home!"

"Indeed. After weeks of traveling, we're finally going to achieve the goal we set out on." Uncle Donnie said, agreeing with me. "And we're going to be fine as long as nothing attracts those Mega Dogs."

"Hey!" Dave said as he spotted something. "Check it out! Dandelion puffs! There's a superstition about these. If you blow on one and every seed comes off, you'll have good luck all day long!"

"Dandelions?" Uncle Donnie said as he stopped with shock before he turned around and began running over to Dave. "No, don't blow on the dandelions!"

"No, no! Dave!" Benson said, but Dave ignored his friend and blew on it, causing the dandelion seeds to go flying out of the grass.

This attracted the attention of the Mega Dogs, that being obvious when we saw the eight-legged Mega Corgi run right past us, nearly squishing us.

"Dude!" Gordy said to him as he and the others glared at the bug. "Seriously?"

"Great job, Dave." Wolf sarcastically said.

"What? We didn't get stepped on!" Dave said, trying to defend himself. "See? Good luck."

"Yeah, but now you got the dogs running around us." Brook told him, pointing out how bad the situation was.

"I think he just wants to play with us!" Kipo said, wanting to play with the dogs.

"Kipo, we are not playing with him!" Benson argued. "Don't even suggest it!"

"Why not?" I said, not seeing anything wrong with it. "Not all dogs are bad."

"Oh, come on, Axel!" Benson groaned in exasperation "Not you too!"

Just when he said that, the three-tailed, shaggy furred Mega Bichon was above us, sniffing away at where we were. From the distance, it might've seemed harmless, being underneath that nose while it's sniffing is like a vacuum trying to suck us up.

"Rico!" I told my cousin as I got onto Pierre before Aurico then used his metalbending to grab all of those who weren't on Pierre, saving them from being sucked in. He even matched to latch onto Pierre to keep himself from being sucked in.

"Everyone, strap in!" Wolf cried out, but Dave wasn't able to respond fast enough and ended up getting sucked up.

"Whoa!" Benson managed to grab him, but he ended up getting dragged along.

"Hang onto Dave!" Wolf yelled out as she managed to grab Benson by his shoe, using the stinger on her staff. But she eventually was getting sucked up.

"Wolf!" Acting quickly, I used my metalbending on one arm to grabbed her and put my other arm around Kipo.

"Whoa! Watch where you're touching!" Kipo said, surprised by my actions.

"Deal with it!" I told her.

"Let's see what this flea is made of!" Wolf said to Kipo. "Jump them!"

"You got it, Wolf!" Kipo said before she tapped on Pierre's side, making the flea jump into the air and taking all of us with him.

[Background music: Finale by William Tell Overture]

With the group screaming, Aurico, Uncle Donnie, and our fellow fliers (those who were able to fly) managed to grab all those who weren't on Pierre and flew alongside the jumping flea as I managed to get Wolf and the others back on Pierre. Though we escaped being sucked up by that dog's nose, we were now being chased by the Mega Bichon.

"Everybody, hold on!" Wolf screamed out as Pierre jumped from place to place with the Mega Bichon right behind us.

"I'm so glad that you came back!" Kipo said as I unwrapped my arm from her and she pulled Wolf into a one-armed hug. "Can we take a quick moment to appreciate that?"

"Can that moment be any time but now?" She asked Pierre jumped off the Mega Corgi's nose, causing the bichon to ram into it.

"Kipo, we are being chased by Mega Dogs!" I yelled out as Pierre jumped once again avoiding the Bichon. "I know you only hugged once, but save the second one for later!"

"Second one?" Wolf said, surprised I said that.

"You know she's gonna want to hug once we're in the Burrow!" I told the little warrior. "Just tell her you two will hug after this and get back to losing these dogs!"

"Okay, fine!" Wolf said before she spoke to Kipo. "Kipo, I promise we'll hug after we escape these dogs!"

"Great! Oh!" Kipo said before she then turned to me as Pierre dodged the bichon. "Speaking of promises, I'm still waiting for that answer, Axel!"

"Seriously?" I said as Pierre jumped higher into the air, I was shocked in disbelief that she picked now of all times to ask me how I feel about her. "You're bringing that up at a time like this?"

"Uh, 3? What's she talking about?" Benson yelled out in confusion.

"Nothing! It's just something Kipo wanted to talk to me about." I told him before speaking to Kipo. "Kipo, now's not a good time! Can we just focus on escaping with our lives?"

"Fine, but don't go back on your promise!" Kipo said to me.

"I won't, I swear!" I told her before we started falling.

With the fall, I joined the others in screaming as we fell onto the Mega Corgi's back and entered the forest of dog hair. After we landed, Pierre decided to give himself a little snack and drank some of the Mega Dog's blood.

"Pierre, this no time for a coffee break!" Dave scolded the flea, before Kipo pulled on the leash and got him to jump off and get us away from the fangs of the Mega Bichon who tried to bite us off the corgi.

As the chase continued with Pierre jumping through the air with Aurico and the others following alongside, I looked forward to find us flying past some drops of water.

"Heads up!" Aurico yelled out as he and those who were flying tried their best to dodge the water, some hitting Benson and Brook in the face.

"Wait a minute." I said as I then realized what the water meant. "Dogs tend to fling water when they drink. If there's water coming at us, then that means that there's a dog drinking in front of us."

"Yeah, so?" Dave asked, not getting the point.

"So, we have the corgi and the bichon behind us." I said before getting to the point. "Which means the dog we're heading to is…" I then looked forward and saw I was right about which dog was in front of us, said dog drinking out of a lake. "The rottweiler!"

"This is why I'm not a dog person!" Benson said out loud as the dog noticed us heading its way.

"Are we getting close to the Clover?" I asked as we were chased by the two dogs behind us.

"Yeah, right past the rottweiler!" Kipo told me with a confident smile as the dog in question jumped slightly in anticipation. "And I found our escape route!" She then spoke out to Aurico and the others. "Guys, follow me!"

"Kipo, what are you doing?" Wolf said as Kipo had us heading toward the rottweiler, pretty sure now that her friend had now finally lost her mind. I was wondering too until we got our answer with Pierre dodging the dog's mouth and jumping over it. This led to the other dogs tackling the rottweiler to the ground and allowed us to escape them, managing to get to a good place to land without them knowing as they were too distracted with each other and forgot about us.

[Music ends]

Suddenly, without warning, Pierre jumped away towards them, knocking me and the others off his back. I had to guess that he like the taste of the dog blood and was going to drink some more.

"Pierre, wait!" Kipo called out, but Pierre ignored her and kept going.

"Don't worry, Kipo. He'll be fine." I said as I walked up to her, helping her to her feet as we all watched the flea jump towards the dogs. "He's just going to drink on some blood from those dogs. Besides, if he got us through those dogs, then he can make it back to Yumyan. You know, once he's done having his fill."

"Oh. Bye, Pierre! We'll come back for you!" Kipo yelled out before Aurico spoke out.

"Hey, guys!" Aurico said as we turned to see that some of the grass was, instead of green, mostly blue. "Look that this grass. It's blue!"

"That's because this grass is spray painted." Uncle Donnie said, telling us why the grass here was a different color. "This must be what Mr. Oak used to make the second emblem. To make something so big that it can be seen from the city, he must have spent day and night making it."

"And, because the grass is so thick around here, you can't see it without a blue 3D lens." I said, impressed by the work of Kipo's father. "The location hiding in plain sight. That's genius!"

"We're here!" Kipo said as she got excited from seeing the blue paint that made the outlines of the second emblem. "We're finally here!"

"Ugh! Finely!" Plagg said as he and the other kwamis came out of hiding. "Thought we'd never get here."

"Ah, tis a glorious day!" Steel said, speaking proudly. "After such a long and perilous journey, we have finally completed our quest and brought a fair maiden home."

"Ohmygosh! Ohmygosh! Ohmygosh!" Forss said at rapid speed, excited that we had reach Kipo's Burrow. "We'refinallyatthesecondClover! Ididn'tthinkwewouldmakeitbutwedid! Andthefactthatwedidissoamazingthat…"

"Forss!" Bruun said, stopping Forss' rambling. "We get it! Calm down!"

"Looks like we finally get to meet Fenyx's mysterious friend, huh, Nooroo?" Lobbo said as he nudged my kwami a bit.

"Do you think you'll be able to find him?" Bloom asked, speaking to Nooroo with concern. "It has been years since you last saw him. He might have changed in appearance."

"Don't worry, I'll know it's Lio when I see him." Nooroo told her before Kipo spoke up.

"Okay, guys! Look for the entrance to my Burrow!" With that, we all then began to look around. "It's most likely hidden, so start looking on the ground." I actually smiled from hearing that, proud of her for following my advice from earlier that morning as we gazed through the area.

"Why don't I just go and dig our way down?" Gordy suggested.

"Gord, don't you dare!" I told him, knowing that was a bad idea. "You'll send the Burrow into a panic!"

"What? I'm just saying it would be easier…"

"No!" Before this argument could continue, an unfamiliar voice spoke out.

"Kipo?" Looking to the sound of that voice, we all saw, standing in the grass, a man with deep brown skin, brown eyes, close-cropped brown hair, and a circle beard wearing a jumpsuit similar to the one Kipo wore when Aurico, Musa, and I found her with a green Clover Burrow insignia over the left side chest.

Said Burrow girl gasped in shock as she took off the glasses as she couldn't believe who she was seeing.

"Dad?" Kipo said, confirming my suspicions on who the man in front of us was.

With tears of joy, Kipo happily ran over to him and the two embraced one another. After a long journey, it was great to see a family finally brought back together.

"It's you!" Mr. Oak said as he gained some tears of joy himself, happy that his daughter found her way home.

"I followed your clues! They were hard to follow."

"Well, I had to make sure no one else can follow."

"Oh, well, you did a good job with that." Kipo said and the two shared a laugh and wiped away their tears. "I have so much to tell you!"

"We better get underground first." He advised and looked to the rest of the group and I. "That goes for everyone. If you're with Kipo, you're with me."

"I can assure you that we're all friends of Kipo, Lio." Nooroo said as he flew over in front of me. "As much as I am a friend of yours."

"Nooroo?" Mr. Oak said, surprised from seeing the kwami before regaining his smile. "If anyone came here with a kwami, then I know you're good."

"Come on, guys. My dad's taking us home." Kipo said, Mandu squealing happily as we headed to the manhole (which was the only entrance to the Burrow).

As the heroes followed Lio down the manhole, unknown to them, Scarlemagne and Venomous Kong were watching them from the ape's flamingo with a Humming Bomber flying next to them.

"Magnificent work." Scarlemagne said with a pleased grin on his face, watching the group go down the manhole from a pair of binoculars

"Thank you." The Humming Bomber said, believing Scarlemagne was complimenting him.

"I was talking to me." The mandarin corrected. "I knew that the Burrow girl will lead us to a Burrow, but I've realized forcing her wouldn't work. By making her believe that she actually escaped, she had shown me the way to more humans." Scarlemagne then gained a smile from eyeing the explosive nectar grenades strapped to the bird's chest. "Now let's discuss the matter of what you're carrying in those fashionable bandoliers."

"All riders, prepare to attack!" Venomous said to the entire army of flamingo riders behind them as Scarlemagne then began to laugh.

"I can't thank you all enough." Mr. Oak said after we all got down the ladder, placing a hand on his daughter's shoulder. "Kipo is everything to me and you brought her back."

"It was our please, Mr. Oak." I told him, speaking for the rest of the group and I.

"Please, my students call me 'Mr. Oak'." He corrected. "But, until you're in my class, you can call me 'Lio'. Don't need to be all formal, especially since you're Fenyx's boy."

"So Nooroo was telling the truth." I said to him. "You do know my father."

"I know Fenyx pretty well." Lio told me as we kept walking along. "And I can tell ya, besides the tail and the fact Nooroo is with you, it's clear you're his kid."

"This is all so crazy!" Kipo was beyond excited. "Benson, Wolf, Dave, we can all be in Dad's class together! Instead of running for our lives every second, we'll all be students! Passing notes to each other, cramming for exams…" Before she could continue with her list, Lio hugged her. "Dad, we already hugged!"

"It was only once." He said before bringing out a wrench and tapped on a pipe. This made some large glowworms lined along the walls to light up, illuminating the path ahead.

"Are those… glowworms?" I asked, amazed by this.

"Yep." Lio told me. "Nothing quite like that beautiful…"

"Oxidation of luciferin." Kipo said with her father.

"Kipo is definitely that man's daughter." Benson whispered.

"Heh! Nerds." Dave commented, earning a metalbending-stretched smack in the head from me. "What? I was just about to say that this was cool."

"Seriously, no more science talk until we're in the Burrow, okay?" Aurico said with an exasperated look on his face.

"For once, we agree on something." Lobbo said, sharing the same expression.

"Don't mind them." Nooroo said to Lio with a reassuring smile. "They're not much big fans on science."

"Okay, so how's Fenyx been doing these days?" Lio asked, causing me and the rest of our group to look down in despair.

"Lio…" Nooroo said, telling Lio the grave news. "We lost him."

"No." Lio said in disbelief. "I… Poor Fenyx." He then looked to me, no doubt feeling pity that for me losing my father. "I'm so sorry. Your father was a great man and a great friend. I bet it was hard for Yoshi and Miwa, huh?"

"It's still hard for Miwa." I told him. "Though things were even harder after we lost Yoshi."

"Yoshi too?" Lio said, shocked to find that my brother was dead too. "I'm really sorry that happened to you."

"It's okay. My father and my brother will always be with me as long as I keep them in my heart." I said.

"Though at least you still have Melody." Lio said as he then gained a smile, catching me by surprise. "I had my doubts, but she proved me wrong and was actually a good mom to you, Miwa, and even Yoshi."

"Yeah, about that…" I said, not sure how to explain things. "She's not… much herself these days."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you see…" I was having trouble figuring out the words to tell him about my mother's changes. "My mother… She kind of changed a bit… since the last time you saw her."

"Like how?"

"Well… a while after I was born… she got separated from me and my family and… well…"

"He's trying to tell you his mom turned into a freaking Mega Tiger." Riku said, not being even showing some sensitivity to the news.

"Riku!" I said to him, a bit angered for his insensitivity.

"A Mega Tiger? Melody?" Lio said as he processed all of it. "Well, that's… something."

"Lio, you don't need to lie." Nooroo said to him. "He already knows what he actually is." This surprised Lio before he then looked at me with a gentle smile.

"So Fenyx told ya, huh?" he said to me.

"That he was half Wonderbeast and that I'm part Wonderbeast? Yeah." I told him. "But my father didn't get the chance to explain much else, like how exactly he ended up becoming a hybrid or that he and I were not the only hybrids in the world." I looked to Kipo with that last part.

"Kipo?" Lio said, surprised to find that his daughter knew that she was a hybrid like me.

"Yeah, I know. That's the other reason why Axel is here." Kipo said to her father with an understanding smile. "He was told that you might be able to answer some questions he had for a long time and there might be a way to help his mom."

"Well, there might be a way to help Melody with her… situation." Lio said to us. "I'll explain everything, but I think it'll better if we do in the Burrow. You all must be exhausted. Everyone, follow me."

"Okay, mind telling us why this backup Burrow is underneath Mega Dog Valley?" Brook said, still remembering the recent experience we had. "We nearly got chomped getting here!"

"The council only used these tunnels to find a good place to build such a thing." Lio explained. "They weren't really considering what was above it."

"Well, they certainly made a good choice." Uncle Donnie said. "Having a Burrow in a place like will leave it less chances of getting found as no Wonderbeast would dare go against three Mega Dogs."

"Well, when you put it that way, I guess we are safe." Lio said to him. "Guess you know much about hiding… you know, I don't think I really let you all introduce yourselves."

"No, you didn't." Uncle Donnie said with a chuckle. "My name is Donatello, Hamato Donatello."

"Oh, so you're the uncle Fenyx told me about."

"Indeed." Uncle Donnie then moved on to introducing the other members of our group, each perking up from having their name spoken. "You already know my nephew Axel and his kwami Nooroo. These are Nooroo's fellow kwamis: Bruun, Lobbo, Pollen, Plagg, Bloom, Steel, Wayzz, Breez, and Forss; and those that make the youth of this group are my nephew: Aurico, Brandon, Gordy, Sora, and Riku; my nieces: Kylo, Musa, Stella, and Hikari; my granddaughter Hotaru; their friends: Nadu, Aisha, and Brook; and those who joined our group while we were on our journey: Wolf, Mandu, Benson, and Dave."

"Youth? Objection!" Dave spoke up. "I think I qualify as an adult. At least until I've molt again."

"So I guess your recent addition has been alone on the surface?" Lio asked.

"Me and Dave weren't alone." Benson said, happily giving his friend a fist bump. "We've been a team since forever!"

"Yeah, Dad. They're amazing!" Kipo told him. "Benson and Dave know everything about everything on the surface!"

"Not exactly everything." Nadu whispered, Aisha shaking her head as Kipo continued.

"Wolf was totally solo before we met, but she's like a superhero. She's defiantly one of the toughest people I've met. No way I would've made it home without her!"

"You're a survivor, aren't you?" Lio said, speaking to Wolf. "And the youngest warrior I think I've ever met."

"Yeah, she's got skills." I said to him, commenting on Wolf's survival skills. "If it weren't for her, our group wouldn't have been able to navigate through Las Vistas and get Kipo home."

"Oh, come on, Axel. You were the biggest help of all." Kipo said to me with that warm smile of hers. "If you hadn't found me in the city, I never would've been found my way home." As I smiled at the compliment as she spoke to her father. "He's awesome, Dad. He even killed a Mega Pigeon!"

"Really?" Lio looked at me with intrigue.

"Well, it wasn't intentional, but yeah." I told him. "I don't really like to fight. That's Rico and Gordy's thing."

"It's true!" Aurico said from behind us.

"To be perfectly honest, I'm more of a science guy like you." I said.

"Then I guess you've been taught a lot about science, huh?"

"Well, yeah. Mostly biology." I told him. "It just makes sense to me, more than whatever the heck you taught Kipo. No offense."

"None taken. Just shows you take after Melody. She wasn't much for astronomy either." Lio said with a smile. "Though I've only heard of a few that are able to take down Mega Mutes. Fenyx obviously taught you well."

"Well, I had some help there." I admitted. "Though I can't say I would've lived to tell the tale if it weren't for my father. He might have been tough on me, but he was still a great teacher."

"I bet." Lio said before Gordy cleared his throat.

"Um, hello?" Gordy said, speaking for himself and the others Kipo didn't mention. "What are we? Chopped liver?"

"Oh, right!" Kipo said, realizing she didn't mention everyone's contributions. "Donnie and the others were a great help too. Much like Axel, they've been helping me from the very beginning. They're all so tough and fast, especially with those Miraculous, the elemental powers, and that ninjitsu stuff they do."

"Seems like you had quite the adventure and made some pretty great friends." Lio said before we stopped and he went over to the wall. "Okay, we're here." After standing there for a moment, he turned to us and spoke with a nervous tone. "Um… Before we go in, no one in our community has seen mutes—sorry, Wonderbeasts—or kwamis or surface people or even Tribe people before. So there may be a period of adjustment."

"With all due respect, Lio, we get it. But, quite frankly, we don't care." Aurico bluntly said, earning an elbow from me.

"Rico!" I said to him.

"What? I'm just saying what everybody's thinking."

"You didn't need to say it like that." I then spoke to Lio. "What my cousin is trying to say is that we understand that your Burrow might not be comfortable being around us. Look what we got: a young warrior with a poisonous staff, an insectoid Wonderbeast who's molting is similar to the rebirth of a phoenix, a young Sub-beast, a pair of guys with reptilian tails, a mutant in a robot body, a couple of ninja weapons in hand, and a guy with blue skin and tiger stripes. Who wouldn't be weird out by this? The point is, whatever kind of judgment they have, we'll take it."

"You remind me so much of Fenyx." Lio said before he took out a radio. "This is Ram's Horn. I found Aries. Open the west access shaft."

"Lio? Is that you?" Said a voice over the radio. "'Ram's Horn'? 'Aries'? Did you just give yourself and your kid codenames?"

"Yes, I did."

"Didn't I warn you that the Council won't authorize any surface trips until the burrow is secure?"

"Hey, look, man. I had to go up, for Kipo. You have to understand." Lio replied before part of the wall shifted and split open, revealing a small metal door and surprising us. Lio then went over and opened the door, letting us through and into the Burrow. "Welcome to Site B."

Looking around, I saw that the Burrow was actually something man-made with the walls made up of metal with these strange metal house-like structures laid all around, some being appearing to be weld together while others were weld to supports. Even though there was a large amount of mushrooms around the place, this backup Burrow was an amazing sight to behold.

"Wait a minute, this isn't a Burrow." Uncle Donnie said after he got a look around. "This is an old subway station."

"Was a subway station. Now it's our new home." Lio corrected as we went further into the Burrow. "Our last Burrow went fifty years without a breach. Site B was kept top secret, even from me. It was only opened just yesterday."

"Well, you've certainly made yourselves at home." I said, commenting on the Burrow. "This place is phenomenal."

"I always said sunlight was overrated." Dave commented in awe as we walked around, ignoring the looks we were getting.

"When have you ever said that?" Aurico questioned him.

"Oh, well, I did just now." Dave told him. "Hello, Burrow life."

"It's just like the one I grew up in: a big, comfy hole in the ground." Kipo happily said. "What do you think, Wolf?"

"There's…so many…people." Wolf said, no doubt feeling uncomfortable about all this.

"You got that right." Caldwell said, surprised by all this. "It's almost as big as the Tribe."

"Kipo!" Looking forward, we watched as two girls (who appeared to be twins with the only differences being that one had a mole and bun while the other had a ponytail) ran over to Kipo with bright smiles.

"Look! You're here! "

"Asher! Dahlia!" Kipo said as she ran over and gave them a hug. As the three hugged, I turned over to see Wolf raising an eyebrow in confusion. I couldn't help, but snicker from seeing that she was jealous of seeing Kipo reunited with her Burrow friends.

"What are you laughing at?" Wolf said to me with a glare.

"Oh, nothing." I said to her with a smug.

"Brook, look!" Hearing that whisper, I looked over my left shoulder and I saw Brook and Aurico looking at Kipo's twin friends in shock and awe. "Twin Burrow girls!"

"I know, dude! I know!" Brook said, speaking at the same volume and excited tone. "Dibs on the one with the mole!"

"She's all yours! Come on!" Aurico said before the two walked over to greet the twins.

"Oh, brother." I rolled my eyes as those two were now going to try to achieve their main goal in coming to a Burrow.

"You're okay!" The twin with the mole said before patting Kipo down. "Wait, are you okay, Kipo? You look okay. "

"You're alive!" the ponytailed twin said, pointing out the obvious. "As in 'not dead' alive!"

"Can you believe we had to move Burrows? We were in a dark tunnel for a week. It was cold and there were smells."

"You won't believe the things I've seen." Kipo said.

"I want to hear all about them."

"Hello." Aurico said as he and Brook can in from behind Kipo and then stood to where she was in between them. "Kipo, mind introducing us to your friends here?"

"Oh, sure." Kipo said, not seeing their antics. "Rico, Brook, this is Asher," she motioned to the ponytailed twin first before motioning to the other, "and her sister Dahlia."

"Pleasure to meet you." Aurico said before he introduced himself and Brook. "Aurico Sloan, but my friends call me 'Rico'. This here is my associate Brook Gentile."

"How do you do?" Brook greeted them.

"It's nice to meet you too." Dahlia said as she and her sister smiled at the two. "So are you two from the surface?"

"That's right." Aurico answered her question.

"Wow! So that's what you wear on the surface?" Asher said, commented on the attire of the two. "It's so cool!"

"Thanks." Brook said. "And might I say that those outfits make you look ravishing."

"Yeah, you two really pull off the jumpsuits. Very nice." Aurico said as the two blushed at the compliments. Already having enough of their flirting antics, I decided to end it as I walked over to them. "You know, we're gonna be here for a while, so maybe—if you're free—we could hang out and you can show us around your Burr—whoa!"

"Okay, you two. Come on." I told my cousin and Brook as I dragged them away by the backs of their collars. "Let's leave these girls to catch up."

"Oh, come on, 3!" Aurico said to me. "Don't do us like that!"

"Hey, you're from the surface too, right?" I heard Dahlia say as I turned to see her talking to Wolf. "I like your look. It's so cool! It's like a snuggle blankie!"

"It is not a snuggle blankie." The young warrior said, holding her wolf skin cloak against her. "Never call it that."

"Don't get too close to Wolf, Dahlia." Brook said to the Burrow girl, actually giving her good advice. "She's not exactly the person who easily trusts people like that, especially with touching her."

"Dahlia, look!" Asher said, pointing at Mandu. "Mutes! Real mutes! One has four eyes and six legs. Whoa! Can I touch them?"

"Uh, she doesn't like it when…" Kipo said, but Asher didn't listen and tried to pet the piglet who ran behind Kipo's legs to hide.

"Yeah, Mandu is a bit shy." Aurico said to her. "Hasn't been around humans very much." Asher then scratched Dave's chin for some reason.

"Helpful hint: if you ever have any cheese-related snacks, she'll be your best friend." The bug said. "And so will I."

"Asher, he talked!" Dahlia said in amazement. "That man bug just talked!"

"Hmm. Doesn't take much to impress Mole people, does it?" The bug questioned in surprise at how much attention he was getting.

"Well, Dave, what do you expect?" Aurico said as I let go of him and Brook and the two walked over to the Wonderbeast. "They've spent all their lives underground with zero contact with anything or anyone above."

"Yeah, I mean, look over there." Brook said, pointing towards the back and I turned to find some young male Burrow residents looking at Kylo, my cousin posing as she enjoyed the attention.

"Whoa! Real surface people!" one of the residents said as the others and I were soon surrounded as we were center of attention.

With all the murmurs of shock and awe from the crowd, I looked around and saw that the majority of those of us from the surface, unlike Kylo along with Brook, Aurico, Dave, and Thora (who was much enjoying it as she could chat with so many people), were feeling uncomfortable about all the attention we were getting. I knew that's what they were feeling because I feeling pretty much the same. Even the kwamis felt a little uncomfortable about this, especially with how these people were admiring them for their cuteness. Gordy, Riku, and Bruun put on some serious expressions to hide how nervous they were.

"Are you actually a mute?" One of the young residents asked my Uncle Donnie as he was surrounded.

"Well, no." Uncle Donnie said, trying to come up with an answer. "Not exactly."

"Whoa! So you're a surface human!" Feeling like cornered Sub-beast, I stood there as I was crowded by some of the Burrow residents who bombarded me with questions.

"What's it like up there?"

"Is that tail real?"

"Why are you blue?"

"Hey, hey, hey! Back off!" Caldwell said as he came over, getting the crowd to back away a bit. "Don't crowd 3 like that. He's not good under pressure."

"Thanks, Cal." I said with a grateful smile.

"Anytime." Caldwell said to me before he called out for help. "Hey, Benson! Mind helping me with keeping 3 out of a corner?" When no answer he came, he called again. "Benson?" With no response, Caldwell began to look around. "Benson, where'd you go?"

"How do you know Oz the Originator?" I heard Benson as I saw him talking to one of the residents of the Burrow: a boy about mine and Benson's age with black hair that was shaved at the sides and brown eyes. "He's only like, my favorite Old World MC ever!"

"Over there!" I said as we watched the two talk.

"Our last Burrow had a pretty decent music library." The Burrow boy said. "But I've only heard this song of his."

"Well, fortunately for you, I may have an album or two of his." Watching the two smile at each other, it didn't take me long to realize that Benson was already getting a liking to the Burrow boy.

"Hey, Benson!" Dave said as he came over to Benson, surprising his friend as he screamed and spoiling the moment between them.

"Are you okay?" the Burrow boy asked.

"Hi, I'm Benson!" Benson instantly said.

"What's up with Benson?" Aurico asked as he and Brook came over, looking at the scene with confusion.

"Yeah, why is he so nervous?" Brook asked, equally confused.

"Um, guys?" I said as I motioned them over before I whispered in their ears, telling them what Benson told me back at Rat Land.

"What?!" Aurico shouted out loud, shocked by what I told him. "Benson's gay?!"

"Did not see that coming." Brook said, processing all this. "No wondering he didn't hit on Kylo."

"Thanks for sharing that with the whole Burrow, guys." I told them, regretting my choice in telling them about Benson.

"Seriously, Benson? You're gay?" Gordy said as he came into view, getting Benson's attention. "This whole time I thought you were into girls like the rest of us! What the hell?" After Benson gave a nervous chuckle, Gordy scoffed with a smug. "Weirdo."

"Says the pot to the kettle." Bruun said, making Gordy lose his smug.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Gordy questioned, glaring at his kwami.

"Boy, I've seen what you've dreamed about." Bruun told him. "That's more weird than what Benson was hiding."

"…and then we met some snakes and almost died!" Hearing Kipo telling her friends about the adventures (especially saying how we almost died), I decided to go over and stop her from telling everything we experienced like that. "Then we met some wolves and almost died! Ow!" With that hard flick to the head, I got her attention. "What was that for?"

"For explaining everything like a crazy person!" I told her. "Seriously! Who talks about near-death experiences like they're nothing? You make it sound like our encounters with those Wonderbeasts had nothing else but us trying to stay alive."

"Oh, sorry." Kipo said with an embarrassed smile.

"Wonderbeasts?" Asher asked, curious as to what I meant.

"Oh, that's what people on the surface call mutes." Kipo told her friends, regaining her calm and friendly composition. "By the way, this here is Axel Frank the 3rd. He saved me plenty of times while I was traveling here. He's from a Tribe, this whole community full of humans and Wonderbeasts!"

"Whoa!"

"Double whoa!" Both twins stared at him as if they were entranced, making me feel a little uncomfortable.

"Huh." Nooroo said as he appeared on my shoulder. "She hasn't even gotten to the part where you're a Fire Dragon and they are already impressed."

"Hey, it's one of those little mutes I saw flying around!" Asher said, pointing to Nooroo.

"He's so cute!" Dahlia cooed in awe. "Can I touch him?"

"You mean, Nooroo?" I then looked to the kwami and he nodded, showing me he was okay with being petted. "Well, sure. I guess. Just be gentle." I then held out one hand and Nooroo then went over and sat in it to where Dahlia began to pet him with one finger. "By the way, he's not a Wonderbeast. Nooroo is actually a kwami."

"Kwami?" Dahlia asked as she stopped petting Nooroo, feeling she had done enough to her content.

"Yeah, kwamis are this sort of spirit, entities that are not easily recognized by science." I said to her as I explained, my kwami returning to my shoulder. "Kwamis have this ability to give people special powers." I then unzipped my jacket a little to reveal the Miraculous I was wearing. "But one can only obtain these powers by wearing one of these: a Miraculous, a special jewel that is connected to the kwami."

"Whoa!"

"Double whoa!" the twins said, repeating what they said before.

"Do you really have to repeat that?" I said with a chuckle of amusement.

"Sorry." They both said to me.

"It's okay." I reassured them.

"You know what, Kipo? If we get a moment, you and I are having a serious talk." I said before I then motioned my head to Wolf (who was standing next to Mandu), looking left out in all of this. "Also…"

"Oh! Guys, this is Wolf." Kipo said as she then walked the little warrior over to greet the two twins. "She's my best friend. I gave her a beret and she saved my life." She then sighed in content. "It's crazy on the surface."

"Says you." Caldwell commented as he stepped up, speaking for all of those from the surface, including our Tribe. "That's the norm for us." From there, I then watched as Kipo and Wolf smiled at each other, creating a touching moment between them. Though this moment was quickly brought to an end when someone tried to touch her staff.

"Hands off my property!" Wolf said as she shook the hand of her staff and become all defensive.

"Whoa! Take it easy, Wolf." I told her, stopping her from starting a fight.

"This creeper tried to take Stalky from me!" Wolf told me, glaring at the man in front of us. The man before us had blonde hair, a pencil mustache, and light blue eyes. He wore a jumpsuit similar to the others, but it was orange and black instead of purple.

"Yeah. I'm gonna need you to keep whatever that is out of public spaces. We do have rules here." He said with a stern look on his face. "Especially when dealing with anyone from or even accompanied by a Tribe."

"Hoag. So you're running the Burrow now." Uncle Donnie said to the man (who I guess was Hoag), sounding like he wasn't happy to see him. "Isn't that just swell?"

"Uncle Donnie, you know him?" I asked my uncle, surprised that he knew someone from a Burrow.

"Unfortunately so." Uncle Donnie said as he explained. "I came to his Burrow a few years ago to see if anyone there would come back to the surface. Unfortunately, the manager of the Burrow before him had convinced the council to refuse anyone there from going back with me. He was one of the people that supported that crazy idea."

"That was to keep everyone safe." Hoag said, sparking an argument between the two.

"Safe from what? The Wonderbeasts?"

"You know as much as I do that the mutes are the reason every human had to hide underground."

"Yeah, but some of them stayed above to fight for their home and it worked out in the end! Back then, peace was finally made with the Wonderbeasts. There was no reason for humanity to hide anymore?"

"Back then? Doesn't that mean that the situation up there has gone back to the way it was?"

"We're trying to fix it, okay? Besides, this just means that you all lost your chance to see the new world we made with the Wonderbeasts, a world that we can all call home."

"Oh, and we're supposed to take your word for it? A mute turtle in a metal shell?"

"Oh, you did not just say that!"

From there, everyone watched as my Hoag and my father went at each other, placing their own counters in this argument. With how they were talking to each other, it didn't take me long to see they were making a scene, especially with everyone looking at them.

"Um… Axel?" Kipo said to me and my uncle and Hoag continued to argue, looking worried for what this would lead to. "Why is your uncle arguing with the Burrow manager?"

"Well, I can only guess that manager of yours isn't really much of a fan." I told her. "This was sort of a thing us Tribe members would come across whenever we would go into a Burrow."

"Really?" Kipo was surprised by this.

"Yeah. Remember what I said about how people usually avoid going to the surface out of fear of Wonderbeasts?" I said to her as I explained. "Well, that's mostly the case. With some, that fear can end up turning into hatred. It was mostly common with those running the Burrows. Knowing for what happened to lead making a Burrow a permanent living space for decades to come, they practically hate Wonderbeasts and anything relating to them. As such, they refuse to accept anything the Tribe says and go to see if it is true or not."

"Okay, settle down, everyone." Lio said as he got between Uncle Donnie and Hoag, ending the escalating argument. "Let's not start something we'll regret. Hoag, Donatello and Wolf are two of the heroes that saved Kipo's life and I'm sure Wolf doesn't mind keeping the stabby end-pointed object up where it can't hurt anyone." Surprisingly, almost an instant, Wolf raised her weapon up and got a nod from Lio in approval.

"All you had to was ask." She said before walking off.

"She's charming." Hoag said, walking off and stopped when he noticed me before speaking to my uncle. "And can I be sure you won't cause trouble?"

"Only when trouble finds us." Uncle Donnie bluntly replied bluntly as Hoag walked away. He then leaned over and whispered to Lio. "I see he hasn't changed. He's still the little asshole I met so long ago."

"I know. Hoag might seem much, but he means well." Lio said, trying to defuse the tension between the two before he went over and put a hand on Kipo's shoulder.

"Dad, while I was out there…" Kipo said as she reached into her pocket and held out her father's guitar pick (which we found when we found the Mega Monkey along with my mother) in her hands. "I found something of yours." Needless to say, Lio was much relieved to see it returned to him.

"Ha-ha! My lucky guitar pick!" He said as he happily reclaimed it. "This was a gift from your mother!"

"Well, I'm gifting it back to you." She said, rubbing her arm sheepishly.

"Wait, where did you get this?" He asked.

"We found it with a Mega Monkey." I told him. "It's also where we found my mother in her… current state. Speaking of which, I think it's about time we had that talk you promised." However, before Lio could give us some answers, it seemed fate had other plans as loud noises were heard, coming in from up above us.

"Those sounds…" I said before I turned to Wolf who was running over. "Wolf, is that what I think it is?"

"Humming Bombers." She told me. "They're using their explosive nectar."

"But why here?" Aurico said as he ran over. "Are they going on an explosives spree or something?"

"No, they're trying to blast a way into the Burrow." I told him, realizing what the Humming Bombers' attack meant.

"They're trying to get into the Burrow?" Gordy asked, shocked by all this. "You mean we were followed?"

"I'm afraid so. And I got a feeling that they aren't alone." I said before a massive piece of the ceiling came falling down right towards us. The group and I ducked down and shielded ourselves, preparing for the impact. But, after a moment, I opened my eyes and looked around to see that we weren't crushed. "Guys?"

"3?" Aurico said as I got everybody's attention.

"What happened?" Caldwell asked.

"Are we dead?" Brook inquired.

"No, we're alive." I said as I began to wonder how we avoided getting crushed. "But how…"

"Uh… 3?" Gordy said as he pointed to his right, looking quite shocked.

The rest of us were shocked when we all turned and saw what he was seeing. The reason why we weren't pancakes was because Kipo actually saved us, lifting the piece of the ceiling above her head with a single arm like it was nothing, but that's not what shocked us. What got us was the arm she was using. Her Wonderbeast genes had reacted again, but it wasn't just fur on her arm. In fact, her entire arm had changed and was now a big, muscular purple cat paw. Her arm actually changed… much like how my own did back then.

"Whoa! What just happened?" She said as she looked around, sounding like she was out of breath.

"Uh, Kipo?" I said as I pointed to her arm, the group and I getting back to our feet. "Your arm…"

When Kipo looked, she gasped upon seeing her right arm, the arm she used to save us, had changed into a cat paw.

"Uh, what is this?" She asked.

"It's okay, Kipo." I said as we all got out from under the stone slab. "It's just your Wonderbeast genes reacting."

"Guys, are you okay?" Brandon said as he and the rest of our group came over from the other side of the slab.

"We're fine." I told them. "Thanks to Kipo."

"Whoa!" Sora said as he and the others turned to see Kipo's paw. "Cat paw!"

"3, she's got a cat's paw! Just like you!" Aurico said, pointing out the obvious.

"Wait, does that mean Kipo's part cat like 3?" Hikari said in disbelief.

"I would say so." Uncle Donnie said as she looked at Kipo's paw. "Now that I have a good read of it, I estimate that the kind of Wonderbeast genes she haves belong to a jaguar."

"A jaguar?" I said, surprised to find out that Kipo had DNA belonging to a feline predator, just like me.

"Dude, your girlfriend is a freaking jaguar!" Brook whispered to me, earning a punch in the arm.

"It's happening." Lio said in disbelief. "Sooner than I thought it would, but it's defiantly happening."

"Sooner than you thought?" I questioned him as Kipo lifted the slab off her, causing it to land behind her. "What do you mean?"

"I didn't think it would happen so soon." He told me. "I thought it wasn't going to happen until a few more years."

"So Axel was right." Kipo said as she walked over to her father. "You knew this was gonna happen. You know what I am, what both of us are. Dad, you have to tell us."

"I will, I promise! As soon as we get everyone to safety." Lio answered before a familiar screech was heard and we looked in horror at the sight.

Flying in from the large opening made by the Humming Bombers, Scarlemagne's entire army of flamingo riders. All of Burrow residents ran in fear from the approaching flamingo riders who began swooping down and scooping the people up in their talons with one passing right over us.

"Keep each other safe!" Lio instructed. "Hey!" He ran forward, trying to get the attention of the riders, waving his arms in the air. "Over here!" Two flamingo riders headed over towards us.

"Dad!" Kipo was about to go over to him before Uncle Donnie stopped her with his staff.

"Kipo, run." He told her in a serious tone. "I'll make sure your father doesn't get captured. Axel, go with Wolf, Benson, and Dave and make sure Kipo and her people don't get captured. The rest of you, spread out and keep those flamingos away until everyone is out! Once the Burrow is evacuated, follow the people out and make sure they stay safe. That includes you, Axel."

"What about you?" I asked him, concerned about my uncle.

"Don't worry about me. I'll join you once Lio and I get the chance." He told me. "Just leave with the others, keep running and don't look back. Make sure everyone gets out okay."

"But…"

"Axel, do what I say and get Kipo out of here!" he said to me before he spoke to the others. "Everyone, arm yourselves! Weapons at the ready! Miraculous Warriors, time to transform!"

"You got it, Uncle!" Aurico said as he and the other Miraculous got ready to transform. "Let's do it, guys!"

"Bloom, flower blossom!"

"Forss, bring the thunder!"

"Bruun, Dual Bear unleashed!"

"Breez, tempest rise!"

"Steel, armor on!"

"Lobbo, Fang of Lupus!"

"Wayzz, shell on!"

"Pollen, buzz on!"

"Plagg, claws out!"

With them fully transformed, the ninjas got out their weapons and the entire group went out to fight off the flamingo riders. Most of them splintered off to cover more ground, leaving Uncle Donnie to protect Lio alone.

"No, wait!" Kipo said before Wolf grabbed her by her normal wrist and began pulling her away with me following them.

"Kipo, no! Come on!" Wolf said as we made a run for it.

[With Benson and Dave]

When the group started running, an incoming flamingo ended up getting in Benson and Dave's way, forcing them to go in the opposite direction to avoid getting captured. After managing to get some cover, the two looked toward the sound of screeching and found Asher, Dahlia, and the boy Benson was talking to backing away from an approaching flamingo, said Burrow boy using a pipe to defend the twins.

"Dave, we have to help them." Benson said, not wanting his new crush to get captured.

"Uh, Benson?" Dave said to him, afraid to go against the flamingo rider. "If we go out there, we'll probably die! Well, I'll come back to life, but you? You-you definitely won't. Y-you'll be dead. Like, 'deady-dead' dead."

"Donnie told us to make sure everybody escapes." Benson said, gaining a serious expression as he stood up. "This is our purpose now, this is our time!" He then rummaged through his backpack and pulled out a cassette tape and his player. "We don't run anymore, Dave. We help people."

With that, he then put the tape into his player and plugged his headphones in before putting them on. Playing the song, Benson slowly walked out before he started running towards the flamingo as the Burrow boy fought it off.

"This, is, Bensooon!" Benson said as he jumped and landed on one of the flamingo's heads, grabbing it by the beak.

From this, the flamingo began frantically moving around, trying to shake the Tribe boy off its beak. After that failed, it then began slamming Benson against one of the subway cars. From watching this, Dave knew that he couldn't stand around anymore and go to help Benson.

"Oh, come on!" Dave said to himself, trying to force himself into his muscular form. "I need the muscles, I need the muscles!" After a short moment of having no transformation, Dave became frustrated and slammed his head against the subway car he was hiding behind. "In my 200 stupid years of being alive, can't you once come out when I need you?" With one last slam, as almost fate answered his prayer, Dave molted out into his muscular form. "Finally!"

"Okay! This does hurt!" Benson said before the flamingo shook him off. Luckily, Dave was able to fly in and catch Benson before he hit the ground.

"Dave, you…" Benson started.

"Don't. You'll jinx it." Dave told him, taking Aurico's advice before flying over to Asher, Dahlia, and the Burrow boy, the Wonderbeast and Benson grabbing them and saving them from the flamingo.

Dave managed to get them all to another subway car before putting the four down and going over to close the doors, but the flamingo tried to get in and prevented Dave from closing them by jamming the doors with its beak. It seemed like Dave wasn't going to be able to close the door on the bird until the other head was sprayed with water from the side.

"Hey, birdbrain!" came in Aurico's voice as he was flying at the flamingo, reeling back to punch it with a large, gold fist. "In the words of my ancestors, 'Booyakasha'!" With a single punch, Aurico sent the flamingo flying before it slammed into a cart, its effort to get itself up failing as it fell unconscious.

"Thanks for the save, Rico." Dave said as he opened the doors, smiling gratefully at the white Fire Dragon.

"No problem." Aurico said, returning the smile. "It's what we heroes do, right, Brook?"

"Yep." Brook said as he walked over, revealing where the water came from. "Is everyone okay?"

"Yeah, we are. Thanks to Dave." Benson said before looking to his friend. "Dave, you are officially my hero!" Just after he said that, Dave fell backwards as he then molted in an old bug.

"Told ya!" Dave said, frustrated that he lost his muscular form. "I told ya you'd jinx it."

"Come on, let's get you guys out of here!" Aurico said as Brook picked Dave up and the two ran off, their fellow youth following behind.

"Sorry, Benson."

[With AF3]

"Where's Benson and Dave?" Wolf asked after we got some cover by hiding behind a large piece of concrete, now noticing Benson and Dave weren't with us.

"Crap! We must've gotten separated." I cursed as Nooroo looked over the slab.

"Don't worry. Looks like Aurico and Brook found them and getting them out of the Burrow." Nooroo told me.

"That's great, but we're still in a tight spot here." I said, seeing how bad our situation is. "We're too outnumbered to make a break for it."

"Guys… we can't stay here." Kipo said and looked at her oversized arm. "I have a weapon, I have to use it."

"You mean go out there and fight?" Wolf asked in surprise.

"If it helps my people, yes." She answered with determination in her voice.

"Kipo, no!" Nooroo said as he flew over to her. "Donatello told you to leave the Burrow. Your safety is now important than ever."

"I don't care!" Kipo said on defiance. "I finally got myself back and now my Burrow is being attacked and my dad and just about all of my friends are out there fight while I'm just running away! I wasn't able to save it before, but that doesn't I can't save it now! I'm not gonna sit around and let everyone I care about risk their lives for my sake. I'm going out there to fight. So, are you guys with me or not?" It was only a brief moment before Wolf gained a determined smile.

"You don't have to ask me twice." Wolf said to her.

"Same here." I said, giving Kipo my answer. "I already lost my father, I won't let you lose yours."

"Axel…" Nooroo said to me.

"Nooroo, I know you're just trying to protect me and Kipo, but this is something we have to do." I told him. "None of us are willing to stand by and let innocent people get hurt."

"But Donatello said…"

"Isn't what he said the same thing Father say to you the day he never came back? The day he decided to take on a battle alone and told you to run?" What I was saying was the truth for my father did tell Nooroo to run away as he took on a battle by himself and without the aid of a Miraculous. "It's obvious Uncle Donnie is doing the same thing, that he haves no intention in coming back. Nooroo, I'll let you go on without me. You can go ahead and make sure everyone in the Burrow escapes, but I'm not gonna let history repeat itself. We're going out there to help, with or without you. So what's going to be, Nooroo? Will you run away again or will you stay and help us save this Burrow?"

Nooroo took a moment to think about as he was conflicted on what he should do. As he looked at me and no doubt thought back at what happened to my father, I could see him think hard about what he should do. It took three minutes before he then answered me.

"Axel…" Nooroo said, gaining a look of determination. "If you think we can do this, then you count on me to help."

"Thanks, Nooroo." I said to him with a grateful smile before looking to the girls (including Mandu who managed to keep up with us). "Let's do this."

With that said, the four of us emerged from hiding, ready to join the fight. With the piglet's squeal, Wolf spun around her staff as she got into stance while Kipo was slamming her fist against her large paw to show she was ready. With my kwami and I nodding to each other, I then prepared to transform.

"Time to transform!" I said before I activated my Miraculous. "Nooroo, take flight!" With that, I then changed into my elemental form, my wings now uncovered and armored with wing guards.

After taking a glance at my staff, the approaching flamingos, and Kipo, I placed it on my back and held out my arms, beginning to concentrate. From there, I felt it as the fur appeared and my arms transformed into blue paws that are like Kipo's, the only differences being that mine had my dragon claws and black and white stripes like the ones on my hair. It was a little trick I learned a while back. Besides some performance enhancement and my eyes, this was the only I could manage to use from my Wonderbeast genes. It was a good thing my gauntlets expanded and became fingerless to fit my paws.

"Never thought I would use these again." I said to myself, cracking my knuckles. "But, seeing how it is, I'm gonna need them more than ever."

"Whoa! How did you do that?" Kipo said, surprised by this.

"Long story. We'll talk later." I answered her as I saw three riders heading towards us. "Get ready! Here they come!"

[Background music: Pacific Rim Main Theme by Tom Morello]

With that, we splintered off, dodging a peck from an incoming flamingo, me allowing the girls to take care of the other while I fought the one we dodged. I went up and grabbed it by one of its heads before throwing it over my shoulder, slamming it into the ground.

Using her new paw, Kipo tried to land a blow, but (since this was her first time and she was still getting used to using it) she wasn't able to. Another flamingo came up and she quickly avoided and spun around in an attempt to give it a back fist, but the flamingo dodged it and Kipo ended up slamming her fist into the first flamingo rider she was fighting, unintentionally smacking it away.

"Guys, did you see that?" Kipo said, feeling proud of herself. "I scared him! It's working!"

"Lesson 68 of the Surface: never talk during a fight!" Wolf informed her before she ran to avoid an incoming flamingo.

"Are we really up to 68 or do you just pick random numbers?" Kipo asked, starting to get confused with the lessons Wolf was giving her.

"Does it really matter?" I asked as I kicked a flamingo rider into a train car before getting on all fours and jumping into the air, slamming another rider with both fists. Using the momentum, I quickly sprung to another one. I used my strength and turned them upside down, grabbing them while doing a pile driver that caused the bird to slam into the ground and create a cloud of dust.

Not too far off, I saw Wolf run alongside one of the trains with one of the two flamingo riders on her tail. She jumped while spinning her staff, knocking two incoming heads along with kicking one of the riders off. She used the moment to jump to the other rider chasing her and used her staff on them. From this, the other flamingos around began to fly away in fear as Wolf went on the attack.

As I kept fighting, I managed to catch a glimpse of Kipo as she was smashing concrete with her fist, doing her best to hold her ground. However, more flamingos were gaining up on her, causing her to lose her footing on one of the unbalanced trains. Using her paw, she tore off a piece of metal and used it as a shield, but this was easily taken from her. As she was about to continue with the fight, a fourth flamingo got in front of her. Seeing her surrounded, I was about to ready to go and help until I heard one of the flamingo's shriek. Looking to it, I saw that Mandu managed to sneak up behind and bite it in the leg. Though she was shook off and was caught by Wolf after being sent flying, this left an opening for Kipo as she was now enraged and focused her strength, my fellow hybrid turning around and managing to knock two flamingos back with a punch. Running down, she manages to scare the other flamingos off, said birds flying away to avoid fighting her. Though I was impressed by how she kept her own, I soon saw a rider tried to sneak up behind her. Running over, I managed to knock them away before they had a chance to attack.

"You okay, Kipo?" I asked her.

"Yeah, thanks." She said to me with a grateful smile.

[Music stops]

As we were about to continue the fight, we were drawn to the sound of a piano playing, looking to the hole to see a black and white flamingo with the body of a pink car flying down into the Burrow. From what I heard from the Order, I knew who that flamingo belonged to. As we watched it descend, I looked and saw Lio in one of the flamingos' grasp, Uncle Donnie being held down by another flamingo next to him.

"Dad?" I heard Kipo say before Wolf quickly shot by her, covering her mouth and got behind some cover and I quickly joined them. As the piano stopped playing, Kipo got out.

"Kipo, stop!" I told her, but she ignored me as she was willing to go help her father. But, acting quickly, I quickly ran over to her and grabbed her, preventing her from going any further.

"Axel, what are you doing?"

"Keeping you out of sight!" I told her. "We cannot go out there!"

"He's right." Wolf said, coming up from behind and pointed forward. "See that monkey on the black flamingo? That's Scarlemagne."

After getting on top of a train to hide, we listened in and watched as the Wonderbeast ape stood up in his flamingo and walked to the back of the car body as he looked down at Uncle Donnie and Lio. Getting a good look at him, I saw he was a mandrill dressed in a red, frocked coat with a white collar and a blue ribbon around his neck. There were also these curlers in his hair, two of each on each side of his head.

"Scarlemagne." Uncle Donnie said, voicing out the glare he was giving that tyrant.

"Donatello." Scarlemagne said with a smug smile. "It has certainly been quite a while since I last saw you. You know, since I last visited your village." Angered by this, Uncle Donnie tried to get himself free from the flamingo by an attempt to stand up, but the flamingo had too strong of a hold on him to allow him to do that.

"I see you got a new servant." Uncle Donnie said, commenting on the individual in the driver's seat. "And here I thought you only worked with primates."

What he said was actually true for this individual was obviously not a primate or anything close to a mammal. He might have been dressed with a red jacket, small blue bowtie, and white lace cuffs, but anyone could tell this guy was a reptile. Seeing the heads that functioned like hands, it was easy for me to figure out he was a snake. Though even I was confused by this certain individual because he was smaller (about roughly the same size as Uncle Donnie and Lio) and looked more human than animal. There was no record in the journal of a Wonderbeast Snake with this kind of form. Though what was really perplexing was that large, triangular helmet made of bronze and silver he was wearing as it covered his entire head and had only two eye holes on it. For whatever reason for Scarlemagne to have one of his servants completely conceal themselves like that was beyond me.

"Oh, yes. I forgot you two haven't met." Scarlemagne said before he motioned to his snake driver. "Mr. Hamato, allow me to introduce my bodyguard, Venomous Kong. Though not a primate such as myself, he is as loyal to me as his venom is potent."

"Venomous… Kong?" I said to myself as I've never even heard of a Wonderbeast with that name.

"Though enough introductions." Scarlemagne said to my uncle. "I now know that you are not the only familiar face I see before me." He then turned his attention to Lio. "Now, isn't this a surprise? My old pal, Lio." What Scarlemagne said shocked me. Lio knew Scarlemagne. "How are you? I do so miss your visits."

"Hugo." Lio greeted back. "It's been a long time."

"Hugo?" I said for I was confused on why Lio called Scarlemagne by that name.

"Oh, as our reptilian friend clearly pointed out, I go by 'Scarlemagne' now." He corrected him, adjusting his bow. "Has a nice ring to it, don't you think? So never mention that other name again or I'll have you stuffed!"

"Lio," Donatello said, shocked by what he was hearing, "you know this maniac?!"

"Your dad knows Scarlemagne?" Wolf asked Kipo in surprise.

"I guess?" Kipo answered, still finding this unexpected as she did.

"But… that's impossible!" I said, still in disbelief by all this. "How could…" Before I could think more about this, Lio spoke out.

"What do you want from us?" Lio asked.

"Oh, I'd like for you all to join my army of course." Scarlemagne answered. "But now that we're happily reunited, I wonder. Where's that bundle of joy of yours? You do have a daughter, if I remember. She must be grown up by now."

"He knows about Kipo?" Uncle Donnie said, placed into more disbelief.

"You'll never find her!" Lio told the mandrill, refusing to sell out his child's whereabouts.

"Oh, making it a game? Fine. More fun that way." Scarlemagne said before turned his attention back to Uncle Donnie. "And don't worry. I'll be sure to include you in the fun, along with the rest of your Tribe." With that, he snapped his fingers. "Dispose of him. He is of no use to me." With that, the flamingo then flew off the ground a bit before it picked up Uncle Donnie in its beak and then toss him aside. "Now, everyone, to the palace!" With his maniacal laughter, his flamingo took off, the others of its kind soon following it as Scarlemagne left with his army.

"No!" Lio struggled to get free, but it was useless as the flamingo's grip was too strong. "Let me go!"

"No, Kipo!" Wolf cried out as Kipo ran off to save her father, but Kipo didn't listen and kept going.

In response, I ran out and tried to catch up with her, but I was too late as she jumped to the flamingo that had Lio. From this attempt, as I feared, Kipo was caught in an approaching flamingo's talons. Chris was doing his best to try and keep up with her. But I was too late and she jumped for Lio and got ensnared by a flamingo's talons. As she was trying to fight back, two more riders came around and lassoed her, tying her up. With this, I then took off into the air and tried to rescue her before I was then surrounded by flamingos. I tried to fight back, but those birds managed to overpower me with their numbers and combined strength. The battle ended with one of the flamingos using its beak to grab my tail and toss me right back into the Burrow. I tried to get back up, but the flamingos bruised me so much that I didn't have the strength to stand up.

"Kipo! No!" I yelled out for all I could do was watch as Kipo was taken away. I just couldn't believe it. We finally got her back home and now my friend was being taken away from it, away from us. Away from… me. I thought this would be a happy ending. How could everything go so downhill like that? "Kipo… I'm sorry."

[With Aurico]

After the rest of the team met up with us, me, Benson, Dave, and them all ran over to where the hole was. When the flamingos started leaving, I saw they had most of the Burrow people with them. We chased them to try and rescue everybody, but, when we got there, we were already too late. The flamingos got away. If only we weren't in a cave, us fliers could have been able to catch up to them no problem. Not much space to take off with all those trains all over the place. When I heard someone crying, I looked down and saw it was Wolf, the survivor on her knees with her staff on the ground and Mandu comforting her. When I heard a groan, I looked past her to see Uncle Donnie slowly walking forward, using his staff to keep himself up.

"Grandfather!" Hotaru said as she saw him.

"Uncle Donnie!" Sora said as him, Riku, Hikari, and Hotaru ran over to him.

While those guys were busy helping him, the rest of us went down to Wolf to see what was wrong.

Benson was the first to kneel down next to her as he said "Wolf?"

"DAMN IT!" Hearing a loud bang, we looked and saw it was 3 (who had his paws out), punching into a train and leaving a large dent. "Scarlemagne, you bastard!"

"3, what's wrong?" I asked him after I ran over. "What happened?"

"He took them." He told me. "Lio and Kipo, Scarlemagne took them!"

"What?!" I said, shocked that both Kipo and her dad were captured.

"Oh, no!" Caldwell said as I turned to see everybody was worried about our friend, no doubt heard what 3 said.

"Poor Kipo." Brook said, looking down in sadness.

"I swear, Scarlemagne is going to pay." 3 said as he then closed his eyes and walked over to the others, making his arms return back to normal-sized. "He will not get away with this!"

"No, he won't." Wolf agreed, wiping her tears away before grabbing her staff and using it to stand up. "We're gonna find her, no matter what." 3 nodded feeling the same way.

Just then we heard a screech and looked to the sky to find one flamingo flying toward us, some other flamingos flying around it before being smacked away.

[With AF3]

As I kept watching the approaching flock of flamingos, I listened in and began to hear grunting and realized the flamingos being sent flying were fighting someone on the center flamingo. After the surrounding flock was gone, I soon saw I was right when I saw someone get onto the flamingo's back and knock the rider off it. The very individual took the reins and began to ride the flamingo down to us. Much to our shock, as if a miracle occurred, we all saw it was Kipo as she landed the flamingo in front of us, stirring up the wind as she looked at us with a face full of determination after getting the flamingo under control.

"Kipo!" I said, smiling in relief that she was safe.

"Can't believe you hijacked one of Scarlemagne's flamingos!" Aurico said, impressed by what Kipo achieved.

"Well, we're gonna need it if we're gonna be able to catch up to them." Kipo told us.

"Catch up?" Brook asked her in confusion. "Catch up to who?"

"Who else? Scarlemagne and his army." Kipo said with a smile of determination. "We're going after them."

"You seriously want to go after Scarlemagne?" Sora questioned her as he, Riku, Hikari, and Hotaru walked over, Hotaru helping Uncle Donnie walk with them. "You do realize that his army of mindless manservants outnumber us by the hundreds, right?"

"Yeah, so what?" She said to him. "We've faced with a lot of stuff just to get here. What's there to stop us now?" Just then, one of the flamingo's heads started struggling, trying to shake her off. "Whoa! Come on, don't be such…a meanie!" She got the head wrapped under her arm, seemly making it give up and calm down. "There you go. Aren't you a little…" The other head tried to bite her, but I stepped in and grabbed it by the neck, stopping it before grabbing the other and got them to look at me by producing a growl.

"Look here, you will listen to Kipo or else." I told the Mega Mutant. Much to the group's surprise, the flamingo submitted, most only in fear. "There we go." I let go of the flamingo's necks and pet the two heads. "See? We aren't so bad."

"Nice one." Kipo said to me, impressed by my work. "A little extreme, but it worked."

"Yeah." Benson nervously said, no doubt feeling scared a bit of me. "That… was… unexpected."

"Well, sometimes you need a firm hand as much as a gentle touch." I said, referencing a quote from the Old World.

"Uh, Kipo?" Brook questioned, nervous about riding the flamingo that belonged to Scarlemagne. "Are you sure that bird can help us? Not that I'm doubting you, just…"

"That thing is our only way to Scarlemagne." Wolf spoke up. "If it comes down to it, I'm willing to let it eat Dave."

"What's that now?" The old Dave asked before he instantly groaned in pain as he turned back into his infant stage. Then, for some reason, Mandu began to eat the bug's old skin.

"Ew! Mandu!" Wolf said, disgusted by what the piglet was doing. "You don't know where that Dave has been."

"Yeah, that's old man bug skin!" Gordy added, equally disgusted by this.

"Well, I hate to say this, but Wolf's got a point." Aurico spoke up. "That flamingo does belong to Scarlemagne, so it might know the way."

"It definitely knows the way." I said, knowing what I learned about this type of Mega Mutant. "Luckily for us, this type of bird nests. We let it take us to its nest and we'll find Scarlemagne's palace."

"You're seriously going along with this plan?" Nabu said as he stepped up, surprised I was in favor of Kipo's idea. "You do know that this is crazy, right? We'd need the Order if we're gonna pull this off. If we go there without them, we could probably die."

"That's a risk we'll have to take." I said before speaking to everyone. "Alright, everybody, listen up! I know that that this seems crazy, especially with the odds stacked against us. But Kipo is right. Throughout this entire journey, all up to this point, we've all met with challenges that put all the skills we have and had learned to the test. All of which we managed to succeed and become stronger than we were before. I know that, if we all work together, we'll be able to make even the impossible possible." I then took out my staff as raised it above my head. "I say let's head to Scarlemagne's palace and save Kipo's Burrow! Who's with me?"

"I'm in!" Gordy said, cracking his knuckles in anticipation. "Did want to give that overgrown chimp a good pounding."

"Miraculous Warriors never fight alone." Aurico said, speaking for himself and our fellow Miraculous Warriors (who gave smiles to show they were ready to join in). "You can count us in too."

"Clan Hamato always fights together." Uncle Donnie said, speaking for himself and the four ninjas beside him who smiled to give the same answer. "As such, we'll join you in this battle."

"Well, Nadu?" I said, looking to the energy elemental, waiting for the answers from him and Aisha.

"Oh, well…" Nadu started before Aisha smacked him in the head, the light elemental glaring at him. "Ow! What? I was gonna say we were in." After shortly recovering from the smack, he then looked at me with a smile, Aisha joining him. "You're our friend, 3. And friends stick together."

"Then go on and get on with Uncle Donnie." I said to them before I spoke to three of my Miraculous Warrior cousins. "Brandon, Stella, Musa, the flamingo will carry you." I then turned to Aurico. "Rico, think you can carry Sora and the ninjas?"

"No problem, cuz." Aurico said before he then flew a bit off the ground and used his metalbending to grab onto the four ninjas, ready to carry them when we follow the flamingo back to Scarlemagne's palace.

"Benson, grab Dave and get on the flamingo with Wolf and Mandu." The trio did as I say, Kipo scooping up Mandu as the three joined my uncle and my Tribe friends on the flamingos back.

"Got ya!" Benson said as he caught Dave who had just popped out of his cocoon into his toddler stage, just as Brandon, Stella, and Musa got to the flamingo to wait for it to stand so the flamingo would pick them up.

"The rest of you, you already got your travel partners." I told my fellow elementals before I spoke to Kipo. "We'll follow you from the air."

"Okay." Kipo said before she got the flamingo to stand up. "Everybody good?"

"Yeah." We all replied.

"Ready to find Scarlemagne?"

"Yeah!" We all cheered, including Mandu. But, before we got going, Dave burst off his skin and went into his teenager stage, splattering his juices on everybody on the flamingo.

"That ruined the moment." I said before Dave spoke up.

"Uh… what about them?" The Wonderbeast pointed forward as I looked and, to my surprise, found Kipo's Burrow friends hiding behind a piece of concrete.

"What the…? What are you three doing here?" I asked the trio, confused as I thought they evacuated the Burrow.

"We were gonna leave, but thought that you guys might need more help." Asher answered me.

"So we came back, you know, to help." Dahlia added, finishing the explanation.

"And now we're going to come with you." The Burrow boy said to me as he and the girls came out of hiding. "It's our Burrow too, so we'll do everything we can to help."

"Good grief. Look, I admire your courage, guys." I told them. "But you can't help us with this. Scarlemagne practically rules Las Vistas and haves an army of soldiers at his disposal. Unless you three have Miraculous or powers like the majority of our group, you can't come with." I then sighed before pointing out that they now gave us a new problem. "But now, before we even leave for the palace, we have to get you three out of here."

"3's right." Aurico said, backing me up. "We can't leave you three by yourselves. If you stay in Burrow, those soldiers will find you when they come back to double-check everything."

"And we can't let you just go wandering around Las Vistas." Brook added, putting out a good point. "The Wonderbeast Packs are already spread out everywhere to find us. If you run into them, you'll be Scarlemagne's prisoners for sure."

"We need to get you guys somewhere safe, someplace where Scarlemagne and the Packs can't find you." I said to the trio. "The only question is where we could take you."

"What about Rat Land?" Brandon suggested. "It's a safe zone for all species. They could hide there with the rats."

"I'm afraid that amusement park is no longer an option." Uncle Donnie said as we all looked to him. "If I know Scarlemagne, he probably turned the place to ruin while looking to see if they had any humans hiding there."

"Wait!" Benson said with a look of horror. "You mean Rat Land's… gone?"

"I'm afraid so." Uncle Donnie said with regret before Aisha pulled him into a hug as he cried on her shoulder. He then regained his serious tone as he spoke out to us.

"Okay, so where exactly are we gonna hide three Burrow people at?" Gordy asked.

"There's only one place where these three can be safe." Uncle Donnie started. "Though this might lead us to further ourselves from Scarlemagne, it is the only way we can be sure that these kids will be safe from him and the Packs of Las Vistas. With taking them back there with us, we can also regroup and prepare ourselves for the battle ahead."

"'Back there'?" I said before I then realized where he was suggesting we take the three. "Uncle Donnie, you don't mean…"

"I do, Axel." He told me before he then spoke out to everyone. "Everyone… it's time for us to go home." With that, everyone was as shocked as I was from hearing what Uncle Donnie said to us. To ensure that the only three Burrow people we had of Kipo's Burrow could be safe, we would have to return home. Return… to the Tribe.

Author's Note: Hey, guys! I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Surprised to find out that Scarlemagne and Lio knew each other, huh? Don't worry, you'll get to learn more about the relations between the two soon. For in the next chapter, there are a few more surprises in store for our heroes, especially for when they return home. 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!