Chow Residence

Judo stirred in bed, groaning as she slowly opened her eyes. The light coming through the window hit her eyes, making her take a few seconds to adjust. "Ugh…" she began to slowly sit upright, looking down on the covers gently tucked under and around her. "Home..? Then was all this.. a dream..?" The sound of glass breaking caused her to jump as she quickly turned to face the door, seeing Wendy in absolute shock, holding a plate sideways, a broken glass cup on the floor.

"Ju-..Judo!!" Tears began to flow from her eyes as she made a dash towards Judo, wrapping her arms around her tightly. "Oh Judo!! I was so worried about you!! How are you feeling dear???" The amount of questions being asked confused Judo further.

"Worried? But why..?" Judo took a second to think before responding. "I'm.. I'm alright. What happened? I don't.. I don't remember." Wendy gave her a little squeeze before letting her go. Then she sat on the bed, facing her as she wiped away her tears. Now that she got a good look, Judo could tell that Wendy was exhausted. Dark bags under her eyes, her fur not as neat as usual, and her overall aura being that of a parent who is about to lose a child. It bothered Judo immensely.

"I.. I think it may be best if you forgot, ok dear? You're okay now. Everything is okay now," Wendy began softly speaking with a small smile, her eyes staying locked on Judo.

Judo stayed silent. Although she didn't remember everything that went down, she remembered going to the store and that Kish was making his way to her. "Mum? Where's Kish? I.. I need to ask him something." This time it was Wendy's turn to stay silent. For a second, Judo could have sworn she saw Wendy's expression subtly change to that of anger. "Mum..?"

"Don't worry about him dear. He won't cause us any more problems…" Wendy took a deep breath before putting up a smile. Judo then glared at her.

"Where is he mum?"

"I said not to worry about him."

"Where. Is. He?"

"Judith Ann Chow! I said-" Wendy was cut off by Judo hopping off of the bed, walking to the door. Wendy stayed quiet, watching her daughter. Her face changed immediately into worry as she saw Judo pick up a big piece of the glass cup on her hand. "Judo? What are you doing..?"

"...I need to know if this is a dream or not. This is the easiest way to tell," she lifted the glass piece up to her arm before slashing at her arm. It wasn't a deep cut, and the pain she felt in her "dream" was much worse.

"JUDO!" Wendy immediately hopped off the bed and ran to Judo, knocking the glass shard out of her hand and pulling her away. "What in the heavens are you thi-" she was cut off by Judo tapping her arm, pointing to the wound. Wendy looked and was shocked to see a green light envelope the wound as it slowly closed itself. The only thing left after a few seconds was the stain of blood on her fur. "What… what's going on..?"

"I won't say until you tell me where Kish is."

'I.." Wendy was obviously hesitant, but after seeing what happened with Judo's wound, she was more concerned over what happened to Judo and why it healed. "I don't know.. Kish and the guy that was with him brought you back unconscious. You had rips all over your clothes. I.. I brought you inside immediately, but Kish and the guy.. I told them to get lost. Ever since Kish arrived.. there's been nothing but trouble!"

"Why..? Why would you run them off?? I could understand the older guy but Kish?! He's my age, he's alone and without a home!"

"I.. may not have been thinking straight I will admit. But your safety Judo.. that is my priority."

Judo scoffed, "Out of us two, he's the one in most danger. He's being chased by so many people, and yet he can hardly fight back! The only reason I'm okay right now is because of him!" Judo pulled her arm away from Wendy's grip. "I know and understand that being around him might put me in danger… but I want to help him!" She put both of her hands on her chest, as she began remembering every detail of what happened, especially the feeling of her heart being pierced. Wendy just stared at her, extremely worried about her wanting to see Kish again. However, another part of her wanted to support her. Judo had never been this serious about anything before, Wendy could tell that this was serious.

"I'm.. I'm sorry Judo. I didn't mean to try and force this on you.. but I'm just so scared.. so scared of losing you. Kish had told me what had happened.. and how you got shot in the heart.. It's been three days since then, and throughout all those days, every passing minute.. I never left your side." Judo's ears twitched.

"Three days?? I've been out for three days??" Wendy nodded her head.

"I don't know where they are Judo.. I still don't want you to see Kish. But.. if that's what you really want to do, at least let me be with you. You're.. all I have left. Please.." Wendy looked at Judo directly in the eyes as she pleaded. This caught Judo off-guard, as Wendy never talked about her father. It was always a tough topic for her, and Judo never pressed it despite her curiosity. Judo, however, didn't know anything about her father other than her taking her personality and looks from him, he was a total mystery to her.

"Alright mum, we'll be together.." Judo reached out to grab both of her mother's hands, holding them together as she looked up to her. "I love you Mum… so much."

"I love you too Judo.." Wendy weakly said, a tear falling down her cheek as they embraced each other.

"Before we do anything.. it's probably best to let you know everything. Come on, let's talk in the living room," Judo broke the hug, holding Wendy's hand as she pulled her to the living room. They then sat down and talked for the next hour, Judo recounting all the events that had occured, starting with Kish's youth.

Near a creek, away from the public

Kish and Monty had set up camp out near a creek, away from the public. Upon being kicked out by Wendy three days ago, Monty invited Kish over to his place, to which Kish was reluctant but agreed due to their situation. However, Monty's house had been broken into and a mess, as if they were looking for him. Knowing that they were in danger, the two decided to camp away from the others. For the next two days they got the supplies they needed, and left for the creek. At the moment, they were resting in complete silence. In an attempt to break the awkward mood, Monty began talking.

"So uh, Kish right? How are you holding up?"

Kish's ears perk up, feeling a little nervous about talking to an adult. "I'm fine, I guess." He fidgeted a little with his hair.

"Are you.. worried about Judo? I noticed you being so.. distant ever since we left her house. That or that's just how you are, sorry if that's the case." Monty said, leaning back on a tree, loosening up his body. He didn't know much about Kish yet, all he had to go on were the battle between them and Levi, and the past two days of gathering supplies, where they barely interacted.

"...yea, I am." His body stiffened, wrapping his arms around his curled up legs as he leaned back on the tree. Despite the little time Kish and Judo spent together, it was the first time he had made a friend in well over a decade now, so she was special to him. He at least knew that Wendy really cared for her, so he wasn't all too worried with her recovery.

"You two seemed like good friends. I'm.. I'm sorry that you two are going through all this. I had no idea until you talked to Levi… I want to make things right."

"What can you do? It's not like you can stop them just by talking. They're out to kill both me and Judo, and quite possibly others like us. I bet I'm not the only natural around…"

"Yeah you're right. No matter what we do, people will die." Monty took a deep breath, collecting his thoughts before continuing. "But that doesn't mean we should give up. I.. have an idea as for what we can do." Kish's ears perk up as he loosens his arms. "They're after young ones like you and Judo, right? Then why don't we protect them all together? Better to defend together then alone.. right?"

"You.. have a point. But it's still dangerous. They could just take us out all in one fell swoop."

"I doubt it, if they tried it, they would no longer get any government funding and support due to civilian casualties. I didn't know about what they were really doing, so it must be top secret. If they're willing to kill security just like that, then maybe even the government doesn't know." Monty explained, giving Kish even more to think about. It was exhausting enough for Kish to be in this situation, but this was his limit.

"Let me think about it… I need some rest.." and just like that, Kish had fallen asleep, his head resting on his knees. It surprised Monty to see how fast he fell asleep.

"Was he really that exhausted..?" It was then that he thought of his daughter. "If Kish prefers it outside of the lab to the point where this is worth it… just what did the three suffer through..? What did they do to you Angela..?" His fists curled up as he felt anger build up inside him. He tightened it so much his nails began piercing his skin. It wasn't until he heard Kish groan in his sleep that he came back to reality. He sighed as he cleaned up his hand. "Now's not the time… I can't let others suffer like I have. I'll protect them!"