Note Huge thanks and credit to Meian16 for most of the writing in this chapter!

Warning: Contains violence and strong language.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Jun walked through the tunnels, his nose waffling as he took in the many smells he hadn't been aware of.

He could smell the dampness of the air since they were below Lake Michigan, as well as rubbery and sweaty smells as he passed the Dojo.

In fact as he did, he noticed his black hoodie he had left in there near the door and he grabbed it.

"I wondered where that went." he thought to himself then walked a little more to hear some snoring from another room further down the tunnel.

Narrowing his eyes, the tiger slowly moved along to try and find out who was sleeping somewhere other than the sleeping quarters, and he got his answer when he passed Hacker's room and he saw the spider was resting on his front arms, a can of an energy drink in one of his other hands.

"Jeez." he thought "The guys practically lives in that room."

He peeked in to have a glance at the many computers and screens, some showing footage of around the sanctuary and even some of Chicago.

Jun waffled his nose as he could smell the different smells of the energy drinks and microwave food that the spider had in there and he backed out again before closing the door quietly.

As he did that, he then smelt something a little fresher and he recognized it as the air from the surface.

"Fresh air." Jun thought to himself "The exit, or entrance should be this way." he kept following the smell until he made it to some tunnels where the small was and walked through them.

Before long, he found the long tunnel and kept following it, the smell getting stronger as he went and it wasn't long before he found himself in the city, climbing out of a sewer hole.

Looking around and making sure no-one was watching, Jun climbed out of the hole pulled the hoodie over him before adjusting his hood, making sure no-one could see he was a humanoid tiger.

The sky was Grey and he could see it was starting to get dark which worked in his favour if he stuck to the shadows and stayed out of sight from others. As much as he wanted to not hide himself, he knew better than walk amongst the city goers as he was.
Taking his paws out of the pockets of the hoodie, Jun looked down at them and frowned as he felt his anger returning.

"Still can't believe this...this is some straight bullshit. Gonna tell me I can't have any kind of contact with my own family!? And all those other guidelines they have!? They got me all kinds of fucked up!'
Clenching one of his paws into a fist, he slammed it into one of the brick walls near him before leaning his back against it in pure frustration.

Ever since the moment he and Dahlia were awakened in their new mutant forms after their near-death experience, Jun had been completely against the change regardless of the fact that it saved both of their lives.

To him, having to discard his previous life as well as everything that meant something to him may as well have been the equivalent to death.

Sighing, the tiger then remembered the words Dahlia said to him.

"Well, we don't have a choice. This is our new home, whether we like it or not and we're going to need to get used to it."

A scoff escaped his lips.

"Get used to it.' Yeah, right."

Turning his head, Jun looked out of the alleyway he was in and saw a few people walk by on the sidewalk and cars driving down the street and he couldn't help the sudden feeling of want and sadness go through him, knowing that he wouldn't be able to experience such freedom again.

Out of the people walking past he saw a family with kids returning home from school, the two children, a boy and a girl were chatting happily about their day and asking what was for tea.

"Y'all don't know how good you really have it. Better enjoy it for as long as you have it...and try not to end up like me."
Leaning against the wall a bit longer, Jun bumped his fist against it a few more times before standing up straight and continuing on his way throughout the alleyways of the city.

Back in Mutopia, it had been over an hour since Jun had left the bedroom and Dahlia herself was starting to stir from her slumber.

She rolled over expecting to feel her boyfriend next to her, but she opened her eyes and saw the space was empty.

"Jun?" she called out softly as she looked up from the pillow and looked around the room, yet she couldn't see him anywhere, and his clothes he had left on the chair were missing.

"He must have woken up early." she thought laying back down on her pillow and taking a glance at the small clock on the bedside table on her side which read five thirty in the afternoon.

She lay back down on the the pillow and stared at the ceiling, deciding to wake up slowly before getting up and dressed and looking for Jun.

"He must be in the dojo again." she thought "Back in Anchorage, he would often get up early and go jogging or be at the gym most days."

She rubbed her forehead as she remembered her home city back in Alaska.

"I wonder when Hugh will return and tell us the reactions of our families?" she wondered "Oh I dread to think."

Meanwhile, sometime later, Jun found himself laying on the roof of an electronics store looking up at the evening sky long after the sun had set.

Knowing he should've returned to the underground a long time ago, he disregarded it and stayed on the surface, passing time by going wherever his feet led him.

During his walk, he observed many people from the shadows, all of them enjoying and living their lives.

Ranging from friends meeting up to hang out after school to family get-togethers, a sigh escaped the tiger's mouth as he readjusted his hands behind his head and crossed one of his legs over the other.

"Nights like this remind me of when me, bro, and sis would do this with each other,' he thought. 'Mom and dad too, whenever we were able to talk them into it. Not to mention all the outings we'd have together. And the times Alex and I would do the same...'

Jun's face softened as he thought of his girlfriend.

As angry as he was at the entire situation involving them as well as the suffering he was going through, he knew that she was going through it just the same as himself, if not worse.

Her job as a nurse, something that meant everything to her, was taken from her in an instant.

Her parents eventually getting the news that their only child was missing. Unlike his parents, who had other children, he couldn't imagine how hers would take the news.

All of her hopes and dreams for the future were snatched away just as his was.

And it wasn't just them - after what he learned from the meeting he and Dahlia attended, everyone in Mutopia had their lives taken from them.

On top of that, many of them were still dealing with the ramifications of their changes.

But unlike himself, they weren't drowning in sadness, anger, and despair. They were doing all in their power to make do with the lives they have now.

Another sigh came from the tiger.

"Damn it man...As fucked up as this is, it's not just me whose going through this shit...Everyone there is..."

His eyes fell on the full moon in the sky and he couldn't help but think about Dahlia once more.

One of things they enjoyed together was looking at the moon and stars on clear nights, and Dahlia always knew a few places outside of Anchorage where they could see them at the best of times.

"I hope she's alright...Probably worried sick about me seeing as how I left without a word...I've been gone for a while...Maybe I should head back...'

Jun was knocked out of his thoughts as he heard what sounded like glass breaking and instinctively sat up.

"What the hell was that?" he thought.
More sounds, including what sounded like muffled laughter, followed the glass breaking.

Growing curious, Jun crawled over to the side of the building where he heard the sounds coming from and slowly looked down over it.

In the alley below, illuminated by the nearby streetlight, the tiger saw four individuals - their faces concealed by yellow bandannas.

One of them was holding a crowbar and there was glass on the ground near them.
"Heh, that was too easy," said the one holding the crowbar in a deep, male voice.

"C'mon boys, let's do this."

The other three let out more laughs and slapped high fives with each other.

The one holding the crowbar turned his attention to the door in front of him, reaching through the broken window and unlocking the door.

Afterwards, he opened it and all four of the individuals quickly made their way into the building.

Back on the roof, Jun watched in silence as they made their way into the electronics store.

"I know robbers when I see them. And from the looks of it, they're gang members."

He wasn't sure who these members were and right now, he didn't care, all he cared about was finding a way to stop them.
The tiger narrowed his eyes and frowned, slowly feeling his anger returning.

Seeing the burglars on top of him being reminded of all the things that had been taken from him during his walk throughout Chicago earlier in the day, Jun stood up and rolled his neck, cracking it a few times.

Meanwhile, unaware that Jun was outside, the four burglars walked around the electronics store, looking at and gathering many of the items off the shelves into bags they had brought with them.

"Look at all this shit!" said one of them, a relatively tall one as he filled up a duffle bag.

"That tip off we got was on point!"

A scoff came from another of the figures as it glanced at the different prices being displayed.

"Have y'all seen these prices? Must be out of their damn mind to think anyone's gonna pay this much for all this!"

"Well, you ain't gotta worry about that, my boy." said the one with the crowbar as he cracked open the cash register and began to pull out all the money inside it.

"See anything you want, go ahead and scoop it up."

A sinister laugh came from the fourth individual as he gathered items in his bag as well.

"Some of this I'm gonna keep and others I know I can make some good bucks on! Gonna be rolling in dough in no time!"

The others joined him in laughing.

Meanwhile Jun, who had followed the four of them into the building and was hiding behind the door leading into the main room where they were, and heard everything they were saying.

"Looks like I was right." he muttered, clawing his new tiger paws and the claws that adorned them.

"And they're doing it just for kicks and personal gain. These boys definitely need some act right."

Standing up, Jun watched the four gang members, noticing they hadn't realized he was there.

Deciding to make his presence known, the tiger kept his hood on over his head to hide his identity and knocked on the door a few times loudly.

The four gang members immediately turned their attention to Jun as he walked into the room.

"Who the fuck are you!?" one of them exclaimed.

"Must be one of the workers!" said another.

"The hell!? No one was supposed to be here!" said the third.

The one at the cash register narrowed his eyes from behind his bandana and took another look at Jun.

"Wait, hold up. Look at the way this clown's dressed. Ain't no way he's a worker. Must be a homeless bum who followed us in."

The others did a double take as well before chuckling.

"You're probably right," said the first one. "Hey yo, what are you doing here?"

Jun approached the robbers with his hands still in his pocket and holding his head down.

"I could ask you the same thing." he growled.

"We're just taking care of some business, not that it's any of your business," said one of the burglars.

"As a matter of fact, why don't you get the hell out of here? You're wasting our time."

Jun looked at the one who spoke to him before walking over and looking at some of the electronics on display.

"Definitely some nice hardware in here, I'll admit. And it's pretty obvious what you all have planned."

He looked over to them.

"But did any of you think that this probably isn't the best way to go about it? There's still time for you to rethink things before you do something you'll regret."

The four burglars looked at Jun a bit longer before looking at each other and bursting into laughter.

"Are you hard at hearing or some shit?" the one with the crowbar asked. "We just told you - we're taking care of business, and this is none of yours! So why don't you get the hell out of here before we make you regret coming in here, you homeless piece of shit!"

The four laughed once again and a few seconds later, to their surprise, Jun began to laugh a little as well.

Chuckling, Jun began to speak once again.

"First of all, I'm not a homeless piece of shit nor do I work here."

The four almost instantly stopped laughing and looked at the hooded figure once more.

"Second," the tiger mutant continued. "I'm in a real shitty mood."

At that, the four exchanged looks with each other, almost as if asking each other silently if the one before them was serious.

"Third, no law says I can't make this my business," Jun continued, his voice slowly becoming more threatening.

"So why don't you all leave before I make you leave?"

The four robbers at this point had enough.

"Well, my man, you just made this your damn business," said the one with the crowbar, pointing it at Jun.

"Boys, the stuff can wait. Fuck this bastard up!"

Jun stood his ground as all four of the robbers surrounded him.

Staying on guard, the tiger glanced between all of them, not sure which of them would make the first move him and besides the one wielding a crowbar, he was unsure if any of the others had concealed weapons.

A few seconds later, the robber directly behind Jun rushed at him.

Focusing on his footsteps and waiting until he was behind him, Jun dropped to the floor and swung his leg at the oncoming robber, sweeping his leg out from under him and knocking the gang member down on his back.

"The hell!?" one of the other robbers yelled.

"Don't just stand there, looking all surprised and shit!" the one with the crowbar commanded.

"Get his ass!"

One of the other robbers ran at Jun, throwing a punch at his head.

Jun sidestepped the attack, delivered a knee to his attacker's midsection so hard that he felt some of his ribs crack after the hit.

"Oh shit, I heard that!" one of the other robbers exclaimed while flinching his body from the sound he heard.

The robber felt the air get knocked out of him and Jun continued his attack by grabbing his arm, stepping into him, and ruthlessly throwing him over his body and down onto the robber whose legs he swept.

The angle in which Jun threw him made the two robbers' heads connect with a sickening smack noise and both of them were knocked unconscious as a result of the blow.

"You motherfucker!" the third robber yelled before running at Jun.

"You're going to pay for that!"

The robber ran at Jun, throwing punches at him that the tiger seemingly dodged with little to no effort while backing away from him.

Keeping an eye on his attacker, Jun watched both his hands and feet, waiting for a moment to counter him.

The robber threw a punch at Jun, which the tiger caught, gave his back to him while still holding his arm, lifted it up high above him and brought it down hard on his shoulder, viciously breaking his arm.

Yelling out in pain from behind his bandana, the robber soon found himself being grabbed by Jun, the tiger covering his mouth and then throwing him headfirst into one of the glass displays with so much force it not only shattered the display but rendered the robber unconscious.

The last robber was dumbfounded as he looked at his cohorts down on the floor.

"Fucking hell, what kind of shit is this!? You mofos mean to tell me you let your sorry asses get knocked out by one guy!? Do I got to do everything myself!?"

"Pretty big talk for someone whose just been standing on the sidelines and waving a crowbar back and forth like that's supposed to mean something," said Jun as he looked at him.

"At least these guys tried while all you've been doing is running your mouth and talking big."

The robber narrowed his eyes into a frown.

"I don't like your tone."

"There's still time for you to wise up and walk away," said Jun.

The robber twirled the crowbar around in his hand a few times.

"Maybe I should make it so your little smart ass doesn't say another damn thing ever again."

"Alright, if that's how it's gonna be."

Brandishing the crowbar, the last robber ran at Jun and began swinging it at different angles, aiming for different parts of the tiger's body. Even Jun was a bit surprised at the robber's attack.

"Hmm, this one may know a thing or two," he thought to himself as he rolled out of the way of another of the robber's attacks.

Gritting his teeth from behind his bandana, the robber swung the crowbar backwards at Jun, just barely missing his head as he saw him roll out of the way again.

"Quit running away like a little bitch! Fight back, you pussy!"

Getting back to his feet, Jun saw the robber rushing at him once again.

Standing his ground, he waited until he was within arm's reach of him and seeing him swing the crowbar at him again.

Sidestepping the robber, Jun got behind him, wrapped his arms around his neck and applied a rear naked choke on him.

"Get the fuck off me! Your fucking fighting dirty!"

"Coming at me four on one and you've got a weapon? And you got the balls to say I'm fighting dirty?"

The robber attempted to get Jun's arms off him by pulling at his arms and trying to swing the crowbar backwards at his head, but Jun not only dodged the strikes but leapt up onto his back and wrapped his arms completely around his body, arms included.

Dropping the crowbar, the robber was trapped in Jun's hold and fought as best as he could but the hooded tiger applied more pressure to his neck.

A Few seconds later, the robber went motionless and fell to the floor on his front.

Releasing the robber, Jun examined him and saw he was unconscious like the others.

"Good riddance," the tiger said before starting to check all of the downed robbers, checking for any sign of identification on them but finding nothing.

However, He did find a few wads of cash on them.

"Y'all ain't gonna need these anymore," he said as he placed the money in his pockets.

Taking one last look at the knocked-out robbers, Jun frowned at them before taking his leave from the store through the back entrance.

So Jun went topside and it seemed he was in the right place at the right time since he managed to stop a robbery.

At the same time, Dahlia has noticed her boyfriend is up early, yet she doesn't know he's topside.