References to Tyroth Darkstorm's fanfic 'A Sister's Plight' appear in this chapter, go to my favourite stories page to read it, I consider it to be one of his best fanfics!
Chapter Twenty-Six
Sephie looked at the couple then at the others present in the room.
She knew most of them gathered didn't know their story and she thought it best they tell it, then she, and the others would tell theirs like Tania and Sonia did.
"By all means." The gecko said gently "Tell us everything, you're in a safe place where we all understand what you're going through."
Jun sighed and looked at Dahlia who nodded at him in encouragement.
"In our..." the tiger paused "Other lives, I was an underground mixed martial arts fighter. Dahlia was a nurse. The two of us met by chance and after getting to know each other, we fell in love."
As he said the last part, he kissed Dahlia's paw, and the wolf blushed in response.
Sonia blinked and looked at Dahlia.
"Hold up." She said, "You're a nurse?"
Dahlia nodded.
"I am yes." she smiled.
"Oh wow!" Tania cried looking at the others as thoughts of James having someone to help him in the medical wing since the Chimpanzee often worked alone and never had taken an apprentice, yet, since none in Mutopia had been eligible to be one, nor shown an interest in medical skills, apart from April 'O' Neil and Donatello in New York.
Cam and Barry meanwhile were not surprised to know about Jun being a fighter since they had been at the tournament before Antonella attacked the couple yet there were surprised to learn that Dahlia was a nurse.
"Bee Bop be do! Stone me man!" Barry exclaimed "A fighter and a nurse?"
"Talk about total opposites!" Jack said.
"But brought together, they fit beautifully!" Amber smiled and she looked at Jake who smiled back at her lovingly.
Jun took a deep breath.
"We've been to many places together around the USA." The tiger said, "With the money I earnt from my fights as well as odd jobs, and Dahlia's nursing wage, wherever we went when I took part in the fights, we've been to a lot of places, Washington DC, Las Vegas Nevada, San Fransisco California, but our latest travels brought us to Chicago where I was taking part in the Big Fight Tournament."
"Which we were at." Cam said in a soft voice to Barry who nodded.
"I won," Jun continued "but...me winning messed up the plans of a mafia who was there too."
"No Way..." Amber whispered, and Jake looked rather angry, as did the other males in the group whilst the women just looked sad.
"They wanted the prize money I won," Jun said "By any means necessary, they ended up chasing us down, killing another fighter we had become friends within the process..."
"Jason." Dahlia said, "I tried to save him, but even my nursing skills couldn't help, the wound was fatal."
"The bastards!" Cam and Barry growled at the same time as they remembered what they had seen when they rescued Jun and Dahlia.
"We took a stand," Jun continued "Tried to get away and fight back but..."
"They shot us," Dahlia said placing a hand on her shoulder where the first bullet had hit her "I can still feel where the bullet entered."
"They killed us and took the money." Jun sighed "Those goddamn motherfuckers..." he winced as he realised, he had cussed and hadn't thought that maybe someone would be offended.
"Sorry..." he said sheepishly.
"It's alright." Sephie said kindly and the others agreed.
"Don't sweat it man." Jake said, "We've heard almost everything under the sun, and Rattletrap's got a proper mouth like a sewer!"
"Aint that the truth!" Sharky said.
"Hey guys." Barry said, "Cam and I were there at the tournament, we saw how well you fought man, I wouldn't want to be on the wrong side of you!"
"Yeah!" Cam agreed "You're one heck of a fighter. We saw all your fights. You'd be a tough customer for anyone, including some of the guys here."
"You were there at the tournament?" Dahlia asked "How? Where were you?"
"We hid behind the bleachers." Barry explained "We made our own bets as we watched, and needless to say Jun, you really showed those other fighters how to do it!"
Jun gave a weak smile proud.
"We wanted to come check it out. Seemed like it'd be entertaining." Cam said.
"Yeah!" Barry agreed "Well we used to be in the gang life, and we also took part in Fight tournaments, even though some was more bloody than others."
"I see..." Jun mused as he looked at the Rhino and Warthog.
"That was before we mutated." Cam said, "And we were from two different gangs, boy the fights we had when we first arrived."
"Old George and James had a lot of headaches with you guys!" Jack said as he remembered then looked at Jun and Dahlia.
"Those two hated each other's guts when they first got here, fighting and trying to kill each other, Gramps and James and others tried all they could to make them stop."
"You betcha!" Sharky said, "that was until Gramps decided just to let them sort it out between them, until finally they both ran out of puff and called it a draw."
"And the rest is history." Barry said, "Cam and I, we're like Bread and butter, peanut butter and jam."
"Two of a kind!" Cam said giving the warthog a fist bump.
"Wow." Dahlia said, "I'm glad you worked it out."
Jake smiled then looked at the wolf "And having a nurse for a girlfriend must be a bonus Jun!" Jake laughed "I bet she patched you up after you left the ring?"
Dahlia nodded.
"I can't tell you how many times I've had to take out my kit to patch him up after fights, I've even had to stitch him a few times!"
"She's a wizard with her skills." Jun confirmed.
"What kind of fighter are you Jun?" Sharky asked.
"Mixed martial artist." Jun replied.
"As in, many different fighting styles?" Cam asked.
"Cool!" Jake said, "Maybe you could teach me, I mean us, a few of your moves?"
"Yeah!" Sharky agreed.
"Yeah, that's right..." Jun answered Sharky's question "Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is my base though."
"Base?" Sonia asked.
"The fighting style I began in and mastered first." Jun said, "Self-taught mostly."
"Ah, I see..." Sephie said "Well, there's always one we learnt first, I think mine was karate, though we tend to freestyle our moves in battle."
"That and rules go out the window in the heat of the moment." Amber agreed "And I learnt how to fight with hardly any training!"
Sephie looked grim as she remembered how and why, yet Jun frowned.
"Did I just hear you correctly?" he asked, "How did you just pick up fighting moves?"
Amber looked over at the tiger who looked rather skeptical, and Dahlia was rather mystified, and the marine iguana thought best to explain.
As she did, she felt Jake holding her hand.
Amber then went on to explain about how she along with her parents had been kidnapped by the Foot Ninja in New York and she had been experimented on and used as a weapon against Tyroth until he was able to break the brainwashing and rescue her and his parents thanks to the help of Sephie and the Hamato Clan.
When Amber mentioned the Hamato Clan, Jun and Dahlia were confused.
"Who?" Dahlia asked.
"Hamato Clan?" Jun asked.
Sephie nodded.
"A family of mutant ninjas, consisting of four turtles, a lizard and their rat sensei,"
"What the hell?" Jun exclaimed.
"It's true Stripes!" Barry said.
Once again Jun narrowed his eyes angrily when he heard the nickname as he still wasn't used to the fact that he was now a mutant tiger, but he felt Dahlia squeeze his hand and he took a deep breath to stay calm.
"They're a nice bunch too, especially Monalisa!" Tania said thinking of the lizard lady she liked to discuss clothing and styles with.
"And she along with one of the turtles Raphael have a beautiful if not rather impulsive daughter!" Sephie said thinking about Pandora, she wanted to mention their human member Kemeko, who Leonardo had adopted but she decided to tell them at a later date, as the couple were still taking everything in.
"Wow." Dahlia said, "So it seems you Mutopians aren't the only mutants in the world."
"Nope." Sephie said "But when they visit again, which should hopefully be sooner rather than later, we'll introduce you." She promised.
"Great!" Dahlia smiled.
Cam looked over at Jun.
"You know, after what we saw in the tournament, we'd love to see what you could do against some of the guys here!"
Dahlia raised an eyebrow.
"That a challenge Rhino?" she asked with a smirk in her voice.
"Not trying to start anything!" Cam said quickly "Was just curious, is all!"
Dahlia thought for a moment then looked at Jun who looked back at her and they thought over what the Rhino suggested.
"You think you could?" the wolf asked.
"What? Fight against someone here?" the tiger asked.
"Well, the Chicago Knights are always training, and so are we!" Barry quipped.
Jun thought for a moment then he remembered when he went to the Dojo and met Heather, Sarah, Percy and Jack in there and how they had sparred with each other before he had decided to punch the bags.
"What do you think love?" he asked Dahlia.
"Fighting is what you enjoy, and even though you're now a mutant tiger, there's no reason to stop." She said.
Jun sighed as it again hit him that now he was a mutant, he couldn't be seen amongst the humans again and take part in fights again.
"I suppose..." he said, "Given our current situation."
"Be interesting to see how you fight boy," Cam said, "You might just teach the knights a thing or two!"
"I'm all for learning something new." Jake said.
"And me!" Amber smiled.
"Likewise!" Jack said.
"Ditto!" Sharky agreed.
"Yeah! Heck, I'm curious! I'll take you on if you're up for it!" Cam cheered.
"me too!" Barry said.
"So, what do you say?" Cam asked looking at Jun "Think you can show us some moves and maybe teach us?"
Jun thought again for a moment, and he fiddled with his new whiskers, even though he was still upset at the fact he couldn't fight topside, at least that's what he thought, he saw no reason not to show what he could do to these mutants.
"Very well then." He said to which Cam, Barry, Amber, Jack, Jake and Sharky looked excited and Dahlia smiled proudly at Jun.
"It'd be a good way to let off some steam." Jun said "Plus, if they know a thing or two about what it's like on the streets, getting into a fight is a good way to get to know someone."
"Damn straight!" Cam chuckled.
"I think so!" Barry agreed.
"You sure about this hun?" Dahlia asked Jun to which the tiger gave her paw a squeeze.
"Yes, I'm sure." He said then the wolf looked at Cam, Barry, Jack, Sharky, Amber and Jake before looking back at her boyfriend.
"Do you think those guys can handle your skills?"
"Don't know." Jun shrugged "You never know how a fight can go. Guess we'll find out huh?"
"Well, we look forward to seeing you do so!" Barry said.
"Likewise." Jun nodded.
"Heh, this is gonna be good!" Sharky grinned showing all his teeth.
Sephie chewed her lip.
"I better get Tyroth in on this..." she thought "Just in case things get too intense given how the tiger's been feeling recently, not that I blame him, having been mutated and torn away from his old life." She then looked to Dahlia.
"And you Dahlia," she said getting the white wolf's attention "You say you're a nurse?"
"That's right." Dahlia confirmed.
"If Jun is able to use his skills to teach the Knights and others some new fighting moves, then you can use your skills here in a way."
"That's right!" Tania agreed "We have a doctor in this sanctuary, James the Chimpanzee whose medical room you woke up in."
"Ah yes...him." Dahlia remembered.
"James does work alone a lot of the time, only a few of us are able to help," Sephie said "Apart from April and Donatello, yet they reside in New York."
"We've often wondered if he would ever take on a protégé." Barry said to which the others agreed.
Dahlia was quiet for a moment as she thought about how James had looked after her and Jun after they awoke from their mutation, and she was curious to know how he had arrived in Mutopia and how he used his skills.
She looked at Sephie.
"I'd like to meet him properly." She said, "And learn about him, and how he takes care of all of you as your resident doctor."
"That can be arranged She-Wolf." Amber said to which Dahlia blinked at the nickname, but she shrugged it off.
"Thank you." She said.
"I know this is a big change for me and Sam, I mean Jun." she thought "But if Jun can use his fighting skills to teach the Knights, maybe I could use my nursing skills with this Doctor James?" she mused twirling a lock of her black hair on her finger "And maybe he could teach me a thing or two?"
The meetings gone down well, seems to have, and Jun and Dahlia have realised that they can still use their skills even as mutants, they still got a lot to get used to though.