Note: A huge thank you to Meian16 for his help in writing the first half of the chapter here.
Chapter Thirty
Back in Mutopia, Dahlia had woken up again after dozing off and Jun still hadn't returned.
Seeing the time, she knew Louie would be serving breakfast soon, so she got out of bed and went to find her bathrobe and get herself washed and dressed, hoping she would find Jun on the way, or maybe he would be back in the bedroom when she returned.
She went to the shower room which luckily wasn't too far away from the bedrooms and stood under the shower, letting the warm water soak her hair and fur.
Even though she had been through this experience, she found it strange she had fur, as often she would shave under her arms and legs, yet here it was weird she had fur all over her body.
After five minutes she turned off the shower and stepped out wrapping the towel around herself and looking in the mirror, taking another chance to look at her new features.
She touched her new nose as well as ran her tongue over her more sharpened teeth.
She could smell her shampoo and shower gel a lot more clearly now she had a wolf's nose, almost narrowing the ingredients down to each small detail, the floral scents and the chemicals used.
It both scared and fascinated her at the same time.
Returning to her bedroom, Dahlia could hear with her new sensitive ears the other residents waking up and ready to start the day in the sanctuary and she quickly moved to her and Jun's bedroom to get dressed.
She half expected her boyfriend to be there, yet she frowned when she saw no sign of him, and that the room was just the way she had left it before going into the showers.
"Where is Jun?" she thought as she dried herself off then looked for some clothes to wear.
She looked through the clothes she had from her luggage brought down from the hotel as well as the hand me downs given to her and found some grey jeans and a purple top with bell sleeves and black pumps.
"I wonder if Jun is in the dojo or wandering the sanctuary." she thought as she stepped outside and saw many of the residents leaving their rooms to begin the day.
Yet Dahlia had no idea where her boyfriend was.
Back in Chicago, Jun after he left the electronic's store, he had found a pay phone and used it to phone the police to inform them of the attempted robbery at the store.
"Yeah, the Radio Shack on 4th and 7th." he said "There were four of them near the place. They were all wearing yellow bandannas and looked very suspicious."
He paused as he listened to the operators questions.
"Yes, yellow bandanas. You're welcome. Please hurry."
Jun hung the public phone up after speaking, sighing afterwards.
"As much as I can't stand the police, I'll make an exception this once."
He couldn't help but chuckle a bit.
"Austin would probably be proud of me right now."
He sighed as he thought of Dahlia's stepdad.
As much as he respected the man, given how her had taken his job with the police force seriously.
Within his years of being a fighter and crossing paths with the police he had come across many, and most of them he encountered were ones that thought they were above the law and used what they could to bring down anyone they deemed was a criminal, and Jun often found himself at the worst of it being an African American.
But Austin was a different story having gotten to know the man over the years he was with Dahlia, he was a dedicated and proper upstanding officer who did his job and didn't treat anyone differently, and wanted to make sure one was properly guilty.
He sighed again thinking of Austin and tightening the hood around his head, Jun took one last look at the electronics store where he left the four robbers laid out before walking down the sidewalk.
As he did, he couldn't help but think of the robbers he stopped, remembering the yellow bandanas they all wore.
"I'm not sure who they represent when it comes to the gangs, as from my years of encountering street gangs, and I've met a few, especially in Texas, they all have a connection! I suppose I will find out in due course the more I explore this city."
The Tiger's thoughts were interrupted as he heard a strange sound beside him. Looking down the nearby alleyway, his face softened at the sight he saw.
Illuminated by a streetlight, some children - two boys and two girls, looking no older than ten years old - wearing dirty and ragged clothes were looking through a dumpster.
Jun could tell that the children were homeless and were looking for food or better clothes.
'Poor kids,' the tiger thought to himself. 'I can only imagine...'
When he did his fights in the cities around the USA, and even in Anchorage, he had come across many homeless people and it broke his heart.
How they ended up in that situation, he wasn't sure, but whatever the case, no-one deserved to be in that situation.
Jun made his way over towards the children.
Hearing the footsteps, the children turned to look at him and gasped in fear, immediately starting to back away from him.
"Hey, it's okay," said Jun, holding his hands up to calm the children down.
"Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you."
The children stopped backing away but were still fearful as he approached them.
Kneeling down to face level with the children, still making sure his face was obscured so they didn't see his toger features, Jun got a better look at them and saw just how terrible their clothes looked and just how dirty they were. "You guys okay?"
"We're just trying to find something to eat..." said one of the boys.
"We haven't eaten anything since yesterday..." said one of the girls, pointing a bit down the alleyway.
"...and we're just trying to find something for us and our mom..."
Jun followed her finger and saw a large cardboard box.
Seated inside it was a middle-aged woman, her clothes just as ragged and dirty as the children before him.
Jun felt his heart sink at the sight, and he wanted nothing more than to help the family.
It was then that a smile appeared on his face.
Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the large wads of cash he took from the robbers he stopped earlier and held it out to the children.
"Here, take this." he said.
The four kids looked at the money and all of their faces lit up in shock and disbelief.
"Oh my gosh!" one of the girls exclaimed.
"Are you serious mister!?" one of the boys asked. "You're...you're really giving this to us!?"
"Of course," Jun replied in a soft tone.
"Go ahead, take it. It's a couple thousand dollars. It should be more than enough for you kids and your mom to at least get some clean clothes and a nice hotel room to stay in until you're able to get on your feet."
The children graciously took the money from Jun, happy tears in their eyes.
"Oh wow...Thank you so much, mister!" said one of the girls. "Thank you!"
Jun watched as the kids made their way back to the cardboard box and inform their mother of what he had done for them.
A few seconds later, the woman lifted her head up, looked at Jun with a grateful smile on her face and, with tears in her eyes, she mouthed "Thank you so much" at him.
Nodding his head at her and returning her smile with one of his own, Jun stood back up straight and gave the family one last look before continuing down the sidewalk, making his way through the city and heading back towards the entrance to Mutopia.
"I do hope that family use the money to find the help they need." he thought to himself "After all, what can I do with that money? It's not like I can spend it? Given my appearance and condition."
Back in the Sanctuary, Dahlia had searched Mutopia for her boyfriend yet had no luck finding him, she was starting to feel frustrated as she wondered where he could have gone.
As she passed the Rec room, she peered in wondering if he was in there, yet all she saw was a couple of Mutopians, namely a Badger and Fox playing pool.
The Fox looked up and saw the wolf.
"Hey!" she called "Fancy a go when we're done here?" she asked.
"No thanks." Dahlia said "Have you seen Jun?"
"The Tiger?" the Badger asked "No, not recently."
"Right..." Dahila mused.
"Lost his scent eh?" the Badger teased.
"Patch." The Fox scolded lightly.
"I guess we've just been missing each other." Dahlia sighed "Like ships in the night, unless..." she paused for a moment and frowned.
"You alright?" Patch asked "I'm sorry if I sounded insensitive there?"
"No, No, it's alright." Dahlia said quickly then ran from the Rec room to head towards the entrance of Mutopia.
Patch looked over at the Fox.
"I wonder if the Wolf's picked up on something Leona?" she asked.
"Beats me." Leona shrugged then looked back at the pool table to carry on their game.
Meanwhile Dahlia ran from the Rec room and through the main village to head to where the entrance of the sanctuary was.
As she passed the Dojo area, her new sensitive nose picked up different scents and her ears heard the sounds of noises from it, and she looked over through the doorway to see Kate, Sarah, Jack and Percy doing some sparring together.
She at first wondered if Jun was there, as she had picked up his scent as well, but her heart sank when she saw he wasn't.
Yet she did find his scent strong as she made her way towards the exit of the sanctuary and she started walking that way.
"Oh Jun." she said "I really do hope you didn't go outside the sanctuary."
Her thoughts were soon interrupted when a revving noise was heard and she practically jumped back as a motorcycle appeared from the end of the tunnel and roared towards her.
She jumped back to avoid getting run over and then saw riding on it was a dirty brown rat in a white vest top, dirty green pants and wearing a cap and goggles.
"Make way!" he yelled.
Dahlia was shocked and she watched him go.
"What the...?" she questioned then gasped in shock as the motorcycle swerved a few times and hit the side of the wall and the rat got thrown off it right over the handle bars!
Dahlia as much as she had been angry she had almost been run over, the caring medical expert within her came alive and she ran over to investigate.
"Are you alright?" she asked as she saw the rat laying in a heap a couple of feet away from the motorcycle.
"Whoa man...that could have gone better..." the rat said in a dazed tone.
Dahlia knelt to his side and examined him.
"Are you alright?" she asked "Do you feel any pain?"
"What's going on out there?"
Dahlia heard a few voices from both sides of the tunnel, but she ignored them and continued to examine the rat who looked up at her.
"Hey..." he muttered "How you do...arrrggggh!" he yelled as he felt Dahila's fingers on his arm.
"You've dislocated your shoulder." she said "I can pop that back in."
Footsteps were heard around the tunnel and soon Jack the Wolf, Kate the Viper, Percy the Grasshopper, and Sarah the Cheetah arrived from the Dojo and saw Rattletrap on the ground and Dahlia looking over him.
"Uggh! Why am I not surprised it was Rattletrap and his motorcycle?" Sarah asked.
"Don't you learn anything from your follies?" Percy asked.
Dahlia heard the comments yet she continued to ignore them and she positioned Rattletrap so he was sitting up, yet as she did, he yelled in agony.
"Yeehoow!" he said "What you doing to me Wolf lady?"
"The name's Dahlia." Dahlia said firmly "And I'm trying to help you, now please keep still."
Rattletrap was surprised then he remembered.
"Oh yeah! You're the new chick!" he said "Along with that tiger boy."
Dahlia frowned at being called a chick yet she continued her examination, just as a couple more residents arrived with included Nick the Frog and Bill the Duck.
"Had another crash did you Rattletrap?" Nick asked.
"Why am I not surprised?" Bill asked then looked at Nick "Shall I get our Good Doctor here?" he asked to which Nick nodded and the duck ran off to look for James.
Again Dahlia paid no attention to the people watching, as her profession meant she needed to work despite the distractions around her, she continued to examine Rattletrap and she then took his dislocated arm.
"Relax." she said then she maneuvered it and Rattletrap cried out in agony as she popped his arm back into it's socket.
"Whoa Fuck me!" he said looking at Dahlia who ignored his complaints then looked at his forehead.
"And you've got a deep cut there." she said "Might need stitches."
Watching the wolf work, the residents standing there watching were amazed.
"Wow." Sarah said "She really is a nurse, the way she's handling the situation and tending to Rattletrap!"
"Fuck yeah!" Kate said.
Rattletrap meanwhile looked over at Dahlia.
"Whoa man." he said "You know your stuff!"
Dahlia smirked.
"Well, I am...well, at least I was a nurse before I came here." she said.
"Wow." Rattletrap said, his attitude changing from annoyed to rather pleased "Hello Nurse!"
"Dahlia." Dahlia reminded him as she helped him to his feet.
As she did that, Bill arrived with James and the Chimpanzee saw the Rat and sighed.
"Apart from Percy!" he lamented "You are pretty much the most frequent patient in my Medical Room!" he said then he saw Dahlia standing with him.
"He had a dislocated shoulder." she reported "Yet I managed to pop it back in for him, and I can see where he needs some stitches."
"You could have warned me about doing that!" Rattletrap groaned.
"Shut up Rattletrap!" Nick said "You should be lucky our newest arrival was there! And given her skills! You should be thankful!"
James blinked as he looked at the wolf.
He knew she was a nurse as he had learned that when she first arrived, yet he hadn't had a chance to see her skills.
"Well." he said "I'm impressed." he said "You did all that just now."
Dahlia nodded.
"I did, yes sir." she said.
James smiled.
"I'd love to learn more about what you know my dear." he said "Perhaps you can assist me further in my Medical Room with our friend here?" he asked looking at Rattletrap.
"Wait what?" Rattletrap asked worried but Dahlia felt a smile curl on her mouth.
"Sure!" she said.
"Follow me." James said gesturing with his head and with Bill's help, Dahlia followed him as she helped Rattletrap.
Yet as she walked, Dahlia still wanted to know where Jun had gone, but she knew Jun was strong enough to handle himself, yet in his new mutated form, she wondered if he was sensible enough to stay hidden if he had gone topside.
"If you have gone topside." she thought to herself "I hope you stayed hidden, and when I see you later, I will be having a few words with you."
So Jun after busting the robbery has donated the money he took from the robbers to a homeless family, still has a heart of gold to those less fortunate.
Meanwhile Dahlia whilst looking for her lover has shown her skills as a nurse after treating the accident prone Rattletrap and James is impressed.
Yet what's she going to speak to Jun about when he returns?