References to my fanfics 'Oh Sister Where Art Thou' 'Falling Inside the Black' and 'United By Fate' appear in this chapter along with Tyroth Darkstorm's fanfic 'Fond Memories'.

Also credit to Meian16 for his help and input here!

Chapter Thirty-Three

Dahlia lead Jun out of the bedroom and to the main village where they once again saw many of the residents going about their business and they all looked over and smiled at the newcomers.

Among the residents were Percy and Rattletrap who as soon as they saw Dahlia they went a little pale.

Percy was looking rather disgruntled and his hands were all dry and wrinkled.

After Dahlia and James had treated him for the injuries he had gotten from Kate he had been ordered to clean all the greasy pots in the Kitchen which was a rather nasty job and his hands had suffered the hard graft.

Jun frowned as he looked at Percy and Rattletrap then looked at Dahlia.

Dahlia chuckled as she looked at the worried Mutopians then looked up at Jun.

"I take it something happened between you three?" he asked raising an eyebrow.

Dahlia snorted.

"Indeed." she said "Lets just say I was a little rough with my hands with those two when it came to my skills."

Jun frowned as he looked at his smug looking wolf girlfriend who pointed at Rattletrap.

"The rat over there had a little accident with a motorcycle and got a boo boo!" she said "A dislocated shoulder for a start which I managed to pop in, yet he squealed like a girl!" she chuckled.

Jun's eyebrows went up.

"Seriously?" he asked.

Dahlia nodded then explained how she had escorted him to James's medical room and how both she and James had patched him up.

"After we had tended to him, it wasn't long before the grasshopper joined us." Dahlia informed "Turned out he'd played another prank that backfired."

"He did yes," a low female voice was heard near them and the couple looked over to see Kate the Viper who was scowling as well as glancing at Percy who looked ready to flee at the sight of her.

Dahlia looked at Percy then at Kate.
"What is this little petty thing you have going on?" she asked "James wouldn't give me the full details."

Kate glowered.

"Long story short She-Wolf." she growled "That piece of vermin seems to think it's okay to piss me off for his pleasure!"

"I did ask him why he enjoys that." Dahlia said with a growl looking at Percy again "All he said was he wanted you to lighten up."

Kate narrowed her eyes.

"Lighten up my Arse!" she spat "He just likes to see me loose my temper!"

"And you do have a rather nasty one!" Bill the Duck said making Kate glare at him.

"He is right!" Chloe shrugged as she looked at Kate.

Kate huffed slightly.

"Thanks for pointing out the obvious!" she said before starting to stomp off "And for the record, I am able to lighten up, but that grasshopper just pisses me off!"

Chloe watched Kate stomp off then turned to Jun and Dahlia.

"Won't be long before Percy tries again." she said "Always happens!" she then strolled off towards one of the canals to sit on the bench and read a book she was carrying.

Dahlia chuckled then looked at Jun, her smile fading as she remembered what they had planned to do.

"Come on love." she said "Lets go and find Tyroth or Old George."

Jun shrugged.

"Okay." he said as he looked around.

"I wonder where they are?" he mused, then he saw Dahlia lift her muzzle and start to sniff the air.

Jun cocked his head as he watched.

"Babe?"

"My aroma senses are stronger now." Dahlia said as her shiny black nose waffled.

"Seriously?" Jun exclaimed blinking with surprise.

"I'm a humanoid wolf remember?" Dahlia reminded him "Wolves, or any dogs have a stronger sense of smell than humans, I could even smell the shower gel, the deodorant I used, even my perfume."

"Gosh." Jun murmered.

"What about your senses?" Dahlia asked.

Jun frowned as he hadn't really thought about how he could smell better or even hear better in his new form then he remembered what happened with his trip topside.

"I don't know, but then again…" he paused to which Dahlia looked up at him curiously.

"When I was topside, and heard those robbers, it did seem kind of odd I was able to hear them at all, and I was a few streets away."

"And a tiger has more sensitive hearing, and smell, an apex predator." Dahlia confirmed.

"That's true…" Jun said then it dawned on him about his new form and what it had given him,

"So this change heightened our senses too?" he asked.

"It did yes," Dahlia said "I remember feeling it when I first woke up like this…"

Jun went quiet as he thought for a moment then he ran a hand over his long black hair before looking at it and frowning.

Dahlia wondered what Jun was thinking as she saw him look at his hair, more than likely he was still getting used to the fact he was a humanoid animal, but before she could ask him anything else, her nose picked up the scent she was looking for and she gently pulled Jun along.

"You located him?" the tiger asked to which Dahlia nodded and they soon came to the same room Sephie had had the meeting with them earlier in and she looked in to see Tyroth was looking at some papers at a table.

"Ah Jun, Dahlia, it's good to see you." he said placing the papers into neat piles and putting them in folders clearing the table.

"Hi Tyroth," Dahlia said politely "We're not disturbing you are we?"

"No, not at all." Tyroth said "In fact, I was hoping to find you at some point, but instead you came to me, I wanted to ask how you were getting on?"

Dahlia looked at Jun and lead him into the room where they took a couple of seats opposite the dragon at the table.

"Well, its been a few days and we're still trying to grasp our situation…" she then told Tyroth about how she had been offered to work with James and Tyroth gave a smile.

"I saw what you did with James." he said "I think you and he are going to get on like a house of fire."

"It's going to be a good opportunity for me." Dahlia said "I may just find my purpose again, being able to use my nursing skills and maybe learn new ones from James."

"That pleases me." Tyroth smiled then looked at Jun.

"And you?" he asked.

Jun sighed then looked at Dahlia.

"Do I really need to do this?" he asked yet Dahlia frowned and Jun knew that look and he sighed again.

"Alright alright…" he muttered yet he felt Dahlia's paws on his and he felt comforted knowing she was supporting him.

Tyroth meanwhile frowned.

"What's happened?" he asked, his nostrils flaring.

Jun took a deep breath.

"I…I…I decided to go topside for a bit!" he blurted out and Tyroth's eyes widened.
"You did what?" he asked sitting up straight "You left the sanctuary without permission?"

Jun flinched a little yet feeling Dahlia squeezing his paws he kept talking.

"I was getting fed up being down here." he explained "I needed to get away, get some air, you know? Saw no harm in it so I went above ground to the city!"

Tyroth frowned harder.

"What happened?" he asked keeping a calm voice yet there was a slight growling and the couple knew he wasn't pleased with what he heard.

"I spent time walking around the city to clear my head and try to calm down. And don't worry. I stayed out of sight." he quickly added.

"You left the sanctuary?" Tyroth asked, his gaze getting harder.

"Like I said, I needed to clear my head and get my mind right. Being here was doing me no good!" Jun snapped "Going up there actually helped, a lot!"

Tyroth kept frowing but he didn't speak.

"I snuck topside, and kept hidden, then I lost track of time and before I knew it, it was nighttime." he took another breath.

"Although that was when…" he paused as he saw Tyroth cock his head and raise an eyebrow ridge.

"When what?" he demanded.

Jun then began to explain what happened topside, from when he discovered the robbers then giving the money they had stolen to a homeless family he encountered.

As he listened, Tyroth felt his initial anger start to fade especially when he heard how Jun had helped the homeless family.

"It's not like I could use the money anyway, and they needed it more than I did, and they didn't see my features, I kept my hood up!" and he lifted his hood up to prove it before lowering it down.

"And then afterwards, I made my way back here." Jun concluded.

Tyroth tapped his fingers on the back of his hands as he looked at the tiger.

"Jun, after what you've just told me, I do see a lot of me in you." he said.

"Huh?" Jun asked, his ears pricking up in surprise and even Dahlia was surprised.

"You see yourself in me?" Jun asked in a small surprised voice.

Tyroth nodded.

"Before I was mutated, I was a man of justice myself." he said "As a human I was always standing up for others who couldn't defend themselves, and taking down bad guys, even though I got into trouble myself for it due to all the laws the humans put in place."

He tapped one of his clawed fingers on the table.

"I always hated bullies, bad people taking what they want at the expense of others."

"Something we have in common." Jun said quietly.

"And do not get me wrong Tiger, when I say I do not understand your feelings." Tyroth continued, his voice low yet soft.

"So what now? Huh?" Jun asked shrugging his shoulders "Banned from going topside?"

He felt Dahlia kick his foot slightly reminding him not to be so rude and Tyroth frowned a little.

"No," he replied, his voice a little sharper "There is no law that no-one should venture topside, only they should learn the rules and we know you can be trusted."

Jun snorted then looked at Dahlia, asking for her input, yet the wolf shrugged.

"He is the leader here." She said "We have to respect him, him, and Old George."

Jun sighed as he listened, and he started to feel slightly guilty for his behaviour.

"Alright.." he said quietly to which Dahlia squeezed his paws again.

"We need to respect the ones who saved our lives Jun," Dahlia reminded him. "We're lucky to be here and not dead…"

Jun closed his eyes and lowered his head.

"You are right about that babe." he said then looked to Tyroth.

"Looks like I owe you an apology." he said "I'm not trying to come across as ungrateful or anything, although I know it probably seems that way. It's just with all that happened, all that comes with it, it aggravates the hell out of me!"

"Trust me, we know." Tyroth said "We've heard it all, and some have reacted worse than you….which is what I should talk to you about, and also why I disapprove of you leaving the sanctuary without consent."

The couple looked up at the dragon and he reached over to the paperwork he had before showing them a photo of a black raven, looking rather angry as he was looking sideways at the camera.

Jun and Dahlia weren't quite sure who he was at first then they remembered the Mutopians talking about him earlier.

"Diablo?" Dahlia asked "Was it?"

Tyroth nodded looking grim.

"Yes." he said as he let the wolf and tiger look at his photo.

"Diablo the Raven, the traitor, or the Mutopian Rogue as we call him."

"Some of the residents spoke his name." Dahlia said "But they never told us who he was, or what he did, apart from the fact that he went rogue?"

Tyroth glared.

"No-one likes to talk about him, and we often feel anger as well as worry when we think of him." the dragon spoke.

"Diablo came to us injured and close to death, before then his name wasn't Diablo, but Callum Freeman, the youngest brother of our human resident Jake, and his older sister and our ally in New York, Monalisa." he produced another photograph that showed a group of four humanoid turtles wearing different coloured masks, Blue, Red, Purple and Orange and a female humanoid lizard with long dark brown hair and a pink head band around it.

"This is the Hamato Clan, a family of Ninjas from New York," he explained and he pointed out Monalisa.

"I'll tell you more about them later, anyway, Callum came to us and he mutated, and he was a mere inch from death, yet he resented the fact his brother and sister, even though they saved his life, he was angry that he had been mutated."

Dahlia sighed and looked at Jun who looked ashamed.

"We did all we could to make him feel welcome, taught him to use his wings, yet he never settled here, and before long, he was sneaking topside and attacking the humans." Tyroth carried on.

Dahlia and Jun were shocked as they listened.

"He attacked a Hate Preacher and his family, torturing them into insanity, when we found out, we tried to reason with him, but he had decided that that was his destiny, to hunt out 'sinners' and punish them for their crimes, mainly by torturing them, physically and mentally, men, women and children he deems sinners, he punishes them in his own depraved way."

Jun blinked as he listened.

"He then turned on us, injuring some of the Knights and our friends and fleeing the sanctuary and eventually Chicago, he's been the run ever since, even gathered his own follows whom he calls his Disciples as he stole the Well's Water and mutated them." Tyroth concluded.

"Jesus Christ." Jun muttered.

Dahlia said nothing as she listened.

"Anyway, since his betrayal, which was over seven years ago, we've been fearful that one day his antics will expose this sanctuary." Tyroth explained "So far, we've been lucky and he's been on the run and keeping hidden for all this time, but we still make sure we're prepared for the worst and new rules were put in place, and one of those rules is topside activities, whether it be what Cam and Barry do in salvaging, or even Jake shopping for stuff for us, or myself and the Knights going on patrol, or even for pleasure."

"I see." Jun said.

"It's for our safety Jun." Tyroth said "You're off the hook tonight because you weren't aware, but I will make sure you're aware of our rules and policies so you can still go topside."

"Thanks." Jun said then sighed.

"I guess I really do owe you an apology." he said "I'm sorry...for taking off and leaving, and for how I've been acting…" he sighed "It's just, after having everything taken from us after all we had planned…" so saying he looked at the ring Dahlia had around her neck.

Tyroth looked at Dahlia's ring and the necklace around her neck and he instantly thought of Sephie and how he had plans as well before they were both mutated.

"I know the feeling, I wanted to do the same with Sephie, before our lives changed."

"I was raised to be grateful, especially when ones are there for you and help you. And I've been anything but…"

He felt Dahlia's paws on his and she smiled at him comfortingly.

Tyroth nodded.

"After what happened, I can understand your feelings." he said.

Jun sighed.

"You know what?" he said "I'm actually going to apologize, to everyone, for how I've been such a shit since I arrived here."

"Jun!" Dahlia exclaimed ready to defend him but Jun shook his head.

"No hun," he said "I have, and I want to tell everyone that I am grateful for what they did, especially to the Rhino and Warthog."

"Cam and Barry." Tyroth informed.

"Yeah, them, as they found us." Jun went on "I'll make my apology at suppertime."

Dahlia smiled proudly at Jun and kissed his cheek.

"In my opinion I don't think there's anything to apologize for," she said.

"She's right Tiger." Tyroth agreed "You have a right to your feelings, but it shows you are a good person with morals that you wish to apologize, and I will arrange that for you tonight."

Jun gave a grateful smile.

"Thanks." he said and Tyroth smiled back and nodded.

So Jun and Dahila have been in conference with Tyroth and Jun's spoken about his trip topside and Tyroth has spoken about Diablo and how their rules of going topside are so important to the Mutopians.

For those who want to see the full story of Diablo the Raven, as I said before at the top of this chapter, you can check out the Fanfics 'Oh Sister Where Art Thou?', 'Falling inside the Black' and 'United by Fate'.

Also other stories which involve Diablo and the Disciples include their own solo fic 'My Saviour' and the most recent fic they're in is 'Little Geisha Lost' be sure to check them out!