Chapter Text
It has been 7 years since Hugo died. The gang still visited his statue every year to give him updates on their progress on the human and mute city.
All the mutes and humans are living in harmony now that the threat of Dr. Emilia was gone, and the world has maybe never known peace like this even before the mute gene.
Benson and Troy’s restaurant is still the best in their world and their relationship is still going strong.
Lio and Song were able to re-isolate the gene that caused the mutes to evolve, so all the fallen mutes Dr. Emilia and her cronies shot were restored to their previous state while retaining their memories. Oh, and they decided to try to get pregnant again after 20 years.
Wolf, now age 17, was still the queen of the dogs and the resident badass. Kipo is 20 and they were practically joined at the hip and did everything together; they even had a house of their own in the city. When Lio and Song announced their intention of having another child, Kipo wanted to give them their space so she decided to move out. Her parents weren’t too thrilled about the decision but understood and respected her wishes. Wolf already had a house and didn’t want Kipo to live on her own so she asked Kipo if she wanted to move in with her, Kipo responded with an enthusiastic yes.
They have been living together for 8 months now and things couldn’t be more perfect. They spent the days with their friends and family, stayed up most nights watching the stars, and helped out wherever they were needed.
Yumyan, now back to his former glory, decided to transform the Timbercats’ home into a daycare since they just love to babysit. Most mutes help them out with the kids, especially Jamack and the Otters who put on plays to entertain the young ones.
The rats restored Rat Land which is now the hottest go-to place in the city and a daily stop for the gang. Now that Brad was back, Amy couldn’t be happier. The Fitness Racoons even help run the place now.
The Newton Wolves were also very happy to have Bad Billions back, and with Song and Lio as research partners, they were learning more and more each day which the brothers were thrilled about.
Overall, everyone was doing great and in these seven years, peace reigned in their little corner of paradise. The city is being rebuilt slowly and a lot of houses were already renovated and lived in, such as Kipo and Wolf’s house. Benson and Troy live together, and Dave and Mandu bounce around between all of them.
Overall, life was peaceful.
One day, Kipo and Wolf were walking down the ruins of the previous cities to retrieve a wrench Kipo’s dad needed for something. Sometimes supplies or tools are needed for a specific task and usually, Kipo and Wolf would volunteer to search for them.
“Kipo, for the last time, that is not happening.”
“I’m just saying, what if you find someone you want to be with one day, I don’t think you would want me as a third wheel in the house, I’m not exactly subtle about anything, and hello, sensitive hearing.”
“Kipo, I will not kick you out are you crazy? Is this your way of telling me that you hate living with me and don’t want to hurt my feelings?” Wolf said in a teasing tone but deep down she was actually worried about the answer. Kipo never complained about living with her so she’s concerned if it was something she did.
“No, of course not but you never know when you will like someone and I’m just giving you an option.”
Wolf sighed semi-playfully. “Just say it Kipo, it’s my snoring, isn’t it? Hurting your sensitive ears?” She bumped her shoulder with the pink girl but then her face became serious. “But seriously though, if you don’t like living with me, just tell me, I won’t get offended you know.”
Kipo stopped in her tracks, stood in front of Wolf, and placed her hands on her shoulders. “NO, I love living with you, and our little routines, and watching the stars, and pranking anyone and everyone, and cooking together, and all of it, I love it and wouldn’t trade it for the world, I love you Wolf and I love living together but all I am saying is that I don’t want to be the reason you don’t bring someone over, or not live with someone in the future, it is your house-“
“Kipo, what did I say about that.” Wolf had one eyebrow up and staring at Kipo unimpressed.
Kipo sighed, removed her hands from Wolf’s shoulders, and lowered her head. “It’s my house too I know, I know.”
Wolf’s eyes softened, she lifts Kipo’s chin and looked her in the eyes. “Frankly Kipo, I never want you to move out, ever.” Kipo blushed and opened her mouth to say something but Wolf continued. “You are my home Kipo, have been since the day I met you, and living with you was and will always be everything I ever wanted. I love you.”
Kipo was speechless after that. Her face was red and was staring at Wolf like she wanted to cry. Wolf panicked, scared that she might have said too much, and was blushing too so she tried to distract the mega-jaguar.
“Come on, let’s go get the thingy your dad wanted.”
“Wrench.” Kipo corrected automatically. Wolf nodded her head and was about to sidestep Kipo and pull her along when Kipo reached out, placed her hand on Wolf’s face, and waited for the other girl to meet her eyes. “You’re my home too Wolf, never doubt that.”
Wolf gave Kipo a smile that is only reserved for her and placed her hand on top of the pink-haired girl’s. “I know. I’ll be here as long as you want me to Kipo.”
“So, forever?”
“Forever.”
Wolf and Kipo stared at each other, smiling tenderly until Wolf cleared her throat and pointed to the street they were walking on. “Okay enough sappiness, let’s get that wrench.”
“Right.”
Kipo removed her hand and returned to her position beside Wolf. She tangled their arms as they continue walking. “Onwards.”
Wolf giggled, “goof.”
Kipo smiled.
They resumed their conversation from before after a while.
“So, do you really not like anyone? Like at all? Not even a little bit?”
“Looks who’s talking, do you like someone? I haven’t seen you making googly eyes at anyone.”
Kipo blushed a bit but objected. “Hey no turning tables here I asked you first, I mean you’re seventeen, someone must have caught your eye by now.”
Wolf shrugged. “Not really, I never felt like I was attracted to someone, and still don’t.”
“Maybe you just haven’t found the right person yet, it’ll happen.”
“Well, what about you? The last person I remember you having a crush on was Beson and that was ages ago.”
Kipo groaned at the memory of that night and scratched her head sheepishly. “I regret telling you about that night to be honest,” Wolf smirked as Kipo continued, “I think that crush was more on the novelty of being on the surface and my first time riding a rollercoaster and all of that, so I guess it was more of a star-struck moment than a crush. Not that I have anything against Benson, he’s family but looking back at it now, it was just the thrill of the day, it wouldn’t’ve lasted and I’m not the least sad about that.”
Wolf’s smirk widened at Kipo’s discomfort on the subject, she loved teasing her best friend about her previous crush on Benson. “You still didn’t answer my question.”
Kipo groaned again and bumped her shoulder with Wolf’s. “You won’t let this go will you,” Wolf shook her head and Kipo sighed, “ugh alright. I mean I didn’t really have time for romance when I was kicking butt and stopping the war.”
“Understandable but that was seven years ago, more than enough time for someone to catch your eye isn’t it?” Wolf was starting to feel like Kipo was avoiding the subject on purpose and didn’t know what to make of it. They didn’t talk about the matters of the heart often because it rarely came up but Kipo told her everything usually. She told her how excited she was about the idea of having a new brother or sister while reassuring them that the gang will always be her family. She also shared her fears that her parents will neglect her when the baby is born as they would be too busy. Wolf tried her best to assuage her doubts and fears by telling her that her parents love her with all of their hearts and that it was natural that they would give more time to a newborn but they will always have time for her and will always love her, as well as reassuring her that they will always be family, no matter what. ‘Wait a minute.’
Wolf stopped suddenly which made Kipo stumble a bit since their arms were still linked. Kipo turned to look at Wolf but the latter surprised her when she turned her so they were almost face to face, since Wolf was taller than Kipo now, and looked into her eyes while holding her in place.
“Kipo.” Said girl was giving Wolf her undivided attention, even if she was very confused. “You know I would never judge you based on who you like right?”
Kipo blinked, her heart started beating faster. “How did- what? What brought that on.”
“I noticed that you are very reluctant about telling me if you like someone or not.” At that statement, Kipo winced. “Kipo.”
The mega-jaguar gulped, feeling cornered. She opened her mouth to try to explain but Wolf beat her to it.
“Do you like one of the wolves?”
Kipo stared dumbfounded at the irony of that statement.
Wolf was adamant about making sure that Kipo knew that whoever she chose, she will always be here to support her, even if the thought of Kipo having a crush on anyone made her insides jumble with a foreign emotion. She shrugged the feeling off. “Are you afraid of telling me because I have a past with them and think that I would judge you or disapprove or something? Because I would never do that, you know that right, your happiness is more important to me than the past.”
Kipo shook her head and snapped her jaw shut. She cleared her throat and looked at Wolf’s face. Her features softened when she was the worried look on her friend’s face and she grinned. She then chuckled and stood up on her toes to kiss the younger girl’s forehead. “I know you wouldn’t judge me Wolf, it didn’t even cross my mind and just for the record, I do not like a wolf.” Well…
Wolf sighed with relief. “Okay, good, as long as you know that whoever you like or fall in love with is always going to be okay in my book.” ‘And maybe I was a bit relieved it wasn’t a wolf. I don’t think they deserve you, no one does.’ Wolf thought but was confused about the intensity of the feelings she was experiencing.
She looked at Kipo’s grinning face, confused. “Then why were you looking so worried and anxious.”
Kipo’s smile waned and she sighed.
“Come on, please Kipo, you’re worrying me. I won’t judge.”
Kipo smiled but then she hesitated. “Even if…”
Wolf raised her eyebrows when Kipo stopped but nodded her head to encourage her to continue.
Kipo looked away for a second and then looked into Wolf’s eyes. “Even if, the one I fall in love with is … a girl?”
Wolf’s heart did a summersault before the words registered in her mind but when they did, she was confused about the hope that blossomed in her chest and decided to chalk it up as something she ate.
She looked at Kipo who was looking back at her concernedly. “Kipo, I don’t understand what you’re asking. Are you asking if I’m okay with, as your parents call them, queer couples? I don’t have a problem with Benson and Troy, or Dahlia and Doag or any other couple for that matter, why would I have a problem with you liking a girl?”
Wolf was honestly perplexed, Kipo knew that she didn’t have any bias toward anyone or anything, she even forgave Margot for betraying her twice and they were now actually friends, so she didn’t know what Kipo was afraid of but felt like there was something more to this.
Kipo shook her head and started rambling. “No, no that’s not what I meant, I’m doing this all wrong, well frankly I didn’t think I’d be doing this at all but I was planning on doing it very soon but now I’m blowing it-“ Kipo cut herself off, took a deep breath, and looked Wolf in the eyes. “Wolf, I need to tell you something.” Kipo saw Wolf nod and fix her with an encouraging stare.
Kipo took a deep breath and nodded to herself. “Wolf I … I … I lik- did that orange thing just move over there?”
Wolf blinked but turned to look towards what Kipo was staring at, she saw an orange fuzz moving closer to them.
They both looked at each other and screamed. “Fun Gus” but before they could move, the fungus was upon them, dragging them to the depth of a nearby building. They didn’t realize that they strayed as far as the old bunker where Gus was.
In her panic, Kipo forgot to transform into her mega-jaguar form. She looked at Wolf who was trying to reach out to her, she caught her hand just as they hit the ground.
The first thing they noticed was that they were hugging each other closely and that they didn’t feel any pain from the fall.
They opened their eyes and found Gus staring back at them.
“Ahh” Kipo screamed and jumped up ready to transform to get them out of there but nothing happened. She was confused, she tried to transform again but still, nothing happened.
Wolf stood up and placed her hand on her shoulder. “What’s wrong?”
Kipo furrowed her brows in concentration. “I can’t transform.” Kipo’s legs suddenly felt like jelly and they couldn’t hold her weight anymore but before she collapsed, Wolf caught her. She wrapped her arms around Kipo and helped her stand while leaning on her.
Wolf frowned and looked at Gus who looked ecstatic. “Gus what did you do to her?”
Kipo looked at Gus who turned to stare at her with the same gleeful expression.
“Hello, friends, nice of you to come to visit little old me, Em and I still have a lot of games to play that can’t be played with only two participants. Oh! And don’t worry, it’s not permanent.”
Wolf and Kipo saw an orange tentacle dropping down from above Gus, it slowed its descent and stopped beside his head. The orange fuzz started to part and to Kipo and Wolf’s horror, Emilia appeared but not as they remembered her. Her skin had an orange hue to it, her body was skin and bones, her eyes were drawn and blank with bags under her eyes. She was still alive for she was breathing but other than that, she looked like an orange husk, even her hair was orange.
Kipo and Wolf were horrified.
“Gus, what did you do to her?” Kipo was able to hold her weight a little better but was still wobbly, so she stepped to Wolf’s side and gripped her shoulder for support.
Gus turned to them and tilted his head as if confused.
“Weren’t you the ones who sent her down here, or at least didn’t try to get her back when I took her? It has been years since she was down here and I didn’t know humans needed sustenance to keep them going. After three days of playing and having fun, Emilia started to get very tired and couldn’t play anymore, she couldn’t even move so I asked her what was wrong but she couldn’t speak and I didn’t want to lose my only friend so I thought of what to do and had an idea. What if I insert a bit of myself into her so that I can get a read on what she needed. After a while, I was able to enter her brain and get access to her knowledge, memories, and basically everything she knows and feels.” Gus was ecstatic about this but Kipo and Wolf’s faces were white from fear. Gus didn’t notice and continued. “I understood then that humans need water and food to survive so I slithered into the ground and found a source of water. All I needed then was to find some food but seeing that food was scarce, I decided to improvise. I saw in Emilia’s memories that humans eat mushrooms which are a type of fungi and I understood that it was what I was on some level because she was thinking about that when she first dropped in my bunker and was asking me a lot of questions. I learned how to extract the nutrients necessary to keep a human alive from my own cells.”
Gus slithered up to Emilia like he was presenting her to Kipo and Wolf. “And voila, which is a word I also learned from Emilia’s brain, I kept her alive all these years. Granted the orange hue was an unforeseen side-effect but the important thing is that she’s alive. I’m able to keep her body functioning by providing it with the basic nutrients but because it is tainted with the color orange, everything in her became that color. My cells just give her enough to run the main parts of her body keeping her alive, so for example, I shut off the stomach and a couple of other organs so that the nutrients can be used to fuel the more important organs. If you’re interested in knowing the whole process, ask, I won’t bore you with more details if you don’t care.”
Gus caressed Emilia’s face and the doctor leaned into his caress while Wolf and Kipo looked even more horrified by that if that was possible. Gus has changed, and they weren’t sure if it was for the better.
Gus on the other hand chuckled at Emilia. “Her brain is fascinating, I learned so much that I didn’t know before. I saw her life from start until now, her resentment of her father, her cruelty towards anything non-human, her efficient and cut-throat methods but most importantly, her deep hatred for you Kipo.” He then turned to Kipo and slithered closer to her, almost in her face but Wolf growled at Gus and hid Kipo behind her. Gus chuckled at that and didn’t come closer. “I actually want to thank you Kipo, you and your friends saved the mutes and by extension, me, from extinction. I know that Emilia is probably in a bad state but I don’t think she doesn’t deserve this.”
Kipo and Wolf winced and it didn’t go unnoticed by Gus. “You both are thinking it. You both know she deserves this fate, maybe not to this extent but it’s not the worst thing that can happen to her. Believe it or not, I am not trying to hurt her to take my revenge or anything, I’m just trying to keep her alive the only way I know how. I didn’t know this was going to happen but even if I did, I would have done it all the same. I was not about to lose the only person I would probably see in years. I helped save her life with what I did.”
Gus looked at the girls’ faces and saw that they were surprised and scared. He knew what he did was horrific but brilliant. “That’s kind of what I did to you so you wouldn’t be able to transform into your jaguar form.”
“WHAT? YOU PUT SPORES INSIDE MY HEAD?”
Gus’s shrill laugh echoed in the bunker. “Yes, silly but don’t worry, it’s just a tiny fleck compared to what I have inside Emilia and just enough to cut the neural pathway that links you to your mute self.”
Kipo and Wolf looked at Gus with confusion. “What neural pathway? And how do you know what to do to cut Kipo’s connection off like that?”
Gus actually rolled his creepy blue eyes at them. “As I’ve been trying to explain for the past 5 minutes, I have unlimited access to Emilia’s brain. I’ve seen all her thoughts, her research, her knowledge on mutes, and especially you Kipo. She had to study everything about your transformation and DNA in order to make that cure and I now know everything about you. I used that to temporarily sever your connection to your mute self.”
Wolf had enough. “Take the spore out Gus and let us go, you have someone to play with now, don’t you? What do you need us for?” Wolf was still standing in front of Kipo protectively, as for Kipo, she was still feeling a bit weak from whatever Gus did to her and kept clinging to Wolf’s shoulder to stay upright. Wolf wanted to turn and help her but she didn’t want to give her back to Gus.
Gus hummed and slithered back up to Emilia who leaned into him when he got close. “I will let you go because as a mute, I do owe Kipo one but even though I have a playmate, there are a lot of games we want to play that we can’t because we’re only two, so I’ll make you a deal. You play one game with me, do everything I tell you to do, and I will let you go as well as restore Kipo’s connection, fungi’s honor.” He raised his right hand and placed his left one in the middle of his chest.
Wolf was confused about the gesture Gus did but Kipo knew what it meant, her dad taught her about the old world and she knew what scouts were.
“Gus, I need to talk to Wolf, can you give us a minute?” Kipo was still holding on to Wolf, she felt weak but didn’t want to appear so.
Gus waved his hand at them. “Take your time, I’ll be here with Emilia in the meantime.” He then turned to Emilia while stretching his hands out to wrap around her like a rope. Emilia smiled and moaned which freaked Wolf out who then turned to Kipo to hold her up while still keeping an eye on Gus.
Kipo tried to walk but was a bit wobbly so Wolf encouraged her to lean her weight on her so they can walk a bit further from Gus and whatever he was doing to Emilia. They knew that they couldn’t escape and that privacy was an illusion for he was everywhere but they needed a plan. They walked several paces until they were far enough to relax, Wolf reluctantly sat Kipo down and kneeled in front of her.
“Okay first, how are you feeling? Do you feel anything weird in your head? Feeling like you’re turning orange instead of purple?” Wolf asked Kipo and if it wasn’t for the serious look on Wolf’s face, Kipo would have laughed at the last question.
“I’m fine Wolf, I’m just a little weak. I guess cutting off my connection to my mute made me realize that I was relying heavily on the strength of my jaguar so what I’m left with now is 100% human me strength. I didn’t realize that I was so weak.” Kipo said while opening her hands and closing them in front of her. “But other than that, no, I don’t feel anything moving around. I mean it’s not like with Tad, I could actually feel him and his influence but I don’t register Gus at all.”
‘Maybe if I concentrate really hard, I will be able to sense him or something.’ Kipo began to lose herself in her thoughts when she heard Wolf snapping her fingers in front of her face, looking at her fondly.
Wolf knew Kipo well, even when they were in danger, Kipo gets lost in her head, she loves the cute expressions and sounds the girl makes but now was not the time.
“We need a plan Kipo, how are we going to get out of here?”
Kipo looked around the old bunker. They couldn’t escape without her mega-jaguar and Gus was too smart to be tricked like last time. She sighed. “I guess we need to go along with whatever he wants for now.” Wolf, who was looking around trying to find a plan B, dropped her shoulders in defeat and nodded.
“Hey Kipo, did you notice that Gus’ appearance changed a bit?”
Kipo nodded. “Yeah, he looks more mature now, even sounds more mature. I guess it makes sense since he’s feeding off Emilia’s brain, although who knows what he could have picked up in there.” She shivered at the possibilities.
“He didn’t start hunting mutes or humans so that’s a good sign I guess but he does know everything she knows about you which is so not good.” Wolf sighed. “So, we play his little game and hope he lets us go?”
Kipo shrugged and nodded.
Wolf nodded, stood up, and helped Kipo up too. She was still wobbly on her feet, so Wolf extended her arm to her which she took gratefully.
“By the way, what were you going to say before we got Gus-napped? You didn’t finish your sentence.”
Wolf felt Kipo tense and looked at her in concern.
“Oh! That! Nothing that can’t wait, let’s just focus on getting out of this pickle first.” Kipo held her breath, praying Wolf would see this as her being efficient rather than avoidant. For her part Wolf knew that Kipo was avoiding the issue and looked at Kipo to tell her just that but the incapacitated mega-jaguar placed her finger on Wolf’s lips which made her blush. Kipo also blushed a little at her action but continued. “I promise, I’ll tell you after this is over but for now please, let it go? For me?”
Wolf nodded mutely, as if she had a chance of refusing anything Kipo asked when she was pleading with her like that. She swore if Kipo asked her to bark she would right now. ‘Wait why would she ask me to do that? I’ve been spending too much time with my mega-dogs.’
Thank God Kipo removed her finger before Wolf acted on her strange desire to open her mouth and bite it gently, she sighed and thanked Wolf by pressing a kiss to the brown girl’s cheeks.
“Now let’s see what Gus has in store for us shall we.” Kipo, while still holding onto the blushing girl’s arm, tugged them forward where Gus was busy play-flying with Emilia. He was holding her aloft with his tentacle hands and was slithering in all directions while making ‘wsh’ sounds. Apparently, Gus has learned what an airplane is and was playing with Emilia much like one plays with a baby. Emilia was actually laughing and spreading her arms like she was enjoying this immensely.
Wolf and Kipo were deeply unsettled by this, and they have never even heard Emilia laugh non-evilly before.
“Gus, we reached a decision.” Wolf said. Gus stopped what he was doing and approached them with Emilia still held above him. “You promise that it’s only one game and that you will fix whatever you’ve done with Kipo and let us go afterwards? And that none of us will get hurt?”
Gus nodded. “I promise, you will leave here unharmed after we finish the game.” Wolf lifted her eyebrow. “Oh! And that I will restore Kipo’s connection.”
Kipo and Wolf looked at each other and nodded. “Alright Gus, what are we playing?”
Gus smiled big and lowered Emilia until he was holding her bridal style. “We’re playing house.”