(Y/n's POV)

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, OW!"

"Hold still. I'm almost done..."

"Not so...tight, Hugo!"

"Sorry, I'll try to be more gentle.."

"You done yet?"

"Annnnnd there we are! All patched up."

I tilted my head down to look at my now bandaged stomach and dropped my shirt back down. Hugo gave me a disappointing pout "Mon amour, you more than welcome to keep your shirt off if it makes you more comfortable." I scoffed at him giving him the eye roll. "Yeah. You'd like that wouldn't you?" He shrugged his shoulders as a small smirk appeared on his face "As much as I generally care about your well-being, seeing your beautiful physique is just a bonus."

I let out a small laugh as I carefully laid on my bed and covered myself. "And this is why I love you." Smiling sweetly at him as I patted the empty space next to me. He accepted the invitation and sat next to me as we embraced each other. "I love you too." We sat there for a while with small talk until Song and Lio burst in with supplies in their arms. Song ran up to me looking worried "Oh my god (Y/n)! Are you OK? We heard what happened with the huge fight....I'm sorry we weren't here fast enough."

Lio hugged the side of her arm "We also heard about the others going after Kipo.." I shamefully lowered my head "I tried to stop her from making a huge mistake. It isn't like her to do something that doesn't fit her personality." Hugo held my hand "At least you tried, dear. With your injuries, you wouldn't have made it far if even if you tried." Song smiled at us "He's right, (Y/n). I'm sure the others can convince her well enough that this isn't the way to go."

I nodded as I glanced at the objects they were holding "Is that everything you need to make the vaccines?" Lio nodded "Yup. Hopefully then we'll stand a better chance against Emilia and them." He looked to Song and then at me "We should let you get some rest. We'll start right away making the vaccines. If you need anything from us we're here for you, (Y/n)." I thanked them as I watch them leave, but not before Song turned her head at us "You take good care of her, Hugo." He gave her a faint smile as he waved her off "I will, Song". Now it was just the two of us again as we listened to the quiet forest sleeping around us.

I look at my hands as I stared at them in deep thought. "Do you ever wonder what started the mutant outbreak? I know having vaccines prevents us from getting cured, but...." I look up at his eyes who seemed to be wondering what I was trying to get at "isn't there a way to mutate them back again?" Hugo seemed deep in his thoughts as he pondered this. "I always wondered that too. But didn't Emilia figure out that formula through experimenting with me?" I gasped loudly as my eyes shot wide open as I grabbed a chunk of my hair "She DIDN'T!!!"

Hugo attempted to calm me down "(Y/n), what is it?? What's wrong?" I forcefully grabbed his collar and stared deep into his eyes, my face feeling white as I whispered "Back in the burrow...this one day she was showing me her lab. She showed me all kinds of liquids and formulas with different animal DNA's...I think I might've seen some type of monkey now that I mention it. But she only showed me this to threaten me if I ever did anything." Hugo's face looked shocked as I continued to speak.

"What was weird was that she didn't say what she placed in the syringe." I looked to the side as my eyes narrowed "There was another formula she put in, but it looked....different from the rest." Hugo tilted his head "How different..?" I shrugged "Well, for one it was in a completely weird looking container, and the color just looked so...distorting. It's like my stomach felt uneasy just looking at it!" I avert my eyes back to him "Hugo....this theory may sound a bit crazy, but just level with me on this. OK?"

His eyes narrowed suspiciously at me but agreed nonetheless. I took in a deep breath as I say in a slow tone "If that weird looking formula that Emilia injected me with is THAT formula?? The source of it all that SHE was able to uncover?? The very thing that made all the animals mutate including you.....what if it's inside me?" Hugo rubbed his forehead "(Y/n), theory or not, we don't have enough evidence to even consider the possibility of that ever being true. You may have seen some distorted things, but for all we know that formula could've been far from abnormal!"

I held his face as tears start to brim up "But what if it's not..?! What if all of our answers are right under our noses and we miss the chance to do anything about it?" Hugo wiped the tears from eyes as he stared sadly at me "Hugo,...if there's even a slight chance to fix everything, we have to take it..!" He responded with nothing but silence until he took in a sharp breath.

"All right, if we're doing this we need to test it first. Test it on someone who's least likely to be remembered. Any ideas?" He said as he got up and started pacing back and forth. I hummed as we began thinking of candidates suited for this. I suddenly thought of something "If we're gonna do this we'll need Song and Lio's help. They're the only ones who might make it reversible."

Hugo nodded "That's true. But we need to be discreet about this, keep it confidential, just the four of us. I don't want everyone to know of this and suddenly believe we can reverse it without making sure it works." I gazed down at myself looking at my current state. Hugo seemed to notice and asked me "Are you sure your body is ready for this?" I shook my head as I let out a chuckle "We don't have the time, Hugo. And besides..."

I moved my arms up and stretched them out "I think I'm healing already, if anything I'll be better by tomorrow...hopefully." I gave him a reassuring hug and smile as we kissed passionately. Of course it was shortened as an idea came to mind. I gasped as I look Hugo directly in the eyes "I think I know the perfect candidate for our little experiment!"

(Kipo's POV)

Ugh...

Can't believe Dave is making me sit through this story of his.

I can't even believe my friends are trying to stop me from sinking Emilia's boat knowing she hurt everyone else!

So, I reluctantly listened to Dave's story about how it all started out 200 years ago when he fell in love with a simple fan, and how he fought with a human who was also trying to steal it.

I listened to the rest until Dave finished it off "And that's how I got my fan back." I was so confused "Wait, wait, wait. There are more Daves?" Dave looked up at me surprised "Oh, there were a ton of Daves! There was Dave, Dave, David, I did not like that guy.." he whispered "and of course, Doctor Dave." He glanced to the side looking down "Man I miss those dudes.."

He faced back to me "So, do you get what I was tryin' to say?" I give him a glare "Uh, that humans have always been selfish and mean, and the only way to stop them is with a Mega Mute." Dave chuckled nervously averting his eyes away from me "No! But I see how you got there." He smiled at me "Let me tell you what happened next."

"Wait...where are Benson and Wolf?" Benson appeared behind me as I turned around to see him look apologetic at me "Okay, look, Dave's story was just a way to buy us some time." Dave pointed his finger up "Well, it started that way, but I actually might have a point." Benson dismissed it and kept explaining to me "I brought you here for a reason, Kipo. Just follow me."

He took my hand and led me to the edge of a cliff where Wolf was standing as I peered out into the distance and see..."My old burrow?" I said as we ended up going down there. I stood in the middle of it all as I looked around at the remains of it. "Why'd you bring me here?" All of a sudden Benson and Wolf started playing pretend by making us take a class, graduating, and eating cake. I was at my breaking point at this moment.

"All right, all right, stop." I said aloud as I dropped the pile of rocks. Wolf stared at me in concern "But you've been gushing about your people since the day we met. We're just trying to remind you that you love them." I groaned "(Y/n)'s right about them, they're not my people anymore. They've CHANGED. They're an army, an army that's erasing my friends!"

"But you're still Kipo! The surface was a war zone before you got here, and you've almost brought that to an end because you always see the best in people." Benson said to me as he and Wolf looked at one another before facing me "If you do this, you're gonna lose that. We're all gonna lose that." My eyes grimaced in pain as I turn my back to them "We'll lose a lot more if I don't."

Dave hopped onto my face wanting to finish his story as I gave an exasperated sigh and set him back on the ground. "Make it quick." He then begins off where it's now 40 years later, and supposedly the grandson of their enemy leader claimed their fan as he squished Dave into a baby. "And that's how I lost my fan." I narrowed my eyes at him "So, the lesson is..." he pointed at me "The first time. I'm not done yet."

"Thus the Great Dave Wars began.

Naturally, I became the commander of the Dave Army.

Every single day, it was the same fight.

We'd win the fan, then they would win the fan, over and over for 200 years.

And you're probably thinking "No big deal. Daves are immortal."

But the fanatics figured out our one weakness.

And over time there were fewer and fewer Daves.

Until I, Dave, was the only one Dave left..."

Wolf had a shocked expression on her face "You can die?! How?" He shooed his hand at her "Oh, it's so dumb. All you have to do is.....Wait a minute! No way!" He yelled looking wide eyed at her "I am not falling for that again!" He crossed his arms as I held my hands up "So, humans are the reason you're the only Dave." He lowered his eyes at me "I think you all are focusing on the wrong parts of the story, which makes sense because I haven't gotten to the part you should focus on. You see.."

I stopped him right there "Thanks, but I've heard enough, Dave, and I've never been more sure of what I need to do. If I don't fight back now, every mute on the surface will end up like your friends, and I won't let that happen." With a determined look I gripped my fist as I began walking away, ignoring what Benson was trying to say and transformed into the Mega Jaguar.

Wolf whistled for the Mega Dogs to stop me so I grabbed a car and threw it far away for them to chase it as I ran off towards the opposite direction. I wasn't going to let anything stop me from doing this. I can't. I look up at the night sky thinking about how I can't let everyone back at home down. Not my family, not my friends, not (Y/n)...

I growled at myself...

Emilia will pay for hurting her.

(Y/n's POV)

"(Y/n)...this..t-this is crazy." Lio said to me as he and Song stopped working. Song looked between us and began thinking "You know, even if it sounds crazy, I can definitely see Emilia doing that." I nodded at her with a sigh of relief. I finally fessed up and told them about what had happened when I lived in the burrows with them. How Emilia blackmailed me into keeping a dirty secret from the rest, and how she might've injected me with the cause of mutation.

Hugo's eyes became stern "Remember, you mustn't tell a soul! Not until we absolutely know this can return all the animals back into mutes." Song and Lio nodded in agreement. Lio began asking us "So, what do you want us to do?" "Since you're the only two scientists who can figure what's in my DNA, you should take a sample of it first and see if my theory is correct or not." I explained thoroughly to them. "That should be our first step."

"So, what if it turns out your theory is correct? How are we going to test it without alerting the others?" Song asked worriedly as I gave her a reassuring smile "I already have someone in mind." Song looked at me in surprise "Oh? Who is it?" I made a sly grin as I straighten myself up "I have a dubstep bee friend named Jerry who unfortunately witnessed one of his coworkers get cured."

Song gasped "That's horrible!" Lio gestured to me "What happened next?" I cleared my throat "Well, since the queen already has enough workers working for her she doesn't seem to be bothered by some of them getting cured. So, since me and Jerry are good friends he offered his coworker to me when I asked him that I could maybe or maybe not save him."

Lio wiped his forehead "Whew! Well, at least now that's covered. I guess we should get started then. We're almost done making the vaccine anyway." He turned to Song giving her a nod as she started getting out an empty syringe and a piece of cloth. She turned to me "All right, let's get that blood work, yeah?" "Yeah." I placed my arm on the table as she put a strap around it, dabbing my skin with a cold liquid before injecting the needle into me. Blood quickly filled the syringe as she immediately took it out and wrapped the cloth around it.

"There! All done. Now just leave the rest to us and go on back to your place. We'll let you you know the results when it's ready." I hugged Song tightly "Thank you so much for this, Song. You have no idea how important this is to me!" She laughed "I understand, (Y/n). Just promise me you'll be careful with this." I nodded at her "I promise!" Me and Hugo said our goodbyes to Lio and Song as we left them to finish the vaccine. Hugo carried me to our home that was mid-high in a tall tree. Thankfully his good behavior was enough for me to convince Kipo to share my room with him and not let him live in his cage anymore.

Once we stepped in our home Hugo gently placed me on the bed and scooted in next to me as we got ready for bed. I turned to my side as I feel Hugo snuggle into my neck spooning me with love as I relax my body into his. I hear him whisper "You still worried about Kipo?" I shook my head "Not as much as I am about my blood possibly being the answer to all this."

I sighed heavily and turned over to face him "I'm just a little stressed is all." Hugo caressed my cheek "Maybe some sleep will help, mon amour." I bit my lip pondering an idea that crossed my mind as I felt a bit brave from saying this next line. "Do you think...maybe you and I could..." I played with his shirt as I unbuttoned the top until he grabbed my hand. I looked at his facial features and noticed he seemed to have mixed feelings about this.

"(Y/n)...as much as I want to, I can't. Not now at least." He let go of my hand and laid on is back while I sat up on my elbow. "Is it me?...or" he gazed at my sad face and brought me in a embrace. "No, mon amour, no...it's not you. I just...I-I just want our first time to be special, where we have nothing to worry about, where we have a bigger home to ourselves, and be happily..."

"Married?" I said as I laid on his chest hearing his steady heart beat just a bit faster. He sounded hesitant, but responded "Yes, happily married...in the future." I closed my eyes and started drifting off to sleep, and what I didn't notice was that Hugo was smiling the entire time in his sleep. I agreed with him, if we were going to do it then we should do it when the time is right. I was more than happy to wait for him.

Even if it might take our whole lives..

(Kipo's POV)

I followed the scent of my people in the waters as I walked around the collapsed buildings and turned my head to see Dave carrying our friends. They tried to convince me to listen to Dave's story, but I blew them away only for them to come back. I rolled my eyes as Dave continues to tell his tale.

He explained how how he met this kid who turned out to be the last of the fanatics and fought with Dave over the fan until they were suddenly trapped together. Thus, making them both realize they're the last of their group. They agreed to set each other free, and the kid didn't want to leave him behind so he took him with him.

They eventually bonded over food and decided to stick with each other, enjoying the other's company thereafter. I then realized that kid was Benson. That's how their friendship started. My gaze softened up as I hear the last of his words "We were stuck in an endless cycle to get that fan." Dave said sadly looking at Benson who beamed at us "If we hadn't slowed down and decided not to fight for just a second~"

"I wouldn't have my best friend, Benson." "And I wouldn't have my best friend Dave." I hear Wolf sniffing beside them as she smiled "You guys are so weird." Dave stared at me "That's what I'm trying to say: Don't let this be your fan, Kipo." I glanced to the side making a low growl. I knew he was right. If I did this then the continuous fighting wouldn't stop, not when I'm close to ending it.

I suddenly see a bright light ahead of me pass by. I was sure it was Emilia's boat as I dash towards it running past my friends as I approached the boat peering down at my people who started screaming in terror. I placed my paw on top of the boat and hopped on while transforming back into my human body.

Everyone grew quiet as they all stared at me, not even moving a muscle. I hear my friends drop down behind me as I closed my eyes taking in a deep breath. I had to push past my anger as I opened back my eyes and said aloud to them. "You came to my home and hurt my friends, so I came here to do the same to you." They gasped in fright looking at one another until I spoke up again.

My frustrated face softened "But this fighting between humans and mutes has been happening for centuries. And I could win today's battle, but some other humans would come along to continue the war." I gave them a sympathetic look "That's because you can't end a war by fighting it." I glanced at my friends who were still sitting on the ground "My friends helped me see that."

I gestured to everyone giving them a small smile "So, I'm asking you, my people, Mr. Filburn, Mrs. Graham, my friends, to choose to stop fighting and break the cycle. Which is why I, Kipo Oak, am inviting you...

to Prahm."

(This chapter is a little shorter I know ToT but we're almost near our end here and I want to thank everyone for all your love and support for this book. This next two chapters will for sure bring you readers great love and joy! Honestly I think it might be the most heartfelt out of the book❤️ Stay tuned~!)