((This thread is post Death Master however Ian has not yet registered for the Hero Service))

Ian was making his way down the street of an outlet mall, it was in the midst of the day, not usually a time he'd be walking around at but the current issue was a bit too important to put off until night. Beside him was a canine with a rather curved back, a German Sheperd. The sheperd lacked a leash, but stayed close to his side without being distracted by even other passing by dogs, though they certainly took an interest to him.

What was the problem? Sable, his legal guardian, was currently a furry canine known as a German Sheperd.

Ian had been infected with Mind Control devices during the reign of Death Master, forcing his guardian to give up his appearance to become something more capable of protecting him while there were mobs of sick criminals after him. Someone had managed to get him with the Mind Control device despite Sable being a dragon, Sable claiming he did not know who out of fear that Ian would be even angrier with him if he found out that it was Striker, and later been cured by gases that erupted from strange gas bombs. Sable seemed to be a bit irritated by something afterwords, but did not seem to complain.

The two had gone back to the parking lot they had dropped their books, but only after they managed to find a book about flight and changed Sable into a rather seductive looking Flight Attendant so they didn't get odd stares about Sable being a Dragon. Once they had recovered the book, Sable requested a different body and was now a German Sheperd. The current goal was to find the book that Sable's original appearance had been in. It was likely going to take quite a while, Ian remembered very little of the book, all they had was what Sable remembered to go off of it.

It was getting late, they had traveled all the way to the piers. Ian had collapsed on a bench, exhausted from all the walking and taking a rest. They had been looking all day, searching left and right and yet nothing had turned up. The dog jumped up onto the bench, giving a whine as he laid down with his head against Ian's lap, obviously a bit tired as well as it gave a long sigh.

"Sable you're not a human anymore..." Ian spoke, the dog did not respond, "Get off the bench."

"I do what I please," Sable huffed.

"How are you even tired, you're a dog and you can just go drown yourself or something," Ian responded, a bit envious of Sable's abilities.

"Hey, you've drowned before, you of all people should know how unpleasant that shit is," the dog responded. The two sat in silence for a while, the sun was going to set soon. They couldn't return to their hotel, and they had no place to sleep. This was going to be a rather miserable night...

After the crisis with Death Master, so many questions wheeled in Alex's head. She wondered who was Silver Shadow, and how he'd got his information, or why he was working with them, or if she'd ever see the guy again. She wondered what Doe, Rae, and Mii were up to. How had they known to contact Alex about helping with the cure? Was Darren, the cop that had came to investigate her only a few hours before Doe had showed up to get her to help, was he working with all of them? Did he know everything that was going to happen to? Why hadn't they gone more public about this? How had the mind control worked? Was Strike Out working with Death Master? Now that Death Master was caught, did they have to worry about Strike Out doing something similar? Was she even allowed to tell or ask about all this?

The cure seemed to have set everything back into place. People were still recovering from the high body count, but the city was starting to turn back to normal. The streets seemed emptier now. Actually the whole city seemed emptier now that half the population was gone. Alex didn't know if she should be moving herself. This city was hell. People who stayed was only waiting for the next disaster to strike. Still, Alex had a stable job here and a house already planted. Hopefully this plague had knocked out some of the criminals and they would be free from some of the chaos for a while.

Alex walked along down the piers when she noticed a boy and his dog sitting on the bench. She paused a little distance from them. She'd always been an animal person. "May I pet your dog?" She asked nicely. She hoped the dog was nice and would allow gentle strokes without trying to bite her or something. But she knew to always ask if she was able to pet the dog before reaching out to do it because there was an off chance that the dogs were aggressive and she didn't want to start anything.

Alex felt vaguely that the boy looked familiar, but she couldn't quite put a finger on where she knew him form. She supposed she'd probably seen several boys his age around this town, so she wasn't going to remember every face. Still, something struck a cord with Alex, but she couldn't remember where she knew him from.

A woman approached them, Ian froze. It took him a moment to respond, he had never been with another human truly without Sable before. He was currently guardian-less, one screw up and something horribly wrong could happen. He calmed himself down, Sable was still here, he was just a dog at the moment. If anything happened Sable could just bite her or something.

Ian looked to the woman, she seemed nice enough, and she just wanted to pet Sable. He spoke up, "Two Dollars and you can." He might as well get some money while he was at it right?

A whine of objection came from Sable as the dog sat up on the bench. Sable couldn't talk, well he could but it would not be a wise idea in front of some stranger, "Kidding," Ian added in, "Go ahead. He wont bite unless you threaten me or something, like a guard dog."

Sable's tail was wagging, the friendly German Shepherd acting like...well, a dog. Damien went back to looking into the distance, not taking much notice of the woman. She seemed a bit familiar though, where had he seen her before? He thought about it for a moment, trying to filter through his memories for this woman. He had to hide the look of surprise as a sudden hit of realization hit him. This was the chick that had gotten robbed the day he took that Reiner guy hostage! He was a bit conflicted on whether or not he was okay wit the woman recognizing him. Should he get out of here?

Sable meanwhile was enjoying the bliss dogs receive from being pet. He never knew that something so simple could feel so good, he tilted his head slightly, hoping she would scratch behind his ear or something. Ian didn't pet him when he was a dog, likely because they hadn't the time of such simple things. All of this was new to Sable, and it was fantastic!

Alex was a bit surprised when he requested money, but then laughed a little when he said he was kidding. She approached the dog cautiously, showing she meant no harm to it and then begin stroking the dog gently. The dog seemed to enjoy it and Alex smiled pleased with the reaction. It tilted it's head and Alex obeyed it's silent demand to scratch behind it's ear. It was quite a sweet dog. Maybe it she wasn't working all the time, she'd adopt a dog herself. But dogs needed constant attention and would be depressed if she left it crated for nearly nine hours a day.

"This is a sweet dog." She commented to the boy. "What's it's name?" Alex stroked it a couple more times before stepping back from the dog. She didn't want to over stay her welcome from both the boy and the dog. Though the dog seemed to be enjoying itself, she didn't know how long the boy would allow her to give attention to it before he objected and told her to leave.

Alex wondered what the boy was doing out by himself. Where was his parents? Not that he needed them to be out on his own. He looked old enough to be able to walk around without his parents, but in light of the recent events with Death Master, it was surprising any kid was caught without their families now. Most kids had either died or had been moved out of the city. Parents finally seemed to understand this was just not a place to raise a kid. Still, Alex couldn't help but to wonder what kind of parent this boy had that allowed him to roam the streets by himself.

Alex still felt like she knew this boy, but she tried not to stare. Staring might make the boy uncomfortable and then he could run to a cop accusing her of being some sort of child molester or something. Alex was sure she could explain herself, but she rather just not go there in the first place.

Ian paused, looking back to the woman briefly to see that she was stating at him. So did she recognize him or not? Her staring certainly was not making him feel any better about this. His hand was unconsciously touching his bag, ready to whip out a book if she decided to suddenly attack or something.

It was the animal kingdom book, one that had less dangerous creatures in it. Ian figured if he was going to listen to Sable and stop going on a murder spree he would have to pick minions that are nearly impossible to beat for a normal human being. The teenager would summon the first thing he could, and hopefully it would be enough to intimidate her should she decide to suddenly attack.

She was asking about the dog's name, he was unsure of whether to continue talking with her or to fire a few warning words first. He was not exactly the most trusting child in the world, considering he spent the last two months or however long it had been running from damned criminals that decided to either screw with him or inject him with mind control. It did not help that he had little interaction with those not Sable other than attempting to fight them, especially with others his own age. Needless to say, Ian just was not quite a social butterfly.

"Sable" came the unison of two voices. Ian's eyes shot towards Sable, to see that Sable had suddenly froze.

He had spoken out of habit. Fantastic. Maybe Ian could play it off? Ventriloquism or whatever they called it? He decided to wait to see if the woman would even notice. He pretended as if nothing had happened, while Sable merely got off the bench to sit on the ground.

Ian decided to continue talking, "He's been through training, used to be a police dog I think? Not sure myself he just kind of appeared one day."

Sable wanted to be pet more, but he had to resist the urge to beg. Dog emotions were rather difficult to counter it seemed, he couldn't stop his tail from wagging as well...

"Sable" came two voices at once. Alex jumped looking around a moment to see if there was someone else around who'd answered with the boy, but she didn't see anyone. The boy seemed to act as if nothing had happened, so Alex shook it off. Maybe she'd been imagining things. After all, she'd just had a massive amount of chemicals and nanoprobes injected into her body not too long ago. Maybe audio hallucinations were part of a side effect. She'd have to watch herself a little more carefully to determine if she was back up to 100% again.

"He's been through training, used to be a police dog I think? Not sure myself he just kind of appeared one day." The boy continued. Ah, so it's bite was definitely worse than it's bite. Alex would have to remember that. Police dogs could be vicious if they thought something or someone was a threat. Unless this particular one had been on the force for sniffing out bombs or something.

"That's sweet. Dogs make good company." Alex paused. "I know this isn't much of my business, but you should probably get home soon before dark. They don't call this panic city for nothing, and I wouldn't want your parents to freak out." Alex hoped that would send the boy on his way home. It was going to be dark soon, and that was when most criminals would be coming out to play. Plus he really just shouldn't even be on his own. Not in this city at least. Despite having a guard dog, Alex would just feel better if the kid went home to a safe place.

Sable seemed intent on staring at the woman, while a normal dog would likely allow its eyes to wander and just sit there until it was time to go. Ian began to wonder if the mutt was planning something.

The dog was indeed planning something. Ian didn't have a place to stay for the night, it was probably going to get cold and while Sable might be able to be a ball of warmth for now, there was no way Ian was going to sleep on the street on Sable's watch, especially with the rather sour reputation Ian had with the criminals. The canine gave a soft 'woof' and approached the woman once more, sitting beside her while looking up at her.

Shoals watched as Sable sat beside the woman after she seemed to hint that he should go to wherever 'home' was, "I'll be fine," he answered dully before immediately following with a command for the dog, "Sable, get back here," he ordered, only for the canine to refuse the demand and continue to sit beside the old lady. He frowned at the dog and repeated the command in a more firm voice with a slight warning in his tone, however Sable refused. What was that dumb dog doing?

He glanced to the woman's face, wondering how she would respond to this sudden canine attachment.

The dog seemed to take an instant liking to her. Sable came and sat down right beside her. Alex was a little surprised at how attached to the dog seemed to be. All she'd done was given him a little attention. The dog was starting at the boy as if trying to tell him something. It was odd behavior for a dog and Alex was a little confused. Just how trained was this dog anyway? Or was he just trying to get the boy's attention so he could go on a walk or something?

"I'll be fine." The boy answered her. "Sable, get back here." The dog didn't move. Alex laughed a little at the dog's reaction but was slightly confused why it was choosing her over the boy. Weren't dogs supposed to be loyal?

"He certainly seems to like me." Alex teased. Alex crouched down and looked down at the dog petting it on the head some more. "Listen, boy, I'd love to take you home with me, but I'm sure it would make your owner very sad. So go on back with him, alright?" She said to Sable as if expecting the dog to understand her. She then got up from her crouched potion and turned back to the boy. "Well, get home soon, alright?" She said to him.

As if he were some dumb dog that did not understand anything Alex had been saying, he merely remained by her side. Ian had an obviously displeased look upon his face, The canine looked up at the female,a goofy grin on his face as he let loose a long and excited whine as if he wanted to be pet more.

"Sable, stop messing around..." Ian growled once more. As usual he was completely ignored. He was tempted to start dragging Sable away, but that probably would raise a few questions with the woman. He looked to the canine and then to the woman. How was he going to force Sable to obey in these conditions? The grand answer was that he could not. He could only get up and stand awkwardly as his dog seemed to choose a new master.

This woman did not recognize him it seemed, it would likely be best if she did not find out who he was. He would have to follow Sable if she started to just leave and he followed.

"Sorry about this..." he mumbled, though Sable only seemed to sit closer to Alex, prepared to follow the woman.

Alex merely smiled awkwardly as the dog refused to leave her side. She knew she should probably leave now. The dog wouldn't likely follow her home. The dog would go back to its master when she left. At least she hoped.

"Well, good talking to you. Take care." She smiled down at the dog and give it one more pat on the head before walking off. She needed to get home so she could unwind a little. Maybe a nice bath would help. Maybe she could call her mother, who'd likely gotten news by now of the Death Master thing and have the conversation with her that she was indeed alright and that there was nothing to worry about now.

As Alex made plans in her head, she suddenly realized the dog was following her as was the boy. Oh, maybe they had to head in her direction to get home. She didn't think anything of it and just kept to herself. It wasn't like they were specifically following her.

Damn it Sable! Ian stopped ceased following as the woman looked away, forcing Sable to stop at a certain distance. The dog began to whine intensely, pacing back and forth at the edge of the invisible border.

"Hey!" he barked in a human voice while the woman wasn't looking in attempt to get her to come back.

"Sable, shut up!" Ian hissed at his dog, "Come back, NOW!" he ordered, however the canine disobeyed.

"That how you treat someone who tried to help you?" Sable barked before returning to his dog whining and whimpering. Ian refused to take a step further, Sable would just continue to walk forward with each step Ian took in attempt to get to the woman. The young boy just did not know what to do but to smile nervously as his so called 'police dog' directly disobeyed him. At least Sable couldn't just keep going and going, Ian still had some kind of control over him.

Alex swore she heard another voice call out to her. She turned to see the dog a few paces back whining intensely and pacing back and forth. The boy yelled at his dog to shut it and come back, Alex felt a little awkward that the dog seemed to keen on disobeying it's owner over her. The dog turned and seemed to have yelled back "That how you treat someone who tried to help you?"

Alex paused. She blinked. Did that dog just speak? No. Of course not. Clearly the boy was a ventriloquist or something and could throw his voice since he was the only one in the park. How amazing, but freaky at the same time. She'd only mistaken the dog for doing it.

"Go on back to your owner." She commanded the dog pointing to the boy. She didn't know if the dog would understand, but he seemed smart enough. She wanted to ask about the ventriloquist voice she'd heard him use, but she didn't know if the boy would actually talk to her or if he was just doing that to freak her out. It was hard to tell motives behind everything in Reighs City.

Sable seemed to have other plans than going back to his master, instead he looked to the girl, then to Ian. Ian could see a sparkle in the canine's eye, one that Ian did not like one bit.

The dog looked back to the woman, before launching himself forward. He yelped in pain and began to writhe on the floor, yelping and causing quite a ruckus before going still. The body seemed to disintegrate before the dog reappeared next to Ian.

Shit, Ian thought, wanting to hit Sable. Even though Sable was a dog, that didn't mean Ian was against striking him. Sable was still an intelligent being that was quite capable of thinking for himself, while dogs usually did not understand what they were doing half the time. Should he pretend he did not know what happened? No, that wouldn't work, if anything she'd want to report it to the police. Ian-

"So I suppose this means I can stop whining and barking like a dog now," Sable spoke up clearly, causing Ian to shoot a glare at his fellow canine companion.

Tag: @matt