Jay had to admit, his life was finally seeming to look up. He was in an actual relationship, and not only that, a band he'd really enjoyed playing with had recently called and asked him to be their permanent bassist. In fact, he was on his way from a practice, bass case in hand as he walked down the street, whistling the bass part of one of the songs they practiced. 

It was getting late, as the sun was slowly setting, leaving trails of pink and orange over the cityscape as he walked down the street, wearing a blue jacket and a pair of black jeans with his usual tennis shoes. On his back was his gym bag, which he'd learned the hard way to never leave without. Pausing, he leaned against a building for a moment, just taking in the nearby sounds and smells of the city; making use of the more passive aspect of his mutation. 

He didn't know why, but even though things seemed to be going great for him, he had this odd feeling. Like something wasn't quite right. Maybe he was just paranoid, but he couldn't be too sure these days.

His stomach was a canine. Linc's insides bit, barked, and howled, doing whatever it could to get his flimsy attention. Linc wrapped an arm around his waist as he tried to focus on the sepia-toned photo that was blinking on his blue-lit computer screen. He leaned forward, gaze pasted onto the screen. His stomach rolled around, continuing to gnaw at his focus. The white mouse cursor shook.

GRRRAAAAOOOUL

"Dang, Linc! That you?" A face with brown bangs draped over a pierced nose and dancing, hazel eyes peeked over the cubical wall to his left.  

"I'm the only other person here, Rainee," he said, blinking. He gave off an empty burp. The female wrinkled her nose and fanned the front of her face, shaking her head at him. He hadn't commited a crime. He was just hungry. There was no need for her to look so offended.

"Don't give me that attitude, Linc."

"I never speak with attitude." Linc, said, tilting his head slightly. 

"Your face is full of it though. You know? I bet you do know. You do it all the time. You always give me that face. Just think. Lucky me, getting to spend a long night sitting in a room with that face. With that attitude."

"This is the face I wear all the time," he said, as his stomach bellowed through the green of his hoodie.

She twirled a finger around a strand of her bangs, and rolled her eyes like the loop of a rollercoaster. 

"You know what'll get your face away from me for a moment? You should go get us some burgers. It's going to be a long night."

Linc stood up from his computer, his hand still wrapped around his waist. He had been planning on getting food anyway. With her permission, she had given him control. Control over the menu and control over the mood of the rest of the night. Watch out, Rainee. Watch out.

Linc waited until Rainee ducked her annoying face back into her cubicle, before walking to the exit. 

"I'm in the mood for a good Joe Jr. Cheeseburger with the cheese extra packed. I know you heard me Linc."

Linc launched her another hollow burp before he exited the room. I heard. I heard.


Steam rose from the grates of the streets, and the streetlights cast a dim glow that floated from the concrete to the neonsigns of various shops. The sun set already? He had been cooped up in that office for a little too long. His legs felt like stilts. He felt a rush of calm, stepping out into the chaos of beeping in the early night. His stomach competed with the roar of the traffic, roaring louder than the rush of wheels against the asphalt.

Shh, you'll get your burger soon. You'll get your burger soon.

Jay exhaled deeply as he continued relaxing against the wall of the building. His eyes closed slightly as he continued taking in the air of the city, the sounds, the unbridled chaos. He shook his head as his eyes opened back up and he shifted the bass case in his left hand, quite used to the weight of the instrument by now. To him, it was almost as natural as having a tail and running around in what nature gave him.

He sighed after a moment, deciding it was time to head on home, or to another bar, or somewhere. After all, he did have the whole night ahead of him. With a grunt, he pushed himself off of the side of the building, and began to walk down the street, the bass case accidentally bumping into something--or someone. He wasn't sure.

"****, sorry about that," he said, just in case it had been someone.

Where are you, Joe Jr? Linc almost made himself laugh at his own joke. Then again, he didn't remember the last time he laughed. Nor did he remember the last time he heard a good joke. Humor was something he missed sorely, but the ache of his sides splitting was a memory faded, and nearly forgotten. Nearly. Linc's memory of humor was still alive enough for him to realize when something wasn't funny.

Linc continued down the street, his sneakers sticking to the sidewalks. Sidewalks shouldn't be sticky. They weren't sticky back in Ohio, but here in New York, the sidewalks were special. Gum, spit, the glue of someone's weave, it all stuck to the streets. The sidewalks were no exception, and sometimes it wasn't just his sneakers that got stuck, but full grown people. These New York sidewalks were difficult to traverse.

>>"****, sorry about that,"

Linc was unlucky enough to bump into a poor chap, who may have been caught by the sidewalk he himself was trying to cross. In terms of jokes, the sidewalk could have been funny, but a random guy bumping into him, on his search for Joe Jr? Definitely not joke-worthy.

"Pardon bro, but sidewalks are made for walking. Don't lean, please. That instrument could kill." 

Linc stopped to let the guy pass, hoping his comment was good enough for the gentleman. Who knows, he could have saved the next person from not being hit by something unfunny.  

"I was leaning in the alley," Jay corrected, his voice having a little more edge to it than intended. Then again, most people he bumped into just kept going. It was New York, the only constants here were life, death, taxes, and assholes bumping into each other on the sidewalk. You just dealt with it, but that Southern spirit was still embedded in him somewhere, so he felt the need to apologize, as if his mother would rise from her grave and strangle him if he didn't.

His smirk, however, had faded into a slight frown, and his brow furrowed as his body tensed a little, still gripping the bass. He didn't realize his teeth were slightly clenched, almost mimicking the canines he spent a lot of time as. Part of him was hoping this would just slide; after all, he didn't want to leave his 'baby' alone in the alley. That's how bad things happened.

Bad things happened in the city. Bad people existed in the city. Overall bad existed in the city, but Linc saw the way the guy tensed, holding the instrument closer to his torso like a child its teddy bear. Or a father, his child. This guy wasn't bad. At least, not the way he saw it.

>>"I was leaning in the alley," he had said. Linc shrugged, seeing past his words. The dude wasn't having a great day. Many not-so-great days happened to most of the city dwellers. A not-so-great day was happening to him at this very moment. That's why he was going to get a burger. A burger never failed lifted up a person's spirits, that is, if it was a true, straight-from-the-cow, couldn't deny it burger.

"I'm not tryna start anything. You're probably headed somewhere to play epic music. Didn't want you to be mixed up with a crook, when all you were tryna do was be a musician." He said, with his hands in the air. Showing another person your palms was a way to show them you weren't armed with anything that could cause them harm. He had read that on a blog post.

"Now that I've stopped you. Wasn't my intention originally, bro. But say, you know where Joe Jr's is? The burger shop? Realized I didn't know how to get to it from here. Never walked to it from work before, now that I think about it." Linc leaned in forward, to close off the distance and not seem so foreign. Sometimes it worked. Sometimes people's personal bubbles were larger and easier to burst. Linc put on a smile, with quarter-teeth showing to show he wasn't a bad person himself, as far as the other guy knew.

At first Jay didn't know what to think of the guy's sudden shift in attitude, but he knew he was partially grateful. After all, you didn't know what anyone was capable of nowadays. That charming bassist could be a canine shifter, or that sweet journalist could pack the power to level the entire city with just one sneeze. You just never knew.

"Coming from practice, actually," he murmured. "And I've learned I don't necessarily have to look for trouble, it just sort of....shows up, in this city." He relaxed considerably, as he ran a hand through his hair in thought. "Let's see...I think if you walk about eight blocks in the direction you're going, then hand a right for about....four blocks, then left for three more, that should take you there," he said thoughtfully.

The guy was opening up, and he got his directions. Linc checked his watch. The glow of the alley light forced him to squint, but he didn't really care about what time it was. He and Rainee had requested permission to set-up shop in the office for the night. He didn't live far, but didn't want to take his editing assignments home with him, and he didn't have too much to do. If he returned to Rainee in fifteen minutes or fifty, it wouldn't make that much of a difference. Being cramped up in that room with her tempted him to take his work home, but he'd follow through with his original decision.

>>"Coming from practice, actually," the guy murmured. "And I've learned I don't necessarily have to look for trouble, it just sort of....shows up, in this city."

The dude was right. Linc took a glance left, and a glance right as he spoke, a habit he had acquired and utilized on nights like these.

>>"Let's see...I think if you walk about eight blocks in the direction you're going, then hand a right for about....four blocks, then left for three more, that should take you there," he said thoughtfully.

A faint scream could be heard in the background. Amidst the general street noise, Linc dismissed it another sound of the city life, like a sniffle during the flu season.

"That's far. You wouldn't happen to have any other burger recommendations, do you? McD's and Burger King don't count." Linc said, scratching the back of his neck. The scream sounded again, this time the voice was close enough to discern the plea.

"He took ma purse! Ma purse! He tookit!" A man sprinted down the alley, headed in their direction. His face was covered, and he was giving a good hustle, ready to barge past Linc and his new acquaintance. A bad person, common as a street rat, headed their way? Not unheard of, but also not expected. Linc's instincts kicked in and he took on a defensive stance, aiming to block off the incoming crook's advance.

Then he looked to his partner, who seemed like a guy with some fight in him. There were two of them, and one thief. This should be easy.

"Bro, what should we do? He's headed our way."

"Well, all the good ones are going to be a bit of a walk, sadly. Then again, I'm kind of a runner, so my long way and your long way are probably two different things," he said with a shrug. His keener hearing picked up the scream, his head turning in that direction the first time, then back to the guy as the second scream rang out. Okay, it was close, and he tensed a little, turning his full body in the direction of the culprit this time.

"I've got a few ideas, but none of 'em are quite conventional..." he murmured. "You go high, I go low," he instructed as he slid his bass into the alley along with his gym bag; this wouldn't take very long at all. "Okay....now," he hissed as the purse snatcher got closer, and then Jay sprung. Part of him thought about shifting, but he didn't. Instead he just aimed a shoulder tackle for the guy's legs and hoped the stranger was good at following directions.

>>"You go high, I go low,", he said with a face that meant business. The dude was confident.

And, the dude was quick. With the way he tossed his items aside with little hesitation, he had to be some pro-fighter. Linc nodded his head at the blond with a surge of respect. Not many people were as compelled to act, nowadays. Technology did a serious toll on the average human's reflexes. Linc's muscles relaxed slightly, knowing he had a capable partner.

>>"Okay....now," the guy gave the signal, and as he aimed for the legs, Linc waited to spring at the man's torso, arms forward, ready to grab him and slam him against the wall. 

The thief came closer, and realizing what was happening, threw them a short, cocky laugh. The thief, robed in black, saw them preparing their assault and readied himself to spring. Just as his pal aimed for the thief's legs, the thief jumped up and used his shoulder as a stepping stone to leap into the air, smooth as a missile. Linc craned his head above his head, squinting. Was he seeing this right?

"Mutant thief?" Linc said, unbelieving. He heard his partner's grunts as he fell to the ground, but he had no time to help him out. He watched the thief sail over their heads. As he turned around to chase after the thief, his feet stumbled over something black. The sticky sidewalk smacked against Linc's hands as he floundered and fell, catching himself right before his face hit the concrete. He had tripped over his pal's bass. Crap

"Run! Get 'im! Get up! He runnin' away!" The female from before screamed her head off in frustration. 

Okay, Jay was not expecting that, but no matter. He turned quick, taking a runner's stance as he eyed the guy, judging the distance. Then, like a shot in the night, Jay sprang, but once his feet hit the ground again, the bassist no longer had only two of them. Four long, pawed legs hit the ground, sprinting after the culprit as there were a few shocked gasps from the crowd.

Black and brown fur now covered his body, his ears were gigantic, and he had a jaw full of teeth built for tearing into Antelope. Where Jay had originally stood, there was nothing more than a pile of clothes. The charismatic musician was now an African wild dog, an animal that hunted antelope by running them to exhaustion. Now, this punk was his prey. And having used his track start before shifting, the animal had already built up plenty of momentum as his muscles rippled and his feet padded against the sidewalk. He could smell the guy even more prominently now, and he was in his sights.

For the first time he could remember, New York pedestrians were giving him a wide berth, actually moving out of his way as he chased his target. That in itself was a bloody miracle. But he didn't have time to appreciate this; he had a job to do.

Linc's stomach wasn't the only canine. He had to squint again in the dim streetlight, to see the gruff, quadruped that leaped over his head. A pair of solid boxer briefs, drifted through the wind and smacked Linc in the face.

Two mutants? In the same day? Link threw himself to his feet, and reached for the phone in his pocket. That shapeshifting mutant was going to be his next instagram post. The thief and his puppy pal raced ahead of him, faster than sliding into someone's DM's. The victim of the theft also trailed behind, screeching at the top of her heavy lungs.

"Wait up!", Linc called out as he hopped back on his two feet and ran a few steps after the two that left him in the dust. Then he paused, swiveled back and picked up the guy's bass, gym bag, and the clothes he shed. Even the Haynes. He'll need these. 

With the crowd in awe of the chase, Linc could track where they were headed, though he was quickly falling behind. The bags that pulled on his body and his growling stomach weighed him down, not helping his situation at all.


The thief continued to sprint through the streets, his heart rate still steady but he no longer held his breaths. He was almost to the subway, there he could disappear. He laughed a pre-victory laugh that shook his shoulders, and he took a quick glance back to revel in the success of his escapade. Then he noticed something furry making its way through the crowds, speeding toward his heels.

"K9 forces? How'd the cops catch up?" He began to sweat beads. His eyes looked up, searching for any outcroppings he could latch onto. Seeing none, he powered more energy into his heels. There's no way i'm losing to a dog. His dark, silk scarf trailed behind him.

"Move outta the way!", he yelled at the pedestrians in his path. He was bookin' it. Power to the max!

Jay followed the guy, saving his energy, but keeping the punk in his sights. Besides, he'd had a fair grasp of his scent. Then, he saw his opening. The guy was speeding up, but he had a clear stretch between him and his target. So, he shifted gears, his canine legs pumping as fast and a shard as they could go as he picked up speed.

Soon, he was running full. It wouldn't be long until he had his teeth sunk into the rear end of this guy. And honestly, it would feel so good to put him down.

"Sorry, pup." The thief laughed like a maniac. Seeing that he wasn't fast enough on his feet with the canine slobbering at his heels, he sprung on top of the nearby parked car, and leaped across the street. Sirens alarmed and people screamed. He then continued to run, purse still clutched to his chest. He sprinted down a couple of blocks away, aiming for a busy intersection. The fast lanes of cars failed to make him flinch, as he vaulted his weight over three lanes of traffic, to a center divide, and again, to the other side, landing softly, unscathed.



Linc was finding it harder to keep up, resorting to asking strangers if they had seen a dog run in a certain direction.

"That way? Thanks, ma'am." A couple more yes sirs and yes ma'ams, and he hoped his pal had found a way to stop the criminal. He had passed a few burger shops already, and by now he could have settled for any of them. His legs ached with the added weight he had to carry, but he had been feeling pretty good the past few leg days, that running this much was only slightly tedious.

"Now, where did they go? This shouldn't be so hard."

Jay was losing him, but he wasn't giving up. He lowered his head, still sticking to the guy, running behind him as the idiot began jumping on top of cars. Jay, wasn't that crazy. However, once he'd darted across a busy intersection, the wild dog stopped at the crosswalk. When the light turned, he crossed, causing quite the spectacle.

But Jay wasn't done. He'd gotten the guy's scent, and as he put his nose to the ground, about to the point he'd seen him cross, Jay followed the trail, picking up his gait. He was sure the guy thought he'd lost him, but...while Jay wasn't much of a hunter, he had all the right tools, and knew how to use them.

Part of him wondered why he was having a hero complex all of a sudden, but he kept tracking, as the scent grew stronger. The guy couldn't run forever. His ears twitched, listening out for that distinctive laugh...