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Throwing things was always fun. At least when you were the one doing the throwing. Even if she wasn’t doing any real damage to Slick, there was some terrible satisfaction in hitting Sam with his own ice. When Sam threw a snowball back at her, She turned sideways, dodging it so that the ball flew back, behind her. She moved away, around the room, and hopped up on the end of the hot tub.

Two hands shot up out of nowhere and Sara tumbled to the side as they reached for her. One snagged her foot just long enough for Sam to escape, even though it only took her a second to kick free from the snow hand.

Sara should leave well enough alone. She should have just let Slick escape down the fire pole and then gone about the rest of her business at home. Thanks to the last few days, she had chores that she had been neglecting… Then again…

Sara stood there next to the hot tub, glaring at the hole in the floor where the fireman’s pole disappeared. One hand grabbed the beet bottle with one hand. Her other hand grabbed the corner of Sam’s big screen TV and with her claws digging into the corner around the buttons, she dropped it off of the wall. “oops.” The screen flashed, crashed, and died and with a twist, she broke a piece of the corner of the TV off. Yeah. She was feeling better and better.

Beer bottle in one hand, and piece TV in the other, she moved to follow where Sam had disappeared. Not bothering to use the fireman’s pole, but rather hopping straight down and landing on her feet, crouched, with a thump. Sam always told Sara that if anything had to be settled with a fight that x-men were supposed to settle their differences in their dangerous room.

Sara stomped into the room just as she heard Sam give the commands to the computer. “Tell ya’ what. I’ll cut a deal with you. I find more of this….” Sara jiggled the beer bottle and what was left in the bottom of the container, holding it up so that Sam could get a good look. “… Then I break more of your stuff.” She tossed the broken corner of the TV at Sam’s feet.

There were some clear signs that Sara was cooling off. She was backing off of Sam inch by inch. She wasn’t snarling when she talked. Even though her hands were in fists, she no longer kept her claws pushed out against the armored ice coating that Sam had first put up between the two of them. And even on the inside, she was starting to realize where she was sitting was cold. Sara was about to let Sam off of the hook till there was something that he said that set her off again. He was coming out of a bar. “Let me get this straight. You’re one of the leaders here in the x-men, and you were coming out of a bar when the two got you.” Suddenly there were a few things in the reports that Sara had read and seen that made more sense. “Were you Drunk?”

Oh. Sam wanted Sara to not give Shin and Silver a rough time about this because it was his idea. If Sara started following directions like that she might as well shave her tail and call herself WereRat.

Sara’s fist clenched hard enough that the fur around her knuckles shifted and stood on end. With another snarl, Sara leaned forward shooting a punch for the floor next to Sam’s head. But just threatening didn't feel quite so good as what she really wanted to do. Her other fist aimed to go through the ice at Sam’s stomach. “You know that there’s crazy mutants out there going after people and you were drunk! Sam if you’re a leader here, you have to grow up!” Ok. Sara might have been jumping to conclusions, but she knew what Sam was like from time to time.

Sam iced up and Sara couldn’t help but feel a little satisfied when she felt her weight come down on top of him. She hadn’t realized that her claws had come out when she’d landed and though the ice kept them at bay, mostly, she’d still managed to crack it. She could get past the ice if she had really wanted to anyways. Sara shifted her weight so that she was better balanced as the two dogs decided that it was play time… Dogs were really stupid… (Even if she still loved Roxy.)

“Yes Bucktoothed..” Sara hissed. Her jaw tight as her lips slid around her clenched teeth. “You always laugh and think that everything is a joke. You think that this is funny right now?” Ok. So Sara didn’t really want to hear any sort of answer so instead, she lifted Sam’s shoulder up by his upper arm and then pushed it back down against the ground, hard.

Her eyes were wide, and she glared down at Sam. “So let me get this straight. You stage your own death? I saw the photos from the..” Sara’s right hand clenched into a fist. God she wanted to kill Sam herself right now. “I thought that you were gone!”

Dogs were strange animals.

Sara’s lights in her apartment were out. Her TV hadn’t been turned on in a few days and she’d only left the comfort of her warn couch, when Roxy asked to go out because even though Sara felt like the world should stop, somehow, to recognize it’s loss, a dogs digestive system didn’t.

Sara had gotten the news, and she’d fallen apart. Mentally she was a wreck and she didn’t even go out to her friends at the Dragon Inn. Physically, Sara was fine, but she was taking the loss of her friend, her family, hard and every time she seemed to reach the point of breaking, Roxy was there. Roxy didn’t know that her former owner was dead because dogs don’t talk. So they don’t understand things like that. They’re stupid that way, Sara thought to herself as she’d stroked Roxy who’d insisted on getting attention when all Sara wanted to do was be alone. She hated herself for the thought and knew that it was only her high emotions ebbing her mind in that direction, but the thought was there, and it ate at Sara from the inside out. And of course Roxy didn’t help sway her opinion in any other way because when Sara felt herself breaking down, the dog thumped her tail and licked at Sara’s face. She’d shoved Roxy away and the dog tilted her head at Sara questioningly. Damn it! She still loved the dog even if she thought her a fool.

Roxy padded away for a moment and Sara assumed that the dog was giving up. Maybe you really could teach an old dog new tricks.

Sara laid down across her couch, turning so that she could face the back cushions. Just as Sara was getting comfortable, she felt Roxy’s nose against the back of her head. Her shoulder flipped back and without looking she tried to push Roxy away again, but instead of her hand finding Roxy’s side, the dog put dropped a ball round, firm, and wet, in Sara’s paw like hand. Making Sara look over her shoulder at Roxy’s happy face with her tong lolling out the side of her mouth

Maybe some dogs never learn, or better yet, maybe they develop some of the attitudes and habits, their owners have, knowing exactly what their owners really need.


As long as Sara was taking Roxy out, she couldn’t help but wonder about Sam’s remaining dog and cat. She was sure that they had gotten sever people taking care of them at first, but had they continued to be taken care of? Maybe Bruno was smarter than Roxy and the collection of thoughts had brought Sara out to the mansion. She could use her time today to collect the rest of her belongings that she’d left at the mansion. With those that she’d found herself growing closer to either dead, or living out of state, she found fewer ties to the grounds of the mansion. Maybe it was time, like so many others, to move on.

Her spirit guide would surely want to kick her again. She thought deeply to herself. Roxy padding behind her and when the memory of the great white north hit Sara like a slap in the face combined with the power of Sam’s smell that still felt so alive. Her throat tightened closed and she sucked in the air, suddenly feeling like she’d been starved of oxygen, and it came in jagged. God, she wasn’t going to cry here.

“Come on Bruno.” Sara said to the St. Bernard with the most upbeat voice that she could come up with. Roxy stood at Sara’s heal and Bruno looked at the two of them like they were nuts, then put his head back down the way it had been when they’d entered. Sara leaned forward tapping on her knees imitating people that she’d seen in the park interacting with their dogs, but when Bruno didn’t move again, She felt like an idiot. Roxy trotted past her greeting Bruno with a bark and bowing to try to get him to play. The ball dropped out of her mouth.

Well Sara didn’t come here to force any dog out of his state of mourning. She didn’t think anyone would be bothering her in Sam’s old office, so she found her way to his desk. The smell thicker here, mingling with the mixes of the furniture. Sara melted into Sam’s office chair. Her knees pulled up to her chest and she turned so that she sat sideways in Sam’s chair. Leaning her head sideways against the shoulder and head support so that her nose could take in as much of the smell that was still there. Again, she could have sworn that the smell felt so alive, and it hurt. But she forced her head and nose to stay there because it also felt better than pulling away in sheer bitter mourning.

Sara grinned. Her ears flattened at the loud noises and cussing that was going on between the men that were still working on untangling themselves under her perch, and that cashier behind the counter whom had now ducked for cover. As far as Sara could tell, he’d disappeared somewhere between the cash register, and the window that ran along the wall to the outside snow flurries.

Evelyn jammed the sai into the taller mutant’s shoulder, His lips pulled back in a his as he stumbled back with it still there, his fingers feeling for the wound. “Sonofa-“ His blood dripped out just as greasy as his saliva and Sara tilted her head at the smell of it. The liquid especially ran thick down his long brown leather coat, and black shirt. Tail twitching nervously and a mouth full of Carmel corn that she still planned on paying for. The shelving unit that she was perched on bounced once as her only warning, and before she could say anything about the odd smell of the blood, she found it lifting fast and one of the thugs below have it a heavy heave up wards, throwing it, Sara, and what ever other merchandise there was into a cooler full of assorted alcoholic drinks. Glass shattered under her weight and inertia and head cracked backwards harshly shattering bottles of dark beer.

Ok. So there were two mutations that they had to deal with at least and Sara reminded herself of the black swollen eye that Johnny was now sporting and it’s surrounding burns. She shifted her legs out from under the shelf, groaning as her body instantly went to work to mend who knows what damage had been dealt to her. Fragments of glass fell when she moved her head away from the cooler’s rack, and instinctively she’d given her head a shake. Feeling numb and stiff.

With the shelf and displays moved aside, Sara could see the damage that’s she’d managed to deal. One of the thugs was out cold face down on the floor. The easy intake of breath told her that he was ok. Just possibly with a concussion. Another cradled his shoulder and arm, crouched on the floor. The gun beside him on the floor. The third had a deep gouge that ran along his temple. Blood dripping down his chin, but he was on his feet now, and obviously the goon who’d thrown the shelving unit with Sara’s self included… And her Carmel popcorn. Wait… where the heck had that ended up?

“Evelyn!” Sara coughed realizing just now how hard the wind had been knocked out of her. She fell forward with her legs scrambling to get under her weight as goon number four navigated the mess between them. Struggling with his footing. The taller mutant blew sparks on his shoulder and just like that, he lit himself on fire, letting it spread over his body. Sara would even guess that his sweat was a type of fuel as well. “He’s full of accelerant.”

Sara’s feet were silent as she entered the little convenience store. She was a predator on the hunt who was only mildly distracted by the fact that the mat at the door had been over used so much recently that the cold salty slush outside made it feel like slick, crusty, boogers on her bare feet. But booger feet aside, she was on the hunt and.. And…. Oh look Carmel corn!

Sara had first gone to visit Johny to get something to eat from his family’s restaurant but once she’d decided to make someone pay for his black eye and burns she’d forgotten completely about food till now. Besides. Till something actually went down, here, she’d be caught on camera performing physical assault. When you already look like you’re an animal, it’s best not to act like on in front of cameras at least. Those things have a bad habit of ending on public, like on youtube. Add the factor of her mutation and she could just picture herself ending up on Good Morning America as one of their many cat videos. Aired right after the video of the Chihuahua chasing two,armed, gas station robbers down the street.

Besides. It would only take a second to grab the popcorn. What could go wrong?

(Meanwhile at the counter.)

The horned mutant with the smoke rising out his mouth from deep down his throat where there was a slight glow, if anyone was close enough to look that deep into his mouth smiled with his black pointed teeth. A greasy, purple, forked tong slid out from between his lips and he looked the cashier up and down, reaching out to give the young woman with the platinum hair if front of him, a squeeze on her shoulder. “S’cuse me, my miss.” The tall, horned mutant slurred. That greasy forked tong slipped out from between his lips as he spoke and the layer of what ever it spread on his lips thickened ever so slightly looking more like a quickly cooling animal fat from the stove than normal saliva. It smelled about the same too. He smiled showing his big flat black teeth that looked like they had been white at one time, but now coated in soot or burnt meat. The way that he moved, he looked like he could have charm, like he had grown up where manners were important, but by everything else, he looked like he had embraced the intimidation that his mutation had brought. Maybe the attitude change was part of his mutation. A sad side effect.

What ever the reason was, something was about to go down. Sara could feel it, and with her popcorn, she edged her way closer to the back of the group. Her head ducked low and keeping to the right on the opposite side of a low aisle. In any other circumstance it might look like she was trying to be sneaky to shop lift with the door at her back, and the four bullies in front of her just on the other side of the Aisle. They’d be only a hop away for Sara and because of that, she felt her heart start to pound hoping that things could actually be taken outside. Carmel popcorn included.

Mean while, the tall mutant continued to slur his words around his purple forked tong. “I think you’re too pretty to be on this side of town.” He mused. Reaching for a moment towards the woman’s hair then deciding better of it with a smile again that creased all the wrong places on his otherwise, porcelain like face. He stepped so that he was beside Evelyn instead, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a manila envelope that read feed me with a dollar sign under it. Someone had taken the time to draw sharp teeth and round eyes around the flap where it opened. “I want this full.” He said to the cashier with the same demeanor that someone would take making a drink order at a bar. He went to turn his attention back to Evelyn, but halted when the cashier ushered one shaky word.

“No.”

Dale was annoying when he wanted to be. Sara couldn’t deny that and when he started being a bit demanding about Sara getting to work and studying the combatants, Sara decided to have a little fun. After all. Dale needed to be reminded who was helping who right now. Sure Sara wanted information, that Dale had promised her, but she was being nice about the way that she was getting it and as a result she was fueling his gambling habit.

Sara leaned her elbows on the edge of the chest high barricade that had been put up around the arena. Her tail twitching at the backs of her heals as she eyed the competitors. “I think you’re gut feeling will be the right one.” Sara fibbed. A little bit of sarcasm dripped into her voice, but Dale was too jumpy to notice.

“Ah the big one.” Dale jumped on the choice and rushed off to the organizer to place his bet.

As Dale made his way to one of the coordinators, Sara staid at the edge of the arena waiting for the event to begin. She wasn’t sure if the big guy really stood a chance or not, but she knew one thing. The smaller of the competitors was covered in scars and he didn’t look like he was shitting himself by facing someone with the bicep that looked like it was the size of a trunk of a tree.

The announcer looked like he was getting ready to introduce the combatants and Sara decided to made a last minute bet of her own. Just because she was misleading Dale didn’t mean that she couldn’t have a little increase in income of her own. And it certainly did not mean that she had a gambling problem because she definitely did not… not at all.

With the simple motion of her hand, she flagged down one of the bookies who trotted over to her, shoving his way past the crowd. Huffing around his heavy frame, and meaty, hairy, arm. “Two hundred dollars says that the shorter of the two will win.” Sara placed her bet. The man frowned when he took her money. Two hundred wasn’t nearly as much as others were betting, but he took the cash nonetheless, and wrote her information down in his book.

“You could make more cash, if you were down there” The bookie grinned at Sara showing two missing teeth past his thick lips.

Sara did a one shoulder shrug. “I only fight when I have to. Here, I don’t have to.”
“Got it.” The bookie said before he turned so that he could finish the gathering the rest of the bets that the crowd around Sara wished to place. Dale returned next to Sara’s side as the last of the announcements for the fight were made.

The crowd erupted loud enough that even Sara had trouble hearing the bell ring signaling the beginning of tonight’s entertainment. Sara’s feline ears pinned against the back of her head and one of the combatants, the bigger one with the limbs the size of tree trunks, was on the move.

The dust that filled the air instantly, made it impossible to see exactly what had happened, but the larger man’s blood curdling scream, and the stillness in the air and dust, around the two in the arena said that things were over.

The crowd from around the edge of the arena, and even Sara, found herself leaning forward in an attempt to squint through the dust and debris and see what was happening. Or what had happened. She saw the crystals first. Then the face that they were coming out of. Sara felt herself let out a low growl. Dale was silent, and someone to Sara’s right excused themselves past Sara. The smell of urine following them through the sea of people that were suddenly thicker around Sara. Some of them were scooting away from the edge of the arena. Others whooped and hollered about the results.

The giant man fell flat on his face, kicking up more dirt, and when the air in the room changed direction from his falling, even from where Sara stood about of the fight, she could smell the thick sent of blood from multiple wounds. “I thought that you said people don’t normally die at these things.” Sara said shoving Dale in the rib with her elbow.

Dale cursed. He wadded up the piece of paper that was the proof of his bet up into a ball, and chucked it down at the winner of the fight’s head. Then the open, glass, bottle of root beer followed the wadded piece of paper. Cussing and screaming something about fixing the fight.

Sara crossed her arms. Tail still flicking just behind her heals. “Dale, you’re an idiot.”