wondered if he was just jealous that someone else was getting Mel’s attention, but he figured that couldn’t be right.
  If that was true, he should have left him, he could have faked sympathy when he died. But even thinking about that made him feel guilty deep down and he shook the thought off. He stopped walking, looking up at the mountain of trash that he nearly bumped into. “Oh, great job Meph, where did you land yourself now, you moron...”
  “Somewhere nice and safe.” He heard somewhere around him, along with a small snicker. Meph looked around, eyes wide, stepping forward. The voice sounded familiar, but he couldn’t place it due to how shallow and raspy it sounded.
  “Where are you?” He asked, bracing his body. He was ready to fight, no matter who it was.
  “Here at home, safe and sound.” He heard the call from his right. He turned in place fast, just in time to see a tan footpaw dart out of sight, knocking down a can. “Nobody to bother me, nobody to care, all alone and safe and sound!” The voice was almost a mocking, sing-song sort of tone.
  “Stop messing with me, where the Hell are you?!” Meph snapped, looking around so he wouldn’t be ambushed. He didn’t know why, but a feeling of dread was washing through his insides. He figured it was the fact that he didn’t know where the voice was coming from so he couldn’t fight what he couldn’t see.
  “Right here!” He heard above him. He turned around to the mountain of garbage, and he could see a thin-looking silhouette against the sun, blinding his good eye and making him growl. Trying to blink the sun spots away, he didn’t see the figure jump down the pile, pouncing and head-butting him into a different trash pile. Meph rolled onto his back, grumbling as he rubbed his side with one paw, his vision starting to clear up.
  Before he could see, he felt a paw on his neck, his eyes opening wide. He could finally see who was stalking him this whole time: Andrew.  From the last time he had seen him, he had gotten thinner and his head fur was longer, scruffier. He had also added an earring to his left ear, the gold band glinting in the sunlight.
  Knowing that his Uncle had killed before, he tried to squirm out of his grip, but he felt himself only sink into the trash pile. He used his hind paws to try and get some leverage, but they kept slipping on grime-slicked cans and bottles. Meph couldn’t move anywhere, and panic started to settle in his chest
  “Well, well. Someone wandered into my home without permission.” Andrew growled, pushing his nose into Meph’s, making him freeze. “And he’s just like me from what I heard, and we can’t have that. Apparently one of me,” he pressed down harder on the black-furred hound’s neck, “is already bad enough, so why don’t I do our family a favor, huh buddy?”
  “I am not like you at all!” Meph growled trying to grab and push the paw off his throat. “I’m not a killer, get away from me, Andrew!”
  The older mutt smirked, keeping his paw right where it was. “Who said you had to be a killer?”
  Meph stopped, looking up at Andrew curiously.
  “Ah ha, got your attention now.” He growled, gripping down hard, making Meph choke. “I heard that runt brother of yours. You’re possessive, afraid, and you’re trying to drive away your sister’s mate.” He smirked, the expression ugly on Andrew’s thin face. “Don’t those qualities sound familiar?”
  The younger hound couldn’t answer, squirming harder and trying to get Andrew’s paw off. He could hardly breathe, coughing and choking. He wanted to get away; he didn’t want to go out like a weakling. He didn’t want to let the last thing he heard be about how he was similar to his Uncle, because the realization that he was right was too painful for him.
  Meph’s vision was starting to black out, blinking slowly and seeing stars as he started to struggle less. Andrew kept grinning at him until he closed his eyes tightly. He accepted that this was it, that he wouldn’t get away unless he just accepted that this was it.
  Just as he was sure he was going to go out, he felt air rush into his throat and the paw leave his neck, hearing a grunt and sudden snarling and barking. His eyes shot open as he took deep gulps of air, struggling to sit up. He looked around and it didn’t take him long to see Andrew fighting a brown-furred dog that he didn’t know, the scrawny mutt trying to nip and scratch at the newcomer, but the bigger hound dodging him with ease and hitting him soundly with his paws clenched.
  Andrew got a few bites on the fluffy mutt’s arms when he missed a punch, but he was only rewarded with hard punches between his ears, making him yelp in pain and let go. Meph rolled out of the pile, landing on the ground hard and he struggled to get up. He was still lightheaded, seeming dizzy as he tried to keep his eyes on the brawl. Both his uncle and the boxing dog were bleeding, Andrew more from his nose and a few spots on his face where he had been punched several times, the boxer from his muzzle where Andrew caught him with his claws and his arms where he was bit.
  When Andrew went in for another diving bite, the large mutt dodged to one side and caught him in a headlock. The scruffy, insane dog tried to tug his head out of the big mutt’s grip, snarling. The boxer used this chance to bend down and punch hard at Andrew’s stomach, making him grunt and knocking the wind out of him several times.
  Meph was amazed at how good the bigger hound was despite his size. He had seen these types on the street, and they were usually clumsy due to their weight, but whoever this was had complete control of where he wanted to be and how he wanted the fight to go. Andrew bit several times at his side to try and make him let go, but all he got was fluff as he snapped his jaws.
  When the stranger had beaten Andrew soundly, he let him go and kicked him away, Andrew coughing for breath as he crawled away. “Get out of here, and leave him alone.” Meph heard the new guy growl deeply as he got down low, fur bristled aggressively. Andrew glared at him, starting to scramble away over a garbage pile, the remaining dogs hearing crashing as trash was knocked over.
  When Elliot was sure Andrew was gone, he turned his attention to Meph, panting lightly. “You alright, kid?” He asked, wiping his muzzle clean as best as he could.
  Meph’s tiredness completely disappeared and was replaced by slight anger. “Kid.” He repeated with an ear flicking. Elliot raised an eyebrow, head lightly tilting. “I’m not a kid, alright? My name is Meph, and I was handling the situation fine.” The younger mutt snapped.
  “Looked like you were about to pass out.” Elliot shot back, growling lightly. “What’s your problem, I saved your tail and you’re getting angry at me just for calling you a kid? Don’t you have better things to worry about?”
  “I was…” Meph shook his head, growling. His head was swimming; even his anger couldn’t fix his lightheadedness. But what he found strange was that he should have been fine by now, but he still felt a bit weird, almost nervous. “I was handling myself fine, okay buddy?”
  “Elliot.”
  “Like I care what your name is.” Meph snapped.
  Elliot growled deeper, turning around and walking off. “Look, whatever your issue is you need to get over it.” The big dog felt himself panting lightly; he was sure it was still the exhaustion from the fight. “Maybe when you calm down you’ll actually thank me. Come on, hurry up, your family is worried about you and I’m not letting you spoil my good day.”
  “Whatever, you’ll get your thanks when hell freezes over.” The young mutt mumbled, following behind Elliot. He had his ears slightly low and tinged with red, ashamed of himself for getting caught the way he did by Andrew. He was embarrassed that Elliot had seen him in such a weak position, but he shook it off, figuring that he shouldn’t care what Elliot thought of him. He could have handled it himself without his help, especially being treated like someone who didn’t have a clue what they were doing.
  They didn’t speak to each other all the way back to the apartment, Elliot peeking back every now and then to make sure Meph was following. He felt a small jab in his chest every time he looked at the younger mutt, turning away when the feeling struck. When the pair made it back to the Fleabite, Meph shoved by and went into the apartment, muttering something about wanting a nap.
  Elliot let Zero know exactly what happened, from tracking Meph down to how he was nearly choked to death by some dog. The German Shepherd asked him to keep it to himself for now, telling him Charlie had cheered up considerably since the pups had shown up. He wanted the happiness to last as long as it could, since it had been a long time since he had really smiled.
  In response, Elliot asked for a favor back for withholding the information. When Zero asked what he wanted, he only smirked. “Don’t tell Meph I’m actually living here. I want to surprise him, make it a nice welcome home present for when he wakes up and notices me later.”