seeing a single light hanging from a building over a wide area. He could see Meph standing there, nudging a piece of trash to the side with a paw. It was obvious he had cleaned out this area so they could fight easily, and he slowed down to a walk, panting lightly through his nose.
  Meph saw him approaching from the streetlights, growling softly as he walked in. He stayed standing as Elliot entered the alley, remaining on his paws as well. They stared at each other before Elliot asked curtly, “The rules?”
  “Easy. Allowed to use whatever style we want and all upper body.” Meph blinked his eyes, his milky white one looking absently away while his other stared at Elliot.
  “And when do we start?”
  “Ten seconds.” Meph got down low, growling with his teeth showing, fur sticking up. Elliot got on his hind paws, his fore paws clenching into fists. They stared at each other, circling a bit as they mentally counted the time down in their heads. When the time was up, Meph dived forward, barking threateningly.
  Elliot expected a move like that, throws a fist forward to catch Meph’s muzzle nose first, but the younger canine ducked under the paw and clawed Elliot’s belly, making him growl and kick his arm away, changing his direction to topple over.
  The bigger mutt hopped forward and punched the younger canine’s side, making him lose his air a moment before he turned his head and bit down deep into Elliot’s retreating paw, making him snarl. Before he could punch between his ears like he had seen him do with Andrew, Meph’s own paw shot up, flat so his rough pads hit Elliot’s lower jaw and his claws dug into his chin, drawing a bit of blood.
  Before the boxer could aim a kick to retaliate, Meph released his paw and rolled away to catch his breath, keeping him in his limited line of sight. The moment both had recovered Elliot aimed a punch at him as he moved, Meph ducking to the side. Due to his blind side he didn’t see the footpaw coming that kicked him in the face, making him see stars as he spun away. He had bitten his tongue on accident, spitting in distaste as he scrambled back up.
  As the stars cleared up, he felt a punch between his eyes, using his arm to knock it to the side and blindly backpawing, hearing Elliot yelp as he caught his muzzle heavily. He heard him stagger back, shaking his head furiously to clear the second set of stars, and when he had his sight back to see Elliot rubbing his cheek he tackled him around his middle, punching his chest and raking his claws down through his fur into his skin.
  The big mutt kicked upward with his back paws to kick Meph up and over him by his belly, biting his scruff and tossing him a few feet away to get his bearings. When the young hound came for another attack, he blocked the clawing paw and held it, starting to get a few punches at Meph’s face and chest.
  Knowing he couldn’t get out of his grip, Meph bit down on Elliot’s arm, dragging his muzzle down to dig marks into the mutt’s skin underneath. When Elliot let him go to try and force him off, he tugged downward roughly, dragging the heavy dog to the ground before bringing his own forepaws down right on his back.
  The big mutt punched Meph’s belly from under, making him bend over, wrapping his paw around his neck and starting to punch all over his head. Meph took a different approach, shoving forward so Elliot’s arm slid down his neck, biting into his and pulling and making him roar in pain. Along with the bite, he started to claw the hound everywhere he could reach while he was being punched, Elliot trying in vain to make him let go.
  “Get off you brat and fight fair!” Elliot snarled, punching the side of Meph’s neck and making him cough to release his neck, unhooking his arm and kicking him away. They both panted heavily, glaring at each other, ready for the next round. Meph shook his head to clear some bleeding away from his good eye, Elliot wiping a cut on his chest. When they caught their breath, they went right back at it, punching each other’s stomachs, Meph clawing, Elliot kicking, mark after mark coming through once a spot was tenderized enough for an easy blow.
  They kept at this for half an hour. Covered in scratches that dripped, panting for air, neither could take much more of the fight. Meph was swaying on his paws, Elliot slumped a bit in his boxer stance, both looking tired and ready to drop. The younger of the two had felt his anger ebb away halfway through the battle, but only kept up to make his dad proud.
  Catching themselves once again, Elliot practically stumbled forward, tackling Meph in a move he didn’t expect since he preferred to kick and punch instead of dive down. The green-eyed hound tried to fight him off, squirming and pawing weakly, his claws only lightly dragging through the thick, matted fuzz.
  They rolled a bit, trying to get out of each other’s grips, weakly growling. Soon Elliot had Meph pinned down, an arm pinning him shoulder to shoulder and a footpaw on his belly to keep him down. They stared at each other, panting wildly, staying still but not admitting defeat.
  Elliot noticed something that surprised him. Meph had lost his battle fire, and instead his good eye seemed to be watering. He didn’t seem willing to fight back anymore, and instead he shut his eyes, sniffling. The older mutt stayed on, thinking this was a trick, but he could already tell it was pointless: these weren’t tears of physical pain, but emotional.
   He slowly sat up off Meph, the other mutt staying down, continuing to sniffle and trying to keep his tears back. The older hound’s ears drooped, grabbing Meph by his shoulder and pulling him to sit up. “Meph… Come on, something is bugging you. We’re fighters, I won’t be ashamed of you if you tell me what’s wrong.”
  Hearing these words, Meph cracked and broke down completely, howling out every emotion he had kept pent up in himself in one yell of agony, tears trailing down his muzzle. “I can’t take it anymore!” He yelled, rubbing a paw under his eyes. “My family is suffering cause of me!”
  “Meph…?” Elliot asked, seeming surprised.
  “It’s cause of what I do!” He said, keeping his eyes shut. “I’m such a bad person, I fight and I’m disrespectful and it’s just carrying over to everyone! Sam and her mate are dead, Mel got hurt, I lost my eye, I don’t do anyone any good even staying!”
  Elliot stayed silent, letting Meph get his feelings out. He didn’t look like the tough hound that had been snarling at him since they met. He actually looked just like a lost pup, upset and alone. “This is my way of being punished and it’s not fair for everyone else to be affected just cause I’m here!”
  “Meph, none of that is your fault.” Elliot said, reaching a paw forward and holding Meph’s shoulder. “Come on; don’t blame yourself for things that aren’t in your control. Think about the goods things that have happened to your family, I’m sure there are times.”
  “Barely…” Meph growled, opening his eyes and sniffling some more. His eyes showed his fear, his sadness, everything he had put onto a shelf in his head to never be looked at again by him that had come crashing down. “S-sure good stuff happened, but the bad stuff was so much worse.”
  Elliot wanted to say something, but Meph continued.
  “I-it’d just be best for me to go away, nobody would even miss me.” Meph shook his head furiously, teeth gritted as he panted around his tears. “I’m violent, I’m a bad person and I don’t deserve such nice people around me.”
  The older mutt tried to think of something to say to assure the younger hound that none of that was true. He couldn’t think of anything, but some instinct drove him to do something he didn’t expect himself to do. Elliot wrapped a paw around the back of Meph’s neck, and before he could ask what he was doing Elliot pulled him towards him into a hug and their muzzles touched in a kiss.
  Meph seemed surprised but didn’t pull away. He didn’t want to, feeling that this was what he needed, someone who cared for him. After a few moments they pulled away from each other, Elliot seeming really embarrassed. “I’d miss you, you’re a tough fight.” He mumbled, wiping away the green-eyed hound’s tears, not looking him in the eye.
  “And?” The young hound asked quietly, seeming nervous. “I mean… Is there something else?”
  Elliot took a deep breath and looked at him. “Plus you’re a looker. If you smiled more, nobody would notice those scars you got.” He rubbed a paw nervously over his cheek. “If you let yourself be happy, and you don’t let your emotions get bottled in, you’ll look a lot nicer.”
  Meph was quiet, looking up at Elliot.
  “Sorry I… About that, sorry about the kiss… I’ll just er… Go back to my alley, you won this fight.” Elliot said quickly, standing up to get ready to leave. Meph felt something jolt in his chest and grabbed Elliot’s arm.
  “No… Don’t leave please…” He said, looking at him. “Dad wanted me to call the bet off, he said it was stupid, you can stay.”
  Elliot stared at him before he shook his head. “I don’t think I can stay, I mean… You didn’t want that