Hound of the Underworld

## Premise

Kat tries to win over the two-headed dog he fought in Into Thin Air

## Cast

* Kat Afka (Lordlyhour)
* Rufus and Mabel, the two-headed dog(s) (Zen)

## Plot Summary

After the fight against the mutant pets in Into Thin Air, Kat brought the two-headed dog back to his house and put it in a room by itself to adjust. After the dog spent a day trying to break out of the room, Kat went in to talk to the dog. The dog immediately bites Kat with their left head, but Kat is unphased, and tries to offer a snack to the other head. The dog on the right growls and refuses the food, saying it might be poisoned. Kat takes a bite of the food to demonstrate that it isn't poison, but the dog's free head says that doesn't mean anything, and that Yllwyll had eaten poison. The head biting Kat lets go and sniffs the food, says it smells like Kat, and also refuses to eat it. Kat asks what food the dogs would like instead; the head on the left asks for bacon and the head on the right asks for hamburger.

Kat cooks some bacon and gives it to the dogs. The head on the left starts eating the bacon while the head on the right is still skeptical, and does an Insight check on Kat to make sure he's trustworthy before also eating some of the bacon. With the bacon eaten, Kat asks his older sister Bie to pick up some hamburgers from McBronson's to give to the dogs, and then talks to the dogs while waiting for the food.

Kat asks the dogs' opinion on Yllwyll, and the head on the right says their opinion on him is irrelevant, but eventually says that Yllwyll made them what they are now - a single dog with two heads. Kat rolls Insight to determine that the dogs are not happy with their situation, and the dogs tell him they did not know each other well before being combined. The dog on the left says they are still close to their owners, and the dog on the right berates them for revealing a potential weakness to Kat. Kat reassures the dogs he wouldn't hurt their owners, and the dog on the right asks why Kat won't let them return to their owners. Kat says he worries they would return to Yllwyll instead, or that their being combined might freak people out, which leads to the left dog pouting while the right dog is mad Kat upset the other dog. Kat backpeddles, saying the owners would probably not be upset by their current state, but other people might be upset and get them and their owners in trouble for being a mutant.

Kat explains that stronger people might hurt the dogs if they try to return to their normal life, and that if they go back to Yllwyll, he might mess with their owners as well, possibly mutating their owners like he did with the dogs. The dogs seem to understand the danger better, but seem saddened by the idea. Kat says that he and his friends are trying to stop Yllwyll and anyone who may be targeting mutants in an attempt to comfort the dogs. The dogs are still skeptical about the people who attacked them being good, but Kat explains they only attacked the dogs because Yllwyll had the dogs attack Kat and co. first. Kat says he doesn't want to throw the dogs out into the wild to fend for themselves, and that's why he's kept them in his house. He also introduces himself and asks their names; the dog on the left is Rufus and the dog on the right is Mabel.

Bie returns with the hamburgers, which she hands off to Kat without getting involved with the dogs at all. Kat unwraps the hamburgers and takes the meat out for the dogs, eating the buns and veggies himself. The dogs eat the hamburgers with less scrutiny than they had for the bacon. Kat offers to let the dogs out into the backyard for a bit if they don't try to escape, and the dogs excitedly run to the backyard, though they pause in the doorway, hesitantly looking up at the sky before running out to play. Kat finds some good sticks to play fetch with and whistles to get the dogs' attention, causing them to freeze. The dogs are initially a little scared at the sound, but relax once they see Kat just wants to play fetch, and happily play with him until they get worn out. Kat leads the dogs back inside to rest once they're done playing.

## Notes

When Mabel and Rufus kept looking at the sky while in the backyard, they were checking for Sentry.