I don’t know what drew me to Langston in the beginning. Perhaps it was my morbid curiosity, or perhaps it was the charm he claimed to have. He did so well in the arms of D-MISE when he was first captured. Even in chains, his spirit didn’t break. I watched from a secure place. Even if I were able to do anything about it, I don’t think I would have. I never claimed to be a saint. I couldn’t hear what they were asking him, but question after question, I could tell by the crawl of his smirk that it wasn’t going well for them.

Maybe they were asking him about Star Dog, or maybe D-MISE didn’t even care about Star Dog at this point. I soon found out that they had their own project in the works, and Langston was soon the captain of it, unwittingly. Many of us grinned at the irony of his new task – once a CEO, he was now the janitor for D-MISE, cleaning up the mess that littered the streets. Except this mess was dangerous. This mess had teeth, and claws, and in some cases, wings. This mess wouldn’t go down easily.

I suppose that’s in the best interest for Langston now that he was given the anonymous donation by D-MISE. Well, perhaps if he remained in the dark about his new partner’s origins. If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I would have assumed it was still just a part of the mythos created by D-MISE agents who longed for more excitement. I wouldn’t have willfully believed that D-MISE was capable of what they had accomplished, and I say that in spite of everything they did.

There is a dark tale that resides in the heart of D-MISE, and that is of our intention to recreate the Star Dog formula. We succeeded, but it came at a price. Everyone’s twist is different, when it comes to how things went wrong. Some would say that contaminants got into the tank, and poisoned the pup, which amounted to all of its peculiarities. Another will say that the pup was born from a rotten embryo that was left out too long, and that’s one of the reasons it had the perpetual crazy look in its eye. The rumor that the pup was a hybrid fostered more unrest between the agents, and heightened the fear that pervaded the lower rungs of the organization. Others contend that the temperature in the tank was off, and all of its brain cells were fried during incubation. Or maybe it was that the tank had cracked under seismic pressure, and an emergency team had to save the developing pup from a premature hatch.

I do know this, however. That pup made it to maturation, and Langston has no idea what he’s dealing with. I’ve seen that pup grow, and it never lost that crazy look, or that unstable personality. It was reckless, and cruel, and proud of it. Now, its Langston’s new partner in trying to sweep up every monster that D-MISE has ever lost, and that is a longer list than the citizens of Prism City will ever know.