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“Azrael!” Chloe called, gripping the broken bottle in her hand. “You’re not getting away with this!”
Azrael looked down at her from the stage and chuckled. “It seems I already have.” He spread his arms out to indicate the damage from the bomb.
Chloe’s grip on the bottle tightened. “What was the point of this? For the good of the Colony? How is murder helping anything?”
Sighing, Azrael turned away from her and began to pace. “For the good of the Colony? Your accusation makes me sick.”
Running those words through her mind, she started to lower the bottle. “Then… then why…”
“Why did I do this? It’s simple, really.” He reached up to his mask and removed it. Gasps roared from everyone at the gala who was still conscious enough to process what was happening. Chloe dropped the broken bottle she was holding, barely registering shattering glass.
Underneath the mask was brown fur. The brown fur of a pointy ear dog. Underneath the mask, Azrael was really a brown pointy ear dog.
“Surprised?” Azrael sneered, revealing his sharp teeth. “Yeah that’s right, I’m a dog. But not just any dog: I’m Sid’s dog Liar’s Dice. When the comic rebooted and became Shiloh, I was left behind. Forgotten about like I was just a piece of litter on the ground.” He snarled, causing his nose to wrinkle up. If Chloe wasn't sure she'd loose her arm, she'd boop that little puppy nose. “Do you know how that feels, Callahan?”
“So… this was all for revenge, or…?” Chloe couldn’t even be terrified anymore; she was just shocked.
Bark-like laughter rang through the room. “No, this is not a simple revenge story. I did this for Sid.”
“Trouble…?”
Chloe turned around to see that same kid she chased all the way out to the Sticks. When did she get here?
The dog whose name was apparently Trouble jumped off the stage and ran to her in that excited way that only a dog would. Sid wrapped her arms around him and pulled her dog in the tightest hug imaginable. “Oh Trouble, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to forget you.” She was crying now. Trouble licked the tears that were on her face and sat down, his tail wagging furiously which in turned caused debris from the bomb to go flying.
“C’mon. Let’s go home,” Sid said. Trouble barked again, rising to his feet. Everyone at the gala moved out of their way, and Sid and Trouble walked off into the sunset.