First Meetings

Max crept into the burned out house in the outskirts of New Orleans. It wasn't the best neighborhhod to be in, and he felt exposed walking across the dead lawn towards the derelict house. He mentally relaxed when he moved aside the rotted door and entered the musty darkness of the interior.
The smell of smoke still hung in the air after over a month of abandonment, mingling with the musty smell of mildew. A section of ceiling had fallen in since he had last been in there, letting in an illuminating shaft of light, and he worried that he would have to change bases again. The boarded up windows let in only slivers of light, and he felt the hairs rise on the back of his neck as he crept towards the back of the house.
He passed what looked like what once had been the living room. Paintings hung on the wall, landscapes detectable behind the grime, while half melted childrens toys were scattered on the floor. The TV had fallen next to a bookshelf, and the shattered cabinet it had rested on showed the melted cases of DVDs. He had checked for anything valuable, but the previous occupants had taken anything worth saving, the rest reduced to char.
As he moved down the hallway, a smell he remembered from working in the reptile cages at the zoo began to overlay the mildew and the smoke, combined with the smell of large predators.
Max stopped at the last doorframe.
It looked like it had once been a dining room. The dining table had collapsed, but rather than the rounded char of firewood, it was white and splintery, like something big had fallen on it, it's surface marred by deep scratches.
Scoring the floor were the same deep scratches, concentrated around opening that had been punched through the wall to the outside. The reptile and predator smell was stronger here, and he cautiously crossed the threshold, walking into the middle of the floor. His heart leapt when he heard a loud groaning noise from behind him. He whipped his body around to face the threat.

A giant reptile crawled from the ceiling, the structure shrieking in protest. It's blank eyes bore into Max, and it's skin flashed from the sooty beige that had hidden it to an acid green striped with white. It's foot crunched on a half eaten racoon carcass. Max didn't move as it stalked towards him.
He reached out and scratched the beasts head affectionatly. "Hey Steady, did you miss me?" Steadfast leaned into Max's scratches and closed his eyes, a deep rumble coming out of his chest.
Max reached with his power, and felt Steadfast's existance roared through his mind like a song and an avalanche. He reached and changed the song, severing his costume from the side of Steadfast. He severed his connection to Steadfast and took his costume from Steadfast's side. He stripped to his underwear and placed the loose suit over his frame and shrunk the material over him with his power. His clothes went in a bag in the corner, and he paused, checking over Steadfast's body while he waited.
Presently, a smaller version of the creature by his side crawled in from one of the holes, and excitedly ran towards him.
He crouched down to the lizard. "Hey little guy, did you do what I asked?" he purred. He reached out with his power and colmed the quivering creature. He sorted through the new neural map it had, looking for it's most recent memories. It was hard to be certain, but it's memories did look like the place he had told it to go, so he hoped that it had.
He picked it up. It was in a slit in the big ones side next to it's neck, and he connected them. The big one shivered and looked around itself, testing it's faculties. Max climbed on it's back,firmly stuck there by the white patches on it's back.
He reached with his power, flipping an internal switch inside it, and a new power flowed into it's limbs. He let it lead itself out, and his mask blinked when it nosed it's way into the full light of day.

A second eyelid slid over the lens of his mask, it's chromatophores darkening to acount for the change in lighting. He activated his suits cooling, and told steadfast to go.
Steadfast surged down the street as fast as a car, slowing to climb the side of a warehouse. Max panicked a little while they climbed, but they reached the top safely. He moved steadfast to the edge of the building, looking out over the new landscape that was now his.