Behind The Mask

Family Party

     Somewhere In Adventure Bay, Carson was inside a restaurant, playing 8-Ball Pool. He hit the ball with the long stick and just before it could make contact with the other sphere, a hand caught it and lifted it up. Wilson kept throwing the ball lightly, catching it over and over.

"The Overlord isn't satisfied, cowboy." Wilson said and Carson gave Wilson a look of confusion.

"And why is that?" Carson asked.

"Because you didn't finish the job." Wilson said in the voice of a school master and Carson gritted his teeth.

"What're you talking about?" He asked and Wilson crushed the 8-Ball into pieces like it was a toy and looked up at Carson.

"It seems that you have failed to get rid of one troublesome pup."

The Lookout

Everyone drove back to the Lookout and the whole way there, Chase just watched the pups and their parents having conversations with each other, and he just sat there, dead silent. What am I complaining about? It's not like I have parents. Chase laughed in his mind, but for some reason, he couldn't help but feel a little bit lonely and left out.

But most importantly, he envied the pups.

The pups got back to the Lookout and nobody was wasting time digging into the food that was prepared for them. Ryder sat in a chair near them and ate, smiling and laughing along with the pups about conversations they had. Chase sat at the end of a table, trying to separate himself and get to a fair distance from the others.

Chase watched as their families laughed, smiled, talked, communicated, having fun. Chase didn't do anything but eat, fake smile at them and keep quiet. After having that small talk with Edan at the train station, Chase hasn't said a single word yet after that small exchange.

"It feels great to be back with you pups." Spike said to all of them as he patted his son's head with his paw.

"I'm glad you guys are able to stay here, thank you so much for visiting." Ryder said with a grin.

"We should be thanking you, Ryder. For taking our pups and letting us stay here for some time." Delilah mentioned.

"It's a pleasure. You have really good pups." Ryder said and everyone else smiled, especially the pups. While they got into a conversation, Edan, who sat almost next to Chase, was looking around the table, and he didn't see any adult German Shepherds around the table and he turned to Chase.

"Hey, I don't see your parents around. Are they still on their way, or...?" Edan trailed off, kept his voice quiet so he wouldn't catch the attention of the other dogs.

"No, they're really busy, so they couldn't make it." Chase simply said and Edan responded with a simple, "oh".

"So, what are your parents like?" Edan asked as he took a quick glance at the necklace Chase was wearing.

"What are they like?" Chase repeated his question.

Flash Back

"Even after everything, you still slack off."

"N-No, I wasn't slacking off. I-I brought extra wood today." Chase stuttered in fear, and felt a sharp sting of pain on his cheek as he saw his fathers paw race across his face which sent Chase down on the floor and placed his paw on his cheek where his father had just slapped.

"D-Dad, what?"

"If you slack off one more time, I'll make sure you won't get back up."