Blackish-brown eyes stared into orange ones. Dog versus man. Jack versus Taro. Yes, I know, a strange competition. You'd think it was below Taro to have a staring contest against a dog. But, it was happening.
Here's how it began. Taro was just sitting down to eat lunch, when Jack decided that the Maniac didn't deserve to eat today, so he stole his lunch. The huge half-wolf dog downed the whole steak in five seconds flat. Taro shouted "Hey!" and glared down at the dog. The dog stared back, almost daring the man to do something.
Others walked in, seeing the strange scene before them, they snickered. Vert and Shirako took it upon themselves to time the event. Surely this hurt Taro's pride.
Earlier I said the dog seemed to be daring the man to do something. He probably would've, had he not remembered the driver throwing him down in the Mountain Realm. With that memory, and the driver saying he knew how to take care of the Drones, kept him from doing anything.
Just when Taro thought he could do this no longer, Lani walked in with the dog's "real" food. Vert and Shirako looked at their watches, and saw that the contest took thirty-seven minutes. Taro flashed the Hawaiian a grateful look. She didn't notice, though, she was too busy petting Jack.
At first, everybody was determined to ignore the dog as much as possible. Jack seemed to think the same thing. But of course, the dog and the drivers some how bonded. After two days, no less. I guess they all had a soft spot for that thing.
They quickly discovered that the dog knew cars. Sort of. Some one would call for a piece, and Jack would trot up with it. If it wasn't too big. Some one called for a tool, Jack had it. Obviously Bob worked on his car when Jack was around.
They also learned that animal's instincts weren't just for survival, and weather. Jack always knew when a Realm was opening. He also knew when something was wrong. It seemed like something was always wrong.
One night, Jack had started barking, for no apparent reason. After several attempts to quiet the dog down (and several wishes for a shot gun) they went to investigate. They soon found Jack standing over a, now defective, Drone. This again left them wondering how the Drones got through.
It had been nine days, and four Realms since Jack had joined them. And he had only really warmed up to Lani and Karma. He was especially protective of them. When Monkey came to flirt with Lani, Jack chased him away. If Vert was having one of those days where he felt like annoying Karma, Jack would fake and attack. Because of this, the two women fell in love with the dog. And he didn't seem to really mind all the extra attention.
After lunch, everybody headed toward the garage. There was really no that much to do, except wait. They had all worked so much on their cars, it was impossible to do much else. So they all just kinda sat around and talked. Sitting around talking can be quite boring.
"I wish that dog could talk," Tork said, staring at Jack.
"Why?" Taro asked. He knew the answer, but he said the question anyway.
"I've got to know who that driver is. And how Wylde's doing."
"Yeah." This was how most of their conversations were. When you weren't fighting with anybody anymore, things tend to get quiet, and a little boring.
Karma walked up. I doubt I need to tell you who she sat with. Love. Sigh.
"I wonder why the Realms haven't opened up lately."
"Are we done with all the Realms yet?" Monkey was standing nearby working on Sparky.
"According to Dr. Tezla, no." She replied.
"That is strange," Taro commented.
After a few more minutes of silence, Sparky stood up, "Hello."
Jack looked up. That was when they all realized that Jack had never seen Sparky, and vice versa.
Jack got up, and slowly approached the robot. Sparky of course didn't know how this might be a problem. So he good naturedly greeted the dog.
"Hello. My name is Sparky. What's yours?" Sparky was by far the best mannered Maniac ever.
Jack didn't really care about manners. There was a semi-familiar smell in the air. Part good, mostly bad. He was smelling a Drone.
By the time everyone realized that Jack thought Sparky was a 'bad' Drone, it was too late. Jack had jumped for the neck. Sparky was losing his head.
It took the combined efforts of Tork, Taro, and Karma to pull the black dog away. Monkey hurriedly picked up Sparky, and put him on a table. As soon as he did, Jack broke free. He stared at the table for quite a while, before going off to look for food.
Everyone stood there for a moment, catching their breath.
"That's some dog," Tork broke the silence.
The others could only nod their agreement.
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A few hours later, Lani found the dog lying on its side. He was in the middle of the hallway. The way it was laying, didn't look natural. She walked up to get a closer look. Jack had been with a tranquilizer.
She was about to cry for help, but before she could, someone grabbed her. She didn't have enough time to recover, when a strong, sweet, sick smelling cloth covered her face. The hallway became fuzzy, before she slipped into an inky blackness.
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Dr.Tezla was in his lab, when a strange hissing sound came through the vents. His eyelids became heavy, he became tired. He rose from his seat, intending to investigate, but he was quickly overcome by a feeling of weakness. He collapsed to the ground, just as the door opened.
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Everyone else had been in the cafeteria. They thought it a little strange that Jack wasn't in there. They thought they heard some noises, but dismissed it as their own imagination. Maybe, they reasoned, they were all restless from not going into a Realm. Maybe it was because Nolo and Wylde were still in the Driver's hands, and they didn't know how they were.
Pretty soon, a hissing sound came from the vents. They all felt as though their movements were held down by weights. They were just dropping off, when men with gas masks entered. This should've alarmed them. But in this state, they all thought it was a dream. Just, a dream…