Part 50: How the Dog and Robot Met

(Flashback…)

It was close to two years ago when Takada and Jenny first met one another. Before that, however, Takada had been called into Ichijyo's office in Smart Brain Corporation, Tokyo.

"Um…you called for me, Ichijyo?" Takada asked as he slowly opened the door. He got a scowl in response.

"Takada, would you please refer to me as Mr. Amakusa while you're here," Ichijyo reminded. Takada growled in response.

"Hey, that's not fair!" Takada barked, "You let Ryuki call you Ichijyo!"

"Well, I like him better than I like you, comparably," Ichijyo replied. "So, he's allowed to be informal with me. Also, you know he prefers to be called Leo at times."

"Well, whatever," Takada shrugged. "Why did you call me here, 'Mr. Amakusa'?"

Ichijyo's eyes narrowed at Takada, noticing that Takada had been sarcastic over the 'Mr. Amakusa' comment but decided not to dwell on it. Instead, he decided to get to the point. "My father just sent me a memo. He wants Smart Brain to have its own personal team of super-powered individuals."

"Super? He wants his own super team?" Takada questioned, confused, trying to know what Ichijyo was going at.

"Yes, he does, and he also sent me a file of perfect candidates," Ichijyo added.

"Um, shouldn't Tazuka and Leo be here?" Takada asked.

"Oh, they already received their assignments as have I," Ichijyo answered. "I'll be leaving on my assignment as soon as I finish debriefing you." Ichijyo picked up an envelope and threw it at Takada. "All the information on the candidate you will recruit is in that envelope, along with plane tickets to America."

"America? The candidate is in America?" Takada blinked.

"The Candidates are in America, where I'll be going soon," Ichijyo said. "Now, go, and the best of luck to you."

"Tremerton, huh?" Takada said as he got off the bus and walked into town. "Seems normal enough.

He then heard a loud explosion…BOOM!

"Then again, I could be wrong…again," Takada groaned. Takada looked for the direction of the explosion. It didn't take him long, though. A blue and white robot girl was fighting with a large reptilian looking monster with two eyes on stalks, blue scales, sharp yellow claws and a long tail with a spearheaded tip. It also had a horn on its snout and razor-sharp teeth. People were running away in panic, evacuating the area, while Takada just stood in an alley, watching in hiding. He took out the envelope out of his jacket and leafed through the content before pulling out a file with a small photo clipped to it. There were also additional photographs of his 'target' in action.

Information:

Name: Global Robot Response Unit XJ-9 a.k.a Jenny Wakeman

Age: (Bodily/Mentally) 14. (Actual) 6

Location: Tremorton, USA

Occupation: High School Student

Family: Dr. Nora Wakeman (Her creator/mother) other XJ robots (her sisters before her)

Powers: Flight, super strength, strong impenetrable armor and transformations used to adapt during battle

Additional Data: Possesses a free will and human emotions. She may look like a robot, but she has the "soul" of a teenage girl.

"Hm…it says here that she's the town local hero but not many people seem to think so. It is reported here that she causes a lot of damage during her fights," Takada read and then winced when he saw a building collapse under the monster as it fell from a cannon blast. "She has also gotten into opposition with Skyway Patrol for 'getting in their way'. Hmph, must be one of those government organizations who think they're losing work because of one hero. Where have I heard that before?" A large shadow past overhead and Takada looked up to see who, or what, it was. "Heh, Skyway Patrol. Well, they're a little late."

Jenny was done by the time Skyway Patrol had arrived and they weren't happy. Once again, she had showed them up and they wanted to shut her down for good. It didn't matter if she was doing anything good, it was just that she was not under their thumb and organizations like them didn't like anyone/anything they couldn't control.

Takada fumed. These Skyway Patrol guys should've been grateful for what Jenny was doing. Maybe they didn't like anyone else hogging all the glory. Well, Takada was going to show them soon. He grinned. Maybe a little virus in their systems would teach them a lesson. Ichijyo would be a little mad at him since Smart Brain did provide Skyway with some of its technology but Ichijyo would understand…after a few days depending if the Snake Knight would calm down.

Takada watched the argument and Skyway Patrol warning Jenny, again, to stay out of what they would call their business. Jenny crossed her arms and glared at them as they left mumbling, "Lazy bureaucrats." Brad had told her how Skyway Patrol had a lot of forms needed to be filled out to do anything. In her opinion, it was a waste of time!

Takada watched as she flew away and blushed. She was pretty and cute despite being a robot and not to mention strong-willed. Those were qualities that Takada liked in a girl. Sure, he would go out for any pretty face but it took a special kind of woman to win him over completely, both in body and mind. Well, it would appear it was time to keep watching her but where to start? He looked at a note that was included with his orders and read it before blanching. It said only 3 words: Go to school.

2 days later…

Takada had stayed in a motel room and used his company credit card to get a room. Today would be his first day in the local high school. He got in as a Sophomore thanks to the paperwork provided for him from Ichijyo.

Dressed in his best blue jeans, blue denim jacket, sneakers and black shirt, he slung his bag over his shoulder and walked through the doors.

As he entered the hallway, he could feel eyes on him, mostly from the girls. Well, Yoshiyuki Takada had to admit that he was good-looking in his own rough kinda way with his spiked up brown hair and such. Heck, he, Ichijyo and Ryuki were three of the most desirable guys in their school back home. And added with Tazuka, well…

To put it simply, girls would often mob them for some insane reason or would try to date them. Ryuki and Ichijyo would politely decline them while Tazuka charmed them all with his fortune-telling trick. Takada just ate all the attention up. Well, he had to get down to business: finding Jenny.

Heck, how hard was it to find a robot girl in a place like this? She'd stick out like a sore thumb.

BOOM!

Hearing the explosion and not to mention the large hole in the wall, he'd found her.

Wow, that was quick.

He watched as Jenny fought with some alien biker-chicks as they were riding through the hallway. They looked reptilian in appearance and Jenny wasn't having a hard time against them.

Takada gripped his deck but then remembered his mission. He was supposed to observe her and report his findings. As of now, he was just a bystander and would do otherwise only when it was required.

God, he hated working for that damn Snake! They were rival Knights for crying out loud. The only reason they were working together right now was that Ryuki was very persuasive and the idea of protecting others was quite inviting. Besides, Ichijyo provided the money for his mother's life support since their life and medical insurance could only last them for so long.

With one last strike, Jenny had driven the alien bikes away. She smiled proudly, but it then faded when angry yells could be heard around her from the students and teachers. Takada's eyes narrowed. How ungrateful! Screw orders!

"HOLD IT!" he barked loudly, gathering everyone's attention. "How can you just yell angrily at her!?"

These were the replies he received.

"She made holes in the walls!"

"She broke the lockers!"

"Destroyed the classrooms!"

"She's just a robot freak!"

The last statement hurt Jenny the most and Takada's blood boiled.

He then added sarcastically, "Oh, and those alien biker chicks wouldn't have done the same? Yeah, right!"

"Well, they wouldn't be here if she wasn't!" another random angry voice yelled.

"So, what are you, a fortune teller!? How do you know they wouldn't have come anyway to cause trouble!" Takada angrily retorted.

"Who do you think you are!?" someone yelled at Takada, accompanied by others.

"Just someone who recognizes a hero when he sees one. Now, you can either yell at Jenny or help call people to clean this place up!"

There were various murmurs as the crowd dispersed, but then two boys rushed over.

"Jenny, you okay?" one boy asked.

"I'm fine, Brad," Jenny assured the red haired boy, named Brad.

"You sure? No dents?" said a black haired boy, who appeared Chinese in appearance, as he examined Sheldon. Jenny rolled her eyes in response. Her eyes then fell upon Takada.

"Thanks for standing up for me," Jenny said with a smile. Takada shrugged.

"Just telling them what's on my mind, Robot Lady," Takada said with a smile. Jenny blushed and Takada looked away, blushing too.

'Okay…she's kinda cute this up close,' Takada thought.

'Cute guy! REALLY cute guy!' Jenny processed giddily in her CPU.

Sheldon eyes narrowed but then Brad pushed ahead and introduced himself, "I'm Brad Carbunkle. Never seen you around, you new here?"

"Just moved a couple of days ago," Takada replied. "Name's Yoshiyuki Takada, but friends call me 'Takada'." They shook hands.

"Well, nice to meet you, Takada," Brad said. "Any guy who defends Jenny like you did is okay in my book."

"Thanks."

Sheldon stepped over and looked at Takada critically, "I'm Sheldon."

Jenny introduced herself, "And I'm Jenny."

"It's nice to meet you all," Takada said, "Especially you, Jenny." He took her hand and shook it. The cold steel against his skin felt like electricity…in a really good way. Jenny didn't pull away. He let go and said, "I gotta go, first classes and all, I want to make a good impression. Laters!"

Jenny sighed as she watched Takada leave.

For some reason or unknown coincidence (yeah right!), Takada had all the same classes with Jenny. He would smile at her and he would smile back. They would walk to class together and get to know each other better, they even sat together at lunch with Sheldon and Brad, with the former boy glaring dangerously at the new boy as Brad went on and on how great it was for Jenny to be his friend. Brad wasn't a snob…just really confident about himself despite what others may say to him.

Takada and Jenny talked animatedly with one another before the spike haired Japanese boy felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to see who it was and Jenny groaned. It was the Crust Cousins.

"Say, good looking," Tiff, the short Caucasian one said, "Why don't you sit with us at the Popular Table."

"You look good enough, actually," Brit added, she had dark skin and a 'high class' British accent. "So, why not leave the peasants and join us?"

Takada always hated people who thought they were better than everyone else, sparking his rivalry with Ichijyo. They were able to settle their differences of course, but they still got on each other's nerves. Unlike Ryuki and Ichijyo, Takada attended the Red Horse Private Institute on a scholarship. Ryuki was the only rich boy that he actually liked since Ryuki was not a snob or conceited, but a humble kid who wanted to help everyone and anyone around him.

Takada replied, coldly, "No." Brit and Tiff gasped.

"Come on, you don't know what you're missing!" Tiff said, frantically.

"Yes, I do," Takada added coldly. "Now, buzz off!"

Tiff and Brit fumed before stomping away angrily. Takada bit into his lunch in frustration, trying to calm himself down.

"Woah, why did you do that?" Brad asked. "Anyone would kill to be at the Popular Table. I would."

"And be surrounded by narcissists and snobs who think they are batter than everyone else and act like fake friends?" was Takada's snippy retort. "Pass. I had to face people like them a lot, those who though they were at the Top of the 'FOOD CHAIN'. I learnt that it didn't really matter if I was popular or not unless I had real friends."

"That's so deep," Jenny said with a wide smile. Sheldon grumbled again.

The school day went on and soon the final bell rang, releasing all the students from the academic and scholastic prison. Takada walked out and adjusted the straps of his bag and went his way towards the motel room he'd rented when she heard a familiar female voice, "Takada! Wait up!" He smiled, it was Jenny.

"Hey, Jenny. What's up?" he asked.

Jenny asked, "Want to come over to my house later?" Takada scratched the back of his head. He had to immediately send a report to Ichijyo.

"Sorry, Jenny," he apologized. "But there's something I need to do right now. It's kinda important."

"Oh," Jenny said, looking downcast.

"But maybe this weekend, alright?" Takada said. Jenny smiled widely.

"Sure!"

"Great!"

"And send!" Takada said as he clicked on the mouse to send his report via e-mail. He fell back on the bed and looked up at the ceiling. He then received an immediate reply with these following words:

ENGAGE HER IN COMBAT.

Takada sighed. He liked Jenny, but he also knew it had to be done to see if she had what it took to be a future operative of Smart Brain Corporation. Ichijyo, Tazuka and Ryuki were doing the same with their targets as well…

Takada took out his Zodiac Deck and held it out in front of the mirror in the bathroom. He called, "Zodiac Force! Dog!"

Jenny was at Mezmers with Brad and Tuck and the robot girl sighed depressingly.

"Okay, what's wrong, Jenny?" Brad asked, "You've been sighing like that for the past 10 minutes."

"Oh, Brad…" Jenny groaned. "I don't think you'd understand. This is more of a girl problem."

"Oh," Brad tucked at his collar. "Girl problem, huh?"

Suddenly the windows of Mezmers shattered and Jenny quickly pushed Brad and Tuck down to the floor, transforming into a make-shift barrier to protect them from the flying shards. No one else got hurt, miraculously.

"What the heck!?" Brad exclaimed.

"What happened? Why did all the windows break?" Tuck asked in bewilderment.

Jenny listened in and heard some sort of screeching, like a bat's but only it sounded like it came from a really big bat. She jumped over the windowsill and looked around, scanning with her optics. Her eyes fell upon a large bat-like creature fleeing the scene.

"You're not getting away from me!"

Jennt followed after the bat, blasting it with lasers but the giant bat creature seemed to have eyes in the back of the head and dodges each shot. If Jenny had pain attention in class, she would've realized that bats were known for their amazing sense of hearing. Jenny continued to fire at it, however, frustrated that this monster was just dodging her attacks, as if it was taunting her, mocking her even. She then noticed that the bat creature was diving down towards the roof of a building, where a dark figure was waiting. The bat creature circles the figure before it perched itself onto its back. Jenny touched down to get a closer look.

Because of her enhanced robots vision, even in the dark Jenny could make out the figure in the dark of the night. It was definitely male. He was clad in black armor which comprised of torso armor, boots and gauntlets. His chestplate was silver and the ensemble was worn over a navy blue bodysuit that appeared to be made of leather. His helmet was black with a silver faceplate and a visor that had two points sticking up to look like ears. The visor had vertical slits on it. Around his waist was a belt with a crystal in the rectangular buckle and sword holstered on the side. On the other side of the belt was a rectangular case. The bat creature had also changed, into a black cape with a pointed collar. To a Batman fan, this guy would be considered someone trying to imitate the Dark Knight of Gotham.

Jenny's eyes narrowed at the armored figure and she said, "Okay, pal, who are you!"

He answered by drawing his sword and said, "Your opponent for the night, Miss Wakeman."

Jenny responded with a confused, "Huh?" before the armored man charged at her and swung down with his sword. Jenny immediately activated a missile launcher and fired but he just sliced the missile in half and the two halves exploded behind him, making Jenny gasp in shock. She then decided to change her right hand into a sword and block his weapon with his. He just swung his fist and caught Jenny in the face. Luckily for Jenny, she didn't have any pain receptors but if she did that punch would've hurt. Jenny jumped back and activated the laser cannon in her chest and fired. The man just wrapped his cape around him and received the blast.

"Yes!" Jenny cheered, thinking her work was done but then…

"Sword Vent: Wing Lancer and K9-Lance!"

She heard the announcement and her armor-clad opponent flew out of the smoke cloud on a pair of batwings. In his hands were a pair of lances and despite their size, he was wielding them quite easily. Jenny growled and flew up to meet him with a punch but he blocked with his lances and then spun them around to push Jenny back and then stabbing them at her. Jenny got hit in the stomach and arm and then her opponent spun around and kicked her in the face until it dented. Jenny held her face and then gripped her fists. This time she turned her arms into gattling cannons. He threw his lances at Jenny but she avoided them easily.

"Nice try, but you're going down!" she aimed to fire but then he just reached to the case on his belt and drew a…a card? This confused Jenny. What was he going to do with that card anyway? Her mental question was answered as he slid it into the handle of his sword.

"Trick Vent: Duplication!" he announced and suddenly, Jenny found herself surrounded by 8 of them. She scoffed.

"Just illusions," she said as she aimed at her 'real' opponent but much to her chagrin, they began flying around, confusing her. Two came her way and she shot at them. They shattered like glass. Two more came at her and she blasted them to bits two. One came from above and two came from below. She just flew aside and they crashed into each other, shattering. Jenny grinned victoriously but then realized that she has just beat 7…

SLASH!

Jenny just got slashed in the back and turned to see her opponent with his sword drawn. The slash had cut through her metal skin, exposing circuitry. She ignored the pain and then started blasting at him. Her shots were being deflected by the armor, much to her surprise so she changed tactics and decided to use her high powered weapons. He, however, drew another card and slid it into his sword.

"Nasty Vent: Super Sonic Screech!"

The bat on his back let out a powerful sonic screech that caused Jenny's audio sensors to go crazy. Also, some of her other systems were being heavily assaulted by the sound. She went out of control and fell hard onto the ground.

Her opponent landed and slowly walked towards her. When he stood above her, he pointed the tip of his sword at her neck. She was heavily damaged from the attack and if he removed her head…she'd be shut down permanently. But then, to her surprise, he just sheathed his sword and started to walk away. "Hey!" she called. "Where do you think you're going!?" He stopped and looked over his shoulder.

"You're not worth to be destroyed right now, Robot Girl," he said to her condescendingly. "Repair yourself and get stronger."

"Who are you?" she questioned weakly as she was slowly going offline.

"Pluto," he answered and then Jenny saw darkness.

"XJ-9! XJ-9! Please, wake up!" Nora Wakeman, Jenny's creator/mother pleaded as Jenny started to wake up. Jenny was in her mom's lab on the repair table.

"Mom…?" Jenny said weakly, "What happened? How did I get here?"

"That would be because of me," said Takada, waving. He explained, "I saw you heavily damaged so I took you back home."

"How did you know I lived here?" Jenny asked. Takada pointed behind him for her to see Brad and Tuck asleep.

"They were worried about you," he said. "When they saw me carrying you, they led me the whole way here. You got good friends."

Jenny smiled, "Thanks, Brad, Tuck."

"JENNY!" Sheldon barged in and went to her side, "Jenny, are you okay!? What happened!?"

"Just got into a fight," she said bitterly, "And lost."

"Who did this!? When I find him I'm gonna-!"

"Sheldon," Brad said, woken up by Sheldon's screaming, "If this guy can do this to Jenny, what hope do you have?"

"Oh, I have my ways…"

"XJ-9, you suffered heavy external and internal damages," Nora reported. "I don't think you'll be in any condition to even go to school until I get you properly repaired."

"Oh, mom, what's the worst that could happen?" Jenny asked.

"You could spontaneously explode," Tuck chipped in. Everyone stared at him, bemused, "What?"

"Well, it's late, and I need to go," Takada said, "See you later, Jenny."

"Bye, Takada…"

Over the next couple of days, Takada was starting to hang out more and more with Jenny and her friends. Sheldon, however, could see that Takada was a little more interested to have something more than friendship with Jenny. Right now, they were at the park having a game of football. Brad kicked the ball and it went sailing into the air, only for Jenny to fly up and grab. "Hey, no flying!" Brad complained but Jenny stuck her tongue and then ran towards the goal. She went past Takada but then he was able to jump on her and tackle her to the ground, causing her to drop the ball and for Brad to grab it. Sheldon wasn't able to catch up with Brad so the redhead was able to score.

"Oh, yeah! Oh, yeah! Brad is the MAN!" Brad cheered as he did his embarrassing victory dance…

That was not the most embarrassing, however, as Takada was still on top of Jenny. Both of them blushed and then Takada helped her up. Takada apologized lamely, "Um…sorry about that."

"Nice tackle," she said nervously. Takada's phone then rang. He took it out of his pocket and began speaking to it.

"Susie? Am I busy later tonight? Not really. Movies, later tonight? Okay," Takada said, "Bye." Takada smiled, "Looks like I have another date tonight."

"Dude, tell me your secret," Brad begged, "How do you get so many girls to date you?"

"I thought you called yourself the Master of Romance, Brad," Tuck teased, receiving a glare from his elder brother.

"That, my friend, is a personal secret," Takada said. "Well, I gotta go. Catch you guys later." Takada walked over to his bike and raced away after putting on his helmet.

Jenny sighed as she watched Takada zoom away. She had the hugest crush on him and hoped that he'd be interested to go out with her, but the fact remained that she was just a robot and his friend. Suddenly, she received an alert telling her there was a fire. She flew off to help out.

The fire was at an apartment building. Fire fighters were trying to put it out but with limited success. They were helping people still trapped inside to evacuate by the time Jenny arrived.

"My baby!" A woman cried, "My baby is still in there!"

"I'm on it!" Jenny said as she prepared to take off but then a dark blur flew in and then flew out. The figure then landed and Jenny immediately recognized who it was. It was Pluto. "YOU!"

Pluto handed the baby over to the woman and then felt Jenny's glare on him. He then told her, "You can either fight me now, or we can work together to put out this fire and rescue the people." Jenny grunted, knowing he was right.

"Fine, just stay out of my way," she said.

"Gladly."

The two one time adversaries began to help people out of the burning building, while at the same time putting out the fire. Pretty soon, both were done and everyone cheered, but then…

"What's your deal?" Jenny asked Pluto.

"Hm?" he replied.

"First you attack me and now you help me? Why?"

"I have my reasons."

"Tell me!"

"No."

"TELL ME!"

"No."

Jenny fumed and Pluto took off. "Hey, wait!"

(Later that night...)

Takada returned to his motel room after his date with Susie. She was nice but well…no second date. He lay on his bed when his phone began to ring. "Hello?"

"Takada, how goes the assignment?" it was Ichijyo.

"Well, she liked me but hates Pluto," Takada reported.

"Good, at least the next time you fight we can see how she is at maximum performance," Ichijyo replied.

"What about the others?" Takada asked.

"Ryuki and Tazuka have already gotten to phase two of the assignment, observing and testing out the candidates' battle capabilities on the field," Ichijyo said, "And so have I. Takada, you told me before that her only problem was that she often underestimated her opponents. Is this true?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Takada replied, "Jenny is a bit overconfident since she sees herself as one of the best of the best, and seeing how she often wins her battles, I can see why."

"Well, her arrogance is something we might need to fix when we recruit her. I will talk to you later, Takada."

"Bye," Takada said as the link was cut off.

(2 weeks later…)

Takada's friendship with Jenny and the others continued to grow and during those two weeks, Jenny had engaged in battle with Pluto and her opponent had left her behind when he had the chance to finish her off. This left her confused and angry. Confused because most of her enemies would never just leave her without finishing her off and angry because she felt she was being toyed with.

One day, at school, Takada met her during lunch and took her aside to talk.

"Um…Jenny?" he said, rubbing the back of his head. "I was wondering if…well…"

"What?" Jenny said, feeling eager. She could only guess what he wanted to ask her.

"You want to go out later? It is Friday night."

"Is this a date?" Jenny asked. She inwardly grinned.

"Let me see…" Takada tapped his chin, "Dinner, dancing, a movie. I guess you could call it that."

"Yes," she said, nodding. "Yes, of course I'll go out with you."

"Nice!" Takada smiled. The bell rang. "I'll pick you up later tonight, okay?"

"Okay!" Jenny smiled and then giggled. She had a date tonight!

Sheldon had heard everything and scowled, showing his displeasure.

When Takada took Jenny out on their date, they had a good time. However, at the end of it, Takada had no choice but to confess everything to her that he was the mysterious Pluto that had fought her.

She was not happy when she heard that.

"Why!?" she demanded.

"It was my mission to test you," Takada admitted.

"Test me, test me for what!?"

"A friend of mine, you could say he's my boss, wants to form a team of superheroes and thinks you'd make a fine addition. My job was to test you and see if you were worthy."

"So, becoming my friend, taking me out on a date, was all because it was your job? It was never real?"

"It was real. That's why I'm telling you now. I'm sorry. Look, after tonight, I'm leaving Tremerton." He offered her a card. "Here, call this number once you've made a decision." She snatched it out of his hand. "Goodbye, Jenny. And I'm sorry.

To Be Continued...

A/N: Update 11/07/2020. After many years, I decided to just finish this flashback. Anyway, yeah, Takada told her in the end and left. I guess she had time to cool off afterward. But, well, I will explore this further.