Rat-Hound

Low growling was heard inside the dark, tiny room where a extremely worried old man was tied up to a chair. The air was suffocating and the sight in front of him didn't make it any better.

An aggressive, tall German Shepherd was glaring him down with that strange domino mask covering his eyes; his long, damaged ears pulled back and baring its sharp teeth. Behind the dog was a just as menacing man, visibly holding the German Shepherd by the collar, preventing him from mauling the poor kidnapped man alive.

The dog was barking loudly, and biting the nothingness with a clear thirst for blood.

The terrified old man was literally quivering when the thug spoke up.

"I've heard about your riches, Wilkins... I've also heard you keep a safe full of diamonds in here... is that a rumor?"

"I— I—" Mr. Wilkins stammered.

The German Shepherd barked again, trying to freed himself from the thug's grasp.

"I will tell you where it is! I will give you everything— Just, please let go of me... please..." he murmured the last parts fearfully.

"Even that ultra expensive family heirloom you've got over there?" He pointed towards a looming grandfather clock standing to his right. "Seems antique. Could get a few bucks out of it."

"No! That— that is the last gift from my great grandmother—"

Hearing the tied man's refusal, the thug leaned down, looking at the dog next to him straight in the eye.

"Go get him, Rat-Hound."

He let go of his collar, and the German Shepherd immediately jumped over the old man's chest, making him scream in terror. The chair was knocked over and the dog stared him down with a growling face.

"So it's true you're seriously terrified of dogs... Cynophobia, isn't it...?" the thief pretended to think deeply. "You got attacked by a dog as a kid, no? Heard you suffered major injuries."

"..." The old man's eyes widened and he stared back at Rat-Hound; his strong nuzzle wasn't very far away from his nose, and at a perfect distance to give him permanent face scarring.

Yet Mr. Wilkins didn't give in. "...No. I'll never let you have it. Not over my own grave." He hoped the police would arrive soon, anyone, to his rescue.

The thief crossed his arms, clearly angered, but somehow maintaining his calm appearance. "...That's fine by me." Then he snapped his fingers. "Atta, boy."

Rat-Hound froze on the spot, the growling momentarily stopped. He knew what the snapping of fingers what it meant.

He hesitated.

The thief snapped his fingers again, exasperated now. "Do it, rat!" he yelled at the dog, who now looked down at the man he was about to attack quietly.

Then he saw how the thug began to pull out a gun from his pocket.

The fur on the German Shepherd's back stood up in a shudder, and the growling was back. In fact, it didn't stop at growling.

Rat-Hound's horrifying fangs  shimmered like the moonlight as he opened his mouth wide, and Mr. Wilkins let out a just as horrible shriek once again when the dog lunged forward.
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Ace woke up with a start.

He was panting deeply, even though he wasn't tired at all. And his grey fur was damp with cold sweat.

Such a nightmare.

He sighed. "I always have these... I was wondering when they would return..."

He had stopped having nightmares for a while... when he had been spending so much time with Brainy. When he had been her friend.

Now he was starting to regret everything. "Maybe if I hadn't been so greedy..." he wondered. "Just being her friend would have been enough. Just seeing her smile again..." he scoffed, letting his head fall on his dog bed.

"But no. Of course not. Of course I had to go and ruin everything." He growled angrily at himself, his brows contorting into a frown. "Of course I had to go and almost kiss her— Of course...!"

"...I had to fall in love with her." His ears lowered and his frown became sadder rather than angry.

Then he finally admitted it to himself: he was in love with Brainy Barker. And now he couldn't hold back the burning tears he had restrained for so long escaping from his eyes.

Bat-Hound never cried. He thought that after the hell he suffered as a puppy, there wouldn't be any other event in his life worthy of tears.

He had become an emotionless machine.

And yet now he was crying over her.

How could his chest hurt so much when he thought about how he lost her?

...And now these dreams about Sean, and how he had betrayed him bombarded his thoughts on top of it all.

One dog could just not ask for enough suffering, could he?
----

"...ey! Hey! Brainy!"

"Huh?!" The Saluki immediately rose her head with surprise.

Mammoth Mutt was standing right in front of her, looking bemused. "You're daydreaming again."

"Am I...?" Brainy looked up from the control station of the spaceship. She sighed tiredly. "I suppose I can't concentrate..."

"Why not, though?" Mammoth jumped towards her worriedly. "You've been like this all day... and since yesterday, too... Hmm, yesterday... right after the meeting!"

"Um, what are you talking about?" Brainy's green eyes widened with panic, and she refused to let Mammoth Mutt see the blush decorating her face.

"After the meeting... No, after you talked with Bat-Hound!" the pink Chihuahua kept speculating, putting the pieces together.

"No— you're getting it all wrong!" Brainy interjected, now just wanting to stop her friend from thinking so much about it.

"I'm not! You can't lie to me, Brainy!" Mammoth Mutt looked at her with anger. "Especially with your ears hovering over your head like that and telling me everything I need to know!"

The violet dog instantly looked up, seeing the images of Bat-Hound reflected on her ears like a hologram.

She cursed herself.

"What? What did he tell you?" The Chihuahua barked, jumping up and down. "Do I need to bite that jerk's tail?!"

"No!" Brainy stopped her, basically pleading for her not to attack him. She knew how dangerous Mammoth Mutt could be when someone messed with her.

"Oh... you're surprisingly defensive of him," the pink dog noted with shock and suspicion.

Brainy cursed herself again.

"It's not what you think, alright...?" She hung down her head in defeat. "We're just bickering right now... you could say we're in some kind of fight..."

Mammoth raised an eyebrow at her.

"...But it's not like we're close, either. We're just comrades, that's all."

Mammoth Mutt sighed. "Just so you know, you don't convince me a single bit."

"But—"

Mammoth didn't let her finish. "You're not tricking anybody, Brainy. You're just lying to yourself if you keep denying it."

"Denying what?!" Brainy now rose with something akin to indignation.

"...You like him... don't you?"

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