Behind The Mask

His "Dreams"

"Oh, he will move. He just needs the right motivation." She said with a wide grin and slowly walked over to the table and picked up the scutica which was leaking fresh blood. And immediately, Chase got afraid and tried his best to talk.

"P-P-Please...no...no more." Chase begged softly, his voice wasn't strong enough to speak loudly.

"Then show me that you can stand up." She demanded. Chase then tried his best to stand, each time he would, sharp pain would rip through his entire body, and it would cause Chase to lose his balance, and every time he would catch himself, he would just feel more pain.

Just then, Chase yelled out in pain as he felt some of his wounds open up even more, causing him to fall back down. His painful scream even made the two guards wince, and they even felt sympathy for him.

The Lady didn't show any reaction at all, but just stared at Chase with no emotions on her face.

"It's clear to me that you need an awakening reminder." She said and Chase watched her form a wide grin on her face, as if she seemed excited and slowly raised her arm with the scutica.

"N-No...please." Chase begged once again, as he tried to get up, but his body just wouldn't let him.

"All I wanna hear is your screams."

He quickly sat up on his bed as he gasped in shock. He looked around once again and calmed down as he saw himself still in the room that Humdinger and Helga had prepared for him. The German Shepherd calmed his fast breathing and wiped the sweat off his face. It's only a dream. He tried to comfort himself.

He looked around the room that Arnold and Helga had made for him and it somehow cheered him up. It resembled a lot of his sleeping place back at the Adventure Lookout Tower. His badge was to the side while softly glowing and his bed was super comfortable. In the room, there were some books on shelves, some toys in the corner and a large television with a keyboard made for dogs so Chase could keep himself entertained. They really went all out. Chase chuckled to himself.

After taking a couple more breaths, he pushed his pillow back and pulled his blanket up a little more. He lay back down on his bed and tried to sleep. But he couldn't. Struggling, he kept shifting right and left on his bed, but nothing helped.

He gave up as he went back to his usual sleeping position, but his eyes were still closed.

Flash Back

"You. Have. Nothing. No family, no friends, no power, no talent, no worth, no nothing. You don't have a measly thing. You're just a hollow thing and you should know that better than anyone else. And you hate yourself for it."

Flash Back Ends

He opened his eyes back up as he stared at the blank ceiling with a frown on his face. That wasn't true. He still has Helga...Humdinger...the kittens...Maya. He still has them...right?

He shook his mind from those thoughts, of course he has them. But then, the silence was interrupted by some footsteps. Being curious as he is, he quietly lifted the blanket off of his body and got out of bed. He slowly made his way to the door and walked through the flaps of the bottom of the wooden opening.

The entrance has a small hallway which leads to the main room of Mayor Humdingers place. The main room consisted of the entire living room, kitchen and his computers while there are multiple hallways leading to different rooms.

The police pup made sure to walk slowly and quietly as he stood behind the edge of the wall and peeked a little bit to see Humdinger sitting on a kitchen table that represented an island as he held a hand, holding his head to rest as the other was picking up some sort of paper. His expression represented a clam, but also a stressed face which concerned the small pup.

"Is everything okay, honey?" Helga then walked in with a cup of coffee in her hand as she sat down from the opposite side of Humdinger, both of them not knowing that Chase was awake and listening to them behind the walls.

"It isn't getting easier, Mom," Humdinger began and sighed out, "We're almost out of money."

"But what about the retirement benefits?" Helga asked and Humdinger slightly chuckled.

"Heh, well the people over at Adventure City never really like me and there's nobody living in Foggy Bottom besides us." Humdinger said as he looked back at the letter. Helga looked over to the other letters and when she picked them up, she frowned even more.

"Rent, mortgage, electricity, water, internet, credit and insurance. So many of these are past due." Helga listed off. Humdinger sighed again as he picked up another letter.

"That's not all. Pet care, clothing, and health care. I don't know how I'm gonna pay for all of this." Humdinger whispered to himself and Helga placed her hand onto her sons with a hopeful smile.

"Don't worry, we'll find a way through this. We're the Humdingers, right? Family never gives up." Helga said and Humdinger tried to give out his best smile, but only came out with a small, weak one.

"Yeah. Also, please, don't say anything about this to the kittens, especially Chase. He's got a lot going on already and I don't wanna be a burden to him even more." Humdinger slightly begged. Helga seemed hesitant, but she agreed. Even though they don't know much about his past, Chase is not in the best condition to worry about their problems.

"Okay, I'll keep it only between us."

Behind the walls, Chase frowned a little bit. He felt bad as he felt like he was making things harder on the Humdingers as things weren't difficult enough.

But one thing was for sure, he needed to help them. The Humdingers helped Chase at his time of need, so now it was time to return the favor.

Quietly, Chase stepped back from the room and silently closed the door behind him and he began thinking about yesterday.

Flash Back

"Of course, we're family."

Chase's eyes widened at that sentence and just stared at Humdinger with shock.

"F-F-Family?" He repeated.

"Of course, we're family. And family always takes care of each other."

Flash Back Ends

"Family never gives up." Chase repeated the sentence in his mind. They're right. They are family and they always take care of each other. So he walked over to the television, turned it on and scoured the usual media on Adventure Bay.

He became more determined as he tried to look for a job to help his family.