New Orleans, Louisiana, June 8, 1939.
Itchy and the pups moved as fast as they could through the streets in the downpour, heading to one dog that would be able to spread the word and give them directions to 402 Maple Street.
When Itchy and the pups arrived at the right neighborhood and found the right house, Itchy called up to a second floor window. After a minute, a small dog leaned over the balcony and looked down in confusion.
"Itchy? Why are you bothering me at this time of night? And in this weather no less? And with pups?" the dog questioned in concern.
"Please, the kids and I need to know how to find 402 Maple Street," Itchy said urgently.
"What's at 402 Maple Street? And where are Charlie and Gavin?" the dog asked.
"Please...just tell us where it is, Charlie and Gavin are in serious trouble and something terrible might happen to a little girl and Flo," Itchy explained frantically, catching the attention of the other dogs that were in the houses next to them.
"402 Maple Street is over by the firehouse," a dachshund said in a southern accent.
"Thank you. Make sure to spread the word and also alert the humans in this city, Charlie and Gavin need all the help they can get," Itchy said gratefully and he and the pups quickly left.
"What the hell was that all about?" a dog that was on the balcony above the dachshund asked in confusion.
"Charlie and Gavin are in trouble, and a little girl along with Flo might die," the small dog explained, causing the other dogs to widen their eyes in shock.
"Well tarnation!" the dachshund exclaimed. All the dogs started barking at the other dogs that were nearby until nearly all the dogs in the city were barking and howling within a few minutes, waking up the city's inhabitants. As the humans woke up, the dogs started leading people, police officers, and doctors to Carface's casino.
I pulled up to the casino and the three of us got out, staring at the place where it all began. I didn't know if it was my demon self that was responsible, but I could literally feel the cruelty, the filth, the greed, and the corruption coming off the place like a tidal wave. It reflected the perfect image of Carface's decaying soul. The casino had become nothing more then a place befitting a devil. Charlie, Anne-Marie, and I walked around to the back door of the casino and paused, looking at each other in uncertainty. With reluctant nods, we entered the casino and headed to the basement until we found ourselves in a large area that used to be the ship's engine room. The large space was almost dwarfed by a huge hole in the wall that had been there as long as anyone could remember. Scanning around the room, I saw Carface holding a gun to Flo's head and grinning at us. I gritted my teeth and didn't react because I knew that charging at him would only get Flo killed.
"Charlie, Gavin, I'm so pleased that you were able to join us tonight," Carface said smugly.
"Enough with the pleasantries Carface, we're here now. Let's just handle this like proper businessmen," I spat out.
"Suit yourself," Carface said and he cocked the hammer on the revolver, making me pull out my M-1911 and aim it at him.
"Are you sure you want to do that Gavin? If you whack me, Charlie's dame will get killed in the process and you'll become a monster," Carface pointed out.
"I don't care if I become a demon of hell. As long as you're around, no one is safe. So let her go," I demanded, aiming at the paw that was holding the gun.
"Sure, with a few stipulations of course," Carface said.
"Just name your terms already," Charlie growled irritably.
"Very well...first, Gavin is to drop the gat and kick it over to Killer. Then, you are to hand over the girl or Flo's pretty face will be splattered all over this room," Carface threatened.
Charlie hesitated and looked at Anne-Marie, who was looking at Carface with fear. But then, she closed her eyes and nodded at us in agreement and Charlie looked at me resigned.
"Gavin...do what Carface says, put the gun down and kick it to Killer..." Charlie said.
I tensed up in uncertainty, but I sighed and slowly put the gun on the floor and kicked it over to Killer, who picked it up and tossed it out the huge hole in the wall. We could hear it fall into the water below.
"See Gavin, I knew you would listen to me. Now, the girl," Carface demanded.
Charlie and I looked at Anne-Marie sorrowfully and nodded. Anne-Marie slowly walked over until she was standing beside Carface.
"Okay, you have Anne-Marie. Now what?" I asked bitterly.
"One more thing fellas. Give me your watches," Carface commanded.
"Swear to us. If we do this, swear to us that Flo will be released safely without any harm at all and she will remain completely unharmed. No games, no tricks. Swear to us right now," Charlie demanded.
"I swear that Flo will remain completely unharmed and will be released safely without any damage at all," Carface repeated with a roll of his eyes.
Charlie and I took off our watches and walked over slowly to Carface. While we were approaching Carface, I could hear my watch ticking along with my footsteps like it was counting down our lives, which was probably what was happening. We stopped in front of Carface and handed him the watches, which he gladly took.
"Killer! Take Flo and keep her secure until our business is finished then honor our agreement," Carface said.
Killer nodded reluctantly and started to drag Flo away who struggled and screamed frantically.
"Nooo! Charlie! Gavin! Let me go! Can't you see that this is wrong?! Why are you listening to that monster?!" Flo yelled desperately to Killer.
Charlie and I stared at Carface who was looking at our watches and smirking in satisfaction. Charlie and I could take Carface down right now, but we didn't because we wanted to go to hell for what we had done in our recent lives and be punished for our sins.
"Such intriguing little things. These watches represent your whole lives. If that's true, would you both be able to feel this?" Carface said before putting the watches down on the metal floor and shooting them.
I felt something tear into me and I collapsed onto my hands and knees in agony, my vision spinning. I forced myself to focus and looked at Charlie to see him on his side with an expression of pain on his muzzle. I tried to stand up, but I was just too weak to move.
"Charlie! Gavin!" Anne-Marie cried out in horror at seeing us drop to the ground.
"Huh, resilient little things. I wonder, how resilient are they really?" Carface said menacingly and shot the watches again.
Then I felt something tear apart my spine and I fell onto my side, tasting blood in my mouth even though Charlie and I didn't bleed anymore. I weakly raised my hand and tried to reach out to Anne-Marie or my watch as my body started twitching from the shock.
"Stop it! Please, stop it!" Anne-Marie begged.
"Charlie, Gavin, no!" Flo screamed in distress.
"Still trying to get up? Look at this Killer, taking it like real men," Carface mocked as Charlie and I twitched.
"Boss, that is enough. We have what we need, so just end it already, torture is pointless," Killer tried to reason but Carface aimed his gun at him.
"Shut the hell up or I'll ice you," Carface threatened.
Charlie and I forced ourselves to stand up and we glared venomously at Carface.
"You're a true monster Carface and there is a special place in hell for you, believe me..." Charlie groaned out in pain.
"Not for me Charlie. You see, once I kill you and Gavin, I'm free of hell and death itself," Carface replied in satisfaction.
My eyes widened in realization and I weakly chuckled and said bitterly, "You sold your soul for immortality? If you think hell won't come to collect one day, you're an idiot. You can't escape justice forever."
"Gavin, why the hostility? This story has a happy ending. I get to keep the girl and make a fortune while you and Charlie get to go to Heaven. Do neither of you want to go to Heaven? Oh, how stupid of me, you blew that chance. Well, I'm sure they'll take good care of you both down below," Carface mocked as he opened the lid of Charlie's watch and he shot our watches again.
Our bodies jerked from the impact and we dropped to the ground like sacks of bricks, making horrible choking and gagging noises.
Carface walked over to Charlie, put his barely functioning watch around his neck and dragged him in front of Anne-Marie. Then he walked over to where I was currently lying on the ground and did the same thing. Carface opened the cylinder, unloaded the shell casings, loaded the gun and closed the cylinder, aiming at our watches. At that point I knew that if he fired again, Charlie and I would die.
"No, stop! Please stop! Stop hurting them!" Anne-Marie yelled in horror at the brutality being displayed in front of her.
"Now you little shit, let this be a lesson on what happens if you run off again," Carface told her as he cocked the hammer of his revolver.
"Carface! You disgusting bastard!" Flo shouted in rage.
"No! Please Mr. Carface, I'll stay with you and do whatever you want, just please let them go!" Anne-Marie pleaded.
"Oh I will alright. Goodbye old friends," Carface said and he pulled the trigger.
"Nooo!" Anne-Marie screamed out of desperation and lunged for the revolver. As the gunshot rang out, everyone stared in horror at the aftermath.
Despair and grief ran through me as I saw Anne-Marie stumbling back, clutching the bullet wound on her abdomen. Blood dripped from her mouth as she slumped against a wall and slid to the floor with her eyes closed. I felt something in me snap and my grief and despair turned into pure and savage fury as I just completely lost it. Charlie and I snarled as we managed to stand up out of sheer will. The metal catwalk above our heads slowly started melting from the heat and smoke that was coming off our bodies. I felt my teeth and my nails grow razor sharp but I didn't give a shit. Carface shooting Anne-Marie was the very thing to make Charlie and I lose it and now, we were going to do what we should've done months ago. Not killing Carface earlier this year was our mistake and now we were going to make up for it by slowly tearing the flesh from his bones and burning him while he screamed for mercy.
Carface ran over to Anne-Marie and started shaking her shoulders while Killer stared in shock.
"Wake up you little shit! Don't you dare die after all the shit I went through to get you back!" Carface shouted frantically.
"Boss, what the hell have you done?!" Killer exclaimed in horror.
Charlie and I let out inhuman roars as a massive fire literally erupted from our bodies and started burning everything in its path. We then turned our glowing eyes at Carface and we started letting out growls of rage and hatred, Charlie's paws and my hands were covered in dark flames. We started chucking fireballs at Carface while he dove out of the way. Charlie and I screamed and unleashed an inferno that started to consume the ship. Carface grabbed Anne-Marie and started dragging her to the escape boat.
Charlie and I saw Carface trying to escape and we started charging at him, our steps immolating everything in our path and turning it to ash. We kept throwing fireballs at Carface, who was getting cornered by them. An explosion sent him crashing into a wall. Carface forced himself up and started dragging Anne-Marie to a ladder.
"Boss! Forget about the girl dammit! This is nuts, you're gonna get us killed!" Killer pleaded.
"Shut the hell up!" Carface roared out, bashing Killer across the face with his revolver and forcing Anne-Marie to the ladder.
"Get your paws off her you monster!" Flo roared out in fury.
The rough collie lunged at Carface and bit down on his shoulder, tearing and thrashing at it. Carface let out a cry of pain as he smashed Flo into a wall and pinned her there. Then, Carface threw Flo to the ground and aimed at her head.
"God dammit, I said enough!" Killer screamed in rage.
Killer charged at Carface and knocked the gun away, causing the revolver to go off and a bullet to strike an oil tanker nearby. As the tank exploded, it sent Killer flying into a wall where he was buried by shrapnel and rubble from the explosion.
Charlie and I continued to chuck fireballs in every direction we could think of, setting the entire ship ablaze and destroying the support wall. The entire ship began flooding, bringing a giant alligator in with the deluge.
"Charlie, Gavin, you need to calm down! This entire place is sinking!" Flo tried to reason.
"That bastard killed Anne-Marie! He's a dead man!" I roared out demoniacally.
"She's not dead yet, but she will be if either of you don't calm down! You can still save her!" Flo pleaded to us.
Hearing her say that we could still save her snapped Charlie and I out of it and we looked at Flo. She was right, we could still save Anne-Marie and we needed to. We needed to save her no matter what. Charlie and I gave Flo a brief smile of gratitude and we took off running to find Carface.
Harold and Kate were asleep in bed when they were startled awake by the sounds of barking outside their house.
"Harold? What's going on?" Kate asked groggily.
"Hold on, I'll go check it out," Harold said and he got up, put on his robe and slippers, and walked downstairs to the front door. He peered through the glass, and much to his surprise, dozens of dogs were in his yard and on the porch, barking and yapping.
"What is it Harold?" Kate yawned as she walked down the steps.
"Dogs?" Harold said, confused, "Where the heck did they all come from?!"
Suddenly, a familiar dachshund with a green shirt and red ball cap came running up to the porch, carrying a familiar cross pendant necklace in his mouth. Seeing that necklace, Harold and Kate knew that something terrible had happened to Anne-Marie.
"Harold," Kate said out of concern.
"I know, let's hurry," Harold replied, opening the door to the let the dachshund in.
As Harold and Kate got into their car and pulled out of the driveway, they saw police cars speeding up behind them with their sirens on. Many other cars were on the road, heading in the same direction where the dogs were leading Harold and Kate.
Charlie and I saw Carface aiming around with his revolver and we crouched down, slowly getting closer in the hopes of disarming him. Charlie bumped into a crate by accident and we were forced to dive to the side to avoid getting shot. I ran over to Carface and grabbed the gun, slamming his paw into the wall and forcing him to drop the gun. I then kicked the gun into the water, threw him aside, and went to check on Anne-Marie. However, a dark and familiar voice rang through my mind, urging me to go after Carface instead.
"Administer justice, Gavin,"The Hellhound ordered.
My attempts to ignore the monster's voice in my head started to cause a massive migraine to form.
"Kill him, Gavin!" The Hellhound commanded loudly.
I grabbed my head and struggled internally, fighting the demonic urges that wanted me to kill Carface in an agonizing way. As I was fighting myself, I saw Anne-Marie slip off the ledge she was on and fall into the water, slowly floating away. I looked back and saw that Charlie was gripping his head and fighting against himself. We were both trying to go after Anne-Marie, but the demons in us were putting up a hell of a fight. No, we weren't going to let Anne-Marie die, we were going to save her. We weren't going to let the monsters inside us stop us from saving her. We weren't going to give in to hell and let it consume us.
I opened my eyes and saw that I was not only back in hell again, I was standing in a large boat, gagging from the disgusting smell of blood and burning flesh. I looked out across the pool of boiling blood and saw a large demonic humanoid creature with torn clothes, sharp claws and teeth rising up and climbing into the boat. I knew this monster, it was me, the part of me that had controlled my actions for far too long, but no more. I stood my ground while my demonic counterpart leered at me.
"I am your future. I am who you are," My demonic self declared.
"Never again, you son of a bitch," I vowed.
My demonic self roared and charged at me with its claws bared.
Carface ran forward and struck Charlie hard across his skull with a pipe, then he hit my ribs hard, making me gasp out for air. Carface kept hitting me with the pipe, the impact and the pain forcing me back. When Carface swung at my head, I grabbed the pipe and clocked him hard with a right hook and kicked him in the chest. Carface growled and swung at my face, but I ducked under the blow and retaliated with an uppercut. Carface took me off guard by spearing me into the broken railing.
It was chaos as dogs of all shapes and sizes led people through the streets of New Orleans. More and more people were waking up to hear the commotion and went outside, joining all the other people following their dogs, trying to figure out what the hell was going on.
"C'mon!" Itchy yelled as he climbed up on an old cannon. Itchy looked back to gesture the dogs to follow him, but screamed in terror when he saw other dogs climbing up the cannon, about to plow over him. Itchy scrambled into the barrel to prevent himself from getting trampled.
It was a complete madhouse.
I was thrashing and struggling while Carface held my head underwater. Charlie lunged at Carface and started biting the scruff of his neck, forcing Carface to let go of me and start struggling against Charlie. I threw my head up and started coughing and gasping for air, not noticing that my watch had fallen off my wrist. What I did notice was the giant gator swimming at me with its mouth open and I let out a cry of alarm.
I saw the Hellhound charging at me with its mouth open and I gouged out my demonic side's eyes with my claws, causing it to cry out in agony. It let me go, giving me the chance to dive out of the way to prevent myself from getting eaten.
I dove out of the way to narrowly avoid getting eaten by the gator. Carface grabbed me and pulled me down into the water. We thrashed around, struggling against each other until we crashed onto a ledge and I slugged Carface across his muzzle, avoiding a backfist that was thrown at me. I retaliated by sucker-punching Carface in the face, knocking him to the ground. Charlie ran over and kicked Carface in the stomach, but the pitbull quickly got up and clocked Charlie hard on the head with a broken pipe, then lunged at me, forcing me to grab his paws while Carface tried to stab me in the face with the sharp part.
My demonic self thrust a sharp rock at my face, but I grabbed its wrists and it pushed me backwards. I struggled to keep the monster from impaling my skull as it forced me to the ground but due to the constant fighting, I felt myself getting weaker. The sharp rock got closer to my face but I couldn't give up now, Anne-Marie put her faith in me and Charlie and told us that we were angels and I couldn't let her down. I felt a strength growing in me and I started pushing back the demon's wrists as it stared at me in disbelief.
"This is impossible! How the hell are you doing this?!" The demon exclaimed in shock.
"This is what she always saw in me you bastard and I won't fail her!" I vowed. With a roar, I forced up the rock, turned it around, and drove it through the monster's skull.
The demon let out an agonized scream of defeat and everything around me disappeared in a flash of white light. At that moment, all the anger, the hatred, the darkness, and the emptiness in my soul disappeared and my love for Charlie, Itchy, Anne-Marie, Flo, my Father, and my Mother came flooding back stronger then ever. Charlie and I were no longer demons and no matter what hell did to us, we would never allow ourselves to be one.
I opened my eyes and saw myself forcing the pipe upwards. I quickly hit Carface with a right hook and shoved him into the broken ledge. Getting up, I grabbed the pipe that Carface had dropped and quickly pinned him to the ledge by stabbing his shirt to the floor as Charlie was recovering from the hard hit and walking over to me. We then turned away from Carface and looked at the ledge that Anne-Marie was on and we realized that it was sinking. Turning quickly to the ledge that our watches were dangling on, we saw them slip off and fall into the water. At that point, I knew our time was up but Charlie and I would be damned if we didn't get Anne-Marie to safety. We dived into the water and swam toward Anne-Marie. Hearing a commotion behind us, we looked back at Carface who had gotten free as soon as the gator smashed into the ledge and started dragging it into the water. At first a look of fear was plastered on Carface's muzzle, but then an expression of calm appeared and he looked at us.
"See you in hell, old friends," Carface said peacefully as the ledge was pulled under the water. The gator shot up and snapped its jaws closed on Carface's hind legs. He screamed in agony and terror as he was pulled under the water in a cloud of blood.
"Sooner then you think, partner," I said as Charlie and I approached Anne-Marie.
As we were getting close, I could somehow feel my watch was filling up with water, which told me that we didn't have much time left, but I didn't care. As long as we saved Anne-Marie, that was all that mattered. I grabbed Anne-Marie and laid her down on a door that was floating in the water. I was having trouble breathing and could feel what seemed to be water filling my lungs. Judging by Charlie's wheezing, he was feeling it too. We ignored it as we pushed the door across the rising water and to the hole that led outside. I noticed that the gator wasn't paying any attention to us and I concluded that it was enjoying its meal, not to mention that our demonic natures was scaring it away, which was good enough for us.
I felt my body starting to shut down, my legs slowing down, and my arms weakening but I didn't give up. Charlie and I wouldn't fail her no matter what, even if we had to fight death itself. Charlie and I let out a cry of defiance and we forced our legs to move as we pushed her to the hole in the side of the ship. I felt my heart slowing down and the watch slowing to a crawl. To hell with that, we weren't going to die yet. We would save her even if we were corpses. Charlie and I pushed the door through the hole and out into the bayou. I forced myself to hold on as my arms gave out. Charlie and I let out a roar as smoke came off our bodies, heating the water as we forced ourselves to keep pushing the door to the shore. I then felt my watch, my heart, and every function of my body stop.
When I felt all my body functions give out, my body stopped moving and my brain began to shut down. Charlie and I weren't going to let this happen. We wouldn't fail her, we would keep her safe. I growled in pain as I forced my heart to restart and kept moving, ignoring the sheer agony that ran through my body. None of it mattered. All that mattered was Anne-Marie. I felt a dark inferno washing over me, the Hellhound grabbed my soul, and started pulling it to the inferno. By God did I fight against it, I would fight against all of hell if it meant that Anne-Marie would be safe. Charlie and I needed just a little more time and after that, hell would take us but first, we had a little girl, our little girl to save.
"No! Not yet dammit! We can still save her!" Charlie cried out defiantly.
After a few seconds of hesitation, the Hellhound said, "So be it."
I felt myself returning to my body and I looked to see that Charlie returned as well. We pushed the door to the shore and I could feel my body starting to shut down again. I forced my muscles to move and through sheer will, I kept kicking us to the shore despite none of my body functions working. Charlie and I grunted and roared in determination as our whole bodies screamed in agony. We ignored it and with one final push, the door started moving to the shore without our help and it took less then a minute to get there. We did it.
Charlie and I stared at Anne-Marie and we ran a paw and a hand through her hair gently.
"Anne-Marie, thank you...for believing in us," Charlie said softly. We put our paws and hands on the bullet wound and channeled our demonic energy, converting it into positive energy, and channeled it into her. As the energy washed over Anne-Marie, her wounds healed and we held her close as the sounds of sirens were fast approaching.
"You hear that Sweetie? Help is coming...we love you baby girl," I said gently.
Charlie and I smiled at the little girl that changed our lives for the better and our bodies gave out, the two of us collapsing onto the door and slumping on it lifelessly. Even though Charlie's body slipped off the door and sank into the water, I still held on, even though I was dead.
Charlie and I floated away from our bodies in a tunnel of darkness and saw the shadow of the Hellhound reaching out for us. I felt dread, knowing what was waiting for us, but I felt peaceful. Although we would be facing an eternity of suffering, we still did the right thing in the end, and no amount of torture would change that. Charlie and I looked at each other, nodded, and we looked back at the Hellhound and held our arms open in acceptance.
"Alright, we're all yours," Charlie said quietly and the Hellhound complied by reaching out with its claws and impaling us through the ribs.
Charlie and I gagged in agony as we were dragged through the darkness and into hell.
We fell onto a familiar boat that was moving through a river of blood and when we stood up and looked at the area around us, we heard someone we had hoped we would never have to hear again.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't Charlie Barkin and Gavin McCall. Long time no see old friends," the voice said mockingly.
"Oh shit...please tell me that isn't who I think it is," I thought in horror and when Charlie and I slowly turned around, the blood drained from my face when I saw Spike and Toodles sitting behind us with a look of sadistic glee on their muzzles.
"Spike...Toodles...nice to see you two again," Charlie said nervously and we gulped when we saw their eyes started to glow red.
"Will you look at that Toodles, they're happy to see us," Spike remarked.
"I know Spike, talk about a nice big reunion for The Rovers. Now that they're here, we have all the time in the world to catch up," Toodles said.
"Look fellas, I know we left you to die in the city pound, but maybe we can talk this over..." I tried to reason, but I had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach when they started chuckling menacingly.
"Do you hear that Spike, they want to talk things over. What do you think?" Toodles asked.
"Nah, not interested, sorry," Spike said.
"Well, sorry Mac, but apparently Spike is not in a talking mood," Toodles said and they both started laughing psychotically.
"Wait! Look, I know things have been bad between us, but you don't have to do this," Charlie pleaded, only it fell on deaf ears.
"You know what we want to do? We want to slowly tear the flesh from your bones and feast on what is left. After that is done, you both will be brought back and we'll roast you alive and enjoy your agonizing screams. The best part about all of this, is that we have an eternity to play with the ones who ratted us out and we don't mean the fun kind of playtime we had in mind for you both. So welcome to your new and permanent home, cause we are going to enjoy breaking your minds over and over again for all of eternity," Spike said sinisterly and he and Toodles started approaching us menacingly.
"Oh God...someone save us from this hell," I prayed but I knew that it was useless and terror gripped me when Spike and Toodles lunged at us.