101 Dalmatian street has delved into bottled chaos within the past few days. Despite the rotation of caretakers, Dolly decides it best to stay behind and help the fam a bit more. Most of the Dalmatians assume it is a cover for something else, but ignore delving into it further. Meanwhile, Dizzy and Dee Dee take turns bossing around a Fetch-Dodie to help them figure out mundane tasks.

Dizzy yells. "Oi! Fetch-Dodie, can you remind us of the kibble preferences?"

"Yeah, yeah! That would be brilliant!" Dee Dee adds.

"Oh sure, my lovely spotted pets!" Fetch-Dodie chuckles. "Now, let's see…organic kibble…"

Upstairs, Dante finds himself stuck between several of his siblings and their issues. He attempts to escape through hiding in the walls, but every corner he turns, there's more spots and barks. Eventually, Dante sits down and tries to actually listen to the fam.

"There you are!" Dibs exclaims. "It was very rude of you to run off while I was tattling!"

"Huh? Oh, sorry, Dibs. What did you want again?" Dante sighs.

Dibs frowns. "What? You mean you weren't listenin'? Very rude indeed!" Dibs nods twice. Dante rolls his eyes. "Anyhoo, like I said earlier, the Dimitris nibbled up my favorite chew toy! And they knew I called 'dibs'! They knew it! Dante, please tell them off…"

Dante shakes his head. "O-oh, that's it then? Maybe just find another chew toy, Dibs. I gotta get back to finding- uhh, helping Dizzy and Dee Dee before they let Fetch-Dodie out again."

"B-b-but…w-what!?" Dibs sniffles. "You…you…DAFT GEEZER!" He yells as tears run down his face. He scurries off.

Dante reaches out with a paw. "Wait, Dibs! That was unexpected…"

"My, that was a whinge and a half," Drama leans in from the doorway. "Oh, I see. Dante's in charge, 'course there's whinging, heh."

"Not you too, Drama…make yourself useful and help Dibs out! Cuz I could remind Dizzy and Dee Dee that they missed someone in the 'mandatory smile check', hm?"

Drama shivers. "N-no don't, I'm sorry! Dibs, where are you!"

Dante smirks as his little sister runs off. He finally has a moment to himself, so he quickly makes it to the window. He grabs a pair of binoculars and attempts looking into Dylan's treehouse. No Dalmatian in sight, just minor sounds of a video game and someone poorly voicing characters. He decides to turn his view elsewhere. As he turns to look at Clarissa's, he notices the strangely dim lighting in the house. The Corgi sits on her usual sofa, paws crossed with earmuffs on. She appears to be glancing pensively into the distance while Hugo vacuums around the house. Dante whimpers.

While Dante watches the results of his forced actions, he doesn't notice that one of his siblings is currently watching him like a hawk. For a moment, he glances behind him, but doesn't notice anything. Dolly, using the soot trick, has dusted her fur entirely black. She intends to observe Dante from the shadows, gathering details without making a fuss. That is, until…

Wah-oof! Achoo!

Dolly ends up tummy skyward as Dawkins shakes his head, sneezing again from the soot gathered in his nostrils. Quickly, Dolly hops up and snatches Dawkins, dragging the both of them into a nearby room. Dolly dusts the soot off of her and vents frustration at Dawkins ruining her stealth. Dawkins tilts his head as he checks his nose yet again.

Dawkins sits in front of Dolly. "Feeling curious. Dolly, what's with you?"

"Well, before you bumped your noggin into me, I was watching Dante." Dolly leans in, lowering her voice. "I learned from Roxy that he set up what she thought was a date with Dylan!"

"Hmm. Why would Dante do that? Certainly doesn't seem like something he would do."

"Exactly, middle bro! And we already know how easy it is to prank, or worse, mentally destroy Dylan! So I'm assuming that Dante's working with Portia and Spencer like last time…but why? I gotta find out!"

Dawkins puts a paw to his chin. "Right! But wouldn't it be easier to just…ask him directly?"

Dolly pauses. "Oh. Yeah. Alright, Huxley, don't bruise your brain. But just in case he tries to fib…" She grabs Dawkins' collar and drags him with her. "You're comin' with."

Dawkins yelps. "Ow, ow, Dolly! My legs do work, y'know! …Dolly!" She ignores him. "Oh, kibbles…"

The two Dalmatians sneak through the halls, raising suspicions around their other siblings. Some of their siblings look at them cross, but mostly ignore the sneaking dogs. As they reach the doorframe where Dante resides, they latch onto the walls, turning to peek in at their brother. Dante peeks back at Dylan in the treehouse, noticing some slight movement, but nothing significant. Dolly does signals with her paws to move in to the room. The two dogs lie flat on the floor and slink back and forth like snakes towards Dante, who mumbles something under his breath. As Dante goes to sigh…

"NOW!" Dolly yells.

Dolly and Dawkins grapple Dante, who flails in surprise at the sudden noise. Dante sinks his fangs into the fur of his attackers, hoping that would make them let go. Dolly responds by gnawing on his ear. Dawkins, caught in the kerfuffle, shrieks for them to stop. All three dogs let go of each other and stand in a circle.

Dante's eyes go wide. "What the…? Dolly? Dawkins? Can't a dog sulk in peace?"

"Nah, that seems to be Dylan's job as of recent." Dolly furls a brow. "And we haven't the slightest idea why? Do you?"

"W-what? No. Besides, we know Dylan's been kinda like this since the DVPI." Said Dante.

"He's fibbing." Dawkins points. "I saw an ear twitch. Feeling annoyance."

Dante waves his paws. "No, no, Dolly bit my ear! It just hurts!"

"Oh, please. Like I actually hurt you with a little puppy roughhousing!" Dolly smirks.

Dante grabs his ear. "You did!"

"Nuh uh!"

"Whaddya mean 'nuh uh'?!"

Dawkins stands on his hindlegs, arms to his sides. "Enough! We're getting off topic here!"

Dolly and Dante glance at him, then each other. Dolly grimaces. "Right, I almost forgot. Why have you been watching Dylan and who I assume to be Clarissa?"

"Uh…no reason!" Dante attempts to smile, but his nerves make it look more like clenching in pain. "I was just worried about Dylan! Yeah! You saw how upset he was about Roxy licking him like that, r-right?"

Dolly and Dawkins lean in towards Dante. Dawkins huffs. "Oh? And how would you know that?"

"Easy, I was at the party."

"Were you? Okay, Dante. Lemme ask you this: What song was DJ playing before Roxy came over then?"

Dante blinks three times. "…One from his new album."

"EEEEH, wrong!" Dolly buzzes. "You so weren't there! I rapped before Roxy came over, it was my song!"

"Even if you somehow got that right, I did a headcount. You weren't there!" Dawkins adds as his siblings look at him confused. "What? Oh, well somebody had to! DJ and Dolly were busy with the party!"

Dante's nose wrinkles. "Huh. Yeah, I guess it would be easy to spot the one black Dalmatian missing, huh…"

Dolly places a paw on his head. "I got a tip from Roxy that you told her to come over that day! So…where were you?"

Dante shudders as he backs up. He tries to think of a convincing lie, but his siblings looming over him causes him to break down. He begins telling about Doom is Rich and the plan to sabotage Dylan and Clarissa's relationship. He tells about Clarissa's own friends joining the cause, despite the damage it would do to Clarissa. He tells about Portia and Spencer forcing him to do it, as Portia is obsessed with "Danny" hopelessly fawning over her. He tells about the vague threat Portia drilled into his mind if he dared mess up their plan like he had before.

"P-please don't tell them I told you…" Dante shivers. "Portia may seem like a just a goth dog, but she is one mean poodle!"

Dolly frowns. "I don't get it…why'd you go along with that, knowing it would hurt Dylan and Clarissa?"

"Listen, I'm a forecaster of doom, not a harbinger! I never wanted to hurt Dylan, Portia and Spencer kept spelling out consequences if I didn't go along with them!"

Dawkins crosses his paws. "I don't get it. You mean to say…you're scared of Portia?"

"Yes!" Dawkins yells. "Remember the Cerberus prank? She was going to let our brother drown if I didn't break character."

"Right. Only one thing to do then. YOU'RE going to tell Dylan what happened." Dolly begins pushing Dante.

"Didn't you hear me? That's the first person she told me not to tell!"

"Hm." Dolly stops. "Y'know, if I didn't know any better, I'd say it sounds like you're afraid of doom."

"W-what?"

"So what if punky Portia and Spencer get mad! You got your fam to back you up, bro! Pleasing that freaky poodle isn't worth hurting Dylan, right?"

"…Right."

"Then we're going. Now."

Dante gulps as he is dragged by Dawkins and Dolly out of the house and into the backyard. They nudge Dante forward as he meekly walks through the yard towards the treehouse. A cacophony of video game sound effects and grunts echo from within the cozy living space. Dante climbs stairs as if his entire body becomes heavier with each step. Dolly and Dawkins nudge him up the stairs a little quicker. The three dogs reach the red door. The game sounds are so loud that they nearly blow the hinges off the door. Dante meekly knocks at the door.

"Not here!" A voice yells from within.

"Welp, we tried, let's come back la-ack!" Dante tries to scramble away, but Dolly grabs his collar with her teeth. She turns and kicks the door.

Dolly yells. "Dylan? It's Dolly, please, let me in!"

"What part of 'not here' don't you get?" Dylan yells back.

"Well, for starters, people who are 'not here' usually don't respond…" Dolly shakes her head.

Dawkins stands up. "Dylan? We have something to say. It's about Clarisser…won't you open up?"

Suddenly, the red door slams open, just barely missing Dawkins' nose. In the doorframe stands a disheveled Dalmatian whose fur is matted and damp, eyes are red and nose dribbles like a waterfall. Dylan sniffles up the snot before blowing it into a tissue. "What, did she drop by to tell me how ashamed she was to spend time with me? That she was so afraid of standing her ground for me that she would rather not tell her snooty friends? Oh, oh, maybe she'll tell me that I'm Roxy's property again!"

Dolly leans over to Dawkins and whispers: "You ever see Dylan this upset?"

"Only once." Dawkins follows.

Dylan throws his paws in the air. "Well? Out with it! I wanna get back to sinking my life into Poodlewolf!"

Dolly pushes Dante forward. "Ahem. DANTE has something he would like to say."

"Umm…how do I put this…well, Dyl, it's about…uh, that situation with, y'know, Roxy?" Dante stares at the ground as Dylan confirms. "That was, umm…all, all my fault, yeah."

Dylan steps back "WHAT?!"

"Hold up, there's more! It was a set up plan…and I was forced to do it. Anything else Roxy did was her own doing."

"Dude!" Dylan yells. "She kissed me right in front of everyone, including Clarissa! What's gotten into you, Dante?! I know you're all doomy, but even to your own fam?"

"I-I'm sorry, okay?! If I didn't do it, Portia and Spencer would-"

Dylan turns away from his siblings and looks out a window. "Ah. Portia." He turns back to them. "Y'know, there's a reason I stopped crushing on her. I gave up when I realized she never cared about me. She can't even remember my name! It's on my collar!"

"Uhh…" Dante, Dawkins and Dolly tilt their heads.

"But I digress. Dante, that poodle only cares about herself and her twisted desires. Spencer's not much better. He's a mook, a lackey even! If I were you, I'd find new dogs to hang out with."

Dante shudders. "Y-you don't understand! Now that I told you, I'm DOOMED!"

"Nonsense, bro. She adores the similarities she shares with you." Dylan stares at Clarissa's house. "Listen, you guys. Clarissa, she's so different! Underneath the snootiness, s-she's actually very sweet, in her own way at least. And even if it hasn't been too long since all that went down, I think I started developing…feelings. There's this face she made at me when we first started hanging out. I couldn't figure out what it meant, but I think I get it now. It was…care. Compassion. M-maybe even…even…"

"Admiration?"

"Adoration?"

"Doom?"

"Affection. I think she has feelings for me as well!" Dylan throws his body into a beanbag. "But none of that matters now that she hates me! All because of another dog's misplaced jealousy!" He sniffles.

"Hey, that's not true!" Said Dolly. "I heard that argument you two had. She clearly has strong feelings for you, but thinks you like-like Roxy!"

"Doesn't matter, Dolly. Clarissa has changed, but she's still pretty snooty. I don't think she could ever forgive that misunderstanding."

"Disagreement!" Dawkins adds. "Dylan, you've won over one of the meanest dogs living on Dalmatian Street, and yet, you wish to concede over one argument? What would Poodlewoof do?"

Dante shrugs. "Roll for forgiveness?"

"No!" Dolly and Dawkins yell.

"You're right, Dawkins! Even with my delightfully charming personality currently absent," Everyone except Dylan groans. "I shouldn't give up!

"Hahah, yeah! Despite the dork-isms, we support you a hundred percent, bro!" Dolly jumps in the air. "Heeey, y'know what? I have an idea on how we can fix this AND get payback on that pompous poodle!"

Dylan, Dante and Dawkins ears perk up as they huddle in a circle. Dolly gabs out an elaborate plan of setting up a situation where Dylan and Clarissa are forced to interact, increasing the possibility of apologies fixing the issue. Dawkins voices concern, instead suggesting Dylan just apologize and "be himself". Dante freezes up as he thinks about what will happen to him after tattling about Doom Is Rich. The quartet of Dalmatians decide to rehearse out their confusing plan tomorrow as everything settles.

As everyone leaves the treehouse, Dylan can't help but glance at Clarissa's house. Before he climbs the steps, he whimpers at the thought of Clarissa not being able forgive him. Dolly wraps a paw around him, giving him a confident smirk. Dawkins and Dante smile back at him as well. Seeing the confidence of his siblings perks Dylan up as he heads inside for dinner.

Notes: I really didn't enjoy how in the official show, Dylan's crush on Portia is consistent. She actively attempts to harm him physically in the show, including feeding him cat hairballs, despite his extreme allergies to cat fur. So, this chapter is a sort of commentary on that.

Featured Incidental Dalmatians: Dibs calling 'dibs', and Drama, who I imagined to be similar to Dante Dalmatian.

Song: Losing U Feels Like Drowning by GOJII during Dylan talking about Clarissa scene.