Author's note: I'm gonna be upfront and admit that this chapter is a blatant rip off of the ending of Disney's Oliver & Company. I always liked that ending and thought it would also fit this show pretty well.

Dawkins was glued to the grandfather clock in the hall. Neither Dylan, Dolly, or their parents were back yet, and it was already dark outside. He was beginning to worry.

As he fretted, Dante sat lurking beside the old clock, specifically so he could be ominously coated in its shadow. "I just wanna go on record and say that I warned them," he droned in his usual gloomy tone. "Warned them that bringing the hunter back would totally bring about the—"

"End of the word, we know." Dawkins said flatly with an eye roll.

Dante bristled, offended. "Well it's true!"

From behind his back he whipped out a flashlight and held it under his face. He switched it on to give himself an intimidating glow. "Mark. My. Barks." He bellowed to both Dawkins and a growing number of younger siblings who had begun to gather around them. "The hunter cannot be trusted! He's still up to his sinister tricks, I know it!"

He wiggled a paw towards the younger pups for 'spooky' emphasis. "Once he's lured us in, we'll fall right back into his creepy, dognapping clutches! We'll be as good as tasteful evening wear!"

Some of the pups shuddered. They had had fun with Mister Funny Face the night before, but what if Dante was right? What if it was another trick?

Slowly, one by one, their little ears all began to lower as thoughts of doubt crept into their heads. The only two younger pups not convinced were Dee Dee and Dizzy, who both stepped forward. "That's not true, Dante!" Dee Dee exclaimed.

"Yeah, that's not true!" Dizzy echoed.

"Mister Funny Face isn't mean anymore, he's our friend!" Dee Dee went on, her high pitched little voice burning with passionate anger. "He would never hurt us again!"

Dante flicked the flashlight off, but kept his look of skepticism. "Oh really? …are you completely sure? …cause I'd hate to have to say 'I told you so' once we're all back in tiny cages."

Dawkins shot him a look. "Oh nonsense. You'd relish in saying it."

The dark coated pup made a face, once again offended. Sure, Dawkins was absolutely right, but he didn't have to SAY it.

"I'm just sayin.' We need to be careful. Something truly, legitimately BAD is on the horizon. I can feel it in my gut."

"And just how is that different from every other Tuesday?" Dawkins replied with another eye roll.

Though secretly, as much as he wanted to brush off his brother's average melodramatic warnings, he too was also wary of the de Vil boy. The last thing he wanted was to find himself in another vacuum or net. Goodness knows he still wasn't over the trauma of the last time. Especially due to how it had led to the untimely demise of his beloved Princess Positron. Dawkins wouldn't admit it aloud, but he had personally been rather relieved when they'd found out that Hunter had run away.

Dante sighed, his voice dipping back down into it's usual melancholy doom and gloom. "Fine. Don't believe me. Guess I'll just accept that we're all totally doomed forever this time."

Before anyone else could give another retort, the sound of something loudly hitting their trash cans outside startled them all. The puppies turned their gazes to the door, ears up and alert.

They heard panting, and the hectic pitter patter of legs scrambling up the porch. Within seconds, their two eldest siblings popped their heads in through the doggy door, looking exhausted and frantic. "Dawkins!" Dylan shouted, placing a teary eyed Dorothy down on the floor. "W-we got an emergency! We gotta go— NOW!"

The brainy pup in question stared at them, dumbfounded. "Go…? Go where?"

Before he could even blink, Dylan raced over and grabbed him by the collar, forcibly dragging him outside. Dawkins' eyes went wide, shocked that Dylan of all pups would defy their parents' rules like this.

"There's no time to explain!" Was all his panicked older brother said as he continued to drag him, with Dolly running alongside them. She looked just as distraught as Dylan did. Uncharacteristically so.

The small group of pups left in the hall, plus a growing number of even more curious siblings, bolted to the windows to try and see what was happening.

Dawkins found himself nearly choking by how hard Dylan was yanking him along. He and Dolly hurried next door to Roxy's house for some odd reason, making a mad dash straight to the garage. The duo placed their paws underneath the automatic metal door and forced it open.

Sitting inside was a motorbike, with a side seat large enough for their large Rottweiler neighbor to sit in whenever one of her pets took her out for a ride. The keys had been carelessly left in the ignition by one of her scatterbrained owners, which was just what Dylan and Dolly had been hoping for.

The two dogs climbed on with their younger brother still in tow.

"What in the world is going on?!" Dawkins cried.

Taking in a large breath of air, Dylan frantically explained, "I need you to help me drive! You push the pedals while I steer!"

He placed his paws on the handle bars and then turned the key with his teeth. The vehicle rumbled to life, blasting the dogs' eardrums with the roar of its engine.

Dawkins, though still terribly confused, did as he was told. Keeping a vice grip on the bike, he leaned down and shakily pressed the right pedal while Dolly did the same on the other side with the left pedal.

The bike practically flew out of the garage, zooming past the driveway and skidding out into the waiting street. All three dogs almost lost their awkward grips, but managed to hold on somehow.

Oh dog, this was crazy, Dylan thought. But they didn't have time to wait for their parents and Pearl to come home, or to come up with a far less suicidal plan. Every second could be a second too late. He'd apologize to Roxy about this later.

…if they were still alive, that is.

Dylan was about to order Dolly and Dawkins to press down on the pedals once more, when what looked like a small black shadow with white spots leapt out in front of them.

Startled, the eldest Dalmatian let out a high-pitched shriek, coming dangerously close to falling off the bike. "Dante!" He gasped, repositioning himself back on the stolen vehicle and shooting his goth brother a death glare. "What're you, crazy!?"

"I'm crazy?!" The dark pup shouted back. "Just look at what you're doing!"

Dawkins peered up from where he sat, expression just as perturbed as Dante's. "He raises a good point."

Glancing to their left, Dylan and Dolly noticed that Dante hadn't left the house alone. A swarm of equally puzzled younger puppies were all gathered on the porch, quietly gawking at the strange sight before them.

"Argh!" Dolly pulled on her ears, frustrated. "All of you— Get back in the house!"

"Why?" One of the pups demanded. "You're all outside! Why do we have to stay indoors?"

A sea of tiny voices chimed in, protesting how unfair they were being, which prompted the already terribly stressed Dylan to roll back his head and scream. They didn't have time for this! They were dealing with a literal a life or death situation!

Unable to restrain himself, what with the blaring sound of his own heartbeat reverberating in his ears, he hysterically blurted out, "HUNTER'S BEEN KIDNAPPED!"

There was a wave of gasps from the porch.

All at once their whining stopped.

A sea of eyes blinked slowly as they took this in. There were conflicted looks. Confused murmuring. Sad whimpers. Poor Dee Dee and Dizzy looked absolutely gutted.

"…somebody… took Mister Funny Face…?"

Dylan regret his outburst immediately, but there was unfortunately no time to assure them that that everything would be ok. Even he didn't know if things would be ok.

Using the confusion to their advantage, he shouted at Dolly and Dawkins to hit the pedals again.

Dawkins hesitated for a moment. He still wasn't exactly fond of Hunter. …but still, that didn't mean he wished any harm on the human. Taking a large gulp, he set his feelings aside and pressed the pedal.

Just like that, the bike set off again with the trio precariously balanced on it. Dylan turned the handle bars to veer out of the way so as not to hit Dante, but the goth pup freaked out and grabbed the side of the motorcycle as it swerved past.

He screamed, gripping it tighter as it sped away. His claws dug into the thing, eyes wide and jowls blowing wildly in the wind from how fast they were going. Using all his strength, he climbed into the side seat. His thin body dropped into it with all the grace of a newborn deer. He panted, reeling, as it slowly dawned on him what just happened. Whether he liked it or not, it looked like he was coming along for the ride.

The puppies still gathered on the porch watched silently as the group disappeared into the night. They whimpered, wracked with worry.

A bolt of lightning illuminated the sky above de Vil tower.

Even though Hunter had grown up in this building, there was absolutely nothing of comfort about it. Especially not now.

The empty lobby had never been more foreboding. The red florescent lights gave the space a blood-like glow. The abandoned furniture and deserted receptionist's desk only added to the eeriness.

Cruella, still covered from head to toe and wearing her scarf and glasses, sat calmly at one of the empty waiting room tables. She casually crossed her legs and poured herself a glass of tea, seemingly not paying the slightest bit of attention to her grandnephew as he sat squirming across from her.

The ropes tying him to the large receptionist's chair were painfully tight. Try as he might, he just couldn't wriggle free. The frightened boy couldn't even scream for help, due to the tape that had been maliciously slapped over his mouth.

He shivered, terrified, as beads of sweat ran down his face. He couldn't even begin to imagine what his auntie had in store for him.

The old woman raised a cup to her exposed, cracking lips. "Just like old times, isn't it, darling?" She said in a deceptively tranquil tone. "…would you care for some?"

The boy gave a muffled scream.

"Ah, suit yourself."

Her movements were somehow even more uncanny than usual. With all the coverings, she appeared more like an animated mannequin than an actual flesh and blood person.

"I must say," she continued. "It's certainly nice to have some well made tea for once. All the years I wasted, suffering through long, grueling flights to come see you, and you never did learn how to brew it properly."

She took a long sip.

"Always the disappointment, weren't you?"

Hunter shank back in the chair, trembling. Even after turning on her, his auntie's biting words still had a painful effect on him. The statement felt like a punch to the face.

Behind her glasses, Cruella narrowed her eyes at the petrified child.

"Now I just want to let you know that I'm not angry. Merely… disappointed." Her grip on the teacup's handle intensified, nearly cracking it right off. "Yes. So very, very disappointed."

The boy sank even further down into the chair as she took yet another long sip.

"I want to assure you, I never wanted to have you carted off to one of those ghastly beldam houses. …but really, what choice do I have? You practically wrote your own ticket there, didn't you?"

Hunter paled. If it were only possible, he would tear himself out of his constraints and scramble out of the building as fast as his legs were capable of running. He would rather die than be condemned to spending the rest of his life in whatever gruesome hospital she had planned for him.

He struggled again, whimpering behind the tape.

Cruella, meanwhile, began to shake. Unlike her grandnephew, it was with the ferocious anger raging inside of her rather than fear. She was only just barely succeeding at keeping concealed.

It finally boiled over completely as she slammed her cup down loudly, making Hunter jump. "Pitiful TRAITOR," she spat at him. "I was such a fool to take you in! I gave you everything you could ever possibly want, and how did you thank me?!"

She rose from her seat and began to advance on him, prompting the boy to begin kicking his legs in an effort to push himself away. It did him no good though, as the heavy chair he was tied to stayed firmly in place. He was trapped.

She slammed her hands down on the handles of said chair, making his already widened eyes grow larger.

"YOU STAB A KNIFE STRAIGHT INTO MY BACK!" She screamed at him.

He flinched, turning away, but she reached out a clawed hand and dug her nails into his cheeks, nearly piecing his skin. "Look at me, you horrid brat!"

Hunter tried to keep his gaze turned away, but she forced his face forward. "I said LOOK AT ME."

Tears were beginning to trickle from his frightened eyes.

"I want you to beg my forgiveness," Cruella told him, no longer bothering to cover her contempt anymore. "Beg your auntie's forgiveness. …perhaps if you grovel well enough, I'll have them give you a slightly nicer room at the madhouse."

He sniveled helplessly in response.

Cruella released her hold on his face, but only so she could ruthlessly tear the tape off of his mouth.

The boy let out a shriek from the sudden jolt of pain. He slouched forward in his seat, letting out a mix of dry heaves and pitiful sobs. His aunt remained towering over him, hands resting on her hips impatiently.

"Well?" She glowered. "I'm waiting."

He didn't answer. He wasn't able to stop violently coughing. The boy almost vomited up the contents of his stomach with how severe the hacking was. He'd never felt so sick in his life. It took several minutes for the wave of fear induced nausea to subside.

Very slowly and reluctantly, he opened his mouth to speak, but found he couldn't form a single word. He was far too scared to say anything.

Cruella grew more impatient, tapping a foot in annoyance. "Tick tock, boy!"

She placed a bony finger under his chin and tilted his face upwards. Though her glasses concealed it, he could tell there was a look of disgust on her wrinkled face. One he was incredibly accustomed to. "Don't tell me that dog brain of yours is too stupid to even properly SPEAK anymore." She said callously with a scoff.

Something inside the boy suddenly snapped.

Just like the night onboard that boat, she had finally pushed him too far.

All at once, the crippling fear that had hold of him began shifting into anger. His eyes, though still filled with tears, narrowed at her, and his face contorted into a hateful, bitter scowl. From his throat came a vicious growl.

Cruella withdrew her hand, slightly alarmed.

Her little grandnephew glared daggers at her, no longer shaking with fear, but with unbridled loathing. His snarling grew louder and deadlier. To her shock he almost looked intimidating.

Cruella quickly composed herself, snapping right back into form. "Stop that immediately, you ghastly thing! I told you to apologize, so do it!"

His snarls subsided, but his look of hatred remained.

"…no." he said quietly.

Cruella's eyes widened behind her glasses. "Excuse me?"

More tears streamed down his face, but he continued to glare at her. "No." He said louder and more defiantly. "Never."

The tips of his auntie's decaying lips shifted downwards into a deep frown. Her shriveled up hands balled themselves into quivering fists at her sides, the fury inside of her reaching its absolute breaking point.

"Why you—"

Livid with rage, she lifted up one of her arms. Hunter immediately braced himself, turning away, as the inevitable slap struck him hard.

"—INGRATE!"

The sound of the impact echoed throughout the lobby, shaking the boy's frail body to its core. He let out a pained cry, like the whimper of a wounded dog, before slumping forward in his chair, his long hair falling over his face.

Cruella's fists were still trembling. She could barely believe it. The impudence! The absolute gall! She was tempted to strike the little brat a second time. "You.. you little… fool!" The furious woman shrieked. Her bony shoulders shook with anger. "That was your last chance—YOUR VERY LAST CHANCE— and you threw it away!"

She let out an inhuman snarl of her own. Her eye twitched madly as she turned her heel and began staggering off to a nearby table where her purse sat. She shoved her gloved claws into it, digging around violently.

She threw aside various make up compacts, lipsticks and credit cards, letting them all carelessly drop to the floor, until she finally found the item she was looking for.

Her lips curled into a twisted, utterly demented looking grin.

"Oh Hunter," she hissed. Her heels made a sickening clack with every menacing step she took back to the still slumped over boy. "Poor, pitiful Hunter. …you made me do this. I just want you to know that."

The sound of the engine reeved as the dogs made their way towards de Vil tower.

Dylan had a hunch that's where that horrible woman had taken Hunter. Following the trail of erratic tire tracks her equally scary looking car had left behind only proved Dylan's suspicions true.

"W-what exactly is your plan?" He heard Dawkins' nervous voice ask from below him.

The eldest Dalmatian sibling gulped, not knowing how to answer.

He was basically piloting off of sheer spontaneous instinct, making this rescue mission up on the fly. Just what in the heck WERE he and siblings going to do when they got there, he wondered. Sweat ran down his neck as he started to realize how insanely reckless this entire situation truly was. He was probably leading himself and his siblings straight into even more danger.

As Dylan's thoughts raced, Dante swore he felt something rustling against him in the side seat. He yelped, trying not to fall out as he looked for whatever it was that had poked his back, but the motorcycle took a sharp turn before he could properly check.

The cold florissant light, still shining over Hunter like a blood red spotlight, flickered slightly.

The boy stirred, groaning as he began to slowly come back to. His cheek was still red and throbbing from the earlier blow.

He raised his head, still dazed, as the image of his aunt's slender form came back into view. She cackled as she opened the tiny metal case in her palm, delightedly eyeing whatever was inside.

The tip of it gleamed as the light hit it, making Hunter's heart drop into his stomach.

It was a knife.

Cruella's unhinged giggling grew louder. She admired the deadly blade in her grasp, happy to have snatched it from the plastic surgeon's office beforehand.

"Hunter, dear?" She cooed.

His eyes stayed locked onto the gleaming scalpel, transfixed with fear.

"Before I send you off," she continued. "I just want to give you one last little parting gift."

She ran a finger down the razor sharp edge, sneering down at her quivering grandnephew menacingly. Once again she broke out into another fit of cruel laughter, relishing over the pure terror growing on his helpless face.

Using her free hand, she slid a bony finger underneath the scarf wrapped around her head. With feverish glee, she began to tear her coverings off, from said scarf, to the remaining bandages, to her expensive designer sunglasses, until her face was completely unveiled.

Her sinister cackling filled his ears as she stepped into the light, fully revealing herself to him.

He let forth a scream when he saw her new horribly disfigured face.

Skin tissue hung from the grisly scars running down her cheeks and chin. One of her eyes was pulsating, emerging from its very socket. He could even see the bone of her skeleton poking through what was left of her left cheek. She looked positively monstrous.

Hunter very nearly fainted on the spot.

"Take a good look, boy," Cruella told him. "I want you to see firsthand what you did to your poor, poor auntie."

She brought the knife in close to him, her horrid smile spreading wider across her nightmarish visage. The sharp end drew ever nearer, ready to stab into his trembling cheek. Right away he began to tear up again, powerless and completely frozen with fear.

"…it's only fair that we match, Hunter, darling."

The bike carrying the group of Dalmatians swerved into the empty parking lot of the former de Vil Enterprise building, and kept gunning forward towards the automatic glass doors that signaled the entrance. Said doors remained firmly locked.

"…Dyaln?" The eldest pup heard his younger brother's voice pipe up again, sounding even more nervous. Yet Dylan didn't answer. He, as well as Dolly, kept their gazes focused on the double doors as the bike reeved closer and closer to them.

"DYLAN?!" Dawkins exclaimed again, fully screaming now.

Just as they were about to make contact with the doors, Dylan answered, loudly yelling, "Brace yourselves!"

Cruella's blade was about to slice into her grandnephew's skin, when the deserted lobby suddenly lit up, illuminated by the beam of the motorcycle's headlights. A look of shock flashed across Cruella's deformed, mangled face before she leapt to the floor.

The dogs all ducked their heads as the front wheel of the bike slammed into the waiting glass, shattering it instantly.

The chair Hunter was bound to was thrown to the ground. He yelped, unable to see what the heck had just happened, and lay there recoiling as pieces of dibris fell around him.

The bike skid to a dramatic stop in the center of the waiting room, nearly throwing all of the dogs clean off of it.

Dolly was the first to shake herself out of their dazed stupor. She spotted Hunter tied up on the floor and raced over to him, digging her teeth into the ropes binding him. With a bit of effort, she managed to tear through them.

"Hunter! Dude! Are you ok?!"

The boy in question blinked several times, unable to believe the dogs were even there. Part of him was grateful beyond belief, while the other half was mortified that they'd come to such a perilous place at all.

Dylan quickly joined Dolly in hovering worriedly over the boy, checking to see that he wasn't injured.

"…w-what.. are you doing here…?!" Hunter stammered, slowly picking himself up.

"Duh! What do you think?" Dolly retorted. Biting into one of his shirt sleeves, she began dragging him towards the bike. As his sister pulled, Dylan helped by getting behind the young de Vil and shoving him. They hastily got the disoriented boy to the waiting motorbike and crammed him inside the side seat next to a less than thrilled Dante.

The gloomy black pup was about to shriek over being so close to his former kidnapper again, when the sound of an inhuman snarl caught their attention.

The group turned to the spot where the vile old woman had landed, and each of them let out a horrified gasp.

Cruella raised her head as she slowly pulled herself up off the ground. Her bones cracked as she rose, her limbs long and gangly like those of a giant spider. The florissant light above her head flickered as she revealed her face, which was contorted into a hellish look of pure, unparalleled rage.

"YOU… WRETCHED…. FILTHY… BEASTS!"

The dogs all screamed.

Heaven above, they thought she looked scary before. But now… she was a literal monster.

Dolly and Dawkins practically threw themselves onto the bike pedals. Their haphazard vehicle roared back to life and shot right out of the eerily lit lobby, leaving the woman behind as she screamed a number of unpleasant things after them.

Hunter reeled back in his seat, his hair blowing wildly as the wind hit him dead in the face. The black pup, whom he unfortunately recognized as yet another canine he'd once harassed, sat beside him, looking just as equally freaked out.

Dylan held on tightly to the handle bars, keeping them steady as they sped along. They'd actually done it, he thought. They had saved Hunter. But as shocked and relieved as he was, Dylan knew they couldn't start celebrating. They weren't out of the woods quite yet.

Dolly didn't seem to think so, however, as she was already triumphantly yelling at the de Vil tower as it disappeared into the distance behind them.

"HAHA! SO LONG, UGLY! SEE YOU NEVER!"

She threw back her head to laugh even louder, reveling in their apparent victory, when two ominous headlights emerged from the darkness.

"… uh oh."

Ah yes. That's right.

Dolly had forgotten that several humans, especially adult ones, tended to have cars.

…and hers happened to be careening right towards them at alarming speed, with what looked like an honest to goodness demon's face staring daggers at them from behind the wheel.

Oh dog, oh dog. Dylan's heart was practically on the verge of collapse. He ordered Dolly and Dawkins to press down even harder on the accelerator as he desperately scrambled to get away. He took a sharp turn into another street, doing his best to avoid other cars and hapless pedestrians, but the demon car stayed glued to them.

Cruella, unlike Dylan, couldn't care less about all of the property damage she caused. Other cars had to swerve out of the way so as to not be hit by the old woman, while signs, benches and anything else unfortunate enough to be in her way was steam rolled on the spot.

No matter how hard Dylan tried, he just couldn't lose her. That lunatic was quickly gaining on them like a charging bull.

The panicked dog, as well as everyone else on the motorbike, let out an array of helpless screams when the front bumper of the demon car slammed against them, momentarily bouncing them all into the air. The horrid woman aimed to do it again too, hoping to knock them clear off the road.

Dawkins, overwhelmed by his own mounting panic, threw out his own two cents. "THIS IS PURE INSANITY!"

Hunter stared back in horror at his great auntie's deranged face, agreeing fully with the nerdy dog. This was pure insanity.

The black dog sitting in the seat beside him was so terrified, he momentarily forgot his fear of the younger de Vil and wrapped his arms tightly around the human's head, all while screaming his own goth little lungs out.

This was the end, Dylan thought. He, as well as several of his siblings, were most certainly about to meet their maker up in that big dog park in the sky. In his mind he could easily imagine the defenseless little group of misfits being driven into a wall or swerving off the side of a bridge, followed directly by a "You Died!" message straight out of one of his video games.

Dylan swallowed hard.

He couldn't let that happen. Not under any circumstances.

He adjusted his grip on the handle of the motorbike and tried to focus. So long as he kept calm, they might have a chance. Plus, on the very, very minuscule bright side, at least things couldn't possibly get any wor—

"Mister Funny Face!"

The group on the bike temporarily stopped screaming, all falling dead silent the moment they heard those tiny voices.

If Hunter thought he felt panicked before, that dread multiplied by at least ten fold when he saw Dee Dee and Dizzy suddenly pop their heads out from the bottom of the bike seat. They squirmed up from between his legs and snuggled up to his chest, happy to see him again.

Given the situation, he wasn't able to share in their joy.

The boy and the dogs all stared at the two puppies with wide eyes. "DEE DEE! DIZZY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" Dylan shouted, almost losing control of the handle bar.

"We jumped in before you took off!" Dizzy replied, still cuddling the human.

Instinctively, Hunter wrapped his arms around them both in a protective hug. "Why in the world did you bring them?!" He yelled at Dylan, more upset than ever before over these darned dogs putting their lives in danger for him.

"I had no idea they were even here! I swear!" Dylan hollered back.

Dog above, how did none of them notice that the twins had snuck along?! Now more than ever Dylan knew he had to make sure they all made it out of this alive somehow. He ordered everyone to hang on as he took another sharp turn, their continued screams echoing loudly into the night.

Halfway across town, Pearl and the Dalmatian parents were growing wary after hours of searching. As they rode on the police horse, Delilah hung her head in despair, which prompted Doug to place a comforting paw on her back.

Pearl brought her trots to a halt and let out a sigh. "I'm sorry you two, but I think it's best we continue on tomorrow. It's gotten too dark."

Delilah was going to protest, when the radio secured around the police horse's leg loudly went off.

"Attention all units! Attention all units! Reports of reckless driver in downtown Camden! Please be alert!"

The three paused and listened intently as the growing list of the driver's collateral damage was described. Delilah turned to Doug with an increasing look of alarm. "Oh sweets… you don't think…?"

The report continued on, confirming her greatest fear.

"The vehicle in question has been described as a burgundy red roadster with black fenders! Police are in pursuit!"

Pearl wasted no time. With the Dalmatians still on her back, she took off in a mad sprint. The dogs held on for dear life, all the while hoping beyond all hope that that lunatic hadn't found Hunter before them.

As Pearl closed in on where the vehicle had last been spotted, the trail of Cruella's wanton destruction grew obvious. Her mad chase had already caused a number of other crashes. The traffic from all the chaos was already mounting, backing up roads for miles. Water spewed forth out of the ground and into the air from where a fire hydrant had once stood, and several demolished trees lay scattered on the streets. It was a total disaster, the likes of which none of them had ever seen before. Already they could hear the sirens of ambulances fast approaching.

Pearl galloped faster, closely following the still smoking trail of tire tracks cutting through the city.

Above all else, Cruella was determined not to lose Roger and Anita's filthy, wretched mongrels.

Not this time. Never again.

Like a demon emerging from the depths of hell itself, she would pursue them endlessly. Her fingers were practically bleeding from how tightly she was gripping her steering wheel, the metal bending to the jagged curves of her hands.

Dylan was very rapidly running out of ideas on how to lose her. No matter where they went, she persisted.

Once again they felt the front bumper of her car slam into them, nearly causing the bike to careen out of control. If she kept at it she would most certainly succeed in KILLING them.

They barreled down a mercilfully empty street, it having been evacuated beforehand by police. In the rapidly shrinking distance, Dylan spotted the entry to the underground subway tunnels and found himself getting an idea. It was crazy… but surely that witch wouldn't follow them down there. It would be impossible.

Taking the risk, he drove the bike down into the waiting staircase.

The group's screams comically warbled as the bike bounced up and down upon the steps, eventually making it to the underground station. Waves of even more unsuspecting pedestrians leapt out of the way as the pups blazed through.

Cruella watched the bike disappear into the ground, and gnashed her teeth in annoyance.

"Oh no you DON'T, you soon-to-be-pelts!"

Despite her car's much wider frame, she forced it into the entrance as well. The frightened dogs and young boy shrieked at the sight of it coming down the staircase after them, sparks flickering wildly from the wheels as they scrapped against the entryway walls.

Dylan was aghast. Now what could he do?! He'd trapped them all down there with the lunatic!

Below him he heard Dolly shout something. "Dylan! Quick— down that way!" With a free paw she pointed to one of the tunnels. It was currently empty of trains.

Under different circumstances, Dylan never would have even considered it. There may not have been a train present there right now, but one sure as heck could come steaming through at any given moment, making the it far, FAR too risky. But Dylan, as well as everybody on that rickety bike, were consumed by overwhelming, mind shattering levels of feverish panic, so logic unfortunately fell to the wayside.

He swerved into the open tunnel, landing the bike onto the tracks.

From behind her dashboard, Cruella broke out into dark, sinister laughter. They weren't losing her THAT easily. Shifting gears, she yanked on the lever so hard that she tore it clean off. Her beastly car swerved right into the exact same tunnel and landed right behind the bike, continuing right on with the pursuit.

The rubber on her tires was torn completely to shreds, leaving her hubcaps barren. They glided after the motorbike, causing even more sparks to erupt from the scraping metal. Coupled with the surge of volts already being emitted by the electric tracks, their cat and mouse chase had suddenly become even deadlier than it was mere moments before.

The crazed woman slammed her foot down harder upon the accelerator, and despite her frail thin body, all of the rage inside of her gave her enough terrifying strength to break it beneath her heel. Her car lunged forward, and the group on the motorbike braced themselves for yet another hit.

The impact was swift, launching the bike up into the air for a third time. Dylan, Dolly, Dawkins and Dante hung on to their seats, while Hunter held Dee Dee and Dizzy as tightly as he could. But the blow to their tiny vehicle was so severe, Dee Dee still managed to slip out of his grasp.

The pup let out a shriek as she was flung helplessly into the air.

She flailed wildly, catching a chilling glimpse of the electric currents sparking off of the subway rails below.

Luckily (or perhaps unluckily) she landed not on the rails, but on the windshield of the devil woman's car.

Her siblings on the motorbike cried out in horror. Hunter even MORE so, immediately rising to his feet in the side seat. Without thinking, he pushed little Dizzy into Dante's arms and leapt off of the bike. The others could only watch dumbfounded as the boy landed onto the roaster's hood and made a desperate reach for the terrified puppy.

His body wobbled precariously as he tried to keep his balance. Dylan and Dolly held their breaths, anxious from just looking at the scene. One wrong move and the human would drop down to the tracks to meet an excruciatingly painful end.

Dee Dee, with tears in her eyes, called out to Mister Funny Face. His hand reached closer for her, the tips of his fingers nearly touching her nose.

That's when Cruella's own arm shot out from the driver's seat, destroying the glass window in the process. Her hand, like the limb of a predatory, skittering insect, took hold of her nephew's out stretched arm and clutched it tight.

The boy screamed.

She began to pull on him, attempting to drag his body to her through the destroyed window.

By this point Dolly had finally had enough. She was sick and tired of sitting on the sidelines, watching uselessly as all of this madness went down. And most of all, she was SICK and TIRED of this witch tormenting her family. "Dante!" She shouted out of nowhere.

Before her goth brother even had time to react, she grabbed him and placed him in her place on the left pedal of the motorbike. "Keep her going!"

Dante stammered out a string of yelps, struggling to keep himself in place at his new spot aboard their deathtrap of a ride.

"Dolly, what are you—?!" The eldest Dalmatian sister heard Dylan start to shout. His question quickly morphed into a mortified shriek at the sight of her jumping off the bike to join Hunter on the demon car's front hood.

Dolly charged forward, the old woman's bony arm dead set as her target. Growling ferociously, she angrily sunk her teeth into what little was left of Cruella's flesh.

The woman let out a blood curdling scream, releasing her hold on Hunter. The boy, in turn, used this opportunity to finally grab little Dee Dee. He held her protectively in his arms, and the grateful pup dug her face into his chest.

His infuriated aunt began to wave her arm around madly, trying to throw the savage beast off of her. With every hysterical flail of her scrawny arm, the strength of the young dog's jaws loosened, until Cruella finally succeeded in casting her off. The Dalmatian would have plummeted into the electric rails surging below, had Hunter not caught her by the tail with his free hand in the nick of time.

Hugging both dogs in his arms, he rose shakily to his feet, preparing to jump back onto the rickety bike in front of them. Dylan, still watching with bated breath, held the handle bars as steady as he could so that the boy wouldn't miss.

Hunter, with little Dee Dee and Dolly in tow, launched himself off of the hood of his great auntie's car and landed right back into the side seat of the motorcycle. The dogs would have all let out a cheer if their lives weren't still in mortal danger.

Dylan had been looking behind him this whole time, so absorbed in Hunter and Dolly's struggle on the speedster, that he didn't realized he hadn't been paying attention to the road ahead.

Thankfully, Dawkins HAD. The nerdy dog abandoned his place on the right pedal to leap up next to his brother atop the bike handles. He frantically took hold of Dylan's head and forced it to look forward, revealing the horrifying sight charging right at them.

Dear dog.

THE TRAIN.

The subway train was hastening at alarming speed right towards them from the opposite end of the tracks, and the horrified little group, caught like a bunch of deer in headlights, had only a few precious seconds to steer themselves out of the way.

Everyone onboard the motorbike let out one last ear splitting scream as Dylan pulled up on the handle bars for dear life. He took a hard swerve, throwing the bike and its riders to the left of the tracks. They all landed on a waiting platform, scattering to the floor in a messy heap.

The dogs and young boy hit the ground hard, with Hunter holding the twins tight as he let his body take the brunt of the impact for them. The bike was left completely wrecked, its front wheel still spinning wildly as the broken vehicle lay sputtering on its side.

Unlike the tiny group, Cruella didn't have time to spin out of the oncoming train's way.

The old woman's bloodshot eyes widened, in what was one the very rare times she had ever felt genuine fear in her long life.

An explosion of fire followed as the train instantly ran her over. Within mere seconds, the old woman and her monstrous car were gone, engulfed entirely by flames as the subway train pressed onwards, leaving a trail of discarded car parts in its path.

The animals of the world didn't know it, but in that moment the world suddenly became a slightly more wholesome place.

Thanks to the death of…

Cruella, Cruella de Vil.