"We're not going out today?" Karmi questioned as she was tidying up her hair, it being shorter had such a benefit of there being less tangles to brush through, so she was almost done when her parents told the kids that they weren't leaving the hotel today.
Molly shook her head. "No, last night there was a series of traffic accidents, some people got so hurt they had to go to the hospital!"
"The news said it was some car that was one huge speed limit violation." Zachary added.
Neither of the twins understood the speed limit part, as the complications of driving were unknown to them. "Was it a supervillain?" Haley asked.
"Lord, I hope not." Molly shuddered at the thought.
The twins looked equally nervous as their mom. "It's okay guys, even if it was a supervillain, I could handle it." Karmi reassured them.
"Really?" Zachary looked up at her.
"Yeah, I managed to take down a scary monster that Big Hero 6 had trouble with!" Though with the context she had about Orso Knox, she wouldn't have described him as a big scary monster now, but he did terrify everyone at that gala at the time.
Both her parents were staring at her with wide eyes. I forgot they didn't know about that. "That happened?!" Zachary exclaimed.
"Uh… well the monster was just targeting my ex boss, because she was the one who… y'know." Karmi gestured. "But I didn't know that at the time so I used my nano-receptors on him, add a sedative on them and they can knock a person out in seconds!"
"Why do you want to go back to that city again?" Molly was narrowing her eyes.
"Because not everyday is a supervillain attack and I like the people there." Karmi narrowed her eyes back.
Zachary thankfully interrupted the staring contest before it got too bad. "Okay let's save the debate for another day, today is just going to be a nice chillaxing day at the hotel spa."
"There's a spa at the hotel?" Ryan questioned.
"Why have I not heard about this until now?" Karmi added.
Her step-dad sweatdropped. "Well… we better get going before we're late!" He went for the door.
"Get back here and answer the question!" Karmi chased after him.
Friendship Circle group chat:
Karmi K: so did y'all hear about the big traffic jam?
Eleanor M: One of my cousins got injured bc of it : (
Dolly D: Oh dog that's horrible!
Eleanor M: He's okay, thankfully he wasn't hurt enough to need to go to the hospital but he's staying in bed today.
Kirby G: My aunt thinks something is sus about the whole traffic thing and I agree with them
Domino K: Like a supervillain?
Dawkins D: We have a supervillain at home
Dolly D: The supervillain at home, clarissa,jpeg
Karmi K: Is Karen Corgi bugging you guys again?
Dolly D: nah she's helping hugo set up outside for a stupid tea party rn
Dylan D: that picture was during that time she tried to trick me into marrying her bc she thought I was royalty
Kirby G: pardon my french but what the actual (bleep)
Kirby G: ?
Baymax 2: I have been programmed to censor any swears in-chat
Dolly D: Way to take the fun out of a gc
Dylan D: oh dw, PC Pearl got her GOOD for that! She ended up in jail for a little bit, only got out bc of Hugo
Karmi K: Whom?
Eleanor M: Pearl's a horse on the Camden PD that helps with any issues around the animals of Camden, I've seen her a few times supervising events.
Karmi K: Cool, and sorry to hear about the marriage thing Dylan
Dylan D: Yeah, hopefully I can marry someone that wants to be with me without my blood relations
Dolly D: Technically Dyl here is canine royalty since he's a descendant of the 101, but Clarissa doesn't need to know that : )
Dawkins D: Kibbles forbid, she'd try to suck-up to us and it would be so annoying
Domino K: Yeah you guys have enough problems like that jerk trying to catch you, probably because some of you are 101 descendants
Kirby G: I'm still concerned about what you said of him speaking canine
Karmi K: SAME
Dawkins gently placed his phone back into his satchel. During the bus incident, as some of the pups were calling it, he was one of the few pups that didn't get caught, so he was a witness to Hunter's odd behavior.
"Him speaking canine should be impossible…" He murmured.
"Well humans understanding us is also impossible, but it happens!" Dylan approached. "I wouldn't worry too much about it, Hunter's not much of a threat now that we know he's got an exposable weakness."
Dawkins still felt worried but he hadn't been outside in awhile so he might as well take the time to relax. "Sure." He nosed one of the nearby toy balls and began to chew on it.
Dylan smiled, his siblings had been stressed since Hunter came back to town so it was good for them to relax.
The sound of whimpering caught his attention, the sound that came from the youngest pup in the family. "Dorothy?" He walked over, she was whimpering and gurgling at a hole in the wall that allowed anyone to get a peek into Hugo's garden. "What's the matter?" She's so upset she's not even chewing her toy duck!
Looking at the hole, he could see the guest that Hugo and Clarissa had set up the tea party for, he couldn't get much of the details as they were facing Hugo, but he could tell they had very thin black and white hair, and wore a thick fur coat that looked like it was made from fox fur.
"Looks like some fancy friend of Hugo's." Dylan ignored whatever architect conversation they were having and focused on comforting Dorothy. "I know, it's scary to think the mean human has friends after he lets Clarissa pick on us." He was speaking in a softer, babyish voice that made his youngest sister smile a little.
But both their faces turned to frowns as they got a whiff of a nasty smelling perfume. "Gross, what is that?!" The smell was strong enough to make Dolly approach to see what was going on. "It smells like someone died."
"Hugo brought his rich friend over." Dylan pointed to the hole, the human himself looked irritated at the smell, even Clarissa fainted as she got a whiff of it.
Dolly squinted her eyes at the strange human. "That's a lot of fur…"
Squeak!
There was a yelp as a rubber chicken landed on her head and splashed the tea, the yard behind them went silent for a moment. "Nice going Dimitri 1!" Dimitri 2 snapped in the background. "We're never going to get that back!"
"We'll break in later." Dimitri 3 argued.
Dolly glanced back to glare at them. "Hey, no talking about theft when we're around!"
Hugo was cringing as he fished the rubber chicken out of the tea. "I do apologize, our neighbors are quite ghastly!"
"Grrrr…" Dorothy rumbled, her milk teeth bared at the snobby human's words, Dylan felt the same level of anger.
"Indeed." The old woman stated. "Also deliciously soft, sleek, and so very… spotty."
Dylan shared a glance with Dolly. "I don't like the sound of that." She stated. "I'm gonna get Mum."
"Get Mum for what?" Delilah had noticed they were crowding the hole in the fence.
Dylan just pointed to the hole in response, and that's when she smelled a scent she never wanted to smell for the rest of her life.
Smell of smoke… and several chemicals… It was a smell she had only scented in samples, only used once to determine that the boy that almost dognapped them was a De Vil.
"One longs to be rid of them!" Hugo ranted beyond the fence, but Delilah ignored his words.
For her eyes widened in pure horror as a tall, lanky woman stepped past him, the clacking of her heels making her heart pound with fear with each step, the scent of ash and death cloaked around her.
The face of a woman who should've been gone was now in view. "I may be able to assist with that." She tilted her head, and Delilah could see the cruel green eyes of the woman that tormented her family for so many generations.
The eyes of Cruella De Vil.
Immediately Delilah closed the prop that allowed the pups to peer into Hugo's yard. "Get inside, now." She told Dylan and Dolly.
Both of them could see the horror in her eyes, they nodded and grabbed Dorothy as they went in.
Delilah turned to her two partners. "Dandy, Doug, it's her."
"Her?" Dandy's eyes were wide as pie tins. "Do you mean-?"
She nodded, the fear evident in her eyes.
Doug turned to the pups. "Cue the emergency lockdown protocol!"
The pups turned to him in confusion.
"We'll explain later, but it's bad!" Dandy told them.
Deja Vu raised a paw. "Worse than fleas?"
Dandy made a face, fleas would've been a dream compared to the threat next-door. "Worse."
That got all the pups to sprint inside the house, locking every door and window in sight, and grabbing their toys as they scrambled inside the living room.
"Paw scanner locked!" Dawkins reported as he went into the living room, Princess Positron in paw. "No one can get in or out!"
While Doug was counting to make sure all the pups were inside, Dandy noticed that Dolly and Dylan were following Delilah to the attic. She must be telling them what's going on. Dandy wasn't surprised, they were the "leaders" of the house whenever the parents weren't here.
"Um, Pa?" His ear twitched as Dante got his attention. "What's going on?"
"We both sensed something foul outside, and not just the weird smell next-door." Deepak stood next to his brother, wrinkling his nose.
Dandy frowned, both pups would not take the truth well. "It's not for the faint of heart."
"I don't care, we need to know!" Dante protested. "I've been having really bad visions for the past few weeks, visions that something bad is gonna happen and all I can sense is that De Vil kid is connected."
"So if you, Mom, or Dad know what's going on, we have to know." Deepak added. "For our sake."
He sighed. "Alright, follow me."
Teen Dorks Squad group chat:
Karms: my trip is ending soon and i'm sad about it : (
June: Awwww
Meg: Bummer
Ari: Does that mean you're coming back to San Fransokyo soon?!
Rach: Way to read the room
Ari: Sorry!
Karms: It's fine, but I make no promises.
Ari: It would be great seeing you again, It's not been fun lately : (
June: Yeah…
Karms: if it makes you feel better I've got a surprise in store when I get back n.n
Rach: A surprise?
Hiro: ?
Ari: What kind of surprise?!
Karms: That'd be spoilers!
Ari: Aw man : (
Hiro: ur no fun
Karms: excuse I am PLENTY of fun!
"We're in lockdown because Cruella De Vil is outside our house."
Deepak and Dante were blinking at that statement. "But… Cruella's dead!" The guru protested. "She died when she set the Plantation on fire."
"Even if she lived past that, no human could live that long." Dante added.
Dandy remembered when he was that naive. "Well, somehow she found a way, and now she's back for revenge."
"How do you know all this?" Deepak questioned.
I was afraid he was going to ask that. Dandy's ears twitched. "When your mother and I were pups, this house was owned by a human named Dodie Smith."
"Who's Dodie Smith?"
Deepak turned to his brother. "We're not going to get answers if you keep interrupting.
Dante pressed his ears to his head in embarrassment. "Sorry."
"It's fine." Their scruffy dad reassured them. "Dodie used to be Delilah's owner, they were nice, and wrote a couple books."
"Did something happen to them?" Deepak could sense the feeling of pain and grief in his father since he brought up the name.
Dandy's bittersweet smile turned to anger. "Cruella happened." He snarled. "That devil came into the house when me and Delilah were playing, Dodie hid us in the basement to protect us." He could still remember that argument before-
Slam!
"It's her, Dandy, Delilah, hide under here." Dodie rushed them to a secret floor panel in the basement. "She won't get you here."
They both scrambled to the hole in the door to see what was going on. "Dodie darling! What's with that look?" He still remembered the smell of death, how he felt terrified of Cruella's voice.
"I told you once and I told you a million times Cruella, you'll never get Delilah!" Dodie was brave, standing up to the feared dognapper.
But it wasn't brave enough to stop Cruella from- "Not even for your own sake?" He smelled another human, who was holding a weapon. "I'm not going to turn her into a fur coat."
"But you'll make her have pups and turn those into fur coats." Dodie snarled. "Even if you do get that coat, you're not going to live long enough to enjoy it."
"Oh you think you're cute, tell me where that mutt is or else."
Dodie was defiant until the very end. "Over my dead body Cruella, and that's a promise!"
He could see through the cracks that Cruella's grin was the very definition of evil. "Then so be it."
One snap of the fingers, and the goon raised his weapon-
BANG!
"We managed to get out from a small tunnel into the basement, all people know about the incident is that it was a robbery gone wrong." Dandy blinked back tears.
Both pups scrambled to hug their dad. "I can't believe you and Mum went through that." Deepak sniffled.
"Me neither." Dante held him tight. "We're… we're gonna be okay, right Dad?"
"Don't worry, your parents are gonna make sure that woman doesn't get her claws on you." Dandy reassured them. "We just have to leave without her noticing."
Dante still looked spooked. "Why did she want Mum anyways?"
"It's because Mum is related to great-great-great…" Deepak frowned. "Er, great something grandpa Pongo and great-great-great grandma Perdita!"
"That's right." Dandy's look was serious. "And now she's out for revenge on the next generation."
Both Dante and Deepak gulped nervously.
Karmi frowned as she saw the front entrance of the Dalmatian household, which looked less like a house and more like a lockdown. "This wasn't here yesterday…"
"Hey Karmi!" She turned as Kirby and Eleanor approached. "What's going on?" The jock pointed to the house.
She shrugged. "It was like that when I got here, I tried messaging Dylan and the others, but they haven't messaged me back."
"Maybe nobody's home?" Eleanor suggested. "They did say they were going to the plantation… phones probably don't work up there!"
Karmi sent the animal whisperer a look. "I was at the plantation a few days ago and my phone worked perfectly fine!"
"Okay we can discuss the lack of dalmatians later." Kirby held their hands up to prevent an argument from forming as Eleanor crossed his arms. "Ellie, do you wanna show her the thing?"
Thing? What thing? The biotech major tilted her head in confusion, until Eleanor dug into his purse and pulled out a wooden figurine from it. "Oh, that's so pretty!"
It was shaped like a dog, but painted a nice grey-blue color, the eyes were shaped closed as its curly tail wrapped around the body, one of the pointed ears had a notch on it, and strangely there was a horn on the top of the dog. "My mum came over and gave me this." Eleanor explained. "But I guess I should start from the top…"
Earlier that morning…
Eleanor had been enjoying breakfast with his grandpa when the doorbell rang. "Coming!" Davidus finished flipping over a flapjack and opened the door to reveal it was his eldest daughter. "Ah, Eliana, what brings you over here?"
"Can't I just visit my father without reason?" She argued.
Davidus didn't buy that. "Considering the drama between you and your kid, I'd say you're here to see Eleanor."
Eliana sighed as she entered the house. "Dad, I already got grief from Elisa about the whole thing, I don't need it from you…"
"Just saying, I warned you that hiding stuff from Eleanor would backfire…" Davidus muttered.
Eleanor pretended he didn't hear that conversation as his mother approached. "Hi Mum." He greeted in a neutral voice.
"Hi sweetie, I just wanted to bring you something." Eliana placed a wooden dog on the table. "This used to belong to your father."
Suddenly, all of Eleanor's focus was now on the dog figure. "What is it?"
"It's a companion he carved himself, I think he would've wanted you to have this." His mother explained. "Take good care of it, okay?"
Back to now!
"So your dad was a wood carver?" Karmi had to admit, the craftwork on the wooden dog looked amazing.
Eleanor shrugged. "Maybe he was, maybe he used to carve figures of the animals he liked talking to." He placed the dog back in his purse. "Dunno why this one is blue, but I'm gonna take care of it!"
"I do wonder why the Dalmatians locked the place up…" Kirby glanced at the house. "Guess that incident with the bus scared em silly."
Before Karmi could decide if she should knock or not, the paw scanner beeped and they saw the door open a tiny bit, a pair of worried red eyes staring back at them.
"Inside, quickly!" Dawkins exclaimed.
Immediately, Eleanor pushed his two friends into the house. "Gogogogo-" He nudged them in.
"Eleanor what-?" Was all Karmi could say as the door quickly closed and she saw Dawkins lock the paw scanner. "Uh, what's with all the secrecy?"
"Let's just say the Hunter situation has gone from bad to worse." Dawkins had a look of dread in his eyes.
Whatever the scientist pup was talking about, Karmi had a feeling of dread roll over her spine.
Across the street, a pair of green eyes watched as the trio of teenagers entered the house. "Those are the kids I told you about Great-Auntie!" Hunter pointed to them. "The ones that keep getting in my way!"
His great-aunt had an eerie grin on her face. "And you said the girl in the sweater is the ringleader, huh?"
Hunter nodded. "I've seen her around the most, she's annoying like gnats!"
"How… interesting." But every gnat had a weak spot, and Cruella prided herself in picking apart those weak spots and using them to tear those pesky gnats apart.
The girl who was meddling in their affairs when she was so close to victory would just be one of those gnats.
"WHAT?!"
Words could not describe the horror on the teen's faces as Delilah delivered the truth of the situation the family was in. Or rather… Kirby and Karmi both gained looks of horror seeing how Eleanor took the news. "That's impossible, it has to be a joke, right?!"
"What's a joke?" The jock had no idea what Delilah had said, but clearly it had made their friend go pale with shock.
Delilah merely shook her head at the animal whisperer. "I wouldn't joke about this, what I said is the truth."
"There's no way, she's gone, isn't she?! So why are you saying she's back to haunt you?!" Eleanor shook his head in denial.
Kirby was still confused. "Who are you talking about?" But Karmi had a sense of dread as she realized what, or rather who Delilah could be referring to.
"Great-Auntie wouldn't hurt me, she loves me!"
"She's only angry I haven't gotten her the pups sooner!"
Come to think of it, there was an old villain back in San Fransokyo, who was partially made of mechanical parts, it wouldn't be that far of a stretch to assume another villain did the same thing he did.
And there was only one villain in Camden who had a bloodthirsty hatred for Dalmatians out there that could explain the sheer terror on both her friend and the canine's faces.
"It's Cruella, isn't it?" Karmi stated. "Cruella's the one knocking at your door now."
Now Kirby was staring at her. "What, that's impossible! Cruella's dead! They never found her after-"
"Hunter said he was talking to his great-aunt, and no one else who wants dalmatian pups and is giving him orders to do so fits the bill, it has to be her." She argued, instantly regretting not putting much thought into that conversation she heard from Hunter. I knew something about that was important!
"Ohh I think I'm gonna pass out." Eleanor placed his head on his head. "This isn't real, oh gosh my childhood nightmare has been alive the whole time oh gosh-"
Now Kirby was in panic mode too. "I can't do this, I can't do this, what are we supposed to do against her of all people-"
It was terrifying, seeing both of her friends scared out of their minds, all because of one woman's name.
"Guys!" Karmi's voice managed to snap them out of it. "Freaking out about this isn't going to help Delilah or any of the Dalmatians!"
At the mention of her name, Delilah looked up at the biotech major. "What?" She couldn't possibly mean she'd get involved, did she?
"You guys are basically family to me, I'm not going to let some ancient bat kidnap you all and turn you into fur coats." Karmi reassured her. "Sides, I've dealt with baddies or two back home, so you have nothing to fear!"
Meanwhile Eleanor was gawking at her like she had grown a second head. "How are you so nonchalant about this?!"
"Oh I'm not." Both her friends were confused now. "Honestly, I'm terrified of this woman." She was doing her best to mask her fear, that someone so driven by hatred and anger would be alive for decades longer than she should.
It almost made her rethink becoming a superhero, the fact that she could face such evil, but… when she stared at the two friends she made in Camden, Karmi remembered that she wasn't alone in this. "But thinking about what she can do to the ones I love scares me even more."
Kirby's eyes widened. "Karms…" They murmured. Even though their friend was clearly scared out of her mind, she still was going to fight back against the devil who's name plagued Camden for generations. "Well you're not going to be fighting her alone!"
"Kirby?!" Eleanor exclaimed.
"Hey, Karmi said we're her sidekicks, right? And sidekicks stick together!" Kirby pumped up a fist. "I'm scared too, but if we all work together, it should be less scary right?"
Their words stirred a feeling of confidence in the animal whisperer. "Well, I'm still mad about that Hunter kid using his powers for evil, so I'm gonna do my best to help out too!" He stated, then nervously rubbed his arm. "I'm not a good fighter though…"
"Yeah maybe we shouldn't throw hands, but we should keep an eye out so if Hunter and his great-aunt try anything, we'll be there to stop 'em!" Karmi explained. She would've said more, but her attention turned to Delilah, who was beginning to cry.
"Ms. Delilah, are you okay?" Eleanor kneeled down to check on her.
Delilah rubbed a few tears from her eyes. "I'm fine, just glad that my pups have such good friends in their lives." She sniffled. "You three be careful, okay? That woman took away my owner, and I don't want her to take away anyone's friend ever again."
"We won't, Delilah." Karmi told her after the animal whisperer translated her words. "Cruella isn't going to take away anyone else, I promise."
Friendship Circle group chat:
Dylan D: Can you guys bring more water? They turned off the pipes again : (
Karmi K: How is that even legal?!
Dolly D: Dylan and I kept watch and we saw they took over Constantin's house, and since he's got no human…
Eleanor M: D:
Dolly D: Constantin's fine! They just put him in a cage
Kirby G: That is still concerning!
Domino K: You guys can't call the authorities for help?
Karmi K: The authorities are useless and incompetent
Eleanor M:
Dolly D:
Kirby G: yikes
Karmi K: Sorry, there's been some drama related to the authorities back home and also i don't think they'd believe us if we told them cruella is alive
Eleanor M: I'm still processing it too, Kirby and I grew up hearing that she was just a bad ghost nowadays, and now ur telling me she lives?!
Karmi K: I'm 90% convinced she's a cyborg, there's a supervillain back at SF named Baron Von Steamer who's a rly old cyborg, would explain it
Kirby G: Well ik what's going to haunt my dreams tonight!
Kirby G: One cyborg boomer is bad enough the world isn't ready for two
Dolly D: You made Dylan cry-laugh on the floor now, he hasn't laughed in days
With the house locked up, it meant that the Dalmatians were safe from the horrors that had taken over their neighbor's house.
But it also meant that they had nowhere to run as the De Vils kept messing with the heat, the power, and even the water, which made the pups in the household miserable with each piece of comfort being ripped away from them. Karmi wasn't sure if the De Vils were doing it to flush them out or to make them easy prey to be caught, but she and her friends were doing their best to bring them supplies to keep them sane.
"And here!" Kirby finished placing down the bags of kibble, and Eleanor tore one of the bags open. "Hey pups, it's food time!"
At the mention of food, a stampede of tiny dalmatian puppies came flying, both teens barely ducked out of the way as the pups gorged themselves on kibble. "They must've been really hungry…" Eleanor murmured, face darkening as he recalled the news that their kibble delivery in the afternoon had been intercepted by Hunter.
"Yeesh, um is that escape tunnel yet?" Kirby turned to one of the adult canines. Since the family had nowhere else to go, the plan was to dig an exit out. Once the tunnel was built, the Dalmatians would stay at the Plantation until the De Vils were dealt with.
Kirby had their doubts about the plan, but at least the canines would be protected at the plantation, then they could call their aunt for help without worrying about the dogs getting hurt in the process! Last thing we need is a hostage situation.
Dandy shook his head. "Not yet, but thanks again for bringing food, and water, and that backup generator…" The yoga instructor looked at his paws. "You've been careful when entering, right?"
Both Kirby and Eleanor nodded. "We haven't seen anyone matching that woman's description near the place." The jock explained. "Though I have seen Hunter… he was eating the kibble he stole."
"I feel a little bad for him, he probably had to eat kibble to survive in that crate for six months." Eleanor placed a hand to his chest, he couldn't stand the dark, to think that Hunter was living like that for half a year… De Vil or not, he didn't deserve it.
"Yeah, I know he's a De Vil, but from what Karmi told us about the phone call, he's really brainwashed." Kirby added.
"You two are way too nice to that kid." Dylan still had his doubts about the dognapping teenager, the events of the first kidnapping attempt continued to haunt his dreams.
Dolly thought otherwise. "Well maybe if we befriend him, he won't go after us anymore!"
"Like that'll happen." As far as Dylan was concerned, there was no way to persuade Hunter to turn against his great-aunt.
"Okay enough talking about this before the pups overhear." Delilah told them as she entered, her paws caked with dirt. Only a handful of them were aware of the truth, if the pups knew that Cruella was alive, it would cause mass panic.
They did know that Hunter had brought reinforcements and it was why there were bouts of no water and constant heat, so many of the pups with digging skills were helping to build the tunnel too.
"Sorry ma'am." Eleanor bowed his head in apology.
That's when Karmi came into the room, a frown painted over her face. "Did you hit another roadblock?" Kirby questioned, since it was Karmi's turn to help the dalmatians on the tunnel.
"I wish." She shook her head. "My mom texted me that I have to go back to the hotel."
"Dude, didn't you tell her it was a sleepover?"
Karmi nodded. "She said it's important."
"It's okay, it'd be suspicious if you ignored it!" Eleanor reassured her. "You need a break anyways."
Kirby agreed with the animal whisperer. "Yeah, you haven't taken a break since we've been helping out."
"Thanks guys." She was glad her friends were understanding about it. "See you guys tomorrow then."
"Safe travels!" Eleanor waved at her.
Karmi made sure to thank Dawkins as he unlocked the paw scanner so she could leave. This is the worst! Even though she hadn't seen the face of Cruella, the fact that she was next door was terrifying. I can't imagine how Delilah and Dandy feel…
The two had apparently encountered Cruella before when they were young pups, they managed to escape her, but at what cost?
I hope we can finish that escape tunnel. Once the dalmatians were safe, the plan was for Kirby to tell their aunt about the situation. If someone could defeat Cruella, it was someone like Cobra, who had decades of experience in combat and dealing with all sorts of crooks.
She got back to the hotel without any trouble, but it felt rather cold in the lobby for some reason. "I wonder who turned off the heater?" Karmi murmured, almost at her hotel room now.
When she opened the door, the lights were off. "Uh, is this going to be a surprise party?" She questioned, not seeing her parents or siblings anywhere.
Click!
The lights turned on, and what she saw in front of her made Karmi almost scream. Her parents were tied to the wall, their hands bound and gags were wrapped around their mouths, eyes wide with horror. Baymax's charging station was tied too, a ring of metal chains wrapped around it, preventing the robot from coming out.
Before she could run to untie them, an old voice spoke behind her. "Well you could call it a surprise." She had only heard that voice once, telling Hunter to get rid of her permanently.
She turned around, and Karmi saw the devil woman of Camden herself; Cruella De Vil.
This time, Karmi screamed, falling on the ground as cold green eyes smirked at her. "W-What do you want from me?!" Well that was a stupid question. "And what did you do to my parents?!"
"They were getting in the way, and you my dear, have been beyond irritating." The smell of ash and death wafted in the air as Cruella grinned. "I did think about disposing of you-"
Karmi gulped nervously, her heart pounding out of her chest as the woman who wanted her gone circled around her.
"But you seem to be quite popular, especially considering that whole beastly affair in your city…" Those green eyes were staring at the scar on her neck, mostly hidden by her sweater's collar. "So you get to live for now."
The words didn't comfort her at all, but then her eyes widened in horror. "Where's my siblings…?" She didn't see Haley and Ryan. "What did-?"
Cruella snapped her fingers, and a bald man in a business suit came into the room, holding her two terrified siblings. "Karms help!" Haley cried out.
"Haley! Ryan!" Karmi tried to get up but she got kicked into the wall by the cruel woman, it felt like pounds of metal slammed into her as she hit the wall.
Then Cruella turned to another person in the room. "Did you get the dog?"
"Yes ma'am." A woman was holding Domino, his eyes were staring at Cruella in terror in the same way whenever someone mentioned the name of Claude Vilke.
"Leave him alone!" She wanted to lunge at the villains who were hurting her family, but Cruella kept her down with her heels.
The devil woman looked at her the same way someone would look at an ant. "Make sure you tie her up so she doesn't follow." Then that woman smirked at Domino. "And you're going to help us get in the Dalmatian household, or you can say goodbye to your little humans."
Domino whimpered, but he gave her a nod, scared what would happen if he refused.
"You won't get away with this!" Karmi snarled as one of the minions tied her to the wall, just like her parents.
Cruella merely laughed at her. "Darling, I've been getting away with it for decades!" Her claws dug into the hotel wall. "But I have to admit, without your dog, I wouldn't have a way in, and your two little friends wouldn't want to hurt your siblings… so I do have to thank you for making my job easy!"
The words hit Karmi like a knife, cutting into her skin and leaving cruel red marks behind. Did I cause this? She wondered. Maybe if I didn't try so hard to be a hero… this wouldn't have happened.
As the cruel woman and her henchmen left, taking Domino and her siblings away, all Karmi could think was that she caused this, Cruella had entered her home and terrified her family because she got involved.
Karmi had promised she was going to protect her family, like how Big Hero 6 protected those they cared about.
But Karmi was no hero, she failed.
And now the Dalmatians would pay the price.
AN: Cruella De Vil, Cruella De Vil
If she doesn't scare you, no evil thing will
Yeah not sorry about that ending, tune in next time to see how Karmi gets herself out of this situation!
The bit about Dodie was just to explain how Delilah could have recognized Cruella before, he-heh
Thanks so much for reading!