"HUNTER WAS HERE?!" When Dylan got back from the spa, he did not take the news that the boy who had almost kidnapped the entire family before was back for revenge well at all.
"He didn't get into the house but uh… yeah he's back." Dawkins explained for the third time. The reappearance of the teen was difficult to sink in.
Least his parents were taking the issue better. "Well with him on the loose we better be super careful." Doug pointed out.
"Considering you told me he's a De Vil… should the house go on lockdown?" Dandy questioned.
Delilah shook her head. "De Vil he might be, he was easily beaten by our pups and our pups' friends, he's not as terrifying as the rest of his family."
"He scares me Mum!" Dolly argued.
Dawkins could see that his littermate had a grave expression on his face. When Hunter had first arrived to kidnap the family, Dylan blamed himself for the whole incident because he had been the one to bring Hunter into the house.
"He was the one that tricked you, Dyl." No matter how many times Dolly had tried to comfort him, Dylan hadn't rested for weeks as he kept himself busy with house chores, and to this day Dawkins knew that he hadn't forgiven himself for what happened.
"I'm never going to take a day off again, I need to be in the house at all times in case something like this happens again!" Dylan declared.
The parents shot him a look of concern. "Oh whiskers, the one day we get Dylan to take a break and this happens." Deepak shook his head.
Next to him was Dante, the black-furred pup had calmed down from his initial reaction to seeing Hunter and his cat, Cuddles, and now there was a strange look on his face. "You can't really blame Dylan, Hunter gives me bad vibes and I know he's connected to whatever danger that's coming."
"You mean to tell me that wasn't it?" Deepak turned to him. He was sure that it was Hunter that Dante's visions were warning him about.
His brother shook his head. "No… I can sense Hunter is connected, but I can't tell if he's the human that's gonna potentially destroy our family."
Deciding not to question that for now, Deepak thought about when he got a good look at the teen's aura before Karmi chased him off. "I was able to get a better read on him, there's a lot of pain and conflict in him."
"Huh, I thought he'd have uh… a black void where his soul should be?"
Deepak snorted. "No, that's Clarissa." Actually he'd say her soul was filled with nothing but arrogance but the joke did make him laugh. "There's some good in Hunter, but it looks like it's buried under some kind of pressure or obligation."
"Do you think that means he's following orders?" Dante questioned.
"Following orders?" Deepak frowned.
His brother nodded. "Yeah, maybe he's only hunting us down because someone is making him do it, he's like the same age as the human kids that are around the family now and they're not evil."
"True, but whatever his motivation is, we better be careful now that he's in town." The guru would make sure he'd light some protection candles tonight, the family needed all the luck they could get now that Hunter was back in town.
Later…
"Hey um Kirby I appreciate you helping me move my stuff to my grandpa's, but can you tell us why we're here?" It was now close to night, with the evening sun disappearing over the city, and Kirby had dragged him and Karmi over to a room in their house.
"We're here because the unthinkable has happened." Kirby had dragged over a board that was covered by a tarp.
Karmi looked quizzically at the tarp. "Can the explanation of the unthinkable happen tomorrow morning? My parents don't like it when I'm not at the hotel after dark."
"You know why we're here! A-" Kirby glanced around the room before their voice turned into a whisper. "A De Vil is in Camden."
Eleanor gasped. "What?!"
"That Hunter kid is one of them, and that itself means our canine friends are in danger." Kirby pulled away the tarp to reveal several drawings that looked like they were made by the jock and old newspaper articles taped to the wall.
Geez, dramatic much? "Okay just because Hunter has the same last name as the lady that tried kidnapping Dalmatians all across London doesn't mean he's gonna do the same thing." Karmi argued.
Both Eleanor and Kirby gave her weird looks. "Past evidence says otherwise!" Eleanor pointed to one of the taped articles. "A couple decades ago a woman named Ivy De Vil tried to kidnap the dogs in the Dalmatian Plantation, and not all of them were dalmatians!"
"And then when my Mom and Aunt were kids, this guy called Harris Devil ran a dog daycare scam to try and steal people's dogs, and both him and Ivy had Cruella as an aunt!" Kirby added.
"It's not even exclusive to here, the most recent incident was several months ago when this woman named Claude Vilke-" If Karmi had been drinking water she would've coughed it out as that name was hauntingly familiar. "Who was found to be a direct descendant of Cruella, had a hoarder house of Dalmatians, purebred and mixed alike!"
Kirby noticed the shocked expression on the biotech major's face. "Did we infodump too much?"
"I know the name Claude! She was the lady that owned the hoarder house my family rescued Domino from!" Karmi exclaimed.
Eleanor's eyes widened. "Really?"
"You mean to tell me she was a De Vil?!"
The jock nodded. "Yes, yes I am. There's a reason we don't speak that name aloud, or say the De Vil family name in public, if there's dogs in danger, there's one of them."
Karmi did not miss the way both her friends glanced around the room nervously everytime they mentioned the name De Vil or a person from said family. "So uh… is this a 'we don't talk about Bruno' thing for Camden?"
"I haven't seen that movie yet but probably?" Kirby shrugged.
"Not every dog incident is because of that family." Eleanor argued. "Maybe Hunter is just some kid using the name to scare people."
The animal whisperer had a point, but Kirby shook their head. "Nope, already looked him up thanks to my aunt's supervillain database."
"Your aunt has a supervillain database on the De Vils-?" Before Karmi could finish her sentence she got shushed by Eleanor, who had a grave look on his face.
"Don't say that name so casually!" Eleanor hissed. "Legend has it that if you speak the name of the family aloud, the one who cursed them, Cruella, will come to haunt your dreams."
Okay note to self, tell that to my parents. Karmi frowned. The incident of the first dalmatian kidnapping and future events thanks to the woman and her descendants must've really traumatized the people of London if they were scared to say her family's name aloud.
"So I was able to find out that he's Ivy's son, he does some running of this business company that we now know has the claws of that family in them, but there was no sign of him for the past six months." Kirby explained. "Until now!"
"The six months thing is odd." Karmi noted. She had heard that the first encounter the Dalmatian family had with the teen was exactly six months ago, but then she remembered. "Oh no… I don't think he got out of his own cage."
Both of her friend's eyes widened. "Wait what?!" Eleanor exclaimed.
"What do you mean he was stuck in a cage all that time?!" The jock shouted. "They didn't let him out?!"
"He did look really terrible, it makes me wonder if his family kept him in there that long as punishment for his failures…" Eleanor murmured.
"Suddenly I am less scared of this kid and more scared of what'll happen to him if he stays in that toxic environment." Karmi stated. No wonder Hunter had looked so frail when she was fighting him, it didn't really hit her how scrawny he was until now.
Kirby had a similar look of sympathy. "Yeah, but that family lost all reason when they decided to follow that devil woman into becoming enemies of dog-kind, I don't know if we can reason with that guy… he looked pretty determined to capture the family."
"Someone has to help, Kirby!" They couldn't just leave the teen to his terrible family!
"I know." The jock agreed. "Just don't beat yourself up if he doesn't change his ways." Ever since the first kidnapping decades ago, the devil woman that had attempted to kill dozens of puppies for a stupid fur coat had dragged her entire family into darkness with her.
Kirby wasn't a big believer in curses, but if they were real, then they'd say that the woman had cursed the family and forever tainted the name De Vil.
Teen Dork Squad group chat:
Karms: Hey so I'm asking for a friend about this
Hiro: Sure Jan
Karms: :C but how much do you guys know about the story of Cruella De Vil
June: Whom?
Rach: Oh the lady from the movie can't you find the wiki page abt her?
Meg: Ik her real name is actually Estella!
Rach:
Rach: Wut
Meg: It was for a report in middle school about famous cases
Karms: Oh do you still have that? It's kind of important rn and I feel bad asking my friends bc Camden believes if you say her name aloud she'll haunt you or something
Karms: I don't believe in ghosts but also I used to not believe in rock bears so I ain't risking it
Rach: WAIT SHE'S REAL?!
Ari: Rachel?
Hiro: lmao we broke her
Rach: I THOUGHT SHE WAS A MOVIE CHARACTER WUT
Baymax: She is not
Meg: Don't they say at the beginning of the movie it was based on a true story?
Rach: Well yeah but I thought to myself 'haha no way someone who wants to make puppies into a coat exists' so I thought she was just an OC for the movie!
Hiro: Who would even make an OC that wants a puppy coat
Karms: You know what an OC is?
Hiro: idk what that is
Ari: He's lying he reads your ficiasdjicicjijxzjizjixijxzcijjicisijijxia
June: I'm back! Went and asked around the house a little
June: My siblings were not helpful at all but Aunt Momakase said that according to the history of the De Vils, Cruella started making her family participants in her schemes and now the whole clan turned into dognappers so if you're asking this bc you heard there was a De Vil in Camden atm watch your doggos
Hiro: Why does Momakase know this
Karms: Interesting… I will be sure to tell my doggos to be careful
Rach: YOU'RE TELLING ME THERES MORE PUPPY COAT PEOPLE OUT THERE AND YOU'RE DEALING WITH ONE?!
Karms: I'm just asking for research purposes!
Ari: Cool!
June: Hmmm sus
Karms: :C
Baymax: No fighting in the group chat
June: ok mb
Karms: It's fine, sides even if there was a De Vil in Camden while my family is visiting I'm not too scared
Karms: The only De Vil I'd be scared of is Cruella herself, and she croaked decades ago!
At night, the tower belonging to the company SeaPort looked scarily like a place you'd see a villain use as a hideout, most likely due to the eerie red glow from the top of the building that glowed through the windows.
To the general public, the company was owned by a woman called Mildred Estelle, who didn't have too many details on her wiki page and seemed to keep to herself. But "Mildred" was actually the fake name of a woman Camden believed to be gone a long time ago…
And Hunter was about to call her from his laptop. "Ah, hello!" The voice of an old woman spoke from the microphone.
"Hi Great-Auntie!" For once, the teen had a joyful expression on his face as he heard the voice of his family and current caretaker.
"Well if it isn't my favorite grand-nephew." She stated.
Your only grand-nephew… Hunter couldn't help but think. "Um, did you get any of my messages?"
There was a pause. "What messages?"
"One scheme backfired… I got stuck for six months? You didn't get any of my calls?" Hunter prompted. He had used up all of his phone's battery calling and messaging his great-aunt Cruella for help all that time, he knew she had some of her staff handle calls, did one of them misplace them?
Her response answered that cruel question for him. "Six months? Well, can't say I've noticed."
"Oh…" He ignored the sharp pain in his heart and cleared his throat.
"However, I have noticed the continued absence of one puppy fur coat." His great-aunts' words made him sweat. "Did you find the descendants of those horrible dogs?"
"Yeah, right around 101 Dalmatian Street as predicted." He nodded.
"Oh those brats thought they could hide from me! Well I can't wait until I get the coat made from those soft, fluffy, and beautifully spotted dalmatians."
This was the part she'd hate. "Well…" He trailed off. "I haven't gotten the coat yet-"
The moment he said those words, his great-aunt began to snarl. "You useless boy! I gave you all the resources in the world and you couldn't do one simple thing for me?!"
"I'm s-sorry great-auntie!" Hunter squeaked.
"What is the point of you?! I want that coat! I CRAVE IT!"
He couldn't help but duck back away from the laptop and hide under the desk, no matter how much he was used to his great-aunt's outbursts, he still couldn't help but hide like a coward.
"I must have those puppies, go and do NOT fail me again boy!" With the final word being said, the call on the laptop cut off, and Hunter felt like he could breathe again.
He choked back his tears and slammed the laptop shut, he was a De Vil, and De Vils weren't supposed to cry. "That's it, Cuddles." He turned to the bald cat sitting on one of the nearby chairs. "We're preparing for war!"
He'd get those dalmatians to his great-aunt or die trying, and no group of nobody teenagers would stop him this time.
It was rarely quiet in the Dalmatian household, but since it was night, and most residents of the house were asleep, it would explain why there wasn't the sound of pups running and playing.
But some residents were up, as due to Hunter being back, they were keeping watch. Dylan had tried to volunteer on the first shift but had been talked down by Dolly and his parents seeing how stressed the poor dog was. He always overworks himself too much, I'm glad some of the others are helping out with chores now. Dandy sighed.
Dandy tried to offer first, but surprisingly the Dimitrio of all dogs volunteered, he had been surprised by their eagerness to volunteer given their distaste for responsibility.
"The only one allowed to mess with the household is us!" Dimitri 1 stated.
"That Hunter kid ain't allowed here, and he stresses our sibs out, only we can give them a hard time!" Dimitri 2 added.
"We might play a lot of jokes, but this is one of the times we aren't, we'll keep our ears out for that kid!" Dimitri 3's words had persuaded the parents to let them take watch, seeing how determined the three pups were.
That had been a few hours ago, and Dandy would say it would be early morning instead of night by now, so he was bringing them an early breakfast since the three had spent the night taking turns keeping watch. When he got to the roof, where the three had been using Dylan's telescope to keep watch, Dimitri 1 was the current pup awake.
"I brought refreshments for you and your brothers." Dandy told him as he dragged the kibble bag over.
He didn't miss the way Dimitri 1 drooled at the bag. "Woah, that's the biggest bag of kibble I've ever gotten in my life!"
Dandy's eyes softened as Dimitri 1 gently woke up his brothers and let them have their fill of kibble first. It was an old habit the leader of the trio had from when they had arrived here to Camden, still carrying scars of the hoarder house they were unfortunately born into. "There's plenty of kibble for the three of you to get stuffed over, you might not even have lunch." Dandy chuckled a little. "Ah… Delilah might be mad at me for that, but you three deserve a treat for keeping watch."
"S' no problem Dadster." Dimitri 2 told him with his mouth half-full of kibble.
"Sides, we know of all dogs how dangerous De Vils are." Dimitri 1 added. "When we first got here and Hunter showed up… we did some digging around on stuff."
That peaked his curiosity. "Stuff about the De Vils?"
"Yeah, and we found out that the lady that kept us in that house was one of them, so when Hunter showed up, we vowed we're gonna protect the family instead of causing them trouble." Dimitri 3 nodded.
"Don't feel bad about your antics you three, you had to spend your early days fighting to survive like you were in the wild, instead of being warm and fed in a house like you should have, you deserve the freedom to be able to play and cause trouble." Dandy reassured them. "Besides, your mom and I had our fair share of rebellion when we were pups, and I'm sure Doug had his moments of causing mischief when he was a kid too."
"Can we hear some stories?" All three of the Dimitrio looked at him curiously.
Dandy smiled, the sun was starting to rise now. "Of course I can!" Even if there was a De Vil skulking about, he'd do his best to keep his family happy.
"I still can't believe that there's a De Vil after the Dalmatians right now…" Eleanor's voice was a whisper as he followed Karmi down the street.
"Yeah, you'd think they'd realize trying to turn dogs into a fur coat is wrong by now…" Karmi added. "Do they just want it for the bragging rights?"
The animal whisperer shrugged. "Dunno, but I hope the Dalmatians are okay, I wouldn't be if the enemy of my kind was right outside my-"
SPLASH!
Whatever Eleanor was going to say had been cut off by the sight of a force of water kicking someone out of the Dalmatian household and landing into the trash across the street.
"Woah what happened?!" Karmi ran over to investigate and saw that Doug was holding one of the spare kibble pumps that was dripping water, with some of the pups shivering behind him.
Doug pointed behind her, and she saw that the person who had been hit with the hose had been Hunter himself. "You again?!" Eleanor exclaimed.
Hunter spat out a rotten carrot before glaring at the animal whisperer. "Oh it's you two, stay out of my business!"
"It is my business when you harass my friends!" He angrily crossed his arms.
The dognapper scoffed at that. "Friends?! Just because you can understand those dogs doesn't mean you're buddy-buddy with them."
"You little-!" Before Eleanor could say another insult, Karmi quickly grabbed them by the arm to get their attention.
"Let's not antagonize him." Karmi reminded him. "Don't throw hands with a twelve year-old."
That offended Hunter. "I'm thirteen!"
She narrowed her eyes at him, he sure didn't look like he was that age, but considering how he still looked really scrawny… "Sure." She decided to leave at that and gestured for Eleanor to follow her into the Dalmatians' house.
Doug quickly shut the door when they got it. "Hey guys!" Dylan waved to them. "Sorry you had to see that, someone-" He glared at Dolly. "Let him in!"
"I thought it was the delivery guy bringing my new set of skateboard wheels, sue me!"
Eleanor just sighed at the bickering. "Guys don't blame each other, at least you got him out of the house in time."
"And Doug proved that my new Water Weapon 2000 is a good weapon of defense!" Dawkins added. "I took inspiration from-"
"Yeah yeah, that one time I hit Karmi with the kibble pump, that's going to end up on my gravestone at this point." Dolly grumbled, her paws shuffling against the carpet.
Karmi was just happy that they were doing okay despite the quick scare. "Well we're gonna be keeping an eye out so that jerk doesn't catch you."
Some of the pups perked up. "Lab Lady's gonna keep us safe from Mr. Funny Face?" Dee Dee turned to Dizzy.
"Yay! We get to have Lab Lady over!" Dizzy's tail was wagging at that.
"Aww, you two are just adorable." Eleanor gushed at the pups, then turned to Karmi. "Looks like you've got some fans."
Glancing away from the animal whisperer did not help hide the blush on her face.
She had been in and out of the household for a few hours by now, the sun now high above Camden, and everything looked okay so far.
If you ignored all the failed attempts of Hunter trying to get into the house or luring one of the pups outside of the house.
Karmi still felt bad for the poor teen. "You really should stop, it's not worth doing all this for the sake of some crazy dead woman." She had said to him when he tried to skydive towards the garden but landed in the neighbor's pond.
"And you should mind your own business!" Hunter had spat, and that was the only thing they said between attempts.
His last attempt had been to disguise himself as a bag of kibble, and thankfully the other dogs in the neighborhood had ruined the trap before any of the Dalmatians had fallen for it. However… Karmi could see a smile on his face as the dogs tried licking kibble off of his face, it was strange considering what family he belonged to.
"For a De Vil, he sure seems to like dog kisses." She dryly noted.
"I'm pretty sure it's a trap." Eleanor huffed.
"Normally I'd agree, but as a dog owner I can tell when someone is enjoying dog kisses, so I'm confused why he's trying to catch the Dalmatians for his family." It was an oxymoron to be exact. "Not to mention he can also talk to animals…"
Eleanor faked a cough. "Ech, don't remind me." Bad enough that there was a member of the-family-that-won't-be-named in Camden, but the fact he could speak to animals like him was even worse. "I still can't believe you think you can reason with him."
"He's the same age as some of my friends back home, and not all of them were picture perfect either." Karmi explained. "I'm still gonna try, a superhero tries to help everyone, even their enemies."
"Huh, I guess I never really thought about that." The animal whisperer hummed. "Did Cobra teach you that?"
To his surprise, the biotech major shook her head. "Nah, it's a quote from Boss Awesome, besides Big Hero 6 he's one of my inspirations for Lab Lady."
"Really? Not Iron Man or something?"
Karmi gave him a deadpan stare. "Ehh we can't all go save the world from otherworldly threats like an evil alien army or something." Not that she kept track of whatever the Avengers were up to…
Knock-Knock-Knock!
Eleanor groaned at the knocking. "Don't tell me he's trying to go through the front door again!"
A sniff from the resident tracking dog of the Dalmatians thankfully proved him wrong. "Hey Karmi, I think your folks are here." Diesel nosed the door.
Good thing I'm not wearing my Lab Lady costume right now. One of the pups had offered to put it in the wash for her when one of Hunter's break-in schemes had gotten it covered with trash and dirt.
When she opened the door, it was her two siblings and Baymax. "Hi Karms!" Haley waved.
"Haley and Ryan wanted to see you." Baymax stated.
Karmi bit her lip as she glanced across the street, Hunter was gone now… but there was no telling when he could pop up again. "I dunno guys, maybe come back later?"
Immediately the two pouted. "We don't see you anymore, you're always at your friend's house or here." Ryan argued.
"And Mom and Dad think you're gonna go back to college when we get back home-"
Her eyes had widened at that. "Wait, they're letting me go back to SFIT?!" To the biotech major, that was music to her ears, as enjoyable her break in Camden was, she missed going to class.
"Dunno, Mom is still on the fence but Dad says it's up to you." Ryan explained.
Haley was jumping up and down. "But we wanna play! We miss you!"
She understood her siblings' request, Karmi herself missed spending time with them. But the Dalmatians… She couldn't just goof off while Hunter was on the loose!
"I can keep an eye on things for a while." That's when Eleanor spoke up.
Karmi sighed with relief. "Thanks, I owe you one."
"It's no biggie."
The twins had the biggest grins on their faces, it was adorable. "Yay!" Haley was jumping again. "Let's go to the park Karms!"
She chuckled as her siblings began to nudge her to the park. "Okay okay, hold your horses."
"What does hold your horses mean?" Baymax questioned as he waddled behind them.
"Patience or something." Ryan shrugged.
Eleanor chuckled as he watched the siblings and the robot walk out of view. "Hey, are you sure we'll be okay without her keeping watch?" Dante poked his head out of the house in worry.
"I'm sure we'll be fine." Despite Hunter being a member of that family, he clearly lacked the clever planning of his ancestors. "Are you guys still planning on lockdown?"
"Mum and Dad are planning on us hiding in the countryside for a while." Dante explained. "We have a spot in one of the empty barns in the Dalmatian Plantation for emergencies only."
That was impressive, then again Eleanor figured the family would have a hideout there since their ancestors used to live at the plantation a long time ago. "Wow, has it ever been used?"
"Only once, before I got my spots there was this termite infestation and we had to leave while people cleaned the house." That memory was a fuzzy one, but he did remember playing hide-and-seek in the hay bales with his littermates to pass the time. "Dunno if there's been other times, you'd have to ask Mum or Papa."
"It's okay." Eleanor reassured him.
For some reason Dante had his eyes narrowed at the animal whisperer. "I might not be an aura reader like Deepak, but I can sense something's on your mind."
"Well yeah, a De Vil is trying to get you guys." Eleanor shuddered as he spoke the name.
"I sometimes forget humans still talk about the De Vils." Dante lightly chuckled. "Some of my siblings haven't even heard of that family, or of Cruella."
He felt a pang of sympathy for those pups. "I hope they never find out." Eleanor himself had heard of the name of De Vil when he was younger during Halloween festivals, the story of Cruella and her evil deeds was a scary story to tell children during the fall.
"Me too." But Dante felt in his gut, that maybe he was wrong about that.
Friendship Circle group chat:
Karmi K: Everything ok back there?
Dolly D: Except me having to confiscate Dylan's phone bc he keeps googling the De Vils
Kirby G: WHY DO YOU SAY THEIR NAME SO CASUALLY?!
Dolly D: : P
Dawkins D: I forgot humans here are so paranoid about that name,,, it's not worth giving them the attention
Eleanor M: Everything is fine! I don't see that Hunter kid anymore, guess he gave up for the day
Eleanor M: I did take a break to call my mum tho
Kirby G: Ah…
Karmi K: Was everything alright?
Eleanor M: Yeah just talked about stuff, I think she feels really bad about lying to me my whole life but talking about things related to my dad are really hard for her
Dawkins D: Sounds like trauma
Kirby G: It still wasn't ok for her to lie to you
Eleanor M: ik but I don't wanna be mad at my mum forever, I did ask if she could tell my about my dad whenever she feels okay to
Eleanor M: I'm kind of curious now since I know he's why I can speak to animals
Dolly D: That's really cool! Do you know his name? Maybe I could ask Mum if she's seen the guy
Eleanor M: Unlikely but all I know is his name is Norbert.
Kirby G: I just thought of something funny. Your parents are Eliana and Norbert and your name is Eleanor… its like they combined their names hahahah
Eleanor M: Oh yeah haha
Karmi K: oh right I have a surprise for you guys!
Dolly D: Ooh I love surprises!
Karmi K invited Domino K to Friendship Circle group chat
Domino K: GUESS WHO HAS A PHONE :D :D :D
Dolly D: omg ONE OF US! ONE OF US!
Dawkins D: I thought your last name would be Dalmatian,,,
Domino K: Sorry dude I'm a Khan first and a Dalmatian second
Kirby G: You could call yourself Domino Khan-Dalmatian
Eleanor M: That's a thing?
Baymax 2: Some people prefer to hyphen their names after marriage
Dolly D: Boo marriage
Karmi K: Is marriage not rly a thing for canines?
Dawkins D: Depends on the couple but we don't really do the whole paperwork part, just throw a nice party and call it a night
Kirby G: Man I wish I could have that kind of wedding, I don't wanna deal with months of planning n' stuff
Eleanor M: There's always eloping
Kirby G: Someone wants to not be the best man anymore
Eleanor M: WAIT I TAKE IT BACK
Domino K: Is it always chaotic here?
Karmi K: Compared to the other group chat I'm in this place is peaceful
Domino K: D:
"I can't believe Domino has a phone before us." Ryan stared at the pup as he was texting some of the other Dalmatians.
"Well he wanted to buy it with the prize money he got from the talent show." Karmi pointed out. "I'd say he's earned it."
Haley agreed with her. "That was really cool how he wrote a short story in front of the crowd! Too bad he didn't get first place…"
"Third place is still good, Haley." Karmi reassured her sister. "If you worry too much about making it to the top, you might not realize you're already at an impressive milestone."
Her little sister chewed on the thought a little. "Like even if I'm not the best at dancing in Ms. Valentine's class I'm still good enough to get picked for the spring dance?"
"Exactly."
"Huh." Haley then went back to fiddling with a squishy ball toy that changed color if you squeezed hard enough. Maybe I'll give them a few more minutes then head back to check on the Dalmatians. They had been at the park long enough for the sun to start making the sky turn a yellow color. And I'm sure our parents want them back at the hotel by now.
Your parents are going to wonder why you keep guarding the Dalmatian house. Her brain unhelpfully pointed out.
I know. She mentally argued back, eventually her parents would find out about her future career as a superhero, it'd be better if she told them then if they found out on a random news article. But not now.
Are you saying that because you know your parents won't let you ever go to San Fransokyo again once they find out?
Karmi couldn't argue with that part of her brain, she still had nightmares from Sycorax. But she didn't want to spend the rest of her life in Port Angeles, she wanted to move on, help people like Captain C- Hiro had helped her.
Maybe they won't be as mad if they find out I saved a school bus of children first? She at least was going to wait after their trip to tell them.
"-she's always there!" Karmi started glancing around as she heard the voice of Hunter. He was at the park? "And I don't know how to get past her!"
He was walking by the park, phone in his hand as it looked like he was calling someone. Karmi glanced at her siblings, who were busy playing games on Baymax's screen, and went to follow Hunter to see who he was on the phone with.
"Well I have a cold due to my lack of a fur coat!" The person on the other end sounded like a crotchety old woman. "I don't want to hear your excuses, just get rid of the stupid girl!"
"I can't do that! People will notice!"
"Oh please, money can make anyone disappear." Karmi felt a chill go up her spine at how nonchalant the old woman was about what she was implying. "You've got one chance to prove you're not totally worthless before I get down there!"
Hunter winced at his phone. "Please I'll get those pups for you I-"
"You better if you still want to call yourself a De Vil!" The phone beeped as the call ended.
Karmi felt half an urge to snap the phone in half for how the person on the other end had treated Hunter. "If you're trying to catch the family for that woman, it's not worth it."
"Gah!" The dognapper whipped his head around, his brown eyes wide with tears. "How'd you sneak up on me?!"
"You shouldn't do your phone calls in public." Karmi crossed her arms. "Is that woman hurting you? If she's making you do this it's considered child abuse-"
"Great-Auntie wouldn't hurt me, she loves me!" Hunter hissed, both his hands gripping the phone. "She's only angry I haven't gotten her the pups sooner!"
Don't get mad at the brainwashed kid Karmi, it won't make him believe you. She took a deep breath before speaking again. "Is murdering a whole family of dogs worth making her love you?"
Hunter's face turned to confusion. "What?! We wouldn't kill them! Great-Auntie has a place in Switzerstan so we could get their fur without hurting them, it'll be like sheep!"
Karmi raised an eyebrow at that, no such tech existed yet, so either Switzerstan was keeping it a secret, or Hunter had been spoon-fed lies. And I'd bet a bowl of my favorite noodle soup that he doesn't know any better. "Have you seen said place for yourself? Did your great-aunt show you a demonstration?"
She could see the doubt in his eyes. "No… but she wouldn't lie to me!"
"Hunter!" Karmi nearly jumped as the bald cat next to the teen screeched. "Are you seriously falling for this?! You're a De Vil, get it together!"
Whatever Cuddles had said to Hunter seemed to have washed away the doubt. "I'm not falling for your lives, you're going to stay out of my way!"
It's cute this kid thinks he can threaten me. She knew he didn't have the guts to do what the old woman on the phone said. His great aunt sounds like a real pleasant woman. But something was odd. Wait, if his mom is Ivy, who's the niece of Cruella-
A cold feeling went down her spine. Then does that mean…?
Whatever thought she was thinking was cut off as Cuddles launched himself at her.
Beep-Beep!
"It's the bus!" Dizzy and Dee Dee were wagging their tails as soon as they saw the red vehicle.
Dylan turned to his parents in confusion. "Why's the bus here?"
"Well we think a few nights at the plantation should help you pups relax." Dandy explained. "With all the failed attempts of Hunter trying to get in, you kids don't even wag your tails when we talk about going to the park!"
Dante felt his fur bristle at the word "park" for some reason. "Are you sure the bus is safe?"
"I can check!" Diesel hopped outside to take a whiff of the air.
"You guys are leaving?" Eleanor walked over to the group of canines.
Dolly shrugged. "Not forever, we're just hiding until Hunter stops snooping around."
That made sense, the animal whisperer could see how stressed the family was thanks to the dognapper lurking around.
"Okay, I can make sure the house is pest-free while you guys are gone." He offered.
"That would be nice, we usually ask our neighbor Constantin to check, but since he's got a tight schedule he can't check everything." Doug was happy about the offer. "The house key is in the drawer near our room."
"Got it." Eleanor gave him a thumbs up and went upstairs, the parents went to separate parts of the house to clean up, they would be joining their kids on the plantation later.
Diesel came back inside. "I didn't get a new whiff of Hunter, he's out of range."
"Maybe he gave up?" Dolly's ears perked up.
"We're still going to the barn, I wanna climb up the rafters there!" Dakota was racing towards the bus.
Dubaku followed after her. "Get back here!"
Pretty soon the rest of the pups were climbing onto the bus, when Dante was climbing the steps, his paws were shaking. "You okay?" Dylan asked him.
"Y-yeah I'm good." He lied. There had been a feeling of dread in his chest since the bus showed up, he didn't want to worry the others by talking about it so he just kept it in. Probably another worry about that stupid danger.
Dylan had been the last one on so when he got inside the bus, the door closed. As he was walking to his seat, the bus driver had gotten out of his chair and was standing in front of the dalmatians.
"Hey that guy is new!" Dixie pointed to him.
Dylan turned to the "driver" who was wearing a suit that covered his face and emitted no smell, when he began laughing, his eyes widened as he recognized that laugh.
It was the same laugh that had haunted his nightmares for six months. "Will my genius never end?" Hunter started to take off the suit and Diesel gasped as he could smell his scent once the suit was off.
"How?!" The pup exclaimed, his nose was the sharpest in the family!
"This suit makes me sniff-proof! Hashtag tricked!" The teen boasted.
Every pup was staring at him in horror, realizing they were trapped with their worst enemy on the bus.
"It's Mr. Funny Face!"
Every pup except Dizzy and Dee Dee. "And he's wearing a funny suit!" Dee Dee pointed to him.
"Funny-?!" Hunter looked taken aback for a moment, but then he smirked. "I'm not funny-"
He looked like he was about to pounce. "Run!" Dante shouted to his siblings.
"I'm Hunter De Vil!"
Dylan barely managed to get Dizzy and Dee Dee away from the teenager holding a giant burlap sack and once Hunter's missed pounce made him fall on the ground, the pups began to scream.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-!"
Delilah twitched an ear. "Do you two hear that?"
"I don't hear anything." Dandy had earbuds in as he was doing one last vacuum of the house.
Doug poked his head from the basement. "Me neither."
"Huh." Maybe it was just her imagination.
"DJ no!" Dakota cried out as her brother had gotten caught. "Lemme at him lemme at him-"
Dimitri 3 held her back by the scruff. "You'll get caught too!"
Triple D whimpered as a looming hand went to grab them, only for Diesel to bark at it and give them the chance to run, but Diesel wasn't able to escape either.
Dylan scrambled under one of the seats to hide. I should've seen this coming! As he scrambled under, he saw that he wasn't the only one there.
The bus driver had been tied up and gagged, alongside-
"Karmi!" Dylan took the gag off of her face and tried to untie her, but to no avail. "What happened?"
"I didn't see that cat coming…" Karmi turned her head to show that she had a couple scratches on her face. "Next thing I knew I woke up here."
Yip!
Dylan turned to see Hunter was trying to grab the youngest member of the family. "Dorothy!" He looked in the aisle and saw one of the squeaky toys that his siblings most likely dropped. Caring more about protecting his little sister than his own safety, Dylan grabbed the squeaky toy and tossed it at Hunter.
Hunter's eyes widened as he got hit in the back and heard the sound of squeak-squeak! Dylan expected the dognapper to target him for that.
"A toy!" Instead, Hunter started barking in the language of canines and playing with the toy.
"Uh… is he barking for fun or did he speak canine?" Karmi mumbled, surprised at the sudden change in Hunter.
Dylan had his mouth open at the strange behavior, Hunter didn't act like that last time, but maybe he could work with it… and he began to crawl towards the teen.
"Don't do it!" Dolly whispered as he approached Hunter.
As he was in range, Dylan extended his paw. "Uh, good boy… good boy…" He muttered as his paw touched Hunter's face, and the teen practically leaned into the touch.
"Attaboy."
All of the remaining pups on the bus had their mouths open wide. "What the…" Da Vinci's eyes were wide as dinner plates.
"Who wants a tickle?" Dylan didn't notice his siblings' expression as he was too busy distracting Hunter with the power of tickles.
"Yes I want a tickle!" While Hunter was distracted, Dolly lifted up the bag and the trapped pups were able to escape, they helped get the humans off of the bus since they were still tied up.
Dylan picked up the squeaky toy and waved it around as Hunter stared at it with wide eyes. "Now…" He turned to the door of the bus, which had been opened. "Fetch!"
The moment Hunter began running after the squeaky toy, Dylan bolted to the house and practically collapsed on the floor. "Oooh I'm gonna pass out."
"Bro, that was awesome!" Dolly exclaimed.
"Thanks…" He was too tired to care at this point.
With the help of multiple paws, Karmi had been untied from the rope, so had the bus driver. "That kid snuck up on me with a bat." He explained when the biotech major asked how he got tied up, he thanked the Dalmatians and left to go home a while ago.
Her mind was still on Hunter's behavior. "I did not expect him to start speaking canine." Was it the result of being trapped in isolation for six months? "Uch… I feel like I'm forgetting something important." She remembered confronting Hunter at the park, but the conversation was now blurry thanks to getting hit on the head by the stupid cat.
"Pups?" The parents had noticed their kids were back inside. "What happened to the bus?" Delilah questioned.
"Mr. Funny Face was there!" Dizzy exclaimed.
The three parents had a look of confusion. "I'm gonna lie down upstairs." Karmi stated. She didn't want to be in earshot when they learned about what happened on the bus.
Deepak was staring at her oddly as she went up. I'll be fine. She mentally reassured the guru, she knew he couldn't read minds, but he did know how to read auras.
"Oh hey, how was the park!" Eleanor poked his head out from one of the rooms.
Karmi made an "eh" gesture. "Hunter took over the bus and I couldn't do anything because his dumb cat got the jump on me."
Eleanor looked concerned. "Are you okay? Not every superhero wins a fight y'know…"
"I know, it's not what I'm upset about, I'm upset because I can't remember something about him." Karmi explained. "I was talking to him earlier and I feel like something important is missing!"
"Well maybe you're just paranoid? I can't be that important if you forgot." Eleanor reassured her.
Maybe she was overthinking it. "I guess you're right." But she did remember something. "Oh shoot! I left my siblings behind at the park, my mom is going to kill me!"
"I'll help bury your body."
"Thanks Eleanor."
The animal whisperer had a silly grin on his face in response.
Elsewhere…
A clawed hand tightly gripped a cigar pipe, it was ridiculous how slippery a family of mutts had been, hiding under the grid for decades until Hunter had sniffed them out.
But sadly her grand-nephew didn't have the brains to collect them, so she had to do the job herself.
A red car's eyes flashed brightly as it sped the dark streets of Camden, leaving chaos behind its trails.
Soon those Dalmatians would learn to fear the name De Vil and pay the price for their rebellion with their lives.
And anyone… human or canine who tried to stop Cruella, would join their fate.
AN: Huehuehue, we are slowly heading towards the finale : )
Hope you enjoyed this chapter! It's fun to finally get to write Hunter, hope you enjoyed this! This chapter had some things from "Better the De Vil You Know"
Highlights of me writing this was de vil family lore and the tidbit about why Hunter didn't realize Cruella was gonna kill the dogs, lying to him! and Hunter wouldn't doubt his great-aunt of course...
See you guys next time for the beginning of the end!