Steel Sponge

Time for my annual "What I got for Christmas" flex: -Kingdom Hearts board game -Hunter x Hunter backpack (different from the one I got last year) -Hunter x Hunter oven set -Hunter x Hunter blind box figure (Gon) -SpongeBob blind box pin (I got Squidward) -Headphones -Hot Topic gift card -Pokemon cookbook -Aebleskiver/takoyaki pan -Shirts for Gorillaz, Muse, and Avatar: The Way of the Water -Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots 20th Anniversary Edition CD -The 1975 - Being Funny in a Foreign Language CD -Florence + the Machine - Dance Fever CD -Sam Fender - Seventeen Going Under CD -The Wolf House DVD -Some Evangelion mat thing -Cash (unpictured)

8. Ikaika (Strength) Enakai’s stern words left Koamalu to think about how to speak with him without hinting at who in which has been giving him all the information about the unagi that he had forgotten about. However, since Koamalu still couldn’t make out the name and appearance of the individual who had been speaking to him through his dreams, he figured that he could still at least come off to Enakai as scatterbrained in certain matters so he might not be able to pick up all the pieces in an instant. Koamalu also focused his mind on the solemn advice that the unknown voice from the dreamscape had given him that the truth that Enakai gives him would be hard for him to handle. At this very point, all that SpongeBob could do is watch and listen. Eventually, Koamalu mustered up the courage to speak to Enakai, “I’ve been having these feelings lately...like you’ve been hiding some things about me – about my past, about where I came from, and about my connection to you.” “Who told you these things?” Enakai demanded. “And what were you told?” “I don’t know who, but what I do know is that you’re not very trustworthy,” Koamalu continued, whilst the previous declaration made Enakai’s blood boil. “I’ve been told that you and the Lava King are two beings from different times with different ideals, but with the same motive of raising me. I’ve also been told that you’re not really my guardian, and that you have your reasons for trapping me in your own world until you sent me out of it because of something to do with the future and my curiosity. What I’m trying to say is I don’t understand what’s going on, and that I wouldn’t know until I faced you, Enakai. So now that I know that you’re involved with this whole farce with the worlds colliding and falling apart, I have the right to know what you wanted with me.” “So, I suppose this entity that you’ve met is a Totem God who communicates through dreams. Am I right?” Enakai inquired. “I suppose letting you out was going to lead to some disadvantages on my end.” “I can’t tell you,” Koamalu responded in a solemn tone. “Well, then you don’t have to tell me anything, because the omens can’t tell a lie nor can it hide anything. However, I don’t have any excuse to hide my real intentions. You’ve gotten this far in this journey of yours without being dead, so I’ll tell you everything.” Koamalu waited with his eyes directly staring at the supernatural beast, standing still in front of him until he began telling his story, orbiting around the sea dragon and his own dome in a menacing demeanor as he did. “120 years ago in our respective times and places, the Lava King and I saw a vision of the future, stating that a multi-dimensional phenomenon would occur in, of course, 120 years in all existing universes. This phenomenon is described to spread an infinite amount of power, that had been fostered for the past 3,000 years, all across the multiverse that could lead up to the end of all life if it’s kept unstable. Another phenomenon would have to occur for this to take place, with a meteor striking in one dimension after those 3,000 years since the last incidence. Now that I’ve witnessed half of that foretelling coming true, it’s only a matter of time before the other half of this riddle comes together as well. To keep track of all this time, I sought to keep a specimen for that reason. I needed a creature that could physically age every 10 years, and that’s when I came down to relying on you, Koamalu…” However, Enakai noticed that Koamalu had fallen asleep during the midst of his anecdote, prompting for the unagi to phase part of his body into the sea dragon’s to enter his mind and snap him back into a state of wakefulness. “What’s this, you weren’t even listening? Keep your eyes and ears open because this next thing concerns you!” As he was told, Koamalu focused his attention towards the unagi. “There were two sea dragons from the same universe that were expected to hatch at the same time, from the same nest. I had no other choice than to take one for myself, but that’s when I encountered the Lava King, who had the same idea yet different motive. While I wanted to see how the future would unfold, the Lava King wanted the foreseen power all for himself. Although his domain was from the past, a scholar stumbled into his world, and that was when he learned about the science behind dimensional travel. He took the egg that I intended to take. Of course, he didn’t think that through as I took the egg that he intended to take and erased his memory of his cross-dimensional knowledge to spite him. There was one big obstacle that I had to face when it came to claiming you, so I also had no other choice than to kill the parents – yours for that matter. The father possessed little supernatural abilities, but the mother had powers that I learned were that of a Totem God.” “So what you’re telling me is that you had me separated before I was born, while you had also killed my real family, all just to raise me over some vision of the future you saw?” Koamalu questioned, as he now appeared feeling vexed and betrayed by the unagi. Raising his voice now, he then said to Enakai, “Just…just what is your goal anyway!?” “As you can tell, I had to conceal the truth for it was going to be difficult for you to handle as you got older, which was why I established the façade that I was your guardian all this time,” Enakai continued. “While I’m in no position of defending my own actions as just, what you should know is that my intentions have more to do than with just ‘some vision.’ Another reason why I’ve sought your family is because I needed a creature that possessed vast strength, and even though one major part of my plan was ruined by the Lava King, it turns out that I was the lucky one. When I encountered the Lava King again after several years, I was told that he lost the pawn he took from me several years ago, and I was smart enough to keep you for as long as I did, as you were born with supernatural powers.” “Oh yeah, well guardian or not, you’re a monster, no matter what you say about yourself!” SpongeBob chimed in before the unagi intimidated him into silence in an instant when he slithered right towards him. “You must be the one who’s been guiding Koamalu up to this point in using his power. I can tell by the fear in your eyes that you’re not capable of using it yourself against me.” Enakai remarked. “SpongeBob has nothing to do with you,” Koamalu shot back. “You can’t pick a fight with him like that.” “I’m afraid I can. I am a being whose powers bend time and space,” Enakai continued, “but enough of this futile arguing. I haven’t gotten into explaining the main reason why I’ve caused these dimensions to combine and slowly crumble into nothingness. Yes, I admit to setting it up, and I’ve done it to force you to show me how much power you can use in such a catastrophic event like the one that was foretold, and to teach you the repercussions of curiosity. Of course, when I realized that you were born with powers of the Totem Gods and could communicate with them, I had to cut off your connection to them somehow, so I created a pocket dimension identical to your original one that embargoed their cross-dimensional interference.” “So you did betray and pawn me all this time, and for what, to teach me some lesson about how curiosity could destroy the world and to test my strength?” Koamalu said in a solemn, distraught tone. “Does that mean you also set up for all these merged worlds to be destroyed and for me to be killed by the Lava King?” “I still needed you alive. I caused the cross-dimensional rift so that I could prevent the Lava King from harming you or taking advantage of your powers,” Enakai clarified. “I may have shown curiosity myself with all that I’ve said about the vision I’ve had of the multiverse facing mass extinction of all life, but with precision, that turns into knowledge and wisdom that can be relied on to stop total destruction. I’ve seen your curiosity as a threat, as reopening your connection to the Totem Gods would allow you to know too much about the multiverse’s mysteries yet while knowing little about maintaining its natural order, let alone would it all let slip the heavy baggage that I’ve carried for all these years…although, since now that I’ve already admitted the cruel intentions that I’ve committed just to have you in my possession, it’s too late for me to justify them and keep you convinced that I don’t mean to harm you…because that ends now. So tell me Koamalu, now that you know all this, what are you going to do with me? I ask you this because I’ve now made up my mind that I will have to kill you to fulfill my goal.” Koamalu was trying to maintain self-control of his Totem God powers as Enakai’s talk left him feeling paralyzed, his body shaking as he exhibited a flurry of emotions while he continued to stare at the unagi – betrayal, anger, bewilderment, terror, sadness, and vengeance. “Did that vision of yours say that one of us is destined to kill each other at this very moment?” Koamalu asked. “I’m not above killing anybody, but if I have to at least fend you off, then that’s just what I’ll have to do.” “Show me how much you’ve grown with your powers, then. You may not realize this, but your time is running out soon enough…” As Enakai spoke of this, Koamalu knelt down as the shooting pain from the blue scales on his back returned and caused him great pain. “If your friend is courageous enough to face me, then I’ll oblige to have him join you in your imminent defeat.” As SpongeBob was about to step in beside the sea dragon, Koamalu motioned for him to hold himself back. “No…this is my fight, so I think it’ll just be the two of us,” Koamalu declared. “Koamalu, it’s my responsibility to keep you safe and-” SpongeBob whispered. “Don’t worry about me,” Koamalu said and turned back to face Enakai. “If you really have the heart to kill me for your own gain, then I accept to fight you,” Koamalu said, “and you’ll never take control of my life again once you concede defeat.” “Very well…” Enakai responded. “I should warn you though that I have powers that would exceed your level. Pushing the limit of your powers has been taking a toll on your life force, but I would still like to see try and outmatch me. Kill me, spare me, the choice is yours.” Koamalu got himself in a fighting position, anticipating for the worst from Enakai, like his opponent had forewarned. Though he was all alone, Koamalu showed a confident demeanor against a creature that stood taller and bolder than he could. Koamalu started by conjuring fire balls as simple bait to see what he was up against. Enakai repelled the attacks by using his neck to fend them off. Afterwards, the unagi started making his first move against Koamalu without moving his body, by presenting his telekinetic abilities. The rubble inside the cave floated and flung in Koamalu’s direction. Koamalu reacted by conjuring gusts of wind to slash the pieces of gravel and stone and deflect them towards Enakai, who had no issue avoiding the counterattack. Koamalu kept on using his Totem God powers to emit long-range attacks, including with his next move in shooting water arrows, all of which Enakai also no took no issue in evading. After the unagi zig-zagged around the area, he then used his telekinetic powers energized within his tail to send Koamalu crashing through the walls. Once as Koamalu got back up to resume the fight, he then used his powers to make the ground beneath Enakai to fissure and potentially crumble with him caught in it, but this chance was voided once as the sea dragon got a real look at the extent of the unagi’s supernatural powers. Without warning, the movement of time all around Koamalu stopped while time functioned like normal for Enakai. The sea dragon’s frozen stare broke off after he took another damaging blow. In an instant, Koamalu then summoned clouds to cushion the impact from the hit. Koamalu would then summon jetstreams by his feet and dashed towards Enakai to use the rest of his energy to conjure up a sunbeam that managed to land a hit on his sole opponent. Koamalu dodged away from another slam of the tail after the jetstreams faded. While Koamalu prepped up another attack, he felt as time would stop once again. In the flash of regaining his senses, the sea dragon saw as he was suspended in the air before Enakai’s telekinesis sent him flying downward. Being barred from the one-on-one clash between two supernatural beings, all that SpongeBob could do was watch his companion Koamalu fight and silently root for him. Koamalu was overwhelmed once more by Enakai’s time-stopping power, but he’s more alert towards defending himself in the event of taking in severe damage from the unagi by either conjuring a shield or a pile of clouds. Taking notice of Enakai’s power source allowed for the sea dragon to mull over a strategy. Koamalu then conjured up wind all around himself to be brought to a good enough distance towards Enakai to flatten on top of his slender body before then emitting a fire and ice fusion discharge to effectively produce a blast of steam and land a hit on the unagi before he could stop time. The steam obscured Koamalu enough to give him more reaction time to defend from Enakai’s impending slam attack, while also preventing him from being able to focus his next party of the strategy on aiming for the tail due to the unagi’s guard recovery. The sea dragon then decided to employ the same strategy, but Enakai’s reaction time became quicker enough to prevent him from landing the attack as he would conjure a portal to let his head go through and create another within trajectory of slamming into Koamalu, and knocking him from off atop of his body in the process. Koamalu continued to stand vigorous against Enakai while the latter still held the higher ground. Enakai used his telekinetic abilities on the rubble surrounding him once again to aim at Koamalu, who countered them by emitting water balls that the unagi would then uses his powers to deflect them against the sea dragon, prompting for Koamalu to repel by emitting fire balls. In Koamalu’s next attempt to hit Enakai’s power source and his supposed weak spot, he employed a diversion tactic. He started by directly firing a blast of steam at Enakai, before then conjuring smoke bombs with every few steps he made across the arena walls. At this point, Enakai used his portal conjuring powers to transfer his body through multiple directions aimed straight at Koamalu. The sea dragon knew he wasn’t as agile as Enakai was to slide and crash right through every which way he went, but he continued to rely on his current strategy and became alert enough to emit his defensive magic. As the portal dashing pattern continued, Koamalu waited for the moment where he could snag at Enakai’s tail fast before the unagi could strike at him once more. At that right moment, Koamalu got a hold on the tail by conjuring an octopus arm and pulled on it until Enakai used his portal powers to pass and then cut straight through the spell, recover control of his tail and then telekinetically suspend Koamalu in the air before stopping time. The sea dragon hanged motionless and forced to stare at Enakai as he had something intimidating to say to him. “Try all you can to best me, but the chances of that are slim. I can play dirtier than you’d think.” Before Koamalu could plan out his next move to make on the unagi, he saw as Enakai summon multiple apparitions of himself in different colors. Once the sea dragon was unstiffened from Enakai’s time powers, he saw as he took multiple hits from the way Enakai and his copies swiftly dashed through him. Koamalu gave himself more time than before to regain his composure while Enakai’s pace in scraping at the sea dragon had picked up. This became more apparent with Enakai reusing his portal path summoning and transmission powers, which at that point, Koamalu could only endure with the defense magic he had in his mind. While Enakai’s main method of attacking was with long-range physical damaging, the next course of action for Koamalu was to conjure a tall tidal wave to engulf the arena and suppress Enakai’s concentration with enough time to catch his tail before the time-stopping power would activate. With the rest of the power he could use with the previous spell activation, Koamalu drilled his way through the water wall and back atop the back of the beast. In his next attempt to nullify Enakai’s powers, Koamalu emitted an iron shackle aiming for the same weak spot. Enakai, being quick enough to react, emitted a portal for his to go through and stun Koamalu before crashing through the sea dragon head-on. After Koamalu stood back up and summoned his defenses, Enakai became quick to break them off with his physical strength. The unagi’s agility was beginning to be too much for Koamalu to bear as he returned to enduring Enakai’s combination of time immobilization and the multiple dashing blows. While the sea dragon continued to be overwhelmed by Enakai’s power, Koamalu looked over one more chance in conquering the beast and thought about the unagi’s current focus on him rather than his surroundings. Before Koamalu could carry out his next course of action, Enakai resorting to reusing his telekinetic powers, which were shown to be faster and more brutal on him when he felt as his body, was being flung around whilst being unable to conjure up clouds or shields to endure the damage he was taking. For the rest of the way, Koamalu’s attempts in trying to stop Enakai would be ceded by each and every next assault from the unagi until the pain in Koamalu’s pain returned and broke his composure. The sea dragon then found himself getting caught and wrapped by Enakai’s body, followed by a constricting sensation from the unagi’s telekinetic powers controlling his nerves, leaving Koamalu’s partner, SpongeBob, to cry out to the unagi to stop and spare the dragon’s life. “You can’t underestimate the Dimension Master,” Enakai tormented. “You know how I’ve killed your mother, Koamalu? This is the same way that I’m going to get rid of you! Even, of course, if it pains me to do this to a creature that I’ve spent 120 years under my own protection.” Koamalu was prepared to accept his fate as he struggled against Enakai’s restraint on him until the appendages on his back pulsed and made the patterns on the rest of his body glow and discharge a mysterious force that made the unagi let go. This gave the sea dragon the grand opportunity use his powers to slash across the walls of the cove from left, right, top, and then to the bottom, making them crumble in the process before Enakai’s time manipulation could prevent him from doing so. Once as time froze once again, Enakai looked around to see the predicament that Koamalu had produced right in front of him before it occurs. This time, Koamalu is able to speak and move around, catching plenty of frantic breaths as he waited for the unagi to talk. “So, this is how you overwhelm me?” Enakai questioned, “By pulling a quitter move on me and shattering the dimension from the inside out.” “My body reacted to being near death somehow, and in the heat of the moment, I had to come up with something,” Koamalu groaned. “You’ve tired me out, but I’m going to keep surviving until you’re down.” “You’ll just have to wait and in a moment if you can manage that,” Enakai replied. Before Enakai could stabilize the time effects, Koamalu uttered to him, “Wait! If I were to fix the dimensions, how would I be able to do that?” After a moment of silence, Enakai responded to the sea dragon, “All I can tell you is…you’re on your own, kid.” Time returned to normal. An avalanche of rubble was coming down all around the cavern, persuading Koamalu, SpongeBob, and Patrick, the latter who had also been watching from the sidelines, to run for safety. Before Koamalu could catch up to SpongeBob, he felt and saw as Enakai’s tail caught his left leg. In a rush, Koamalu used his Totem God powers to cut it off, but not before hearing a memento from the respective unagi… “My future may be lost, but the Lava King is waiting for you on the other side,” Enakai spoke. “Fail to conquer him and I guarantee that you will have no future…” Afterwards, Enakai was completely obscured by the rubble. The dimension began to distort and fade by the time Koamalu caught up with SpongeBob until he and the group were zapped back outside in Tiki Land. This would be the last time that Koamalu would see Enakai upon returning from the now-demolished pocket dimension. In an instant, and from the exhaustion of the battle, Koamalu fell asleep and returned to the dreamscape. The mysterious entity was in front of him and the blur that embodied them was now starting to become clearer to the sea dragon. “I’ve noticed that Enakai is gone,” the voice spoke. “This may be the last time that we’ll ever talk, so I should reveal myself now, though it would shock you to know who I am…” “Who are you and why have you been giving me guidance?” Koamalu asked. “Take a closer look…” The voice responded and soon enough, Koamalu saw a clear image of the person in front of him, awaiting the complete answer that she had for him, “I’m your mother, Koamalu.”

discuss one of the worst best video game franchises ever made

So, after nearly ten years, this is what my listening experience has been building all up to ever since I started 'getting into music.' As even I'm aware, it still feels unorthodox of me to enter this lane, but I'm glad to have become a music fan as soon as I did, even with me being hearing impaired (contrary to what one may think though, I do listen to just about the same exact sounds that an otherwise normal hearing person can) and having to read off lyrics to almost everything that I consume for me to pick up my thoughts on any particular song from a lyrical standpoint, and I'm especially glad to have gotten to the point where I've expanded my taste beyond what's popular and looked into the kind of music that other fans and music publications alike were recommending that are unheard of elsewhere, and I've still been looking to broaden my scope to this day, so I would definitely see this list changing a lot in the next five years or so. A lot of the acts that are going to be shown on my list I have come to know based on a variety of factors ranging from what my family enjoys listening to, what my e-friends on this very website enjoy listening to, my own personal encounters, what I've discovered from browsing certain music-focused websites like Pulse Music Board and The Singles Jukebox, what music critics like Todd in the Shadows, Spectrum Pulse, and Anthony Fantano have enjoyed, and among other things that I haven't mentioned. Up to this very point, these are the music acts that have defined my personal taste the most, and you're all going to be given a look at that, starting now... STEEL'S TOP 100 ARTISTS (#175-151)

does this count as alternative:

Funniest Member: kev, ExKizuna, Fred, Slug Kindest Member: SOF, Cha, mythix, Katniss Spongiest Member: Winter, 4EverGreen, NegiSpongie, WhoBob Best Gamer: dman, DarknessDG, BobCarotte, ExKizuna Most Cinematic Member: WhoBob, Katniss, jjs, Clappy As Seen on TV: jjs, WhoBob, salmon, Cha Geekiest Band Geek: Prez, kev, Kylie, sbl Most Artistic Member: Aquatic, Cha, Dreaded Patrick, Patty Rose Best Creation: Wumpa Defender, Crash Bandicoot!, Power Rangers: Multiverse Force, Total Cartoon series Best Ended Creation: SBCinema, Mabel's Fables, One-Time Star Wars Characters: Where Are They Now?, Super Mario Bros. Z Kong Best Miniseries: Skod on the Run, Jjs' Riffing Theater: Family Guy Funny Moments, Patrick Star in the Multiverse of Madness, Most Wanted Best Episode: SBCinema (SBCinema), Magnum (Condom) Opus (Skod on the Run), Mission Accomplished (Most Wanted), Chapter 20 (Mabel's Fables) Best Comedy: One-Time Star Wars Characters: Where Are They Now?, 4Kids Edits Ace Attorney, Patrick Star in the Multiverse of Madness Best Storyline: Most Wanted, SBCinema, Total Cartoon series, MegaloMania Best Protagonist: Scooter (Scooter's Paradise: Remastered), Manny (MegaloMania), Clay (Most Wanted), Keanu Reeves (Skod on the Run) Best Antagonist: Skodwarde (Skod on the Run), Hopper (Most Wanted), Plankton (Fumhouse) Honorary Creator: Cha and CNF Honorary Creation: Total Cartoon and The Misadventures of Casper and Wendy Honorary Staff Member: CDCB and terminoob Honorary Member: Ex and kev

All right, folks, here's this secret "little" project that I've been hyping up for a while. I'm going to be sending off my own tenure as a music reviewer with my own list for my favorite music artists of all time (or at least it will be as of that writing). Since the past year, I've gotten around to listening to a gauntlet of albums as means of setting up my list. I've now come close to completion for it, so I can at least start things off with this announcement. Of course, I'm not the first to do something like this when Wumbo has already sent off his Billboard year-end review thread with his own list, but he's said on that same thread that he is open to other members doing their own...: ...Which is exactly why I'm doing my own list. So, here in this thread, you guys are all going to be given a closer look at what defines my music taste. I cannot give too much away already, but I can guarantee that despite me claiming that it will show diverse it is, there is going to be some perceived bias regardless of how I frame it. And of course, before I start my reveals, and before discussion starts, here's a few things to consider: 1) The most important thing to consider is to keep things civil. It's not that I don't trust any of you to keep discussion respectful, but I still stress that are going to be some picks that will spark some disagreements, and I also say this to ensure to keep comments about accusations of me being genre/oldie/recency/etc.-biased to a minimum. At the end of any given day, this is my list, and it consists of MY opinions and my opinions only. There's also a good number of names that you won't be seeing mentioned here, and while I will take questions regarding "what do you think about this artist/that artist?," after I finish the countdown, I prefer not to take answers regarding where one act is on my list and/or why they're not on my list. The collection of music I listen to will, of course, grow in the next several years with several other artists and genres that I haven't explored in-depth yet all already being in my docket. This list is a representation of my music taste at this very point in time. 2) While the format of this list is going to be structured in a similar fashion to that of Wumbo's, there are a few things that I will do different with my list. -Despite that this is a top 100 list, I am going to push the envelope and make this a top 175 list, with the first 75 music acts to be named serving as a long list of honorable mentions. Of course, this is because I have a good number of painful cuts, and I still at least want to recommend and discuss them in some length. -I will list my absolute favorite song and favorite album from the particular artist, but I will gradually increase the amount of songs recommendations after each set of 25 reveals until I reveal my top 10. To elaborate further on this...: 175-151 (The wildcards): 3 songs per act. 150-126 (The strong contenders): 4 songs 125-101 (The painful cuts): 5 songs (The list proper) 100-76: 6 songs 75-51: 7 songs 50-26: 8 songs 25-11: 9 songs 10-1: 10 songs I will try to keep my commentary for most of these music artists as minimal as I can allow, with a good chunk of exceptions, and of course, I will only provide a hyperlink for my top song for each artist, for already obvious reasons. 3) There are some ground rules made for forming this list. First of all, the cutoff for a certain music act to have released an album while having more than one under their belt is 2019, so any artist who began releasing albums in 2020 onwards will not make the cut. Artists with only one studio album to their name will also not make the cut, and while I do hold some current one album artists with high regard, don't expect to see names like SZA or Sky Ferreira to appear because of this rule. Although, I will bend that rule for one artist, but I will not disclose who that will be. 4) The music acts that make up my list and their placements are based on my personal judgments that are measured by a set of certain factors. Just because publications like Rolling Stone, Spin, Pitchfork, etc., and other fellow musicians like Kurt Cobain, Elton John, Elvis Costello, and etc. have said a particular artist to be one of their all-time favorites, that doesn't mean it's my all-time favorite. I, like just about everyone else, don't measure based on success, critical acclaim, how many best-of-all-time lists they appear on, or whatever else. 5) Feel free to make any predictions for my lists if you want to start a bit of a conversation on here, but keep them light-hearted and serious.

Previously, I’ve talked about my most controversial album track rankings from the past year, so now it’s time for me to wrap it up with the ten tracks that have become some of my biggest favorites of that same year. I’m going along with the same rules as before, and I don’t have to restate the formalities, and so I don’t have to write up a big preamble for this. I’m just going to get started… Steel’s Top 10 Essential Tracks of 2021 I’m sorry that I delayed the last portion of this review for a while, but now that I’ve properly closed it, there’s only one more thing for me to follow it up with. What will that be? Let’s just say that you’ll find out sooner than later.

You Can Eat Here. From an estimated 500 locations at its prime to just 5 in existence as of this writing, what a way to go down. Also the very originator of the most interesting yet disastrous marketing campaign that I've come to know.

Looks like I have a reason to stay as Mr. Delicious for a while longer. Tick-a-dee dee.

Considering that this is another late announcements thread for my written works, the news that I have to share for the last quarter of the year is going to be more unorthodox. Once again, I have no major updates to share, but I do have some important things to say regarding where I'll be with the general progression of releasing new content. I do have a couple works I intend to finish at least before the end of the year, so while I'm not taking a hiatus per-say, there will be a few certain factors that will effect my writing productivity from this month forward: -Pokemon Scarlet and Violet (Other than that, I had also intended to start a Nuzlocke for a separate game that I haven't gotten around to yet. I may not be able to start that until December.) -Me actually trying to get started working on my art portfolio for an animation school/job training program that I'm trying to get admitted to for next year, which I can't disclosure any further beyond that. So, with all that in mind, I will at the very least list a few things that I plan on getting written up before the end of 2022: -The long-delayed Lost in Translation finale. -The VERY long-delayed official first episode of Trinity Leaf Pegasus -The last three episodes of TikI Land along with its and Rebirth of a Storm's epilogue -At least one episode of Total Drama Treasure Tour -Something else, which I can't disclose. This already wraps up the last of my quarterly spin-off announcements, even though it didn't go out with a bang as much as I'd preferred. This doesn't mean that this will be the last of my spin-off announcements, as I will have one planned for next year. That time, however, I will post my next major announcements when the time is right, with my current guarantee being somewhere between January and March 2023.

My most desired countries to visit are UK, Japan, and Canada. I also have Australia, Brazil, Italy, and France as some considerations.

I try to be paint my own taste as musically diverse, but I only checkmarked the first three (Pop, Rock, and Hip Hop), while my main taste tends to lean towards alternative, although I would consider it a separate style though I'm aware it gets boxed in with the rock umbrella. I do also show some liking towards jazz, electronic, classical, and reggae, but I haven't delved into either of them deep enough to consider them as favorites. I've listened to country during a good chunk of my childhood, I like Chris Stapleton, I like Maren Morris, I like Johnny Cash, I like The Dixie Chicks, I like a few others I haven't named, but it's not a genre that I listen to a lot of the time, and of course, despite being a rock guy, I don't listen to metal. 'Other' depends on what else could be referred to. I've listened to a fair amount of punk (most of it being on the pop punk side though, lol), funk, disco, and folk to check a box on those. If you don't consider synthpop or new wave a subcategory of pop and rock, then I would also check a box on those. Most blues music I have listened to I have liked, though I've gotten little into it. Could say the same for ska. Latin pop is a mixed bag for me, but I know there's better stuff out there that I haven't discovered yet. R&B is another mixed bag for me, but I can refer to some of the classics from that genre. I like the Japanese music scene though I've also experienced little of it and I so intend to broaden it in the future. K-Pop, I couldn't care less. I'm not religious so I don't listen to Christian music. I don't listen to adult contemporary, because, of course, no one really likes that one.

33. The World Ends with Dante So, here's something that I'm sure you folks weren't expecting from me - a story based on the relatively niche 101 Dalmatian Street cartoon. Now, if you haven't seen me mentioning it on Discord by now, I have been giving not-so subtle hints that I've been really into this show lately, a and it's gotten to the point where I felt the need to write stories for this series (so expect more stories based on 101DS later on from me, just so I'd let you guys know), with this one in particular revolving around the hypothetical idea of showing some character development for one of the several characters of the dalmatian cast, Dante. I submitted this for the Octerrorfest writing contest not too long ago with the intent of posting the complete story, but because I couldn't finish it before the deadline, I am posting the finished version here instead. Even if I'm aware that this won't make anyone interested in one of my very niche favorites (Of course, Disney did axe this after one season), I do at least hope that this weird 10,000+ story that I've churned out is enjoyed by someone. Two months have passed since the dognapping incident had occurred. With no hint of danger from the likes of Cruella in these passing months, the Dalmatians have now been able to ease their own fears of the De Vil woman more each day. This also meant that the pups have stopped experiencing recurring scary dreams pertaining to the night that traumatized them. While everything seemed to be returning to normalcy for the Dalmatian family, it was now late October and they already knew what that meant. Halloween is further away. It was the time of year for the world’s population to dress up in costumes varying from terrifying creatures to familiar copyrighted characters to whatever they come up with for just one night. It was also the time of season for scares, pumpkins, and of course, chocolate – lots of chocolate, which was the very center of avoidance during said holiday that the Dalmatians have been making a vital note of. However, the perks of being in a Camden neighbourhood that’s populous with pets is the humans growing accustomed to letting them partake in the otherwise usually human activity of trick-or-treating by handing out treats and toys in place of candy. The Dalmatian family pups have always been enthralled by the concept of trick-or-treating, so Dylan and Dolly have come prepared in the event of letting over ninety dalmatian pups roam the blocks of Camden Town for treats. They have already agreed to chaperone while Delilah and Doug had to work during the night, which they’ve done since the past few years. In a day that’s meant to be a fun and scary time, the Dalmatians have been hoping that it will be a safe and trauma-free leisure, but there was just one obstacle in the way of ensuring that it will be all fine and peachy – Dante. “Tonight’s tale is lifted from the Camden Town mystery files…CASE NUMBER SIXTY-SIX!” Dante announced, holding a flashlight in his paws as it illuminated light on his face. “This story is called “The Black Dog of Camden.” Long ago, in the very streets of Camden, there lurked a creature with black fur, sharp teeth, razor claws, and GLOWING RED EYES! It sinks its teeth into any other dog that crosses its path. Those unfortunate enough to encounter it were either missing or dragged to the depths of the underworld, leaving behind only the collars on their necks while the ghostly canine preserved the bones of its victims. According to rumors, the black dog tends to haunt the cemeteries of London, waiting for its next target. Some say that its motive is to enact revenge on the humans that claimed its life for its fur. Others say that the black dog is a soul collector for Cerberus itself, making that a likely deduction that any chance encounter of the ghost dog is a possible omen for the END OF THE WORLD! …And that ends the tale of The Black Dog of Camden.” Dante’s somber tone shifted to a normal one when he then said, “So, how did I do?” “Dante, you may have not noticed, like you do every time we give you a turn in telling the pups a bedtime story, but you were supposed to help them sleep,” Dylan pointed out. All across the bedroom, Dante saw as the other dalmatian pups exchanged disoriented and concerned looks while others were shaking or whining from fear. He also saw as Dylan and Dolly have given him dirty looks to prove their point. Almost every night, Dylan and/or Dolly would help get all the pups to sleep by telling them bedtime stories. Other times, they would give themselves a bit of a load off by letting someone else have a turn at this routine, to mixed results. Some of the dalmatians that were reliable for filling in for this job included Dawkins, whose method involved boring them to sleep by reading excerpts from astrophysics reference books or from machine operations manuals, then there was Deepak, whose selections mainly involved stories about cats. DJ was also reliable, though his method involved playing soothing music from his keyboard rather than reading a story. Other considerable options were Da Vinci, although her selections were art books, which were meant to be looked at than read to, and Delgado, who would read too fast, and in a similar fashion to the one human from those old Micro Machines commercials, making it a distraction from getting the pups to sleep. Then there was Dante. What does he do? Because he doesn’t grasp the contrast between bedtime stories and ghost stories, every story he tells is of the latter kind, and often times they end up scaring the pups from sleeping. He was slightly younger than Dylan and Dolly, but he was at the age where he could start being a responsible sibling. Although Dylan and Dolly know full well that Dante is not reliable for this kind of chore, they still let them share stories so he doesn’t feel left out. Since it was the night before Halloween, however, the two top dogs conceded that it wasn’t the brightest idea to let Dante help the pups fall asleep for the night. “Yeah, it especially doesn’t help that your story rings a few bells to…you know what,” Dolly remarked towards Dante. “I’m just doing my part in making sure that we’re all prepared for…the unpredictable!” Dante said. “These stories can serve as a cautionary tale for what might happen for us next!” The one dog in the Dalmatian family that has been behaving just about the same months after the incident was Dante. While he has already been known for his tendencies to predict the imminent end of the world, the traumatizing experience had only fueled Dante’s paranoia further, for he had almost seen his world ending right before his eyes before the glimmer of hope that saved the Dalmatians. “Oh please, a ghost dog that collects the souls and bones of its victims, and only leaving behind their collars?” Dylan remarked. “I’ve heard lots of absurd urban legends from you Dante, but this one might just be the most absurd!” “But what if the black dog is real?” Delgado asked. “It’s not real! it’s just Dante being Dante!” Dolly said in a reassuring tone, trying to comfort the scared pups. “I can confirm from a conductive logical reasoning that such a scenario would be scientifically impossible to occur,” Dawkins added. “Dante, there are scarier things that we’ve dealt with,” Dolly continued. “What happened two months ago was distressing for all of us, we’d like to spend tomorrow without worrying about any of that. You know what tomorrow is, right?” Of course, Halloween happened to be the favorite holiday of Dante. From his perspective, the concept of Halloween has always been one of life’s greatest enigmas to him. There was another thing that made it special to him, but today, he couldn’t wrap his head around why. “Why wouldn’t I know what tomorrow is?” Dante responded. “It’s the one day in every year where every strange creature known to dog gathers for one night. Ghosts, werewolves, vampires, zombies, scarecrows, heffalumps, woozles, escaped clones with their faces melting!” “Relax, Dante,” said Dylan. “We’ve gone over this several times before. They’re all just humans in costume.” “And yet they appear for one night and they’re all gone the very next day,” Dante continued. “How does that happen? No one knows, and that makes the mystery all the more alluring.” Dylan rolled his eyes and then replied, “Well, the pups enjoy trick-or-treating, so we are getting dressed up too again this year.” “Yeah, and I know how much you all don’t want to miss out on those treats!” Dolly said towards the pups. “Don’t let that scary story bother you, so just get some good sleep for tomorrow.” “I should also remind you all not to go nuts with the treats,” Dylan adds. “Mum and dad had arranged for us to have our teeth checked and cleaned by our in-house animal dentist next week.” Most of the pups responded with a chorus of “Awww”s. Dawkins, on the other paw, reacted nervously upon mention of the dentist. “And Dante, if you’re planning on tagging along with us, can we trust you to be on your best behavior by not doing a repeat of last year where you kept freaking out the humans? Can you do that for us?” Dylan asked. “I was planning on spending the night sheltering myself here from the apocalypse while having myself a horror movie marathon,” Dante replied. “So I’ll need to borrow the TV for tomorrow.” “All right, but it looks like we’ll have to make sure it doesn’t catch the prying eyes of the younger pups.” Dylan replied. “At least make sure not to put on Little Shop of Horrors. You know how tensed up Dawkins gets when it comes to the dentist.” “Stop mentioning dentists!” Dawkins exclaimed as he held his lowered ears with both paws out of fear. “It’ll be fine,” said Dolly. “I mean, don’t you use drills all the time when you and Dylan work on any new inventions?” “Yes, but not the kind that go in people’s mouths! It’s one of the very few machines that I don’t like!” Dawkins responded. “Why do you think I’ve been trying to keep my teeth clean every day? So much drilling, so much drilling, so much drilling…!” While Dawkins began shaking, Deepak approached him to try and calm his nerves by massaging his fur before escorting him to the bathroom to let the toothbrusher lessen his worries. “Fear not, dear brother, let Guru Miaow guide you to the realm of good dental hygiene,” said Deepak. “I think we’ve had enough worrying about the end of the world for one night,” Dylan finished. “You should be feeling better after getting some good sleep too, Dante.” Dante conceded and made his sleeping arrangement while Dylan and Dolly calmed down the rest of the pups. The next day, the family of dalmatians was making their preparations for the night. Once it was close to getting dark, the Dalmatians have gotten dressed in their respective costumes. Dolly is shown dressed as Vee from Owl House, Dizzy & Dee Dee dressed up as a nurse dog and a firedog respectively (calling to mind the respective jobs held by their parents), the Dimitris dressed up together in a three-headed hydra costume, Deepak dressed up as a black cat, Da Vinci dressed up as a Smeargle from the Pokemon franchise, DJ dressed up as Squarepusher (which was one of the very few costumes Dylan and Dawkins had to design for), Delgado dressed up as Optimus Prime, and baby Dorothy was dressed as the similarly-named Dorothy Gale from The Wizard of Oz. While Triple D had spent their previous Halloweens in group costumes, they decided to make themselves individual costumes this year, with Dallas dressing up as Pink Diamond from Steven Universe, Destiny dressing up as Sailor Moon, and Déjà Vu dressing up as Scooby-Doo. While some of the other dalmatians were getting ready, everyone except Dante was dressed up for the occasion. Dylan then showed himself in front of the others dressed as Poodlewolf. In the usual grandiose voice he puts on for the character during his Poodlewolf board game sessions, Dylan said as he picked up Dorothy, placed her on his back, and nuzzled her, prompting for her to let out a giggle, “Let us come forth, pups! Poodlewolf is here to take you all trick-or-treating!” Dolly wasn’t all that amused. “Bro, this is the third year in a row that you dressed up as Poodlewolf,” she remarked. “Come on, Dolly, Deepak has dressed as a cat every year and I don’t see you complaining about that,” Dylan replied. “Yes, but at least he goes as a different breed,” Dolly replied. “She is right. This year I’ve chosen to go as a Bombay, which is recognized for being the most symbolic animal of Halloween,” said Deepak as his tail wagged in delight. “This is the one aspect of the holiday that I look forward to every year, where I can show my inner and an outer cat too!” “Triple D made most of our costumes, so you got to at least give them credit for that,” Dylan continued towards Dolly. “They were worth a lot of time and work, so it makes us happy to see you all rocking them,” said Dallas. “All these costumes we’ve made are animal-friendly, which is what makes them even more special,” Destiny added. “Reah- I mean, yep, we did a great job!” Déjà Vu said. “I can’t wait any longer to get myself a bunch of Scooby Snacks!” “Yeah, just don’t oversell it, Déjà Vu,” Dallas remarked. “That should be everyone, right?” Dolly asked as Dylan did his mandatory head count. “That’s everyone except Dawkins and Diesel,” Dylan informed. “They both said that they’re making their costumes, so we’ll just to have to wait for them for a bit and- OH MY DOG, what is that!?” What Dylan gazed upon that gave him a panic was what appeared to be a dog-sized replica of Megazord from the Power Rangers franchise. “What do you think it is?” Dawkins’s slightly muffled voice spoke from the inside of the body of armor. “This is what I’m going as for the occasion.” Dylan let out a deep sigh of relief and then said, “Oh, it’s just you, Dawkins.” “Whoa, it looks like we forgot to tell him not to go too extra this year,” Dolly joked. “Oh no! No, no, no! You are not going as that while trick-or-treating with us,” said Dylan. “You could step on some humans or even one of us if you’re not careful!” “Oh kibbles!” Dawkins bemoaned, as the Megazord replication gave a dejected look before the dalmatian descended below the suit of armor to show himself, having turned off its functions. “I’ve gotten into the spirit of this holiday so that I could show the capabilities of dogs in the field of science and engineering. I was only going to participate in the Camden costume contest since trick-or-treating doesn’t suit me, and I don’t want to waste three weeks’ worth of work that I’ve put into making this replica of Megazord.” “Come on bro, let him go out and have his own fun,” Dolly said towards Dylan before turning her eyes back to Dawkins. “You’ve made an awesome costume, and you deserve to have the residents of Camden see your genius.” “Well, now that you put it that way, you can at least go to that contest in that,” Dylan acquiesced, “but you still need to be careful, and since we don’t really trust Dante to be home all by himself, you wouldn’t mind keeping him company while the rest of us are out trick-or-treating, right?” “Of course I wouldn’t mind,” Dawkins replied. “So that leaves Diesel,” said Dolly. “Where the heck is he anyway?” Conveniently so, the dalmatians took notice of Diesel stumbling his way down the stairs while dressed in a black bed sheet with one too many holes cut into it. “I am the black dog of Camden!” Diesel proclaimed as he then made ghost noises. “Oh Diesel, don’t tell me Dante’s story last night got to your head,” said Dylan. “Okay, I won’t.” Diesel replied. “I’m worried about you not being able to see in that thing. We can’t have you bumping into anybody or getting lost from our group by accident.” Dylan replied. “Well, now that we’re all gathered here, I should point out first thing that I need you all to be on your best behavior, don’t interact with any of the human kids, and keep your voices low, even when you feel the need to say “Trick-or-treat!.” The humans can’t understand what we say anyway, but at least let out a gentle bark to say thanks when you get your treats.” The majority of the dalmatian pups responded with a chorus of “We promise.” “Can I do some ghost hunting?” Diesel asked. “Let me at ‘em if you see any.” “Just don’t get ahead of yourself and freak out any of the human kids that are also dressed as ghosts,” Dylan informed. “Let’s get this over with, now.” As Dylan reached his paw towards the scanner to unlock the door, Dante interrupted him by saying in a panicked tone, “Stop, don’t open the door! You don’t know what could be waiting for us from the other side!” “Like what?” Dolly questioned. “What are the odds that we’re going to see the black dog of Camden?” “Or worse…the human that tried to kill us for our coats coming back for revenge!” Dante fretted. “What I’m more concerned about is humans showing up at our door for candy and realizing that we don’t have a human in the house, which is why we put up very specific signs to lure them away,” said Dylan as the outside of the front door showed signs that read “STAY OUT!!!,” “NO CANDY HERE!!!,” “THAT’S RIGHT, KEEP WALKING,” “NOTHING TO SEE HERE,” and the typical “BEWARE OF DOGS.” “But you guys heard what she said about how we haven’t seen the last of her,” said Dante. “What if she does come back tonight? If all these creatures known to human and dog can congregate on a night like this, there’s no doubt in my mind that this could be a sign of her return!” “Look, Dante,” Dylan responded, “we know you’ve been right a few times before with your predictions, and we’ve been more than willing to listen to you because of that, but right now, this is not the time to deal with them. There’s no such thing as ghost dogs, and most importantly, there’s no way that we’re ever going to encounter that evil lady again!” When Dylan opened up the door, they were met by something resembling a familiar entity. Seeing the hairstyle that they recognized belonging to Cruella, the Dalmatians (except for Diesel, who couldn’t see due to the sheet covering him), by instinct, screamed out of fear. “Feeling terrified!” Dawkins exclaimed. However, the horrified expressions from the dalmatians would then immediately become stern looks after they realize that it was just their corgi neighbor Clarissa playing a cruel joke on them with a wig. “Trick-or-treat, ruff raff!” Clarissa said before letting out several laughs for the scare she had given. Unfortunately for the Dalmatians, even after having developed somewhat of a change of heart after the dognapping incident and providing some help for letting Dylan and Dolly come to their family’s rescue on the cargo ship that night, Clarissa still remained her stuck-up and intolerant self. “Never mind, it’s just Clarissa,” said Dylan in a vexed tone. “Ugh, Clarissa,” Dolly growled. “You know, I get this is a holiday for playing tricks and I may be the one for pulling pranks, but that wasn’t very funny!” “Yeah, what happened to us that one night is no laughing matter, we agreed on that!” Dylan retorted. “I know, but I couldn’t just pass up the opportunity to see how much of a good scare that I could give you all and it satisfies one’s self to see the looks on your faces!” Clarissa responded. “It gives one much more of a laugh to see what kind of tacky costumes a bunch of dalmatians put together this year.” She then said, referring to Dolly’s Vee costume, “What are you supposed to be anyway?” “I couldn’t think about what I should dress up as this year, so I let Triple D decide for me and they made me a costume of a character from that one show they’re into. They say I ‘sound just like her,’ even though I don’t really see it, but I still appreciate the thought they put into it, so I’ll have you know that Triple D have great sense in fashion, and our costumes are not as tacky your phony getup,” Dolly sneered. “You should leave, Clarissa,” said Dylan. “We just want to enjoy ourselves for the night, and we certainly don’t want to keep dealing with your jokes.” “Then one shall leave you ruff raff alone, but one shall continue to treasure this moment. I must say though that one does appreciate that we had the same idea of keeping a bunch of little brats away from one’s house. One can’t allow for the quality time Hugo has arranged for me to be ruined by some meddlesome dogs,” Clarissa finished as she then strutted back to her house. “False alarm, Dante, you can stop hiding now,” Dylan called out, taking notice of his absence from the group. Dante revealed himself from the dumbwaiter and reappeared with the other dalmatians. He then asks, “Is it safe to go out now?” “I don’t sense any danger,” said Dolly. “Now let’s go out and get some treats, there’s no more time to waste!” “Any of those treats could have razor blades inside of them or they could be laced with chocolate, so be sure to check each one!” Dante forewarned. “Sure, we’ll believe in one of the oldest superstitions in the book,” Dolly remarked in a sarcastic tone. “Um, Dolly, aren’t you too old to be trick-or-treating yourself?” Dylan asked, referring to the bag she had on her. “We’re dogs, Dylan, how can we be too old for free treats?” Dolly replied. Once as all the costumed dalmatians were out the door, Dawkins got himself back inside his own costume and, after some struggle getting his costume through the front door, escorted Dante as they took themselves to where the Camden Town costume contest was being held while the rest of the dalmatian pack scrambled the neighbourhoods for their trick-or-treating outing. Two hours later, the Dalmatians, except for Dante and Dawkins, had returned home each with their basketfuls of treats, chew toys, and other goodies (while Deepak’s bag was filled with cat-related supplies), as they have managed to spend their night with very few complications. “That turned out great! We got so much stuff,” said Dolly. “I got tons of treats,” Dimitri 1 remarked. “So have I,” said Dimitri 2. “I got a rock!” Diesel said with delight. “Thank goodness that went pretty smoothly,” said Dylan as he removed his costume alongside the others in a pile (Since Dorothy is still a baby, she was a bit too fussy to take hers off at the moment while Deepak opted to stay dressed as his ’outer cat’ a while longer). “Check your bags before you start snacking on your treats...” “Who would put razor blades in our dog treats?” Dimitri 3 questioned. “I meant if you find any pieces of chocolate candy,” Dylan clarified. “Put it in the ‘Bad candy’ bowl I set down here, and I’ll throw them out. And most importantly, do not eat any of it!” “Well, I think it’s a good time for me to call it a night,” Dolly said with a yawn. “Not yet, we still have to prepare our surprise for Dante,” Dylan informed. “Ugh, why couldn’t we have done it earlier today?” Dolly complained. “We want to make it very special this year for him, and since he hasn’t come back yet, we have time to get ourselves started with the plan I’ve arranged.” At that convenient moment, the front door opened up to show that Dawkins and Dante have both just returned from their outing. Dawkins got himself out of his costume and set it beside the pile. He looked as tired as Dolly was. “Welcome back Dante, welcome back Dawkins,” said Dylan. “So, how did that whole costume contest thing go, did you win?” Dolly asked Dawkins. “Second place,” Dawkins responded in a dry tone. “It didn’t go the way I thought it would. My creation still got recognition, and I’m at least satisfied with that.” “We had to leave a little early because Dawkins got pretty upset after the judging concluded and it was freaking out the humans,” Dante clarified. “They were impressed with his costume, but it lost to a human kid dressed as a baking soda and vinegar volcano.” “Megazord did not lose to a baking soda volcano!” Dawkins huffed with denial in his tone. “Of course, we could’ve gone back home earlier, but then Dante got sidetracked by a fortuneteller on the way.” “I already told you, she’s a paw reader,” Dante corrected. “Well, I hope you’re not too upset to help us out with this surprise we’ve been planning,” Dylan said to Dawkins. “I am feeling fine now, but I’m calling it a night afterwards,” Dawkins responded. “Wait a minute, what surprise?” Dante asked. “Is it the end of the world that the paw reader warned me about?” “We can’t tell you, otherwise it won’t be a surprise at all,” said Dylan. “Besides, weren’t you going to focus on your little horror movie marathon?” “Oh, yes, of course! You just go ahead and do what you’re going to do, but give me a holler if you see any sign of the world ending.” While the dalmatian goth occupied himself with the TV in the living room, the other dogs got to work. After nearly an hour, Dante couldn’t help but eavesdrop. “The nerve of Clarissa, scaring the pups like that on a day like this,” Dylan muttered. “I know it was tasteless but that’s all over now,” Dolly replied. “I’m still mad about it, though,” Dylan replied. “I don’t know, Dylan, what will make this seem better in comparison? This does feel like a prank, so I’m not sure if Dante will appreciate this surprise rather than it will upset him…” Though he couldn’t make out where the two top dogs were grouping, Dante heard the sound one of the doors opening and closing. The voices were muffled now to Dante, but he still tried to listen in. “There’s no jokes attached to this, so I wouldn’t call it a prank, consider it more of a…theatrical display if you will. You do have a point, if we all feel like it’s gotten too intense for him, then we’ll use the quit word I’ve chosen – gobbledygook.” “Yeah, next time, I’m choosing the signal word.” “We’ll just see how Dante feels about what we’re setting up. We need to distract him for a while before we show him the real surprise we have for him.” While Dante still wasn’t sure what they were conversing about, he returned to the living room and restrained his urges to warn the pups about the potential dangers that he was foretold from his paw reading, as his way to respect keeping the surprise a surprise. Ten minutes later, however, the unpredictable happened. The lights in the 101 Dalmatian Street home had all went out, and subsequently, the power. The window from behind Dante shone a white flash of light before being followed by the sound of thunder. It made the dalmatian goth jump, scrambling to find the flashlight that he had beside him in case of such an emergency. Flailing around the illuminated light, Dante saw nothing out of the ordinary. He hadn’t heard a voice coming from the other dalmatians, which concerned him. “What’s going on?” Dante murmured. “Are you guys all okay? Where are you?” Stepping out of the living room, Dante saw as fog was beginning to form all around the place, which he had also found to be unprecedented. When he approached near the steps of the home, Dante pointed his flashlight at an object standing by the front door that he otherwise would never think he’d encounter. It was the black dog of Camden. Sharp teeth sticking out from its muzzle, sharp claws, and glowing red eyes, just exactly like Dante described it in his telling of the tale. Just the thought of seeing the mythological creature in the flesh at this time of year, at this time of day, in this very part of London that it’s said to haunt, and localized entirely inside the home of 101 Dalmatian Street had made Dante’s heart race with fear and yet also with excitement. Somehow, he and the paw reader he had met mere hours ago had predicted the unpredictable. Dante couldn’t contain himself and his tail began to wag from this realization. “Huh, I was right…I was right!” Dante said with a sudden burst of joy. “It’s supposed to be an urban legend, and yet here it is, and it’s haunting this house. The world is ending and it’s all taking place right where I am!” However, he was brought back to his senses when he saw the black dog turn around to face him. By instinct, Dante retreated upstairs to avoid it. “Wait, no, this is bad!” Dante fretted. “I have to tell the others! I told them to call on me if this were to happen, but I’m not hearing anything from them. Where did they go? Did they know about the ghost dog already and hid?” Dante could detect the scent of his multiple brothers and sisters from more than one place in the house. However, when he tried to open any of the doors, they couldn’t seem to open. He also tried the tunnels (which was usually Delgado’s main method of transport around the house), which seemed to be barricaded. Even the flaps for the dumbwaiter couldn’t open. From what Dante could recall, Delilah and Doug both haven’t arrived back home yet tonight, and that left him with one more opportunity to warn about the mythological being that was lurking within his home. Even if it meant that the World Wide Woof might not believe him, he was still going to use it to prevent the Dalmatian family from facing impending doom. The dalmatian goth darted over to the front door with the paw scanner. To his misfortune, nothing was happening even after pressing on it multiple times, while the front door remained locked. That was when Dante came to the full realization that was apparently stuck inside the house with the ghost dog. This brought him into full-on panic. “Dylan! Dolly! Anyone! If you can hear me right now, please answer!” Dante exclaimed. Dante’s answer was heard. “Help!” The collective cries of the other dalmatians echoed. “Help! Just help! Only help! Nothing but help!” Dante also heard, recognizing the voice coming from Diesel. “Guys, you’re still here!?” Dante asked. “Yes, please save us!” The dalmatians answered back. “Where are you, though?” Dante asked again. “I’m not sure. It’s too dark to see, from where we are,” he heard Dylan’s voice respond. “The last thing we all remembered is the same thing. We were ambushed by what appeared to be a black dog.” “So...so it is real!” Dante replied. “Has it harmed any of you?” “I don’t think so…but listen, don’t worry about us right now,” he heard Dolly’s voice respond. “Show it whose boss and what happens when it messes with your family! If you face it, then I’m sure you’ll be able to come help us.” “Okay...then I’ll just have to face off against that black dog myself.” The motivation from the voices of the dalmatians reassuring them that they aren’t hurt was enough motivation to make Dante swallow his fear. He was stuck in the house with the black dog of Camden, but that also meant that it was stuck with him, so he went back to scavenging around the house for the eponymous ghost dog. He went over to the living room to see if anything about it changed since after the sudden blackout. Shining his flashlight across the area, he spotted what he had dreaded to see right in front of him. It was the black dog again. It was quick to notice his presence, glaring at him and then creeping up to him. To Dante’s astonishment, he heard it speak, “Dante…we- err, I’ve been waiting for you!” The sound of its voice seemed to be distorted, but the dalmatian goth was too overwhelmed by fear to figure if it rings familiar to him. “I have come to bring you to the underworld and collect your bones!” As the black dog continued to inch forward, Dante cowered back with his tail between his legs and made a dart to the kitchen to escape and hide in one of the cabinets. “I’ll find you Dante, just like how I found your other fellow dogs,” Dante heard the black dog say. When Dante didn’t hear any more from the ghost dog after a minute, he determined that the coast was clear and so he got out of his hiding spot. He searched around the kitchen to find any trace of his siblings, only to find most of the cabinets to contain nothing more than a heap of appliances. When he opened one of them, he saw what appeared to resemble a black cat. “…Blair?” Dante asked. The alleged cat screeched and scurried out of the area, startling Dante for a moment. Focusing back on trying to find his siblings, the dalmatian goth swayed the light across the kitchen and saw some objects he hadn’t seen before. On the walls were what seemed to be a large black banner draped across the flat archway and purple paper garlands spread throughout each corner, and then he glanced at what he assumed was a shadow of the black dog. When the light shone on it, it was gone in a second. Trying to find the same shadowed figure, Dante swung his flashlight around the walls once more, but it was no longer in sight. Continuing his search for his siblings and as well as the ghost dog, Dante was then alarmed by the sound of something rushing through the house and the sound of wheels screeching. Looking around for the source of the noise, he spotted a dark figure resembling the supernatural being, dashing in the first and second floors in an instant. When Dante tried to shine a light on the fast-moving object, it was out of his sight in a split second before he could make out its appearance. Moments later, the noises have ceased. Dante, who is now visibly shaking in fear with his tail between his legs said indirectly to the ghost dog, “Come on and show yourself, I’m not afraid! Yeah, I’m definitely not afraid, not at all!” With no answer being given afterwards, Dante continued to look around the house with his flashlight. What he found next was what he dreaded to find, chilling him right down to the bone. Scattered around the floor close to him, he found collars belonging to Dylan and Dolly. Further along, he saw Triple D’s collars, then the Dimitris’s, then Deepak’s, then Diesel’s…it didn’t seem to end. Next he saw Dawkins’s collar, then Dee Dee & Dizzy’s, then Da Vinci’s bandana, and then the collars belonging to more of his siblings. It was just like in his tale that he told the previous night about how the black dog left behind the collars of its victims. He then thought about the others that sported more than just their collars. It was then that he came across Delgado’s collar on the ground along with his wheelchair, and as well as DJ’s collar, with his headphones discarded along with it, and DJ never went anywhere without them, and that was when he knew that this situation was dire. Dante went from feeling terrified to downright devastated. He sat where he stood, waiting for the nightmare to end, waiting for the black dog to make its next move, waiting for that glimmer of hope to put a stop to the end of the world as he knew it. Now, he was all alone, with nothing else to do, and with no one to help him. “I’ve been waiting for the world to end, but not like this…” Dante lamented, now in the verge of tears. “I wanted my family to be prepared for moments like this and yet I’ve failed to help them. Why? Why am I still here to deal with the ghost from the story I told!? Somebody answer me, please!” As if by a miracle, Dante then heard the sound of a crying pup coming from the kitchen. He retreated there and went underneath the table to discover the source, and it was what he had recognized that voice to be. It was Dorothy. Somehow she’s still here unscathed. Her collar was still intact and she was still wearing the costume she was put in. Dorothy’s crying ceased as Dante approached her gently, relieved to see that she had survived the doomsday at the paws of the ghost dog. “Dorothy, you’re safe,” Dante whispered. “Hey, I’m not going to hurt you. I won’t let that ghost hurt any of my siblings, and I especially won’t let it hurt you.” Dante was trying to comfort the infant pup, but she was still distraught just like he was. At that point, Dante found himself in a difficult situation. As a dog that has never showed a hopeful disposition in hopeless circumstances, what should he do? What can he do? Then he reminisced his meeting with the paw reader mere hours before the chaos… … After the disastrous results of the Camden Town costume contest, he and Dawkins were walking their way back home until Dante lifted one of his ears, catching the sound of someone playing a guitar and singing a certain song with it, compelling him to follow its source. The carefree days Are distant now I wear my memories like a shroud I try to speak but words collapse Echoing Trick or Treat Trick or Treat The bitter and the sweet “Hey Dawkins, do you hear that?” Dante asked. “I hear it also, but it’s probably nothing for us to check out,” Dawkins responded. When he saw Dante chasing the sound, Dawkins followed after. “Hold on, where you going!?” Dante made his way towards a shack with a sign that read “Clairvoyant Clair’s Fortune Shop” and followed his path towards the back of the shop, where the opening was obscured by a curtain of beads. He went through and saw the source of the music right in front of him, who had the appearance of a Bombay cat. I wander through your sadness Gazing at you with scorpion eyes Halloween Halloween The cat stopped playing and singing once as she noticed the dalmatian goth that had showed up out of the blue. “Oh, ‘ello, are you a customer?” The black cat asked Dante. “Is your shop closing?” Dante asked back. “This is actually my pet’s fortunetelling shop,” the black cat corrected. “I do work around here too in which I read the paws of animals that visit. I was going to call it a night, but I’ll make an exception for you. We haven’t gotten a lot of customers today anyways since most folks are preoccupied with the Halloween season, so I’ve been doing some jams to curb the boredom.” “Well, I liked the music that you were playing, which was why I came to see you.” “Yeah, it’s a Siouxsie and the Banshees song. I can tell by the way you look that they must be the type of music you’re into.” “I’ve heard of them, so I guess you could say that.” “They broke up ages ago, so they’re way past my time. So are The Beatles and yet just about everyone in London knows and loves them anyway. Now let’s not get too off-topic, I’m not a fan of introductions, but I’m Blair. What’s your name, dog?” Dante could tell by the way Blair talked and how she looked that she seemed to be roughly a little over Dylan and Dolly’s age. “Well, I’m Dante. Dante Dalmatian.” “A black dalmatian with white and purple spots, huh? You’re quite the rare kind. So tell me Dante, are you here to have your paw read?” “Will it hurt?” “All I’m going to do is touch your paw and tell your fortune. Most of the future predictions I’ve given out overtime have turned out to be true, but whether or not the fortune I give you is completely accurate is all up to you.” “You seem to have a cool job.” “Well, I think running this business with my pet is kind of a drag. Most of the time, we get these customers who come back to complain about their fortunes even if they turn out true, like how they’re foretold that they’ll find true love, and it’s not the person of their type, or when they’re foretold that they’ll find their next course of action in their lives when it hits them, and they come back to tell us that they got hit in the back of the head by a football. You know, stuff like that.” Dante was always one to make doomsday predictions in the spur of the moment and he hadn’t considered having his own future foretold by someone else. Thinking over it, he figured it wouldn’t hurt to try. “Well, you see, I’ve always had this fixation with making predictions about any potential dangers like the world ending, and just a couple months ago, I’ve almost witnessed it. I have two parents and ninety-eight brothers and sisters, and there was this evil lady, who attempted to kill us all, and she didn’t just want any fur, she wanted ours! Next thing I knew before I was about to accept my fate, my oldest siblings Dylan and Dolly came to our rescue, then this human kid, Hunter, put that puppy killer into her own skinning machine before mum and dad stopped it. Then the police came and brought her to justice, but then she said that we haven’t seen the last of her, and that was still the last I’ve seen or heard from her. After that, I couldn’t stop thinking what if she does come back.” “That sounds like quite a tall tale. Then again, the story was all over the news.” “What I’m trying to say is that the experience made me feel more concerned about the end of the world. It’s been bothering my siblings lately, but I want them to be safe and sound and I want to make sure that they’ll be prepared for any unpredictable event, such as that very incident that I couldn’t predict.” “I see…so answer me this, are you prepared for the unpredictable?” “That’s why I thought if you could read my paw. I don’t think I’m ready to face it either.” “So, you want to know if the world is coming to an end sooner than later.” “Yes, please do tell me.” Accepting the request, Blair started to stroke Dante’s right paw to read his fortune. “Well, Dante…you may not like what I have to say at first, but I can sense that your world will be ending.” “I knew it, the end is nigh!” “I’m not finished. Do you want to know what I sensed?” Dante responded to Blair with a simple nod, still feeling paranoid about the fortune he had just been given. “From what I could sense, you’ll encounter a phantom of a black dog with sharp teeth, razor claws, and glowing red eyes in the comfort of your home. With only one light to guide you, you’ll find yourself all alone with the creature with no way of being able to warn anybody of the danger. Later, the ghost will leave behind the collars of each of your ninety-eight siblings before it takes them to the underworld where they may never be seen again, while they’re reduced to their bones that may forever be part of its collection.” “Hey wait a minute. That sounds like the ghost story I’ve told them last night, except my family and I are inserted into it!” “Yeah, it rings a few bells to “The Black Dog of Camden.” I’ve noticed some other animals passing that story around, so it doesn’t surprise me it’s gotten your attention.” “Is that it?” “No. Just when you think it’s all hopeless, you’ll find that one pup has survived, and then two, and finally, you’ll find that by some miracle, all of your siblings are alive, waiting to give you a special celebration of sorts. Could it be the end, or could it be something else? That all comes down to one particular force.” “What is that force?” Blair then gave her answer by pointing one of her paws directly at Dante. “Wait, do you mean…me?” “Dante, one thing you should understand about the future is that it’s not very easy to predict. If you sense that the world is collapsing, the key to preventing it is for you, yourself, to take on those disasters and to not blindly accept or run away from them. Good omens or bad omens, your future rests in your own paws, and that’s all I can say about your fortune. I would usually have you pay me in kibble, but since I’m off the clock and you’re such an interesting dog to talk you, you don’t have to pay me anything.” “I just have one question. What would you do if the world is ending?” “I’m not sure. Honestly, I’d rather die before that happens. Apparently, the world was said to end in 2012, and here we all are years later, still biding our time.” Dante felt rather astonished to see that Blair was more pessimistic than he was. “If the world doesn’t end tonight, then I’ll just have to come back and thank you, and um, I know this feels weird to ask you, but how would you feel about me playing music with you the next time we meet? I do have my own electric guitar and my brother DJ tells me that I’m really good at singing, although he knows a lot more about music than I do.” “Have me meet that brother of yours while you’re at it. If we’re all not dead before tomorrow, then go ahead and do that.” “I should be going now. Dawkins must be really mad at me for making him wait this long. Thanks anyways for everything that you’ve told me.” … Back in the present times, Dante still found himself in his current state of affairs. He still wasn’t sure if all of his siblings were okay, but seeing Dorothy alive and unharmed gave him the propulsion to do what he hadn’t done before and hold on to hope for the sake of his siblings. “Dorothy, it may be just the two of us right now, but…we’re going to find the others,” Dante uttered. “They’ve got to be okay because…because…our family is stronger than some urban legend!” If Dante was foretold that he would be the one who stops the end of the world, then he decided that he was going to do what he had never considered before and be the dog that fulfills that destiny. He picked up Dorothy and had her rest easy on his head before getting out from hiding. “Everyone, if you can hear me, give me a howl!” Dante exclaimed. Dante’s hopes were lifted up as he was given the reassurance that needed, hearing back a group of howls that corresponded with his multiple siblings. “Please hurry, Dante,” Dante hear Deepak’s voice utter, “I can feel the gateway to the underworld pulling us in and I don’t have enough chakra to keep holding on!” “Do you hear that, Dorothy?” Dante asked. “We still have time to save them!” Seeing Dante with his renewed confidence was enough to lift Dorothy’s own spirits. “We’re going to save the world, yes we are!” He then said in a cooing tone. “We’re going to find the big bad ghost, and we’ll die together trying if we have to!” Though Dorothy didn’t comprehend anything her brother was saying, she still let out a giggle as a way of showing support. Dante and Dorothy made their way back near the front door of 101 Dalmatian Street. Dante sensed a presence coming from the stairs and caught the sound of something stumbling down the stairs. After the bout of noise, Dante shined his flashlight on what he assumed was the black dog he was after. “There it is!” Dante stated. “Whoever you are let my family go!” Dante tackled the being and rolled himself against the wall, only touching the piece of cloth it bore. After shaking himself, he then noticed that the object that he attacked was Diesel’s sheet costume. He retrieved the flashlight and pointed it to see Diesel, still alive and well, despite that his collar was detached. “Hey Dante, are you hunting ghosts too?” Diesel asked. “Diesel, I’m sorry, I thought you were the ghost!” Dante responded as he came over to him along with Dorothy with a feeling of reassurance. “You’re all right, but…I saw your collar on the ground!” “Oh yeah, I was told to take it off,” Diesel replied. “Huh?” Dante said with befuddlement. “Look, I need your useful sense of smell. Do you know where the others could be?” “Of course I do, but I was told not to tell you.” “What are you talking about, Diesel? Did the ghost brainwash you or something?” “Brainwashed? But I don’t dig washing. Oh look, is that the black dog of Camden?” Diesel said nonchalantly. Upon mention of the phantom dog, Dante turned his back to see that it has reappeared right beside the front door, prompting for him to scream in terror. To the dalmatian goth’s surprise, the front door now appeared to be open, but the view was obscured by a blinding white light that he believed was the portal to the underworld. Before Dante could face it, he felt a mysterious force pulling his body into the white light, motioning for Diesel and Dorothy to stand back. “We meet again Dante, for the last time!” The black dog spoke. “What did you do to my siblings?” Dante demanded. “Let them free!” “Your siblings are all fine,” the black dog replied. “I’ve now made them all sausages- err, hostages of the underworld. It looks like I’ve missed a few for my collection, and you’re next!” Dante still felt as the mysterious force was dragging him into the portal. With a burst of bravado, he kept his paws secure on the flooring and gazed directly into the black dog. “No, I won’t let you bring the end of the world,” Dante asserted, “not when I’m still around, and not when my family’s life is on the line!” In the heat of the moment, Dante sunk his teeth into the skin of the black dog. He continued to tug on it without recognizing the “fur” as tarp while the black dog seemed to be trying to maintain its covering until it uttered a certain word that the dalmatian goth didn’t expect to hear. “Gobbledygook, gobbledygook!” Dante heard a different voice coming from inside the black dog. It was then that Dante heard more voices of his siblings repeating the same ‘quit word’ that Dylan had mentioned. Although Dante became confused why what was going on, he pulled off the tarp with his teeth once as the lights in each room flickered back on one by one, and there he saw, in the place of what he thought was the mythical being, Triple D stacked on top of each other, while Déjà Vu held a plastic toy microphone in one paw. Right afterwards, the house’s unnerving atmosphere had abruptly changed. Dante also heard the doors for each of the rooms creaking open, revealing the dalmatians that have appeared to be hiding all this time, albeit with their collars detached. In addition, the mist that enshrouded the first floor had subsided, and the light resembling the entrance to the underworld had also dissolved while the turbulent force that was pulling him into its path had also gone away. “Triple D…?” Dante questioned. “This Triple D you speak of is not here, for I have-“ Déjà Vu spoke from the voice-changing microphone that she used to act out as the ghost dog. “Um, Déjà Vu, our cover is blown,” Destiny interrupted. “Ruh-roh, I mean, surprise!” Déjà Vu uttered. “Huh, what’s going on?” Dante asked before he turned out to see the rest of his siblings all gathered in the main room. For the longest time, Dante had hard time figuring out why the holiday was so important to him, and know he remembered why. It was someone’s birthday today – HIS birthday. Because he clouded up his mind on the black dog myth, the paw reading, and his fixation on the world ending, he somehow forgot, but all of his siblings remembered, as he was greeted by a black banner with white-painted letters that read… “Happy birthday, Dante!” The group of dalmatians chorused. “My birthday…it was today?” Dante asked. “How could we forget?” Dylan responded. “We thought that you’d remember sooner or later.” “After saving the world from ending, you sure deserve this special day, so let’s celebrate!” Dolly said before Dylan nudged her shoulder and gave a side glance. “Oh yeah, and I know we have a lot of explaining to do, so here’s what really happened…” Dylan and Dolly started by telling Dante that they had Triple D masquerade as the mythical black dog by using Da Vinci’s canvas tarp as the body to conceal their identities, Deepak's stalactite gemstones to resemble teeth, and used a couple of Halloween accessories they’ve snatched for the rest of its features, with the red LED shades for the glowing eyes and prop claws for the razor-sharp claws. They then explained that the scary sound effects came from DJ’s keyboard, that the locked rooms were actually the younger pups playing with the doors, that Dawkins, being the mechanic in the family, was the one who turned off the lights and power, as well as the one who temporarily disabled the paw scanner. Dylan and Dolly continued to say that they’ve used Delgado’s agility to scatter the collars they took off while Da Vinci decorated the kitchen in secret, and they both have had them covered in soot to conceal their identities, and while Diesel showing up wasn’t originally part of the setup, they had him make a sudden appearance to lift Dante’s spirits. They also acknowledged that the fog came from their fog machine that they’ve had in the basement, they borrowed Constantin’s giant fan for the effect of making Dante feel like he was being dragged into the “portal to the underworld, while the lighting at the front door itself was another result of Dawkins tampering the house’s power source. They also explained that they had Delgado come to where Dawkins was so that he could remove his wheelchair and set it beside his collar while they were putting it back on him. “So that explains it,” said Dante. “What about the cat that was in one of the cabinets?” “That was Deepak,” Dylan and Dolly both said in a blunt tone. “My mistake, I actually thought you were someone else, Deepak,” Dante said towards him. “So you’ve met a cat that reads paws,” Deepak remarked. “You should introduce me.” “What about Dorothy?” Dante asked. “She seemed to be really scared.” Upon being asked that questioned, Dylan and Dolly both expressed guilty looks before they picked up the infant pup from Dante’s head and nuzzled her. “Oh yeah, if there’s anyone we definitely owe an apology to, it’s Dorothy,” said Dolly. “She wasn’t part of the setup at all,” Dylan explained. “We needed to her to stay put in our hiding place, but the sounds that DJ was playing from his keyboard scared her off. She must’ve found you after she saw our fake ghost dog.” “Sorry Dorothy, we won’t end up scaring you like that again,” Dolly murmured. “We should also apologize to you, Dante, for making you go through such an emotional rollercoaster by faking the apocalypse,” Dylan continued. “What we’ve meant to do is try and get your mind off what happened months ago and put your predictions at ease by showing you that we and the other pups will come prepared for these unpredictable moments, that you should too, and to motivate you to help us in any time of need. Other than that, the previous birthdays we’ve arranged for you always turn out to be, well…uneventful, and we wanted to put more thought into it this time around, so that’s when we thought that a suitable birthday present for you would be the end of the world, even if it’s staged.” “So, how do you feel about all this, Dante?” Dolly asked. “Are you mad at us?” Dante understood Dylan and Dolly’s intentions though he was still struggling to process how he should feel about the experience he just had. He should be mad about how the catastrophic event he got worked up over turning out to be a hoax, but Dylan and Dolly immediately apologized to him about. He should feel relieved to know that not only are all his siblings are all right, they also showed them that they’re not scared either. Should he be entertained? Halloween is meant to be a fun yet scary occasion, but the staging of the black dog of Camden made him feel like he was set up for a joke and yet he didn’t see any of the pups laughing at him and such, as they smiled at him because it was his special day. So should he feel proud, about how he came to their rescue, even if, again, the end of the world wasn’t real? Blair did foretell him that all his siblings were going to surprise him with some sort of celebration and that it was his destiny to be the hero that they wanted for him to be. Thinking over how much thought the dalmatians put into his birthday surprise and the assurance of how much they all care for him, Dante decided to return his feelings with a rare casual smile. “It’s okay, I appreciate you guys for doing all this for me,” Dante said as he presented the dalmatians with a group hug. However, his tail began to wag when he sensed Doug and Delilah coming back home from work. When Dante opened up the front door for the two parents, he saw them carrying several containers of birthday kibble cake (they are a big family after all) from Delilah, and a bundle of birthday balloons from Doug, which were black with white polka dots, matching the color of his coat. “Mum, dad, welcome back!” Dante exclaimed. “Why, you sure seem to be overjoyed today,” Delilah remarked. “Why wouldn’t he be? It’s his birthday today,” said Doug and he then spoke to him a doting tone, “Look at how much our spotty-dotty has grown.” “We could’ve done this earlier today though,” Delilah added. “But Dylan and Dolly told us that they were going to handle the surprise they’ve had for you this time.” “Yeah, and they’ve done a good job with it,” Dante remarked. “We’re just glad we’re here to see you enjoy your birthday, we couldn’t miss it for the world,” said Doug. “Normally, I would be coming home later since this is the time of the season other than ‘Boom Night,’ where fire safety dangers tend to happen, but we have seen fewer of those incidents today.” “That’s good,” Dante replied. For the next half hour, the Dalmatians have celebrated Dante’s birthday. By tradition, he was given the first piece of the kibble cakes his parents got for him while Dorothy, by his suggestion, got the second, smaller piece. While most of the pups were already taken to the bedroom either from exhaustion or from having one too many dog treats, Dante had fun for the rest of the night. Before he could call it a night, he was later approached by Dylan and Dolly again. “Hey, I understand if you’re still a little bummed out by our ghost dog hoax, there’s one thing we’d like for you to do to compensate for that,” said Dylan. “Huh, what’s that?” Dante asked. “Just follow our lead,” Dolly said with a smirk. After the dirty trick that Clarissa pulled earlier, Dylan and Dolly thought that they would pay her a visit with a little trick of their own. They rang the doorbell, compelling for the corgi to bark for her human owner, Hugo, to go and answer it. What they were met by was the presence of the black dog of Camden, but this time with Dante taking on the disguise. “Clarissa…I have come to haunt you for your bones!” Dante acted. “Show them to me or this night will be your last!” Clarissa gave out a scream while Hugo (who only heard barking coming from Dante) fainted. Afterwards, Dylan and Dolly appeared from behind to give a laugh, alongside Dante and Dorothy after the former slipped out the tarp to reveal themselves underneath. Realizing that she had been tricked by the dalmatians, Clarissa’s terrified expression turned sour and growled, “Ruff raff,” before closing the door behind them. Just when the elder dalmatians were about to hit the hay for the night, they caught a sight that they never thought they’d see, in which Dante was about to lull Dorothy to sleep – a far-cry from the Dante that they’ve known from the previous night. “And Dorothy, by clicking together the heels of her ruby paw slippers, returned back to her own home in Camden by repeating ‘There’s no place like home, there’s no place like home, there’s no place like home…’” Dante spoke in a soft tone as Dorothy fell asleep, reinterpreting the ending of The Wizard of Oz. In an instant, Dante himself had crashed to sleep right next to Dorothy, after a long night’s worth of ghosts, tricks, predictions, and kibble cake. Dolly and Dylan couldn’t help but smile knowing that they can rest easy now. The very next day, however… “No, no, no, this can’t be happening!” Dante exclaimed as he looked through the window of the first floor of his home. “The end is drawing near!” “Huh, what is it this time, Dante?” Dylan asked. “See for yourselves as the chaos unfolds!” Dante cautioned. Dylan and Dolly opened the front door to see what he was talking about. As they expected, it was the time of year again for the human residents of Camden to take down their Halloween decorations while they scrambled to start putting up their Christmas decorations. They could hear from the cars passing by that the stations were already playing Christmas music too. “Oh, so that’s what you meant…” Dolly deadpanned. Even if the end of the world wasn’t in sight, it was still a bigger anomaly to the dalmatians why the humans would start showing their Christmas spirit this early on when December was still one month away.

I should say first thing that this isn't the complete story, since I'm not able to finish this before the deadline of this contest. While I intend to post the finished product later today, I don't want to have to pull an all-nighter, so here's what I have to show for it as a submission. The World Ends With Dante (Preview Version) Two months have passed since the dognapping incident had occurred. With no hint of danger from the likes of Cruella in these passing months, the Dalmatians have now been able to ease their own fears of the De Vil woman more each day. This also meant that the pups have stopped experiencing recurring scary dreams pertaining to the night that traumatized them. While everything seemed to be returning to normalcy for the Dalmatian family, it was now late October and they already knew what that meant. Halloween is further away. It was the time of year for the world’s population to dress up in costumes varying from terrifying creatures to familiar copyrighted characters to whatever they come up with for just one night. It was also the time of season for scares, pumpkins, and of course, chocolate – lots of chocolate, which was the very center of avoidance during said holiday that the Dalmatians have been making a vital note of. However, the perks of being in a Camden neighbourhood that’s populous with pets is the humans growing accustomed to letting them partake in the otherwise usually human activity of trick-or-treating by handing out treats and toys in place of candy. The Dalmatian family pups have always been enthralled by the concept of trick-or-treating, so Dylan and Dolly have come prepared in the event of letting over ninety dalmatian pups roam the blocks of Camden Town for treats. They have already agreed to chaperone while Delilah and Doug had to work during the night, which they’ve done since the past few years. In a day that’s meant to be a fun and scary time, the Dalmatians have been hoping that it will be a safe and trauma-free leisure, but there was just one obstacle in the way of ensuring that it will be all fine and peachy – Dante. “Tonight’s tale is lifted from the Camden Town mystery files…CASE NUMBER SIXTY-SIX!” Dante announced, holding a flashlight in his paws as it illuminated light on his face. “This story is called “The Black Dog of Camden.” Long ago, in the very streets of Camden, there lurked a creature with black fur, sharp teeth, razor claws, and GLOWING RED EYES! It sinks its teeth into any other dog that crosses its path. Those unfortunate enough to encounter it were either missing or dragged to the depths of the underworld, leaving behind only the collars on their necks while the ghostly canine preserved the bones of its victims. According to rumors, the black dog tends to haunt the cemeteries of London, waiting for its next target. Some say that its motive is to enact revenge on the humans that claimed its life for its fur. Others say that the black dog is a soul collector for Cerberus itself, making that a likely deduction that any chance encounter of the ghost dog is a possible omen for the END OF THE WORLD! …And that ends the tale of The Black Dog of Camden.” Dante’s somber tone shifted to a normal one when he then said, “So, how did I do?” “Dante, you may have not noticed, like you do every time we give you a turn in telling the pups a bedtime story, but you were supposed to help them sleep,” Dylan pointed out. All across the bedroom, Dante saw as the other dalmatian pups exchanged disoriented and concerned looks while others were shaking or whining from fear. He also saw as Dylan and Dolly have given him dirty looks to prove their point. Almost every night, Dylan and/or Dolly would help get all the pups to sleep by telling them bedtime stories. Other times, they would give themselves a bit of a load off by letting someone else have a turn at this routine, to mixed results. Some of the dalmatians that were reliable for filling in for this job included Dawkins, whose method involved boring them to sleep by reading excerpts from astrophysics reference books or from machine operations manuals, then there was Deepak, whose selections mainly involved stories about cats. DJ was also reliable, though his method involved playing soothing music from his keyboard rather than reading a story. Other considerable options were Da Vinci, although her selections were art books, which were meant to be looked at than read to, and Delgado, who would read too fast, and in a similar fashion to the one human from those old Micro Machines commercials, making it a distraction from getting the pups to sleep. Then there was Dante. What does he do? Because he doesn’t grasp the contrast between bedtime stories and ghost stories, every story he tells is of the latter kind, and often times they end up scaring the pups from sleeping. He was slightly younger than Dylan and Dolly, but he was at the age where he could start being a responsible sibling. Although Dylan and Dolly know full well that Dante is not reliable for this kind of chore, they still let them share stories so he doesn’t feel left out. Since it was the night before Halloween, however, the two top dogs conceded that it wasn’t the brightest idea to let Dante help the pups fall asleep for the night. “Yeah, it especially doesn’t help that your story rings a few bells to…you know what,” Dolly remarked towards Dante. “I’m just doing my part in making sure that we’re all prepared for…the unpredictable!” Dante said. “These stories can serve as a cautionary tale for what might happen for us next!” The one dog in the Dalmatian family that has been behaving just about the same months after the incident was Dante. While he has already been known for his tendencies to predict the imminent end of the world, the traumatizing experience had only fueled Dante’s paranoia further, for he had almost seen his world ending right before his eyes before the glimmer of hope that saved the Dalmatians. “Oh please, a ghost dog that collects the souls and bones of its victims, and only leaving behind their collars?” Dylan remarked. “I’ve heard lots of absurd urban legends from you Dante, but this one might just be the most absurd!” “But what if the black dog is real?” Delgado asked. “It’s not real! it’s just Dante being Dante!” Dolly said in a reassuring tone, trying to comfort the scared pups. “I can confirm from a conductive logical reasoning that such a scenario would be scientifically impossible to occur,” Dawkins added. “Dante, there are scarier things that we’ve dealt with,” Dolly continued. “What happened two months ago was distressing for all of us, we’d like to spend tomorrow without worrying about any of that. You know what tomorrow is, right?” Of course, Halloween happened to be the favorite holiday of Dante. From his perspective, the concept of Halloween has always been one of life’s greatest enigmas to him. There was another thing that made it special to him, but today, he couldn’t wrap his head around why. “Why wouldn’t I know what tomorrow is?” Dante responded. “It’s the one day in every year where every strange creature known to dog gathers for one night. Ghosts, werewolves, vampires, zombies, scarecrows, heffalumps, woozles, escaped clones with their faces melting!” “Relax, Dante,” said Dylan. “We’ve gone over this several times before. They’re all just humans in costume.” “And yet they appear for one night and they’re all gone the very next day,” Dante continued. “How does that happen? No one knows, and that makes the mystery all the more alluring.” Dylan rolled his eyes and then replied, “Well, the pups enjoy trick-or-treating, so we are getting dressed up too again this year.” “Yeah, and I know how much you all don’t want to miss out on those treats!” Dolly said towards the pups. “Don’t let that scary story bother you, so just get some good sleep for tomorrow.” “I should also remind you all not to go nuts with the treats,” Dylan adds. “Mum and dad had arranged for us to have our teeth checked and cleaned by our in-house animal dentist next week.” Most of the pups responded with a chorus of “Awww”s. Dawkins, on the other paw, reacted nervously upon mention of the dentist. “And Dante, if you’re planning on tagging along with us, can we trust you to be on your best behavior by not doing a repeat of last year where you kept freaking out the humans? Can you do that for us?” Dylan asked. “I was planning on spending the night sheltering myself here from the apocalypse while having myself a horror movie marathon,” Dante replied. “So I’ll need to borrow the TV for tomorrow.” “All right, but it looks like we’ll have to make sure it doesn’t catch the prying eyes of the younger pups.” Dylan replied. “At least make sure not to put on Little Shop of Horrors. You know how tensed up Dawkins gets when it comes to the dentist.” “Stop mentioning dentists!” Dawkins exclaimed as he held his lowered ears with both paws out of fear. “It’ll be fine,” said Dolly. “I mean, don’t you use drills all the time when you and Dylan work on any new inventions?” “Yes, but not the kind that go in people’s mouths! It’s one of the very few machines that I don’t like!” Dawkins responded. “Why do you think I’ve been trying to keep my teeth clean every day? So much drilling, so much drilling, so much drilling…!” While Dawkins began shaking, Deepak approached him to try and calm his nerves by massaging his fur before escorting him to the bathroom to let the toothbrusher lessen his worries. “Fear not, dear brother, let Guru Miaow guide you to the realm of good dental hygiene,” said Deepak. “I think we’ve had enough worrying about the end of the world for one night,” Dylan finished. “You should be feeling better after getting some good sleep too, Dante.” Dante conceded and made his sleeping arrangement while Dylan and Dolly calmed down the rest of the pups. The next day, the family of dalmatians was making their preparations for the night. Once it was close to getting dark, the Dalmatians have gotten dressed in their respective costumes. Dolly is shown dressed as Vee from Owl House, Dizzy & Dee Dee dressed up as a nurse dog and a firedog respectively (calling to mind the respective jobs held by their parents), the Dimitris dressed up together in a three-headed hydra costume, Deepak dressed up as a black cat, Da Vinci dressed up as a Smeargle from the Pokemon franchise, DJ dressed up as Squarepusher (which was one of the very few costumes Dylan and Dawkins had to design for), Delgado dressed up as Optimus Prime, and baby Dorothy was dressed as the similarly-named Dorothy Gale from The Wizard of Oz. While Triple D had spent their previous Halloweens in group costumes, they decided to make themselves individual costumes this year, with Dallas dressing up as Pink Diamond from Steven Universe, Destiny dressing up as Sailor Moon, and Déjà Vu dressing up as Scooby-Doo. While some of the other dalmatians were getting ready, everyone except Dante was dressed up for the occasion. Dylan then showed himself in front of the others dressed as Poodlewolf. In the usual grandiose voice he puts on for the character during his Poodlewolf board game sessions, Dylan said as he picked up Dorothy, placed her on his back, and nuzzled her, prompting for her to let out a giggle, “Let us come forth, pups! Poodlewolf is here to take you all trick-or-treating!” Dolly wasn’t all that amused. “Bro, this is the third year in a row that you dressed up as Poodlewolf,” she remarked. “Come on, Dolly, Deepak has dressed as a cat every year and I don’t see you complaining about that,” Dylan replied. “Yes, but at least he goes as a different breed,” Dolly replied. “She is right. This year I’ve chosen to go as a Bombay, which is recognized for being the most symbolic animal of Halloween,” said Deepak as his tail wagged in delight. “This is the one aspect of the holiday that I look forward to every year, where I can show my inner and an outer cat too!” “Triple D made most of our costumes, so you got to at least give them credit for that,” Dylan continued towards Dolly. “They were worth a lot of time and work, so it makes us happy to see you all rocking them,” said Dallas. “All these costumes we’ve made are animal-friendly, which is what makes them even more special,” Destiny added. “Reah- I mean, yep, we did a great job!” Déjà Vu said. “I can’t wait any longer to get myself a bunch of Scooby Snacks!” “Yeah, just don’t oversell it, Déjà Vu,” Dallas remarked. “That should be everyone, right?” Dolly asked as Dylan did his mandatory head count. “That’s everyone except Dawkins and Diesel,” Dylan informed. “They both said that they’re making their costumes, so we’ll just to have to wait for them for a bit and- OH MY DOG, what is that!?” What Dylan gazed upon that gave him a panic was what appeared to be a dog-sized replica of Megazord from the Power Rangers franchise. “What do you think it is?” Dawkins’s slightly muffled voice spoke from the inside of the body of armor. “This is what I’m going as for the occasion.” Dylan let out a deep sigh of relief and then said, “Oh, it’s just you, Dawkins.” “Whoa, it looks like we forgot to tell him not to go too extra this year,” Dolly joked. “Oh no! No, no, no! You are not going as that while trick-or-treating with us,” said Dylan. “You could step on some humans or even one of us if you’re not careful!” “Oh kibbles!” Dawkins bemoaned, as the Megazord replication gave a dejected look before the dalmatian descended below the suit of armor to show himself, having turned off its functions. “I’ve gotten into the spirit of this holiday so that I could show the capabilities of dogs in the field of science and engineering. I was only going to participate in the Camden costume contest since trick-or-treating doesn’t suit me, and I don’t want to waste three weeks’ worth of work that I’ve put into making this replica of Megazord.” “Come on bro, let him go out and have his own fun,” Dolly said towards Dylan before turning her eyes back to Dawkins. “You’ve made an awesome costume, and you deserve to have the residents of Camden see your genius.” “Well, now that you put it that way, you can at least go to that contest in that,” Dylan acquiesced, “but you still need to be careful, and since we don’t really trust Dante to be home all by himself, you wouldn’t mind keeping him company while the rest of us are out trick-or-treating, right?” “Of course I wouldn’t mind,” Dawkins replied. “So that leaves Diesel,” said Dolly. “Where the heck is he anyway?” Conveniently so, the dalmatians took notice of Diesel stumbling his way down the stairs while dressed in a black bed sheet with one too many holes cut into it. “I am the black dog of Camden!” Diesel proclaimed as he then made ghost noises. “Oh Diesel, don’t tell me Dante’s story last night got to your head,” said Dylan. “Okay, I won’t.” Diesel replied. “I’m worried about you not being able to see in that thing. We can’t have you bumping into anybody or getting lost from our group by accident.” Dylan replied. “Well, now that we’re all gathered here, I should point out first thing that I need you all to be on your best behavior, don’t interact with any of the human kids, and keep your voices low, even when you feel the need to say “Trick-or-treat!.” The humans can’t understand what we say anyway, but at least let out a gentle bark to say thanks when you get your treats.” The majority of the dalmatian pups responded with a chorus of “We promise.” “Can I do some ghost hunting?” Diesel asked. “Let me at ‘em if you see any.” “Just don’t get ahead of yourself and freak out any of the human kids that are also dressed as ghosts,” Dylan informed. “Let’s get this over with, now.” As Dylan reached his paw towards the scanner to unlock the door, Dante interrupted him by saying in a panicked tone, “Stop, don’t open the door! You don’t know what could be waiting for us from the other side!” “Like what?” Dolly questioned. “What are the odds that we’re going to see the black dog of Camden?” “Or worse…the human that tried to kill us for our coats coming back for revenge!” Dante fretted. “What I’m more concerned about is humans showing up at our door for candy and realizing that we don’t have a human in the house, which is why we put up very specific signs to lure them away,” said Dylan as the outside of the front door showed signs that read “STAY OUT!!!,” “NO CANDY HERE!!!,” “THAT’S RIGHT, KEEP WALKING,” “NOTHING TO SEE HERE,” and the typical “BEWARE OF DOGS.” “But you guys heard what she said about how we haven’t seen the last of her,” said Dante. “What if she does come back tonight? If all these creatures known to human and dog can congregate on a night like this, there’s no doubt in my mind that this could be a sign of her return!” “Look, Dante,” Dylan responded, “we know you’ve been right a few times before with your predictions, and we’ve been more than willing to listen to you because of that, but right now, this is not the time to deal with them. There’s no such thing as ghost dogs, and most importantly, there’s no way that we’re ever going to encounter that evil lady again!” When Dylan opened up the door, they were met by something resembling a familiar entity. Seeing the hairstyle that they recognized belonging to Cruella, the Dalmatians (except for Diesel, who couldn’t see due to the sheet covering him), by instinct, screamed out of fear. “Feeling terrified!” Dawkins exclaimed. However, the horrified expressions from the dalmatians would then immediately become stern looks after they realize that it was just their corgi neighbor Clarissa playing a cruel joke on them with a wig. “Trick-or-treat, ruff raff!” Clarissa said before letting out several laughs for the scare she had given. Unfortunately for the Dalmatians, even after having developed somewhat of a change of heart after the dognapping incident and providing some help for letting Dylan and Dolly come to their family’s rescue on the cargo ship that night, Clarissa still remained her stuck-up and intolerant self. “Never mind, it’s just Clarissa,” said Dylan in a vexed tone. “Ugh, Clarissa,” Dolly growled. “You know, I get this is a holiday for playing tricks and I may be the one for pulling pranks, but that wasn’t very funny!” “Yeah, what happened to us that one night is no laughing matter, we agreed on that!” Dylan retorted. “I know, but I couldn’t just pass up the opportunity to see how much of a good scare that I could give you all and it satisfies one’s self to see the looks on your faces!” Clarissa responded. “It gives one much more of a laugh to see what kind of tacky costumes a bunch of dalmatians put together this year.” She then said, referring to Dolly’s Vee costume, “What are you supposed to be anyway?” “I couldn’t think about what I should dress up as this year, so I let Triple D decide for me and they made me a costume of a character from that one show they’re into. They say I ‘sound just like her,’ even though I don’t really see it, but I still appreciate the thought they put into it, so I’ll have you know that Triple D have great sense in fashion, and our costumes are not as tacky your phony getup,” Dolly sneered. “You should leave, Clarissa,” said Dylan. “We just want to enjoy ourselves for the night, and we certainly don’t want to keep dealing with your jokes.” “Then one shall leave you ruff raff alone, but one shall continue to treasure this moment. I must say though that one does appreciate that we had the same idea of keeping a bunch of little brats away from one’s house. One can’t allow for the quality time Hugo has arranged for me to be ruined by some meddlesome dogs,” Clarissa finished as she then strutted back to her house. “False alarm, Dante, you can stop hiding now,” Dylan called out, taking notice of his absence from the group. Dante revealed himself from the dumbwaiter and reappeared with the other dalmatians. He then asks, “Is it safe to go out now?” “I don’t sense any danger,” said Dolly. “Now let’s go out and get some treats, there’s no more time to waste!” “Any of those treats could have razor blades inside of them or they could be laced with chocolate, so be sure to check each one!” Dante forewarned. “Sure, we’ll believe in one of the oldest superstitions in the book,” Dolly remarked in a sarcastic tone. “Um, Dolly, aren’t you too old to be trick-or-treating yourself?” Dylan asked, referring to the bag she had on her. “We’re dogs, Dylan, how can we be too old for free treats?” Dolly replied.

Even if folks say that this is the point where the cracks were beginning to show for the channel, I'm nostalgic for this particular time period: (Although I voted for CN City era anyway since it truly was CN's peak, IMO.)

Spirit Bomb Slimer

What do you love most about Kongo Bongo?

It's funny to look back at how I went from respecting them for the one time they used a sample of my personal flagship cartoon to just being one of my most hated music acts in most recent memory once The Click happened. I've already exhausted every ounce of critique I've had towards AJR, so all I could say now is that I wonder how many more albums about how much growing up sucks they'll make until they actually mature as music artists.