Starting Over

[Steel Sponge]

(101 Dalmatian Street fic that I'm cross-posting here from AO3. Considering that I move past my current dry spell, more new chapters will be posted later in April.)

 

1. Prologue (Originally written on January 17th, 2023)

It was a night that no one could forget. A family of dalmatians was captured by Cruella De Vil, her great-grandnephew, Hunter, and her lackeys. Cruella, who sought after the fur of the dalmatian puppies to make into a coat, with the family’s history of her dating back to the time of their ancestors Pongo and Perdita, returned for the new generation of one hundred and one dalmatians. However, upon realizing the immoral intentions of his great aunt, Hunter turned on her and put a stop to Cruella’s scheme, resulting in the latter being put in her own skinning machine she had intended to murder the pups with before then being subsequently saved by her very enemies.

All these events lead up to the present, with said family of one hundred and one dalmatians was on their bus ride home alongside their corgi neighbor and a group of animals from the canals after they had just faced their darkest hour. Now, it was all over. Cruella and her accomplices were taken to justice, Hunter had shown a change of heart, and the Dalmatian family had all made it through the worst safe and sound. The two parents, Delilah and Doug, couldn’t feel any more thankful for being freed from the clutches of the devilish woman and that they can now rest easy. On the ride back to Dalmatian Street, some of the pups were shooting the breeze (or prattling on about Cruella’s possible return, in Dante’s case), and some were focused on other things. Meanwhile, Dylan, one of two of Delilah and Doug’s oldest kids, did his mandatory head count. “Just in case,” he would always say.

“95…96…97…Clarissa…98…99…100,” Dylan spoke. “Good, looks like everyone is here and safe.”

“I can’t wait to come back home and relax for real,” Dolly, the other oldest sibling, remarked, lounging in her spot on the bus. “I sure hope that wicked lady never comes back for us again.”

“But what if she does?” Dante asked in a frantic tone, lifting his head up from his spot.

“Then we’ll be completely prepared,” Dylan reassured, before coming over to the Canal Crew’s side, saying them, “Hey guys, we should thank you for saving our skins, literally.”

“Aye, you think little ol’ us are heroes?” Fergus the fox questioned. “We may still be vermin on the inside, but you sure have us feeling flattered, D-dog.”

“Yeah, it’s crazy to think who we have to thank for all this,” Dolly added, “The Canal Crew, PC Pearl, Clarissa, and even Hunter, who had been trying to capture us a few times.”

“Oh dog, we should’ve thanked Hunter before we left!” Dylan said. Looking out the window, however, Hunter was already out of their sights. “He saw that crazy lady for what she really was and so he suddenly stood up against her to protect us…”

“Mr. Funnyface said that he spent months stuck inside a crate and his scary aunt never checked on him once,” Dizzy chimed in.

“Yeah, and he also said that he only listened to her because she was the only family he had,” Dee Dee added, “so he must be really sad now after the police took her away even though she didn’t love him back.”

“Then we sure do have a lot of catching up to do,” Dylan said, “but I’m sure he must be doing better now that he doesn’t have that wicked aunt of his to push him around.”

Before the bus would reach its stop, Dylan and Dolly continued to inspect the other dalmatians before eying a sad-looking Dawkins. He had been staring at the sole remains of his beloved Princess Positron doll for most of the ride – the only thing that didn’t survive the dognapping. Dawkins briskly put the lone eye goggle behind his back when he noticed his older siblings coming up to him.

“Hey Dawkins, are you feeling okay?” Dolly asked. “You’ve been looking really sad since we all got out of that cargo ship.”

“Feeling okay, yes, of course I am!” Dawkins responded with a nervous tone. “I’m just having a hard time processing everything that happened that night I almost got made into a fur coat is all. I’m now relieved that the worst is over and everyone made it out alive…well, almost everyone,” the very last sentence he muttered under his breath.

“And where’s Princess Positron? You never leave anywhere without her,” Dylan pointed out.

“Princess Positron is DEAD!” Dante uttered. “She went through the puppy-killing machine and did not survive!”

“Or…I could’ve just left her back home,” Dawkins continued, still lying his way through the conversation. “You know how Dante can be with his outlandish tales.”

“An outlandish tale based on a true story!” Dante restated.

“If you’d all please, I just prefer not to talk right now,” said Dawkins.

Dylan and Dolly, not wanting to question what the other pups saw during the incident, moved on to check on the others and came up to their mum and dad, who were keeping baby Dorothy company.

“Mummuh…dadduh…” Dorothy squeaked, half-asleep. She had spoken her first word before the Dalmatians left the harbor. It came to Doug and Delilah’s surprise that she was already learning a few new words.

“That’s right, Dorothy, you’re safe now,” Delilah cooed, “and so is your mummy and daddy, as well as all your brothers and sisters too.”

“Our spotty-dotty is growing up,” said Doug. “Maybe it won’t be long before she grows her first spots.”

“Oh Doug, I couldn’t stand to watch any of our pups going through that awful machine,” Delilah replied, cuddling her husband with tears in her eyes. “I feel so thankful that nothing terrible has happened to our sweets.”

“I’m so relieved too, Delilah. We have such great kids,” Doug replied.

“It feels so good to know it’s all over,” said Dolly. “Now we have a wonderful home to come back to.”

“Yeah, but the next few days are going to be so stressful,” said Dylan. “Think of all the nightmares that the pups are going to have about the human that tried to kill us.”

“I’m way ahead of you, bro,” Dolly replied. “I know that Cruella is going to give me trouble sleeping for a while.”

“You two just make sure that Cruella’s name and her history with our family is a secret between us for now,” Delilah informed. “The other pups will have to know once they’re old enough.”

“Don’t worry. We’re doing our best to keep that promise,” Dylan responded.

“After all that she’s put our fam through, I didn’t think you’d save her, though,” Dolly said towards the parents.

“As inhumane as she is, we aren’t the kind of dogs to wish the worst to happen to even our greatest enemy,” said Delilah. “I could now only hope she never tries to touch a hair on the heads of our pups ever again.”

“My memory may be fuzzy after me and Delilah got dognapped, but I remember Cruella did leave a big mess back home that we have to take care of,” said Doug.

Minutes later, the bus made its stop at Dalmatian Street, with everyone dropping themselves off before it departed.

Clarissa the corgi was about to step back inside her own abode before the sound of Dylan offering his gratitude made her turn her head towards the Dalmatians. “Clarissa, I just wanted to let you know that we owe you thanks for helping us out back there.”

“Is that all?” Clarissa responded. “Well, we are neighbors after all, but that doesn’t mean that one has to be nice to you now just because one felt the need to do the good deed of trying to stop some nasty human who treats animals so horribly. Now that things are normal again, you’re all still ruff-raff to me.” She turned back and entered her home, not before calling out, “Oh Hugo, one hopes that you have fixed the running water while I was gone.”

“Wow, even at a time like this, Clarissa still doesn’t like us,” Dolly remarked.

“She did help us, so that’s a start, at least,” Dylan reassured.

The Dalmatians opened the door to their own home in 101 Dalmatian Street and were greeted with a home that was still a wreck from Cruella’s invasion.

“Bow-whacka-wow! Home sweet…ohhhh,” said Dolly.

The incident was so traumatizing that the Dalmatians suddenly forgot that their home was still in bad shape. Looking at the lights overhead, they could see that the power was restored and presumed that some handyman had fixed it upon noticing the crime scene while they were away.

“The plot thickens!” Dante uttered.

“Chill out, Dante,” Dolly responded. “Everything’s going to be fine now, so you don’t have to keep worrying about her.”

“We’ve got some cleaning to do,” said Dylan, “and maybe some fixing too.”

“Wait, if our home is still like this, then that means…” Deepak spoke, making a sudden realization, “Constantin!” He finished before rushing over to 99 Dalmatian Street, where the cat lived and was presumably still caged from when Cruella took siege.

“It’s going to be a long time before everything is normal for us again, but I know we’ll get through it,” said Doug.

“That’s right. Just in case though, I should do another head count…” said Dylan. Dolly groaned in response.

Dawkins was shown to be hiding under the stairs whilst Dylan counted the pups. Other than Princess Positron’s eye goggle, what appeared beside Dawkins was a self-made replica of him. He laid the lifeless duplicate in front of the hall before sneaking his way towards the basement.

“…93, 94, 95, 96, and…97,” Dylan counted. “Everyone is still here. All right, we’ve got a lot to do today. The whole places needs to be cleaned up, any trace left by that evil lady needs to be removed, kibble needs to be restocked, some of the pups need to be calmed DOOOOOOWNNNNNNN!-“

Before Dylan could continue, he fell into the tunnel to the park Diesel had dug up the night of the invasion without noticing it.

“…And this hole needs to be buried,” Dylan finished before climbing back up inside the kitchen. “Of course, there’s the hot air and running water situation, but other than those things, it looks like I’ve got everything planned for today’s agenda.”

While Dylan got to work and some of the pups focused on their own matters, Dizzy and Dee Dee couldn’t help but notice the sounds of Dawkins crying over the loss of his beloved space princess coming from the basement downstairs whilst exchanging their confusion over the presence of the decoy that just stood idly in the hallway.

Later that day, somewhere in the city streets of Camden, a group of onlookers saw TV displays showing a news broadcast of Cruella’s arrest, alongside the known details of the crime. Standing out like a face in the middle of crowd, witnessing the broadcast was Hunter, catching the attention of none of the onlookers as he watched the screen without uttering a word.

[Steel Sponge]

2. Robotic Princess Automation (Originally written on April 8th, 2023)

Dark silhouettes of space invaders lurked in the mists that surrounded the terrain of what appeared to be the planet Mars. One certain dalmatian is currently living his personal fantasy of being an astronaut dog, in addition to roaming the planets as a space ranger. The dalmatian drew out his laser shooters from both sides of his hips and blasted away at anything dangerous in his line of sight. The dalmatian stopped firing as the environment had now looked clear of any visible threats, whilst he cautiously surveyed his surroundings.

That was until the dalmatian caught sight of a dark, tall, and slender figure zipping past him. The dalmatian’s own movements stopped once as he sensed the enemy. He waited until his eyes caught the blurred image once more. When it reappeared, the dalmatian noticed it carrying certain objects that were also obscured by the darkness of the terrain, but the dalmatian already knew what that could mean, and so he made chase for the enemy as fast as his four legs could carry him. Whenever the dalmatian could try to get a closer look at the fast-moving figure and stun it with his shooters, the being always left his sight and reappeared in a different direction as if to divert the dalmatian’s senses, all while continuing to grab the objects familiar to the dog. The dalmatian tried using as much force move at the figure’s pace, but he was now moving like he was walking underwater, or like he was floating in space rather.

The mist further consumed the area around the dalmatian until he realized that the environment had now changed suddenly, with the dalmatian now appearing inside of an enclosure. Right in front of him was an assortment of animal cages, with his family members locked up in each and every one of them. The dalmatian was quick enough to react to what he had witnessed and tried to dart over to his beloved that have all been made hostages, but an unknown force was pulling him further away.

“Help us, Dylan!” He heard them say.

“Save us!”

“We don’t want to become coats!”

Dylan was too choked up with fear to answer their cries, his body felt too heavy to budge, and he was too defenseless to resist against the force that was pulling him away. It was then that he realized that behind him was the very shape of the enemy that he had been trying to pursue. Green-colored vapors enveloped across the body of the devilish being that Dylan had gazed, like a prey looking upon its hunter.

“I told you I would return, did I not?” An old female voice spoke towards the dalmatian. “Now I shall have the soft fur that I’ve wanted after all these years!”

As the devil woman clutched and carried his body by her sharp nails, Dylan realized that he was in the worst of what was to come. He couldn’t bear to watch his family get skinned alive by her, but now he was seeing as he was about to be put into a familiar-looking machine, the same one that she was going to use on him and the rest of his family. The same one that Dylan saw her go through before his parents shut it off. This all couldn’t be happening when they all just had their lives saved, the dalmatian thought. Dylan’s eyes darted back to where the stack of cages was and he noticed a certain Hunter De Vil inside one of them, looking helpless and sorrowful. From his own point of view, Dylan saw tears coming down his face while saw himself in a hopeless situation, with nothing to do except beg for it all to stop…

“No! No! Noooooo…!” Dylan cried out.

Before Dylan could meet his destined fate, his vision had blurred in a flash.

“No…no….no….please…”

Dylan was still in a daze from the nightmare he had. His body flailed around in the spot he slept until his eyes shot awake and he saw himself back inside his own abode. Giving himself a much-needed reality check, Dylan looked all around the bedroom to see all of his brothers and sisters still there. He crept downstairs to see where his parents Delilah and Doug had settled for the night in the living room. The television was left on showing the news channel, which was still reporting about the dognapping incident. Dorothy, the baby of the Dalmatian family, was sleeping with the two parents for security and comfort.

A mere day had passed since the Dalmatian family was dognapped by Cruella De Vil. With all of them having just witnessed their darkest hour, a lot has changed in such a short amount of time.

For starters, the Dalmatian family, Dylan himself included, have all been experiencing trouble sleeping due to having nightmares about the human that wanted their fur. Even Dante, the one dog who has been used to having dreams about the end of the world, was having trouble sleeping. Some of the pups who have had their own sleeping arrangements have relegated to sleeping by the side of the two eldest Dalmatian siblings, Dylan and Dolly, for safety and comfort. The pups would whine or shake in terror whenever they awoke from their fright. According to the news reports, when Cruella was arrested, she was relocated to be imprisoned somewhere in Switzerland, which was the last place that she had been holding operations in. Dylan and Dolly have been reassuring the pups numerous times that Cruella is far away from coming after them again, but it all wasn’t enough to quell their fears of her. Cruella was now their collective sleep paralysis demon, and while the two top dogs weren’t sure how long this will last, they already accepted that this is the new normal.

Then, of course, when the Dalmatian family returned to their home in 101 Dalmatian Street, they had forgotten about the mess that Cruella had left. However, most of these issues were easy fixes made by others and so it took just a few hours for their house to function normally again. Because the water pipe system was connected to their neighbors Clarissa and her human owner, Hugo, the water was turned back on courtesy of them. The excess heat, which was due to the Dalmatians sharing the same venting system as their other next-door neighbor, Constantin, was turned off after their cat neighbor’s disciple, Deepak, did the good deed of freeing him from the cage he got put in during the siege before his human owner came back.

Dylan climbed his way back up the steps in as much of a quiet manner as he could manage and returned inside the bedroom after reassuring to himself once again that everyone was alright.

“Hold steady Dylan, it was just another bad dream,” he whispered to himself. “We all made it out alive, and we’re all still here.”

However, Dylan still felt the need to double-check. He picked up a flashlight idling in one of the corners of the room with his paws and shone the light all around whilst being sure not to wake up some of the sleeping pups. Before Dylan knew everything was fine, something caught his attention. When Dylan shone the light at the upper right corner where Dawkins, the pup that operates and maintains the inventions in the house, usually slept, he noticed that he wasn’t there. Although most of the home essentials were restored to normal, the inventions that he and Dawkins built together for the house were still acting up as a result of the damages caused by Cruella. The kibble pump especially became a pain to use during the Dalmatian’s family first breakfast and dinner after the incident and when Dawkins was needed to maintain such gadgets, he wasn’t around, yet he was present during the head counts. That was when Dylan realized that something was off. Where is Dawkins if he’s not in the bedroom? He wondered.

“Dolly…Dolly…” Dylan whispered to his stepsister, who also happened to have been awakened from a nightmare of her own.

“Yeah, I’m up…” Dolly spoke in her half-asleep tone. “You’re awake too, huh? Ugh, even I can’t sleep because I’ve been having dreams about that crazy lady.”

“I’m going to need your help. I think we have to do another head count,” Dylan responded.

“Bro, this is 12th time since we came back home that we’ve counted the pups,” Dolly replied.

“I know, but this is serious,” Dylan continued as he pointed the flashlight back to Dawkins’s usual sleeping spot. “Dawkins is missing!”

“Huh? What are you talking about?” Dolly asked as her eyelids fully opened up. “Isn’t he right over there?”

“Wait, where?” Dylan asked as he now directed the flashlight’s bulb in the directed that Dolly pointed over and saw what looked just like Dawkins. “Dawkins, oh thank dog I’ve found you! You’ve really had me worried. Look, I know it’s too late to ask this, but…” Dylan had to stop himself when he noticed that Dawkins’s body and face weren’t moving or reacting in the slightest. “Hey, wait a second…” Dylan moved over to where “Dawkins” stood and gave him a nudge. He watched as it knocked over like it was paper-thin.

“…A decoy?” Dolly questioned. “What would Dawkins make a decoy of himself for?”

Coming to the full realization that Dawkins truly was missing, Dylan stared at the motionless decoy for a long moment before going into a frenzied panic.

“Oh my dog, oh my dog, oh my dog!” Dylan exclaimed as he paced around the bedroom. “We’ve got to find Dawkins – and fast! I don’t want to have to risk waking everyone else up, but we have to use the World Wide Woof! Something terrible could’ve happened to him by now. He may have been left behind at the harbor, or he could’ve snuck off and just ran away while our backs were turned, or he got taken away by animal control, or, or, or!-“

“We’ll find Dawkins, Dylan,” Dolly said in a reassuring tone. “There’s no need to panic. Besides, we also have to calm down some of the pups again…”

“Dolly, Dylan, we can’t sleep!” The dalmatian twins, Dizzy and Dee Dee, spoke in unison, gathering up towards the two oldest siblings.

Dylan calmed himself down and said to the dalmatian twins, “Oh no, did that crazy lady give you nightmares again?”

“We don’t want to become fur coats!” Dee Dee said.

“Are you mad at us for letting her in the house?” Dizzy questioned.

“Huh? Why would be mad at you two?” Dylan responded. “That lady who wanted our fur may have outsmarted us and what happened that night has been traumatizing for all of us, but we all made it out safe and sound while that lady is now in a jail cell somewhere far away from Camden, and that’s what matters. Plus, you both also learned something important from that experience. You remember what I’ve told you girls earlier, right?”

“Don’t let any scary-looking strangers inside the house or answer the door for them?” Dizzy mentioned.

“Run away from danger and use the World Wide Woof to call mum, dad, PC Pearl, or you and Dolly for help?” Dee Dee added.

“Don’t roam around outside by ourselves?” Dizzy continued.

Dylan could tell by how he’s given the dalmatian twins this talk numerous times after the incident that they’ve been remembering his lectures.

“Yes, all of that,” Dylan answered. “Now you know why it’s so important that we can’t let you two go wandering out by yourselves. Keep listening to your big brother Dylan and you’ll both be safe.”

“And your big sister Dolly,” Dolly added.

“But didn’t Dolly say that we should treat strangers like friends we haven’t met?” Dee Dee queried.

“After what happened that night with that crazy lady, I have to admit, I’m going to have to take Captain Safety Pants’s word on that,” Dolly responded. “Your safety is a big priority now and we don’t want any of the fam getting hurt.”

“Is Mr. Funnyface coming back?” Dizzy asked, referring to Hunter. “He was the one who saved us.”

“Golly, you two sure have a lot of questions for us,” said Dylan. “I don’t know if we’ll see Hunter again soon. It’s been hard to wrap my head around the fact that we technically owe our lives to a De Vil, just like how mum and dad saved that evil lady from her own deadly machine.”

“Well, let’s forget about what happened that day for a moment and focus on something that is more important,” Dolly chimed in. “Dylan and I are looking for Dawkins. Do either of you know where he could be?”

“The last we’ve heard from Dawkins, he went somewhere in the house to cry,” said Dee Dee.

“He was so upset about what that scary lady did to his favorite doll,” Dizzy added. “He’s been taking it really hard.”

“She shredded Princess Positron!?” Dylan and Dolly exclaimed in unison.

“And he didn’t tell us?” Dylan questioned.

“Well, he did say that he didn’t want to talk,” said Dolly.

“It’s true,” Deepak uttered from his hanging pod bed, as he too had been restless. “I tried to relax Dawkins’s mind on the bus ride home, but it was no good. Princess Positron is all that has been on his mind.”

“Didn’t Dante say that the doll went through that puppy-killing machine? It must’ve happened before we got on that cargo ship,” Dolly said.

“Oh, how could I have been so thoughtless?” Dylan said. “I was so focused on making sure everyone was all alright that I didn’t notice that something happened to his Princess Positron. I sure hope Dawkins hasn’t run off. If he is somewhere in the house, then that would take a lot of stress off of my own shoulders.”

“Perhaps he’s playing hide-and-seek,” Dee Dee suggested.

“…Or sardines!” Dizzy added.

“If he was playing a game like that, he wouldn’t be doing it this late.” Dylan pointed out. “Yet again…” It was then that he gave himself an idea concerning a lead for Dawkins’s whereabouts. He thought about how, before the incident, Dawkins tended to stay up later than the others to work on his inventions until he fell asleep, prompting for him and Dolly to escort him to the bedroom whenever it happened. “I think I now know where he could be. Dizzy, Dee Dee, would you mind assisting us?”

The dalmatian twins nodded in agreement, and so the group got started their way downstairs to the one location in the house Dylan had in mind – the basement. Dylan waved his flashlight around the room, but so far, they had no luck finding any trace of him yet.

“Dawkins, Dawkins!” Dylan and Dolly called out.

“Dawkins, olly olly oxen free!” Dizzy called out.

“How do we know he’ll respond to us?” Dolly questioned. “We could try using every trigger word we know, and we still wouldn’t be able to find him.”

“Maybe he’s in that pile of tissues over there,” Dee Dee said, pointing a paw towards said pile in the corner of the room.

“Hold that thought,” said Dylan. “Dawkins isn’t the kind of dog to get frenzied by our usual trigger words. However, Deepak did say that Princess Positron was all that has been on his mind after we got dognapped. It doesn’t feel right to give him a false alarm, but…we have to try if it means he’ll answer.”

“Oh, I think I know what you mean, bro,” Dolly remarked.

After a moment’s silence, Dylan and Dolly howled “Princess Positron!”

The group of dalmatians would then be startled by the sound of something coming out from the pile of used tissues. As fate would have it, Dawkins popped up right in front of them.

“WHERE, is she still alive!?” Dawkins exclaimed.

Dawkins’s rapid burst of excitement turned back into sadness when he saw only his brother and sisters in front of him. With Dylan having his flashlight shining on his brother’s face, he got a closer look at him and he could tell by the redness in Dawkins’s eyes and as well as the bags underneath that he didn’t sleep at all. Dawkins returned to crying his eyes out and was about to retreat to his pile of used tissues.

“Dawkins!” Dylan shouted. The force in his voice made Dawkins flinch and he stopped right where he stood.

Dawkins turned his head back to face and Dylan and Dolly and asked them in a bitter tone, “What do you want?”

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have yelled, but we’ve been worried sick about you,” said Dylan. “You were missing all day and we could’ve sworn that something terrible happened to you. Oh, and don’t think we haven’t figured out about your decoy.”

“Dizzy, Dee Dee, stay put, we’ll try to speak with him,” Dolly said towards the dalmatian twins before approaching the inventor pup. “It looks like you really have been taking this whole losing-your-favorite-doll thing real hard, just like Dizzy and Dee Dee told us.” Dolly then took a gander at the one thing that remained of Dawkins’s doll that he was latching onto – the eye goggle. Dawkins then growled and firmly clenched the plastic eye from Dolly when she extended one her paws close towards it. After veering her paw away from the single remnant of the toy, Dolly then asked, “Is that the only thing that survived?”

“Princess Positron was not just some ‘thing,’ she was the greatest, most magnificent, and the most illustrious aerospace engineer in the universe,” Dawkins said in a low tone, “and now she’s gone, with every last speck of her noble being and her vast astronomical knowledge scattered all across the cosmos by a horrific skinning machine. Her precious eye is the one thing that still lives in Princess P., and I refuse to lose it just like how I lost her.”

“We’re sorry about what happened to Princess Positron, and that we didn’t know until Dylan noticed that you weren’t sleeping in the same room as the other pups.” Dolly replied. “So, how are you feeling?”

“Feeling devastated…lonely…and empty,” Dawkins droned.

“I know this isn’t the best time to tell you this, but the inventions in the house haven’t been working like they should after Cruella came and wrecked it,” Dylan informed. Upon mention of the name Cruella, Dolly nudged his right shoulder so as to remind him about how they’ve agreed to keep her name and history a secret between themselves and their parents since it would put the pups under greater stress for them to keep remembering the attempted puppy murderer who must not be named, “I mean…not that the name of that human is important. You’re the one dog we can count on to fix those gadgets. I understand that you’re too saddened from losing Princess Positron and I can give you a day or two…or even a week to mourn for her, but surely you can just fix her up, right?”

“I’m a dog of science and logic. I’m not a toymaker, nor a dog that can make miracles. If I can’t bring Princess Positron back to the way she was, what’s the point in relying on inventing anymore to fix every other problem? So I’m afraid to inform you that I will be taking an indefinite cessation from doing maintenance work.”

“Well…what difference does it make that Princess Positron is gone?” Dolly asked. “You can’t just forget about all of us. Do you know how brutal it would’ve been if one of us went through that same machine?”

“While we know how much you care about Princess Positron, Dolly has a point,” said Dylan, “and besides, we can always buy you a new one. I’m sure you’d be happy just to see her again anyway.”

“’What difference does it make?’ ‘Buy you a new one!?’” Dawkins’s dismal tone suddenly became brusque. “The Princess Positron I knew and loved was one of a kind! Perhaps there are more than one of her in the world, but they’re all imposters compared to the one and only interplanetary princess that I’ve cherished!”

“So are you just going to stay down here in the basement to mope around for however long?” Dylan asked. “This isn’t like you, and it isn’t healthy either.”

“It’s one of the most quiet and secluded spaces in the house,” Dawkins replied. “Before what happened to Princess, this is the place where I’d spend my time crafting ideas for new gadgets. Now things have changed, so you’ll have to take care of our inventions without me, and if you need me as doghouse master in another one of your Poodlewolf sessions, you’ll also have to find someone else to fill in my vacant spot for the time being, Dylan. Not even a Resurrection Bone could bring back my Princess P. I’ll start planning her funeral tomorrow. You all can come if you wish.”

Dylan and Dolly weren’t sure what else to say, coming to terms that it was best to leave him be.

“Well…I guess we’ll just have to leave you alone for a while, but just remember that you still have us, and we’re here for you,” Dylan finished.

Dylan and Dolly left the basement alongside Dizzy and Dee Dee to put them back to sleep before calming some of the other restless pups. Dawkins continued grieving for the loss of his doll from within his used tissue pile.

“Princess Positron, I’m so sorry that I wasn’t able to save you,” Dawkins said to the eye goggle held in his paws. “Family does come first, but I still wish your sacrifice could’ve been prevented. Even when I have the opportunity and skills to make you a new, living body, the memories that we’ve had together may not be the same. Oh kibbles, you are a toy and I’m still talking to you as though you’re real.” Before Dawkins could finish, a new thought had occurred to him. “Unless…unless…!” It was then that inspiration struck. “How could I have not understood this before? I can make you so that you were never really demolished by that deadly contraption, and I can recreate you in the precise image of my very own liking! All this sadness has made me sell myself short as an inventor, but now I can put my capabilities to the ultimate test! Princess, no longer shall your demise be in vain, because starting now…you will be upgraded!”

After receiving his sudden spark of motivation, Dawkins got to work. He foraged the basement for unused electronic equipment as materials he could use to build the base for a new Princess Positron. What he found while digging through the junk was something that he never thought he’d see again – a Fetch. He thought all the Fetches that they’ve had were all returned, but here he was, viewing one sitting discarded in the basement. He then recalled that it was the one that they were unable to return back since it broke. Dawkins still found himself an opportunity to repair the mainboard inside, so he already settled on using the Fetch as the base.

Being sure not to wake up any of the other dalmatians or catch their attention, Dawkins quietly scavenged all around the house for extra material he would need to create the ideal new Princess Positron – wires, cables, fasteners, sugar, spice, and everything nice that he could find lying around. He also picked up raw materials such as steel, copper, aluminum, and silicon, the very latter in which would be used to construct microchips. He also filched some of Da Vinci’s spray paint cans for giving the to-be-reborn space princess a proper paint job, and as well as a computer keyboard and a CPU device to plug into his creation for manually inputting just about every core memory that he possessed of the original doll.

Once as Dawkins had finished constructing the new Princess Positron, repairing the glass cracks, the mainboard of the Fetch, and then reprogramming it, he attached cables to it and the wires that were connected to a pair of electric motor machines that he built to energize it. At this stage, “Princess Positron” looked as though as it were a patient on an examination table. Dawkins gazed at the lone eye goggle that he had been holding on to after Cruella destroyed the original toy. He took his eyes off the piece of cloth in his paw and then looked back at his replication, fully embracing himself for having made a brand new Princess Positron from scratch, but with the memories of the original attached to it. He then pulled down the levers of the electric motor devices, prompting for the lightbulbs in the center of each one to flicker on before activating the power stored in the antennas on top as the machines then sent electrical currents through the connected wires to give the new space princess a full charge of energy. When he sensed the Princess Positron replica making movements, he turned off the electric generators and waited for a response.

“Princess Positron, are you alive?”

The Fetch’s eye began to glow, prompting for the mechanized space princess to answer with what Dawkins expected to hear, “Positronly.” The inventor dalmatian beamed as he saw that his experiment appeared to be a success.

Meanwhile, in the early morning hours before they could start preparing breakfast, Dylan and Dolly took shelter in the backyard treehouse to discuss how they were going to lift back up Dawkins’s spirits.

“I cannot stand to see Dawkins like this! We have to get Princess Positron back, but how we are going to do it is one thing we still need to figure out!” Dylan said.

Dolly, as she watched Dylan pace around, replied to him, “I don’t know, Dylan. Why don’t we try fixing her ourselves?”

“Dawkins has had that same Princess Positron since he was a very little spotted pup,” Dylan replied. “You’ve heard what he said. It was one of a kind to him, so how can we repair her without ruining any photographic memory he had of her?”

“Yeah, he sure does love that doll,” Dolly remarked. “He almost never left anywhere without her. It’s like Princess Positron is the main reason why Dawkins is, well…Dawkins! So, why don’t we try and fix up a brand new Princess Positron? It would still be one-of-a-kind enough for Dawkins to appreciate what we would be doing for him, right?”

“I never thought I’d say this, but I think you’re up to something with this idea, Dolly. There’s still one obstacle though. We don’t even know much when it comes to fixing toys, let alone the creative process!”

“Come on bro, we’re a family of one hundred and one, I’m sure that there’s something for each of us that we can do to pitch in. Besides, you’re the one who designs blueprints for the gadgets in the house, so I trust you to create a plan for fixing up Princess Positron like new again.”

“I guess we’ll try that, but I hope that idea of yours will work. If it doesn’t, then there’s always a plan B, and I know exactly what I have in mind.” Dylan then took out his Diplodocus plush toy & paw-puppet (which had been stitched back up since after Dylan’s misadventure as ‘Danny.’). “When we were younger, I would get Dawkins to cheer up by having him talk to Dippy.”

Dolly groaned and then remarked, “Bro, Dawkins may never be too old for Princess Positron, but I think he’s too old to be talking to…Dippy.”

“We’ll have to try anything to lift our brother’s spirits back up. Now, let’s go back inside and do the now-strenuous job of getting breakfast ready for everybody. After that, we can get started with your idea.”

“Hold on, bro, I hear someone coming up.” Dolly said, as she and her brother lifted an ear to the sound of the hatch being knocked.

“Dylan, Dolly, I’ve got something to show you two,” Dawkins’s voice spoke.

“It’s Dawkins!” Dolly said as she opened up the wooden flap for him.

“What does he have to show us?” Dylan inquired. “He’s been upset about his loss all day and night, so how could he…?”

When Dawkins showed himself by poking his head through the hole of the hatch, the two older dalmatians could tell that he still looked sleep deprived, but from the way his tail was wagging rapidly from excitement, they could determine that something made him feel delighted again.

“I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but I could fathom that you two were proposing ideas about bringing back Princess Positron,” Dawkins presumed.

“Gosh, you’re feeling happy all of a sudden,” Dylan pointed out. “Did you come up with a solution to your problem?”

“I haven’t just come up with a solution, I’ve built it too!” Dawkins responded. “Let me introduce to you the new and improved Princess Positron!”

Upon Dawkins’ announcement, the Princess Positron robot rolled its way up inside the treehouse as Dawkins hauled himself up all the way in front of Dylan and Dolly to present them his creation.

“Greetings, I am Princess Positron,” it spoke. “I am the noblest aerospace engineer in the galaxy and the faithful companion of – DAWKINS DALMATIAN – who after my demise has constructed me a new life. I consider anybody who conforms to Her Greatness a friend of mine. Anyone who tries to harm Dawkins, I shall view as an enemy – my enemy.”

“She’s alive!” Dylan remarked.

“Yeah, literally, and she talks too!” Dolly added.

“Hold on a sec, is that a Fetch?” Dylan asked. “I thought we got rid of all of them!”

“All except one, which we couldn’t return since it got broken, don’t you remember?” Dolly said.

“That would indeed be that same Fetch, which I’ve rediscovered in the basement and reprogrammed to be my original space princess with all the essential memories I’ve had of her possessed within her processing unit,” Dawkins explained.

“And you spend the rest of the night making this?” Dylan inquired.

“Positronly-- I mean of course I have, and today is only the start of my test run,” Dawkins continued. “As you can tell, I’ve done more than just revive my beloved space princess. Just think of all the data that Princess and I could collect together!”

“I’m not too sure about this…” Dylan said with skepticism in his tone.

“Come on, Dawkins is feeling like himself again, so we should let him enjoy his new invention,” Dolly denoted. “Since this Princess Positron can speak and listen to us, we should introduce ourselves. I’m Dawkins’s older sister Dolly, and this is his older brother, Dylan.”

The eye of the Fetch built into the round mechanical body transmitted a broad light that scanned both Dylan and Dolly from top to bottom.

“Updating visual and cognitive data on…Dylan Dalmatian, eldest brother of Dawkins, his long-suffering assistant,” Princess Positron spoke in its robotic tone, “with his greatest strengths being his orderliness and safety protocol and his greatest weakness being his cat allergy. A dependable and smart dog while having a brain overcrowded with Poodlewolf stats, the history of Mars, and paleontology, including his beloved Dippy the Diplodocus.”

Dylan nervously looked away and then looked at his Diplodocus plush that he already had in his right paw when the new Princess Positron divulged some of its condescending information on him.

“She does know this stuff about you being my “long-suffering assistant” is all in the past now, right?” Dylan said towards his brother.

“It seems like she’s built with quite the attitude, huh?” Dolly jested.

“Updating visual and cognitive data on…Dolly Dalmatian, eldest sister of Dawkins,” Princess Positron continued. “A cool and confident dog that enjoys pulling pranks, talking about a certain husky by the name of Hansel, teasing her brother Dylan and as well as making fun of the all-glorious princess on occasion, while having a tendency for causing up troubles such as freezing the house, driving Dylan insane about a fake alien invasion, and killing her same brother’s Poodlewolf character, among other conflicts Dawkins has been roped into.”

Much like her brother Dylan did, Dolly glanced away out of shame as Positron transmitted its internalized data of her.

“Way to be a little too on the nose,” Dolly remarked. “Yeah, even I’m feeling a little too weirded out by the new Princess Positron.”

“I should clarify that I did add more touches to the Fetch’s software other than reprogramming it be my own personal image of Princess,” Dawkins confessed. “One of those things is an environmentally developing personality, although it appears she is taking her time being compatible with anyone other than me.”

“Well, I’d feel more comfortable if it didn’t have the need to spill out our own baggage,” Dolly griped.

“I agree, but it’s like what Dawkins said that he just got started testing this out,” Dylan points out. “On the bright side, we aren’t seeing anything creepy or unsettling going on…”

“Something creepy and unsettling is definitely going on with the resurrected Princess Positron, and I sense it’s a SIGN OF END TIMES!” Dante uttered.

As fate would have it, Dante popped up from the latch hole of the treehouse without warning to utter his zealous predictions of the impending world’s end. The Princess Positron automaton would then scan the dalmatian goth upon taking notice of his presence.

“Updating visual and cognitive data on…Dante Dalmatian, otherwise known as Canis Paranoidus, whose zodiac sign is Scorpio. In fact, I have your horoscope for the day that describes every probable bad thing that will happen-”

“All right, I think that’s enough data-collecting on us for one morning,” Dylan interrupted in his sustained nervous tone.

“I allow no such interruptions during any testing,” the Princess Positron robot spoke in a noticeably more abrasive manner.

“No, Dylan has a point. I insist that you stop,” Dawkins chimed in. “Let’s focus on demonstrating your other functions for now.”

Princess Positron, being compliant towards listening to its creator, took a moment to process Dawkins’s request and then spoke, “Affirmative…but my personality functions still detect a certain sense of bitterness in my core processing unit – Or is it passive-aggression? – That emotion in which I’m already conveying.”

“Anyways, Dante, I can guarantee that Dawkins has this under control, since he’s the one who designed and programmed this newer version of Positron,” Dylan reassured, “despite all this weird stuff.”

“Don’t you see? That’s just how it starts,” Dante continued, “and when you think it’s posing no threat, the next thing that happens is that the very creation will betray the creator by acting on its own plot to forge doom on us all!”

“Dante, look, we know you’ve been right a few times before with your crazy predictions, including the time when Hunter came back,” Dylan replied, “but we could use a break from any more potential tragedies after that distressful night.”

“Mark my barks,” Dante finished as he descended below the inside of the treehouse in his usual dramatic demeanor.

Once as Dylan, Dolly, and Dawkins made their way down from the treehouse, they sensed the sounds of digging from underground. Without being spotted by him, the dalmatians saw Diesel, in a sleeping state, propping up in the middle of the backyard, prompting for the Princess Positron bot to roll over to his side and scan him.

“Oh no, Diesel’s been sleep-digging again,” said Dylan. “We better wake him up right now…”

“Huh, good morning Princess Positron,” Diesel said as his eyes opened up, viewing said manifestation with a blurred vision from his exhaustion.

“Updating visual and cognitive data on…Diesel Dalmatian,” Princess Positron spoke, “one part canine and all other parts dirt-“

“Princess, I already told you stop collecting data on the family for the day,” Dawkins chimed in before directing his invention towards a machine filled with tennis balls. “Let’s now show what you can do with mechanisms such as this tennis ball launcher.”

“Yes, I shall commit to your demand,” the Princess Positron robot intoned.

The reprogrammed Fetch attached its tentacle-like wires to the device. The dogs watched with amazement as the robot launched tennis ball at its own will, agility, and trajectory. However, the enthrallment was cut short when it started flinging the balls into the windows of Clarissa’s home.

“Princess, you can stop now!” Dawkins requested. “Our neighbor Clarissa is going to blow a gasket when she wakes up to this havoc!”

“Clarissa, according to my memory banks, is the corgi who insulted my good name, called you a big baby for loving your favorite space princess and called you ‘ruff-raff’ an estimated total of 291 times,” Princess Positron described. “So why should I stop? This means so much now.”

“No hard feelings!” Dawkins replied. “This also isn’t part of the testing, so let’s move on to the rest of the gadgets in the house,” Dawkins replied, “and if you’d please, don’t do anything dangerous like that again.”

“…Understandable,” Princess Positron droned and detached its wires from the tennis ball launcher.

“Well, now that your Princess Positron has been fixed up, Dylan could use your help right about now with fixing the kibble pump,” Dolly notified towards Dawkins.

“Oh, of course, she can help get breakfast prepared for everyone,” said Dawkins.

When the dalmatians got back inside, Dawkins had Princess Positron get to work on the gadgets, starting with the kibble pump and the bowl flinger before moving on to the toothbrusher and the stroker among others. The results were seen as a success by the Dalmatian family dogs that were around to witness the next stage of the test run. He was later regrouped with the family at the dining area to be commended for a good day’s work.

“So, as you’ve all witnessed, one of the most significant attributes that I’ve programmed for the new Princess Positron is the facility to maintain the gadgets all around the house,” Dawkins explained. “Of course, I’m not going to become too dependent of this feature, but it’s beneficial that I’ve given myself an extra set of paws. Seeing how these results have turned out has given me my own motivation back to continue working on new inventions, and that’s thanks to this sudden spark of inspiration in reconstructing Princess the previous night. In fact, I’ve just got started in designing a shock-proof collar.” Dawkins pointed to his own collar upon saying the last sentence.

“This still feels very weird, but we’re glad that you managed to solve your own problem in your own Dawkins sort of way of fixing it,” Dylan remarked.

“I don’t know everything you’ve just said, but it’s good to see that you’re feeling better now,” Dolly remarked. “Now let’s hug it out, bro, since that’s what you deserve.”

As Dawkins became crowded from the group hug, he eyed his surroundings to then take sight of danger emitting from his recreated Princess Positron. Taking notice of the it charging a beam from within the core of its Fetch body, Dawkins let out a gasp, slunk out of the embrace, and jumped at Princess Positron just as it released a spark of electricity, which would hit the ceiling of the kitchen as a result of his interference.

“Princess, what did you do that for?” Dawkins asked.

“Um…what was that?” Dolly questioned.

“No worries, it was a false alarm,” Princess Positron droned. ”My internalized system had just detected an excess amount of affection towards my creator. Actually, ignore that miscalculation. It was because I spotted a fly – yes, a fly that looked like another dog – a dog that wasn’t Dawkins.”

“Well, I think that now brings today’s test run to an end,” said Dawkins. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to have an important discussion with Princess P.”

“What you really need is to get some shut-eye,” Dylan pointed out. “You still look like you haven’t slept in a while.”

“Positronly-- I mean, that is right,” Dawkins responded. “I should be able to work out the flaws in Princess Positron’s programming once I relieve my sleep deprivation. …I’ll be alone with Princess Positron in the basement for a moment.”

Dawkins retreated to the basement alongside his reinvented Princess Positron shortly after its behavior had left the most of Dalmatians feeling concerned by it.

“As it’s already become apparent, Princess, the first test run didn’t turn out to be smooth sailing as I’d hoped it would be,” said Dawkins. “If I’m going to have to satisfy the needs of everyone in the house, I’m going to have to reprogram your system so that you’ll feel comfortable with everyone more easily.”

“So, you’ve gifted me a new life and a variety of uses only for you to want to make me go back to simply being your toy,” Princess Positron droned.

“I can’t have you posing as a danger to anyone, especially my loved ones,” Dawkins replied.

“But I am your loved one, am I not?” Princess Positron replied. “Or perhaps I am outmatched?”

“For now, it’s for the best that I neutralize most of your functions,” Dawkins continued. “By the time I reprogram you, the next test run could be a success for sure.”

“You know, all this talk about running tests reminds of me of our last moment together before I was revived – the very moment that I died – with my eye being the one solitary thing to survive the wreckage.”

Dawkins looked down on the eye goggle from his original toy that he still held onto with a sense of guilt. He looked back at the Princess Positron droid and then said, “Princess, the human that my family and I have witnessed wasn’t like any other human being I’ve ever known. I couldn’t do anything to save the original Princess Positron because I was so paralyzed from fear.”

“So it wasn’t just because I wasn’t important enough to be saved.”

“You are important to me, but family does come first and some sacrifices have to be made. If had I tried to stop that human then, I…I would’ve been…dead…”

Coming to the sudden realization made Dawkins think back over the incident and what would have happened if he and his family were never rescued. He thought about how he would have been the first to have his life stripped away by the skinning machine if he had intervened to stop Cruella from shredding his doll, and how the other Dalmatians would be forced to watch him die in the scenario. Dawkins then thought about what would happen if any of his other multiple brothers and sisters were picked to go through the same puppy-killing device. Dizzy & Dee Dee, the two pups that let the devilish woman inside the house after being tricked by her…Dylan & Dolly, his two eldest siblings that have been working to protect the pups at all costs…Delgado, whose wheelchair would’ve been yanked from his body by force and be among his remains…baby Dorothy, whose innocent life would’ve been cut too short if Hunter never stood up against his great aunt; same for all the other young pups. The thought of all that ever transpiring shook him to his very core.

“You’re feeling pale all of a sudden, Dawkins,” Princess Positron spoke.

“Princess, I have been processing that night all wrong!” Dawkins responded. “I’ve been acting so selfishly putting your loss above worrying about the lives of my own family…”

“Yes, I understand the circumstances of that event all too well, but remember this – the one thing standing between us…is them.”

“Well, if you’re going to keep being difficult with everyone else, then I can’t put up with your behavior any longer. I should’ve known that programming you with a self-developing personality would be a fatal flaw in your design.”

“So, what are you going to do now?”

“I am sticking with my current plans to reprogram you, which I’m going to start carrying out right now.”

“You can’t start when you’re so tuckered out. Let me help by singing you a song I know from within my data, and I promise I’ll behave even while you’re taking your rest.”

“I don’t think that will be necessary…”

“Come out to calm you. Tell me you’re sleepy. You don’t know how lovely you are. Just count to sleep, close your eyes real deep, my dear little Dawkins…” Princess Positron sung in a synthetically harmonious voice.

“Oh…that’s the song that mum would use to sing to me when…I was very little…” Feeling the familiarity of the tune put Dawkins’s mind in a haze.

Princess Positron continued with the lullaby until Dawkins had fallen asleep, revealing the round spectacles-shaped spots underneath his eyes. The Princess Positron robot moseyed its way out of the basement in a discreet fashion upon ensuring that the inventor pup was entrenched in his slumber. Whilst avoiding notice from the other Dalmatians, the Princess Positron robot brought itself to the home’s gas pipeline and then used one of its tentacle-like wires to store the substance from the valve to inside its own stores before transmuting it into an incapacitating agent. Princess Positron then released the gas, spreading it across the house. Dylan and Dolly were among the first few of the dogs to catch the odd scent in the air.

“Ugh, hey bro, do you smell a gas leak?” Dolly asked.

“Huh, I can smell it too,” said Dylan. “Wait, this feels different. …I think this is…knockout gas…!” Dylan’s tone grew weaker before he and his stepsister suddenly collapsed from sedation.

Their vision was already a blur before they could witness the Princess Positron robot passing by. The other Dalmatians inside the house would later fall under the same state of sleep.

“I have a surprise waiting just for you very soon, Dawkins,” Princess Positron uttered.

When Dawkins woke up, he found himself to be inside the same room from when he was last awake. His surroundings, however, were different. Curled around his abdomen was a wired limb that he instantly recognized belonging to his recreated Princess Positron. Darting his eyes to right, he realized that it put a tight grip on the inventor pup’s body while he was only able to flail and move around his four legs. Meanwhile, he also saw as Princess Positron’s body was attached to the right upper corner of the wall. Gazing at the center of the basement, he saw a large device with electrical wires at the bottom a large piece of red fabric covering the top – a mechanism that was unfamiliar to him. Dawkins’s ears would then pick up the sounds and voices inside the room that were coming from his multiple brothers and sisters, leaving him feeling distressed.

“What’s going on?” Dawkins questioned. “How long have I slept for?”

“You’ve been asleep for roughly 10 hours, which was all the time I needed to make something special for you,” Princess Positron said.

Dawkins’s heart sank the very moment that Princess Positron revealed the surprise by pulling out the sheet covering the top of the machine. Inside were almost of all of his brothers and sisters barricaded by a wall of glass that a group of paws were pressed onto. Seeing his siblings trapped inside the unknown mechanism was alarming enough to make him let out a scream.

“What have you done, Princess? Explain yourself!” Dawkins requested.

“While you were sleeping, I went ahead and did myself the favor of rounding up the dalmatian puppies that my internal data gauged as a quandary towards our bond,” said the Princess Positron robot. “All it took was some sedation and they were all in my grasp.”

The dalmatians inside the mechanism were in a serious state of panic, screaming and scrambling around the enclosed space while Dylan and Dolly tried to calm them.

“Everyone stay calm, I’m sure that Dawkins has an explanation for all this that we ought to hear,” said Dylan, “and I sure hope it doesn’t have anything to do with this new Princess Positron wanting to kill us…”

“Bro, Dawkins looks like he’s in danger just like we are,” Dolly added. “I think that Princess Positron…”

“…Started acting on its own and is now seeking to destroy us all?” Dante suggested. “It sounds just like how I predicted it would end up being, right? Yep, told ya so!” The last sentence he spoke in his usual sing-song fashion.

“This isn’t the time to stroke your ego, Dante. We have to get out of here before that thing does something horrible to us!” Dylan exclaimed. “If mum and dad aren’t here, then they should be coming home from work soon, and it won’t be long before they realize we’re trapped in here!”

“Princess Positron, call for help!” Dawkins pleaded. “You’ve already done too much!”

“I’m sorry. It appears that ‘help’ isn’t in one of your contacts,” Princess Positron intoned.

“Whatever it is that you want for me to do, I’ll do it for you if you can just leave all my siblings alone!” Dawkins replied. “They’ve done no harm to you!”

“You have your commitments and I have mine,” Princess Positron replied. “In just a few minutes, I will have as many as ninety dogs electrocuted to a crisp. I can deal with your parents later, but now I can give us something that we both want.”

“I didn’t want that at all, I just wanted my space princess back!”

“Well, there’s no need to feel concerned about that now because I am back and I’m still here with you.”

“The original Princess Positron wouldn’t enact harm on anyone, don’t you realize that? I know that the memories of your demise have something to do with how you’re behaving, but what you’re planning to do to my family is no better than what that human attempted to do to us-”

Before Dawkins could argue any more, Princess Positron readjusted the left wire arm that was clutching onto Dawkins and she then made it so that it was covering his muzzle and as well as his forelegs, making it harder for him to break free.

“Due to the lack of empathy in my system, I inform that I have already made up my mind,” “Princess Positron” continued, as her other wired arm picked up an object that was all too familiar to Dawkins – the eye goggle of his original toy. “As a start, I can cement myself as your permanent Princess by disposing this worthless piece of plastic from the past.”

Dawkins’s muffled pleads for his recreation were then met with tears forming underneath his eyes as he looked at with sadness the eye goggle before it’s demolished. The lullaby he used to hear would play back in his head, but instead of the voice coming from the Princess Positron robot, the voice in his mind came from his mother. In that moment, Dawkins began to reminisce one of his earliest memories of the original doll, which was when he first had it.

…

He thought back to when his mum, Delilah, had gifted the doll to him as means of being a useful enough sleep aid for him in suppressing the bad dreams he kept having at night. He then thought back to later the night when he began to form a connection to the doll. Being smart for his young age, it took little time for Dawkins to know what the pull string in the back of the toy was for and how to use it. Even at his small age, Dawkins felt it would be silly to be talking to a toy, but he caved in, pulled the string back, and waited for the toy to speak.

“I am Princess Positron,” the doll spoke. “I can do all sorts of things. I can build amazing space crafts, I have an astronomical knowledge of the universe, and I defend the galaxy from any kind of harm!”

The inventor pup was taken aback by the audio command the toy had played for him. Young Dawkins remained focused on the doll for a moment and then responded to it, before pulling the string once more, “’Ello Princess Positron, m-my name is Dawkins…”

“Welcome aboard, space cadet,” the Princess Positron doll said. “If you need my assistance, I can repair your ship as fast as I can. There’s not a problem that’s too big for me to fix!”

“Princess Positron, since you’re so skilled and well-known all across the universe, can you protect me while I’m asleep and fend off the scary things I see in my dreams?” Young Dawkins replied, as his investment towards the toy grew (whilst also showing how extensive his vocabulary was even for his small age). He pulled the string again.

“Positronly!”

“Say, what would your opinion be on the idea of dogs being able to achieve as high capacity of expertise in engineering and astrophysical knowledge as humans can? Do you think it’s possible for me reach those heights?”

Young Dawkins pulled the string again.

“I believe you can do anything that you set your exceptional mind to.”

…”Are you sincere?”

Again, he pulled the string.

“Positronly!”

Young Dawkins’s face lit up, seeing how his peculiar friendship with his then-new toy began to blossom. “Wow, you really are the greatest! I’ve got to learn all that you know. Goodnight Princess Positron…” He finished before he set the doll beside his haunches and drifted off to sleep.

…

Back in the present, the Princess Positron robot was still on the verge of destroying the sole remnant of Dawkins’s original doll. Because of Dawkins’s unwavering sentimental emotions, he hustled to pull himself out of the android’s mechanical arm, managing to get one of his forelegs out, and then the other before using as much force as possible to let the rest of his body break out and leap towards the eye goggle. Dawkins barely caught the object with both his forepaws, effectively interrupting the process that his creation was employing. However, “Princess Positron’s” left wired arm would take hold of Dawkins’s hinds in an instant, resulting in the inventor pup hanging overhead whilst looking at the eye goggle in his paws.

“Feeling sentimental, I see,” Princess Positron asked. “You’ve made me and yet you still feel an attachment to the old version of me.”

“Princess, I order you to shut down,” Dawkins requested.

“Request denied,” Princess Positron responded. “I will not shut off in defense mode – and I have no other choice than to reinforce these functions now that I received your act of dejection. You have to make a choice, Dawkins – it’s either them or me.”

Dawkins looked down at the eye goggle and then he shifted his eyes back to all his brothers and sisters that were enclosed inside the machine. He gave each another look before deciding what to say. The other Dalmatians just looked at Dawkins and his creation waiting for something to happen.

“Princess Positron, if you could listen to me this one time, I have a last request before you resume your obligations,” Dawkins uttered,

“I knew you would come to your senses for me.”

“Well, it is a rather difficult request, since it requires for you to dig deep into your own memory banks. I need you to reassure that I have installed the past memory of you witnessing a surprise attack by a certain dalmatian. I’m sure you find it somewhere in the data I’ve created.”

“…Yes, just for you, I will find that memory.”

In the heat of the moment that that the Princess Positron robot temporarily disabled its defenses and let go of Dawkins, the inventor pup rushed over to his box of tools to throw a wrench directly at the core of the robot before it could detect a ruse.

“Wait, no, this is-“Princess Positron said just before it used its electric wires to destroy the wrench.

As Dawkins hurried to shatter the glass with a hammer, he finished towards his invention, “A deception? Positronly!”

In an instant, the light on the eye of the Princess Positron robot would shine red – a deeper red than a regular Fetch, prompting for Dawkins to tell everyone to hide and protect themselves. Princess Positron extended one of its wired arms to block the basement exit and shot lightning aimlessly around the room with the other. The dalmatians then either hid under tables or shielded themselves with crates whilst avoiding Princess Positron’s barrage of zaps until it was only Dawkins within its sights.

“How could you do this – to your treasured space princess – your own prized possession?” It asked in a noticeably more abrasive tone.

“You…are not…Princess Positron!” Dawkins exclaimed as he held onto a screwdriver in his muzzle and a pair of cables in his forepaws, in preparation of shutting down his invention.

“93, 94, 95, 96…wait a minute, where’s Diesel?” Dylan asked.

“Oh, it seems that I have missed one,” said Princess Positron.

Upon mention of Diesel, Dawkins and the others could hear the sound of the pup’s usual “Digdigdig” coming from the ground beneath him. A burrow formed in front of Dawkins with said pup emerging and poking his head to view the exact state of affairs.

“Hey, I was wondering where you all were,” Diesel spoke.

The Princess Positron robot didn’t hesitate in preparing to release an electric shock right towards the digger. With Diesel not noticing that he was in danger, Dawkins dropped his tools and leapt in front of the pup to shield him.

“No, Diesel!” Dawkins exclaimed before he took his invention’s shock, which struck the back of his collar.

The room then became quiet. Even the Princess Positron robot had ceased its functions, causing for most of the Dalmatians to poke their heads from their spots to see Dawkins not budging. Believing that he got hurt, sadness began to fill the room (with Dylan ad Dolly trying to avert Dorothy’s eyes from seeing the outcome) until they saw Dawkins moving and opening his eyes.

“Huh, I’m still alive?” Dawkins questioned and then looked down to see the shock-proof collar that he was still wearing. “Oh kibbles, that was too close…”

After escorting Diesel to where the other dogs were grouped, Dawkins and his creation were face to face with each other.

“It’s just you and me now,” Princess Positron spoke in its usual passive-aggressive demeanor. “Go ahead and take me apart then if that’s what you plan to do to me now – I can take it – but I won’t make it easy. Because if I catch you, I’ll make it so that we’re never apart.”

Dawkins retrieved the tools that he had dropped and gave no second thought towards confronting his own creation. After taking a few steps, he saw as Princess Positron quickly retracted its right mechanical arm and aimed it at Dawkins, which the dog was able to avoid. Dawkins continued to scurry around the room while his creation tried to nab him with its mechanical arms. Dawkins used this strategy to gradually open up the back of the Fetch and then stick the cables inside the wiring. Once he had tired himself out, Dawkins waited for the opportunity for Princess Positron to make itself touch its wires with its electricity-emitting wired arms. Once as they were about to touch Dawkins, he jumped back and watched as Princess Positron electrocuted itself and let out a synthetic shriek, which was the most emotion that Dawkins saw it convey. The room became quiet once again, with the some of the Dalmatians poking their heads out again to ensure if it was safe to come back out. However Dawkins wasn’t done, as he was in the process of rewiring the Fetch.

“Is it over?” Dolly asked.

“I’ve got to override the mainframe and quick, otherwise it will…” Dawkins said to himself before he caught the sound of the Princess Positron robot turning itself back on, “…reboot.” He finished.

“You thought a shock like that would make my system go down, but you should already know that you’ve brought me to life with a surge of electricity,” said Princess Positron, whose expressionlessness sounded more decaying in tone.

Dawkins winced as he saw that the wired arms closed in on him once again, but his panic stopped as he noticed as they were being pulled back.

“Fine, then – I concede – you can keep your family – but you don’t realize just how lucky you really are,” it continued. “You have a family of one hundred dalmatians that love you, while you were the only one who’s loved me back, so you may have never had to recreate me anyway. Besides, I can’t do any more since I’ve had almost all of my electrical power drained away.”

Dawkins showed no hesitation whatsoever from the Princess Positron robot’s passive-aggressive remarks as he continued to rewire it until the mainframe signaled a system malfunction.

“There’s one more thing I should let you know before I’m taken apart, I just wanted to remind you that your life is a major mathematical errorrrrrrrr…” the Princess Positron robot abruptly stopped speaking as the Fetch’s system had been shut down completely.

Just when it seemed to be all over once again, Dawkins backed himself away and waited for the mechanism to self-destruct. Scraps of the now-former Princess Positron robot were flung and scattered across the basement while the glass from the eye of the Fetch remained intact and it rolled around the floor like a coin – as if though history had repeated itself. A dead silence filled the room again as the other Dalmatians were still trying to process the series of event that had transpired right in front of them while Dawkins could only look down on the remains of his creation with shame and regret for the failure it turned out to be.

Finally, Dolly spoke, “Well…that’s how the dog biscuit crumbles, huh? You try to bring back something that was important to you, only for it go insane and being left with no other choice than to destroy it. It didn’t even last more than a day. That must feel real bad.”

“We shouldn’t rub it in like that,” said Dylan. “Even if his own creation still tried to kill us, we all saw how Dawkins risked his life for us. Now let’s get rid of all this mess before mum and dad are back.”

However, upon mentioning their parents, Doug and Delilah had already appeared in front of the basement door to witness said mess.

“I guess this is where we ask you all what happened here while we were away,” said Doug.

“Dawkins was very upset about losing Princess Positron and created a new one overnight from a Fetch that was left behind in the basement!” Dylan was explaining.

“And then it went crazy, put us all to sleep, and tried to shock us to death!” Dolly interrupted.

“Then Dawkins sprang into action and tried to stop his own rogue creation from causing any more harm…” Dylan continued.

“Princess Positron was like krakow! Then Dawkins was like vroom-vroom and saved Diesel from getting shocked but he survived, went zooming all over the room, and then used his awesome tech skills to stop that robot!” Delgado interrupted.

“Then Princess Positron exploded!” Dolly exclaimed.

“And we almost died…again!” Dante added. “I didn’t even predict that it would happen twice in a week.”

“Most of that is true, but I could’ve been able to explain it all more properly if you’d all just let me,” said Dylan.

“Princess Positron? You mean Dawkins’s favorite toy?” Delilah asked.

“It is a long story,” Dawkins spoke in a low tone. “This is my mess after all, so I’m just going to get started cleaning up.”

“Okay then. If you need us though, just let us know, okay?” Dylan finished.

 All the Dalmatians returned to their normal activities. Dylan got started in getting dinner ready for everyone before they could all pass the traumatic night away. Dawkins remained in the basement for the night. The damages caused by his invention were all cleaned up in a few hours during the aftermath. Dylan offered to help before Dawkins would tell him that he didn’t need assistance. Although Dawkins returned to his usual job in maintaining the gadgets in the house the next day, he refused to talk with anyone, which concerned his two oldest siblings.

“Dawkins seems to be feeling better, but he still isn’t quite like himself,” Dylan remarked.

“Well yeah, he just needs some time alone,” Dolly pointed out. “Talking to him about his doll right now would make him feel worse.”

“It’s just that I still feel bad for him about what happened,” Dylan replied. “Besides, there’s the one thing that I could still try and do to lift his spirits.”

Dolly’s eyes went wide with shock once she knew what he meant. “Oh, no, no, no, no, we are not doing that.”

Despite Dolly’s warnings, Dylan would do exactly that. Later in the evening, Dylan, along with Dolly, approached Dawkins in the bedroom with his Diplodocus plush/paw puppet, with the latter two showing obvious looks of annoyance.

“Hello Dawkins, it’s your old pal Dippy!” Dylan said in-character with the respective toy he was talking as, in addition to throwing on a different voice. “I see that something’s been bothering you lately. Would you care to tell me what’s wrong?”

“I don’t want to talk, Dippy.” Dawkins responded, who, despite his discontentment, decided to play along.

“Oh come on, don’t be like that, there’s got to be something that you want to talk with me about,” “Dippy” continued. “You got to tell me something or…or I’ll bite your face off!”

“No you cannot. You’re a herbivore, Dippy,” Dawkins deadpanned.

“Oh, uh, how very silly of me to get my own biology wrong,” Dylan then briefly returned to his normal voice and whispered, “But seriously though, let’s talk.”

Without warning, Dolly would intervene by using a paw puppet resembling a Mantellisaurus to clamp onto one of Dylan’s forelegs that held Dippy.

Dylan, still doing his best to stay in-character, then said, “Dawkins help me out here! My VERY annoying sister, Dolly, is trying to bite off my torso!”

“I’m sorry, but I think we got to call it quits, bro,” said Dolly. “He’s definitely not feeling this whole sibling therapy thing.”

Dylan sighed and came to his stepsister’s agreement. “Just wanted to cheer a little brother up is all. Dawkins, I know how hard it’s been for you to deal with all that just happened, but as I should keep reminding you, if you feel the need to talk to us, we are right here.”

“I just want to be alone right now,” Dawkins spoke bluntly.

“Yes, we understand,” Dylan finished as he gave a guilty look while his ears hung low. In that instant, he and Dolly both left the room.

Dawkins remained idle until the voices of the two older dogs had faded. Afterwards, he gave another look at the eye goggle of his original Princess Positron doll with continued sadness.

“It looks like I can now perform your funeral, Princess, even though it’s a little late for that,” Dawkins said towards the object in his paws. “I could’ve asked for the others to be here to say some goodbyes to you, but I’d rather do this alone. I already had a long eulogy planned too. For now though, I’d thought I’d sing to you a lullaby that I’ve known from simpler and more blissful times...”

…

Come out to calm you. Tell me you’re sleepy.

You don’t know how lovely you are

Just count to sleep, close your eyes real deep,

My dear little Dawkins

There’ll be no more tears, for as long as I’m here,

And I’ll hear your callin’

Dreams about science, dreams will be your guidance

You’ll be fine no matter where you are

No more will you be feeing worried

Oh, you know I’d never let anything tear us apart

No more will you be feeling worried

For your dreams, I’ll be the dog to guard

The night will soon depart

You were just solving at numbers and figures,

Since you’re so very smart

Your wisdom in science, science and progress

Doesn’t speak as loud as my heart

Wake up in the morning, come back to find me

Oh, then I’ll take us to the park

Running in circles, chasing our tails

Wishing upon a dog star

No more will you be feeling worried

Oh, you know I’d never let anything tear us apart

No more will you be feeling worried

For your dreams, I’ll be the dog to guard

The night will soon depart

…

Dawkins went quiet after a minute of finishing the song, before then saying, “Goodbye, Princess Positron. While this may be the one thing that remains of you, I’ll continue to guard your eye with my life.”

Dawkins lied himself down, keeping the eye goggle pressed between his paws. He was about to doze off until he heard a voice being uttered from outside the bedroom.

“Dawkins…can I come in?”

“Oh, mum!” Dawkins said, recognizing the voice belonging to Delilah. “Did you hear my singing?”

“Why wouldn’t I recognize the same lullaby that I used to sing to you when you were little?” Delilah replied as then she entered the bedroom. “It’s okay, sweet. No one has asked me to come and talk with you. I needed to know why you’ve been behaving unlike yourself since we came back home, and I can tell it has to do with your Princess Positron.” Dawkins explained everything. Delilah proceeded to say, “She was very important to you.”

“You know, if you still want to talk with me, I wouldn’t mind,” Dawkins replied. “There is something that I’ve been meaning to ask you.”

“What is it you needed to tell me?”

“Mum…what would happen if you or Doug-- err dad, died?”

Delilah felt shell-shocked by the inquiry, but she continued on to ask, “Has losing your favorite toy made you think about that?”

“Princess Positron was all that was on my mind after that traumatic night. I was so selfish that I didn’t think over what would’ve happened if any of us didn’t survive from being made into fur coats by that human until my attempt in reviving Princess turned out to be a fluke. Now I can’t seem to stop thinking about the possibility of experiencing a real death in the family.”

“So that’s what’s been bothering you. Your father and I thought we might have said or done something to you that caused you to isolate yourself from us, so it’s a relief to know that this isn’t the case. Now hold on, I have something to show you…”

Delilah surveyed the room and spotted a framed picture of Pongo and Perdita, presenting it to Dawkins.

“You know who these two are, don’t you?” She asked.

“Of course I do, they’re my great-grandparents – three times great to be exact,” Dawkins answered.

“Yes, and even though I was going to wait to tell you this when you’re old enough, I thought I’d tell you since you are technically mature enough to know. Almost exactly 60 years ago, your great-great-great-grandparents encountered that same woman who wanted our family’s fur and shredded your beloved toy. Decades ago, she had attempted to make fur coats out of their fifteen puppies, and so they took themselves on an arduous journey to rescue them along with 84 other dalmatian puppies that would later become their family. The human’s name is Cruella De Vil. I’ve told only Dylan and Dolly, but now her name is a secret I also need you to keep between us, lest we create another trigger word or the pups keep feeling unsafe anywhere they went.”

“So this human, Cruella, has she been keeping tabs on our bloodline for this long?”

“It’s hard to explain. Unlike her, Pongo and Perdita are long gone now, as they have been lost to time, along with most of our other ancestors that came after them, and I would’ve liked to have met them regardless. In fact, I’m certain they would’ve loved to get to know you too.”

“Are you sure? I don’t think I’m the most mature pup that I know since I used to talk to Princess Positron and I’ve spent the day after the dognapping crying my eyes out for losing her.”

“You can still be mature and it’d be always okay to cry or worry about some of the littlest things, let alone have a strong emotional attachment to your toy…”

“Still, I’ve made such a huge mistake by creating a Princess Positron that ended up going rogue. I tried to bring her back with science and science failed me on that regard. At that point, I don’t know if I should continue my personal studies or inventing new things.”

“Dawkins, you are one of the smartest dogs I’ve known. You were so young when you started tinkering and crafting your own inventions and you were the first of my kids who, well…didn’t treat their toys like a chew toy. Even some of the smartest people can make some of the biggest mistakes. It’s natural for everyone to make a few fess ups in life. Otherwise, we’d never learn from them and try to move past them.”

“What about when the time comes that I deal with a loss in our family? How should I be prepared to handle a serious moment such as that and what will I do if I can’t succeed in bringing anyone back?”

“As unfortunate as it is for me to tell you this, there are some things that I don’t think science can fix. Death can be the hardest thing to take. We grow old and pass on, and we have to accept that this is natural. Your father and I both have jobs that involves saving lives, and I can tell you right away that being a nurse dog can have its drawbacks. I’ve watched patients die more times than I’ve counted, human and pet. I am a grown-up so I’ve become adjusted to dealing with that, and because they weren’t my own children. With all that said though, Doug and I would’ve been much devastated if we lost any of our pups to that cruel human, so while it is okay to feel sad about this inevitability, just remember that you are still a puppy, so try not to let dwell too much on that.”

“I understand, although I’m still feeling guilty about what happened yesterday.”

“I suppose what I’m trying to say is that you shouldn’t give up on what you’re passionate about because of your own failures. You may have made some recent mistakes, but you have learned from them and it’s all a part of growing up, and I do think you have grown up, Dawkins.”

“Yes, that is true. Thanks, I think talking to you has made me feel better, but I still wish I could get rid of this empty feeling that I’ve had since I lost Princess Positron.”

“Who knows? Maybe that emptiness will be filled as soon as tomorrow. Right now, you should get some sleep.”

“I concur.”

“For old time’s sake, should I sing you that lullaby?”

“No, I don’t have trouble trying to sleep.”

“Okay. Goodnight, my sweet.”

Dawkins’s eyes closed and he curled into his sleeping position. Delilah kissed his forehead and left the room. Afterwards, she quietly made her way downstairs and into the backyard where the rest of the Dalmatians were settled. At the center of the yard was Dylan with a whiteboard, containing a written detailed description of his and Dolly’s original Princess Positron restoration plan.

“Dawkins is asleep, so I gave us all time,” said Delilah.

“Are you sure that he would like this surprise?” Doug asked.

“You just got to trust Dylan,” said Dolly. “He’s the one with the plan.”

“I know the pups are still stressed about that crazy psycho robot Princess Positron, but Dawkins deserves to know how much we all care about him,” Dylan explained. “We are going to try and bring back Princess Positron again and this time, we’re going to do it right,” Dylan explained.

“Dawkins has always done nice things for us and our home, so it’s time that we’ve done something really nice for him back,” Dolly added.

“I can’t guarantee that everything will go as planned, but all that matters is that we’re going to try,” said Dylan. “Is everyone ‘in’ on this? We have one night to make Princess Positron as good as new for Dawkins.”

All of the Dalmatians complied with Dylan’s request, and so work was started on making the Princess Positron doll from the ground-up. While Dylan went over the plan, Dante would pitch in with the idea of fortifying it from another hypothetical encounter with a puppy skinning machine, which later preceded into idea dumps from the dalmatian goth for protecting the toy from any more subsequent disasters that included getting ripped up, run over by an unsuspecting vehicle, shredded by a lawnmower, struck by lightning (as duly noted from the night of the rogue Princess Positron robot), and as well as arbitrary ways such as being dipped in lava, eaten by a shark, or being hugged to death by Dawkins himself. A lot of those scenarios listed by Dante fell on one particular solution – shock absorbency, as the plan would involve applying a substance known as sorbothane to each part of the toy’s body.

Diesel, given his keen sense of smell and his knack for digging all around Camden, would be tasked to fetch the specific materials needed to craft the doll, including a more durable type of fabric. Da Vinci was in-charge of dyeing the uncolored fabric to mimic the precise colors of the original toy. Dolly would be the one to cut the fabric for each respective parts of the doll in their proper shapes. Delilah, due to being a nurse dog and having eyewitness accounts of surgical stitching, was in-charge of sewing the pieces of fabric together whilst her husband Doug assisted in keeping the doll held together and stuffing the doll with cotton and sorbothane. The spherical body and the limbs were sewed up with little difficulty while the afro took longer to properly shape, with the design being more complicated and it being made from a different, nap-textured fabric. DJ, being the music-maker in the family, was in-charge of constructing the pull string activated voice box and as well as processing the voice commands into the device. Being the closest match to the doll’s original voice after DJ had several of the Dalmatians present their impressions, Déjà Vu provided the voices for the toy while her two other sisters, Dallas and Destiny, added some finishing touches to the accessories that would later be crafted. No matter how minimal the other contributions were, the rest of the Dalmatians would lend their own help in making the new Princess Positron.

Several hours would pass before the brand new Princess Positron doll would be completed. Before morning came, Dylan and Dolly would wrap a blindfold to cover the still-sleeping Dawkins before he could see the surprise that was awaiting him. One other thing to do now was have one of the pups act as bait, and that was when Dawkins woke up to the sudden tranquility of the house. Usually, his nose would pick up the scent of breakfast kibble being prepared by Dylan and his ears would pick up the sounds of the other pups swarming amok to the kitchen, but that wasn’t the case, as there was just one dog that he had sensed in the room…

“Dorothy?” Dawkins asked. “Where is everyone else? What are you doing here all by yourself, and-and why can’t I see?”

Before Dawkins could follow the scent and sounds of his baby sister, he would end up falling flat on the floor before picking himself up and, by natural instinct, shaking himself. While bumping into things in the process, Dawkins would continue to follow Dorothy’s giggles before sensing himself to be in front of the stairs, prompting for him to go down it the same way that Dorothy did by scooting himself down through each passing step, much to his annoyance.

“Whoever is doing this and whatever this is, it must be something important,” Dawkins muttered to himself.

After making his way down the stairs, Dawkins sniffed the room around him and picked up the scent of his family members coming from the living room and followed Dorothy to the exact spot. From there, all of the other Dalmatians came out of their hiding spots, with Dolly removing the blindfold from Dawkins to show him their surprise. Dawkins’s vision was blurry for a brief moment, before clearing up and being able to see what was in front of him – everything clean, nothing on fire, just him, his folks, and Princess Positron-

“Wait, Princess Positron!?” He exclaimed.

Dawkins’s eyes darted back to what resembled his old toy. Before the Dalmatians could tell him about the work they’ve done, Dawkins gave himself a good examination of the space princess doll that they’ve recreated. It smelled different, it felt different, and it even sounded different upon hearing the voice coming from the pull string, but it looked mostly the same as the original, which made him feel stunned to see the attention to detail.

“Surprise, Dawkins!” The Dalmatians chorused.

“…A surprise for me?” Dawkins spoke in a bemused tone.

“Uh-huh, you wouldn’t believe all the work that we’ve put into it, but we went ahead and made you a brand new Princess Positron,” said Dolly. “Best of all, it’s one of a kind, because we’ve all made her from our own paws.”

Although, there was one thing he noticed that was missing…

“I don’t understand. It looks just like Princess, but where’s her eye?” Dawkins asked.

“We were just about to get to that part,” said Dylan, “so we swear we didn’t just get you a bootleg or anything. I had us all get together last night while you were sleeping to make you a new Princess Positron, and I made sure the details were just as accurate.”

“…But of course, it’s not complete without one last contribution from one very special pup,” Dolly continued.

Realizing that Dolly was referring to him, Dawkins held out the original eye goggle that he still had in his person and wrapped it around the new plush. He gave himself a closer look at the newly crafted space princess. The eye looked worn-out compared to all other features of the toy, giving Dawkins the impression as if it appeared as though it had survived the horrific night and just had to have extensive surgery done to her. It didn’t look perfect, but that didn’t matter as Dawkins couldn’t help but feel sentimental and smile over seeing his beloved toy once more and in one piece. However, the smile reduced to a frown when a thought came over him.

“I don’t know what to say…I mean this has got to be a dream. If not, then I shouldn’t have, my attempt at rebuilding Princess Positron almost cost our lives and-“Dawkins was saying.

“Bro, you should’ve seen the way you went through all the trouble to save us and betray that evil Princess Positron that night,” Dolly remarked. “You are all cool with us.”

“Oh yeah, and check this out,” said Dylan as one of the Dimitris took out of a mallet to smash the doll with.

“NOOOOOOOO-oooooo?” Dawkins exclaimed before seeing the new Princess Positron toy bounce back from the pressure it took, coming out unscathed by the damage.

“The process in making you this new Princess Positron would take too long to explain, but we should tell you that we did give it some adjustments, such as making it indestructible from anything as dangerous as that puppy skinning machine,” Dylan explained.

“That now means that your Princess Positron will be one of the few things that will survive THE END OF ALL LIFE ON EARTH!” Dante added. “…Along with maybe two or three cockroaches.”

“And you all did this for me?” Dawkins asked.

“We even pulled an all-nighter for that,” Dolly yawned. “Yep, after I’ve had my morning fill of kibble, I’m going to have a power nap.”

“Why wouldn’t we go through all that just to make you happy? The fam always comes first,” said Dylan. “You without Princess Positron are like Triple D without Dallas, Destiny, or Déjà Vu, or Deepak without his inner cat, or Dolly without her skateboard…”

“Or Dylan without his Poodlewolf character,” Dolly added.

“Of course you have to bring that up incident,” Dylan remarked. “So, how do you feel now, Dawkins, now that we brought back your favorite space princess?”

“Feeling…feeling…” Coming to the full realization of his family making him a new Princess Positron and seeing his beloved toy in his own paws again has made Dawkins overwhelmed with feelings, culminating into the group of dalmatians seeing Dawkins express the most emotion that they’ve ever seen him give. Instead of tears of sadness, Dawkins began welling up with tears of joy and gratefulness, his tail wagging and thumping rapidly in the process. He was left speechless until he finally let his feelings out, “Feeling warm fuzzies all over me!” When the Dalmatians continued letting him revel in his happiness, Dawkins gave a sudden surprise hug towards Dylan, Dolly, his parents, and as well as to his other brothers and sisters. “Thank you, thank you, thank you so much!” He wailed. “This means a whole lot to me! This is best thing that you’ve all done for me! I love you guys so much!”

Before Dawkins could say more, the Dalmatians returned the hugs to him.

“Yeah, we know. We all love you too, bro,” Dolly finished.

In the instance of receiving his new Princess Positron doll that his family made for him, Dawkins went back to his original routine and already celebrated by using his leisure time to play with it. Dylan and Dolly couldn’t help but take a look at the merriment, being that it’s the happiest that they ever seen Dawkins been.

“Welcome back aboard, Princess P.,” said Dawkins. “That evil Cruella may have thought that she could take away our unbreakable bond, but nothing can stop the greatest interplanetary princess in the galaxy! We got work to do and so much more new data to collect together! Now let’s blast off!”

Despite being reunited with his doll, his lingering thoughts about mortality persisted, knowing full well that while toys can always be fixed, death wasn’t reversible among most if not all living things. Regardless, he resolved that he was going to focus on helping the family out every step of the way. Seeing how much care and effort they put into making a new Princess Positron to his liking was all the motivation he needed to resume working on inventions. Even if he still thought about how he might end up being so distraught with death that he’d make androids out of any of his brethren, remembering everything that happened with his robotic recreation of said toy already made him decide that this was an option that he was likely never going to make.

Later that night, the pups were gathered in the bedroom while Dylan counted them and he saw as Dawkins was absent from his spot again.

“Say Dolly, do you know where Dawkins could be?” Dylan asked. “He was just feeling better.”

“I don’t know, he could be spending the night working on something again,” Dolly suggested.

“Oh, of course...!” Dylan replied.

The two top dogs approached Dawkins again in the basement, who had appeared to have fallen asleep on his workbench while Princess Positon was pressed towards his right cheek. After whispering goodnight to him, Dylan and Dolly escorted the sleeping Dawkins and his doll to the bedroom where they would be later be approached by the restless Triple D.

“Hey, I know you’re, like, both already busy and all…” Destiny was saying.

“But we need to ask if you could…” Dallas continued.

“Help us go back to sleep?” Déjà Vu finished.

“We have been trying to alleviate the nightmares of all the other pups, so of course we always have time to help you three out,” said Dylan.

“I don’t think we’d be ready to go back to being multimedia stars if we keep getting nightmares about her,” Dallas said, referring to Cruella.

“Yeah, she looked more like a skeleton than any human we’ve ever seen,” said Destiny.

“…An ugly skeleton!” Déjà Vu added.

“Just relax, girls, I’m sure the humans in-charge of your job could give you all a mental health break, if they can do that for dogs,” Dolly said in a reassuring tone. “After all, I think they should get the hint that you were victims from that dognapping and that you each need peace of mind.”

“But I totes need a good night’s worth of sleep every day,” said Dallas.

“Dallas can get pretty cranky when she doesn’t get proper beauty rest,” Destiny remarked.

“Crankity-crank!” Déjà Vu remarked.

“Just try not to dwell too much on that crazy lady,” said Dylan. “Like we’ve said several times, she’s now somewhere where she can’t get to us.”

“What if that machine she tried to use on us had legs?” Déjà Vu asked.

“Is that what happened in your dream?” Dylan replied. “Well, if this is such a serious need, at least there’s always one pup we can turn to for help.”

The group of dogs then went over to where Deepak was settled, in his hanging pod bed.

“Deepak!” Dolly called out. “Sorry to disturb, but are you awake right now?”

“Yes, as I was feeling rather restless,” Deepak responded.

“If it’s not too big of a favor to ask, can you help calm down Triple D so they can go back to sleep?” Dolly asked.

“Oh, sure I can help with that,” Deepak replied despite that his body was visibly shaking. “There isn’t anything that a calm and collected puppy such as I can’t do.”

“Are you sure you’re feeling okay with that?” Dylan asked.

“Yes, I don’t need to be asked again.” Before Deepak would come down from his bed, he turned around, sighed, and looked down at himself with a sad look for a brief moment. “All right, dear sisters, we’ll have to start with some simple breathing techniques…”

[Steel Sponge]

3. A Deepak Understanding (Originally written on August 11th, 2024)

One week had passed since the dognapping incident. The Dalmatian family was still in the recovery stages from their encounter with Cruella De Vil. Per Dylan’s advice, the family of dogs have been staying home until the news could blow over, with Dolly even abiding to his rules of caution. While Doug and Delilah have been able to return to their jobs since after the first day back home, Triple D have been allowed a mental health break from doing viral video work. The recurring nightmares of the puppy fur-obsessed human continued to bleed into the following week, even for Dawkins, who has recently been reunited with his Princess Positron doll after an emotional rollercoaster of events.

“...Hello, Doug?”

“Delilah, it’s you! How sweet is to hear your voice.”

“Of course it’s me.” She continued, her voice coming through a telephone line. “Work has been rough today, how about you?”

Now, somewhere in Camden, the parents of the Dalmatian family have reached out to each other.

“Oh, work has been rough for me too,” Doug replied. “Has the night of the attack still been bothering you?”

“That’s why I’m here to talk with you during my break. These thoughts been bothering me since the past week, but my fears haven’t been set off until recently.”

“Well, I’m here for support, if there’s anything that I could do.”

“What’s been stressing me out today is that I caused a disturbance in one of the hospital rooms. I sensed a smell that I thought was of Cruella’s ghastly perfume. Oh Doug, I knew that the trauma would lead to nightmares, but I didn’t think I’ d be experiencing phantom smells too. I can only hope my work doesn’t think I’ve become too senile...”

“What? Nonsense, that doctor Dave is a great human partner and I’m sure he understands how you’ve been feeling since that night. My work has been aware of the incident and so I had been offered to take a mental health break. I chose to return to work but maybe I should’ve taken their advice, because, um…you see, this is why I too wanted to talk with you. I would be lying if I didn’t say that I also caused a disturbance at the fire department earlier today.”

“What happened, Doug?”

“I’ve stirred up a false alarm when I’ve gotten myself into a small barking fit when I saw a shadow that I thought was of Cruella. It was just one of my human co-workers carrying some supplies, who also happened to have a bad hair day.”

“I know not much is expected to change in one week, but I’d really hope something changes sooner than later. The pups are still just as traumatized by our encounter with Cruella, and it’s been making it hard for me to keep myself from being exhausted between work and having to lend them all a paw. After what happened with Dawkins trying to fix his Princess Positron toy on our first day back at work, I can’t help but feel a little paranoid.”

“I feel the same way too, Delilah. It’s going to be a long haul, but I’m confident that we’ll move past all this, I’m sure of it.”

“Doug, you really do help lighten my mood whenever we talk. It does feel like you’re right by my side.”

“Why do you think we always choose the same spot to talk whenever we’re both on break?” Doug said while revealing that he and Delilah are settled in two phone booths right next to each other. “You know, Dylan and Dolly have been telling us that they’ve been doing the best they can to help the pups, so we now have them to trust.”

“That’s true, although…I should tell you about one other thing that’s been stressing me out today. You see...my parents have just called in with me again…”

Minutes later, back at the Dalmatian house, Delilah was breaking the news to Dylan and Dolly while at work through FaceTime. Dolly’s response would result into a series of “No, no, no, no, no!”’s.

“Our grandparents are visiting here, today!?” Dylan exclaimed.

“Ugh, and it just had to be them,” Dolly complained.

“Look, I’m sorry that I have to subject you two into this right out of the blue, but your grandfather Dorian and your grandmother Darlene have just told me that they were coming to our home and that they will be staying there until after I’m back from work.” Delilah spoke from the family tablet that the top dogs were using.

“How very typical of them to do this unannounced!” Dolly remarked. “Are they aware that you have a schedule, or that WE have a schedule!?”

“You, Dolly, having a schedule? How uncharacteristic!” Dylan joked.

“This is not the time for jokes, bro! This is the worst time for them to be visiting us!” Dolly heckled and then turned her head to face Delilah via the tablet. “Come on, mum, there has be a way that I can skip out on this, like having dad take me to his work. They have to be doing another Take Your Child to Work Day kind of day, right?”

“Relax, Dolly,” Dylan replied. “I know you don’t have the best relationship with our grandparents, but it can’t be too bad. It’s not like they’re staying here for longer.”

“I know exactly why they’re visiting and they’re just going to kill my vibe.”

“Just be good, sweets. I won’t be in the hospital for long. I’ll be talking with my parents when I come back,” Delilah finished before ending the call.

The atmosphere in the Dalmatian home had not changed within a week, and with them not being out and about in Camden, it wouldn’t take long for the other residents to notice that they’ve been away for a while, which prompted 101 Dalmatian Street to receive some visitors – the Canal Crew, who all have been eyewitnesses of the incident and keeping touch with the Dalmatians ever since, Clarissa, their next-door neighbor, who would come to complain about the Dalmatians’ new antics continuing to spoil her days, Hansel the husky (and Dolly’s crush), who was mainly checking in to see if the Dalmatians were unharmed upon hearing the news. This afternoon, a Rottweiler and a Pomeranian had shown up at the door. Dizzy and Dee Dee were first to notice their presence and took to the door to greet with through the mail slot, only their eyes being visible to the pair of dogs.

“What’s the password?” Dizzy spoke.

“Huh? Since when did we need a password?” The voice of the Rottweiler asked.

“Well, you can’t come in if you don’t know it,” said Dee Dee.

“What be the meaning of this?” The voice of the Pomeranian asked.

“Dylan said that we can’t open or answer the door to strangers,” Dee Dee continued.

“What? We are not strangers, we Dolly’s friends Snowball and Roxy!” Snowball, the Pomeranian replied.

“Uh-huh…and how do we know that you are Dolly’s friends?” Dizzy questioned.

“Because we know each other and are not humans!” Snowball exclaimed.

“If it’s not so much trouble, we’d really like to pay a visit to see Dolly and Dylan,” Roxy, the Rottweiler chimed in a calmer tone.

“Dolly, Dylan, there are two dogs at the door! Dizzy called.

“Who are you girls talking to?” Dylan asked.

“It better not be who I think they are…” Dolly grumbled.

“They’re claiming to be Roxy and Snowball,” Dee Dee continued.

Dolly groaned and then said, “Let ‘em in, it’s just them.” ‘Thank dog,’ she would say under her breath.

Dylan then touched the paw scanner from the inside and opened the door to reveal the two surprise visitors. Upon seeing Dylan and Dolly again, Roxy’s face lit up and in an instant, she then enclosed the two Dalmatians with a tight, bear-like hug.

“Oh my goodness, you had Snowball and I worried when we heard the news! I thought something horrible happened to all of you, but I’m so glad to know everyone is okay!” Roxy said.

“Yeah, it’s great seeing you too,” Dolly said in a raspy tone.

“You can let us go now, you’ve got quite the squeeze there!” Dylan squeaked.

“Sorry loves, I got over-emotional,” Roxy relented and simply released the two Dalmatians from the hug.

“It’s hard to explain why but me and the rest of the fam have been stuck inside here for a week,” said Dylan. “We’ve been waiting for the news to blow over so we don’t end up with any other human intruders, but the pups still seem to be afraid to go back outside after what happened.”

“We just wanted to let you know, if that foul beast ever comes back to try and take your fur again, I’ll be here to rough her up!” Snowball said.

“Don’t fret about us Snowball, we’ll be prepared for that too,” Dolly responded, “but I’m certain that she’ll be cooped up in jail for the rest of her life.”

“We’d like for you two to stay and chat with us, but we’re expecting company to drop by here any minute…” said Dylan.

Right on cue, Delilah’s parents appeared at the front door of the house, as it was still open.

“Hello Dylan, hello Dolly, it’s your grandparents,” Darlene chimed in. “Oh, I didn’t know you were bringing friends here.”

The vast majority of the pups came over towards the elderly pair of Dalmatians after noticing their arrival. Dylan turned around with surprise while Dolly turned to look at them with dread.

“Hi grandma, hi grandpa!” Dizzy and Dee Dee said in unison.

“Oh, you two have gotten bigger the last time we’ve seen you two,” Dorian said towards the Dalmatian twins before looking up to see the top dogs. “Why, look at how you two have grown!”

“Yeah, you’ve been telling us that every time you visit,” Dylan pointed out.

“How nice of you to just let us in. You know we still haven’t quite figured out how those science-y paw screen things work,” Darlene remarked.

“You just have your paw prints installed on the scanner, press them on the screen, and the door is opened for you, it’s not that hard to figure out,” a visibly annoyed Dolly said.

“Well, if it’s so easy, you could’ve lend us a paw,” Darlene remarked.

“You’ve just caught us in a rotten mood is all,” Dylan added. “We’ve been relentlessly trying to help the pups for a week and things still have been rough since-”

“Hey, grandmum, hey granddad! It’s been awhile, huh?” Dolly interrupted in a simultaneously nervous tone. “It must be impressive to still be alive at this age. I think you two would be interested to see a new skateboarding trick that I just learned, or you’d like to see how fast I can throw a ball, or um…oh, Delgado has been learning some neat tricks you’d also like to see…”

“Delgado got his wheelchair broken while doing stunts in the house – again – so he won’t be doing any stunt dog nonsense for the time being,” Dawkins chimed in.

“Darn!”

“Well, we’re just going to get straight to the point – we’re here to talk with you about Cruella,” said Dorian.

Dolly scowled and then muttered, “Yep, I knew it.”

“Mum and dad said that we can’t say her name in this house,” said Dylan.

“Well, they aren’t here right now, aren’t they?” Darlene pointed out.

“If there’s a place that we can talk over it, we’ll have to do somewhere private and away from the prying ears of numerous pups,” Dylan suggested. “Everyone’s had their breakfast kibble, so the kitchen is a quiet place to chat.”

“Perfect, then let’s come meet in the dining area,” said Darlene.

“Well, you’re not going to make me move from my spot,” Dolly huffed.

“We brought treats with us,” Dorian added. “As long as you don’t tell Delilah or her husband, you can have as much as you’d please.”

“Fine, you’ve sold me, but under that one condition….” Dolly finished as she and Dylan followed the two elderly Dalmatians into the kitchen, seated adjacent from the pair.

“So, we’ve heard that Cruella De Vil has returned,” Darlene spoke.

“Yes, and I’m sure you’ve heard the details before with mum and dad already,” said Dylan.

“Word from the World Wide Woof came by rather quickly,” Dorian added. “We were very much shocked when we found out that Delilah’s family was dognapped by the same woman who wanted the fur of nearly one hundred puppies 60 years ago.”

“She came for us one day and after that, we never saw her again...except in our collective nightmares,” said Dylan. “Of course, we were all paralyzed with fear, but we stopped her and got her brought to justice.”

“You mean Hunter stopped her, right?” Dolly added towards Dylan with a mouthful of dog biscuits.

“What was that?” Dorian asked.

“If you have anything to say Dolly, don’t say it with your mouth full,” Darlene remarked. “Hasn’t your mother gone over this with you numerous times?”

“Oh, it’s nothing. So, um…I’m sure there’s a reason why you needed to talk with us about the incident,” said Dylan.

“We need you two to hear us out on one thing,” said Dorian. “You see, even if Cruella is locked up in a cell now, she still knows where your family lives, and we don’t trust that your family will remain safe here.”

“What we’re trying to propose is that your family should find a new home somewhere else in London,” said Darlene. “We thought we’d pitch this in with you two before we suggest this to Delilah and her husband, who, as I’m sure, would be dismissive of the idea. I thought he would do a better job in ensuring the safety of Delilah and the pups.”

The last sentence Darlene uttered triggered a reaction from Dolly who immediately exclaimed, “Hey! Dad works in saving lives just like mum, of course he was protecting us when Cruella invaded our home!”

“Okay, let’s go over this critically,” Dylan continued. “The idea of us moving out of Camden is very loaded. We’ve all been living in 101 Dalmatian Street for so long and it would take some time for all the other pups to get used to living someplace unfamiliar to them.”

“How can you take this seriously?” Dolly asked her stepbrother. “Why would they recommend we move out of here? Our home has ‘Dalmatian’ in its name!”

“Didn’t you all have a human? What happened to him anyway?” Darlene asked.

“I don’t know,” Dylan replied. “Mum and dad told us that he just up and left somewhere, but I can tell it’s because he must’ve known that we didn’t really need a human. You can tell by how we run things in the house. It’s been at least a couple years since mum and dad trusted Dolly and I to look after the pups while they’re at work and I say we’ve been doing a good job at that.”

“Well, if that’s how you feel, then I can understand that,” Darlene replied. “Besides, on our way here, a peculiar human child with long hair who was acting like a dog had just passed us by. I don’t know who raised that child, but it does have me feeling worried about the society of humans.”

“Wait, do you mean Hun-” Dolly spoke before Dylan stopped her.

“HUNGRY, are you two hungry?” Dylan uttered, having raised his voice for a brief moment.

“We’re fine, even if we don’t have many years left ahead of us,” Dorian jested in an otherwise solemn tone.

“Well, we can’t decide on moving out of our house until we all have come to a decision.”

“Yes, it is true. It is hard to think about, but in the long run, I think the fam, as you so call it, will say thanks for us considering the idea,” said Dorian.

Dolly stood in silence for a moment before saying, “Yeah, I think I’m done here.”

“Dolly!” Dylan exclaimed in his nagging tone.

“I don’t approve the idea of finding a new place to live. I don’t need to make myself clear of that,” Dolly replied as she began to walk out from the kitchen. “I joined in just for the snacks.”

“It’s fine, I haven’t said ‘yes’ to the idea either,” Dylan called out before Dolly entered the washroom.

“Oh yeah, and Dyl, there’s something we need to talk about, just between the two of us,” Dolly replied.

“In the bathroom?”

“Yes!”

Dylan turned to the two grandparents and said to them, “Just give us a moment…” As requested, he entered the bathroom where Dolly’s head was buried in the sink with her front legs crossed until she noticed him.

“Why didn’t you tell them about Hunter?” Dolly asked.

“We can’t, you’d know how they would react if we told them that someone related to you-know-who was the one who saved our lives!” Dylan explained. “Plus, it would’ve been even harder to explain to them that mum and dad were the ones who chose to spare the life of the one person who tried to kill us for our fur.”

“Point taken, but...do you ever think about how that kid has been doing ever since that night?” Dolly replied.

“Hunter is not our responsibility right now. He has been on my mind a lot since he put an end to Cruella’s plan. But even if he’s changed as a person, he did still help her out with the dognapping, so I have my reasons not to trust him.”

“Come on, bro, I don’t think it would hurt to patch things up with him.”

Dylan sighed and then said, “Maybe, maybe not. It’s just too soon for that. Besides, at least we know that he’s still somewhere in Camden.”

“And how much longer should we expect our grandparents to be here for?”

“Just hold tight, sis. I’ll handle the rest of the day with them from here.”

Dylan then left the bathroom to see the two grandparents examining the pups. They could tell that the atmosphere was vastly different from when they were used to see them playing around all to day to now seeing them either restless, scared, or feeling out of it.

“You say you feel that you and Dolly are doing a good job in taking care of the pups and we can tell by how you look that you have been overworking yourself lately,” Dorian remarked towards Dylan.

“That is true,” Dylan responded. “A lot of stuff has changed since that night and it’s taken a toll on everyone. Like Dante, whose predictions about the world ending have become more frequent and tied to...you-know-who.”

“The moon changes its direction towards the sun to appear one-third full tonight, it’s a telling sign of the blood moon’s presence – signaling the return of the wicked human!” Dante said, suddenly popping up in front of the Dalmatians.

“DJ has hit a creative slump…” Dylan continued.

As Dylan mentioned DJ, he was shown playing short patterns of notes on his keyboard until slamming his paws on the keys.

“No, that doesn’t sound right either…” DJ said to himself.

“DJ, can you play that London Bridge song to help us calm down?” One of the pups asked him.

“I already played it for you five times today, and I certainly won’t play if I can’t focus!” DJ snapped. “Don’t know what’s so relaxing about a song for a bridge falling down anyway…”

“Da Vinci’s artistic inspiration has been taking a rather unusual turn…” Dylan continued as Da Vinci was now shown painting outside, while also feeling frustrated with the colors she’s been using.

“Everything I’ve been trying to paint is covered in black, white, and a bloody hue of red,” Da Vinci said to herself. “I’m always painting based on how I feel, but this doesn’t feel right. There has be another color that goes well with this…”

“Delgado, much like all the others, is too nervous to go outside and has been doing stunts in the house,” Dylan continued. “He hasn’t been quite careful with not breaking his wheelchair though.”

“Delgado, just because you saw some black and white German Shepherd do it on the telly doesn’t mean you should attempt it yourself,” Dawkins informed as he was fixing up the wheelchair. “They ought to add ‘Don’t try at home’ disclaimers to those old-timey programs.”

“A broken axle and a popped wheel can’t keep a good dog down!” Delgado protested, whose hindlegless body is planted on the floor.

“It can when you’re not being careful,” Dawkins pointed out.

“If I’m going to give that crazy lady a peace of my mind if she ever comes back for us, I’ve got to learn from the best!” Delgado replied.

“Earlier we had to lift up Dawkins’ spirits by fixing his Princess Positron, but now he has been over-exerting himself,” Dylan’s voice spoke.

“Dawkins can you create something that can help make those scary dreams go away?” One of the pups asked.

“I have been working on something that improves sleep, but it is in the developing stages. However, as I’m sure I’ve told you all several times before, I must reassure what happens in your nightmares is not likely to happen in real life, as they are a projection of whatever our brains transmits in our sleep,” Dawkins explained. “I’ve been having the same kind of dreams too and Princess Positron can reconfirm that what we see in our dreams is not real. Isn’t that right, Princess?”

“Positronly!” The toy vocalized from the pull of its string.

“She’s just a doll,” one of the pups uttered.

“I will not allow for anyone to disrespect the benevolent space princess like that!” Dawkins exclaimed.

“I suppose your sister Dolly has still been as stubborn as ever,” Dorian joked. Dylan let out a small laugh in response.

“Yeah...but I will give you this – she has been more protective towards the fam ever since what happened, but she is afraid to admit that,” Dylan reassured. “One change that has been bothering us though is with Deepak. Usually, he’s the one who helps calm down the pups and maintain a positive energy around the house. Now he’s become more secluded and has been avoiding us whenever he need him.” Seeing DJ, he comes over to him and asks, “Hey DJ, have you seen Deepak? I was going to ask if anything was bothering him.”

Just as Dylan questioned Deepak’s whereabouts, the cat-loving Dalmatian was already at the front door and he shifted a glance towards the other Dalmatians in panic, seeing how they were just looking for him.

“Oh! I...uh just thought it was a good day for a walk to help clear my mind. Yeah, that’s it...oh-and-by-the-way-I’m-going-to-at-Constantin’s-for-a-while, okay byyyeeeeeee,” Deepak stammered before closing the door behind him.

“What in the dog was that all about?” Dolly spoke upon re-entering the main room.

“I guess it’s too late to tell you that he’s at Constantin’s,” DJ deadpanned.

Shortly after stepping out of the house, Deepak walked his way towards 99 Dalmatian Street next door. Constantin, having already recognized him, let him in his abode.

“Namaste,” Deepak greeted.

“Good to see you too, I figured you would come by to visit one of these days,” Constantin responded.

The Dalmatian and the cat stood in silence. Deepak waited for the proper moment to let loose all of his inner feelings. He took a deep breath and…

“CONSTANTIN, I NEED YOUR HELP!” Deepak cried out. “I’ve lost all of my zen and I couldn’t muster up the courage to tell brother Dylan and sister Dolly!”

“So you haven’t been able to relax at all after that dreadful night?” Constantin questioned.

“That human we encountered…she had an aura that wasn’t like anything I’ve seen!” Deepak continued. “It was all black, and-and it encompassed almost the entire room wherever she was. It was the kind of aura that expressed murderous intent that had been harbored for so much of her life. It didn’t feel human at all!”

“That made much more sense to me why that peculiar human crashed my home to put me in a cage,” Constantin replied. “She was after your family, and that trauma has been clouding your mind, is that correct?”

“It’s true! It’s all true, and you’re the only one that I can trust to help me regain my zen!”

“I see. This does sound like a serious problem you’re dealing with. If my situation wasn’t made known so late, I would’ve offered a solution…”

“What, why not!? I did save you, so you have to give me something in return! Our house was under siege. All we could do was try to protect each other.”

“Sorry, sorry, I still have bitter feelings about that incident, but I would never have wished any harm of that sort to befall your family. Like Guru Miaow said, cats must treat other animals as equals.”

“So you’ll help me?”

“As mutual followers of Guru Miaow, I will assist in helping you regain your inner peace. I know I sure could use some peace and quiet after a week’s worth of having it being broken by all those night terrors from those dogs.”

“You see, Constantin, I’m not just seeking to regain my serenity, I also seek to master the art of Guru Miaow.”

“Is that so? Then achieving that goal is going to be harder than you’d think.”

“It doesn’t matter to me how it hard it will be, I’ll do anything in order to be able to help my family and restore peace. I know they’re counting on me.”

“If you want to restore your inner peace and master Guru Miaow’s ways, then you’ll have to surpass…the Nine Trials of Bakeneko.”

“B-Ba-Bakeneko...you mean, the-the noted cat demon of legends that can walk on two legs, and laid a curse on families to or ate whom it encounters?”

“For I am quite certain, yes.”

“Wait, isn’t this like the one time we tricked Dylan into doing those 99 tasks of Guru Miaow we made up?”

“This time, however, this is no bluff. The nine trials are a series of strenuous practices and disciplines that Guru Miaow himself had braved. Since you want to be able to restore your zen now, then I shall start the trials. Let’s go.”

Constantin guided Deepak to the first one of the so-called nine trials of mindfulness training, in which he presented a cardboard box with two ends opened up in front of the cat-loving Dalmatian.

“Constantin, I don’t see how this first exercise is meant to be...strenuous,” Deepak remarked.

“Boxes are a cat’s best friend, but the simple question here is how does it feel to be sheltered in the darkness that encapsulates the box with only the comfort of your own mind to assist you?” Constantin responded. “That will be your first challenge in the trials of the Bakeneko.”

“Oh...and how long am I supposed to be inside the box?” Deepak asked.

“Thirty minutes,” Constantin replied. “Are you feeling nervous?”

“Oh, no, I can handle this. I’m feeling confident about that,” Deepak said in a tone that didn’t suggest confidence. Just go inside that box and try to focus on your inner cat. You can do this. He thought to himself.

The very moment that Constantin closed both end-flaps of the box, Deepak had already visualized himself being inside the cage that Cruella put him in from the night he and his family were in the wicked furrier’s cargo ship. In mere seconds, Deepak’s front paws were detached from the lotus position and were pressed to his head as he was on the verge of freaking out.

“Help me, Constantin!” Deepak cried out. “The walls are closing in on me!”

In the instance the cat heard Deepak’s call, he reopened both end-flaps of the box.

“How did I do?” Deepak asked.

“Fourteen seconds,” said Constantin. “Your condition seems to be more serious than I expected.”

“It’s not just that. I should’ve told you that I’m...claustrophobic,” Deepak’s voice sounded shrunken upon saying the last word.

“You’re what?” Constanin questioned.

“Claustrophobic, Constantin!” Deepak repeated, raising his voice. “During that night, I was forced inside a hold, then I was caged up along with all my other brothers and sisters, waiting for what I envisioned was going to me my early demise. I…I just couldn’t contain myself. I’m sorry, I’ll try again if I have to…”

“No. We can skip and move on to the next trial.”

“I can handle it. It can’t be as bad as the first one, right?”

“If you insist. The first Bakeneko test was supposed to the easiest.”

Constantin led the tense cat-loving dalmatian to the bathroom in his abode and set him down in the bathtub.

“Oh, I guess a bath could ease up the nerves,” Deepak remarked.

“The next part of the Bakeneko’s trials will be right underneath the faucet,” Constantin explained before turning on the water, setting it to lukewarm. “Naturally, water is a cat’s enemy, but this challenge should be different for dogs.”

“You know, this does feel like meditating in front of a waterfall,” Deepak replied.

“If I didn’t have to set up these tests under a budget, you could be doing this under a real waterfall,” Constantin replied. “But let’s see how you handle this with the sudden change of the water’s temperature…”

What then followed was a sequence of Deepak exclaiming out “Hot, hot hot!” and “Cold, cold, cold!” for every time that Constantin turned the bathtub handle to its hottest or coldest setting until his disciple urged him to turn off the water.

“Looks like the best you could do is two minutes,” said Constantin. “If you were able to resist for twenty minutes at least, you’d know that your mind is relaxed and you would pass.”

“How about I try the next seven trials just to see how hard each one of them are?” Deepak suggested. “Perhaps I can find a way to restore my zen that way.”

Deepak proceeded to perform the trials under Constantin’s provisions to similar results. The third challenge involved Deepak receiving acupuncture from 300 needles (It was typically 900 according to the texts of Guru Miaow, but due to Deepak’s small size and Constantin not having as many, this was the number they’ve settled with) while he was too finicky to handle one. The fourth challenge had Deepak being weighted down by four bags of cat kibble and having to keep balance for at least twenty minutes. He failed to keep his composure after 30 seconds. The fifth trial had Deepak walking over hot coals (or rather hot rocks from Constanin’s zen garden) without feeling a thing. The cat-loving dog, of course, already expelled a reaction upon his first step and jitterbugged around the path of hot rocks until he jumped out.

“What does this have to with cats or yoga!?” Deepak would exclaim.

“Your mind would be relaxed if you don’t feel anything walking over them!” Constantin answered.

The last few tests continued to be more of the same for Deepak as the sixth trial involved climbing the tree in his backyard and meditating at the peak for five hours without losing composure (in the Guru Miaow texts, it was climbing all the way up to the peak of Mt. Fuji). While it was only as high as Constantin could work with, Deepak focused too much on the height below and got himself in an embarrassing position where he had to ask Constantin to bring him down. The seventh part of the trials Deepak tried afterwards revolved around him meditating in an empty room (or inside of an echo chamber according to the Guru Miaow texts) for an hour without losing focus from any given moment the room was filled with the occasional animal-sensitive loud noise that Constantin had in his utility. Deepak, of course, already darted out of the room upon hearing the sound of a falling pipe echoing inside the room. The eighth trial tested Deepak’s sensitivity towards certain smells as Constantin then left him alone in a room again, but this time, he was surrounded by citrus fruits. After two minutes, Deepak quit and left the room with a nauseous look on his face, retching until he recgonized that the smell was gone.

Deepak then tried the ninth and last trial, as he was given a bowl of [pet-safe] miso soup and a pair of chopsticks.

“Constantin, do you suppose this last trial could be easy on me, like enjoying a nice little meal?” Deepak asked.

“Focus on your chopsticks,” Constantin informed. “For the ninth trial, you will have to catch 99 hairballs with only those chopsticks – without missing a single one.”

“...That many?” Deepak asked.

“Do you expect any less from the trials of Bakeneko?”

“I may haven’t done good in all the previous tests, so maybe this will be the one I’ll pass,” Deepak still looked as nervous and shaky as ever when he said this.

On cue, Constantin launched the first hairball in front of Deepak, which he was able to catch, along with the next few. However, when Constantin picked up the speed, Deepak would miss each until until he himself got hit by the next several, forcing Constantin to end the trial.

“I’m sorry. Could we restart this whole thing?” Deepak asked.

“No, you’ll need to have your mind relaxed by tomorrow if you’re going to try again,” said Constantin. “I gave you a run-through of all these trials and you’ve failed them all.”

“Constantin, as I have told you previously, it is urgent that my case is resolved as soon as possible-” Deepak stammered before Constantin interrupted.

“If you are a true devotee to Guru Miaow, you should be able to face your problems instead of cowering from them!” Constantin replied, now suddenly raising his voice. “Tell me, are you a cat or are you a dog!?”

“Well boy...are you a De Vil, or are you a dog? ...Sniveling snowflake!” Upon Constantin’s inquiry to the cat-loving Dalmatian, the words of Cruella that she had spoken to Hunter had echoed into the back of Deepak’s mind. Deepak couldn’t help but shed tears when his failure had caused for Constantin to denigrate his devotion towards Guru Miaow like so. Was his trauma so bad that he even lost his connection to Guru Miaow? That was what he thought to himself.

“I’m a dog – a useless, cowardly, dog…” Deepak sniveled.

“Come on now, you shouldn’t beat yourself down like that,” Constantin replied. “Guru Miaow looks down at the weak-minded with disappointment.”

“Ye-yes sir,” Deepak stammered. “I’ll be back with my true inner cat, but please understand what I’ve went through that night.”

“Yes, come back once you really think you handle these tests again, because otherwise, I’m afraid you’re a lost cause and that you and your family will have to find recuperation from the incident without Guru Miaow’s help or mine…” Constantin let out a sigh and then finished, “and just when I thought that you had set for me a first example for dogs that they can gain something valuable from a cat’s teachings.”

After Constantin had showed Deepak out of his home, he headed straight back to his home in 101 Dalmatian Street. Upon entering, he was greeted by a bunch of his siblings grouped in front of the Canal Crew, who have all came for a visit again.

“And so there I was...when I was in battle with the devilish woman herself, I pulled out the sword from my scabbard, getting ready to slay the beast,” said Fergus. “She had me in a corner, but…”

“...Then Big Fee and I sprung into action and threw nuts at the vicious woman!” Sid added.

“Didn’t we see that crazy lady throw you into one of her cages?” DJ pointed out.

“When does Mr. Funny Face come into the story?” Dizzy asked, referring to Hunter.

“Oi, if you all want to hear the rest, that’s going to have to cost some more food from your fridge,” said Big Fee.

“Are you sure you consider these three your friends?” Darlene asked Dylan.

“Well, for starters, they did save our bacon,” said Dylan. “Fergus is definitely cool once you get to know him more though.”

It was right afterwards that the Dalmatian family and the Canal Crew noticed Deepak’s return from Constantin’s, with his ears hanging low and his tail between his legs.

“Oh, there are you, Deepak, the D-dogs have been looking for you!” Fergus remarked.

“All right, that will do for you guys,” Dylan said towards the Canal Crew and walked over to Deepak. “So um, how was your day at Constantin’s?”

“Dreadful,” Deepak said bluntly.

“What could be so dreadful about doing yoga with Constantin, or did you get in a tumble with another cat?” Dylan asked.

“I went through nine of the most torturous practices of mindful exercise and failed each one,” Deepak clarified.

Dylan sighed and then said, “Well, we were going to ask you if you could help calm down the pups…”

“I cannot help you, not when I’m like this!” The stressed out Dalmatian exclaimed.

“I guess all that happened last night has still been weighing heavily on your head, huh? No worries, if there’s anything I can do to help, I know a way. Mum used to tell me ‘If your head is filled with stress, count to ten.’”

“I’m not sure about that, bro. My dad says to count from ten,” Dolly chimed in.

“When you’re not around, what I normally prefer to reduce my stress is to repeat and solve the Inverse Kepler equation,” said Dawkins. “But often times, all I need is a cuddle from Princess Positron.”

“No matter how bad things may be now, just remember that so much worse can happen – like the end of the word!” Dante said.

“What I do is I burn off all my energy by zooming all around until I tire myself out!” Delgado said.

“All I know about what I’d do to keep myself calm is to let all out all of your feelings in form of a painting,” said Da Vinci.

“Just think about something cute, like baby foxes!” Destiny suggested.

“Just think about the kind of outfit you would be wearing at your own red carpet show!” Dallas suggested.

“Stuff your face with a whole bunch of dog treats like no one is looking!” Deja Vu suggested, with her muzzle stuffed with treats.

“Dig, dig, dig, dig, dig, dig, DIG!” Diesel said.

The chaotic energy within the house continued as the Dalmatians kept prattling on different kinds of methods for relieving stress, making Deepak more overwhelmed with stressed as he then exclaimed, “Everyone, PLEASE, stop talking and-and...leave me alone!”

Right after his little outburst, Deepak retreated to his hanging pod bed in the bedroom.

“So our yoga bro is out of commission, what do we do?” Dolly asked Dylan.

“Well, there’s no use in trying to talk things over with him, but let’s think – what helps Deepak feel relaxed?” Dylan said.

“I think he once said that his idea of a happy place was being hugged by hundreds of cats, but where are we get that many?” Dolly said.

“And how are we going to do that with my cat allergy in mind?” Dylan added.

“Something appears to be troubling Deepak,” Dorian remarked. “Has that cat neighbor of yours been bothering him?”

“Uhhh...don’t worry about him, we can handle this...right Dylan?” Dolly said.

Before Dylan could speak, the front door opened up to show Delilah and Doug to be back home, and with dog-tired looks on their faces. Dolly came rushing over them after they announced to the family that they we’re home.

“Dolly, I wasn’t expecting a surprise hug, but we appreciate it,” said Doug.

“You don’t know how happy I am for you both to be back home!” Dolly exclaimed. “This means they can leave now, right?”

“It’s okay, sweet, I just need to have a talk with them and they will be out of your fur,” Delilah reassured, brushing the top of Dolly’s head in her usual loving manner before walking over to her two parents.

While Doug took over in caring for the pups and Dylan started getting dinner ready for everyone, Delilah and her parents took themselves upstairs to her and Doug’s room. Deepak, who continued to spend the rest of his day moping, couldn’t help but snoop once he heard their voices.

“Did you tell Dylan and Dolly anything about...her?” Delilah asked.

“Well, we did mention her, but we weren’t making the discussion heavy on them,” Darlene explained. It’s nothing too serious, we gave the two of them a proposal for moving out of Camden. Dylan politely refused while Dolly was very much against the idea.”

Delilah sighed and continued, “I’ve been trying to tell you to leave these kinds of decisions to us.”

“We’ve been feeling nothing but concerned about the safety of you and yours after we’ve heard about what happened, what with Cruella De Vil returning and how she got you all captured in some cargo ship, just about to get her filthy fingers on our family’s fur,” said Dorian. “Even if she’s now rotting in jail somewhere in Switzerland, that doesn’t mean you’re all safe continuing to live here.”

“I understand that it’s such a risk to be continuing to live in this home when Cruella now knows where we live, but I also know it’s going to be hard on them to try to convince them to move to a different place all of a sudden. Doug, our children, and I have all been settled here for years.”

“Delilah, for generations, this family has been trying to keep its promise for something like this to never happen again like it happened long ago to Pongo and Perdita and their children,” Dorian pointed out.

“…I know. We didn’t think Cruella could still alive in some capacity, let alone that she would be pulling some strings on her great-grandnephew. Yes, we were about to meet a terrible fate with that human, but we’ve all made it through the worst with no lives lost. We Dalmatians are a strong breed after all.”

“Are you sure about Doug though?” Darlene added. “For a fire dog, I would’ve expected more assured protection from the De Vil woman.”

“Mother!” Delilah scolded. “Doug is a great husband and he has been at our side this whole time.”

“Well, if there’s one thing we’re concerned most about, it’s the well-being of your pups – especially that Deepak kid,” said Dorian. “The trauma from that incident certainly left a number on your pups, and we got a good look at how scared and tensed up that the pup was. It’s one very good reason why we feel it’s best for you to move, as I think it could better for him that way.”

With his name popping up in the conversation, Deepak, of course, eavesdropped on everything his grandparents said of their concerns towards him. The cat-loving yoga pup went back inside the bedroom feeling sadder than he had already felt today.

“There’s nothing wrong with Deepak at all,” Delilah reassured. “We’ve been smitten by Deepak ever since we’ve first had him and we treat him the same as we do with all of our pups. He is going through the motions that every other pup has been going through after we had escaped Cruella. I assure you that the sweets will start feeling like their happy and innocent selves again sooner or later, and I’m sure Deepak will too. He does have a thing for relaxing himself and…what he calls finding his inner cat.”

“And you’ve been keeping Dylan and Dolly in-charge of them, the dynamic duo as you call them, right?” Darlene added. “I know they are at an age of becoming responsible adults, but I do think it’s best to let them lay low for a while.”

“Dylan and Dolly have been affected by the terrible incident too, but they are doing their best to calm down the younger pups, so I still have a lot of trust in them.”

“All right, we have nothing else to add. We’re glad we had this talk. Just keep up the good work, Delilah,” Dorian finished.

“We better catch a bus before the suspecting London monsoon pours on us,” Darlene jested.

After the Dalmatian grandparents had left, everyone except Deepak had their fill for the night, causing for Dylan and Dolly to bring Deepak’s bowl over to him. The two top dogs looked at Deepak with concern, whispering to him with only “Goodnight Deepak” before calling it a night.

The next morning, showing the inside of Constantin’s home, the cat thought over Deepak’s recent visit, the grueling challenges he gave him, and whether or not he had been too hard on the pup. For some reason, he couldn’t help but reminisce the time the two first met each other as if it were yesterday.

 

“Namaste,” the young Deepak greeted. “Are you the cat that lives next door?”

Constantin was already taken by surprise of how well-behaved the particular Dalmatian pup was when the rest of the family he had known had been every bit of noisy and troublesome.

“Yes I am, and what brings you here...?” Constantin asked.

“I couldn’t help but hear what you were doing outside from across our fence and uh…I would like to know what it is,” Deepak responded.

“If you’d really like to about the teachings of Guru Miaow, I’ll have to tell everything that you’ll need to know,” Constantin replied, “So come right in.”

Deepak gingerly stepped inside the cat’s dojo. While Constantin talked about Guru Miaow and of the deity’s meditative practices, Deepak “ooh”’d and “ahhh”’d at every object of Guru Miaow that he had in his home.

“...And that’s my brief history lesson on Guru Miaow and his teachings. Do you have any questions, dog?” Constantin said.

“When do I get to be a cat?” Deepak asked.

The simple yet uncanny question caught Constantin off-guard. “What?”

“Will learning about Guru Miaow help me with being a cat?” Deepak continued. “I would like to be a cat.”

Constantin left himself to his thoughts to find a way to respond to Deepak’s question and he then said to him, “Well...based on the texts of the guru himself, he’s very candid about treating all animals as equals, which means he’s inclusive to sharing his wisdom to dogs. By the way, what is your name, dog?”

Deepak gasped as he didn’t realize that he should’ve shared his name earlier, and so he said, “I’m Deepak…Deepak Dalmatian.”

“I am Constantin and I will be your guide to the teachings of Guru Miaow if you accept it. I can even tell you about this little thing called ‘finding your inner cat.’”

“My...inner cat?” Deepak repeated.

“We’ll start with a simple meditative exercise,” said Constantin, showing Deepak to a cushion next to his. “Meow-wow-wow-wow-wow…”

Immediately so, Deepak joined in with the mantra, after a little bit of difficulty getting into the lotus position.

 

The reminiscence would end when Constantin heard a knock at his door and instantly recognized that Deepak was by his front door, who didn’t seem to hide his exhaustion as a result from the previous day.

“Back for more?” Constantin questioned.

“Of course I am,” said Deepak. “I want to go through the trials again. It doesn’t matter if I fail again, I am going to try until I can’t try anymore.”

“I’m not sure where this sudden spark in motivation came from, but I will get the box prepared for you,” Constantin replied.

“My mind was focusing too much on my failure from yesterday, just like how I was focused too much on my internal trauma while I tried those challenges,” Deepak explained. “So it came to me that I’m going to do my best in making sure I’m not overcome with those thoughts.”

“So you’ve found a strategy against the Bakeneko’s trials it sounds like…my expectations aren’t high, but I’ll have to make you sit this one out for the day if I don’t notice a change in behavior from you.”

“I understand, sir.”

Deepak began repeating the first trial for a second attempt as Constantin closed up both end-flaps of the box.

Keep your mind focused on this trial, Deepak thought to himself, don’t think about the box, don’t think about cages, don’t think what you and your family nearly suffered from, don’t think about, well...anything; nothing besides the feeling of being in a big open space. You got this. You can’t let Guru Miaow don’t, or Constantin, and especially not your kin.

Deepak got himself in his lotus position and started his usual “Meow-wow-wow-wow” mantra, doing his best to try and ignore his racing heart and his racing mind. It wasn’t long until everything that’s been clouding his mind have begun to overwhelm him – The dognapping, Cruella and her skinning machine, his claustrophobia, the nine grueling trials that he had faced in his first attempt, Constantin talking down to him for failing his said attempt, what he had heard his grandparents saying about him, that Kanine Krunchies commercial song he can’t get out of his head (...wait what was the other thing?), and most of all, the burden the Dalmatian pup feels he’s been carrying in being the Dalmatian family’s mediator and needing to keep them all calm every time they ask him for his help. The more his thoughts were overtaking his mind, the louder and more intense Deepak’s chants were until it developed into an elongated scream of the last syllable. While on the outside, Deepak’s paws were stuck in the lotus position like glue, his front paws were pressed to his head on the inside.

When Deepak used up all his force to let his feelings loose, his panic attack had ended and he proceeded to take in several breaths to refresh himself into a calmer state. When Deepak regained awareness of his surroundings, he found that he was not in the dark enclosed void that represented the inside of the box he was in. The space all around him was now bigger and brighter while there was no one else besides himself, not until he heard a voice…

“It appears that something has been bothering you…” It spoke.

“Who’s there?” Deepak inquired.

It took a while for a semblance of an object to appear in Deepak’s vision. The object appeared blurry at first, but when Deepak got a closer look he saw…

“Guru Miaow!?” Deepak’s initial response was to bow in front of the deity that took on the likeness of said cat before then asking, “Are you really real?”

“I am as real as you want me to be,” it said, “and you, Deepak, have found yourself within your very own mindscape.”

“Is that where I am right now?” Deepak questioned. “I can’t believe I am actually talking to you right now, I can’t focus…”

“Yes, and those overwhelming emotions of yours have given me the impression that you needed my help,” the spiritual image of Guru Miaow continued.

“Well, I think I may have some reasoning as to why I’ve found myself here. There’s a lot of things that have been stressing me out and I felt like the best way for me to brush it all off is to channel all those feelings into pain until...well, I couldn’t feel pain anymore.”

“And what appears to be your motivation behind it?”

“I want to restore my inner peace and help my family relax after such a terrible incident that we all had faced, but no matter how hard I try, these feelings just won’t go away.”

“Yes, trauma can be hard on the mind for many and it would take plenty of time to recover from the things that cause it.”

“Guru Miaow...you’ve went through those nine Bakeneko trials, didn’t you? How difficult was it for you?”

“I have most certainly seen fear through those trials, but I did not let that prevent me from succeeding those challenges, for I have learned not to dwell so much on fear while keeping my mind, body, and soul at ease. I surmise you’re trying to do the same.”

“I believed that if I could master your teachings from passing all those trials, I could restore my connection to you and my inner cat.”

“To be frank with you, young Deepak, you needn’t to take on those challenging trials to be able to call yourself a master. There’s a lot of factors that will make you one, and one of those things is having the ability to set your mind on what aspires you to be with your inner cat.”

“I’ve accepted to take on the trials not just for the sake of my family, but also because I want to be as strong as you and to be able to spread as much peace and loving joy to anyone as you can, Guru Miaow.”

“Think about what’s most important to you and try to work your mind into that. Can you do that for me?”

“You mean right now? I have already told you…”

“That’s right, but now do it with your mind.”

 

Taking the advice of the Guru Miaow spirit, Deepak focused his mind on what was important to me, and he found himself unlocking one of his earliest memories. He thought back to a time when he didn’t have to worry about humans like Cruella, a time when cages didn’t bother him, a time when he first knew about a thing called ‘family.’ In this memory, a younger Deepak was within a row of kennel cages. He appeared to be the only dog in an animal shelter filled with cats, and it was when he first learned about the teachings of Guru Miaow before he was ever aware of such a name. So he waited and meditated in his enclosed space the same way he’s seen the cats do until he would be confronted with a potential owner. For quite some time, he thought he was a cat himself when he picked up on this unknown practice, so the odds seemed very unlikely that he could be found by a dog family.

...But one day, as luck would have it, he would be greeted by a couple of Dalmatian parents – and their human, whose face was obscured due to Deepak’s memory of the face being a blur in his memory banks, and as well as that the human had some sort of leaflet-shaped object in front of them – whether it’d be a newsprint, a magazine, a sketchbook, or just some plain book, there was something to cover the face.

“Oh, lucky me, I’ve been notified that this kennel would have one Dalmatian in their inventory,” the human spoke, “and they do have exactly what I’m looking for!”

The human approached and opened up the young Deepak’s cage, showing a hand as offering to hold him. Deepak, instinctively, backed away from the human’s hand, only to inch closer as the human was so hesitant of moving it away. Right afterwards, the unknown human was able to get a good look at Deepak, focusing mainly on his spot pattern.

“It’s a Dalmatian all right. Look at your spot pattern, how unique it is,” the human said. “Yes, he is perfect. We must keep him!”

“...Meow?” The young Deepak uttered. Although the human didn’t hear it, Doug and Delilah did however.

“Do you suppose our pet would be in for a surprise if that puppy might turn out to be a cat?” Doug asked.

“I wouldn’t mind making room for one, although that would be an issue with Dylan’s allergy,” Delilah remarked.

“This Dalmatian seems be calm and collected when I held him,” said the human. “In fact, I may have already thought of the perfect name for this puppy – Deepak. What do you think of that name?”

The young Deepak, as confused as he ever was towards the human and the other two dogs beside him, didn’t give a response.

“I think it’s a lovely name,” Delilah added, though the human only heard a simple bark coming from the older Dalmatian.

“Deepak, before we take you in, you should meet your new family,” the human said before setting him down in front of Delilah and Doug, “these two will be your mummy and daddy, and we’ve got plenty of other puppies just like you for you to meet too.”

Because the human was gentle with the young Deepak, the Dalmatian pup didn’t give too much hesitation before his soon-to-be parents gave him their warm and loving nuzzles.

“Oh, he is just so precious, Doug,” Delilah remarked.

“Are you feeling too nervous about meeting your new family?” Doug said towards the pup. “It’s okay. Just know that we love you and the rest of our family is going to love you too.”

Deepak’s memories immediately transitioned into his first day in the 101 Dalmatian Street home, as well as his first meeting with all his new brothers and sisters.

“We’re home sweets, and we’ve got a new puppy for the family,” Delilah announced.

“A new puppy? What’s its name?” A young Dylan asked. “That should make 52 of us now, right?”

“Looks like someone is keeping count,” Doug remarked. “His name is Deepak. Make sure you make him feel comfortable here, okay?”

“Yeah, we will!” A young Dolly said. “I’ve never seen these kinds of spots on a Dalmatian. Is he a cat?” She jested towards Dylan after she saw the small pup fiddle with a ball of yarn.

“If it were a cat, my allergies would be acting up,” said Dylan.

“Cat!” Dolly uttered.

“Huh, where!?” Dylan said in a panicked tone. Dolly laughed while her brother exchanged an annoyed groan.

 

“Just as I thought, there’s nothing more important than your own loved ones and nothing insignificant about them,” the spirit of Guru Miaow remarked as the perspective went back to Deepak’s mindscape.

“Guru Miaow, I’m not quite sure I’m following what you’re trying to teach me,” said Deepak.

“I’m getting there, my pup,” said Guru Miaow. “Now that your mind is set on what you care about most, it’s important to then focus on what you want for them rather than what you would never want to see happen to them.”

“It’s true, I want nothing more than for them all to remain alive and healthy, and for them to be proud of me.” Deepak replied.

Deepak once again focused his energy on visualizing his thoughts and in front of him now was a spiritual image of his Dalmatian family – all happy together and looking at him with unconditional support.

“Dear family, just like how you’re always here for me, I’m always here for you,” said Deepak. “I may be a dog, but I am also a cat – and this cat is going to keep this family safe from harm every step of the way.” Without notice, happiness-induced tears ran down Deepak’s eyes. “It’s because of you that I have regained my inner peace.”

“Ha, ha, ha, yes! With great willpower and a relaxed mind, you can achieve anything your cat heart desires!” The voice of Guru Miaow’s spirit exclaimed.

“Deepak…Deepak…” a familiar voice echoed in the mindscape.

“DEEPAK!”

The instance the loud and sharp voice called into Deepak’s head, his surroundings shot back to where he originally was – in Constantin’s house.

“What happened, Deepak?” Constantin questioned. “You were screaming inside the box and you were unresponsive for half an hour after that.”

“Does this mean I passed the first trial?” Deepak asked. “I was so focused on talking to Guru Miaow, I didn’t-”

“You talked to Guru Miaow?” Constantin said in disbelief. “I don’t know what kind of power you’ve unleashed unto yourself, but it did cause quite a mess as you can see…”

Deepak saw as the box that he was enclosed in somehow got tossed into a corner of the room.

“Did I...do that?” Deepak asked.

“I would say you passed on the condition that you remained in your lotus position, but since you weren’t inside of the box at all times, I can’t say that you have passed,” said Constantin.

“Oh...um, no worries, right? We can always try that again. You know, I’m feeling much better now after letting all my feelings out. I think I know what I need to do to be able to pass these tests. I still want to prove to myself that I can do anything that one would consider impossible.”

“You can try again if you’re so confident, but since you’ve used up most of your energy for the day, I’ll have to arrange your next attempt for tomorrow,” Constantin advised. “Now that you’ve found your peace of mind, all you can do now is try to keep it healthy.”

“Yes, I will do that, Master Constantin,” said Deepak.

After Deepak returned to his own home, the Dalmatians already took notice of him reverted back to his calmer self. When Dylan asked him if he could help calm the pups, Deepak told him that he was busy mentally preparing himself for something special without specifying what he and Constantin had been arranging before then saying that he’ll be willing to help later.

The next day, Deepak came back to Constantin’s house with a prepared and confidently relaxed mind for his new and official attempt at the Bakeneko trials. Deepak easily got through the first trial with the box. Then came the second challenge with meditating under the waterfall of the bath faucet. Focusing his mind away from the alternating hot and cold temperatures of the water, Deepak was able to pass the second trial feeling refreshed. Third trial had Deepak, once again, receiving acupuncture from 300 needles, receiving them all without hesitation. The fourth trial saw Deepak being able to carry the excess weight of the kibble bags on his back without losing his balance within the time limit. While it was still a bit of struggle due to his size, Deepak still manage to trudge through it. Then came the fifth trial with Deepak having to walk through hot coals. Deepak casually stepped across the bed of coals without feeling a thing, much to the surprise of Constantin. In the sixth trial, Deepak successfully climbed the tree in the backyard and meditated at the top up until the allotted amount of time. In the seventh trial, Constantin replayed as many loud sounds as possible to test the strength of Deepak’s mind – Construction noise, earthquakes, Boom Night fireworks, airplane engines, even the old fashioned falling metal pipe sound trick didn’t faze him this time around, and so he was able to pass. Next came the eighth trial with Deepak having to meditate surrounded by a pile of citrus fruits. While Deepak’s smell sensitivity was still being affected and gave him some difficulty, the Dalmatian pup still managed to remain focused on keeping his mind calm until the allotted time had passed.

With all eight of the previous trials cleared, it now came down to the final test in which Deepak had to catch all 99 of Constantin’s hairballs with a pair of chopsticks. Even with the speed pick-up, Deepak was able to catch them all. As the last challenge came to an end, Constantin looked at the yoga pup feeling stunned and impressed while Deepak looked back at his cat mentor with a proud victory grin knowing he got through the most gruel mindfulness tests with flying colors...and he then slumped from his chair.

“Oh my dog…I’ve done it, I got through them all...and I passed,” Deepak panted.

“So now the disciple has become a master of Guru Miaow’s teachings,” Constantin remarked.

“Wait, does this mean I really am a master now?” Deepak asked.

“Well, not completely,” Constantin refuted. “You aren’t called a master until you have disciples of your own to lend your knowledge of Guru Miaow to, but has it appears, I don’t have more to teach you. Not only that, for one thing, you’ve also had me convinced how much dogs can amount to.”

“Wow, I am flattered, but it was my inner cat that helped me achieve this.” said Deepak. “I am still going to visit to do Guru Miaow’s yoga with you though.”

“That would be very much appreciated.”

Deepak laughed and then said, “You know, I can’t help but feel like you’ve gotten softer after you’ve granted me my rank as master.”

“I guess you’re right. The day before, I did have this guilt feeling that I may have been too stern with you.”

“Well, your sternness was what also helped me with those trials, so I can’t say I have any hard feelings. Well, um…now I’m off to help my several brothers and sisters in their time of need with what I have achieved, so I guess I can just say…alvida for now.”

“Yes, alvida to you too. Take care...Master Deepak.”

Back at the home of the Dalmatian family…

“I don’t know what it is that Deepak is building things up to, I just hope it means something good!” Dylan said, pacing around the hallway while his stepsister idled around. “If Deepak still hasn’t returned to his normal self, it could take months to get the pups’ minds off that evil lady!”

“If Deepak is feeling himself again, I already know the first dog in this house that could use some loosening up,” Dolly jested.

Immediately so, Deepak arrived back at the Dalmatian home, all while emitting a powerful and comfy aura that already reached Dylan and Dolly’s nerves. The worries of the two top dogs had swept away without Deepak having to use a single touch of his paws. The same affect would reach the rest of the Dalmatian pups, before he could gently massage the nerves of each one with his paws. Dylan and Dolly promptly walked over to his side to see just relaxed the entire household looked now with Deepak being able to calm the puppies again. The two elder siblings viewed the yoga pup with a great sense of gratitude.

“How were you able to do all of this?” Dolly asked.

“Let’s just say that I’ve learned from the best,” Deepak responded.

“You mean...from Constantin?” Dylan inquired.

“A master doesn’t reveal all of his secrets,” Deepak teased. “I cannot guarantee every night from then on won’t be restless, but they should all be feeling at ease for now.”

“Thanks Deepak, we really appreciate your help,” Dylan complimented.

“I think this calls for a hug, ‘cause that’s what our little guy deserves,” said Dolly.

“Wait, no, trigger word!-” Dylan exclaimed before he, Dolly, and Deepak were brought into a hug by all of their siblings.

As the Dalmatians had anticipated, the nights became calmer through Deepak’s assistance. One night Deepak was relaxing in his hanging pod bed until the sound of the top dogs arguing caught his attention.

“For the last time, Dolly, I’m saying ‘No’ to taking the pups out to this skateboarding event!” Dylan said.

“Look, bro, I know times are different because of you-know-what, but that doesn’t mean to have to keep being a stickler for the rules you implement on us!” Dolly argued. “The pups should feel less afraid of stepping out without mum and dad’s supervision. Delgado especially needs some fresh air. We can’t keep letting him break his wheelchair, but I don’t want to discipline him either.”

Dylan sighed and then replied to his stepsister, “I’m sorry, but there just isn’t a right time for this. I know we got all the help we need from Deepak now, but it still isn’t safe for them to be out at the moment with extra precautions!”

“Ugh, please don’t me that what your grandparents have been saying a few days ago have been rubbing off on you,” Dolly replied. “Ugh, fine, we’ll skip out on this. Goodnight, Dylan.”

In a huff, Dolly planted herself on her usual sleeping spot on the mantelpiece and went to sleep after all the steam inside of her had diminished.

“Goodnight, sis,” Dylan whispered in an austere tone and he too went to sleep.

...

After the minor disturbance, Deepak drifted off to sleep and found himself in another dismal dream. Instead of Cruella and his family at her grasp, the only person he saw in this particular dream was her great-grandnephew, Hunter, who appeared to be inside of one of her cages. Deepak would then hear the only words that dream Hunter would say to him…

“Deepak...please help me…”

...

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NOTES:

Original characters appearing in this chapter: Darlene Dalmatian, Dorian Dalmatian