101 Dalmatian Street: A Deity Among Dalmatians

Chapter 4: The Park

(So sorry about the delay, the 3 chapters I released were to see if you guys would like it. If you do like the story, please leave a comment! though for now, enjoy!)

Not wanting to keep the dogs waiting, I put the handles in the clips, I throw on a hoodie from my backpack to conceal them, I grab my phone and my wallet, and I dash downstairs I arrive in time to see Dylan finish counting the last of the puppies, he notices me as I jump down the last few steps, landing kind of unceremoniously.

“You were quick.” He points out.

“Yeah, I was just grabbing my essentials.” I say.

“So, is everyone accounted for?” I ask, knowing that there’s one more familiar signature in the house, right upstairs, and beginning to make its way downstairs, quickly.

“Yea- no….there’s only 100….” Dylan realizes, he recites everyone he counted in his mind. “Where’s Dolly?”

“BOW WACKA WOOOOOOOOOOWW!!!!!!!” The subject in question appears moving underneath my legs, wearing a helmet and riding a skateboard.

“Dolly! You weren’t here when I was counting! I could’ve missed you and we could’ve left you behind!” Dylan scolds Dolly.

“Aww I was just getting my skateboard stuff bro! Don’t be such a wuss!” Dolly teasingly says with a smile.

Before Dylan looks like he’s about to go on a rant, I step in. “Hey Dylan, she’s here now, she’s alright, and that’s all that matters.” I assure him, earning me a surprised look from him, that I’d pacify a situation such as this, Dolly even raises a sarcastic eyebrow at this.

“What, you gonna call me cute and scratch me behind the ears again?” She says, her voice slightly trembling at the mention of my ear scratching, of which I notice, and I can feel a part of her legitimately wanting it.

“Why do you ask? Do you want some?” I say with a teasing smile of my, her cheeks instantly flushing at this, her embarrassment practically radiating off her, even more than Negative’s aura.

“Uhh……BOW WACKA WOOOOOOOOW!!!!” She cries as she takes off towards the park, with everyone else taking this as the cue to start heading out.

While walking with me, Dylan wastes no time in commenting on what he saw, “Dude you are something else.” He says in amazement.

“I’m guessing you’re wanting to talk about how you helped me get her hooked on ear scratches? Well, your answer is right there. Again, you put the idea in my head.” I say.

“Yeah, but you made her blush.” He says.

“And?” I say, wondering where this is going.

“The only times I’ve ever seen her blush is when someone, usually her failed boyfriends, manage to embarrass her, in a good way.” He says. “Now, I HIGHLY, HIGHLY doubt that she’s already on good terms with you after you only scratched her ears (of which you and I need to do sometime very soon), but you managed to make her blush when you merely mentioned the scratching.”

“She hasn’t made any real comment on that, but I guess her embarrassed reaction to me talking about it was enough to say she liked it.” I say.
Dylan smiles, “I think you just gave her a guilty pleasure, and I don’t think she’ll want to get rid of you as easily now. Though, knowing her, she’ll still try, even if she does enjoy something you've given her.”

Before I can say anything else, I sense one of the puppies of whom I haven’t conversed with, having a desire to speak, and I look down to see that there is indeed one walking right alongside me, a female with multicolored spots.

“Aww, who’re you? You’re so cute and colorful.” I compliment the puppy, whose tail immediately begins wagging.

“M-my name is Da Vinci, and y-you really t-think so?” The shy puppy says, her tail wagging harder.

“Absolutely, and you know what, I think those colors suit you very well. Only someone like you can pull off a look like yours.” I say, ruffling the top of Da Vinci’s head, the puppy quickly blushing at my flattery and head rub.

“T-thank you, but I just paint, I tend to get it over me when I work, that’s why my fur isn’t only black and white.” Da Vinci tries to dismiss her colors as a mistake.

“Regardless, you still rock those colors, Da Vinci. You’re so unique to where you can make mistakes look like art.” I say with a smile, earning me an even bigger blush from her.
We then decide to chat about current events, of which I have a little difficult on considering I know nothing of Camden beyond just the apartments, so I just avoid scenarios where my knowledge isn’t required, only my opinion on the limited information.

“So what do you think about the potential rise in crime?” She asks.

“I think that whoever is in charge should be doing something about it.” I say, slightly annoyed about the fact that the mayor isn’t doing anything for the city.

“Yeah, they should. But I don’t know who is running everything. The most influential individuals I know of are the cops and Pearl.” She says.

“Who’s Pearl?” I ask.

“She’s the local police horse. Her rider is the one who makes the arrests, though she has arrested some of us animals before.”

“What do you mean?” I raise an eyebrow.

“Specifically, she’s arrested Dolly, and Diesel at different points, though only once for each.” She says.

“Dolly was arrested?” I ask with confusion and seriousness in my voice.

“Yes, and just in case, if you’ve seen one of us with dirt on our fur, and has a bit of a silly face, that’s Diesel, one of my brothers.” She points out.

“Really?” I ask.

“To be honest, I only heard about what happened with Dolly’s arrest, I did, however….” She checks around her for anyone listening, then puts on a prideful face. “Help HER, in busting Diesel, out of the pound.”

“Okay, two questions. Why was he in the pound? And why did you and Dolly break him out?” I ask.

“I don’t know too many details regarding his arrest, though it seemed to be because of his digging obsession, and Pearl threw him into the pound because of it.” She says. “Dolly, Dylan, the Dimitris and I worked together to break him out, because it wasn’t actually his digging. What happened was that there was stuff that was damaged in the park, and Diesel was the only one there, so Pearl thought it was him who caused the damages.”

“So, Pearl just didn’t know what was going on?”

“I guess…” She says, with her head slightly hanging at the fact I didn’t acknowledge what she did.

“Well, then that’s her mistake. I still think it’s pretty awesome that you were able to bust someone out of prison.” I enthusiastically say, her ears and her head perking up instantly. “You did it for the sake of saving someone who was innocent, you worked together with your brothers and sister to save your family. That right there is something that I admire.”

Da Vinci’s tail begins wagging like crazy. “You really mean that?”
I look at her, “Heck, yeah, Da Vinci. People constantly say that heroes are the ones in the capes. In reality, heroes are those who risk everything for others, not caring about themselves but valuing the lives of others above their own. Because of that, in my book, you and your brothers and sister were heroes that day.

Her tail wags so fast to the point where you could confuse it for helicopter blades, “Really?” She asks, her heart in her voice.

I lean down to her and whisper in her ear, “I think you were more of a hero yourself that day.” Her emotional state going through the roof so much to the point where it radiates off her. I ruffle her head one more time, much to her joy, before we arrive.

We find ourselves entering the park, which is rather empty, mainly consisting of simple suburban-style trees laid on the edges of the nearby sidewalks. There’s a pond, with reeds and frogs jumping across lily pads. Other than that, I can’t really say anything else beyond it just being empty, besides a few trash cans and stations for doggy bags.

The puppies quickly make themselves busy by playing with each other on the empty fields, as most dogs do when they want to have fun. I notice Dizzy and DeeDee following Dolly to a trash can, with the latter of the 3 taking the metal top off and playing fetch with it.

“Girls, GO LONG!” She says as she uses her mouth to throw the lid of the metal trash can into the distance, with her sisters darting after it, nearly tripping over each other in the process.

The 3 female triplets takings selfies with each other, with the heart and diamond collared ones suddenly arguing over who had what chew toy. All the while the circle collared one records it, likely for blackmailing purposed. Also, 3 more triplets, looking like males and wearing golden collars labelled 1-3, are chasing each other around and rolling around in the grass, occasionally wrestling each other for dominance.
I sense that Dylan is talking to Dawkins over something, but upon focusing my hearing over to them I can make out what they’re saying.

“You got the equipment?” Dylan asks.

“Yes, Dylan, I brought the equipment, I think I managed to grab it after the 5th time you asked me. The other 4 times you were asking me AS I was moving to get it.” Dawkins says, audibly annoyed at his brother’s excessiveness at punctuality.

“Yeah, but we need to be sure. Otherwise, we would’ve needed to go back to the house and me not being around would’ve allowed to let Dolly do something dumb again before I got back and the-” Dylan rambles before noticing Dawkins’ increasingly annoyed face.

“Sorry.” He apologizes.

“You’re alright, just when you’re ready to have him come over, just go get him.” Dawkins says, though accepting the apology more stressfully than wholeheartedly.

“Okay.” Dylan says.

I cut off my hearing from them and I feel Dylan’s presence coming my way, but strangely, I detect new signatures coming from the side entrances of the park. They’re different from the Dalmatians, likely different species. I glance over to the area of the signatures and sure enough, 3 new animals have showed up to the park. There’s a female rottweiler with a brown and black coat, a peace symbol for a collar, and a slightly muscular build to her, kind of like that of Doug. A male fox, with orange and white fur, black ‘socks’ on his feet, and when he smiles to any females on the street, I notice he has a gold tooth. Finally, there’s a simple Siberian husky with a jet black and white coat, an open face mask, blue eyes, and a shark tooth accessory for a collar.

I don’t think I’ve ever met these animals before, then again, I haven’t spent much time in Camden, so I haven’t taken the time to properly know the residents. The rottweiler approaches Dolly as she’s playing with Dizzy and DeeDee. The fox approaches Dylan, the former stopping him in his tracks to engage him in conversation. The husky seems to just be roaming around the park, likely trying to get some fresh air, based on the uneased feel to his presence.

I guess since everyone else is busy, I might as well make myself the same way. I’ll do some more training, just in case. I don’t know when, or if, Negative will strike, so I need to have my skills even sharper than a two-edged sword. I move over to the grassier area of the park, where it’ll be comfier if I screw up and fall. Standing in the middle of the grassy area, and the puppies still playing with each other as if they forgot I live with them now, I do some quick stretches, as I probably should have done earlier. When I finish, I close my eyes.

I look within myself again, not even paying attention to anything around me, and only focusing on trying to find the experience I’ve lost.
My drive is to defend, to protect and to help my new family, and the world I find myself in is the one I am willing to fight for. Whether it would be here or from afar, I will fight to the bitter end, to shatter my limits, and potentially even beyond, to protect them. This family is innocent, and has nothing to do with what might’ve happened in my previous life, making their safety all the more important.
I can feel it again, this spark beginning to light the embers of my determination. My battle instincts slowly begin to reignite.

I feel my arms rise again, taking position in the boxing stance, and my fists clenched, ready to be sent flying at my target. My fingers straighten out and my thumbs move to my hands’ sides in a knife hand fashion, with my right arm bent, close to my chin, while my left is at a perfect 90 degree angle held out to my side. My stance then shifts to that of my favorite, and with my breathing steady, I’m ready.
I start aggressively this time, a quick combo of punches, mixing in alternating roundhouse kicks, blocking up, following with a jab follow-up, kick behind, and block both sides with my forearms. I do a surprisingly easy somersault, doing a front flip afterwards, and performing an axe kick as I land on my feet. I roll right as I do, and I do a high sweep kick and a hard punch to the ground in front of me to end the combo, as if I were finishing off someone I caught off guard. I elbow behind, and knife strike right afterwards, I kick low, middle, and high. I put my hand on the ground and I use it as a pivot while I push myself forward, throwing a powerful swing kick at the air. I continue this rhythm for a good while, and to finish, I land on my knee, my right fist on the ground and my left hand on my bent leg.

Unfortunately, though I've been enjoying myself for the past few minutes, I feel myself being pulled out of my short training session, and my mind begins to come back online.