Vacation Spots For A Super Good Time!
It’s always nice to watch the sunrise. Dawn breaking over a horizon from a good viewpoint could be breathtaking, seeing rays of light casting across the hills, or shining through a cityscape skyline in jagged beams, lighting up the features the sunlight fell on in a slow crawl. But there was something much more special about seeing it from an even better place.
Like 800 feet in the air with an overview of the entire city of London. The light flooded across the features of the city below, past the enormous reflective shine of The Shard, through the famously massive Eye of London, glinting off the River Thames... and brought a sparkle in the brilliant Amber eyes that looked down at it all.
“Yeah... this was worth taking off so late back home...” Paprika sighed admiringly, taking in the sights of her destination in the morning light. 
The figure drifting casually through the air above London was a young canine. A Dalmatian, with a coat of soft peach white, with spots that glowed in a light beige. Her floppy ears the same color as her spots, each dotted with an identical white spot in the center, flapped in the winds that blew in the altitude, just like the cape that streamed from her golden yellow collar. Lean figured, she carried a subtle muscle tone along her body, coming to a more pronounced rounding out toward the back end, where a tail tipped in the same spot color wagged excitedly. It was vacation time! 
Seeking a good place to land with little chance of being noticed by too many, she scanned the city below her... plenty of green park space to choose from! Catching sight of a promising looking spot, she turned her body around and downward with practiced ease, clutching the packed brown leather travel bag slung round her back with straps, and zoomed downward, her paws outstretched in aerodynamic perfection. Arcing down between several apartment buildings in neat rows, passing over a peaceful looking neighborhood that was just showing signs of waking up. As she blew past, she caught sight of a house in the joined rows that stood out, red-brick and covered halfway with purple polka dotted paint, decked with what looked like lounging pads and umbrellas over all three stories of the home. An eccentric’s house, for sure! 
Catching sight of the park she planned to touch down in, she scanned her surroundings for anyone who might be looking upward at the wrong moment. The streets were just starting to fill with humans heading for a day’s work with groggy senses, or too immersed in their phones and newspapers to view the world around them as they went. A grey-coated horse with a yellow saddle blanket and gear looked around street level quite vigilantly as the dalmatian glided by quietly overhead, while her human rider seemed oblivious to all but the coffee and donut in his hands. 
Pulling upward just a bit, she avoided crashing into the arched gateway of the park, past a large artist's rendition of a horse in a fountain pedestal, and aimed right for a copse of birch trees, which provided some decent cover for her landing. The leaves on the grass rustled with the whoosh of air as she pulled to a halt in the air, touching paws gracefully to the ground and settling with a satisfying crunch of soft grass between her toes. Foreign soil! Paprika is international, now! 
Reaching to the collar, she slid the tag to the left, and the mechanism within it rolled the flowing cape inside with a thwwwwip. Closing her eyes, she focused her thoughts on letting the charged energy of her body flow away, releasing them in a breath learned from one of the very calming yoga sessions she loved. As she did, the yellow tint of her spots faded, darkened, and she stood among the trees looking the most normal picture of a black-spotted dalmatian puppy one could imagine. Opening the pack, she dug through for a moment before she found her final touch, a pair of big, round, gold-rimmed spectacles, with rose-tinted lenses. She slid them into place on her nose, the rims coming to rest just over the twin spots on her cheeks below each of her eyes. Her disguise complete, she took a deep breath, put on her happiest smile, and strode out from the group of trees towards the park pathway with a skip in her step. 
“Hello, London! Paprika’s here! Now... let’s see where I can get some breakfast... ohhh, I hope there’s kippers! I’ve always wanted to try kippers!”
The teen pup kept happily oblivious to the figure that had been skulking in the taller uncut grass behind the trees she had made touchdown in. A pair of long, pointed ears twitched and a confused look gaped on a face normally covered by a smug grin and a glinting golden tooth. “What was THAT? Yeh, think that kale smoothie must’a had somethin’ funny innit...” 
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Morning at 101 Dalmatian Street always bordered on Chaos. That’s what happened when you had 99+ dogs running around loose in one house. Even with the yawning and slow-moving late-waking ones were like engines needing only time to warm up before revving into balls of excitable trigger-worded energy. As they woke up, realized it was daytime again and that meant it was time for Breakfast and then playtime, they’d rocket toward the dining room table and join the throng of pups that gathered in empty spaces while the Kibble Pump filled the bowls repeatedly. Near the end of the table, a space filled up by a slender adolescent pup, with a mostly white spotted coat, save for her right ear and left hind leg each black-furred with several white spots. Her mouth gaping in a wide yawn, she finished tying a knot in the strip of tattered blue ribbon around her neck, fashioning a makeshift collar. Satisfied that she looked spiffy, Dippy looked around the table at her breakfast company, her scruff-tipped tail wagged eagerly as she waited for her bowl to fill by the machine. 
Peeking at the pup next to her, she reached out a paw to hook around the neck of a drowsy looking pup covered tip to tail in black fur and small white spots, save those on his ear, dyed a dark purple.  Avoiding jabbing the spiked collar he wore around his neck into her own as she yanked him close into a sided hug, she bubbled happily, “G’Morning, Dante! Nice looking day outside! What’re YOU gonna do today?” 
Eyes widening at the unexpected enthusiastic embrace, Dante recoiled as though her hug burned him to the touch. He chose to ignore the wagging his own tail was doing, as he extracted himself from her crushing hug. To answer his sister’s question, he turned his sleep-bleary eyes to the window streaming bright sunlight through it, squinting and grumping. “TOO nice. It’s a perfect day to lure everyone into a false sense of safety so that DISASTER can erupt around them! ...Probably right after lunch. Yeah. I’m staying inside.”
Dippy’s eyes widened with a look of surprise and nervousness, watching him closely... Dante called for doomsday nearly every day, but she still felt a little surge of worry each time that maybe, just maybe, he might be right today. Well, if today he was right, better make the most of the time before lunch! She fastened her smile back to her face, and said, “Well... that’s good. Don’t want to go out in the sun too much, it’ll fade your purple. I’m gonna go see DaVinci’s street art down by the canals. She said she’s finishing up a new portrait piece today!” At that moment, the nozzle of the kibble pump passed over her bowl and a big pile of extra gravy kibble appeared before her. Like any hungry pup would, the conversation paused as she assaulted the food with extra gusto... it might be last breakfast, after all! Soon, her bowl emptied, she emerged from the dish licking her chops clean, peeking around. DaVinci was already away, so might as well head off to try and find her! 
Bounding away from the table, out the kitchen door, she bumped into a solid wall of Dad, who had been passing by the kitchen toward the door. Bouncing back off his side, she flumped to the floor, shaking her daze off and smiling brightly up to Doug, who had stopped and turned to see who had collided with him, a worried look on his muzzle. “Dippy! You okay, Honey? Gotta slow down a little there!” 
Climbing back to her paws, wobbling a bit before she stabilized, she reached up and tossed her arms around his neck, hugging tightly, and slipping away toward the front door. “Sorry, Daddy! I’ll be careful. Gotta go!” 
Scanning her pawprint on the screen, the doggy door opened with a click, and she popped out onto the Stairway, and basked in the warm morning sun. Which waaaay was it toward the canals, now? She bounded down the steps to the street below, stopping to get her bearings again... she heard a voice talking as it came down the street towards her, speaking to another. 
“...supposed to have found them some ‘volunteers’ if they’re going to make their little get-together a success. I sent Fru-Fru down, but I don’t think my sister is going to do it, she’s too soft for...” A Poodle, with poof-styled black fur, highlighted by lavender and pink streaks, slowed to a halt as she came upon the Dalmatian. At her side, as almost always, a grey long-bodied Dachshund wearing a black suit vest, managing to look bored and smug at the same time as he listened to his friend speak. When she stopped, so did he, his stubby little legs leaving his belly dragging the ground. 
Dippy bounced up to greet the taller Portia with a bubbly grin, failing to notice the poodle recoil at her overwhelming *cheeriness*. “Hi, Portia! Hi, Spencer! Get-together? Having another party? Is DJ gonna play for you again? Can I come? I wanna dance too!”
The poodle bit back an unkind retort, eyeing Dippy over slowly, as she seemed to be considering something. “Uh... First, it was a *NOT-Party*, and second, no, it’s not one of those. I’m just doing a little *favor* for some out-of-towners. But we just aren’t getting the right kind of...” “SAY, Porsh...” Spencer interjected her, “Why don’t we have Dippy here participate? I think she’s got the right kind of *talent*.”
“Talent? I can do things! What talent do I have?” Her tail had begun to wag eagerly when the sausage dog mentioned she could take part in something that sounded like it’d be fun!
Porsha had looked taken aback at being interrupted by her sidekick but seemed to catch on to something he was saying, and let the grey dog continue. “Oh, yes... You see, some of Portia’s friends are in town looking for a little good action... they’re world-class Knot-Tyers. Competitive, even. They go from town to town, looking for a good time. And they want some locals who can give them a good run for their money.”
Dippy’s ears perked up excitedly, “Knot tying? I can do that really good! Look!” She tugged gently on the ribbon tied around her neck, displaying her handywork proudly. “Never slips off unless I pull it! Where can I find them to play?”
The poodle had watched with growing amusement, and the grin that grew over her muzzle now would have unnerved any dog who knew her better. Dippy, though, did not. She sat with wagging tail and waited for her directions. “Right... Yeah, you’ll do them well, Dippy. You can play. They’ll be meeting behind the Compton Lodge on Harley Road. You should head on over. Tell them Portia says you’ll make sure they’re all satisfied with a good round of knotting.”
“Awesome! I’m on my way! Thanks, Portia! See you later!” With a whirl around that flopped her ears across her eyes, she didn’t catch the wicked grins that grew over the faces of the pair of dogs behind her as she rushed off down the road. 
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Paprika had acquired breakfast! It wasn’t a Kipper, apparently there weren’t any morning street vendors that had them, but she had sat right before a pastry and coffee stand, put on her very best pleading puppy eyes... and the large cinnamon roll was her prize! She trotted happily down the street with the pastry hanging from her muzzle as she chewed happily on the first delightful bits! 
Finding a bench to sit on, she hopped up quickly, plopping her rump down, wasting no time having at her sweet treat. As she tore the bun to bits, her eyes scanned around the street where the rest of London was waking up and heading off on their day. 
A human with his face glued to his phone. A blind old man with a large and tired looking Golden Retriever guiding him. A troop of cats heading into the park entrance nearby? Weird. A Poodle and a Dachshund striding away from the front of an eccentrically painted and decorated house, laughing in a way that she thought gave her little chills. She continued local-watching as she finished off her breakfast, and just as soon as she chewed on the last morsel, she caught sight of what might be just what she had been drawn across the pond to see...
A Dalmatian, a girl that could have been no older than she was, was jogging down the street with wide, bounding steps, clearly excited for her destination. Paprika watched as the other spotted dog weaved in and out and around the legs of human pedestrians, occasionally her steps bringing her out into the street itself. 
And then it happened. The girl reached a crosswalk and turned to dart across it without a break in her speed or step... but the pedestrian light was NOT on her turn to cross! The pup was too small for any vehicle sitting at the turn lane to notice until it was right atop of her... and that was why the vehicle was not making way for jaywalkers. 
Paprika felt her heartbeat increase... time seemed to slow almost to a crawl, and so did the rest of the world around her. She sat up, braced her front paws on the bench... drew her hind legs back to stretch out, her rear raising up as she spring-loaded her haunches... The spots nearest around her paws began to faintly glow back to the amber color. 
All of this happened in less than the blink of an eye, to any outside observer, and none would catch an actual glimpse of the Dalmatian launching herself from the bench, to streak as a blur through the cars lining the streets...
In the crosswalk, the car bore down on the pup who still had not seen it coming from a turn behind her... The bumper of the red vehicle was a half an inch away when Paprika reached her, her paws outstretched to catch the wagging-tailed butt and lurched her forward, completely across the crosswalk, stopping on a dime upon the sidewalk... Paprika shook with anxiety, holding in a heavy breath as she scanned over her for any sign of injury, even as she continued to hold the girl by the rear. Then the other pup’s ears perked, and her head turned round.
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“Huh? Oh, I’m across! Weird, the crosswalk seemed a lot longer from over there...” Dippy had been excitedly reviewing what kind of knots she was going to try and wow these out-of-towners with... a clove hitch would impress, right? Oh! What about a bowline tie...? No.. Nooo... An Alpine Butterfly Knot! Yes! That was it!
As she settled on the best way to beat out the competition, she came to realize that she had already made it across the road, and needed to see where to head next. Also, WHAT is that squeezing on my butt? She craned her neck round to see just what was up, and her eyes fell upon... another Dalmatian? But... NOT one of her siblings! Without thinging, her tail’s wagging sped up even further, inadvertently wriggling her rump in the still-gripping paws clamped on them. Which seemed to make them twitch a little.
“Uhhh.. Hi there! My name’s Dippy! Who’re you? Hey... you look kinda stressed, are you okay? Oh, Sorry, did I stop to quick and get in your way?” It seemed a reasonable explanation on why her paws were where they were, she had reached out and stopped herself from crashing right into Dippy, that was it!
The other dog seemed to snap out of her thoughts, and her eyes seemed to come into focus behind the big, round tinted glasses she wore... Dippy thought to herself that the amber pupils behind the frames were super pretty! Then they darted down and widened as she seemed to realize she was still squeezing the other pup’s cheeks, and her paws yanked away. Another couple of seconds later, the other Dally spoke up. “Uhh...Yeah! Yeah, thats right. Just stopped a little too short for me there. Sorry about that. I guess I was coming up behind you too fast. Uhm... I’m Paprika. Nice to meet you, Dippy.” 
Dippy watched her reach back to scratch at the back of her head, chuckling at the incident. Dippy turned about and sat herself down so she could look the other girl over properly. She noticed the golden yellow collar, the symmetrical spots on her black-furred ears. The freckle spots under her eyes. As she took in next the sound of the other pup’s voice, her tail began to wag excitedly again. “Heeey, your accent. Are you American?”
Paprika laughed a little nervously, sounding for all as though she had been caught out in something embarrassing, but Dippy couldn’t figure why. “Yep, I’m from the states. I just flew over... uhhh, on a plane, of course!...this morning.”
“Neat! What brings you all the way from over there? Are you with a Human?” 
The girl shook her head, rubbing again at the back of her ears. “No, no human. Just me. And I’m just here for a little sightseeing!”
“Hey, nice! London has a lot of fun things to see! My brother Dylan likes to talk about all the ‘Historical Landmarks’ and stuff a lot.” Dippy looked around her, catching sight of a clock in a store window... “Oh! I know! Want to hang out with me? I gotta go do a thing, but after it’s done, I can show you all around Camden! Then maybe you could come over and meet my family and Dylan can tell you the best places to go see around, too.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Paprika’s ears perked up at the invitation, and the pup talking of her family. “That would be nice... Hey, your family... are you... part of the great big Dalmatian family I heard about? There’s been a story about a huge family of Dalmatians that have lived in London for years. I was kind of hoping to find them and meet them!”
She watched the girl stand and do a happy little skip around with excitement before piping up, “You got it! I sure am! I’m part of thaaaat family! We’re at 101 Dalmatian Street, and have been here since the days of great-great grandma and grandpa Perdita and Pongo! Now you HAVE to come and meet everyone! Dad and Mum will love to meet a fan of the family!”
Now it was Paprika’s turn for a happily wagging tail. She found them! And on the first day! Lucky! “That sounds awesome, Dippy. I’d love to. Okay, lets hang out. What was it you needed to go do first?”
The ribboned pup had dropped down into a stance that left her tail-wagging rump wiggling in the air like she was getting ready to pounce upon something, looking playfully determined. “There’s a little contest that I’m gonna go and WIN, and I’m sure there’ll be a trophy for it, and I can bring it home and Dad’ll be SUPER proud of me, and DaVinci can paint it the cool colors, and then I’ll ride around the house with it on Dolly’s skateboard while DJ plays ‘We are the champions’.... Queen was from London, you know!” 
Wow. She was enthusiastic, that was for sure. Paprika thought she was adorable. She stood up and gestured for Dippy to lead. “Well, I’ll come along with you and cheer you to that victory!” 
The other dalmatian rose and turned to look round... eyes down the street, she seemed to be considering the direction. Paprika kept an eye out as well. It was a busy business street, with Storefronts lining it, with living flats above each one. News stands, restaurants, a flower shop that seemed to be having someone fancy move in above it, given the pully that was set up in front of it, with the large piano suspended at the third story up. Maybe the humans moving it had gone off to argue how they were going to get the thing inside. 
“Okay, it’s this way!” called Dippy, who broke back into her excited loping run down the road... Paprika was quick to catch up to her, and kept pace quite easily. She continued looking about, a practiced eye that never could seem to STOP keeping a warry eye out for danger. She saw again the Police Horse with the sadle and yellow blanket, looking bored alongside her rider who was browsing over a coffee menu. 
As they passed the flower shop, they found the sidewalk was lined with displays of fresh-cut arrangements in pots and vases, and Paprika nearly ran sidelong into Dippy, who had come to an abrupt halt, and promptly stuffed her nose into a Daffodil plant, sniffing eagerly, that tail waiving rapidly again. She huffed at the flower, and cooed out, “I love flowers, they’re all so pretty! I should try to find some to bring home to Mum...”
Paprika heard the girl start off onto another talk that seemed devoid of any periods, about flowers for her mother... but another sound caught her ear... the sound of a rope knot slipping its hold, just behind her. Oh, No...
Dippy had moved her head over to the next flowerpot, again burying her nose right into it and savoring the sweet scent. And so, she was oblivious to the enormous Piano that had begun to drop directly over their heads. 
But Paprika wasn’t! Once more from her view, the world slowed to a crawl as she reared up onto her hind legs, her front paws stretching outward overhead... the spots on her arms and legs alone lighting up into the gentle amber glow. Her two outreached paws would catch the thousand pound instrument... and she let out a huff as its weight settled on her shoulders, gritting her teeth again as she supported it. Dropping pianos did not come lightly to rest, however, and she felt the pavement beneath her hind paws crack a little beneath her, her legs trembling lightly as she fought to keep the stupid thing upright. It had come to a stop a mere five inches above Dippy’s poor, unsuspecting skull, while the pup had moved to another flower and finished, “But no Orchids, mum is allergic, and Dolly told me what a FIASCO it was, the last time they accidentally gave her some!”
Paprika let out a breath of relief, glancing around quickly to see if... Oh, wow, it was some kind of MIRACLE, Not a single human was looking in the direction at just that moment to see a small spotted dog holding a whole-ass piano hoisted above her head. Paprika braced herself, and with a slight bend of her knees to spring back up with powerful, yoga-toned thighs and tossed the stupid thing ten feet to the path behind them, where it crashed to the ground in the musical death throes of the instrument... Hey, if the humans couldn’t tie a secure knot, they DESERVED to catch hell from the Piano owner!
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The resounding CRASH of the piano hitting the pavement behind her caused Dippy to startle, yelping in shock, her nose ripping out of a begonia with a patch of pollen still coating the tip. “Wha... What HAPPENED? Oh, wow, We JUST walked past that, huh? Any slower and we’d have been PANCAKES! Dante said there could be a disaster today! But it’s not Lunchtime yet! You’re EARLY, Disaster! Cut it out!”
Calling out her warning to the universe in the open air, she heard the slightly shaky voice of the other Dalmatian just behind her. “Y...Yep... Almost pancakes. Good... Timing?”
Dippy turned to look her over again... Paprika was set on all fours, and she looked stressed again. Also, something weird about the morning light was glinting off her leg spots, but she blinked and saw that it had passed, and they had returned to a normal black.  “You okay, Paprika? None of the splinters hit you, right?” 
She nosed over the other girl, inspecting her for shrapnel marks, but Paprika quickly nudged her away, giving her a reassuring smile, though a little shaky (who could blame her? They’d nearly been crushed by a piano! No pup could take that kind of a wallop!), and a little claws-up to indicate she was good. “Let’s just get out of here before some human comes along and thinks WE had something to do with it!” 
“Right! Good idea. And it’s getting late... I need to get to the contest! I don’t have time to stop and smell the roses!”
And the pair dashed away down the road, leaving the debris of the piano behind as a number of humans finally turned up to investigate the crashing noise. 
Dippy kept her eyes toward her destination again... they covered several blocks without distraction! Rounding the corner onto Harley Road, she saw way down the way, the large sign for the Compton Lodge. It was just across the road from the fancy bank, which had lines of cars around it. Why were the cars all covered with flashing lights? Weird. Find the Alley! 
She made her way toward the lodge, hyping herself up for the contest again, and how close she was... Sure that Paprika was still trailing behind her, Dippy kept her eyes on the prize...
When she came in sight of that ring of flashing light cars, she let out a cry of shock as, from somewhere inside the ring, a resounding BOOM and a cloud of dust rolled over the area. The Humans in the area were shouting uproariously, and Dippy could make out a bunch of policement running around inside the dust cloud, which made her eyes sting a little as she squinted through it to see what had happened.
In seconds, the cloud cleared away, and Dippy could see through a gap in the cars... there was a hole in the side of the bank! And... Something was coming through it! Something big! 
It was... It looked like a giant Crab? A red saucer-shaped thing, that had six spindly arms made of wire, girders and rivets, each ending in a different wicked-looking tool for cutting or piercing. It moved forward through the hole on four more equally twisty walking legs... In the center, what looked like a cockpit, with levers and knobs and all manner of complex controls visible... and the figure sitting in the seat before them? 
Dippy could only sit and stare in awe and terror as the smug-looking Chihuahua pulled levers that made his machine lurch forward, a set of the arms holding two large, hanging sacks that surely must have been filled with the bank’s money.
“HAH... Pup’s Play! None of these pitiful, imbecilic humans can stop PROFESSOR BOLTINGTON!” Despite his air of confidence, the tiny dog seemed to still tremble in his seat, shaky paws moving from lever to knob, the machine creaking and twisting forward as he worked it, making to crawl its way right over the line of police cars.
Dippy squeaked with panic as it began to make right for where she was watching from! Yikes! She turned tail to scramble out of the way, calling out as she did, “Paprika! We gotta move out of...”
Paprika was gone! Dippy couldn’t see her anywhere on the street... Had she gotten scared at the blast and run off somewhere? Oh no! What if she was hurt? Or got lost? She had to find her, but first, Dippy knew she had to not become a squish mark from one of those large, heavy feet that were stomping down!
The sound of the Chihuahua’s mocking laughter could be heard echoing across the street as the humans continued to panic and run about.  
Then, there was a boom overhead, almost like a crack of thunder. And Dippy couldn’t help but look up to the source, which descended from the sky like a diving hawk. It streaked downward, impacting upon one of the arms holding a cash bag with such force that the steel girder fractured and dropped with a resounding clang to the pavement top. Professor Boltington, it seemed, was startled enough at the blow that his small paws tripped several levers at once, causing the machine to stumble sideways before stabilizing again.  “What?!? What is this? Who are...?”
Dippy looked up with a dropped jaw. The figure floated in the air with a light bob. A dog! A floating dog! With spots, that glowed brightly all over with an amazing amber light. A brilliant red cape streamed out from around her neck. The figure looked at the large machine and its operator with narrowed eyes, a grumpy expression on her face. “You know, I’m SUPPOSED to be on Vacation. Why do you nutjobs always have to pop up when I’m trying to relax?” The dog twisted quite gracefully in the air, drawing back her paw and swinging it around to slam fist-first into the hull of the machine, causing two of it’s standing legs to buckle with the downward force... it tilted forward, and the Chihuahua screeched with panic. “No! Stop that! You can’t do this to Professor Bo...GAH!” 
His protest was cut off by another forceful strike to his machine. The dog had zoomed in an arc around the robot’s other side, building up momentum to slam a fisted paw into the other arm holding the cash sack. This one, too, buckled, but didn’t break off. The tiny dog snarled and seemed to recover himself, flipping switches that turned two of the arms with painful-looking cutter tools upon the floating figure. From two directions the cutting blades came at her... and she flinched only enough, it seemed, to keep her cape from being caught between them. The blades themselves contacted her fur, the skin beneath... and the teeth from the sawblades would grind and break off with but a few rotations. The powered pup simply looking derisive and unmarked. “You done? Yeah... You’re done.” 
She reared back with both paws overhead, and with a hearty cry she swung them downward like a sledgehammer upon the body of the mechanical crab. With its occupant letting out a piercing cry of anger and protest, the machine’s remaining walking legs gave way and the entire contraption collapsed in a heap of scrap on the street beneath. The Chihuahua, coughing after being caught up in a cloud of acrid smoke emitting from his machine’s controls, came clamoring out on unsteady paws, flopping off the side and to the pavement below, shrieking out. “How dare youuuu! Vengeance will be mine! No one humiliates Professor Pookie Boltington!” 
Dippy watched the flying pup keep eye on the little menace as the Pest Control vans rolled up, a troop of armored civil servants surrounding the tiny little dog and rope him round the neck with a collar pole... they made quite a team showing of dragging the ferocious chihuahua into the van and driving away, as the police moved in to retrieve the discarded bags that were split open and billowing loose bills to the wind. Then, Dippy noticed the figure turn just enough to glance over her shoulder toward the ribbon-clad pup, with striking eyes, give her a smile and a thumbs up, before she hurtled off into the air and away from sight with a sonic boom echoing around, leaving another gust of wind and kick of dust to make DIppy sputter and rub at her eyes. 
When she cleared them, she looked around, now concerned for where her new friend had gotten off to! She must have really freaked out when the bank exploded! She wanted to tell Paprika that this was certainly not something that happened regularly, and she hopped it didn’t sour her on the idea of London as a great place to see!
Then she saw her... She caught a glint of light off those big, round glasses in an alleyway nearby! Paprika had taken cover, it seemed! Dippy yipped happily and bounded over toward her. “There you are! You’re okay! That was WILD, huh? Did you SEE that flying dog? And the way she just Zooooomed in and broke that robot? I’ve never seen a superhero here in London before, I heard there were a lot of them over in the US... Do you see them a lot back home?”
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Paprika had barely had time to land back in the alleyway and pull out to give her glasses a little polish before shoving them back onto her nose when the excited girl had seen her and come over with a barrage of questions. She managed to mask her shock that Dippy hadn’t at least made an inkling of a connection between her sudden disappearance and the arrival of the super pup. She put on a nervous smile and feigned a shake in her voice, hoping to play off that she had run for her life when the big boom had occurred. “Y..Yeah, it was... scary. It... It kinda happens a lot in my hometown, yeah... there’s a bunch of superheroes all over the world, and some of them handle stuff like... like this. There’s Krypto... and... and Bathound...” Darn it, Pappy, you need to keep that dreamy tone out when you mention him!
She straightened up and looked around before peering out of the alley. “Looks like the humans have it under control now... Should we... go ahead and go on to your thing? Maybe that was a bit much, and you should just head home. There seems to be a lot of trouble hanging around today, after all...”
But Dippy dropped into her ready-for-action pose with her butt wiggling in the air, tail like a helicopter trying to take off. “No way! Sure, it was scary, but I’m stoked now! I’m gonna go kick me some rope butt and win a trophy and have a great story to tell at dinner tonight! It should be just back here, come on!” 
Paprika let out a little sigh as she watched the other girl race past her deeper into the alleyway, which would lead around behind the lodge building. She turned on heel and moved off after her. She needed to keep an eye on this pup. Despite her wonderful and friendly demeanor...and that made the secret superdog giggle as she thought about how much Dippy seemed to just love the world around her...she seemed like an unfortunate magnet for trouble. And Paprika would need to keep that trouble at bay while she was in town. She sped her steps to catch up with Dippy as they rounded the corner. 
What came into view made Paprika come to an immediate halt, and a frown slipped onto her face. 
The alley had at least a dozen other dogs in it. Most of them were rather large, burly-looking dogs of assorted gruffness. Junkyard breeds. Dobermans. Rottweilers. Bulldogs. They seemed to be circled around a figure that looked sprawled on the alleyway ground and seemed a little... worse for wear. The pink-furred poodle was certainly in a sorry state, whatever it was that she was soaked and matted in had given her a bedraggled look, and she seemed to be panting and twitching with exhaustion. 
Dippy had not been quiet in her entrance, having hopped into sight around the corner and calling out. “Boom! Your undooing is here, Out-of-towners! Lemme at those knots, and I’ll show all of ya a REAL tying champ!”
All of the large, surly looking males had turned to the sound of the excitedly challenging voice as one... and all eyes fell on the pair of Dalmatian girls that had come intruding. But, despite their shock at the appearance, they did not appear to be intimidated. Instead, they each grew a wide grin and stood, each sporting a large, menacing appendage that was VERY INAPROPRIATE IN PUBLIC, and began making toward them. 
“Looks like Portia has gotten us a couple more takers. Ya hear that, boys? She wants at our knots... Happy to give ‘em to ya, girlie. Come on over...”
“Oh, NOPE!” Paprika huffed. Just a couple of feet behind Dippy, Paprika reached up and tilted her glasses off of her eyes, just as they began to glow bright with the amber color... The junk dogs were too focused on the excitedly waiting pup to notice as a beam of concentrated heat lanced out and sliced neatly through the dumpster they were passing, the top end sliding out to crash between the Dalmatians and the Yard Dogs, shutting them from view. 
Sliding the tab on her collar, the bright red cape fwipped out to full, and Paprika reached out to grasp Dippy by her black-furred hind leg, before she leaped from the ground, hauling the other pup off into the sky, leaving Dippy flailing and yelling as they soared off over the rooftops of the building. 
“WAAAAAAUGH!!!” 
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OhDogOhDogWhatsHappeningGetMeDownTooHighLemmeDownWhereAreWeGoingHeyICanSeeMyHouseFromHereTOOHIGHLEMMEDOWN!
A lot of things were rushing through Dippy’s mind as she found herself suddenly whizzing through the sky at an incredible speed, hanging upside down and being towed by a single leg. As she flailed around, she caught glimpses of what had her. A Streaking red cape, a paw with glowing spots, brief views of a face that looked...panicked and annoyed? 
What seemed like forever to a scared pup who never imagined being stories above her hometown was, in truth, perhaps twenty seconds long. The dog that had hold of her seemed to be scanning around for a place to aim, and once deciding on one, bolted forward through the air, with renewed cries of confusion as the winds whipped Dippy’s ears across her face.
Then she felt a light thwump as she was plopped down on her rear on a patch of very soft grass. Shaking her head to flap her ears out of her eyes, she saw clearly now what had relocated her into what looked like a secluded copse of trees. They were in the park! 
“Woah... You’re that...” she croaked out, at the powered dalmatian girl she had watched smash a crazy robot to smithereens. The other pup was gazing at her now with the utmost care and concern on her face, reflecting in her striking amber eyes.
“Are you Okay, Dippy? Sorry I didn’t take the time to say anything before I got you away. I didn’t hurt you with the liftoff, did I?”
“Uhh... No... I’m fine. What happened? Why did you... I was ready to play the contest and...”
The superpup’s eyes rolled very lightly in her head. “That wasn’t gonna be a contest, Dippy. They were going to stuff you with THEIR knots. Probably whether you really wanted to or not. Not the kind of goons you want to play with. Whoever sent you there was NOT looking out for you.”
Dippy’s head tilted a little as she processed this new information... it took... A little bit. But then she shook her head. “Ohhh, they wanted to have sex. I guess that makes more sense... How would you even judge a competitive rope tying contest, anyway? I don’t think I’d have wanted to try taking that many of them on all at once, so, thanks for getting me out of there! Wait...” 
Dippy looked around with worry now, seeming to notice the absence of something. She noticed the floating pup stiffen, like she was bracing for something. 
“Where’s Paprika!? We left her behind!”
The other girl looked surprised by something... but Dippy watched her recover quickly. “No, we didn’t... Uhh... I’m pretty quick... I got her out before I came back and got you... I... I dropped her off at the front of the park. She should find her way around soon... Maybe you can head there and meet her? I gotta go now. Be safe, Dippy!”
And before Dippy could protest with a cry of, “No, Wait!”, she saw the red cape swirl as the glowing dalmatian turned in the air and bolted back off into the sky. 
Her ears drooped, and her head lowered. She had wanted to ask a bunch of stuff... a real, live superhero had just saved her. She had like a million questions, and now she was gone! No fair!
Rather than mope around, she realized. Paprika! The superpup had talked like she knew Paprika, had been around because of her! Time to find her and get some answers!
Dippy adjusted her ribbon collar, upended by the wind in the air, and dashed out of the trees and back to the path through the park.
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Paprika had made sure that she seemed to disappear over the tops of the trees, to keep the dazed Dippy from seeing her arc around and descend back toward the park entrance. With the practiced speed of the quick-changer, she rolled her cape back into her collar and donned her shiny glasses, as her shiny spots faded back to their normal black. It was time to look nonchalant! 
She sat waiting by the horse statue near the entryway, peering around expectantly... in just a couple of moments, she heard the happy voice call out. “Paprika!”
Paprika turned about to face the pup loping toward her at an exciteable speed...”Dippy! Are you oka...!” She was cut of as the other girl skidded to a halt so close that their snoots pressed together, wet noses rubbing together. 
“Who is she, Paprika? Who’s the superhero?”
Paprika grasped Dippy by the shoulders and pushed her back enough to separate their noses from one another... doing a little quick thinking. “She’s... a Friend of mine. From back home. She kind of...follows me around to a lot of places. Keeps an eye on me.”
The perky pup bounced excitedly around. “Thats so cooool! You’re friends with a real hero! Can you introduce us? She didn’t stick around to say much or let me say thanks for helping me. Oh! Do you have, like, a bat-signal to call her? Can I see it?” 
Eyes widened behind her glasses at the barrage of questions, and she looked a little nervously around. “No.. No signal. She’s just sort of... around when I need her. She’s kind of shy about new dogs, though. Kind of likes to let me feel out new friends before getting really close, ya know? She does... a lot of work with bad guys, and she worries about anyone she gets close to, so she’s really, you know... particular about who she LETS close. We’re kind of... all each other has. Hope that’s okay?”
She watched Dippy blink, quiet for a moment... she thought she saw the girl’s ears droop a little, a look of sad realization in her eyes. “Just... Just you two, huh?” 
Paprika let a paw rub at the back of her head, trying to chuckle off the notion. “Y...Yeah. The two of us. It’s okay though. We’re used to it. And we have a few good friends back home.”
And Dippy pipped back up again. “Hey... and maybe you can make a LOT of good friends here! You’re still gonna come to my house! I wanna introduce you to eeeeveryone! I think you’ll like Dolly! And Deepak! Do you like art? DaVinci likes to color spots, she can make you look just like your friend! Won’t that be cool?” The pup leaned down to her playful stance, her tail high and wagging as she listed off a great long list of siblings that she thought Paprika could be good friends with... and then, a loud growl from the other pup’s tummy snapped her out of her focused recital. “Oh... But first, let’s go to the house and get lunch! We can tell Dante all about the disasters that we almost had, too. Come on!”
Paprika watched her new friend zip away, still a little dazed at the prospect of so many new dogs to meet...then saw Dippy dash right back up to her. “Hey! Come on, Silly! It’s this way!”
The disguised hero dog snapped herself out of the stupor, her tail beginning to wag with excitement. She stepped up next to Dippy and together they made away from the park, toward 101 Dalmatian Street.