Karmi hated airports, no she loathed them. They were loud, giant, easy to get lost in, and whoever invented airport security had to be a devil in disguise. "I hate this…" She groaned as the security guard scanned her belongings.
"At least we're not waiting with your mom to pick up the dogs." Her step-father Zachary reminded her. The twins and Molly went ahead so they could get their pets dogs and Baymax from another place in airport security. "Did the flight drain your social batteries?"
"I was asleep for most of it." Karmi pointed out. Thankfully their flight wasn't full of screaming babies or children, but one guy was arguing with a poor flight attendant about the food and demanding to speak to whoever was in charge of the flight.
Zachary nodded. "Ah, right. Glad you got some sleep, I don't know how anyone can nap a million miles above ground."
"Dad, it's not a million miles above ground. More like thirty-eight thousand feet-"
"Big difference!"
Eventually they met up with the rest of their family at the bag drop-off, Diggs and Domino were still in their travel crates, but Baymax wasn't. "Hello, Zachary and Karmi." She blinked, he wasn't the same Baymax that followed Hiro around, but they were so similar.
Except for the red eyes, it was what kept Karmi from thinking that Hiro had shipped his own healthcare companion with her. "Hey Baymax." She waved to him.
"Aww, how come we don't get a hello?!" Haley pouted at her.
Karmi giggled. "I was just about to say hi to you and Ryan."
"Domino doesn't like his travel crate." Ryan stated.
Molly looked like he had said that dozens of times. "I told you Ryan, we can let Domino and Diggs out when we get out of the airport."
"So can we leave now? Please Mom!" Haley begged.
Their mother looked like she wanted to get back on that plane. "Well, we've got our bags so let's roll." Zachary chuckled. "Baymax, do you mind helping carry the bags?"
"I do not mind. I am programmed to aid and assist." Baymax replied, effortlessly holding onto their luggage.
When they escaped the airport, first the twins did was release the hounds. Domino instantly bolted from his cage and ran around the family, barking his thanks about being freed. "Settle down bud, we still gotta leash you." Haley told him. Domino stopped running and let her attach a leash to his collar. Then he continued to walk around as they waited for a taxi.
"I can't wait to visit London tower." Molly grinned in excitement. "I hear it's a great place for couples to go."
"Wait until we settle first." Zachary reminded her.
The twins had other ideas of touring. "I wanna visit the Dalmatian Plantation!" Haley exclaimed. "Domino's great-great grandparents used to live there!"
The dalmatian rolled his eyes. They technically had no proof that Domino's ancestry traced back to the farm that was a shelter for all dogs, not just dalmatians, but Haley liked to imagine their dog was the canine equivalent of nobility. "I wanna visit there too." Karmi agreed with her. "It's why I asked Mom and Dad for us to go to Camden, y'know!"
"I also wanted to go!"
Ryan shook his head at his twin. "You didn't pick where we'd go. Karmi did, I wanna visit the history museums they have there."
At that moment, the taxi showed up and they got in. The driver raised an eyebrow at Domino. "You folks heading to Camden?"
"Yes, sir." Molly nodded. "Closest hotel to Regents Park please."
As he started driving, the man gave Domino another glance. "Do you not like dogs?" Ryan asked him.
"I love dogs! I have a dachshund myself." The taxi driver hummed. "But word of warning, folks might question your pup a little to make sure you didn't steal him."
Zachary looked at the driver with confusion. "What?"
"Might be weird to you folks, but there's a big family of dalmatians that live in town. Some weirdos try to take the pups, a few months ago there was a police report on some teenager trying to catch the whole family!" He explained to them. "Those dogs just wanna do their own thing, maybe you'll see a few of them while you're in town. But don't be surprised if people ask where you got your dalmatian."
'We rescued him from a hoarder house!" Haley exclaimed.
The driver barely repressed a shudder. "Well, at least you got him out of there."
"That we did." Molly nodded.
A family of dalmatians sounds familiar… Karmi hummed as she petted Diggs, the german shepherd rested on her lap. Domino was sitting on Haley's lap and was chatting with the older dog. Her little sister was excited at the idea of a family of dalmatians in Camden, talking about how it was like the movie.
I guess it'd be cool to see some of them, but like the driver said we should leave them alone. She knew how that felt, thinking about the constant reporters at her door before they left San Fransokyo.
She should probably chat with her friends now that she was back on the ground, even if she couldn't see them in person, they were at least a phone call away.
Teen Dorks Squad group chat:
Karms: Guess who landed in England!
Ari: You!
Hiro: You?
Rach: The mailman
Karms: Do I LOOK like-!?
Hiro: How was the flight?
Karms: I slept for most of it.
Meg: Luckyy! I cannot sleep on airplanes, they're so loud
Hiro: Invest in headphones
Meg: My dad only gets five dollar ones ;-;
June: Oof.
June: Is England fun?
Karms: We just got here. Taxi driver is cool
Karms: camden,jpeg
Ari: Omg prettyyyyy!
June: Oh wow! Pretty!
Hiro: Wow I never pegged you as a photographer, are you an SFAI student in disguise
Karms: EXCUSE?!
Meg: Why is that offensive?
Ari: Tell you later. It's weird
The hotel the Khans were staying at was the Thunderbolt Lodge, named after a famous dog celebrity back in the 1950s. "Ooh!" Haley was in awe at the water fountain statue of the tv star in front of the hotel as the taxi driver dropped them off and bellhops helped them with their luggage. "Are you people from out of town?" One lady asked them as they checked in, her name tag reading as Charlotte G. Peters.
"Yes, we're from the states." Molly told her.
"I'm from Canada." Zachary cheekily grinned, his wife gave him an unamused look. "What? I've got the birth certificate to prove it!"
The clerk smiled. "I see, was just curious since one of your dogs is a dalmatian." She gave Domino a smile. "There's a big family of dalmatians in Camden and-"
"Wanted to make sure we didn't steal Dom from them." Molly finished. "The taxi driver warned us about that. I'm sure the owners are happy that a lot of people know about their dogs."
Charlotte started laughing. "Uh, I don't get it." Karmi commented to her parents.
"Oh, silly me! It's been forever since someone asked that!" She rolled her eyes. "The dalmatians have no owners, they own themselves."
Molly and Zachary gave the clerk puzzled glances. "I believe what the clerk said is that the dalmatians do not have any human owners." Baymax clarified.
"Oh, we got that part." Her dad nodded. "Wait so they do their own taxes?"
Molly pinched the bridge of her nose. "I don't want to question it. We're probably never going to run into them."
'Molly, Zachary, I detect elevated blood pressures." The healthcare companion noted. "Would you like a hug?"
Karmi giggled at her parent's reactions as she turned to her siblings. "C'mon guys, let's go to our rooms."
"Yay!" They cheered.
"This is a nice bed." Diggs stated as he was resting his belly on one of the hotel beds. The room had a bed for the kids and a bed for the adults, Karmi was helping her little siblings pack as the dogs watched.
Domino yipped in agreement, rolling onto his back as he relished in the soft blankets. "Ahhh, I could live on a bed like this." He wiggled his paws in the air.
"Careful or you'll fall off." Diggs warned. "You've been quite the dog of the hour, or well your breed is."
He rolled up. "I don't get it! Humans don't like stray dogs, why would this family of dalmatians be different?"
The german shepherd shrugged. "Maybe they're special dalmatians. I dunno, like Molly said we'll probably not run into them."
"Easy for you to say!" Domino grumbled. "You're not the one born with a spotted coat." He just knew the humans would constantly question if he was from the strange dalmatian family, he didn't even want to meet them! I haven't seen another of my breed since I was adopted… I don't wanna see those dogs, they're just gonna remind me of my bad memories.
But… a part of remembered that his littermates were placed somewhere in England, could it possibly be here? Don't be silly Dom! Life isn't a Disney show! He stretched his little legs and walked over to lie next to Diggs.
"It's okay, the humans won't separate you from us." Diggs reassured him. He looked up as the twins climbed onto the bed.
"Hi guys, we're done packing." Ryan told them. "And Baymax is charging."
"When he's done we're gonna go to the park!" Haley added. "Wanna watch TV before that?"
Diggs nodded. "Sure."
Yeah, TV will help. Domino barked in agreement, crawling up to Haley and cuddling in her lap. "Good puppy." Ryan patted his head.
Karmi chuckled at the twins as she joined them on the bed. "Okay, what movie do you guys wanna pick?"
"Can we watch a Disney Princess movie?" Haley beamed, with Ryan nodding in agreement.
"Sure Haley, sure."
By the time Baymax charged, the parents had finished checking in so the whole family could go to Regents Park. "Lots of dog people here." Zachary hummed at the canines playing in the park, there were a few cats chilling by the brick walls or the trees.
"Zachy, we're dog people." Molly reminded him.
"Ah, yes! That we are."
She rolled her eyes at her husband. "I detect a large group of canines heading toward the entrance." Baymax pointed a finger at the gate they were standing by, so they all stepped to the left, away from the gate. "They will arrive at ten… nine… eight…"
"You're counting like an astronaut." Ryan snorted. But as Baymax finished counting, the ground under Domino's feet was shaking like a tiny earthquake.
"Oh dear." Diggs had an idea on what was happening.
Then it happened. "PARK! PARK! PARK! PARK!" A cloud of black and white spots rushed past them and split at the park, turning into dozens of puppies running around and playing.
"That's a…" Karmi's reddish-brown eyes were wide with surprise. "Wow. That's a lot of dogs."
"Lots of dalmatians!" Haley corrected.
"Right. Wow."
Zachary composed himself first. "So that's the famous dalmatian family." He turned to the kids. "Karmi, Ryan, Haley, don't try to bug the dogs, admire from a distance but don't pet 'em, alright?"
"Yes Dad!" The three chorused. With Haley tugging her brother along as they ran to the swings.
"I'll make sure they behave." Karmi told him, running after her siblings.
Their mother frowned. "Still weird that the people here don't mind a bunch of dogs running around…" Diggs shot Molly a glare, she winced. "No offense Diggs."
"Well maybe we can talk to the other park people about it." Zachary pointed out. "Baymax, do you mind watching Diggs and Domino for us?"
"I will make sure nothing bad happens to Diggs and Domino." He stated.
Zachary flashed a thumbs up. "Thanks buddy!" Then he and Molly sauntered off to chat with other folk in the park.
Baymax was sitting by a tree while the two dogs played, Domino noted that his friend was keeping him away from the dalmatians. "After what you told me about your old home, I didn't want you to get bad memories."
Domino nodded. Seeing his breed in person for the first time in months was giving him some unpleasant flashbacks of a stuffed room and fighting for food. "I'll be fine. As long as I'm not trapped in a prison with them." He grumbled, his paws clawing at the dirt. "Do you think I should talk to one of them?"
"Do you want to?" Diggs raised an eyebrow, red eyes flashed with curiosity.
The pup slowly nodded. "A little, I wonder if any of them know about my littermates or any of the other dogs in that place." Domino mumbled. "It's not as if I can group chat with them, dogs don't carry around phones!"
Diggs hummed. "I know that feeling. I haven't seen my littermates since I was a pup, but one day I'll be reunited with them. I hope you can reunite with yours while on this trip." The german shepherd nudged him up. "Go on, mingle. You could stand to play with someone that isn't the twins."
Domino huffed. "You're not the boss of me!" But he complied and walked through a bush to where the dalmatians were. But he hesitated, and just lied down to watch them play.
"Come on Dizzy! You're too slow!" A blue-eyed pup with black paws and blue bracelets around her neck was talking to a pup with red eyes with large spots around her face and a blue striped collar.
"You're too fast Dee Dee!" Dizzy pointed out.
"We're playing tag though! The point is to be fast!" Dee Dee pouted, but she slowed down to let her sister tag her. "Now I'm it!"
Dizzy giggled. "Oh no!" As they ran off, Domino could tell Dee Dee was running slower on purpose.
They're happy pups, they're not sad like the other dalmatians back at that house… Domino noted, seeing the two sisters gave him the courage to step out and speak to his breed.
He didn't get far, as another dalmatian bumped into him. "Ow!" The pup got up. "I'm so sorry I didn't see you there sib-" Brown eyes the exact shade of Domino's were staring back at him.
"It can't be you…" Despite the pup having headphones, a fancy red collar and larger spots, Domino could recognize his- "Brother?"
And the crossover has basically started. Contact has been made and Domino got to reunite with his brother! : D
Also c'mon there's no way the people of Camden are oblivious to the family of dalmatians that live on their own, like I know 101DS makes the humans not the brightest but that's mostly since it's a kid's show and they don't explore the implications of the dogs living without an owner.
So basically the population of Camden know about the Dalmatian family and that they just have a family of dalmatians and they're just rolling with it, the doggos do taxes anyways so they're not freeloaders, they're just living their best lives, also I hope you enjoyed me sprinkling references here and there.
The Thunderbolt lodge is named after Thunderbolt, the dog actor of the tv show that the original 101 watched and who Patch got to team-up with in the sequel movie.
I like to imagine Londom embraces a bit of the canine culture after the events of 101 Dalmatians, since it happened in this universe and was turned into a movie, hoo boy.
Next chapter will be more of Domino getting to know the Dalmatian family, and even Karmi gets to know a few doggos as well.
Thanks for reading and don't forget to check out Fallen From Power, which takes place at the same time as this fic, see you next time!
