GJTProductions

As the double-decker bus parked in the shadow of what was now called "The De Vil Tower", the modestly optimistic mood onboard was replaced by a sad chilling effect in spite of the sun shining brightly outside. Many of the pups fell quiet and remained that way, especially the younger ones. The most troubling out of that category was Dorothy, doubtless a reaction to the traumatic experience she had had there before. And her oldest brother Dylan, picking Dorothy up to comfort her, seemed unable to hide his own anxiety and mixed feelings about seeing that place again. His face flushed slightly when he saw Dolly crack a quickly-concealed smile at his shaking, wobbly knees. Deepak, somberly staring up at one of the bus windows, nicely encapsulated the feelings that had crept into the bus: "Her presence saturates this place, I can feel it in the air. This place is cursed, and can only be cleansed through fire." "You mean the HELLFIRES OF DOOM, WHICH SHE REALLY NEEDS TO BE SENT TO!" Dante

Papers, papers, papers... if it wasn't for the fact that the golden-haired adolescent abandoning the De Vil name already had experience with most of them, the bureaucratic load would've been absolutely overwhelming! At the very least, he realized, it kept prying press attention off of him. The same couldn't be said for the Dalmatians of 101 Dalmatian St., still stuck in the courtroom and drawing a photo-op every now and then, as the press conference related to the case against Cruella De Vil unfolded. Even from outside, "Harrison" (as the former Hunter De Vil now wanted to call himself) couldn't avoid hearing the animal rights activists (which he had once heard being regarded as "nuisances") and other members of the United Kingdom noble class take advantage of the opportunity to unload their own verbal bombs with the cameras rolling. Unsurprisingly, it reminded the adolescent of the extremely toxic atmosphere he had once been immersed in, and how close he had come to completely losing

One obstacle had been cleared, but another one still remained looming in front of the adolescent known by the "H. De Vil" on his jumpsuit. He had spent twenty minutes in nervous anticipation about the judge's decision, then about fifteen minutes afterward with his lawyer "coach" going over the plea deal the judge had decided to offer him. To the Dalmatian family still watching in the jury box the most important thing was that the young human was only going to get "community service", and nothing else, for his previous crimes. The general understanding, not surprisingly, was that both time already served in his mental health treatment and his "caring" for the Dalmatians would be credit toward the "community service" hours. However, even after that Hunter De Vil would still not be able to rest easy. With no other living family to take him, a judge in this situation would normally have ordered him to be placed into the foster system. Doing that would be problematic at best, considering

In the London Borough of Camden's courthouse, the blond-haired teen known by the "H. De Vil" on his jumpsuit sat uneasily on the defendant's right side of the courtroom, next to the suit-and-tie lawyer that was more or less acting as a legal coach for the proceedings to come. He ached intensely to speak of the past three weeks of his life, a purgatory that burned away the remains of his past self, but circumstances forced him to stay silent. On the opposite side of the main aisle where the prosecution would normally sit was the only other human currently in the room, a grey-suited lawyer carefully studying paperwork arrayed in front of him. Despite what appearances might've implied, Hunter had to remind himself he was not formally on trial; the two lawyers were both part of the prosecution team working against Cruella De Vil, and the current business was, at least in part, to determine Hunter's fate both during and immediately after the trial. Nevertheless, the teen was doubtlessly

Seeing one of London's iconic double-decker buses pull into the parking lot of the Courthouse of the Borough of Camden wasn't all that unusual, even though it didn't have a dedicated bus stop at that location. The fact that said double-decker bus decided to park over two spaces like a typical automobile would was unusual, and the spotted occupants of that bus soon became painfully aware of a couple pairs of staring human eyes at the sight. Doug Dalmatian giggles at the sight of the human driver trying to slink down out of sight while wife Delilah beside him addresses the crowd of 99 pups on board the bus: "Alright everyone, line up two-by-two just like I explained earlier. And make sure you stick close, it'll be very easy to get lost in there!" "Honey, you still haven't explained yet how you managed to figure out a way to get us in that courthouse in the first place." Doug asks as the pups begin assembling in the two-wide line, partly being shepherded by Dylan and Dolly working

"I can't believe I'm actually doing this... I hope there's actually someone at home that I can talk to... HELLO, WHO'S IN CHARGE HERE RIGHT NOW?" the elder cat Constantin speaks loudly through the 101 Dalmatian St. mailslot. In his brief glimpse through the slot, Constantin can see a few pups he doesn't immediately recognize, all of which call for Dylan. The cat briefly waits with twitching tail before the eyes of the eldest boy pup appear from the other side of the slot, and quickly show the signs of his allergy to cat fur being triggered. "Can I help... help... ah... ah... ah-choo!" Dylan tries to answer, his sneeze fortunately being telegraphed enough that Constantin was able to duck the mess that was ejected through the mailslot. "Sorry, can I help you with something?" Dylan finishes with a sniffle, Constantin wearing an unamused look on the other side of the door. "Are your parents home? I would like to speak to both of them as well as yourself over at my place." Constantin

Constantin the elder cat spared a glance for who else might've been watching the music video performance the Dalmatians were about to put on next door. He glimpsed Clarissa Corgi and her human "pet" watching from across the way, as was most of the entourage that accompanied her. The other audience members of the event were the proud parents Doug and Delilah, the young Dorothy (who was perched atop Doug's head and was wearing a set of earmuffs to keep the loud noise from scaring her) and a trio of animals Constantin and his fellow Guru Miaow devotees considered disreputable: Fergus (a gold-toothed fox), Sid (the "local crazy" squirrel) and Big Fee (a rat who always seemed to have a terrible stench about her). Seeing the latter three, who had earned the right to attend by helping fight off Cruella, made Constantin feel less bad about turning down Deepak's unoffical invitation to be in the audience. He was sure going down there himself would've caused a minor scandal, and judging from

"Um... Mom?" "Yes, Dolly?" "I have a, well, kinda-awkward question to ask you..." "Well, I'm not sure I'll be able to answer it, but I'll try my best, sweetie." "OK, so when we were attacked at the house by both Hunter and Cruella together you pulled both Dylan and me up into the attic to tell us about how she hated your ancestors, right?" "Yes." "And you were also able to tell a De Vil by scent, right?" "That's right." "But I remember that when Hunter attacked us alone the first time he left something behind, and that both you and Dad knew what the scent was from that. He came from America, not here. So I don't understand how he knew the scent when he's not..." "A descendant of Pongo and Perdita like me." "Yeah, basically... that's the question." "Hmmm... well, I suppose that it would be alright to tell you. There was a point your dad would've been mad at me for telling you what I'm about to tell you, but I don't think he'd get mad now. Not after encountering Cruella