A/N: The time setting changes a few times, so hopefully it's not too confusing. This chapter introduces my OC, Iria Lake, as well. I appreciate any comments or votes!

"Since when do heroes care about villains?"

***

Third Person, Iria:

Iria groans and leans their head back on the cold, hard walls of the prison cell. They let out a hiss through their teeth, partly feeling like crying and feeling like punching something. They're leaning towards crying, considering how dusty this place is.

Placing a hand on their knee to stop it from bouncing, they bite back the tears and take a deep breath.

"Why can't I just be normal?" They mutter, "Everyone else is doing fine, everyone else is doing great, and I can't even go on a fucking field trip without getting arrested."

Of course, they know exactly why they can't "just be normal." Well, partly, anyway.

Iria Lake has had an insane life, even by VK standards. I mean, the child of a squid who lived in Antarctica... already, not off to an amazing start.

Ever since they were little, Iria and her cousin had been joined at the hip. Maybe they saw a kindred spirit in each other, even at their young age. Maybe they shared some sort of unbreakable bond because of their family.

Maybe they were just sad, hungry little kids who needed a friend.

Whatever the reason, it was Iria and Uma against the whole fucking world.

Then Harry Hook came along. About their age, miraculously shorter than both of them, good at stealing, willing to follow orders, and slightly deranged. A perfect match. They pulled pranks, stole food, and just made as much mischief as possible.

Harry's little sister, CJ, tagged along for a couple of their adventures just because Harry didn't want her alone with their dad.

Harriet, Harry's older sister, became somewhat of an older sister to his friends as well.

Then comes Gil a couple years later. Tall, blonde, muscular even then, lovable, too sweet for the Isle, Gil. At first he just follows them around for a reason unbeknownst to them. But eventually, Gil becomes a part of their ragtag group.

They make other allies, like the Faciliers, Harriet's crew, and the Sea Witches, Uma and Iria's other cousins, but the only friends they needed were each other.

Fast forward about a year later, and they become friends with Jay. And Mal, but technically, Jay was first.

Anyway, the now-bigger group pulled even more crazy, stupid stunts than before. Things were good for about 3 years. Well, as good as they could be with the purple she-devil.

Iria and Harry sort of bonded over being jealous of Mal and missing Uma. Jay got in on it too, except he was jealous of Uma and missed Mal.

Then, of course, there was the Shrimpy incident when they were all ten. Iria, Gil, and Harry were with Jay at the market, stealing stuff when it all went down.

Then Gil leaves.

The shrimpy thing sets off the brewing tension between the shore villains (Ursula, Captain Hook, Morgana, Smee, and so much more!) and the inland villains (Maleficent, EQ, Cruella, Jafar, etc.).

Of course, they didn't have the resources for an all-out war, but there was rivalry. There were gang fights, stealing, pillaging, burning, all the stuff that usually happened on the island, but on a much bigger scale. It got to where everyone knew everyone who was on their side, and everyone who wasn't, with no scrap of doubt. If you spotted someone on the wrong side, you killed them.

Well, what split the whole Isle in two left the group broken and three members short. But they carried on, covering hurt with anger, just like everyone else.

Maybe two years later, they build a 'crew' after Uma wins the boat race and the Lost Revenge. First, Gil comes back. No apologies, no 'I don't know what I was thinking', no 'I missed you'. Those things just weren't said on the Isle.

And Uma, as captain, accepted him. It took a bit, but they gradually trusted each other almost as much as they did before everything.

Second, it's Uma and Iria's other, other cousins: Jonas, Desiree, Piper, Malisma, Allegra, Lyrica, Madi, and Talea.

Then it's the kids of some of the Jolly Roger's old crew: Gonzo and Bonny.

Then there's Big Murph, who doesn't even know his parents. Then Ash, Maiya, Zoe, and Claudine. They all have their own stories, their own pain, and the closest thing this crew had to a family was each other. And it was a pretty damn good family.

Then Iria was kidnapped.

Morgana had never been the healthiest about- well, anything, really, but finances especially. When she wasn't 'under-the-radar' trading for illegal potions ingredients that wouldn't even work, wasting money on things that would make her family look rich, or throwing stupid parties to 'make connections', she was peddling drugs herself and whining to her sister about how pathetic and sad her situation was.

When Ursula finally stopped letting Uma turn a blind eye as Morgana took free meals, the squid became desperate. She borrowed from gangs. And not gangs like Mal's 'Rotten Four', who wore leather, broke into random dance numbers on the streets, and stole apples, or any frilly shit like that.

From the villain gangs. The ones with illegally imported weapons and drugs from Auradon, and underground gambling, and human trafficking networks. The ones who the leaders turn a blind eye to in exchange for their support.

As much as any of the VKs wanted to believe they were 'the baddest in the land', they're nothing compared to the worst of the worst. These guys transcended even the Shore-Inland War. They respected Maleficent and Ursula. Of course, there were a lot of deals and trades and 'arrangements' made to keep that up. Most people on the Isle who had little power didn't even know that they existed. They called themselves the Death Dealers.

Anyway, Morgana 'borrowed' from them without holding her end of some bargains a few too many times to be tolerated, even if she was Ursula's sister. They didn't want to interfere with Morgana directly, but still force her to pay up. And they did that with their favorite bargaining chip: children.

As insurance, they said, and possibly to pay off some debts. Anyway, blah blah blah, emotional and physical trauma. Then Uma and the pirate crew destroyed the camp and broke everyone out. There was a huge, epic battle with the Death Dealers.

Morgana actually gave a shit about Iria, or maybe about the Death Dealers, but either way, she died, of course, doing the only decent thing she'd ever done for her child.

But, eventually, Iria and the other victims, with the help of Uma, Harry, Gil, the whole pirate crew, the Rotten Four, some other VKs, and a few AKs, including Ben and Lonnie, took down the dirtiest group on the whole Isle. Apparently, while Iria was out of commission, Uma convinced Auradon to remove the barrier. So Iria went to Auradon.

To find that Uma, Harry, and Gil are friends with the Rotten Four now. And with Ben, too.

Uma, Harry, and Gil tried to explain it all, but if Iria was honest, he wasn't all that interested in listening. So, they ran away, stealing weapons and plotting an assassination attempt.

Well, two. (Maybe four if everything went according to plan). King Adam and Queen Belle (and Mal and Ben if they had time).

However, Uma stopped them in just enough time to keep them out of prison.

Despite all the bad blood, Iria eventually became something like a friend. Well, with Evie, Jay, and Carlos, at least. Mal and Iria never really buried the hatchet.

Which all leads up to today.

Third Person, Iria- Approximately one hour earlier:

Iria groaned yet again, scowling furiously and balling their fists. Two hours. Two hours. They growled loudly. Two whole damn hours on this nightmare bus from hell. Two hours of being crammed into an enclosed space with about 30 other stupid Auradon Prep students, who were not the Lost Revenge crew.

And they were sweaty and carsick and claustrophobic and exhausted from lack of sleep the night before.

Honestly, it probably should have occurred to them they were right on the brink of doing something crazy.

They let out another growl as a hand landed on their shoulder, but just crossed their arms and huffed when he saw it was Carlos.

"You good?" he asked, actually concerned. They barked out a laugh, swatting away his hand. They cursed themself for being so mean, then cursed themself for caring.

"I hate Auradon," she thought with conviction. "People are stupid too. I hate having to care about stupid people and their stupid-er feelings."

"Iria?" Carlos asked again.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine," they said distractedly, picking at their braids.

"Okay," Carlos replied, "You sure?"

Their frown deepened. Usually people left you alone if you said you were fine. That's what he'd seen, anyway. Maybe try again? Be more convincing this time?

"I said I'm fine," they repeated emphatically, wincing at how harsh it had sounded, "I just don't really want to talk right now."

"Okay," Carlos nodded, turning to face forward again.

Iria glanced to their right in confusion. They're just not used to people being so sincere. It always seemed like these people actually cared about how she was feeling. Which was... Definitely strange.

But they definitely appreciated Carlos' willingness to drop it when they asked. Iria knew that Evie, Ben, Audrey, or maybe even Lonnie or Jay, would keep pushing until she talked.

The adult chaperone at the front of the bus stood and announced, "Alright everyone, we're pulling into our last rest stop of the drive! After this we've still got about an hour left to go before we get back to Auradon Prep, so use the bathroom and buy a snack, or just stretch your legs while you can! We'll be stopping for fifteen minutes, so you'll have plenty of time."

The bus creaked to a stop, and Iria grunted. They weren't hungry, and they had no interest in using public bathrooms. Not to say that they hadn't made do with worse quality back on the Isle, but pretty much all the public stalls they'd encountered in Auradon were split into two genders and just made them all kinds of uncomfortable.

Sighing, she stood up and exited the bus with everyone else, figuring they might as well get some fresh air. They settled themself under a tree, and Carlos and Jay joined him soon after.

"We're gonna go get snacks," Jay said, "You want anything?"

"No thanks," they replied.

"Okay, see you in a few."

Iria pulled out a book that Evie had given them as Jay and Carlos walked away, figuring they could try to muddle through a few more pages.

Serpent Prep wasn't the best place to learn... Anything, really, but especially things that don't have to do with violence. Iria can recognize and name different over a hundred types of guns, but, embarrassingly enough, they struggle to get through and understand big blocks of text.

Evie has been helping, though. And according to both her and Fairy Godmother, apparently the only way to get better at reading is to do it more.

Just Iria's luck.

Once they realized they had been rereading the same sentence over and over again, they scowled and placed their finger on the page, tracing through the sentence.

Unfortunately, someone picked that moment to talk to them.

"Hey."

Iria jumped and slammed the book shut, still embarrassed about struggling with something so aggravatingly simple to pretty much everyone in Auradon.

"What do you want?" Iria growled at Jane, who winced and apologized immediately.

"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you. I was just hoping we could talk."

"About what?"

"Well, Uma's told me you don't eat meat."

Iria hadn't liked meat ever since they could remember. Something about eating anything that used to be conscious didn't sit right. Maybe it's just their head playing tricks on them, but they could swear that whenever they ate a rotten fish stick, or a slimy piece of shrimp, they could taste the thing's pain. Who knows, maybe it's a sea witch thing, but they've always avoided meat. 

"Yeah. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I was thinking about cutting meat out of my diet too."

"Oh," Iria paused, "Cool."

"Yeah..." Jane trailed off awkwardly. "So, have you been a vegetarian your entire life?"

"What's that?"

"Huh?"

"Vegetarian, what is that?"

"Oh. It's our word for people who don't eat meat."

"Huh. It sounds like a vegetable cult."

Jane snorted, "Yeah, it does."

"Well, sometimes I ate it when I had to, but I stayed away from it as much as possible."

Jane shook her head, "I don't think that counts."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Well, the definition of vegetarian is someone who doesn't eat meat, so if you ate meat, you weren't a real vegetarian."

Iria's face went neutral, and they clenched their teeth. "Yeah, I guess I'm not a real one."

"Oh, you are now!" Jane said quickly, "Now that you don't eat meat ever. But technically you used to not be."

Jane cleared her throat after a few seconds of silence and continued. "Anyway, I've already cut out straight meat, like steak and chicken and stuff. I'm hoping to switch completely by the time I start college. Speaking of, do you have any plans for after graduating?"

Iria shrugged, "Not really. Ben says that Auradon Academy will offer full scholarships to VKs who apply and get in."

Jane sighed, "Getting a full scholarship at AA has always been a dream of mine. Not that it's your fault, but it's going to be so much harder now that they're just giving away scholarships to Isle kids."

Iria frowned, "They're not giving them away. You still have to get into the school and qualify for the scholarship program, it's just that they have some set aside specifically for VKs now."

"I know, I know," Jane replied, "I'm just saying, everyone's focused on the kids from the Isle during this entire integration process, and it's like no one cares that it's affected us Auradon kids too."

Iria's jaw tightened at that. Jane was bitching about her life being harder now that the villain kids are finally on the way to getting equal rights?

"No one really wants kids from Auradon anymore. Isle kids are much better for publicity because you have sob stories, and-"

Jane cut her rant short with a shriek at seeing Iria pointing a knife at her.

"Hey!"

Iria jumped up and spun around to see a police officer marching towards them. They drop the knife and put their hands up immediately.

"Oh, shit."

Third Person, Iria- Present Time:

Iria perks their head up as they hear the footsteps of a guard coming down the hallway.

"Don't get your hopes up, sweetheart," their cellmate mutters, "Not worth being disappointed."

They growl in response. "Call me sweetheart again and it won't be worth waking up in the morning."

Keys rattle as the guard unlocks the cell door. "Iria Lake. your friends have posted bail, you're free to go."

The door creaks open, and Iria steps out.

"Follow me, please," the guard says, and Iria trails behind as they walk back through the hallway of cells to the main entrance of whatever-this-town's-name-is City Hall.

Jay and Carlos smile as soon as they see Iria. They're about to return the gesture when they spot an... Unexpected face.

Taking a deep breath, Iria walks up to the King of Auradon. Seeing his uncharacteristic frown, he only offers a weak smile as a greeting, "Uh, thanks for bailing me out."

Ben sighs, "Iria, considering everything else you've pulled on school-sanctioned travels, Auradon Prep's Administrative Board was going to ban you from field trips."

Before you get the wrong idea, they really hadn't meant to make so many people angry on those other bus rides. But apparently people get angry when you talk about pretty much anything having to do with corpses, even though they were the ones that asked-

"The school only agreed to let you go on this trip because I vouched for you. And, surprising as it may seem, getting arrested will not look good for my case."

Iria winces. "I'm sorry, Ben." 

They can see he doesn't believe it. Unfortunately, they don't know how to convince him. No matter how hard Iria tries, they can never say exactly what they want to, especially not when it comes to things like this.

Eventually, they sheepishly ask, "Do I have to go to a trial or something?"

"No. No court case. Since you didn't actually harm anyone, they let you off with a warning once I negotiated a bit. But, seriously, Iria, I can't keep doing this."

"I know." Iria scuffs their shoes on the floor.

"And not just because it goes against Auradon principles," Ben uses his patented 'king voice'.

Iria can almost hear Jay rolling his eyes, and it takes an excessive amount of energy to stop themself from doing the same. 

"Eventually, no one is going to care about your sob stories anymore."

They visibly wince at Ben's almost exact repeat of Jane's words from earlier. Sob story.

"Not to be blunt, but you've been here for almost a year, Iria. This isn't the Isle. This isn't the old, prejudiced Auradon. You don't have to fight to survive, you don't have to carry knives around. You are safe here. And for us to keep you safe, you have to respect our rules. Okay?"

"Okay," they mutter in agreement, not having the energy to even try to ask the questions they want to.

"Come on, let's get out of here," Carlos says.