♝♗

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐄:

𝑊 𝑂 𝑅 𝑆 𝑇 𝐹 𝐸 𝐴 𝑅 𝑆

ELEVEN MONTHS AGO

Campus Dorms, Auradon Prep.

           Mal was certain this would work, though she wasn't entirely sure herself as to what it would work out. All she knew was she had to get to the bottom of Auradon's history with Wonderland. She had to find out exactly what went down, not for her sake but for Ben's. That night with Ruby and her people, she learned about all the injustices magical people were facing. But, what she didn't learn was what actually went down between the two lands. What really happened between Auradon and Wonderland? She had already heard from Auradon's side of the story. She was missing the other side. And who better to help than a Wonderlander? Apparently the answer wasn't that because ironically if you ask a Wonderlander of their home realm they react harshly, in anger or in defense but the end was always the same. They'd walk away and you'd get no new information. That's what she remembered from Jax when they were kids, hopefully, Ruby will have a different stance.

           She knocked loudly against her door knowing she'd be alone. It took a second later for the door to open and she was met with the tall curly-haired queen of the Wonderlanders. She was wearing a long vertical striped red and white sundress. "Lady Mal," She greeted softly but had no tone of surprise. She never did, Mal noticed. Ruby always talked so sure of everything, never surprised or shocked. It made Mal feel uneasy. "What brings you here?" She welcomed her into her bedroom, her arm stretching out to let her come in.

           "We need to talk."

Tourney Field, Auradon Prep.

           A part of Jay was debating on how to go with this. Back home, whenever you wanted information out of someone there was a standard procedure. It was fear. You find out what that person is most afraid of and then you re-introduce yourself as their new number one fear. You make it clear that whatever they're scared of is nothing compared to you.

           He figured that probably wasn't the best idea as to how to approach Nate. So, just like most of the things he did in Auradon, he winged it.

           "Hey man," Jay greeted the equally tall Wonderlander. "I'm headed out for lunch, there's this kickass food truck that makes the best chicken wings in Auradon. Wanna join me?"

           Nate debated it quickly before nodding, "I could eat."

           Jay grinned, food always worked.

Campus Dorms, Auradon Prep.

           "Knock knock," Evie announced her presence, knocking softly on Wyc's open door to the garage.

           "Evie, to what do I owe the pleasure?" The words, while mainly used in charming pleasantries did not match his tone. Which was perceived as apathetic and uninterested.

           "Well, I heard that you're quite the engineer." She smiled brightly, knowing it was one of her best qualities to use if she wanted him to get talking fast.

           "He kept on using his screwdriver to remove the inside parts of an old DVD player. "And I heard you've been looking for me all afternoon." He muttered.

           "How could you have possibly heard that if you've been here all day?"

           "You just said I was 'quite the engineer', shouldn't that indicate something?"

           "Right, eyes everywhere. Or ears everywhere. Who cares?" Evie was getting tired already from his attitude. "So, are you building something there? Or, destroying something?"

           Wyc sighed, pushed his goggles to the top of his head, and focused his gaze unto her. "Evie, just tell me what you want."

           The blue-haired chemist tilted her head, something she did to establish her status on the Isle plenty of times. She summoned up the power stance of her mother, the Evil Queen. It often got results. "Fair enough."

Campus Dorms, Auradon Prep.

           A part of Carlos was seriously questioning his friendships and his choices at the moment. He was just starting his relationship with Jane and if word got out that of all the people he was two-timing her with was Binx Cheshire, that gossip wouldn't be dying soon. It didn't matter if whether Binx was a guy or a girl, it mattered because it was Binx. The werecat was infamous and scary for a reason, unlike Ruby who people feared for her mindset, people were warier of Binx due to his erratic behavior. And Mal decided that he would be the best to go and talk to the guy.

           He physically shook his body like Dude did every time he took a bath. He found it was a good way to literally shake off the nerves that were eating at him. Eating. Ah man, he could go for some peanut-butter chocolate cookies right now. And it was still early the kitchens were stocked. Carlos also found that eating helped him ease his nerves.

           Still, he ignored his newfound craving for cookies and strongly knocked on the bedroom door. He waited a minute before he heard the loud call.

           "Come on in, De Vil!"

           Carlos's eye widened a bit, not expecting to be invited in so quickly and also not expecting for Binx to be expecting him. Nevertheless, he opened the door and walked in, seeing Binx thrown against a reading chair that reminded Carlos of a housecat stretching his back. "How'd you know it was me?"

           Binx however, was focused on the book in his lap, "I could hear your footsteps and once you were close enough I recognized your scent."

           Carlos tilted his head and shrugged like it was the most reasonable explanation. He had been aware of werecats for a while and faintly remembered the Bad Wolf's kids from Dragon Hall. He learned about werewolves and knew them, why would werecats be any different? Not to mention Mal was practically half-dragon, or half-lizard if you asked Jay. "Right, forgot about that."

           Binx eventually talked again once he noticed the Isle boy was nervously looking at every corner of his and Wyc's room. "So what are you here for?"

           "Oh, well, I was wondering," Carlos paused, he was clearly stalling for a better explanation to pop into his head. Or you know, anything to pop into his head. So, when something eventually did he didn't hesitate to speak, "Remember what you said about Jane? How she's always so bubbly because of all that power just waiting to explode?" Even as he said it, he didn't know where he was going with it. He wasn't here to talk about his girlfriend, he was here to talk about Wonderland. But then a small part of him was curious about Jane and her powers and why she didn't tell him. Surely she trusted him, right?

           Binx lowered his book as he stood up to face Carlos, this was a serious matter and though the werecat didn't always appreciate them, he had a fondness for Jane that he couldn't quite explain. She was nice and honest, who wouldn't like her? Not to mention she was one of the few that didn't agree with Auradon, and for that alone she was in his good graces. "Yeah?"

           "Right well, I was hoping you could help me."

           With that alone, Binx's eyebrows raised. If Carlos De Vil was asking for his help, if anyone was asking for his help then it was either incredibly important or they hit rock bottom. Nonetheless, Binx was intrigued. "How?"

♝♗

PRESENT DAY

           Mal and Ben were situated on the dance floor. If you asked the party guests, they'd tell you the king of Auradon and his soon-to-be queen had just joined the party as a duo. Seeing as how Mal had been celebrating with her friends for hours whilst Ben was quiet and away from the party. But now they were finally enjoying some time together, that was until Uma and Harry Hook showed up. Figures. Ben had actually started to feel a bit better dancing with his fiancee but not five minutes in they were dealing with another problem.

           Harry hadn't wasted time being polite to the dancing teenagers and young adults in his way, they either moved when they saw him coming or they were shoved away by him or Uma. But compared to what Harry was planning to do to Ben, they were the lucky ones. "You!" Harry went straight for the king, much like a wolf goes straight for the neck. And rightly so, that was where his hook was pointing once he got a hold of him. "This is all your fault!" He was sizzling in anger, his eyes bulging out and it was actually Uma that had to pull him back.

           "Whoa, whoa, hey!" Mal pushed Ben out of the way and made sure they both kept some distance from the pirate, who was being held back by Uma.

           "I knew you were rotten, just like the rest of us." Harry spat out, pushing his friend away.

           "Harry! Calm down for a minute," Uma tried pulling him back to her but he just kept shoving her away, he didn't want to be comforted or consoled, he wanted his boyfriend free. Harry wasn't planning on calming down until Jax was safe.

           Mal got in front of Harry, she was clearly putting herself in possible harm's way to keep Ben safe. But unlike most of the Auradon residents who were still at the party and whimpering like children, Mal remained stoic and had her sights set on a very unstable Harry Hook. "Whatever happened, I'm sure we can handle this without a fistfight." Harry didn't simmer down, but he didn't get angrier, he sort of remained the same. Moving from his right to his left side only to have Mal move in the same direction, matching him and making sure he didn't slip through her to try to get to Ben. He reminded her of a wild animal trying to get out with all the pacing and the distance he kept. "Harry, settle down. Talk to me, what happened?"

           Harry was breathing loudly, his anger was still there, and he wasn't answering any questions. So, Uma decided to do it for him. "Jax was here and then he was taken. The guards showed up and they took Jax away, something about being held for his crimes against the kingdom."

           Ben and Mal's face morphed into shock, they looked at each other in worry, not knowing where to start to fix their new situation. But it seemed Harry was a step ahead of them, "You better get him back, or his so-called crimes will be nothing compared to what I'm willing to do." His voice was steady and low, which made his threat even more serious.

           The king and soon-to-be queen only looked towards each other again, a silent agreement made between them. It was time for work.

♝♗

           They were racing towards the dungeons underneath his parent's old castle. Not many people knew but the castle Ben lived in now was only built a few decades ago whilst Beast's original one had been demolished before Ben was born. Or at least that's what the kingdom believes. In truth, the original castle was simply left in ruins in the shadowy forest, never to be visited again unless it was dire circumstances but not completely destroyed underneath. Beast didn't want people poking and prodding through his old home and announced it was completely gone, so he took the opportunity and decided to keep it for the dungeons underneath it. It was perfect, no one knew of the criminals kept there and no one knew of criminals in Auradon at all.

           "How much farther?" Uma panted, her back colliding against one of the large trees in the forest.

           Ben looked around and recognized the twin mountains not far from them. "There should be a river close by, after that we follow it straight to the old castle ruins."

           "Your dad actually keeps a dungeon around here?" Mal asked, her face surprised.

           "It's not something I advertise to my girlfriend." Ben explained, "Besides, it's barely used. It's mainly to suss out bad behaviors from teenagers."

           "So, what, I was gonna find out when one of my friends got locked up?"

           "What? Of course not! I was planning on getting rid of it altogether but my parents still have a major vote in the council, you know that."

           Harry interrupted the two once his patience wore off. "Can you two go back to this lover's spat after we break Jax out of there?"

           Mal and Ben simply looked at each other sheepishly.

♝♗

           Jax wasn't enjoying the hood covering his face. It felt scratchy and smelled like it hadn't been clean for a while. And don't even get him started on the heat. So, he was thankful once it was pulled off and he was hit with the cool air blowing all around him. He was in some part of the forest, there were columns knocked over and broken in pieces. And bricks covering some areas, he guessed it was a demolished mansion or castle possibly. Yeah, this place had tons of years on it. He was kneeling on the damp ground so he couldn't walk around and see, but with the two palace guards at his side he couldn't stand up anyway.

           That's when he heard the dreaded voice, "Ah, Jackson Hatter. How are you? Enjoying the celebration?" Beast was in front of him and despite the darkness of night, the moonlight illuminated him perfectly. He figured the old king specifically didn't bring any torches to make sure no one stumbled into this situation. Jax also saw three more guards placed around the king, probably there to fix anything that got too out of hand.

           Jax remained cool, though there was a small voice in the back of his head wondering just how the hell he was getting out of this. "Beast. My, have you gotten old. It's a shame you don't have Wonderlander blood, did you know we age much slower than you?"

           Beast ignored his attempts at insults, "I hope you had a nice time in Auradon because it's the last time you step foot in it." His voice was deeper than the times Jax heard it on the radio or on TV during his time on the Isle.

           "And where exactly do you plan on sending me? Didn't you just allow the barrier to be lifted?" He figured if this was the last time he was facing the Beast, he was going down annoying him as much as possible.

           "I'm not talking about the Isle of the Lost, Jax, I'm talking about the Isle of the Doomed." Beast's eyes shined, he saw that he pushed the Wonderlander a bit closer to the edge.

           Jax's eyes widened and his voice dropped an octave. "That place is chaos incarnate." He stated, remembering the tales he heard from the unlucky souls that were sent as punishment for disrespecting Maleficent. It only took one trip, but it was enough for each one to be driven mad from the terror that they saw. The rumor was the island held one's biggest fears and wishes and managed to make them the same thing. The place really lived up to its namesake, anyone who went there was truly doomed.

           "Wonderland was chaos incarnate, Jax. This island is much more horrific. It'll contain your worst fears imaginable. Don't worry though, it's only for a week. Then you'll be allowed to live out the rest of your days in the dungeons." The Beast was grinning once he saw Jax slightly struggling at the cuffs on his wrists. "Now now, settle down. I can see how excited you are to get there. The Fairy Godmother will be here shortly to carry out your punishment." Just as he said the last words, they both heard the shuffling of feet, multiple footsteps coming towards them.

           It was happening so fast that Jax barely had any time to process who was there. He saw Ben at the front, Mal was by his side. Carlos, Evie, Jay, and Gil were there too and to the right was Uma and Harry. Oh, my poor Harry, Jax thought to himself, Jax couldn't even imagine if Harry was ever taken from him like that. The only thing that came to mind was something dark and red. He figured Harry was in a similar way.

           Ben was the first to approach his father, he was the least frightened of him after all. "What punishment?" He questioned him and saw Jax cuffed on the ground. "Dad? What are you doing?" He looked towards his father, but he didn't recognize him at all. Ben walked closer but didn't align himself with Jax or the Beast, he was at the center and made sure he was facing the five guards surrounding the Wonderlander and his dad. "Let him go! I order you to let him go." He demanded.

           But the guards didn't even acknowledge him, their eyes were still trained on the Hatter and the king. They were following orders, just not the new king's orders. Ben took a few seconds to understand, but the ex-villain kids behind him knew exactly what was happening. Ben may have been crowned king, but he'd barely done anything yet, he's only held the position for three years while the Beast had it for decades. The guards followed the old king into war before the crowned son was even born, they knew where their loyalty stood. And so did the Beast, and now so did his son.

           Ben looked towards his father, his eyes widened as he realized he was the one who held the power. Who always held the power.

           Beast gave him a pitiful look like he was teaching him a lesson. "Some people are just too dangerous to be set free, son."

♝♗♝♗♝♗

Wow, that was a trip

alright, so we get another look at the Core Four and their small mission in approaching the Wonderlanders, fun right? More to come soon!

- I put in some different backstories if you could tell

- the Beast's old castle is something i just came up with because to be honest, the castle Ben lives in that we see in D3 doesn't really look like it was there for hundreds of years like the OG Beast castle, so i decided to use that to my advantage

- if you've read the Isle of the Lost books then you'll know the Isle of the Doomed is a real place that's right by the Isle of the Lost and it holds Maleficents old castle as well as used to hold her scepter.

- i doesn't really drive you mad, it mainly just holds like traps and riddles for whoever wants to enter. but even the Lost residents find it creepy and don't go there so i decided to rebrand the place

- The Isle of the Doomed is now just a very horror-filled place that no one dares enter for their greatest fears awaits them. (in this case Mal and her friends DID go there, except Maleficent told Mal how the island works and gave her some cheat codes as to how to avoid the fear monsters and reside there and Mal told her crew)

- i also included that Wonderlanders age differently than Auradoners. the way it works is their bodies mature faster and so do their minds, some faster than others like Ruby, Chase, Nate, Dot, Drue, Morris and Binx. They develop faster but then they just live longer like that. In the case of Jax, Allie, Wyc, and the Elirteps their minds develop faster and their bodies take a more regular time like Auradoners, and then just like the other Wonderlanders they live longer.

- It truly depends on the person, and it's a weird process but so is Wonderland.

- don't worry about Harry, once he gets to Wonderland, the place will eventually slow his aging too, that's the beauty of living there

- im lowkey shipping binx + carlos + jane after i wrote that binx actually is quite fond of jane

no mundanes allowed

- polaroized