♝♗

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐄𝐍:

𝐶 𝐻 𝑂 𝐼 𝐶 𝐸 𝑆

           Ben's eyes were stinging. He'd been awake all night and it was just around four in the morning, the sun still hadn't risen but in a few hours now it'd come up.

It took him hours of pleading and negotiating to just get his dad to agree to move Jax to the family castle and discuss his status as a whole with the council. The Hatter's son was currently on lockdown in Ben's study and heavily surrounded by royal guards. It was better than letting his dad take the parts of judge, jury, and executioner. But it was all he was able to do apparently, and he was certain his dad did it because it was another lesson he wanted to teach his son.

Still, Ben promised Harry and Uma that he'd do everything in his power to prevent Jax's fate. But it'd be a tough job considering the only people who wanted to see him set free were he and Mal. Both his mother and the Fairy Godmother were on his father's side. They'd been debating this for over two hours now.

"Dad, this is wrong." His voice was strong, but it was also angry.

"One day you'll understand." But the Beast kept talking to him like he was a child, as though his father's crimes never happened and Ben was still wide-eyed and naive enough to believe him. "If you think rounding up the villains in this realm was difficult, imagine Wonderland. We barely understand that magic, let alone have a defense for it." He kept on going.

At that, Ben snapped, "So instead you do this?! You take their children hostage, threaten, and use them to make sure Wonderland can't retaliate?" He believed it was this moment that their parents saw just how emotional he felt about all this. When the meeting first started, they were annoyed but patient, treating him like he was a kid again and they wouldn't get him a new toy. But when they heard the anger and the tone of his voice, they finally understood how seriously he was taking this.

"That's almost as bad as keeping children in a prison whose only crime was being born." Mal refers back to their other decisions. Her face was cold as stone, staring back at the two other women in the room. While Ben and his dad shined in anger and noise, she simply held her power silently in her gaze. And though she didn't know the exact power limit of the Fairy Godmother, she won't lie when she admits that she liked the way it felt when she tensed up at her look.

Queen Belle's face was of shock, as if it was preposterous what they were being accused of. She also subtly tried to ignore Mal's comment. "Oh please, we saved those poor souls. They've had a much more stable life here than over in that madhouse they call a kingdom. And if it keeps Wonderland away from us then all the safer we all are."

Mal wasn't happy being ignored, she never had been. She is, after all, her mother's daughter. "And who the hell gave you the authority to just steal children from another realm?"

That was when the old king raised his voice at her, "We are the authority, fairy child." He, just like his son, was simmering in anger, only for different reasons. Ben was angry over the injustices made over the years. Beast was angry that they weren't simply giving in to his demands. Sure, his son was crowned king but he had been sixteen, everyone knew that was just for show, to let the kingdom know that his son was following the family line. Everyone except his son apparently. Beast was tired over entertaining their options and negotiations, he wanted to nip this in the bud. "I've already made my decision. Jackson Hatter will be taken back across the bridge to face imprisonment on the Isle of the Doomed." He stated.

"This can't be happening," Mal muttered loudly, almost incredulous.

But Ben was quick to react, "It's isn't! I'm the King!"

Beast came up with a response just as fast. "You're the King that's responsible for these tragedies the past three years!" He moved past the circle the five of them had formed and moved in front of Ben, "I'm the King that ordered the banishment of those villains! Who do you think they're going to listen to?" He practically growled in his son's face.

Ben simply stared back, not backing down.

♝♗

ELEVEN MONTHS AGO

Picnic Area, Auradon Prep.

"You weren't kidding, spicy mustard with hot wings is legit." Nate laughed loudly as he took another bite of his plate of chicken wings.

"I know right? All of these awesome flavors and mixes, yet the whole school keeps giving us green beans and tofu. They do realize these," Jay takes a moment to stretch his cheek out to emphasize his teeth, "are meant to bite through delicious pieces of meat and chicken?"

"Don't forget pork," Nate says before taking a sip of his soda. "And honestly? That's just Auradon, always trying their best to make us well- the best."

They were situated outside having lunch at one of the numerous park picnic tables, the sun was hidden by the clouds so they didn't need the umbrella opened, and the ice in their sodas didn't melt faster. Honestly, it was a good lunch.

Jay took that as an opening to bring up his actual purpose for talking to Nate, "Yeah, about that, you're not from Auradon, right? Kinda like me and my friends?" He said as he added more mustard to his plate. Jay could pull off any conversation with someone as though he didn't care a bit what they were actually talking about, something he took advantage of quite a bit.

And props to Nate, because he too remained casual in his answer, "Ah, no, actually I'm from Wonderland. Got here a couple of years ago,"

"Wait, Wonderland?" Jay acted lowly and surprised, "How come you don't hang around with the other ones from there? When it comes to my buddies, I always vent about how weird Auradon is, like how their coffee is weirdly sweet. Back on the Isle, it was black and bitter and a perfect way to wake yourself up." He took a bite of his wing, chewing a bit but still speaking with his mouth half-full, "And don't get me started on the sunlight, I mean it's great to tan but sometimes you just miss the clouds-"

Nate cleared his throat, "Uh, Jay? Did you just ask me here to talk about Wonderland?"

Jay swallowed his food and took a second to think, "Listen, man, I'm sorry I lied but it was for good reasons. I just wanted to know why you left your buddies. I keep thinking back to it, and we've got some similar situations."

Nate's eyes widened with a nod and Jay could tell he had offended him. "Oh, do we?"

"Not exactly, but, we both got to Auradon with a group of friends, and I just can't see how you left them or were kicked out, I really don't know what happened. What I do know, is I really don't want that to happen to me with my friends." He may have gotten caught early on, but he always had a trick up his sleeve. It was just like how dad always said, the best liars always tell the truth.

Nate coughed a bit and took a sip of his drink once more. "I wasn't kicked out, I left them." He explained. "And for good reason, they're like the worst parts of Wonderland, filled with the crazy but not the fun. You know I remember quite a lot about that place, most of us do, our minds are actually a bit older than how we look, it's a Wonderland thing, it's kind of difficult to explain. But what I remember the most is my dad talking to me about the importance of fighting for your people. About why he decided to enlist in the war against the Queen of Hearts." Jay straightened up his posture in a way to show some respect, that was another thing he and Nate had in common, they were raised by their fathers. Though he figured that Nate's dad actually did raise him. All Jafar really did for Jay was teach him how to survive on the Isle. How to steal, how to lie, who to steal from, and who to lie to. "See, my dad, the White Knight, was sent by the White Queen to infiltrate the Land of Hearts. He had been a loyal servant to her from day one and would do anything for her, and when she asked him to sneak onto the enemy's base and steal information he didn't hesitate. And yeah he did it, he got her the information she needed. Then five days later he was killed by the Knave of Hearts." Jay's eyes widened at this information. He observed how Nate was, his face was hard and slightly red like he was holding back tears. But that wasn't all he was holding in, he was angry, so angry, he could tell. The way his father got angry whenever he cursed out Aladdin for stealing his chance to rule over all of Agrabah. Nate was almost shaking too. "After the war ended, they didn't really know what to do with me. Either keep me a ward of the castle and raise me alongside the other knights or go live with the White Rabbit and his kids too. He had a habit of adopting orphans, and after the war, there were plenty. Eventually, I was kept in the castle. And yeah sure, maybe I did wanna be a knight, the next White Knight, and accomplish everything my father never could. But there was always a part of me that was scared shitless over that."

Jay started to realize what he must have been feeling, "You were afraid you would never live up to what your father did. His bravery and his loyalty."

"Guess I proved myself right." He muttered. "When we got to Auradon, it was confusing and scary, yeah. But after a while, I realized I didn't have to be the White Knight, I didn't have anyone's footsteps to follow, just my own. But the rest of them, they had an easier gig waiting for them back home. So I made my choice." Nate looked at Jay dead in the eyes, signifying how serious he was being. "And I don't regret it." He stood up to collect his duffle bag and his empty plate of food, throwing it away and leaving Jay alone at the table.

Campus Dorms, Auradon Prep.

"If you add an adhesive it'll stick more quickly," Evie commented on the current mess of metal and wires Wyc was working on.

If you asked him what it was exactly, he'd give you a ten-minute lecture about how no one appreciates fine engineering anymore and would somehow find a way to insult you about how you wouldn't understand it anyway. To Evie, it looked like a dead spider, around the size of your palm. It was on its back, sprouting metal legs and glitching every now and then. Wyc had already gotten shocked twice and had just put out the smoke that started spewing from it.

Nonetheless, Evie was right, and Wyc didn't want to give her the acknowledgment that she was, so he simply didn't respond and added the adhesive to the metal leg that kept glitching. Working in the garage, he had more access to materials and he didn't have to sneak them into his dorm room one piece at a time for the next few weeks. This way, all he needed to do was finish his projects and then move those into his room sneakily.

"You're welcome," Evie said with a sickly sweet smile. Wyc continued on with his work. "So, I was actually wondering, you know that kid- short, blonde, quiet, hangs around the gardens?"

She'll have to admit she was slightly impressed by Wyc not reacting to her questions. Usually, when you brought up something difficult around people they tense up or get hostile, but he went on like they were still talking about mechanics and adhesives. Scratch that, it was more like they were talking about the weather, considering he was actually interested in whatever he was building. "What about her?" He simply asked.

"What's the deal with her?" She decided to be straightforward from that point on, he was obviously not one to go back and forth.

Wyc took the time she paused to retrieve new materials, and remained with his relaxed stance, "What do you mean by that?" He kept on unscrewing the next piece of junk on his list, a wrecked microwave.

"Well, let's see, about a year ago my friends and I arrived and you Wonderlanders were huddled together every moment of every day-" She was partly cut off by him.

"We like to keep our distance." He added quickly, still sounding like they were discussing something trivial.

She decided to get some type of emotion out of him, "Does that include Allie now?"

He dropped the tools in hand on the desk but didn't look up at her, "You don't know what you're talking about."

Evie decided to continue on, "Then about two weeks or so after we arrived you all disappeared, then reappeared within a week, only this time your group was much smaller." She lowered her head so he'd have to look her in the eye. "Half of your friends vanished off the face of the earth. Allie wasn't one of them but she may as well have been by keeping away from everyone." She kept on pushing, "So what happened to them, Wyc? What happened to Allie?"

Evie pushed too hard. His hands turned to fists that banged against the table heavily, her heart picked up but she didn't jump away. She only moved when he got up from his chair to stand in front of her, pointing a harsh finger at her, "What the hell gives you the right to ask me that? Do you really think I'd tell you anything after all the love and loyalty you've been showing Auradon? You're not as bright as I thought you were." He went to cross over her left side to head out the door but she stopped him, bringing their faces up close. He wasn't backing down, and neither was she.

"If it were my friends that disappeared I wouldn't talk about it with anyone else either," She attempted to form some similarity between them, "But after learning what these people did to the magical beings and abducting a bunch of kids? Trust me when I say that that love and loyalty died quickly." He was the one to back off a bit after her words. She knew he still wouldn't be up for more interrogating, so she relaxed her stance against the door and had a hand on the doorknob, signaling she was getting ready to leave. "If it were my friends, my family," She enunciated, "that was taken from me, I'd have revenge on the brain every waking moment. Let me know if you ever need help in something like that." She turned around and went to twist the doorknob before she heard him speak.

"Auradon didn't take my friends." Evie halted at his words and slowly turned around, "They're not being held in some underground prison here," Evie kept staring, not expecting this answer, instead she had a dozen more questions. "They're not imprisoned anywhere, actually that's a lie. I don't know if they're imprisoned or not, I don't even know if they're alive." He shook his head, mad at the situation. "But they aren't here. I don't know if that's for the best, or if they're in deeper shit than we are."

"What the hell does that mean?"

Campus Dorms, Auradon Prep.

"Why is it that the rest of the magical creatures are all under watch and aren't allowed to use their gifts, yet the Fairy Godmother lives right here. Jane lives here, I mean hell, Mal is dating his son. How can the king oppose all magic, yet a few are able to get past him?"

Binx had been eating potato chips and held one up to the light as he replied to the boy, "I thought you were from the Isle." He muttered during Carlos' deduction. He had been listening to Carlos go on different rants and theories over the inner workings of Auradon. If the guy had string and push pins, he'd look like he was piecing together a conspiracy.

"Uh, I am," Carlos answered confused.

"Then why are you avoiding the most obvious answer?" Binx looked up from the bowl of chips he was eating when there was no response. Carlos looked puzzled. "Seriously? It's right in front of your face, man." He stood up. "If you're the king of a whole nation and you specifically have a dislike of magical creatures but don't want them to know because they will most likely throw your ass out of the royal line and remove you as the leader, what do you do? You fake it. You tolerate some of the more human-looking ones, maybe some of the famous ones, thus: Fairy Godmother." He walked around the room, almost reenacting the scenes he was picturing in his head to Carlos. "But you can't let her walk around with that wand all the time, basically telling the whole world you aren't the most powerful guy in the room. So, you ban magic, you remind people why they should fear it, how it's messed with their lives, causing them pain and regret, throw in some spiel about how there shouldn't be any magic around the kids because it isn't fair-"

"And suddenly everyone decides a non-magic life is the best." Carlos catches on and keeps going while Binx lays back down on his armchair. "You still need some representation to show you don't have a thing against magic so you enroll a couple of students like Jane or Jordan. And as for Mal, she's not just half fairy, she's a rehabilitated villain kid that took down her own mom, so it basically tells everyone that his kingdom can do the impossible." He finishes.

"Plus, it helps that she's only half-fairy and half-human. But yeah man, that's basically it." Binx smiles condescendingly, even if he doesn't mean it. "See? You've got to open your brain to the dark parts again, you've got too much Auradon in there."

Carlos sat down at Wyc's desk chair, "Back home, any time someone did something, it didn't matter what, there was always a hidden meaning behind it. You trusted no one, and you try to hit up the dumbasses willing to trust you instead. Even if you wanted to be nice to someone, to not want to take their wallet when they weren't looking, you would've suffered more if you were trying to be good. That's how it worked. I used to have to expect the worst of people because that's all there was. All there ever was. I thought Auradon was different."

Binx thought for a moment before replying, "It still has the potential to be." He said quietly. "But like any corrupt nation, nothing will change until the perversion has been removed."

The way he sat so still, so serious - Binx was never serious- made Carlos feel uneasy. He didn't know what to make of it. Binx was always wild and loud, in your face about what he wanted or hated. This was something new to Carlos, almost like Binx was unconsciously revealing a part of himself. Perhaps the Cheshire werecat wasn't as quite the open book that he made himself out to be. And that really made Carlos feel uneasy.

♝♗

PRESENT DAY

Ben had been dreading having to tell his friends what laid in Jax's fate. He knew Mal wouldn't tell them because she understood how important it was for him to do so, no matter how hard it was. He was met with waiting eyes, some hopeful, like Evie, Carlos, and Gil, who had faith that he managed to change his dad's mind. And others like Uma and Jay who were almost waiting for the bad news to spread. But the worst one was Harry. His expression almost made Ben want to beg for forgiveness, because Harry had this devastating look on his face, like all hope had been lost a long time ago, probably something he had been used to. But this was Auradon, a place where the good guys won, and Ben was here, and he actually wanted to help Jax. And so against all his instincts, Harry managed to create the smallest sliver of hope. And Ben was about to snuff it out.

"So?" Harry waited. He saw the way Ben met his eyes when he first came out of the council room, but anything was possible.

Uma had been much more authoritative, "What happened in there?" She practically snapped by the long pauses Ben was taking.

"I couldn't change his mind! That's what happened!" Ben snapped just as easily. The anger he inherited from his father came out like fireworks, "It was no use, he's always been the king, I was just- just some puppet to dangle. Given some tasks and a crown to wear to keep busy. I was never a king, and I could never help Jax." His gaze went to Harry's glassy blue eyes. He didn't know what Harry was feeling, it was almost blank, and he didn't like not knowing. Harry was wild and erratic already, but when you couldn't tell what was happening to him, it was to steer clear. Unfortunately, if you steered clear of him now, he'd probably end up burning the castle to the ground.

"It wasn't Ben's fault," Mal spoke up, "His dad took over the entire thing. And his mom and the Fairy Godmother were completely on his side. They're sending Jax to the Isle of the Doomed. Within the hour, they figure to take advantage of everyone being asleep and take him across the bridge. They're getting him now." She finished regrettably.

With hearing that, the whole group had lost its momentary gain of adrenaline. They tried once more and they were saddened to hear of their friends' fate. Evie and Carlos sat down at the waiting bench, with Gil leaning against the wall next to them, processing all this and hating it all the same. Jay had his head down as he walked over to Gil, placing a hand on his shoulder in comfort. Only Uma and Harry didn't move, still standing in front of Mal and Ben. You could tell Uma was almost frozen in place, thinking up different scenarios, different schemes to stop what was to come. But when the couple looked to Harry, he was already turning around and walking out on them, catching Uma's attention as well.

"Where are you going?" Mal asked.

"To get my boyfriend back, with or without you." It was all he said, he didn't even look back at them, he just kept walking until he got to the doors and pushed them open to leave the castle.

It only took a second later and a quick look exchanged between Uma and Gil to follow his path and out the door. Jax was their friend too and they weren't planning on staying back when it came to helping him.

Ben saw the way the Rotten Four's eyes followed after Uma and Gil, wanting to chase after them and help too. But when they stood up, Ben had to put a stop to them, "Guys, don't." He held a hand out, "If you do this if you go against my father you might end up in the same situation as Jax."

"And what's that again?" Evie walked over to him, "Sent to the Isle of the Doomed? All because he poses a threat to the kingdom or some crap like that?"

"Come on, Ben, we know you don't agree with this, why are you backing down now?" Jay asked.

"Maybe because we can't win?!" He saw the way they cautiously eyed him, remembering back earlier that day when he was a beast. "He's gonna be surrounded by armed guards and my father'll be leading them himself. We lost, accept it."

"No." Carlos shook his head, "We lose the minute we stop trying. You can't think that way, we need anyone we can get to help stop this. The Isle got free, that just one step in righting the wrongs your family has committed the past three decades."

With that said, Carlos, Evie, and Jay began walking towards the exit, and a second later Mal went to join them before Ben called her back.

"Mal! You don't want to get in between my dad and this." He warned her, not wanting to see her get hurt in this process.

Mal hung back to speak with him, her friends were witnessing the exchange, waiting to finish and join them after, "You know when I got here, I was taught a lot of things. How to open up, how to have fun, and to be able to hug my friends outside in public without being labeled as weak. But the biggest thing I learned was to do the right thing." When he heard those words, the intention of wanting to keep her out of this situation left him. This was Mal, she was going to do whatever she wanted. "This doesn't feel right, Ben. And I think you know that too."

Ben just stood there watching her as she disappeared through the main doors with her friends. Harry left to fight, despite the fact they probably had no chance, and his friends followed right after him. And then Mal and her friends followed in line, all of these villain kids aiming to do the right thing when they knew if they were to get caught they'd suffer a similar fate. He believed it was this moment that finally woke him up, if a bunch of villain kids knew they had to do the right thing and damn the consequences, what did that say about all the Auradon kids he grew up around and himself?

He must have been frozen in place for a good ten minutes before he decided to follow his girlfriend. He was about to step out when he heard a distressed voice calling his name, "Ben! Thank the Fey, you're still here." Jane came rushing in, red in the face and panting.

"Jane? H-Have you been running?" He patted her back but also tried to keep her steady, scared she might pass out any second.

"Yeah, uh, we need to go, like now," She emphasized loudly, "Where is everyone?" She looked around their surroundings, both in search of their friends and checking to see if anyone was entering the foyer.

"They just left." He pointed towards the main doors, "I told them Jax was getting sent to the Isle of the Doomed-"

"Yeah, I figured you wouldn't be able to change your parent's minds," She said quickly, still wary of their choice in staying in place. Her breath was still uneven, panting from having been running for who knows what reason, "And with my mom there totally backing them up it was a lost cause."

"Okay, what is going on? Who are you looking for" He followed her gaze only to see empty hallways, "Jane, are you okay?"

"Um, maybe, maybe not, but we have to go, like right now." She nodded to the door, at the same time pulling him away.

"What, why? What happened?"

She turned around to face him, and he swore for the first time in his life, Jane's eyes were buzzing with adrenaline and energy. But there was something else there, it was like sparks going off in her mind, and equally coming out physically. If he didn't know any better, he'd say she was having a sugar rush. "There's a good chance my mom is going to come looking for me because I sort of stole this," Her hand shoots up empty but a quick cloud of white smoke enveloped her palm to reveal the Fairy Godmother's magic wand a second later, "and also tied her to her desk chair in vines. So when she gets out and finds me I'll definitely be sent to the Fey Lands for probably three hundred years as punishment, so we should be going now."

"You stole your mom's wand? Last time that happened-"

"Last time isn't going to happen, I've got a handle on it. But, I know one thing, the barrier to the Isle wasn't taken out, it just shrunk and moved to the Isle of the Doomed. So without this," She waved the wand around excitedly but also nervously in the strangest way, "They can't open it to put Jax there."

Ben's eyes widen at the new information and subconsciously starts nodding, "Yes, yes, we should go, right now. Immediately. Let's go." He knew she wasn't wrong, if Jane gets caught with her mom's wand, there'll be dire repercussions, especially after the mishap that happened during his coronation. He and Jane practically ran down the entryway to exit the castle.

♝♗♝♗♝♗

Fun facts:

- This has over 5,000 words and it still isn't completely the chapter I planned, it was gonna be much longer

- I kept Mal's original origin of her father being a human that Maleficent once loved. I'm legit just ignoring a majority of D3, like it could've been so much better. If you'll notice I haven't even mentioned Hades, just his ember, because honestly, that's all that matters in the film. So while she was dating Ben and was on TV and visited a bunch of places I'm thinking she talked about her family tree and whatnot and mentioned her father was human, that's how everyone knows, and it's also more believable that Beast would be more tolerable to her now.

- If you or someone you know is a vegetarian or vegan, don't take what Jay and Nate said about tofu and being carnivores to heart, I don't have any negative views towards you guys, it's just their thoughts on being fed it.

- Also, speaking of Jay, the quote "The best liars always tell the truth." Is actually from Selina Kyle in Gotham S2. Comment if you want the specific episode, because it is a doozy.

- We finally see what's going on in the past between the VK's and the WK's, what'd you guys think? Who was your favorite interaction?

+ Jay and Nate discussing Nate's past and his version of events

+ Evie and Wyc discussing where the hell are his missing friends (who we still haven't heard from)

+ Carlos and Binx discussing Auradon and the magical people

I'm saving the conversation between Mal and Ruby because it's crucial to future chapters.

- Jane is just my favorite character, and you will be learning what went down with her mom in her office, and guess what? I've actually had that scene with her mom written since August 2019, so wow, you know it's gonna be something, (this is during Nov. 2020 for those of you in the future)

no mundanes allowed
- polaroized