In a Cave in The Forbidden Forest
Fairy Godmother squeezed through a crack in a cave wall. She held a flashlight forward, using its glow rather than the wand in her other hand to reveal what was in the hidden chamber within the cave. She saw the Black Cauldron looming before her. It looked harmless enough. It wasn't vibrating, glowing or doing anything too strange. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her cell phone. As per the king's request she would inform him first that she found it. She heard the line ring a few times before she heard a low, buzzing sound as if something was vibrating. She turned around and saw King Ben had squeezed into the hidden room with her, followed by a girl with long black hair. Ben's phone was still ringing.
"Your Majesty." Fairy Godmother said with surprise. "I found the black Cauldron. But how did you know it was here?"
"That's the least of your worries right now." Ben said. He pointed a finger at Fairy Godmother and said, "Binda!" Fairy Godmother dropped the flashlight and wand as her muscles locked up, freezing her in place. Ben strode over to the cauldron and touched it. It instantly began to hum with power, releasing glowing green smoke from within.
"What are you doing?" Fairy Godmother exclaimed.
"What I've been waiting for all my life." Ben said, the ring on his finger glowing bright red. "Spray her, Viv."
Vivianne used a bottle in her hand to spray Fairy Godmother. The sleeping potion made her fall to sleep instantly.
"Time to take this thing for a test drive."
Carlos's Perspective
Carlos felt the earth shake underneath him as he and Dude entered the cave system, using a flashlight he'd brought to guide him. After a little while he saw a glowing green light coming from a gap in the cave wall. He looked inside and saw Wes, in Ben's body, and Vivianne standing over the Black Cauldron. He quickly retreated back behind the crack in the wall so they wouldn't notice.
"Don't be shy." He heard Vivianne's voice call. "I heard you coming a mile away."
Carlos took a deep breath and entered the subterranean room. Vivianne and Wes were facing him, their faces illuminated by an unnerving green glow.
"Look what we have here." Wes said. "Are you really gonna try to play the hero? How'd that work last time?"
"Do you smell lemons?" Vivianne asked, her nose twitching as she grimaced.
"What?" Wes asked, looking surprised. "No. Just deal with him while I charge this thing up. And don't mess it up this time."
Vivianne looked a little green-and not just from the glow of the cauldron-as she approached Carlos. She stopped halfway to him and backed away.
"It's him." Vivianne hissed. "He's the one with the lemons."
"What's with you and lemons all of a sudden?" Wes asked. "Hurry up."
Carlos tried to open his mouth but only a squeak came out. He tried again and managed to say, "I do have lemons." He opened the bag on his shoulder to reveal the two dozen lemons inside. Vivianne hissed when she saw them.
"What's wrong? They're just lemons." Wes said with annoyance.
"To you, maybe." Carlos said. "But to cats citrus fruits are toxic. Just the smell is enough to elicit fear."
"Vivianne, you don't have to eat them, just get rid of him." Wes said.
"I...But what if there's-" Vivianne started.
"They're just lemons!" Wes yelled.
"But this isn't." Carlos grabbed a ball of catnip from his bag and threw it forwards. It rolled at Vivianne's feet. She looked at it and kicked it away.
"That's not gonna work, idiot." Vivianne said, though she still didn't move any closer.
"Well this will." Carlos said. I hope, he added in his head. He grabbed a tuning fork he'd taken from the music room and banged it against the stone floor. It emitted a high-pitched whining sound and Vivianne cupped her ears, screaming like a banshee. Carlos repeated the action and Vivianne fell to the ground, unconscious.
"What did you just do?" Wes exclaimed as he let go of the cauldron. He ran to kneel at Vivianne's side.
"She has hearing that's a lot more sensitive than ours, right?" Carlos explained. "That tuning fork was like listening to a speaker at a rock concert from an inch away."
"You're really annoying me." Wes said. "But at least I can deal with you myself now."
Wes aimed a hand at Carlos, saying, "Flammas." A blast of fire shot at Carlos. The white-haired VK was knocked down from the force but he got back up without a single burn on his body.
"Really?" Wes exclaimed. "What now, you're coated in lemon juice?"
"No," Carlos said with a triumphant smile, "I just used a special fire-resistant spray I invented."
"Apporime." Wes said with a devious smirk. The green amulet appeared at his neck and green electricity began crackling in his hands as it glowed. "Guessing it doesn't do much against lightning blasts, huh?"
Carlos gulped. That definitely wasn't one of the powers the ring was supposed to have in the books. And he hadn't done any reading about the necklace. "Yes it does, actually." He lied.
"Why do you look so scared then?" He shot lightning behind him, hitting the ground just in front of where Dude was prowling. The dog immediately backed away from Vivianne. "Stay away from her, fleabag."
"Don't talk to him like that!" Carlos yelled.
"Make me." Wes wore a twisted smile that was even more intimidating on Ben's face.
Carlos tried not to panic as Wes approached him. He needed to distract him. To buy Dude time. "You're a coward."
"I'm not the one shaking like a leaf."
"At least I don't have to hide behind jewelry."
"You mean my ring? Or the amulet? Yeah, I might. But at least I'm not the one who's about to get fried like an insect." The electricity coating his hands grew more wild as he continued approaching Carlos, paying no attention to what happened behind him anymore.
"Well behind them you're just the same wimp from the Isle-"
"How does that saying go? Pot. Kettle. Black."
"At least I don't need a magic ring to finally grow some guts, Wesley."
Wes's eyes glowed green and his entire body coated in fire and electricity when he heard his full name. "I'm getting tired of this blustering." He was across the rest of the room in a second and his hand closed around Carlos's throat. The fire still didn't burn him but the heat along with the shocks of electricity did hurt. A lot."You should've stayed away."
Carlos felt the electricity growing more powerful before the hand was pulled away. Carlos fell to the ground and a hand reached to pick him up. He saw that Dude had followed instructions and plucked off Vivianne's collar while Wes was distracted in his rage.
"I got it, see?" Dude said excitedly.
"Yeah, good boy." Carlos said quickly.
Wes had been thrown across the room with Dude's now enhanced strength. The impact would've hurt a normal person but the fire around him burned right through the stone walls. He now stood up, shooting a blast of lightning at Dude and Carlos. Dude tackled Carlos out of the way, barely missing the attack.
"Defenza." Wes said. A green shield of fire surrounded Vivianne, the cat still passed out from the earlier assault on her ears. "Motus." Carlos flew through the air straight toward a wall. Dude ran at superhuman speed and caught him, putting him gently back down on the ground.
"At least now I could roast you both without feeling bad about hurting a dog." Wes said, his eyes still glowing green. "But I don't have to, you idiots."
"Why is that?" Carlos asked, ready to jump out of the way in case another blast of lightning was sent his way.
"That collar is made of fragments of my ring so whatever it's used on is loyal to me." Wes said. He looked at Dude and commanded, "Bring Carlos to me."
Dude froze up for a second before the collar at his neck glowed red. He grabbed Carlos's shoulder tightly and pushed him forward until he was standing in front of Wes. Carlos looked back in shock.
Wes rubbed his hands together and sparks crackled along them. "You're smart. How long do you think it'll take to fry a human being into dust?" Wes placed both of his hands above Carlos's shoulders.
"This isn't the situation I had in mind but it'll have to do." Carlos said quickly.
"What-" Wes started.
Carlos reached into his pocket and pulled out the marble ring. He grabbed Wes's hand, electricity shocking him as he did so, and slipped the ring onto one of his fingers in the blink of an eye.
The ruby ring on Ben's finger glowed brightly as a glowing red figure was expelled from it. The figure materialized into Wes's real body and he flew across the room, landing on the ground.
Ben blinked for a few seconds and then he smiled at Carlos. He pulled his friend into a hug and smiled bigger as he marveled at the fact that he could act on his own now.
"I-that was me." Ben said. "I did that."
"Feels good to be free, huh?" Carlos asked.
"The best." Ben agreed.
Carlos looked at Ben's hands and then looked at Wes's. The ruby ring was still on Ben's finger, along with the emerald amulet at his neck. Wes seemed to finally notice that as well. He stood back up and looked to the cave entrance. When he did he saw Fairy Godmother was now free to move again and her wand was shining with sparkling gold light.
"Looks like you guys were really able to stop me." Wes said calmly as he raised his hands. "Fine, you win."
Nobody moved any closer to him.
"This has got to be some kind of trick." Carlos said.
"Nope." Wes said. "I'm powerless without the ring. You win. Fair and square."
"OW!" Dude shouted. Vivianne was still in cat form and she'd used her claws to climb up to Dude's neck, slicing off his collar. She grabbed it with her teeth and glowed red as she turned human. Dude glowed as well as he turned back into a dog. Vivianne ran faster than anyone could perceive, sprinting past everyone to exit the cave.
Carlos tensed up, ready to follow her, but Wes said, "You'll never catch her, she's faster than all of us and she's good at staying hidden."
"What is she up to?" Ben asked.
Wes shrugged. "I don't know. But you've got caught the villain in this story. You can call the Royal Police and send me to jail...or back home."
"This-" Carlos started, looking up from the scratches he was examining on Dude's back. They were superficial since he had shrunk in size.
"Are you gonna arrest me or not?" Wes looked at Fairy Godmother and held his hands out in front of him.
"Bippity boppity boo." Fairy Godmother said with a wave of her wand. Golden ropes appeared and wrapped around Wes's hands, glowing as they kept them tied together.
"Why are you giving up so easily?" Ben asked. "I shared a brain with you, you have to be up to something."
Wes just smirked at him as Fairy Godmother called the Royal Police to escort them back to Auradon's capital.