"Park by the backdoor to the amphitheatre." Alia ordered, sitting on her knees in the limo's backseat so she could peak out through the partition. "No one's ever back there. And it's not far from the backdoor to the school."
"Which is close to our room." Carlos added, grinning back at her. "Smart."
"I try." Alia returned the grin, sitting back against her heels.
Jay parked where ordered and the trio hurried stealthily into the school and up the flights of stairs. When they turned into the hallway that would lead to Jay and Carlos's room, Dude came scurrying toward them with his tail wagging.
"Hi." Carlos greeted his dog, kneeling down to pick him up. "I'm sorry I'm so late, Dude. Ben got captured." Carlos then moved toward their room when Jay grabbed his shoulder to stop him.
"Why's our door open?" he asked seriously.
'So that's where Dude came from,' Alia thought.
They hurried the few remaining feet to stop in the open doorway. Alia peaked from between the two guys' shoulders to see the backside of Chad Charming, using Carlos's 3D printer.
"You've got to be kidding me." Carlos said dryly. Chad turned off the printer and spun around to look at them.
"I knocked." he told them, as if that would make it better. Alia rolled her eyes.
The trio entered the room, Carlos putting his dog on the ground. "Go on, Dude." When he straightened, he held out his hand, palm up, expectantly.
Chad sighed, pulling a key out of his pocket and placing it Carlos's hand.
"What is that?" Jay asked disdainfully, looking past Chad at the inside of the tall, cylindrical, glass printer. Alia tilted her head, wrinkling her nose at what looked like some kind of doll.
Chad turned to open the printer. "Oh! Chad action figure." he took it out and made a jet sound effect as he 'flew' it by their faces. Chad chuckled until he brought it back toward his own face. "Oh, minus the head." he added regretfully.
"Sounds like an improvement." Carlos commented, making Alia and Jay snort. "Excuse me."
Carlos and Jay pushed Chad aside to lean over the printer's control panel. Alia leaned over Carlos's other side, watching him hook his phone up to the printer. She glanced over and realized Chad was watching from over Jay's shoulder.
"Um, guys-"
Chad gasped, having seen the screen on Carlos's phone. "Why are you guys making Fairy Godmother's wand?"
They lurched away from each other, Jay, Carlos, and Alia facing a suspicious Chad, as the three tried to come up with an answer.
"Uh, why are we making Fairy Godmother's wand?" Carlos asked Jay, trying to buy some time. Jay clearly had no answer, so he waved his hand for Carlos to answer. "'Cause, uh-"
Alia started to answer, "For a play."
But then Dude blurted out, "Ben's been captured!"
Everyone's head snapped toward Carlos's bed, where Dude was sitting. Alia's mouth hung open wordlessly, though this time not because the dog talked.
"What?" Chad gasped. "Dude can talk?"
"I was stalling." Carlos hissed at his dog.
"I thought you forgot." Dude defended himself with an adorable puppy face. Alia's lips twitched despite the serious situation.
Jay leaned forward and smacked Chad's shoulder. "Don't tell anyone. Ben's life depends on it."
"Really?" Chad questioned in a tone Alia didn't like, but she got distracted by movement out of the corner of her eye. She looked quickly toward the open bedroom door, but no one was there. "So if something were to happen, you know what I'm saying." Chad continued, pulling Alia's attention back.
"Something bad, we get it." Carlos responded in a strained voice.
"God forbid." Chad added with a slight chuckle. "But if something were to happen…who do you think would be in line to be king?" And with that, he held up his stupid, headless doll.
Alia curled her lip in disgust.
"Is it me, or is that in really poor taste?" Jay took the words right out of Alia's mouth.
"Almost villainous, I'd say." Alia added while Carlos scoffed.
Jay stepped to the door, holding it open pointedly. When Chad looked back at Carlos and Alia, Carlos nodded his head toward the door, silently telling the prince to get lost.
"I'm taking this." he told them, holding up the headless doll as he headed for the door, as if they'd want to keep it. He'd just stepped into the hallway when he turned to say something, "And if you think I-" Jay slammed the door in his face with a loud BANG.
"Thank you, Jay." Carlos said as Jay returned to the printer.
"Yes."
Alia stood by them for a moment, watching Carlos finish setting the printer up.
"How long do you think it'll take to make the wand?" she asked, her arms crossed casually.
"Hard to say for sure. A few hours, at least." Carlos admitted.
Alia glanced worriedly at the alarm clock on Jay's bedside table. It was about three in the morning. "Do we have time?"
"It'll be cutting it close." Carlos admitted. "But we should be good."
The printer started making a low humming sound, and a small circle appeared at the bottom, the machine starting to create the fake wand. Jay and Carlos pulled out a couple chairs and plopped into them, prepared to wait. Alia glanced around before taking off her jacket and laying down on Carlos's bed, curled up with Dude. She sat up slightly against the backboard, hoping the uncomfortable position would keep her awake. She didn't completely trust Jay to wake her up to go back to the Isle. She wouldn't put it past him to leave her in Auradon after what had already happened on the Isle.
However, the long, busy day was taking it's toll on her, and soon her eyes were falling closed.
She was shaken awake sometime later by a hand on her shoulder. Scrunching up her face, Alia blinked her eyes open and looked around. Jay was looking down at her, grinning slightly as he met her eyes.
"Get up, unless you'd rather stay here." He looked like he'd prefer that option, but at least he was actually giving her a choice.
Alia quickly sat up, hurriedly grabbing her jacket and sliding it back on over her now-wrinkled t-shirt. "No, no. I'm up. Let's go." she said, hurrying over to the door where Carlos was waiting with a very-believable fake wand.
"Hey, guys! What about me?" Dude called, causing them to pause in the doorway. The little dog was sitting up in Carlos's bed.
"No, Dude. You stay." Carlos told him sternly, pointing a finger at him. "I'm serious; stay."
Dude groaned and laid down on the bed with his chin on his paws.
"I love you, buddy. We'll be back before you know it." Carlos called before closing the door and following Jay and Alia down the hallway. They made it down all the stairs and outside without running into anyone. However, once they hurried out the back doors, they jerked to a stop, Jay hiding the wand behind his back as the came face-to-face with a fully awake and dressed Doug.
"Oh, hey." he said when he saw them. "Have you seen Evie?"
Alia looked over at the boys, who were looking at each other. She briefly wondered why Doug was looking for Evie so early in the morning, but then she remembered they worked together and probably had to get some last minute work done for the Cotillion dresses.
"Uh…" Carlos and Jay looked at each other, and Jay waved his hand to urge his friend on. "She went camping." Carlos finally said, the three looking back at Doug. Alia was tempted to face palm. Evie? Camping? Yeah, that's believable.
Doug clearly was thinking along the same lines as Alia. "Evie-I-want-to-live-in-a-castle? Sleeping on the ground with no place to plug in a hairdryer."
Jay and Carlos once again exchanged frantic glances while Alia wracked her brain for something to say.
"You know how spontaneous she is, bro." Carlos explained, him and Jay chuckling. Alia joined in with a light laugh as they started backing away from the half-dwarf. "Later Doug." Carlos added as Doug turned to leave. Alia and the boys also turned away, only to jerk to a halt once again when they came face-to-face with Lonnie.
"I'm coming with you guys." she announced bluntly.
Alia looked her friend over. For some reason, Lonnie was still wearing the Swords and Shields outfit Evie had made for them, and she had a carrier strapped over one shoulder holding several swords.
Jay and Carlos started laughing awkwardly.
"What?" Jay laughed, looking at Carlos. "We don't need swords at the…" Lonnie and Alia looked at him expectantly, wondering what he would say. "Waffle Hut." he finished awkwardly, his face blank. Carlos's head slowly turned to look at him in disbelief. Alia couldn't believe how horrible these two former villains were at lying on the spot.
Lonnie's crossed arms fell to her sides. "You're going to the Isle to rescue Ben." she stated. "Look, it's either you take me, or…I'm gonna have to tell Fairy Godmother."
Jay and Carlos exchanged a glance, both looking doubtful. Alia moved onto her tiptoes to talk quietly near her brother's ear.
"She has swords and we're going to deal with pirates." she hissed pointedly. "She could seriously help us out."
Jay sighed in defeat and nodded slightly, his eyes moving back to Lonnie.
The ever-cheerful teenager couldn't contain her excitement. She practically squealed as they turned to head toward the limo, and Lonnie walked between the boys with an arm around their shoulders. Neither boy looked pleased.
Alia rolled her eyes slightly. "Lonnie, I love you, but you're going to make them change their minds with your cheerfulness."
Lonnie cleared her throat, releasing both boys and calming herself down, though she couldn't quite contain her smile. "Right. Sorry."
The four teens hurried toward where the limo was parked by the backdoor to the amphitheatre, but they hesitated when they saw someone else approaching the door, as well. The man glanced at the limo before his eyes found the group of teens just as he reached the door. He turned toward them expectantly, and Alia knew they couldn't avoid this encounter.
"Hey." Li'l Shang greeted them as they approached. "What're you all doing up so early on a Saturday?"
"We could ask you the same thing." Alia countered before the others could come up with another lame lie.
Shang grinned slightly. "Wanted to get in a workout before the gym's overrun with arrogant teenage boys." he joked.
Alia couldn't help grinning. "Smart."
"So, what are you all up to?" Shang repeated his question, eyeing the group curiously.
Alia glanced at Jay and Carlos, debating if she should leave it to them or deal with this herself, since they'd shown mediocre lying skills.
"Um," Sure enough, Carlos stuttered and looked at Jay, who was looking at him, both clearly wanting the other to say something. Shang's eyes narrowed slightly with suspicion as he waited for a response.
Jay, Carlos, and Lonnie all turned and stared at Alia when she started speaking, "Ben wanted all of us to meet him,…to help set up some Cotillion surprise." she answered slowly, thinking fast before the words left her mouth. "Super top secret." she added a bit quicker.
Shang stared at her curiously. "Sounds fun. You guys all looking forward to Cotillion?"
They all glanced at each other. "Uh, well, I mean, why not?" Carlos laughed awkwardly. "You know, apart from none of us having dates."
Alia rolled her eyes toward the sky, wishing Carlos would shut up.
"Seriously?" Shang grinned. "None of you have dates?" he added, glancing briefly at his sister before looking at Alia.
"Who needs dates?" Jay asked with a grin. "That way I can dance with all the girls."
Alia rolled her eyes again, jabbing her elbow into her brother's ribs. "Well, we really need to get going. Ben's waiting for us." she urged.
Jay, Carlos, and Lonnie quickly voiced agreement. They said goodbye to Shang and hurried around a corner. Alia met Shang's eyes briefly, smiling at him as she followed the others. They hid around a corner until he went into the amphitheater. Then, they hurried to the limo parked nearby. They put the swords in the trunk and the girls climbed into the back so Alia could spend the drive filling Lonnie in on what was happening and what they would be facing.
The ride wasn't quite as long as it'd been before, but Alia had the feeling Jay was speeding slightly. They eventually crossed over the ocean onto the Isle and Jay parked the limo in the same place as before. Alia saw Evie and Mal already waiting for them by the large metal tunnel. Evie was holding Mal's purple bag, which she guessed had the smoke bombs.
Lonnie got out and went to greet the other girls, who were happy to see her. Alia moved around the limo to join the boys at the trunk. They opened the trunk and Jay pulled the carrier of swords out only to reveal Dude laying inside the trunk partially hidden by an old blanket.
Carlos and Alia gaped slightly, the younger boy looking between Jay and Dude.
"And Dude." Jay stated in resignation, not too thrilled.
"I told you to stay." Carlos complained at his dog.
"I flunked obedience class." Dude explained. Alia snorted, having to turn her head away to fight back her laughter.
"Great. And he can still talk." Jay deadpanned.
"You're lucky I love you." Carlos told the little dog, reaching in with one arm to get Dude out of the trunk. Jay slammed the trunk closed and the three approached the other girls, Dude walking between them.
"Ooh." Mal held out a hand when she saw the fake wand. "Here. Let me see." Carlos passed it to her to examine. "Wow. What a beauty." She passed it back to Carlos.
"It's noon." Jay announced.
"Alright. Are we ready?" Mal asked the group, looking around at them.
"Yeah." Evie answered, holding up the bag, probably referring to the smoke bombs.
"Let's do this."
