Chapter Seven: The Greater Good
Ben stared at his friends, slumped on old beanbags, trying his best not to explode.
"If you guys never would have brought her here, this never would've happened!" Ben shouted, losing his battle. "What were you thinking?!"
"She was going to come with or without us," Audrey muttered, twirling her fingers in the dirt on the floor. "We just wanted to protect her."
"Well, we completely blew that plan," Jane sighed, head in her hands.
Chad was hovering by the cave exit, gnawing on his lip. "What are we gonna do? Heroes…they're not exactly nice to villains."
"We are not doing anything," Ben told them, grabbing a rusty sword from an old umbrella stand and resting it over his shoulders. "This is between Lonnie and me and she's still being a pain in my side and now I have to go get Mal."
"What about the other warriors?" Jane asked, lifting her head. There were tear tracks on her face. "They've been training for years and are crazy good."
Chad scoffed.
"You're going to need us."
"Doug said to come alone."
Audrey rolled her eyes. "Ben, come on."
"Lonnie just wants Ben," Chad said, flopping onto the last beanbag. "I'm not going anywhere."
Audrey clenched her jaw but finally sighed in defeat. "We'll be here when you get back."
Ben just walked out of the cave, intent on his mission. And, if on his way to getting Mal back, he happened to royally tick off Lonnie and leave a bit more banged up than usual, all the better.
Lonnie dashed around the Fa family restaurant, serving up platters of fried rice and dumplings.
An old woman poked suspiciously at her orange chicken. "You sure this is really chicken?"
Lonnie shrugged as she picked up empty plates. "That's what the crewmen said when they dropped off the shipment yesterday."
"Wouldn't past those evil doers to give us pigeon meat instead," she grumbled, and Lonnie laughed, headed back to the kitchen. After dropping the dishes in the sink for her grandmother to wash, she dashed back out to take more orders.
But the restaurant had fallen silent. Lonnie followed all the patrons' gazes to the open archway where Ben was standing, sword slung over his shoulders, a new edge to his eyes and posture.
"I'm back," he called to Lonnie, offering her a teasing smile.
Lonnie grinned widely. She pulled off her apron and tossed it at her brother. "Li'l, cover me, will you? I've got business to attend to!"
Lonnie beckoned Ben to follow her back outside, to the dojo. When she entered with him on her tail all the warriors let out a mighty cheer.
Ben waited until they settled down, hovering near the door. "Where is she?"
Lonnie pulled on her martial arts coat, a teal jacket with pink trim and painted cherry blossoms. Doug and Maxwell flanked her, bo staffs in hand with matching eager grins.
"You know I've dreamed of this?" Lonnie laughed, turning back to face Ben. "You, wanting something from me, the girl not good enough for your knight crew."
"I'm so flattered I had such an impact on you," Ben drawled, glancing at the other warriors and their assorted weapons. He only had one sword. "Though I must say, at least my knight crew never kidnapped anyone. Your father must be so disappointed."
Lonnie hit the ground with her staff, making the others flinch. Ben stood his ground as Lonnie fumed. "Mal is the queen of all evil. She deserves far worse than a bump on the head.
"But you don't care about that, do you? Not justice or goodness? You gave it all up for your perfect little life."
Lonnie turned to her warriors and yelled, "Doesn't he just have the perfect little life?"
They cheered back. Ben was stone still.
"And we're twenty years into imprisonment in a garbage heap."
Ben narrowed his eyes. "If you have some kind of score to settle with me, fine. There's no reason to bring Mal into this."
"Oh, but there is," Lonnie laughed, her smile a bit crazed. Ben wondered if she'd always been like this or if the last six months had been harder for Lonnie than for him. Not that it mattered. "We can't trust you to do the good thing anymore, so we have to get creative."
Ben took a step forward, fury coursing through his veins. "If you hurt her-"
"Relax, Benny-Boy," Maxwell called, much too smug for Ben's liking. "We're not the bad guys here."
"Right," Ben bit out, rolling his eyes.
"Here's the deal," Lonnie said, calling the attention back to her. She handed her staff to Doug and pulled a sword from the sheath on her hip. "If you win, Mal is free to go."
Ben had to stifle a laugh. He'd been sword training since he could walk.
He rolled his sword around, their blades just gently touching.
Lonnie rose a brow, all mock innocence. "Don't you want to know what I get if I win?"
Ben just laughed. "Still dreaming."
"Last time I checked, your father thought he had things all sewn up for him too. How did that work out for him again?"
Ben's eyes narrowed. He was going to enjoy this. "En garde!"
The pair lunged for each other, and the others scrambled out of the way, giving them room. Their blades danced around each other, hitting and striking with a clang each time. Lonnie was quick on her feet and dodged each of Ben's advances.
"You know, I never bought that bad boy act for a second," Lonnie chuckled, dodging another of Ben's strikes. "You can wear all the leather you want, but you're still a white knight."
"And you can swing a sword around but you're still not a hero," Ben shot back.
No matter how much Lonnie dodged, he was not letting up. He swung again and again, letting all his anger and frustration over the last few days, the last few months, flow out of his blade. He advanced and blocked and, soon, had Lonnie against the dojo's far wall.
He brought his blade down and Lonnie raised hers, turning it horizontal to block the blow. Her arms shook as Ben pushed his sword down. His eyes flashed yellow, sensing victory.
"If I win," she gasped, sweat dripping down her forehead, "you bring me Merryweather's wand."
Ben was so surprised, his blade slipped. Lonnie seized the moment and ducked around him, spinning till she was directly behind him, her blade pressed against his throat.
The warriors cheered, the victory clear.
Lonnie high-fived Doug and Maxwell, sheathing her sword. Then she turned to Ben, smiling wider than she ever had in her life. "I see knights aren't all their cracked up to be."
Ben just glared.
"If you want the dragon witch back, bring Merryweather's magic wand to the meditation garden out back at twelve noon tomorrow. Sharp."
With that, two little warriors who were too young to shave grabbed Ben and hauled him out of the dojo.
"And if you blab, you can kiss your evil queen goodbye," Lonnie called after him.
The door slammed shut, leaving Ben with Lonnie's laughter ringing in his ears.
"Merryweather's wand?" Audrey repeated.
Ben nodded, pacing madly around the cave. If he'd blocked or dodged or something….
"Not as powerful as my wand," Jane muttered, fingers tapping the wobbly coffee table, "but definitely strong enough to bring down the barrier. And magical objects that weren't under the dome when it was constructed will still work under it. They bring in new magic."
"Well, we're not giving it to her!" Chad shouted, fidgeting with his too tight blazer. "We can't just let her destroy all of Auradon."
"But if we don't give Lonnie the wand, Mal is done for," Audrey added.
"So we're going to give Lonnie of all people the wand," Chad laughed. "That's crazy."
"You just don't like Lonnie because she was competition for your little knight thing," Audrey argued.
"Dad was very clear that girls don't sword fight," Chad shot back.
Their arguing overlapped and grew in volume until Jane stood up.
"A fake wand!" she exclaimed. The others froze. "Carlos is working on a 3D printer for an independent study and it's way better than anything on today's market."
"That's brilliant," Ben gaped. "You're a genius!"
Jane just shrugged, blushing slightly. "It's been known to happen."
"But the second Lonnie gives it to Maxwell, he'll know it's fake," Audrey countered.
Ben nodded, still pacing. "So we'll create a distraction and get Mal out really fast."
"Smoke bombs!" Chad suddenly shouted, clapping his hands together. "The magic Duel Squad uses them all the time."
"That's perfect!" Audrey said. "I can replicate them with chemicals from Fairest of Them All. And Winter should have some, er, sharp objects we can borrow just in case.
"Speaking of, Ben, love the new look. Snow White is seriously going to start trends."
Ben shrugged. "Was Winter actually."
Audrey's jaw dropped. "Seriously, little Winter? I'm like so proud of her, that's ama-"
"Audrey." Ben snapped his fingers in front of her face. "Focus."
"Right sorry." She turned to the other two. "Jane, Chad, you guys good to get the wand?"
"Yep." Jane stood, bouncing a little. She was going to see Carlos. "We'll meet you at the gardens no later than noon."
Ben finally stopped pacing and looked out at his friends. "And guys, losing isn't an option, guys."
The mood suddenly shifted to a deadly serious.
"We can do this. It's for…for the greater-"
"Good," the others finished. Their former mantra tasted weird in their mouths but now, now it would serve them well.
"Let's do this."
Audrey led the way as her and Ben slipped into Fairest of Them All. The shop was empty but little Winter was still awake at the late hour, taking pieces of painted metal and arranging them on chains to make jewelry.
Audrey smiled when she saw her and put her finger to her lips, eyeing Ben. He nodded, stepping back as Audrey snuck up on her (she'd gotten very good at that ever since her Sneaking and Scheming class at Auradon). She crouched down next to Winter and beamed. The girl glanced at her then broke into a ginormous grin.
"Audrey, you're back!" she exclaimed, wrapping her in a lethally tight hug.
Ben laughed, watching their embrace. For one single moment, things didn't seem that grim.
"Is all just like we imagined?" Winter asked, pulling back from Audrey but never letting go of her hands. "Do they really have closets you can walk in? Have you ever been to a swimming pool? What does ice cream taste like?"
"It's cold and sweet and if you eat it too fast, you get a headache," Audrey giggled, tapping Winter on the forehead.
"Really?" Audrey nodded. "Ooh, I saved your sketchbook for you!"
"You did?" She watched Winter run into the backroom, emerging with a thick notebook covered in pink glitter and kitty stickers. "Oh, Winter!"
Audrey flipped it open, lingering over a sketch of blue straight ballgown with intricate beading. "I made this dress out of an old curtain and safety pins."
Winter nodded. "It reminds me of the outfit you made for Ben when he met Sultan, er, Jafar."
Ben pressed his lips together. "Jay spilled curry all over that when I walked past him."
Audrey laughed, fingers tracing the swatch of material pinned to the page. "You're right Winter, this was totally the inspiration for that."
"I knew it!" Winter squealed, hugging Audrey again. "You can take the girl out of the Isle, but you can't take the Isle out of the girl."
Audrey froze in the embrace, her thoughts racing. She'd thought she'd left this place behind, forgotten her past and the struggles here. But being here, seeing her sketches…had she really changed?
She didn't want to face those thoughts, so she grabbed a headband and a fake plastic gem from Winter's workspace. She held them together and look at Winter. "Is this too much or is this fabulous?"
"Hand me the glue gun!"
Winter got to work while Ben started looking for chemicals. And Audrey pushed her thoughts out of her head. It didn't matter where she came from. Soon enough, she'd be back in Auradon and none of this, not the Isle, her parents, or even…even Winter, would matter.
Jane stood in front of Carlos's door, holding her breath. It was nearly midnight. What would he say.
"You gonna knock?" Chad asked from behind. "Do you even know how to knock?"
Jane shot him a quick look before knocking once, then twice. No answer.
"He…he may not be here." Jane gulped. Their entire plan was riding on this. "No curfew, remember?"
Chad shouldered past her and grabbed the doorhandle. A few stabs of a pin into the lock and it sprang open. Jane gaped at him as he stalked into the room, picking up Carlos's red and black planner.
"'Sticky Finger field trip, Sherwood Forest, 8pm till 1am,'" Chad read off. "Jay's in that class too."
Jane checked her watch and bit back a curse that would've made her mother keel over. "It's nearly midnight. We don't have much time."
"It'll have to be enough." Chad was in front of Carlos's desk in a moment, plugging his phone into the newly completed 3D printer. "One wand coming up."
Jane bit her lip as it began. This would work. It had to work.
Ben poured the last of the purple mixture into the plastic glove Audrey was holding. She expertly tied it off, putting it with the other smoke bombs in Ben's bag.
"We've got five, that should be enough, right?" Audrey asked. He nodded, pulling off his gloves.
Audrey zipped up the bag, then her eye caught a headband next to it, all golden with two pink hearts. "Ooh, this would look amazing with my dusty rose jacket."
"Take it!" Winter exclaimed, rushing up from her crafting desk, her hands full of jewelry. "Take a bunch!"
"Oh, Winter," Audrey sighed as she dumped in a plethora of rings, necklaces, and hair accessories into Audrey's rose shaped bag. "Thank you."
"Don't tell my mom, but ever since you went to Auradon…I've been wondering what it'd be like to go there too," Winter whispered. "And if you're wearing something of mine over there, it's almost like I'm there too."
Audrey felt her eyes tear up and she hugged Winter tightly once more. "I really wish I could take you with me."
"At least one of us is living the dream, right?"
The two separated too soon, trading hushed goodbyes. Audrey watched her walk back to her work desk and start cleaning up all her crafting supplies.
Ben put his arm on Audrey's shoulders as she wiped her tears away.
"She'll be okay," he assured her.
"Yeah." Audrey picked up her bag and took one last look at Winter shutting off her lights. "But she could be so much more."
And Audrey felt a plan beginning to form in her heart.