Well, the time is drawing near. Chapter 11 is hereafter Chapter 10. The last few chapters will be posted tomorrow to commemorate Christmas. Here will be the start-up plan for the final battle. We'll see how Russell and Bertha bust everyone out, and what Rudy and Lulu are gonna do in retaliation. It's gonna get crazy soon, so buckle up! And enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OC's. Nostalgia-Margo owns hers.

Chapter 11: Ready as We'll Ever Be

It was almost dawn in Winteria.

Morning was drawing near.

King Rudy walked upon the balcony of the palace, smirking at the purple skies as they became brighter, before looking down at his scepter. He was looking forward to the eventual public death of Russell that was the take place in the next hour... especially since he would be using his scepter to carry out the act.

"Ah... today is a perfect day for an execution." He chuckled, "I can't simply wait to be rid of that little shrimp!"

Queen Lulu was still asleep, but it wouldn't be long before she woke up and got ready. And once the death sentence was complete, they would begin their plan of enforcing a rougher and tougher reign on Winteria.

"Hmmm..." The evil rat mused as he continued to stare at his scepter, "I suppose I should work on my target practice..." Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted someone nearby. That unfortunate person happened to be Camille, "And I know just the guinea pig..." He chucked.

"Oh, please don't..." The advisor pleaded.

"Relax... it'll only hurt a lot."

Camille gulped.

A bit later on, in the dungeon, the guards, Wendy, Marshall, and Ray were feeling hopeless, as they knew what was going to happen very soon... they were going to witness it after all.

"I'm scared, Daddy. I don't want those mean people to hurt Russell," Marshall said as he hugged his father.

"Take it easy, Marshall." Ray softly assured his son, "Let's hope and pray for a miracle..."

Bill sighed, "At this point, even a miracle would be a miracle. I hate to say this but... I think we've really lost this time... our princess is going to suffer... our Nutcracker is sentenced to death... and our kingdom has fallen into darkness..."

Harold looked at his captain in surprise, "Wow... and you're usually the optimistic one..." He pointed out, "You're really saying that we don't have a hope in the world this time."

"I'm not sure if Russell can even escape the deepest part of the dungeon. And if he can't... then I fear that we're not far behind on the chopping block..."

The rest of the guards audibly and visibly gulped. Bill was right. At this point, a miracle would be rare in this situation. At that moment, the door to the dungeon opened, and in fluttered Stella, who looked at the prisoners with a soft smile, "D-Did you all s-sleep well?" She asked.

The crew looked at the fairy with arched eyebrows then turned away with no responses... all except for Donald. For some reason, he thought that she didn't seem like any of the other wicked fairies and their queen. She always appeared to be nicer.

Soon, an idea then snapped inside of Bill's mind. He smirked at the fairy in waiting, "So uh, what brings you down here, madame?" He asked.

"Well, uh... the q-queen asked me to release all of you to witness the execution of the Nutcracker." She stated, holding up a set of keys, "A-Although, I feel like t-that would be too scary..."

"What are you thinking, Captain?" Harold asked in a whisper.

"She's gonna let us outta here. I say we make a break for it, and escape underneath the tunnels 'til we can figure out a plan." Bill whispered back.

But before Stella could unlock one of the doors, a bright light flashed in front of everyone. When it died down... in its place was Russell and Bertha.

"Russell!" Bill exclaimed, "You're here!"

"And so is Bertha!" Bucky added.

"How did you escape?" Harold asked.

"And how did you get Bertha to come?"

Russell shushed them, "Quiet... I'll answer all your questions later. Right now, we gotta get you outta here. I've got a plan. But we need to get far away from the palace in order for me to explain. And once we find the princess and Camille, we'll do just that."

Stella smiled a little, "I've got the keys... I'll help you out..." She offered.

The small Nutcracker raised an eyebrow at her, "And why would you help us? You're with the bad guys."

"I-I have changed my mind, I wanna be on your crew's side." She answered, "I don't think I wanna be a servant anymore. I love my Queen, she's my best friend, but even I know that she can get a little... mean, sometimes. And I-I really don't want to s-see you guys get hurt... I'll do anything I can to help you."

Bill looked at Russell, "Think we can trust her?"

"I-I trust her." Donald smiled, "She seems really nice..."

Russell looked at his friends, and back at Stella, "I think I can squeeze you in the plan... but you gotta listen carefully... you'll need to free all of the people here in the dungeon and anywhere in the palace. I'll focus on getting them out."

"What about my wife? I need to be with her." Ray spoke up.

"I know which room she's in. I can t-take you and your son to her." Stella offered.

"And we're not alone," Bertha added, "Some of the residents from the Saint Nick Village have come to help as well... you'll get to meet them soon."

Russell smiled, "Great! So let's get moving. We've got a kingdom to save..."

As the group was focusing on escaping. The evil king and queen were preparing for the execution.

Lulu was awake, dressed, and ready for the events of today. She was especially looking forward to how the princess would react to seeing her friend die right in front of her...

Carla sat on her knees, her wrists bound tightly, her hair undone and tangled, and her ice dress ripped up by Lulu as a means of humiliating her and showing her low status as a slave. Camille was next to her, trying to comfort her (and recovering a little from being Rudy's tester for his scepter), as she now felt depressed over what was happening.

As for Rudy and Lulu, they both smirked sadistically at the poor princess.

"Alright, princess... this will be the last time you'll get to see your so-called hero of a nutcracker before he gets slain." Lulu bent down at her, lifting Carla's head with her wand.

"So we suggest you get a good look at him and watch carefully when I kill him slowly and painfully..." Rudy sneered.

Carla stared up at them, her face a mixture of heartbreak and hatred. Camille rubbed her shoulders softly, "Please... have mercy..." She pleaded to the villains.

"Sorry, Camille. But what we say goes." Lulu grinned, waving her wand.

"And now... go check and see if the prisoners are ready to witness a gruesome sight. Oh, and bring me some sugar plum tea." Rudy demanded.

But the young advisor stayed by her princess, "Sorry... but I only follow orders from the princess." She simply said, smiling at Carla.

Lulu frowned, "She ain't your ruler no more. You follow our orders this time, now GO!" She commanded.

Camille still didn't budge. She was determined to stay by Carla's side no matter what, "You aren't the true rulers. You are not the heir. She is..." She replied, "I don't care how much power you have, you'll never be half the queen that Carla will be..."

"You little-"

SLAP!

Carla gasped in horror as Camille fell over from the slap. She then glared at Lulu and stood up, "How dare you assault my advisor and friend?!"

"SHUT UP!" The queen furiously zapped her wand at the princess. Chains were locked onto her wrist and a strap was tied around her mouth. Carla fell over from the force of the zap, "You will NOT speak out of term with me! I am YOUR queen now! You will obey me!"

She zapped her again, this time with a spell that caused her pain. Carla moaned in pain.

At that moment, one the fairy guards came fluttering in, "Your highness... I have something to report... it appears that all of the prisoners are gone..." He informed.

"Of course. I ordered for them to be let out to witness the Nutcracker's execution." The queen waved off.

"But, your highness... they're gone... as in..., they're nowhere to be found.

"WHAT?!" Rudy was outraged.

"And that includes the one to be executed."

The guard barely had time to finish explaining when the two evil monarchs rushed to the dungeon. Sure enough, once they got there, all the prisoners were gone. Every single cell was empty.

Lulu's eye widened in rage as she ferociously screamed, "NO! HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN?! STELLA!"

"That's one more thing." The guard added, "Nobody has seen her all morning..."

"Stella? Wasn't she suppose to round up the prisoners anyway?" Rudy asked, "If they're gone, and she's gone... there are two possible explanations... either they took her hostage... or... she escaped with them."

With that realization, the rat king flinched at how his queen reacted, "SHE HAS BETRAYED HER OWN QUEEN! That little... I command you round up all the guards to find Stella, our prisoners, and especially that shrimp of a Nutcracker! NOW!" Lulu snarled.

"Right away, your majesty!" The guard flew away.

Rudy gripped his scepter as he followed his fuming queen as she stormed back to the throne room, "Now, now, Sugar Plum. Keep calm. I'm sure Stella's not to blame. I bet that little brat convinced her to help him." He said.

Lulu turned to her king, "Hmm, You do have a point." She agreed, "But, whether he convinced her or not, the point still stands that she has betrayed me! So she will dearly pay for this once I get my hands on her! And as for that shrimp... he'll suffer even more!"

She then turned her deadly glare onto Carla, "And as for you... I'll make sure you suffer just as bad..."

With that, she stormed away. Rudy winced again. He had never seen her so mad before. However, he was looking forward to finally slaying Russell, as he smirked at Carla and Camille. The girls looked at the villain with horror and whimper.

While that was going on, Stella was leading Ray and Marshall down the corridor, being sure to avoid any of the fairy servants, until they reached the room where Marge was resting. She opened the door and fluttered inside.

"Mrs. Franklin, your husband and son are here to see you." She greeted.

"Oh, Ray. Marshall, you're safe." The woman smiled as she sat in bed.

Ray rushed over to his wife and took her hand, "Marge, are you alright? They didn't hurt you, did they?"

"No, I'm fine. They've actually been rather hospitable."

"Well, I'm glad you're well. And... looks like the baby hasn't arrived yet." He looked down at her still swollen belly, "But now that we've found you, we need to get you out of here."

Stella spoke again, "I-I know of a secret entrance in this room. I discovered it last week." She flew over to the other side of the bed and knocked on the wall, opening a hatch, "This will lead you outside. I'll stay behind to make sure the Queen doesn't suspect anything."

Everybody walked over, and one at a time went through the small hatch. Stella closed the hatch before fluttering out of the room and down the hall. There seemed to be no sign of everyone else. She knew Russell led everyone through the tunnels, before using the sword to teleport everyone else out of the palace. Now all she had to do was get out herself and see what he had planned...

"I-I-I hope that t-the Nutcracker c-can save the day..." She said to herself.

As she rounded a corner, she ended up flying into someone, knocking them both to the ground. Stella rubbed her head and looked up.

"Oh! Your highness!"

It appeared to be the Queen. Silence remained between the two.

...

...

Stella could tell by Lulu's expression that she was not happy.

"Um... is everything alright, my queen?" Stella asked as she got up, "I was uh... j-j-just going to c-check on the prisoners... b-b-but I guess you already know that they escaped..."

She then saw her queen reaching for her wand as she held it and tapped it against her hand.

"Uh oh," Stella said softly.

"Yes, Stella... I'm aware of the fugitives..." The fairy queen replied, her voice dangerously quiet, "I'm aware that they've escaped... and I'm also aware of who set them free..."

... Uh oh, indeed.

"Your grace, I-I-I c-can explain-"

Lulu placed a finger on the fairy's lips, "You don't have to say anything." She hissed quietly.

Stella gulped. It looked like her queen found her out. Lulu backed away a little, "I never would've imagined that my OWN fairy in waiting... my best friend... would betray me..." She said sadly, "Why would you do this, Stella...?"

"O-O-Oh... because I don't want to see you hurting those guys." Was her friend's response, "Especially the Nutcracker. You've gotten scarier, Lulu... I care about you and I don't want you to do anything super bad... and if I have to team up with the good guys... I'll keep you from doing anything super bad..."

The queen couldn't believe what she was hearing. This only made her angrier as she tightened her grip on her wand, "NO! Nobody turns their back on Queen Lourdes!" She yelled, making Stella cower in fear, "Unless you wanna join that brat in execution, I order you to find those captives and BRING THEM BACK! Is that CLEAR?!"

The fairy in waiting whimpered as she shook her head, "I-I-I don't know where they went..."

"Stella, I am giving you a chance to redeem yourself. Find them! NOW!"

But Stella once again shook her head, "I... I can't tell you about the rebellion, my Queen... I just can't."

"Rebellion?!"

"... Oops... I said too much."

Lulu was curious about this new information, however, she took a deep breath and replied, "Fine then... if you won't go... it's cool... because I'll just MAKE you go search for them! Or better yet..." The Queen waved and zapped her wand at the fairy until a beam of light flashed outside the palace.

Russell and the crew looked back. They were currently in the Freezing Forest right now, in a secure place where the fairy guards won't find them. Donald saw the light die down and became worried, "I-I hope Stella's okay. We left her behind."

"She's supposed to keep the queen at bay. Hopefully, she'll be here to learn more about the plan." Bill assured him.

"Anyways, let me give you all the basic rundown..." Russell got everyone's attention, "Bucky and the ballerina girl, Angie, will lead the toys, animals, and gingerbread men. Captain Bill, you will lead all the guards as an army. Marshall, you and your dad will be with Wendy and gather the citizens in the village. Tell them there will be a march to the palace."

"What will you do, Nutcracker?" Bertha asked.

Russell smirked, "You and I will handle the king and queen. Everybody knows what to do?"

The group nodded. But that's when Ray looked down at his wife, who was sitting down. "Marge, are you alright?" He asked.

"Yeah... I'm okay." She replied, rubbing her stomach softly.

"I think we better get you somewhere safe..."

"There's a shelter in the village where she can rest," Bucky informed.

Marge smiled, "Much obliged..."

"Then it's settled. At sundown is when we'll make our move. Right now there are too many fairies around. We need to strike when they're off guard." Russell said, "And... we still need to save Carla and Camille. They're still in the castle too."

Bill stood forward, holding his sword, "I will go and rescue them. As the captain of the guard, it is my duty to protect my princess and her lady in waiting."

"You just wanna see Camille again." Harold joked as some of the guards laughed.

Bill frowned, "She's my friend, and I'd do anything for her." He exclaimed.

"We know..."

"I can use the Nutcracker sword to teleport you to the palace." Russell offered, "So be careful."

"I will..."

"A-And don't forget about Stella." Donald requested.

"I won't..."

With that, a flash from the sword sent Bill back to the palace. He found himself right outside the place, before making his way towards one of the many secret entrances that he knew of, "I'm coming..."

The captain went through a tunnel right underneath the palace, which also had spots where things could be heard. After about a minute, he stopped when he heard voices above him. He knew he was right below the throne room... but the sounds he heard made him cringe... and his blood boil.

"P-P-Please... s-s-stop..."

That was... Carla... she sounded like she was in pain.

"We will once you tell us about this 'rebellion' we've heard about."

That was Queen Lulu.

"What is that shrimpy Nutcracker planning?!"

And that was King Rudy.

"I... I'll never tell you!" Carla gasped out with a sob.

Bill also heard whimpering that sounded like Camille. His jaw dropped instantly when he realized what happening.

"Fine, if you're not gonna tell us now, you'll be locked up into the dungeon until you decide to confess. STELLA! TAKE HER AWAY!" The Queen demanded.

"Yes, your majesty..." Stella was heard. There was some silence to which the captain presumed was the fairy taking Carla to the dungeon.

Bill tightened his sword in anger. These... monsters were hurting his princess. He had to get her outta here. But how...? He didn't have time to think when he heard the queen speak again.

"The princess might not tell us... but I bet her sweet little maid in waiting will... Camille, why don't you tell us about the Nutcracker's rebellion? Any information..."

All was silent, but Bill could hear Camille beginning to sob.

"I...I... I..."

Suddenly, he then heard a zap and a scream.

"How about you stop stuttering and start TALKING!" Rudy demanded.

"I don't know anything. Honest!" Camille whimpered.

Lulu growled, "LIAR!"

ZAP!

"AAAAAAHHHH!"

Bill finally felt the urge to step out in front of the two villains, as he reached above to jump through one of the panels of the throne room floor, to see Camille bowing down in pain in front of the villains, "LEAVE HER ALONE, YOU CLOWN!" He yelled at Rudy, shielding Camille away

Lulu smirked, "Well, if it isn't the captain of the guard? And one of our escapees."

Bill glared at her, "As the captain, I will do anything to protect my princess and her advisor."

"Oh, Bill..." Camille sighed.

But Rudy just laughed, "You must be really stupid or confident or both if you think you've got what it takes to fight us. But you wouldn't if..." He stood and used his scepter to pull Camille towards him to where he could wrap his arm around her tightly, "No! Bill, help!" She cried.

The captain growled as he raised his sword, but flinched as Rudy aimed his scepter at Camille's face.

"Don't hurt her!" Bill begged.

"Stay right where you are, and I won't..." The Rat King grinned, "Wouldn't want you to be the reason she got messed up... would you...?" He chuckled as he moved the scepter closer.

Bill was at a loss of what to do. He knew that trying to do anything would result in Camille getting hurt.

"So... will you surrender...?" Lulu asked.

But before the captain could do anything, Camille acted herself as she stomped hard on Rudy's foot.

"OOWWWWW!" He screamed as he grasped his foot, releasing Camille in the process.

The young advisor ran towards Bill as the two of them made a quick run for it out of the room.

"STOP THEM!" Lulu exclaimed.

Rudy, while still recovering, shot a blast from his scepter, but ending up missing the two. Bill led Camille around the corner, but tapping on the floor, opening another hatch to a hidden tunnel. They jumped through it before anybody saw them.

"You came back..." Camille pointed out as Bill closed the hatch.

"Of course I did. I wasn't going to leave you or our princess in trouble." Bill smiled.

"You're so sweet."

"And speaking of our princess, we better find her and get her out too. Luckily, I know the way to the dungeon."

With that, the two traveled through the tunnels until they eventually made it to their destination. Bill led the way as they climbed through the floor into the main dungeon, and even right in front of the cell with held Carla, "Your highness, we're here to save you."

Carla whimpered a little, and that's when Bill took a look at her and gasped at the state she was in. Along with her torn attire, she was bruised in some spots as well.

"Don't worry, princess, we're gonna get you out of here," Camille assured.

"T-T-Thank you..." She replied.

Bill used a spare cell key he had to unlock the door. Carla tried to walk out, but fell, groaning in pain. Bill was quick to catch her.

"Rat King and Fairy Queen used these spells to physically hurt her." Camille explained, "When she wouldn't tell them about the rebellion, they zapped her countless times."

"They know about the rebellion? Nevermind. Let's help her up, Camille. We gotta take her to the forest," Bill suggested.

As the three walked out of the prison cell, they were stopped by a figure in front of them, "You're not going anywhere!" It was Stella. That's when Bill got a good look at her, especially her eyes. This was the result of being under Lulu's brainwashing spell, making her eyes glow a ghostly white and obey any evil order The Rat King and The Fairy Queen tells her.

However, Bill was already prepared, "Actually, we're going down."

Grabbing the girls, he jumped up, before landing on a secret panel, sending them down into the tunnel, leaving Stella confused.

The crew immediately found a passage outside of the castle, and eventually made it back to the others, where they informed them of what was going on. Donald was even more concerned for Stella. Russell in particular felt furious after learning of what happened to Carla. Seeing her current state set off a rage like he'd never felt before. But he remained calm for her sake.

"You just rest back at the village Carla, Bertha and I will handle No Class Rat and that evil witch of a Queen." He reassured.

"I need to help you guys..." The princess said, "I need to save my kingdom too."

"Right now, you need to sleep. Wendy will take care of you."

"I know..."

Russell looked back at the palace, knowing that the villains were still there. His annoyance and hatred for them only grew. And he wouldn't stop at anything until he made sure they paid for their crimes.

"Soon... the rebellion begins..."

A few hours later at the palace.

Lulu was pacing in the throne room, very annoyed now.

"I'm losing my patience. Where are those foolish prisoners and that Nutcracker?!" She demanded as Rudy walked over, bringing his queen a cup of sugar plum tea, "I want them ALL found and I want them ALL punished severely!"

"Calm down, my Queen, We'll have them in our power." King Rudy reassured her, "Especially when we finally do away with that shrimp." He then looked out at the view on the balcony, "It's almost sundown."

Queen Lulu calmed down as she walked to her throne, "You're right... it's only a matter of time before we find them. They can't hide forever..."

For a few moments, it was silent... until she started to hear something... in the distance...

"Wait... what is that?"

The sound started to get louder... and louder...

Rudy was starting to hear it too, "What the...?"

Suddenly, some of the fairy guards fluttered in, "Your highness! They're coming!" One of them said.

"Who? Who's coming?" Lulu demanded.

"All of Winteria..."

Uh oh. Rudy and Lulu are in trouble.

And so the rebellion begins. We got everyone escaping, Bill being heroic (that won't be his only heroic moment ;)), and poor Stella getting mind controlled by the furious queen. This will all lead to the final battle next chapter, which may be the longest chapter of the story (or not, still debating on if I should split it into two parts). But you'll have to wait a little later.

Until then, I'll see you guys later. And as always, don't forget to review, please. Thank you!

The sound became louder... and they were starting to understand what it was.

The beats of a drum...

The chants of a crowd...

... Coming straight towards the palace!