Uma had been against the alliance in the beginning. Harriet Hook had been given so much of what she'd had to work for. Her crew were the children of pirates compared to Uma's rag-tag band where the only actual pirate's kid was Harry. Harriet was one of the eldest kids on the isle and the oldest girl. Harriet Hook had fought her own father to protect Uma's first mate, had somehow turned the wharf-rats into a formidable force instead of the squabbling mess they were before. Uma got a bucket of shrimp dumped on her head and a nickname she will never escape. Harriet had a stranglehold on the children of the docks.

But there was one ship where Harriet had no command. The Lost Revenge. Uma's ship that she had raced for and won.

Captain Hook—and there was only one Captain Hook that mattered. The old drunk fool could call himself that all he wanted, the only Captain Hook the Isle children acknowledged was Harriet—stepped onto her ship, dragging Mal's latest toy behind her. Harry and Gil were already waiting in the brig, Lottie and Jaz perched on barrels beside them.

"What are you two doing here still? Your territory is north." Harriet asked the two girls. Between them, Uma and Harriet ruled the docks. Harriet may control the ships, but Uma had the shops. Jaz and Lottie had control from the north end of the docks up to the forest. CJ's partnership with Freddie meant that they controlled from the south end of the docks to the cliffs. The result? Nothing got on or off the isle without the Hooks knowing. And Harry knowing meant Uma knew.

"Hey, I'm the one that found him," Lottie stated, jumping off the barrel. "Besides, he's one of Mal's, meaning we could declare war over this, so all of us should be here." By us Lottie meant the small council they'd formed. Everything that happened in the docks was coordinated. Everyone had their jobs and their commanders. Uma and Harriet stood together at the top of the chain, unlike all of the other gang leaders who worked alone with minions. No wonder they always had trouble at their borders.

"Well, Mal's up to something," Harriet stated. "Apparently she's recruited your brother, Charlotte."

"'Los? What would- Oh. Oh." Uma knew that look. That look meant she'd figured out something and wasn't going to share it yet.

"Lottie?"

"it's nothing- I'll explain later. I need to check something first, but, if I'm right, change is coming." Well, that wasn't ominous at all.

"We can worry about Lottie's cryptic statements later" Jaz interrupted. "What are we gonna do with him? We can't afford a war right now."

Carlos jumped as the front door to Hell Hall was kicked up. Cruella was out at the spar and he was the only one home.

"De Vil!" Mal. That was Mal. What was Mal in the house? "I know you're here!" Sighing, he left the kitchen. She probably wouldn't go away unless he answered her, and Cruella would be furious if she got home to find Mal here.

"Mal." He greeted. "What brings you here?"

"Your sister." 'Lota. Of course this was about 'Lota. "She's with Uma's gang now, right?" Probably? He hadn't seen her since she'd jumped out the window years ago. He shrugged.

"Maybe? I haven't seen her in years." She'd jumped out the window in the middle of the night and left him in hell. She'd moved on with her life and forgotten all about him. Love didn't exist on the Isle but being abandoned by his twin hurt. He didn't blame her for running, for listening when he said he didn't want to go even though they both knew he'd been lying.

"Good. I need you without her interfering." That was not good. Mal usually only showed interest in someone right before she got Jay to beat them up. "You're good with machines, right?"

"Yes-"

"And you can fix pretty much anything?"

"Yes-"

"Great. I want you to build a machine that can break the barrier." His mind flashed back to the plans written in a childish scrawl he and 'Lota had buried in a chest in the garden. Plans, ideas and schematics for a machine that could get different radio waves through the barrier. They'd abandoned it when they realised they didn't have any of the bits they'd need but if Mal could get him the pieces…

"It's going to take a while." He warned.

"You have time. But I'll keep checking back. If you can't prove you're getting there every time I visit then I might just have to do something about it."

"Yes Mal."

"Oh, one last thing, don't tell anybody what you're doing. Understood?"

"Yes Mal."

"Mal's using Carlos to get off the Isle." Uma stated as Harriet joined her on deck, watching as Lottie escorted Jay out of the docks. Uma had been against the alliance from the beginning, but she could deny that Harriet Hook was a useful ally.

"Almost certainly. Not sure how, but that's the only reason she would recruit him that I can think of. Aside from an attack against Charlotte, but that would just be stupid." Harriet replied, twisting to stare out at Auradon.

"We need to be prepared then. Once the barrier goes down, it'll be a free for all. Whether it stays open for long or not, our parents will have their magic back."

"Anarchy." Harriet stated "The end of us. We're only around because they need people to do their dirty work."

"With magic, they don't need us anymore" Uma finished. The end was coming.

The box was right where they'd left it. The childish scrawl spreading out over pages and pages, note and annotations on machine parts and chemicals. This job would be far, far easier with 'Lota's help but 'Lota wasn't there. Hadn't been for years. No doubt that she'd figure out what was going on she heard Mal had 'recruited' him. Press-ganged. He'd been press-ganged. Still, it shouldn't be that hard to build the machine.

"If 'Los gets hurt, there's nothing in the world that can save you from my wrath," Charlie stated as they reached the edge of the docks. Jay stared at her as she untied him. "I'm not stupid. I know exactly what Mal's after. She wants a way off this stupid rock, and 'Los can do a fuck-ton with machines. It doesn't take a genius to figure it out." Mal wasn't going to be too happy to hear that she'd figured it out.

"You really think you can stop Mal?"

"I'm not tryna stop Mal. I want off this rock as much as she does. But if my twin gets caught in the crossfire, I'll make her pay. Magic or not. After all, I'm Cruella's Psycho Daughter, and I don't believe in magic."