Eight Months Before The Barrier Breaks
"I think- I think we should start telling people." Carlos turned to look at 'Lota. Her hair was a mess, she was covered in ink and probably hadn't slept in days. Nothing new there.
"'Lota?" She groaned, throwing a bit of metal across the tree house.
"We need to tell people, before we go and break the barrier. We need to give everyone a chance to get somewhere safe, get every kid accounted for." She explained, digging through a pile of scrap.
"Yeah, I got that, but why?"
"Cuz Mal ain't the boss of me and I refuse to follow all of her rules." 'Lota shot back. "Aha!" She held up a piece that looked almost exactly like the one she'd just thrown across the room.
"So spite." The wires she was messing with sparked and 'Lota scowled, using what looked like an old bobble to hold things in place.
"And anger."
"You know, I'd forgotten just how petty you can be." She actually looked at him as he said that, surprise and disbelief written all over her face before she rolled her eyes, going back to her machine bits.
"Well, that was a stupid move on your part."
"You're what?" Harriet demanded, staring her little sister's partner down. Charlotte, who had spent the past three years running around with Harriet's sisters and occasionally her brother, didn't flinch.
"'Los and I are building a machine that can break the barrier." Charlotte repeated, her chin up and shoulders squared. She wasn't going to back down.
"Why are you doing something that stupid?" And here Harriet had thought that Charlotte was the smart one. But breaking the barrier? That… that was something Harriet never let herself think about.
"Well, we came up with the plans for it a while ago, and then abandoned them, then Mal demanded that 'Los build a machine that can break the barrier, so that's what we're doing. But we're telling everyone what's going on before we break the barrier cuz I wanna piss off Mal." Of course. Charlotte was petty, most isle kids were.
"If this backfires, you'll get us all killed." Harriet warned "Even if you succeed, you'll get people killed. Do you know how many adults will wreak the isle with their magic in revenge?" Charlotte was quiet for a long moment,
"I don't know about you," She eventually stated "but I'd far rather die trying to find a way out, than sit and wait until my mother finds me again."
"Are you willing to take everyone else down with you? Are you willing to take Jasmine down with you?"
"If Jaz gets hurt, I swear I will make whoever hurt her pay for it tenfold."
"You ever wonder what life's like for them? What it's like to live on the isle?"
"I can't imagine that it'd be much different Benny-boo" Audrey replied, fixing her make-up "After all, even villains love their kids."
"Still, I want to bring them off the isle. I think we should give them a chance."
"A chance to what?" Chad scoffed "Destroy us?"
"A chance to be good."
"Maybe" Lonnie suggested "Before you think about bringing them over here, we should go over there to see what it's like."
"Field trip!" Aziz cheered.
"Captain Hook. Any particular reason why you've called a council meeting?" Anthony Tremaine asked as he took his seat. There were six of them sat around the round table, with an empty seventh seat. Anthony was directly to the right of the empty seat with Seff son of Scar on his right. Claudine Frollo was sat to the left with Uma in between her and Harriet. The last seat in between Harriet and Seff was filled by Shan Jun, son of Shan Yu.
"Mal Sheach has commissioned the De Vil twins to build a machine that can break the barrier." The group froze.
"Break the barrier?" Claudine whispered "Is that even possible?"
"Well, there has to be a hole somewhere for the barges to get through" Uma pointed out. "Theoretically, they could do it. And, from what I've heard, they've got pretty far with it."
"What do you mean, from what you've heard?" Shan Jun demanded.
"Charlotte De Vil is a member of my crew. At the end of the day, she reports back to me."
"I thought you hated Mal."
"Oh, I do. But if the De Vil twins can get us off this rock? I'm willing to work with her until we leave."
Seven Months Before The Barrier Breaks
"So, how's your machine going?" Jaz asked as she and CJ sat down either side of Lottie. The younger girl was scribbling in a notebook next to a complicated diagram of something.
"We're still tryna figure out how to get the quantum stabiliser to actually stabilise and not blow up in our faces. Again." And Jaz did not understand any of that. Aside from the bit about something blowing up in peoples faces.
"What the fuck is a quantum stabiliser?" CJ asked, snatching the notebook and tilting it from side to side.
"Something to stop us tearing a hole in time and space." Lottie replied, grabbing it back "Also, it should help keep the barrier open."
"Can't you build the machine without it?" Jaz grabbed the notebook out of Lottie's hands. Yep. It made no sense at all.
"What part of "tearing a hole in time and space" did you not hear?" Lottie demanded as she took her notebook back for the second time "Tearing a hole in space and time is a bad thing!"
"We're villain kids! We're supposed to be bad"
"No. Just no. Yeah, we're meant to be bad but tearing a hole in space-time is the worst idea possible. Besides, from what I can figure out they basically tore space-time apart to build Auradon so messing with it any further may well destroy the world and possibly erase our existence. Have neither of you ever picked up a quantum physics book?"
"No, Lottie. We're not absolute nerds."
"I'm not a nerd!"
"You, Charlotte De Vil, are a nerdy pirate."
"If you two don't shut the fuck up and actually let me figure out where I'm going wrong in these schematics, I'm gonna throw you both overboard." Not that she could actually throw them overboard when they weren't on a ship, but Lottie tended to carry through with her threats so Jaz shut up.
"And you say you're not a nerd." CJ apparently didn't get the memo.
"That's it!" Jaz scrambled back as Lottie shoved CJ off the rocks they were perched on and into the murky waters of the docks. One did not mess with a pissed off Lottie.
Six Months Before The Barrier Breaks
"And here I thought you were banished." Evie shut the front door of Hell Hall behind her and turned to see Mal stood at the gate.
"Mal." She'd only been in Hell Hall to grab a Bunsen Burner Charlie had put together for her. It was a lot easier to control the heat for her potions with a smaller flame after all.
"What are you doing all the way out here?" Mal demanded
"I live just down the road." Evie gestured to The-Castle-Across-The-Way.
"The De Vil twins are working for me."
"Does it matter? Can't we just start over? You weren't invited to my birthday party because my mother hated the fact that your mother is in charge of the isle because my mother wanted to rule it instead. It had nothing to do with you."
"And just why do you want to go to the Isle?" King Adam demanded, staring down at the group of teens.
"The alternative was Ben bringing the Isle kids here." Audrey stated. Bring the children of their worst enemies to live amongst them? That was just asking for the world to be burnt down. Adam still thought sending the kids over was stupid, but if the alternative was the villain kids coming here...
"Okay, you can go."
Evie trailed after Mal all the way to her secret hideout with Jay.
"I was going to see how the de Vil twins were coming with my commission, but seeing as you were in there, you can tell me about it."
"I heard something about a quantum stabiliser and a fail-safe to make sure they didn't erase life as we know it."
"Are they capable of doing that? Erasing life as we know it that is." Jay asked. Mal and Evie looked at each other and considered everything they knew about the De Vil twins. The machine parts scattered all over the treehouse, the half-finished chemical experiments. The random explosions from that house over the years. The lawnmower incident. Charlie Devil's entire reputation. The fact that their mother was Cruella fucking De Vil and neither of them were dead yet, despite various people's best efforts.
"Yep."
"'Lota, what the fuck?" Carlos demanded, staring at the smoking piece of junk that was once machine parts on the floor.
"I thought the Quantum Stabiliser was working, so I turned away but when I turned back it wasn't."
"I think that's an understatement."
Five Months Before The Barrier Breaks
"Remind me why we're here again." Carlos muttered as he followed 'Lota through the docks.
"Cuz I left some of the bits we need at the Shoppe and I'm dragging you along cuz we both need to eat something." 'Lota shot back, ducking into yet another side ally.
"Well, if it isn't Little Lottie." There was a girl leaning over the side of a ship.
"Desiree" 'Lota smiled slightly.
"What brings you back out here? Thought you'd run off for the day."
"Yeah well, I left something at the Shoppe."
"Oh, whose your little boyfriend?" Desiree was apparently incapable of staying on one topic more than a minute or so.
"My brother." 'Lota stated.
"Oh? Pity. He's cute."
"You're as bad as Harry is Des." The girl on the ship scowled, lobbing a rock at 'Lota's head. She missed.
"Am not. Harry would probably be a slut if he wasn't head over heels for Captain Uma." 'Lota scoffed.
"What d'ya mean, probably? Have you seen his shirts? It's like he's allergic to things that fully cover his skin."
"As fascinating as this conversation is, we only came down to grab that bit you left. C'mon 'Lota. I want to get this bit finished today." Carlos had no desire to interact with more pirates than he absolutely had to. He was pretty sure people counted him in Mal's gang now, Uma hated Mal and Uma was definitely classified under pirate.
"'Los has a point. We'd better be going. See ya Des."
"See ya Lottie."
Lottie hummed to herself as the Chip Shoppe came into view. And then rolled her eyes. Gil was sat on the front steps. Again.
"Heya Gilly. Whatcha do now?"
"Hey Lottie." Gil smiled slightly as Lottie leaned on the post next to him. "I called Uma Shrimpy."
"Again? That's like the third time this week. What's up with you? You don't normally get her name mixed up this much." Lottie tried remember the last time Gil messed up that much. She couldn't. Gil was normally alright at remembering things for a while after a reminder. Three reminders in one week? Something was up.
"Dad was drunk when I went home this weekend." Ah. Lottie really didn't like Gaston. No part of her did.
"You told 'em that?" She already knew the answer before she asked. Gil had somehow, at some point, got it into his head that he was nothing more than Uma and Harry's muscle. Which was stupid. Everyone knows Uma doesn't keep people around if they call her Shrimpy and yet Gil was still part of the crew, even after calling her Shrimpy three times in one week.
"No." He admitted, staring at the floor.
"You should tell 'em."
"They haven't asked." That made her laugh. Uma and Harry never asked about feelings. Uma because she was the captain and apparently that meant that she had to act like she didn't care all the time and Harry because it would go against his image of a crazy person that didn't give a fuck about anyone other than Uma.
"Uma and Harry? Ask what's wrong? You sure we're talking about the same people?"
Carlos jumped as the doors to the Shoppe swung open. He'd been so focused on the plans for the machine that he hadn't noticed 'Lota stopping to talk to Gil, never mind that they'd reached the Shoppe. "Oh, speak of the devil and he shall appear" 'Lota muttered as Harry Hook practically swaggered out. Asshole.
"Well, if it isn't the nerdy pirate." he crowed, grabbing the back of Gil's jacket and quite literally dragging the boy in after him.
"Better than being a stripper." 'Lota retorted as she followed the pair inside.
"Empty ye pockets ye little shit." Hook stated the moment she crossed the thresh hold, gesturing to the sword check.
"It's mostly tools today" 'Lota replied, not moving an inch as Hook shoved Gil into the Shoppe proper.
"Empty ye pockets." Hook repeated. 'Lota rolled her eyes, pulling things out of her skirt and dumping them in a tin off to the side. On a closer inspection, the tin locked and had Lottie's Box scrawled across the top. The sign behind it said Knife Check. He had a feeling it had been created purely for 'Lota.
"Happy?" She asked, shutting the lid with a click.
"Ye still got a knife." Hook gestured to the blade at her hip.
"Nope. If you get to keep the hook, I get to keep a knife Harry. Besides, it's in the open."
"I swear you never used to be like this with weapons." Carlos muttered.
"No, I'm pretty sure I was always like this. Or are you forgetting the time I found a lawnmower in the attic?" Carlos' mind flashed back to the screams and the blood and the fact that his sister had thought it was a good idea to just send a lawnmower down the packed street outside Hell Hall with no way to stop it and he shuddered. 'Lota had been seriously unhinged at some points during their childhood. He still had nightmares about one particular look she always got in her eyes before she did something that would probably end up with a load of people injured if not dead. She had bad days, everyone had bad days, but that day had been her worst. Worse than the bear traps in the closet and the Baduns incident, worse than the time she tried to jump off the roof and even worse than the time she built a grenade and left it in the middle of Dragon Hall to see what would happen.
"That was terrifying." 'Lota laughed. It was her mentally unstable laugh, the laugh that promised pain for a lot of people very soon if he didn't get her away from anything and everything that could be used as a weapon immediately.
"It was fun." Come to think of it, she'd had that look in her eyes the first day she'd dreamed up the machine that could break the barrier.
"Again, how is setting a lawnmower off in a crowded street fun?" Carlos failed to notice how half the Shoppe paused at those words.
"Oh, lighten up. Nobody died." 'Lota scoffed and rolled her eyes, dismissing him with a hand wave the way she always did when he brought up her more catastrophic adventures.
"And you wonder why everyone calls you Charlie Devil 'Lota." As they got older, after they'd found the name Charlotte in a book and 'Lota decided she liked it, they called the good days Charlotte days and the bad days Carlota days. He's yet to see a Carlota day since she jumped out the window, though he's pretty sure that itself was a Carlota day.
"Wait, the lawnmower was you?" Jaz Hook demanded, shoving her way towards the door. "What the fuck Lottie?"
"In my defence, my mother is insane." 'Lota shrugged, like Cruella had forced her to set the lawnmower off. She hadn't. Cruella had been coming up the street when 'Lota set the lawnmower off. In hindsight, that might have had something to do with it.
"For the last time, that's not a defence!" They sounded like this was an argument they'd had multiple times. Not for the first time Carlos wondered what his sister's relationship with Jaz Hook was and once again he decided he probably didn't want to know. He hadn't heard of anything really resembling a Carlota day since 'Lota had met Jaz and that was the only thing he cared about.
Four Months Before The Barrier breaks
"Whoo! Quantum stabiliser's working." 'Lota shoved her chair back away from the table, laughing slightly.
"Working-working? Or Fall-apart-the-moment-we-turn-our-backs-working?" Carlos asked, remembering what had happened the last time 'Lota thought it was working. That little mishap had set them back months.
"Working-working" 'Lota replied, still staring at the machine just in case it blew up on them. For the third time.
"Great. No holes in space-time." 'Los cheered.
"That's always a bonus."
"How's the machine coming?" Mal demanded. Carlos was the only one in Hell Hall that day, Charlie presumably running around the docks like the pirate she pretended to be.
"Quantum Stabiliser's finally working properly, all we need now is to make and fine-tune the directional capacitor to ensure it all hits one spot." Carlos replied, not looking up from the notepad in his hands. "We need a telescope." Mal contemplated asking why they needed a telescope and then decided that she didn't want to know.
"So, Captain, I heard there's a plot to break the barrier" Uma didn't look up as Harry walked into her cabin.
"Lottie and her brother are building a machine to do the job. Mal's orders. Lottie's petty and told me and Harriet." And Harriet told the council. Not that she mentioned that bit to Harry. The council only existed as a way to keep the kids alive. The empty seventh chair was Mal's, but she'd abandoned them and called the whole thing stupid the day before she'd dumped that bucket of shrimp over Uma's head.
"You think they can do it?" Harry's voice drew her out of her thoughts. Uma sighed.
"I don't know about her brother but Lottie? The girl that stole from Maleficent and got away with it? The girl that point blank refuses to believe in magic despite the fact that it's the whole reason we're trapped here? The girl who'd quiet happily set Auradon on fire and laugh as they burned? I think she can do it."
"Careful Uma, people'll start to think ye care." Harry muttered, draping himself over the back of her chair. She'd chosen him as her first mate for a reason.
"What makes you think I don't?" She muttered, too quiet for Harry to hear. He flopped back onto her bed, staring at the ceiling as his hook clattered to the floor. "What makes you think I don't."
Three Months Before The Barrier Breaks
"Hey, it's Lottie's brother. What are you doing down here on your own?" The girl 'Lota had had a yelled conversation with the other month was stood in front of him. Des, or something like that. There were two other girls with her,
"I'm looking for her. Dumbass grabbed my notebook instead of hers last time I saw her."
"Come on up then. She's probably on board somewhere." possibly-Des stated.
"Unless Harry threw her overboard again." The second commented mildly, like it was an everyday thing. Knowing 'Lota, it probably was.
"Nah" The third replied "there haven't been any big splashes or cruses. You know she'd have dragged him over too." he did know that. He knew that very well. Pettiness, thy name is 'Lota.
"Anyway" Des-something-or-other interrupted. "I'm Desiree, this is Alex" she gestured to the second girl. "And Bonny" the third girl.
"Carlos."
"So, Lottie's brother, Lottie's cabin is the second door down on the right. Watch out when you go in, she has a habit of leaving thing everywhere to trip up intruders." Carlos didn't bother asking why 'Lota had a cabin on the ship when she swore up and down that she wasn't a pirate and that she didn't follow Uma. He'd already figured out that the only person his sister was fooling with those statements was herself.
"Well, that's what she says she's doing."
"Lottie's brother. What are you doing on our ship?"
"Looking for 'Lota. And my name is Carlos."
"Then you're out of luck Lottie's brother, she isn't here."
"Any idea where she might be?"
"Nope. She left with Jaz Hook this morning. Neither of them have come back yet."
"You could try the Chip Shoppe." Someone else offered. "She might be there."
"Nope. Haven't seen Lottie since last night." A guy from Uma's crew told him. "If she's with Jaz Hook though, it might be worth checking Hooks Inlet. CJ's on the counter today. They might be there."
"Nope. Sorry Lottie's brother" Carlos glared at CJ. He knew full well that she knew his name.
"Why is everyone calling me Lottie's brother. I know you know my name CJ."
"Because that's what ye are and it's what we do. Everyone's defined by the person that brings 'em back at first. Lottie was Jaz's Lottie for the first coupla months. And Uma was Harry's Uma, though people tend to say Uma's Harry now."
"Do you have any idea where I can find 'Lota? I've checked the Lost Revenge. I've checked the chip Shoppe. I've checked here."
"Ye tried the Forgotten Treasure yet? Harriet mighta called a dock meeting. It's unlikely though." Carlos let his head thunk against the wood of the checkout desk. "Or they could be at barge point, but that wouldn't take all day. Look, Lottie's brother, if ye really wanna find her, wait at the Chip Shoppe. All of Uma's crew end up back there eventually." Carlos rolled his eyes
"'I'm not part of Uma's crew 'Los, what are you on about?'" He mocked. CJ laughed.
"Lottie and Jaz have been following Uma almost as long as Harry has. Oh, they deny it, but despite the fact that they have their own little hideout in the woods, there's beds for both of 'em on the Lost Revenge."
"I know my sister. And 'Lota's no leader."
"Neither's Jaz. Harriet's a born leader, I can lead when I want to, but Jaz and Harry? Harry's basically born to be second in command and leaving Jaz in charge for more than five minutes results in the place being burnt down."
"'Lota knows how to make explosives." CJ winced. Ah, someone else who'd been on the receiving end of 'Lota's crazy plans.
"Who the fuck thought that was a good idea?"
"Hey 'Los. Heard you spent the day looking for me. Any reason?" 'Lota dropped down next to him on the rocks. He'd thought about waiting at the Chip Shoppe, and then realised that he'd be on his own and surrounded by people that would probably quite happily gut him if given the incentive.
"You took my notebook instead of yours." He said, instead of asking where she'd been all day
"Oh, shoot, here you go 'Los." She pulled the notebook out of a pocket, handing it over.
"Why do you keep insisting you and Jaz are your own little group when you clearly follow Uma?" 'Lota frowned slightly, staring at the water.
"Can't let the world forget that I'm a danger on my own." She eventually replied, skirting around the truth, like she always did when Carlos asked a question she didn't want to answer.
"Well, I think that saved my ass today." He said, instead of calling her out on it. "People think I run with Mal now, the fact that everyone keeps calling me 'Lottie's Brother' is probably the only reason nobody tried anything." 'Lota frowned.
"Steer clear of the docks then, unless I'm with you. Especially if more people start calling you one of Mal's." She scoffed "You can't even join a gang right, can you?" He looked at her incredulously.
"Excuse me, you jumped out the window in the middle of the night." 'Lota waved her hand around, like she was dismissing him. Which was stupid. She'd be long dead without him.
"I walked into this with my eyes wide open 'Los." She jabbed him the arm "You got conscripted."
"You jumped out the window." He repeated, standing up. No point sitting around when he'd got what he came for. "On the second floor." 'Lota shrugged.
"Better than jumping off the roof."
"You did that too." He reminded her. They'd been seven. He didn't know why she thought it was a good idea to jump off the roof, but from her explanation that he only half understood, it had something to do with seeing if she could fly. Carlos had hidden anything that even vaguely resembled wings after than.
"Oh, relax 'Los. If I die, I'm going out screaming and covered in someone else's blood."
"Not really very reassuring." 'Lota stopped as they reached the edge of the docks.
"See ya 'Los." She smirked, giving a mock salute. Carlos rolled his eyes. As dramatic as always.
"Bye 'Lota."
A/N: The AKs are coming to the Isle! Vote down in the comments below for who you want to come, and who you want them to meet.
Just to note, when Carlos says their room is on the second floor, I'm using the British way of counting where the first floor of the house is called the ground floor. This is for two reasons, 1) I'm British and 2) 101 Dalmations is set in London.