Okay, new chapter! And it's extra long too! I'm excited for this one, guys!

Oh, and by the way, Ben's flashback and anything meant for emphasis is in italics while everything else in the present is in non-italics or non-bold. That counts for the character's dialogue in this beginning part here too.

Enjoy!

"Ben? Ben? Ben!"

Darkness. It was the one thing he could see clearly in this twisted memory of his, though that was a complete lie as you cannot see darkness but only feel it. Laughter surrounded him as his vision was blocked by something which he assumed was a blindfold. Slowly, he tried to force his hands free and out of the tight knotted rope that was keeping them restrained behind his back, to no avail.

Desperately, he wanted to cover his ears to block out the taunting and cackling that echoed throughout the small room he was in but, deep inside, he knew he couldn't. It'd still be there. It'd always be there. There was no escaping it.

At least, not yet.

No, soon. He could barely untie his hands for one, and there was no way he'd be able to get up for two. He'd have to wait. Yes, that's what he'd have to do. He'd have to wait till somebody came in, opened the door and then he could make an exit.

Then is when he'd have his chance to escape.

Suddenly the sound of a door swinging filled his ears but the sound of said object slamming shut quickly replaced it. As he sighed and blinked, he knew someone stood in front of him; someone evil and someone dangerous.

"Well, hello Beastie Boy. Nice to see that my newest….crew member, let's say, is adjusting fairly nicely."

Suddenly the blindfold—or whatever it was—was ripped off his eyes, but that was no better. His vision was foggy, blurry almost, and the only thing he could make out was a girl; a girl who looked like Moana but didn't quite fit the picture.

Her hair was painted brown and her matching chocolatey brown eyes were one of the only things he could make out clearly. They sparkled, but not the kind of nice sparkle Mal's beautiful green eyes had. No, these eyes—these dark, evil brown eyes—were haunting and piercing like a stab to the heart. The way Ben could describe it? Well, those eyes were anything but nice.

He felt himself being turned around and suddenly the rope around his wrists loosed and broke free. Even so though, Ben couldn't bring himself to get up and escape. It was too predictable, he'd have to figure out where he was first and make a plan from there.

"I-I don't think he's okay, Coach."

"Alright, Jay, Carlos, move him over to the bench. Chad, go fetch Mal."

"What? What am I, a dog?"

"Who are you?" He screamed. His voice felt hoarse and raspy, though not so much as it would be if he had a cold or virus of some type. However, despite the fact that he was trying with all his strength, his voice wouldn't allow him to be loud enough so that he could be properly heard. It was impossible.

"I don't care what you are as long as you're a supporter for this team and your teammates! Now, go get Mal! This is the team captain we're talking about here, Chad, so unless you wanna lose your position, I suggest you go get her."

"Nobody that you need to know of," the stranger replied and he suddenly felt a kick to his ankle and a step on his arm, followed by a snap. He held back a scream and instead forced it down his throat, squeezing his eyes shut in the process. A moment later he heard footsteps and the door slam shut, followed by a blood-curdling scream of "Keep your guard up, Gil!"

Breathing heavily—almost to the point of where he was panting—he opened his eyes and closed them, repeating the process back and forth. Not only that, but whatever he was on—whatever boat, plane, whatever it is—kept rocking back and forth too and not in the nice, calming way the Titanic did before it hit that historical iceberg and sent everyone to their deaths. No, instead this—this made him seasick and this made him hopeless.

Because, for once, Ben did not have a clue on what to do.

But just because he didn't know what to do didn't mean he didn't know what he could do. So, as he closed his eyes, the king succumbed to the darkness and fell under the spell of unconsciousness once more.

"Ben! Ben! Ben, are you okay?"

"Huh?" The groggy king groaned and blinked as slowly came to. He instantly noticed his girlfriend's eyes were peering down at him. Her deep green eyes that could usually change emotions in an instant were now staring him down in concern and worry as she sat on the bench with him, dressed in her usual P.E. wear; a yellow and white t-shirt with royal blue shorts to match the school colours, of course.

But he wasn't focused on what she was wearing. Instead, he was focused on what was unsettling her.

"Mal? What—What happened?" The young king asked as he began to sit up, only for the purple-haired Isle girl to softly push him down and hand him an ice pack.

"You fainted during tourney," Mal explained, "Or at least, that's what Chad and Jay said, so it's best you lie down for a while so you don't get too dizzy. Fairy Godmother's already gotten you permission to be excused from your next class if you still need some more time."

"That's good to know," the king muttered. "But, Mal, I-I don't think that's why I passed out."

The daughter of Maleficent looked confused for a moment before realization struck her. "You think you had another flashback?" She questioned in a hushed voice, curiously.

"I think so," Ben answered as he took the ice pack off his head and slowly began to sit up—and this time Mal didn't try to stop him. "I—I don't remember much of it though."

Upon hearing this, Mal sighed, but quickly smiled a warm smile when she saw how disappointed her boyfriend looked. "Hey," She assured him as she swiftly grabbed the young king's hand. "It's okay. It's rare that you ever remember what you saw in your flashbacks since most people don't. Sometimes, after all, it may be for the best." Mal explained, looking away for a moment as if she suddenly remembered something. "Sometimes the truth is worse than the unknown."

Ben smiled at this, nodding slightly at his supportive his girlfriend was being, making sure not to comment on the last part. If he had still been with Audrey, he'd doubt he'd even be able to talk to her about what was going on, never mind explain or answer questions about it.

"Thanks, Mal," The young king said after a while. "It's nice knowing you have my back."

Just as the Isle girl was about to open her mouth to respond, the bell took over their conversation instead. The loud machine sounded as Coach Jenkins blew his whistle at the same, letting the team know it was time to shower and get off to their next class, while also gesturing to the power couple, letting them know it was okay if they wished to stay.

They didn't, however, and the two teens got up from the bench instead, with Ben leaning on Mal and Mal supporting him, as the young king was still a bit dizzy, but nonetheless fine. The two had then began walking back to the school in silence until Mal spoke up.

"So," the purple-haired fairy started, smiling, as the two made their way to their next period class. "What do you remember about your flashback?"

"Not much really. It was fishy, and salty, but it didn't seem like it was anywhere near bodies of water, so it might've just been my mind playing tricks on me," Ben said, telling half of the truth. He remembered a little more, but also didn't want to describe what he saw. Let's just say, it wasn't something you'd see in a PG-13 movie.

Later that day.

"Alright, M, what's going on?" Evie asked as she barged into their dorm with Jay and Carlos right behind her. Both her and Ben seemed so distant lately and she wanted to know why. "Why have you and Ben been so aloof lately?"

Upon seeing her friends march into the room, Mal looked up from where she was drawing on her bed and huffed before glancing back down. "I don't know what you're talking about," She replied, deciding to play it dumb.

"Oh, come on!" Jay groaned as he pulled out a chair and sat backwards on it, crossing his arms as they rested on the back. "We've been friends forever and we know something's up with you and Ben. Why not just tell us?"

Mal huffed once more and repeated her statement from earlier. "Ben and I are fine," She repeated, "He's not hiding anything, I can tell you guys that for sure. If anything, he's just a shaken up from missing three weeks of his life—you guys, out of all people, should understand that. We're from the Isle; people get hurt all the time there."

"If he's not hiding anything then why didn't he tell us why he fainted in tourney?" Carlos questioned. He held Dude in his hands and was previously playing with him, but now just laid him down to sleep softly as said fourteen year old sat on Evie's bed.

"'Cause somebody shoved him when he wasn't looking and his head connected with the field!" Mal shouted in disbelief. She didn't really like lying to her friends, but Ben didn't want anyone else to know about what he went through except his parents, Fairy Godmother, and Mal herself. Well, some of the teachers also knew too, but they were given a cover story (that Ben was on a business trip and got hit by a car, causing him to have amnesia of the last three weeks before that) so that no questions whatsoever would be asked.

Carlos shook his head and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, we know that—we were there—"

"But he was acting weird a few days before that," Jay finished for the younger boy.

"Yeah, remember when he had to be excused from Mr. DeLay's?" Evie pitched in, which caused Mal to bite her lip and stare up at her friends in worry.

She totally forgot that her friends shared Mr. DeLay's class with her and Ben. It was the only class they had together but totally forgot about it due to the assigned seats Mr. DeLay gave them (and, oddly enough, he paired every one of them who was dating together—except Jay and Carlos, of course, since Audrey and Jane didn't have that class).

Oh, man, Ben was gonna be mad.

"Mal? M, you okay?"

"Huh?" Snapping out of her trance, Mal immediately looked towards her friends, who had concerned expressions on their faces. Sighing, she directed her glance towards her—ugh, pink—bed sheets before she returned to their gaze. "Fine," She said after a minute of thinking, "I'll tell you why Ben's so…stressed lately." Her eyes had then hardened and for the first time since the coronation, she could feel them glowing green. "But you can't tell anyone. This isn't even my secret to tell, so a word to anyone—and I mean anyone—and there will be consequences." Mal added the last part for good measure, her eyes flashing green for a second, helping support her statement.

"Okay, fine. Gotcha. Whatever," the three former villains chorused simultaneously.

"Good." Taking a deep breath, Mal closed her sketchbook and pushed it under her pillow before gesturing for Evie to shut the door, to which the blue-haired raven did before returning to her friends. "Now, don't freak out," She told them. "But Ben wasn't in a car accident."

This caught everyone's attention, as Carlos and Jay looked up from what they were doing, stunned, as Evie gasped a gasp in shock.

"What do you mean?" The intelligent boy asked, confused, as he silently wondered if he heard the purple-haired girl right.

"He was kidnapped," the former Isle girl clarified for her three friends.

"Oh my gosh," Evie breathed. She'd heard of people who went missing, but to actually know one of them? Well, she couldn't imagine that. She couldn't imagine it and she wouldn't dare do so either. She wouldn't dare imagine how it felt to be tore away from everything you'd ever knew and loved, even if it was for such a short time period like three weeks.

"He's been having flashbacks about what ever happened ever since," the daughter of Maleficent continued explaining. "Kind of like the ones we used to have back on the Isle and while we were stuff adjusting to all this goodness stuff."

"And that's why he passed out in tourney," Jay realized.

"'Cause he was triggered by something," Carlos added.

Mal glanced down at her hands and nodded silently before Evie started questioning her again.

"So what does he see in them?" The Evil Queen's daughter questioned, curiously. "In his flashbacks, I mean, of course."

Mal sighed. "I don't know," She confessed. "They're the exact same as ours used to be except more traumatic, I think. They may not be as traumatic on our level, as he hasn't seen as bad of things as we have, but I wouldn't be shocked if it wasn't worse than all of ours combined."

"So he doesn't remember anything." It was a statement Carlos said, not a question.

Mal nodded. "Exactly." She had then thought for a moment before remembering what Ben told her earlier. "Well, not all that exact. He remembers bits and pieces of it, but can never seem to remember the people in it. All he remembered from last time were these brown eyes and that he was in something that seemed to be rocking back and forth."

Evie looked confused. "A pirate ship?" She asked, hopefully, before Jay came crushing on her dreams.

"Nah, that's not it," the son of Jafar replied, "Everything rocks back and forth when it's old, Eve. Remember that abandoned helicopter we found while exploring the Forbidden Forest back on the Isle? The one that was home to those coyotes?"

"To be fair," Evie said, holding up her index finger, "It was only rocking back and forth because of the heavy coyotes inside of it."

"Plus, Ben said he didn't think it was near any bodies of water," Mal added in.

"Anyway," Carlos interrupted, casting a glance towards the two dark-haired teens, weirdly. He had then sighed before continuing, having now everybody's attention directed on to him. "We need more information and evidence before we plan anything first. All we have is that Ben was on some form of rocking transportstion with someone who had brown eyes. That could be anyone on the Isle or in Auradon, which doesn't exactly bring us very close to figuring out who's behind this."

The young fourteen year old had then stood up from his spot on Evie's bed with Dude in his hands as he tossed Mal something that seemed to resemble one of Evie's magic mirrors. "What's this?" The daughter of Maleficent questioned, turning over the small object in her palm.

"They're called MMTs," The blue-haired girl answered as she took her own out of her pocket. "Short for Mirror Mess-Techs. It's kind of like a phone, but they resemble my mother's magic mirror instead of an A-Phone. They have messaging, cameras, locators, GPS, apps, whatever you need. The only difference from my mother's original is that it doesn't respond to spells, but that's about it."

"So it's basically a phone?"

Evie nodded. "Exactly." She had then gestured and let Carlos take the lead.

"So we can use this thing to call or each other in case Ben has anymore flashbacks or in case anything else happens. That we can stay in touch and put this thing together piece by piece. Maybe suggest he writes down whatever he remembered in a book or something before he forgets though, as it might help for future references."

"Got it," Mal replied. As her three friends stood up from where they were sitting (well, Jay did, as Carlos had already stood up and Evie was hanging out near her bedpost) and left the room, she quickly sighed and flopped down on her bed dramatically. She was glad her friends understood and were up for helping her and Ben (more specifically him than her), but she was also worried. Ben, Beast and Belle had specifically instructed her not to tell anyone the truth about what happened.

And with what she'd just done, she was wondering how they'd react.

Yay! I'm so proud of this chapter! I think it's our best one yet!

I kinda wanted to post this quickly though since my wrist has been hurting for a while (the one I use for writing too, great). I'm pretty sure it's nothing though, besides a little side effect from what I did to it in December (stupid driveways XD), so I should be fine, since that was like, eight months ago or so.

But anyway, please let me know what you guys think! Do you think we should write out Ben's flashbacks more often? Do you think he's gonna remember who his kidnapper is and what do you think's gonna happen in the end?

Reviews are appreciated, haha. XD.

~Star