Nikki decided she liked cheap alcohol.

It was bitter, foul-tasting liquid, but it had a certain kick to it that fine wine and champagne didn't have. Besides that, nobody seemed to care when she knocked over her tankard by accident. If she'd been at home, she would've been severely reprimanded by first her tutor, then her mother, for staining the fine white tablecloth with the dark red drink. Here, she just filled it back up and apologized, but nobody snapped at her for the mess.

"This stuff is gross," Neil hissed to her.

"I know," she replied. "Isn't it great?"

"No! I'd rather be drinking fine wine right now than sitting in this stinking bar with a bunch of criminals."

"They're better than the stuffy nobles." Nikki chugged down a third serving, then felt her vision go blurry. "Besides, being here on the outside is better. No rules, no responsibilities, and no arranged marriages so Mom can get richer."

"Sounds like a shitty life," Max sighed. "And… you'd better stop for now."

"Why?"

"Because this is your first time drinking this shit and you've already had two refills. We already have Campbell as the resident drunk; we don't need you getting shit-faced. Also, there's a lot of people here. You never know what they're going to do to a girl like you."

"Plus, you have a smaller body than most of us here," Neil pointed out. "It takes a lot less to get you drunk."

"Whatever." She stood up. "I'm getting one more."

She headed over to the bar and a man with pale brown hair was sitting there.

"Pay for your drink?" he asked her, smirking.

"What do you mean?" she replied, tilting her head.

"I mean, I'll buy you a drink. Anything you want."

"Just more beer, then, please." He seemed nice. He called the bartender over, who gave Nikki her fourth beer of the night. She drank it down and the man smiled again.

"So, what's a pretty girl like you doing in a place like this?"

"Escaping my mother," she told him bluntly.

"Well, it's nice to meet you." His hand moved to her thigh and alarm bells started going off in her head. But he was so nice! "I'm Jason. And you are?" He squeezed and she felt the need to go.

"Nikki." She tried to move away, but he grabbed her wrist.

"Leaving already? But we were just getting to know—"

He was cut off as a sun-shade hand punched him in the face, knocking him to the floor. She looked up to see Max standing there, his hand still in a fist as he glared at the man before him.

"Hey, buddy, watch yourself!" he snapped. Jason narrowed his eyes.

"The lady and I were just talking."

"Uh-huh. And I'm a fucking prince. I saw you grab her. I'm not a moron like you."

"And who are you to judge me, thief?!" Jason stood up. He was a good six inches taller than Max, who was at least five-foot-ten. "You're the scum of society, not even fit to lick my boots."

"Better a thief than a fucking rapist and pervert." Max's minty eyes, normally filled with disdain, were now full of anger.

"Ha! I know who you are, Max. And I know that no woman would ever stand by you, no matter how many times you defended—"

Suddenly, a fist went flying into his face, again knocking him on his ass. This time, it was Nikki who had thrown a punch.

"I guess I'm no woman, then," she chuckled.

"Hey, Millers!" Max called. The two owners stuck their heads in. "Escort this guy out. He's a little… touchy."

"Thanks." The two older men came out and dragged Jason out by the clothes. Nikki let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank you, Max." She felt a little woozy all of a sudden. He gripped her upper arms, keeping her upright.

"Nikki, did that guy buy you a drink?"

"Yeah…" His face was blurry. Why was his face blurry?

"Shit. Try to stay awake."

His voice sounded so far away, and she was so sleepy.

"Nikki, stay awake. Don't fall asleep."

"He was nice about it," she slurred. "He gave me a beer."

"Yeah, and he put some shit in it that he wasn't supposed to. Nikki, please stay awake."

Sleep sounded nice, though. Nikki let herself slump over, but Max shook her.

"No. No. Don't fall asleep. That's bad. You hear me? Stay the fuck awake."

"I wanna sleep."

"You can sleep when we get back."

His voice was echoing again as the world seemed to be underwater. How did she get underwater? Last time she checked, she was in a pub in Sleepy Peak. And why was Max so freaked out all of a sudden? Oh, and there was Neil. He was just as freaked out, calling for her not to fall asleep.

Sleep sounded so good, though.

The world around her went black.

"Nikki!" Max shook the now-unconscious girl and she slumped over onto his chest. "Dammit!"

"What happened?!" Neil asked.

"That fucker did something to her drink. I don't know what, but it was probably something to at least knock her out for a few hours."

"Why?!"

"You're that naïve?" Max picked Nikki up bridal-style. "Why do guys drug drinks?"

"To kill people. That's what happened to King William."

"Not out here. More often, it's so they can…" His voice trailed off and Neil got his meaning.

"Wait, seriously?! He wanted to do that to her?!"

"Yep." He handed some pieces of gold to Ered, who accepted it with a worried look. "And now we have to get her back to the caravan before something else bad happens."

"Okay." Neil seemed very nervous, but he followed Max out the door.

Going through the streets carrying an unconscious body rarely raised eyebrows in Sleepy Peak. It was normal for the area—whether it be a sibling blacked out from alcohol, a victim of disease, or somebody who hurt themselves badly. This was no exception, and most of the people knew Max as a decent guy. Especially for a thief. They simply waved to him as he passed and he gave them a shrug. Neil found it odd but didn't say anything.

They reached the caravan within minutes. Lizzie was already asleep, but the other adults (save for Cameron Campbell the Chronic Drunk) were sitting around the dying fire. David was working on his music, Gwen was writing, and Jaspar was tending the flames. It was Gwen who spotted the teenagers first and immediately jumped to her feet.

"Maximillian, what the fuck happened?!" she asked, crossing her arms.

"Some asshole spiked her drink with something," he replied. "I clocked the guy in the face, but it was too late."

"Let me take a look at her," David urged. Max laid Nikki on the ground gently and David began feeling her neck. "Well, her heart's still beating strong. It was probably just a strong drug."

"Yeah, I figured, but the damage was done."

"Fucker," Gwen muttered.

"Hey, she got in a hit, too, before the drugs kicked in."

"Good girl." Gwen put a hand on Nikki's forehead. "She's got a fever."

"Considering she had four beers, I was amazed she didn't pass out sooner."

"Queen Candy has a famously-high alcohol tolerance," Neil spoke up. "My guess is that Nikki inherited that."

"I agree," Jaspar stated. "Let's get her inside so she can sleep."

"I'll take her," Max volunteered, picking her up again. He brought her into the wagon where Lizzie was asleep and put her on the straw bed that had once belonged to him. That was before he'd reached sixteen and Gwen had asked him to move into the other wagon.

"Max?" Lizzie mumbled in her sleep.

"I'm right here, Lizard," he whispered, going over and giving his sister a kiss on the forehead. "Good night."

"Night." She snuggled back down and Max glanced over at Nikki. She'd settled in the bed and was curled up like she hadn't been drugged by a rapist less than an hour before. Max sighed and left the wagon.

"Thanks for getting her out of there," Neil told Max as the curly-haired man sat down. "I couldn't have done it. How'd you even notice she was in trouble?"

"Simple. She's an attractive girl getting drunk in a pub who had a stranger start talking to her. I went over the second he put his hand on her thigh because I know where his mind was going. It wasn't a good place."

"Motherfucker. What a bastard."

"I know."

"…did you just call her attractive?"

"What? I'm not blind. I know when somebody looks sexy without trying."

"It's just…"

"Watch it. I'm not going there with her. Especially since she just broke off an engagement."

"Well, technically—"

"Nope. There's no other way to phrase it. She dumped her fiancé's ass and left him at the altar." He took his canteen off his hip and sipped some water. "So, how are you so close to Her Highness?"

"Me? Oh, well, my father's the royal philosopher and I'm the royal alchemist. Nikki and I grew up together and we've always been close friends. Almost like brother and sister." He frowned. "I've been meaning to ask… why were you outside the church yesterday?"

"You really want to know?" Neil nodded. "I was going to steal Nikki's crown after the ceremony."

"Really?"

"Yep. Campbell went in to cause a distraction so somebody would escort the princess out and I could grab the tiara while they were running. Then Nikki smashed the window and I just wanted to keep her from busting her ankles when I caught her."

"You're kind of selfish."

"I wanted to sell the crown so I could give us a permanent home and not have to steal again."

"Oh. That's a lot less selfish."

"Thank you for your input." Max stood up and stretched. "Well, good night."

Candy let out a sigh as the captain of the guard reported that they'd had no luck finding the princess, her kidnapper, or the royal alchemist. To top it off, the man who had interrupted the wedding was also nowhere to be found. The strange creature that had accompanied him had vanished into thin air.

"I'm sorry about all this," she told Prince Edward. "I just keep worryin' about my little angel, with that monster who kidnapped her."

"It's understandable, Your Majesty. Your daughter is your only family member left. Of course you would worry about her."

"I just wish we had some way to track her down."

"Might I make a suggestion, Your Majesty?" asked Snake, one of Edward's companions.

"Yes, of course."

"Why not send someone to stake out Sleepy Peak? It's a den of thieves, murderers, and all sorts of criminals. The kidnapper would eventually have to go through there, with the princess in tow."

"That's a great idea. The only question is, who do I send?" Captain Baker (the head of the guards) cleared his throat. "Yes, Captain Baker?"

"I'd like to put my stepdaughter forth as a candidate," he stated. "She's smart, agile, and strong, and I have no doubt she'd be able to charm the kidnapper into revealing what he did with the princess."

"Your stepdaughter?"

"Rosemary."

"What can she do?"

"My proposal is that we send her to Sleepy Peak undercover and have her discover whatever information on the kidnapper she can—his whereabouts, his habits, what he did with the princess. Anything that could help us locate and capture him."

"That seems like the best course of action," Edward advised the queen.

"Bring her in!" Queen Candy declared.

Within minutes, a girl with long, dark brown hair and tanned skin was brought before the queen. Her green eyes scanned the room, taking into account all possible exits and whoever might try to attack her. She then curtsied, her simple clothes telling of her status as stepdaughter to the captain of the guard.

"Your Majesty," she greeted the woman on the throne. "Why have you summoned me?"

"I have a job for you, Rosemary," the queen replied. "What do you know of Sleepy Peak?"

"It's a devil's nest, Your Majesty. An absolute cesspool of crime and criminals. A haven for them."

"I want you to infiltrate it." Rosemary looked up.

"Pardon, Your Majesty?"

"I want you to go there and keep an eye out for my daughter and the man who kidnapped her. Find out what you can. Whatever you can to bring him to justice."

"When would you like me to leave?"

"Tomorrow, if possible. We want the princess brought home safely."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Rosemary curtsied again. "I'll try my best not to let you down."

Nikki let out a groan as she came to. Her head was pounding and her mouth felt like it was full of cotton. She looked around and realized she was back in the wagon. And it was moving already.

What happened last night?

She vaguely remembered somebody buying her a drink… then he put his hand on her thigh… then Max punched him and called him a rapist. But beyond that, everything else was too fuzzy to recognize. She groaned and held her head.

"You're awake," Max stated. He was sitting across from her, Lizzie nowhere to be seen.

"What happened? Where's your sister?"

"You got drugged. And Lizzie's riding with Campbell and Neil today. Gwen said you and I needed to be alone for a while."

"Oh. Wait, how did I get drugged? The last thing I remember even semi-clearly is you calling that guy a rapist."

"And I was right. He put something in your drink that was supposed to knock you out so he could take you somewhere and fuck you." His blunt statement made her blush furiously in relief and embarrassment.

"Oh, God… thank you for punching him, then."

"You punched him after I did." Max smirked. "Knocked him flat on his perverted ass."

"I did? Cool!" Her eyes lit up with excitement. "I've never punched anything except a window!"

"And how'd you break it without cutting your hand?"

"I ripped the veil off my crown and wrapped my hand in it first."

"To cushion the blow!" Max slapped his forehead. "Of course. That sounds better than punching it with your bare hands."

Nikki looked at his hands and saw they were covered in scars.

"Is that what happened to you?"

"Only a few of them, actually. The rest are from those bastards known as the 'child dealers'."

"Child dealers? I've never heard of them."

"They're a group that finds unwanted kids—often buying them from the parents—and sells them to people who want cheap workers. It's rare for one of those kids to actually find a family."

"You were one of them?"

"Hell no. My parents sold me off when I was four and I was in their system for three years. I tried escaping, and it didn't work until I ran into David. He paid the guy chasing me and that was it. I haven't gone back since."

"Wow… there are really people like that, who will just sell kids?"

"They're shitty people, but yeah, they exist." Max let out a sigh. "It's why we have someone with Lizzie at all times. Even though they usually buy the kids, they're not above kidnapping to get a really young one. Fucking assholes."

"That's awful."

"I know."

"If… if I have to go back and become queen, the first thing I'm doing is launching a hunt for those people and locking them up." Max stared at her. "What?"

"That's… a good idea."

"It's not right for the kids to just be sold like that. They're human beings, not objects." Max looked out the window.

"I couldn't agree more."

Nikki fell silent for a few minutes, then bit her lip.

"Why did you catch me?"

"Because you would've broken your ankles when you hit the cobblestones. That shit fucking hurts. Then the guards were after you, and I knew you wouldn't be able to get anywhere fast, so I brought you with me."

"You were outside the church for a reason."

"Your crown."

"What?"

"I was going to steal it. I was going to steal your crown and sell it so my family could be stable for the rest of our lives."

Nikki blinked.

That's… really sweet, actually.

"Well, the crown is a family heirloom," Nikki explained with a sigh. "It kind of needs to stay in the kingdom. I'm sending it back to my mother, along with my wedding dress, once we reach the next town. I was going to do it in Sleepy Peak, but then stuff happened."

"Shit."

"Hey. The only stuff I'm sending back is the dress and the crown. Everything else was brand new, bought specifically for the wedding. That stuff, you guys can sell."

"Thanks."

"I'm going to give Cameron my earrings, though. He's the only reason I was able to get out of there."

"He'll be grateful."

"We've stopped." Max tapped Nikki, who had fallen back asleep after their conversation. He guessed she was sleeping off the hangover and the drugs. She mumbled something and opened her magenta eyes. They had a half-lidded look that made Max stiffen as she sat up.

"We have?" she asked.

"Yeah. We're a couple days away from our next destination, so we have to make camp for the night."

"Sorry I've been so useless."

"You're new to this whole thing. You'll get the hang of it." He headed out the door. "Gwen made stew. You should eat."

He stepped onto the ground and took a deep breath before heading over to the campfire. Campbell was talking Neil's ear off about some scheme he'd performed during his glory days as a con man in Lilac, back before Nikki and Neil had even been born. Jaspar was checking the map for their next destination. Gwen was working on her writing. David was trying to keep Lizzie from making too much of a mess with her stew.

"How's Nikki?" Neil inquired, glad to leave Campbell's story at a dramatic cliffhanger.

"She's awake now," Max told him. "I think it's pretty much worked its way out of her at this point."

"Good. So she's okay?"

"What happened to Nikki?" Lizzie asked worriedly.

"Somebody tried to do something bad to her," Gwen explained to her daughter. "Max stopped them, and now Nikki's okay."

Nikki emerged from the wagon, her hair messier than usual as she sat down and accepted the stew from Gwen.

"Thank you," she sighed.

"Are you okay?" Lizzie inquired.

"I'm fine, Lizzie. Just a little sleepy."

"Yay!" Max shrugged and went back to his own meal. "Max saved you from the bad guy, right?"

"Yeah."

"So you're the princess, and he's your knight in shining armor!"

Max choked on his stew, coughing and spluttering while Lizzie giggled.

"What makes you think he's a knight?" Nikki asked the little girl.

"Well, in stories, the knight always saves his princess from the bad guys! And he's not a knight. He's your knight."

"A very important distinction," Neil added.

"Neil, stay out of this," Max warned, holding up his spoon threateningly.

"I'm just saying she makes a fair point."

"He's not wrong," Gwen agreed.

"I'm going to go for a walk," Max sighed, getting up. "Lizzie, you can have the rest of my stew."

"Yay!"

Quick notes since this is the third chapter and I haven't had any yet.

This story was inspired by the series Disenchantment on Netflix. It's a good series, so watch it if you have the chance.

The scene with Max punching Jason was important. Jason will be an antagonist later, so we needed to set up conflict.

You might have noticed that I added in a familiar face if you've read any of my other Camp Camp stories. Rosemary was a prominent character in "The Final Bell" and is the main character of "Horror Camp". She will also be in "School of Rock", "Max the Wood Scout", and "Max and the Mystery of Sleepy Peak Lodge" as a minor character.

And finally, I'd love to see some art for this AU. Specifically, I need a cover for the Fanfiction edition of this story. I'll credit you and everything. You can send any art for this AU to me on Tumblr. I have the same name there that I do here.

So long and thanks for all the fish!