Chapter Ninety Six

A/N: I do not own anything other than my OCs when they come out to play. Everything else belongs to either Disney or the Greek Myths.

*ducks projectiles* Hey all, sorry this took so long! I don't have any excuses, just real life getting in the way—plus multiple attempts to write a book to publish. Fun fact, for some reason while I can make fanfiction come out of me like water from a hose, original fiction is like a trickle and it's freaking annoying!

But yeah, I'll do my best to make sure this doesn't get delayed in the future!

Hope you guys enjoy this chapter! Let me know what you think! :D

Alexandria grinned as she grabbed her scroll. Though there was a small part of her that hoped she'd get a good scroll and not a depressing one.

Mal sighed as she looked at the calendar.

"Why are you sighing now?" Hadie groaned.

The day had finally arrived—Cotillion.

"Oh! Wait…that's a good thing right?" Hadie asked.

Malinda chuckled. "Yes Hadie, that's a good thing."

"Then why are you still sighing?!"

After tonight, the buckets of stress she had been dealing with would be over and she could finally relax. It was a massive check on her to-do list.

"Good," Hades and Persephone said at the same time.

That wasn't to say she wouldn't be dealing with any stress. She'd be a Lady of Ben's court, and would deal with all the responsibilities that came with it.

"At least we'll be able to get through it together," Benji said, holding Malinda close to him.

But for tonight, at least, she'd be able to relax and simply enjoy time with her boyfriend.

"Which, honestly, seems to be a rarity for you two," Emir said.

That's if I don't trip over the dress or make a fool of myself in some other way, she thought as she made her way to her shared dorm.

"You'll be fine Mal," Emma said.

"So, just double checking that we're not going to keep Natalie in our employ?" Phil Jr asked, looking at his parents. "I mean, if her impact was so great that Mal's still echoing her words even if they're just in her head, what could she be doing to Audrey?"

The dress was beautiful and, thanks to Uma, it would at least look decent in that it was one color. But...it still wasn't her.

"I'll drink to that!" Harry nodded before pausing from a look from Harriet, Persephone, Hades, James, and Mliah. "I meant metaphorically!"

I'll suck it up though. This is Ben's night just as much as it's mine. Besides, it's a dress. Your coronation dress was much, much worse and you survived that.

Malinda shook her head. "The coronation dress was beautiful…though I could have done without the high collar."

"I'll...I'll make sure I remember that for this go-around," Evie said softly. "That is...if I still make your dress."

Besides, stop thinking you'll make a fool of yourself. Okay? That's Natalie talk and tonight's your night. You don't need her words clogging up your brain.

"Attagirl!" Harry, Hades, and Hadie cheered.

"Hey Mal," Uma said, pulling Mal out of her thoughts and Mal couldn't help but smile as she saw her cousin in her own Cotillion dress.

"Gods it's a shame there's no video," Audie said. "The dress truly was stunning in my timeline, at least it was in the viewing. Though where Uma got it still perplexes me."

"Wouldn't Evie have made it?" Dizzy asked and Audie realized she'd said a little too much.

Sure it might have been a bit early to be getting ready but Uma would take the longest. Just because of all the arguing she'd do to try to avoid anything remotely 'prissy'.

Audrey rolled her eyes. "Honestly, it's a dress. You won't die if you look nice one time."

"Huh, I thought it had been too pleasant in here," Emir said.

"Hey cuz," she said, closing the door behind her. "Evie, that dress is stunning. Everyone's eyes are going to be on Uma tonight for sure."

"Maybe not all the eyes but one important set would definitely be on Uma," Malinda said, looking at Harry knowingly.

"Yeah right Mal. Tonight's your night. All eyes are going to be on you," Uma scoffed but couldn't help the small smile that tugged at her lips.

"As they should be," Benji said with a small smile before kissing Malinda on top of her head.

Evie beamed as she helped Uma get into the teal boots she designed to go with the dress. No Auradon heels for this pirate captain. "Thanks Mal. In all honesty, I'm really happy with the way it came out. I just wish I could see how the guys like their suits—Doug's dropping them off for them before he gets changed into his."

"We're trusting Stalky with something as important as this?" Uma asked.

She'd even managed to make a small suit for Hadie, as Evie figured that Mal would want her brother at Cotillion as well. It was a simple design, just a black suit and tie but the jacket had a wave of blue near the helm, almost making it look like flames were creeping up the jacket.

Hadie tilted his head; as 'stuffy' as it may be he had to admit that didn't sound that bad.

"You gotta trust in Evie!" Dizzy said with a grin as she looked over at Hadie.

Perfect for the son of the Lord of the Underworld.

"She's not wrong!" Lonnie smiled.

Mal and Uma shared a small smile as Mal walked over to her bed, hoping to find the garment bag that held her dress for Cotillion.

Benji and Malinda smiled at the image that produced. Well image for Benji, memory for Malinda.

Evie and Doug had spent the morning scurrying over campus, delivering dresses for their classmates and a cape for Chad.

Kitty shook her head. "I still can't believe you bought a cape," she chuckled.

In all honesty, Mal couldn't help but think that Evie would be more happy with the end of Cotillion than Mal.

"...From the sounds of it ... .you're not entirely wrong but then it also sounds like the work will help me so I'll do it," Evie said.

"Um...Evie? Where's the garment bag?" Mal asked as she stopped by her bed. The only thing that was on there was Estelle, who wagged his tail as Mal walked up.

"Oooh I'm surprised Evie hasn't shooed him off. Dog hair near a new dress? Especially one that's going to be seen on camera?" Evan said.

"Have you ever tried to shoo a Cerberus?" Hadie asked.

His purple bowties looked so good against his dark fur. Smiling slightly, Mal gave her dog a gentle scratch behind the ears as she turned to look at the two blue haired girls. "Did something happen to the dress?"

"Good question," Lucy said, frowning slightly.

"You could say that Mali," Uma said with a smirk. "Go get it Princess. I'm not going to run off. I actually want to see Mal in this."

"Okay now you know something's up," Jay said, teasing Uma who just rolled her eyes.

"Okay, now I'm worried. You two are getting along and Uma's excited over a dress of all things," Mal said as Evie chuckled, ducking into their wardrobe to get a different garment bag. The one that had held the previous dress had been a navy blue but this bag, this one was a dark purple.

"The color the bag should be!" Hadie said. "Dad's color might be blue but everyone knows Mal's color is purple."

"We had a little change in the design," Evie said gently. "The other dress is still available if you find you don't like this one but...I have a feeling you will. This dress, well it just feels like it's more you in a way."

"And it was beautiful E, one of your best," Malinda says.

Mal raised an eyebrow as she rested the garment bag on the bed and opened it. She stared in shock as she looked at the dress. Sure it wasn't the most fanciest but that didn't matter. It wouldn't have been out of place on the Isle if she was being honest. And yeah there was no leather but leather didn't exactly breathe all that well.

Mal gasped softly at the description of the dress. It truly sounded like something she would wear.

"Evie..." Mal gasped as she held it up, smiling a little as she saw that the skirt of the dress almost looked like dragon scales. "Did...did you make the sleeves look like dragon wings?"

Yep, I'd bet any money that's the dress Mal wore at VK Day in my timeline, Audie thought with a small smile. Nice to know that something's don't change across timelines.

"I took inspiration from your green dress, you know the one where the sleeves look like butterfly wings," Evie said with a smile. "You seemed to really like that one, even after you went back to wearing your Isle clothes. Plus I remembered that all your stuff from the Isle almost looked like the sleeves were wings."

"...You're really getting to know Mal," Hadie said in surprise.

"Try it on Mal," Uma said and Mal had to note that her cousin did not seem all that shocked about the recent development.

"Of course not!" Uma grinned

"Did you know about this?"

Uma chuckled. "Of course I did. Evie asked me to keep it a secret from you, since we've entered a parley of sorts. Just until Cotillion ends that is. After that, I make no promises."

"I'll take that," Evie nodded.

"That's fair," Evie nodded. "After Cotillion, if you want, I could talk to Ben about changing rooms? I think the coronation is finally out of everyone's mind that I'd be able to be with an AK girl—."

"Honestly" Snow sighed, shaking her head at the stupidity of some of the people of Auradon.

"Now, now don't be talking crazy Princess," Uma said and chuckled as Mal put her tricornered hat on her head. Evie had been true to her word and managed to find a way to make the thing teal for Uma. "There've been three people from the Isle in this room and three people from the Isle there will stay."

Jaws dropped at Uma's words.

"Harry quick! Take Uma for a spar to check if that's actually her!" Jay cried playfully.

Evie gave her a small smile and even Mal had to grin at the fact that the feud between the two girls finally seemed to be over. Slightly ironic considering the fact that it'd been Mal who had started the feud with Evie once upon a time but that was neither here nor there.

"True, but it was also you who ended it" Benji said softly, looking at Malinda.

"Now, are you going to get into that dress Mali or are we going to have to put it on you ourselves?" Uma asked and Mal chuckled.

"You may be my cousin but I draw the line at you dressing me!" Mal said with a grin as she looked at Uma.

"Fine, fine," she said, quickly shedding her clothes and pulling on the dress. She paused slightly as her hand brushed against something on the interior of the dress. Almost like a pocket within a pocket.

"Pockets!" Dizzy and Audie cried.

"Every dress should have pockets," Malinda nodded.

It...it almost feels like a pocket for a dagger, Mal thought, glancing at Evie. But I'm a Rat. I don't use daggers. The only dagger I have is the one in my drawer, from when Freddy hit me with his the first time Ben, Jay, and I went to the Isle.

"Meaning you do have a dagger," Harriet said.

It was almost a comfort, knowing Evie of all people hadn't forgotten the Isle and remembered that Mal would want a way to keep a weapon on her person.

"That dagger truly came in handy," Malinda said softly, leaning into Benji.

"Why don't I like the sound of that?" Chip asked.

A sword would be too bulky and people would certainly notice it. A dagger could be more easily hidden. Besides, even if it wasn't needed, there was a small comfort in having it.

"But…nothing happens at Cotillion where you'd need a dagger," Neal said.

Walking over to her dresser, Mal pulled out the black handled dagger from her top drawer. It was nice, nicer than one would think a weapon from the Isle would be. It almost made her wonder where Freddy had gotten it—if she was so inclined to spend any amount of time actually thinking about Freddy with anything more than hatred in her heart.

"Honestly that's how anyone should think about Freddy, Claudine being the exception with her unfortunate nature of being related to Freddy," Harry said.

"Mal?" Uma called, looking over at her cousin.

"Evie put a sheath in here for a dagger," Mal stated as she put the dagger in said sheath, smirking a little as she saw the dagger almost completely disappear from view. "There may not be a need for it. But I know that Freddy would hate the fact that his dagger helped keep me safe in a way."

"He'd probably be furious to know he gave you a way to protect yourself," Claudine said softly.

"The less we think about Freddy boy tonight, the better my blood pressure's going to be in the morning," Uma stated, glaring slightly at the thought of the older boy. "I still can't believe the Rats haven't seen hide nor hair of him ever since that stampede."

"And now we know why," Mal growled.

"He could be injured," Evie pointed out. "Mal, didn't your letter from your friend Ryan say Freddy had been seen by the docks that day? He may be an older VK but if he's not used to the mobs at the docks…"

"Oh if only!* Harry said, glaring at the scroll.

"Oh that thought's so happy, it might actually make me fly," Uma grinned. "Anyone got any pixie dust to test it out?"

"Talk to one of the Neverland boys, they might be able to help out," Li'l Shang said with a small chuckle.

Mal chuckled and shook her head. "Evie, you were an oddity on the Isle. A gang less girl who didn't really have to deal with that fact since your mom was an ally with Maleficent. If you wanted food, you'd get it. Trust me though, if Freddy was at the docks, I doubt we'd be seeing much of him after that."

"Oh if only we were so lucky," Uma sighed and shook her head.

That wasn't to say she didn't believe Ryan. Mal sent a letter back to both him and Henry, ordering that the Rats do patrols in pairs in case Freddy was lingering in the shadows, waiting to attack.

"But…we always do patrols in pairs," Sammy said. "That wouldn't change."

Especially since they had gathered the applications for the VKs to get off the Isle. The last thing they wanted was for one of their crew to get injured or worse.

"No one does," Alex said softly.

If Freddy was out for the count, at least his second in command wouldn't be too bad for the Rats to deal with. Claudine was a decent sort, all Mal really remembered of her was that she spent most of her time in the bell tower of Dragon Hall.

Esmeralda shook her head. "I know I shouldn't be surprised but I still can't believe Frollo made one of his children a bell ringer after everything that isolation did to Quasi," she said softly.

"You really expect Frollo to understand things like 'need for socialization' and 'isolation being bad for mental health'?" Phoebus asked.

But Henry told her that she had sent a message to the ship, expressing her condolences to Ryan.

"You didn't have to do that," Henry said softly. "Not if it put you at risk."

"I'm sure scroll me thought it was the right thing to do," Claudine said as she rested her head on Henry's shoulder. "And it was."

She had been the only Angel to do so.

"Why does that not surprise me?" CJ asked, shaking her head.

"You know Uma, I think Harry's probably going to faint when he sees you in your dress," Evie said with a small smile, obviously trying to change the subject. It worked as Uma rolled her eyes.

Harry scoffed. "When have I ever fainted?"

"Harry doesn't faint," she said. "Besides why would he faint? Besides the shock at seeing me in a prissy dress like this?"

Because you'll look stunning, Harry thought.

Mal smirked. "Ah Uma, why wouldn't a guy faint at seeing the girl he loves?"

"Could you drop that?" Uma said, giving Mal a look.

"You marry the man so never!" Malinda chuckled.

"What she said," Mal nodded.

"She is you!"

"Honestly Mal, you and Jay have been saying Harry and I have feelings for each other since we were twelve. We're just friends, that's it. Besides, by that logic, Benny's going to faint when he sees you in your dress."

"Okay I know the denial ends at some point but when?!" Jay exclaimed.

Mal smirked and shook her head as she pulled the dress on. While Uma's stance that the two of them were just friends might have worked with any other guy, Mal would never forget the look of pure betrayal that had flashed on her cousin's face when Uma found Mal and Harry curled up next to each other during their two week flirtationship.

"Wha-betrayal? Now you're just being dramatic Mal! I didn't look betrayed! I didn't look like anything!" Uma cried.

Not that anything happened per se. Honestly it was just a way for Mal to see what the big deal was without risking anything really happening. Even if she had gone to one of the other guys in the crew, Harry was the only one she truly trusted.

"I'm sorry, what about me?!" Jay asked.

"Or me, I'm in the crew too!" Hadie exclaimed.

"Honestly I'm not surprised she didn't go to me," Henry said with a small shrug though it did kind of sting to hear Mal, his co-captain, didn't fully trust him.

Mal shook her head. "You are my little brother, entering into anything with you is just too weird," she said as she pointed to Hadie before looking at Jay. "And you would have been choice number two if Harry said no. I trust you Jay, never doubt that. And same goes to you too Henry!"

He was like a younger brother to her, even if he was younger by a mere three weeks.

"Excuse me? Younger?" Harry spluttered. "I was born in April Mali and unless Lady Steph's teachings were wrong, April comes before June!"

"That might have been my doing," Hades said. "I had mentioned to Mal that Hook had talked about your birth three weeks after she had been born…I think she was what, eight when she asked?"

"Still!"

You know, maybe I should give Harry that picture I took when I walked in on Uma's dress fitting. Uncle Poseidon liked it but that's the joy of having a digital copy. I still have it even though I sent it off, Mal thought with an internal smirk.

Any annoyance of being thought of as younger vanished from Harry's face and he couldn't help but hope his future self could be so lucky as to get that photo.

"Anyway, Harry'll faint," she said as Evie walked over to zip up the dress before going to pull out the teardrop necklace for Mal to wear. Mal couldn't help but smile a little as she looked at herself in the mirror. It was truly a gorgeous dress, it was clear that Evie worked incredibly hard on it.

"Evie works hard on all her dresses though," Dizzy said.

"Evie, how did you keep this a secret?" Mal asked. "You do most of your work in here and I know you've been busy with your dad and cheer practice, not to mention you've been talking about finding a place for you and your dad to live during the summer."

"She had help it seems," Emma said with a smile.

"Mainly asking Uma to keep you out of the room as much as possible," Evie chuckled as she put the necklace on Mal.

"We did so much sparring," Malinda chuckled.

"I also had a bit of help with some of the other girls tag teaming so I could get breaks or work on my own dress. The cheer team really got into the sewing aspect though I did have to promise a couple of them I'd teach them how to do a roundoff and a back handspring."

"Good luck," Audrey scoffed. "They never learned with me as their captain."

"That's because you never offered to teach them," Audie rolled her eyes.

"How did you—?"

"I am you, remember?"

"Well you might want to put your dress on because I think the boys are waiting at the yacht," Uma told her as Mal slipped on her shoes and her fingerless leather gloves.

"Wait…I thought Jay said he and Lonnie were going to go with Carlos, Jane, Harry, and Uma?" Rose asked. "Why would the boys be waiting at the yacht?"

Oddly enough, they weren't her regular ones but they were the ones that the finger divide had worn through so there was one singular hole instead of five smaller ones.

Benji held back a smirk. It hadn't taken much to ask Evie to make sure those were the gloves Mal wore as opposed to her usual. Just a new sewing machine…and two tickets to the Fitzherbert's Holiday ball.

What? He had to make sure it'd be easy to put the ring on Mal's finger and her regular gloves would have made it so the ring wouldn't be as secure.

Evie grinned and scurried off to the bathroom, grabbing a garment bag that was hanging from the bedpost on her bed. Meanwhile, on the other side of the school, Chad was busy getting dressed into his suit, tie and cape.

"Why do I suddenly feel uneasy? Why did the point of view change?" Lonnie said.

Sure, some might think the cape with the fake fur would be overkill. But Chad wanted to stand out. Besides, he spent good money on this cape—he was going to enjoy it!

"That's fair," Evan nodded.

He truly was looking forward to Cotillion. While he might not have been thrilled that he was going stag, he was ready to have a good night with his friends. Besides, some of the girls were single—and with no dates, they'd be willing to dance with him!

"Not with your rep, they wouldn't be," Lucy shook her head.

The ringing of his cell phone broke through his thoughts and he frowned as he picked up his phone. Who in the world would be calling him? All of his friends texted and his parents would be at Cotillion with his sisters. There'd be no need for them to call.

"Hey we might be calling to check why you're taking so long," Lucy said.

"Hello?"

"Chad?"

"Audrey?" Chad asked, taken aback a little. Audrey hadn't called him since their break up. "Is something wrong?"

"When isn't something wrong with Audrey?' Emir muttered.

"I'll say something's wrong! I was on the way back from the spa and my limo's gotten a flat tire!"

"Huh…the more things change, the more they stay the same," Audie said. That's what happened in the second viewing after all.

"What? Is the tire punctured? Can you see a hole?" Chad asked, shrugging off the cape and draping it on the bed.

All of the readers who were around Chad's age looked at him with shock. Well with the exception of Ben.

"How…how did you know that?" Emma asked.

"And why isn't Ben shocked too?" Elle asked.

Ben shook his head. "I learned with him. I thought it made sense to know how to do and you know I'd never turn my nose up at learning something new."

While he might have been raised to be a Prince, his mom had made it a point to make sure her children would be able to survive out in the world should they need to. Learning how to change a tire was something she insisted on Chad learn to do when he was getting ready to get his license.

"And this is why I wanted you to learn," Kit nodded.

"Uh dad? It said mom wanted Chad to learn," Kitty said.

"We both wanted it," Cinderella told her daughter.

If he needed to rush off and help, the cape would just be a hindrance than a help.

"Plus at least this way Chad can wear the cape again and it'd be like we'd see it for the first time," Alexandria said with a grin.

"Yes Chad! Of course I can see a hole! What else does a flat tire mean?!" Audrey snapped. "Ugh! There's a big glass shard in my tire! One of the idiots you play with on the Tourney team must have thrown a bottle out the window of the bus on the way back from a game or something!"

"Hey! Watch the tone! He's trying to help!" Kitty snapped, glaring at Audrey.

Chad didn't know why but as soon as he heard the word 'glass', the foggy feeling that generally came from a meeting with Leah or Natalie returned. It wasn't as bad as it normally was, in all honesty it was almost non existent.

Everyone stiffened before looks of outrage came to the Charming family.

"I'm going to kill her!" Kitty hissed, glaring over at Leah.

"But then you'll deprive the hyenas of a fresh meal," Lucy said, though she also glared over at Leah.

It was like he was still him, but there was just a tiny bit of haze in his vision. If he wasn't familiar with the feeling, he might not have even noticed it was there.

"That's sick," Hadie muttered.

"You said you're in Sherwood Forest?" Chad asked, resting his phone on his shoulder as he rolled up his sleeves. He knew exactly how that glass shard had wound up on the forest road, Conner had accidentally thrown a glass bottle out of the bus window on their way back from their game there.

Tiana shook her head. "Oh heavens, it's a good thing Lottie's not here or lord knows she'd be giving Conner a lecture on how dangerous that could have been. What if he'd popped his own bus' tires?"

In Conner's defense, they were all pumped after defeating Sherwood—despite the fact that they were all pretty cool with the other students there, the teams were rivals. It was a matter of pride winning against Sherwood.

Kitty crossed her arms. "Doesn't matter if you're 'pumped'. You still shouldn't litter! Especially not in Sherwood Forest!"

"Where were you in all this?" Malinda asked Benji.

"Sleeping," Benji said with a wry chuckle. "Akiho and Emir had practically ordered it; they shoved me into the back of the bus since that had the longest seat, made their duffle bags my pillow, and crammed themselves into a seat with Chad just to make sure I was lying down."

"Wow…they truly are insane."

"Thank you!"

"Not a compliment!"

Even though the true pleasure was trouncing Imperial Academy considering Lonnie's dad was the coach there. Again, friendly rivalry but still a rivalry.

"Still means no littering."

Though maybe not so friendly after the last game where one of the players knocked three of their players unconscious—including Ben! The player did apologize but Chad had to wonder how much of that had been his doing and how much of that had been Shang glaring at the boy in the background.

"As I said, not exactly 'Captain Comforting,'" Mulan said though she gave Shang a small smile so he knew she was only teasing.

"Go dad!" Lonnie and Lil Shang cheered.

To be fair though, there wasn't much Chad wouldn't do if Li Shang was glaring at him. The former Captain was scary—there was no doubt that Lonnie came by it honestly.

"Why thank you Chad," Lonnie grinned.

"Yes Chad! Gods, I'm going to be late for Cotillion because of this! Or even miss it entirely! And I had the cutest dress too!" Audrey exclaimed, pulling Chad out of his thoughts and back to the conversation at hand. Holding back a sigh, the Charming Prince knew there was really one thing he could do.

"Call Audrey a tow truck and then go enjoy Cotillion?" Lucy asked, a hopeful note to her voice.

"I'm on my way," he told her. Yes, Sherwood Forest was six hours away and yes he'd probably end up missing Cotillion. But his parents had raised him to help a woman in need and even if Audrey was his ex, she still needed help.

Cinderella gave her son a small, proud smile. "I am so proud of you," she told him.

Plus, they had been friends once upon a time before they had dated. What kind of friend would he be if he just left Audrey stranded out there?

Audrey couldn't help the small smile that formed as she heard that. "Thank you Chad," she said softly.

"Wow, didn't even have to be prompted. Are you sure you're Audrey?" Phil Jr. asked.

"Phillip, enough," Aurora warned. "Yes your sister's behavior in the scrolls has been unsettling to learn about but all she did was thank Chad for his kind action. That's no reason to jump down her throat."

Besides, once they got the tire changed, there was still a chance that there would still be a bit of Cotillion to enjoy. After all, there were all the Cotillion after parties.

"Which are always insane and I think have always been hosted by either Emir or Akiho back at Auradon Prep," Ben chuckled.

"We take parties very seriously," Akiho nodded.

He hung up his phone and quickly texted his sisters so that one of them would be able to tell their parents where he was if they asked. Snatching his keys from his dresser, Chad sighed as he walked out the door to his dorm.

"Why? Dad, I think you taught him too well," Lucy muttered.

Here I come Audrey, he thought, never noticing his invitation for Cotillion fluttering to the ground, having fallen out of his pocket.

"Why does this feel ominous?" Kitty asked, a feeling of dread creeping up her spine.

Or the boy in the grey suit stepping out of the shadows and snatching it up with a smirk on his face.

"Oh…that's why."

"I think it's time I see what all this Cotillion entails," Freddy muttered as he gently slipped the invite into the interior pocket of the suit he'd swiped from Ben's wardrobe. Maybe he'd even get to see some old annoyances. He hoped he'd get the chance.

"Put. That. Down. You. Monster!" The Charmed ones all growled.

Maybe he'd even get to introduce them to the business end of his sword. Or rather, the business end of Boreadon's sword. What? Just because he was in Boreadon didn't mean he had completely lost his wits.

"He had wits to lose?" Rose asked.

If he was going to confront Hook or Jay, he was going to do it with a sword in his hand. If he was going to confront Mal, it was going to be near water. And if he was going to confront Uma...well maybe it'd be better if he limited it to just Hook, Jay, or Mal. They were the ones who had weaknesses that he could exploit.

"So you think Freddy," Jay scoffed. "The day you beat any of us is the day...I can't even think of an example because it's so ridiculous!"

Actually...Uma does have a weakness, Freddy thought with a smirk as he made his way to the grounds. A black haired, blue eyed First Mate with an obsession with a hook he doesn't need. I wonder how loud Uma would scream if Hook laid at my feet, bleeding from my sword.

"...You'd be in agony before you even took one step towards him, Freddy boy!" Uma hissed.

"If he touches one hair on my son's head, I will break out of this room and gut him!" James growled.

Harry though snorted. "Shows what Freddy knows, my hair's not black!"

Emma tilted her head. "Sure looks like it though…"

He could teach Uma and Mal the importance of repenting after he bested Hook and Jay.

"The day Freddy bests Harry or Jay in sparring is the day I become an Angel! Never going to happen!" Harriet said firmly.

After all, as long as the boys were there, he couldn't touch the witches. Oh sure the Boreadon boys would be there too but Freddy knew he could make quick work of them.

"Try it Freddy!" Emir said, glaring at the scroll.

Plus then Mal would be so distracted, seeing her precious Boreadon Brat lying on the deck of the yacht, that she'd never notice him throw her overboard.

"He…he does know we all can swim right?" Elle asked, motioning to her family. "And we'd be at Cotillion. If he did throw Mal overboard, we could just jump in after her and grab her. Or Grandpa Po-Po could get a whale to help even if he's not there."

At least…not before he had his fun with her.

"Over my dead body!" Benji, Harry, and Jay growled in unison.

"Guys, I appreciate the blood lust toward Freddy but again, scaring the Smee twins," Harriet said.

"I think this is going to be a fun night indeed," he chuckled as he climbed into a nearby car. "Cotillion please," he told the driver and leaned back as the car lurched forward, making its way to the docks.

"…We're firing that driver right?"

"Mal, we can't fire him for driving someone," Benji said with a small sigh. "It is technically his job and no one knew Freddy had escaped from the Isle at that point."

"...I hate when you're right."

"That's the end of the scroll," Alexandria said. "Who wants next?"

"I'll go again!" Chip said with a grin.

"Why does that not surprise me?" Lucas asked with a chuckle, shaking his head.