After much writing and re-writing, here we are with the next chapter of Outcasts of Corona. Here is where we get to the beginning of the series, where Rapunzel and company go to Old Corona for the first time.

Disclaimer: I own nothing related to Tangled or Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure. I only own my OCs.

Rosie ran through the woods with Eddie beside her as they played hide-and-seek with Kestrel. Looking around, they quickly hid before Kestrel and Sterling chased after them, Artemis and the ducks scanning overhead. They walked past some bushes, Rosie and Eddie peeking out to see if they had gone. With a loud bark, Sterling suddenly appeared out of nowhere, startling the duo out of hiding. Rosie and Eddie looked up in annoyance, especially when Kestrel started laughing as they came over. Getting to their paws, they blew raspberries at them before darting past her to hide again. Kestrel and Sterling smirked at each other and glanced up at the birds before following them.

They ran to a spot where Austin watched while Varian looked for alchemy ingredients. The boys smiled knowingly at each other before Kestrel jumped on Varian in a hug. She then turned and hugged Austin, too, before running after her animal friends. By this point, Varian found what he was looking for, so he swung his satchel over his shoulder and waved to his friends before leaving, Austin and Kestrel waving after him.

Varian entered his lab and walked inside before stopping cold with a gasp… Someone was in his lab, wearing a black cloak with their back to him. He couldn't tell who it was… until they spoke.

"Hello, Varian."

The figure turned around and threw back their hood, revealing themselves to be Gothel. She looked exactly as she did before Rapunzel's hair was cut. "Did you think I was gone forever?" She flipped her hair out of her cloak before smirking as she sauntered up to Varian, causing him to stiffen in fright. "What's the matter, dear?" She taunted as she circled Varian. "Aren't you happy to see me?" She walked away before spinning around, throwing her hands up as the black rocks burst through the ground.

Varian flinched back with a sharp gasp, terrified as the rocks surrounded him. He tried to run away but was quickly cornered. Suddenly, a hand grabbed his wrist and tugged him in another direction away from the rocks. He looked forward and saw it was Austin as they regrouped with Kestrel while the rocks closed in around them.

Panting, the friends stood back to back, looking up at the rocks before something golden flashed, and the rocks burst apart. Flinching back, the Outcasts saw Rapunzel a few feet away, her hair glowing and out of its braid as it reached for the sky.

"And look, Rapunzel's hair has returned!" Gothel laughed mockingly, reflections of her appearing in the rocks. "Isn't it wonderful? Now, my friend, I must take Rapunzel somewhere far away where Corona will never find her. In fact, I was thinking of taking you with me." Varian's friends held him close while he and Rapunzel looked terrified at the woman they had once loved. Suddenly, she yelled, "VARIAN!" The rocks burst apart with a bright flash…

The teens gasped as they bolted awake in their beds, Rapunzel's hair flying around her bed. Pascal awoke with a gasp moments before her hair fell to the floor. Kestrel held her blankets close as her animal friends climbed onto her bed, trying to comfort her as she panted lowly. Varian took short breaths, trying to gather himself, while Austin sighed in agitation, holding his head in his hands.

(Meanwhile)

Downstairs, Wilma and Lucas were eating breakfast, though Mrs. Chase had noticed her husband had been quiet the whole time. "Luke?" she spoke up, making him look up in confusion. "You haven't touched your food," she glanced at his plate of eggs, bacon, and toast.

"No, I've touched it. I moved my eggs around, see?" He denied it, but she could tell something was wrong.

"Sweetheart, maybe it's time you two talked about this," she said, placing her hand on his.

He sighed lowly. "You remember how my last talk with Austin went?"

"I wouldn't call what you two do talking," She chuckled a bit. "It's more like you glare at each other for five minutes until one of you breaks the standoff."

"I just want what's best for our son," Lucas said firmly, looking down at his food.

Wilma sighed as she got up, taking her empty plate to the sink. "Then why do I feel like we're losing him…?"

"He's living in a fantasy world!" He insisted. "And his friends do nothing but encourage it! One of these days, they're going to get him serious trouble!"

"One of his friends is Quirin's son, Lucas," She turned to him sternly.

"Who blows up the town every week!"

"I admire how you feel comfortable saying these things to me but won't say them when Quirin is around," Wilma argued.

Lucas shut his mouth after that comment and looked away, knowing she was right but refusing to acknowledge it. "I don't want him getting involved with those Capital leeches!" he grumbled as he got up and headed out to the fields. Once he was gone, Wilma sighed again, not knowing how to keep her family together when it felt like it was falling apart.

(With Varian)

The young alchemist was walking back from the Capital with a box of vials in his arms. Right after he woke up and got ready for the day, he went to town to get his shipment and was returning to put the finishing touches on his secret "project." He walked past the woods when he heard someone singing. Recognizing the voice, Varian followed the sound and found Kestrel sitting by a stone well with her animals as she wrote in a journal.

"Hi, Kestrel." He said, getting their attention as she walked up to them.

"Oh, hey, Varian," She said as he sat down with them. "Did you go into town?"

"Yeah, my shipment came in."

"I could've teleported you there."

"I figured you were sleeping."

"No, I didn't do any charting last night," Kestrel said, looking back at her journal.

"Writing a new song?" Varian looked over her shoulder.

"No, it's…" She started before sighing. "I've been having a strange dream for the past week, and I thought writing it out would help me make sense of it."

The alchemist blinked in surprise, becoming unsure before he asked, "This is going to sound weird, but… does this dream, by any chance, happen to feature, oh, I don't know…" He rambled before quickly finishing, "Miss Gothel and black rocks."

Kestrel's head snapped up in surprise before looking at her friend. "How did you know that?"

Varian sighed. "Because I've been having the same dream since the coronation," he leaned back against the well. "It's been six months since then. Why is this happening now?"

"I wonder if it has something to do with her hair coming back…" Kestrel murmured. "What are the odds Austin's having the same dream?"

"If it involves Old Lady Gothel coming back from the dead and running from black spikes coming out of the ground," the duo looked up and saw Austin leaning against a tree, dressed casually and carrying a sword on his back. "Then, yes, I've been having the same dream."

Kestrel was stunned by these revelations. "Both of you, read what I wrote," she offered out her journal. "Tell me if any of this sounds familiar."

The boys gathered around her journal and read it over. As they did, their eyes widened in surprise at the contents. "Yeah, that's exactly how my dream went," Varian replied as she took the notebook back.

"Me, too," Austin nodded, straightening up. "Only, yours sounds like it was from your perspective. In my dream, the rocks appeared right after you guys left. That's when Kestrel ran back to me, and we saw Varian running from the rocks."

"Yeah," Varian agreed. "And in my dream, I headed back to my lab and saw Miss–" Varian stopped himself before continuing, "I mean, Gothel, in my lab. Then, she summoned the rocks, and I ran from them."

"Okay, there has to be something to this," Kestrel declared. "All of us having the same dream at the same time can't be a coincidence."

"Kes, I know you think this is magic, and I've seen you in action enough times to believe you," The young warrior said. "But maybe, this time, it is a coincidence. We've had a lot happen to us within the last six months. Finding out the truth about Gothel was traumatizing for all of us, and then the Princess's hair comes back, and all those emotions we tried to put away got brought back to the surface."

"Normally, I agree with you, Austin," Varian said. "But even I have to admit something's weird here. Similar dreams are one thing, but ours are the same right down to the last detail."

"Good point."

"Okay, how about we give it a few more days?" Kestrel suggested. "If we're still having dreams by then, maybe we could talk to Xavier or send a message to Gran and ask her opinion?"

"Sounds good to me," The blond agreed.

"Then, it's a plan," Varian said as he got up. "In the meantime, I have a project to finish." He grabbed his box and walked away. "I'll see you guys later."

"Bye, Varian," Kestrel called as she and Austin waved after him. They were silent for a minute before the young witch asked, "Check on him in an hour?"

"Yup."

(Meanwhile)

At the castle, Rapunzel had a dilemma similar to that of the Outcasts. Like them, she had also been having strange dreams. Ever since the coronation, the Princess had the same nightmare: Gothel would appear in her room and summon the black rocks to chase her before she ended up cornered with Varian, Austin, and Kestrel.

The only person she had told about the dreams was Cassandra. Her friend wanted to keep it under wraps since she didn't want to risk the wrong person overhearing them and figuring out that Cass was the one who snuck her out.

Right now, Rapunzel was writing in her journal at the garden gazebo, Pascal sitting on her shoulder as always, when Cass walked up to her. "I was just thinking about your hair," she said, sitting beside the Princess. "Maybe we can discreetly try to get some answers, just the two of us. We know someone who might be able to help."

"Who?" Rapunzel closed her journal.

"One of your rescuers, Varian?" Cassandra said in a low tone. "Well, there are rumors he's some kind of wizard."

Rapunzel gasped in awe, covering her mouth. "Wow! Really?!" Pascal squeaked in amazement, too. "Do you think he'll have one of those pointy hats, and like a robe, and a staff, and cast spells? Oh, I wonder if that means Kestrel's his partner or student?!"

"Wait, what?" Cass was caught off guard by the statement. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, the girl who helped save me, Kestrel. She told me when we first met that she had magic powers, too."

"Huh," The older woman hummed before getting back on track. "Well, I don't know much about her, but there are some rumors about Varian."

"Like what?"

"The big thing I heard was that he's dangerous, though I'm starting to wonder how much of those rumors are true after meeting him myself."

"But he may be able to help us get answers, right?" Rapunzel asked knowingly. Cass nodded with a hum, and the Princess sighed, the two women getting to their feet. "Well, then, let's go see our wizard friend."

(Back in Old Corona)

After getting home, Varian went about finishing his "secret project." Over the past few months, the young inventor had been designing and building a system of machines in the tunnels under the town. Today, he had put the final components and turned them on, so now all Varian had to do was wait for them to heat up properly and see if they were working as planned.

While that happened, Varian perfected a human critter trap he'd thought up last week. This way, neither humans nor animals would be hurt, and the crops would be kept safe. He set up a test trap in his lab and some finished dispensers near the orchard before he started fiddling with another invention in the back. Putting on his welding mask and lab coat to protect himself, he started up his welding rod as he got to work.

As he worked, Varian thought he heard the door open, and then his goo trap went off. However, the alarmed cries he heard didn't belong to his friends, though he thought they sounded familiar. Frowning, he turned off the iron and set it down before going to investigate, the fog parting as he moved through it before climbing onto a table to look more intimidating.

"What do you want?" He demanded in a hostile tone, squinting at the two women caught in his trap.

"Um… Varian?" One of them asked. "If that's you, we're so sorry for coming over unannounced, but I was wondering–"

"Oh, Your Highness," Varian said as he pulled up his mask with a grin. "Sorry about that. I didn't recognize you right away."

Princess Rapunzel laughed with relief when she saw it was who they were looking for. "Oh, it's okay, Varian. By the way, what's this?" She lifted her foot to mean the goo.

"Oh, it's a chemical compound of, uh, my own design," he eased off his coat. "Thank you. You see, we have a bit of a critter problem out here." He hopped off the table and walked over to a raccoon that had also been captured. "And through the miracle of modern alchemy, I have found a humane way to solve the problem." Crouching down, he dissolved the goo before taking the raccoon to the door and throwing him outside.

"This riveting, kid, but could you get us out of here?" Cass called out.

He chuckled nervously as he patted his pockets before finding a vial. "Where is that neutralizing particle–Oh!" He grabbed the raccoon by the tail as he tried to come back in. "Get out of here." Varian threw him back and slammed the door. He then walked back over to the women and shook a substance of white flakes on the goo, setting them free. "I am so sorry, Your Highness." He apologized, kneeling to the Princess.

"Oh, you don't have to bow, Varian," Rapunzel waved off the formalities. "And you can just call me Rapunzel."

"W-Wow, thank you," He stammered as he stood up. "Now, what can I do for you, Rapunzel? What brings you here today?"

"Well, I was wondering if you could help me learn more about my hair. Since you and Kestrel are magic experts, I thought–"

"Oh, boy," Varian muttered before sighing. "I'm sorry, Princess, but Kestrel's the magic user of the group. I'm more of a man of science. Specifically–"

"Alchemy, we got that," Cassandra interrupted impatiently. "Listen, kid, I don't know if you can help us or not, but if you're going to help, let me make something clear. What happens here stays here," She pointed at his chest, pulling him up slightly by the shirt. "Got it?"

"Put him down, handmaiden, before I have you thrown in the stocks for threatening the mayor's son!" A voice commanded behind them. They turned to see Austin standing in the doorway, arms crossed angrily.

"Oh, hey, Austin," Rapunzel greeted, looking slightly awkward as Cass put Varian down.

The blond nodded to the Princess before approaching the alchemist. "You okay, V?"

"Yeah, I'm fine; everything's good," Varian assured him before turning to the Princess. "Anyway, Rapunzel, while I don't work with magic, I may be able to help you find answers on a more scientific front."

"You think so?" She asked hopefully.

"I can definitely try." He nodded.

"Great!"

"Let's get started, then," Varian led the Princess further into his lab. Austin and Cassandra shared a look as the former gave her a silent 'I'm watching you' gesture before they followed their friends.

Using a magnifying glass set-up, Varian examined Rapunzel's hair as she laid out on a table. "Oh yes. This… this…" He chuckled a bit. "Long…"

"And golden, don't forget golden," Austin joked with a playful smirk.

"Ignoring that…" Varian gave Austin a look before focusing back on the Princess. "Well, don't worry, Rapunzel. I am sure that I, Varian, can unlock the mysteries of your hair with the power of science!" He flung the magnifying glass out of the way but then cried out when it swung back around and hit him from behind. "Ow!"

"You okay?" Austin asked as he and Cass walked over, Rapunzel sitting up.

"Yeah, no sweat," The alchemist replied, checking his injury. "It's just a little…" He trailed off with a strained laugh when he saw blood on his glove before fainting. Austin, Pascal, and the girls looked at each other wordlessly before the blond boy shook his head with a fond sigh.

"Okay, buddy, I got ya," He said as he bent down to help his friend.

(Meanwhile)

Kestrel was walking towards Varian's house with a basket full of her own tools, Sterling walking beside her. As they had promised, an hour had passed, and she wanted to make sure Varian was okay. She also did some inventing, so she came prepared to lend him a hand.

As she came out of the woods, Kestrel stopped in surprise when she saw a couple of guard horses trapped in some type of pink substance. She recognized one of the horses as Maximus and an unknown mare was with him.

"What the–?" Sterling barked, pointing his nose towards the Frosberg's manor. Following his gaze, she saw a person she realized was Flynn Rider walking towards the house. "Now, what's he doing here…?"

(Back inside)

Varian was sitting in front of Rapunzel, her hair wrapped around his head as she tried to heal him. Now that he was hearing it again, the young alchemist noted that it did sound familiar. Something about the melody made him want to change the words slightly to make it sound right, but he didn't know how.

"Bring back what once was mine…" Varian glanced at Pascal, who pointed to his head, before returning to Rapunzel. "What once was mine~." She stopped singing and smiled at him, the two warriors standing behind him. "Better?" She asked as Varian took his hair off his head.

"Oh, yeah–no!" He recoiled back slightly when he saw the blood still on his glove.

"Huh," She stared at her hair in confusion. "That used to work…"

"It should've at least started glowing," Austin remembered what happened at the tower.

"Well, silver lining, we acquired some critical data about your hair. It no longer possesses its legendary healing power. Progress!" He grinned at the warriors as he stood up, holding her hair. "So, let's take a closer look under the microscope…" He carried her hair over to his worktable and set the hair down before putting some of it under the scope. "Hmm…" He hummed as he looked at it.

"So? What do you see?" Rapunzel asked.

"Well, your hair doesn't look like normal hair." He said, looking back at them. "I'm not entirely sure what I'm looking at."

"Let me see," Austin walked over. Varian stepped to the side, and the blond looked into the microscope. "… Yeah, I don't know what this is, either," He admitted. "But I've seen close-ups of hair follicles before, and this doesn't look like that."

"What do you mean?" Cassandra asked.

"The structure of a strand of human hair looks like one single piece. The Princess's hair looks like a bunch of smaller pieces linked or interwoven together."

"Do you feel anything different about your hair?" Varian asked Rapunzel. "Like when you physically touch it or run a brush through it?"

"No, it feels like normal hair."

"Hmmm," Varian hummed again as Austin let him take a second look. "I think the best course of action from here is to figure out what this hair is made of…" He walked away and pulled a tarp off a machine with surgical tools suspended on arms at the top. "This machine can analyze any substance for chemical make-up, bitopic composition, and urgu-structural integrity!" Varian elbowed it, and the "bed" went vertical, causing the tools to rattle. "I built it myself!"

"Nice!" Rapunzel smiled as she stepped closer, though Cass glanced at her skeptically.

"If I'm right, this should tell us more about your hair," Varian said, stepping up to the controls.

"Raps, are you sure you wanna–" Cass started to ask before realizing the Princess wasn't next to her anymore. "Rapunzel?!"

"Let's do this." Rapunzel was already strapped into the machine, looking at Varian.

"Someone's eager," Austin smirked, crossing his arms.

"Okay!" He smiled, then gasped. "Oh! I forgot the press! Austin, could you get that while I start the tests?"

"On it," The other boy turned and headed for the door.

"What'd you forget?" Rapunzel asked.

"The spectrometric press. It's the only way I can read the test results," Varian explained. "But don't worry, Austin knows where it is, and he'll be back in a minute."

True to his word, Austin was back a few minutes later with a machine in his arms. "Got it," He said as he glanced over his shoulder while walking inside. "And we have extras."

Seconds later, Sterling trotted in to see what the humans were doing. When Cass saw him, she gasped and drew her sword, causing the wolf to jump back and growl at her.

"Whoa, whoa, wait!" A voice cried as Kestrel ran between them. "It's okay! Sterling's with me!"

"Swing happy, much?" Austin gave the older woman a look.

"I'm sorry, a wolf just walked in! What would your reaction have been?" She retorted but put away her weapon.

"Hi, Kestrel!" Rapunzel greeted the younger girl as she petted her wolf friend.

"Hello, Princess."

Seconds later, Eugene walked inside but stopped short when he saw his girlfriend strapped into some kind of machine. "Uhm… what is going on here?"

"Eugene!" Rapunzel gasped before smiling nervously. "Hey!"

Varian beamed at the sight of the former thief. "Control yourself," Austin walked past him with a teasing smirk, causing the alchemist to shoot him a quick glare.

"So, Var, you wanna tell us why you have the Princess strapped into one of your machines?" Kestrel asked as she stepped closer to her friend.

"Tests!" Varian replied cheerfully.

"She's trying to figure out what changed in her hair and maybe find a way to cut it," Austin elaborated as he set down the spectrometric press.

"What he said," Rapunzel said sheepishly.

Varian helped Austin set up the spectrometric press, and they both stood up, the alchemist giving it a nudge to turn it on. "Okay! Let's get these tests started!" He said as they went back to the controls. "Now, Rapunzel… these may get a little–"

"Exciting?!" She asked eagerly, oblivious to the sharp tools glinting above her head.

Austin and Varian glanced at each other, deciding not to freak her out. "Um, sure, yeah! That's a good word for it." Varian agreed before pulling the levers to turn it on. The device started to shake, causing Pascal to jump off. Rapunzel glanced around with second thoughts before the machine started spinning her around rapidly.

"Ah!" She yelped as Cass and Eugene stared anxiously while Kestrel looked concerned. She trusted Varian, but at the same time, it was also the Princess. "Whoa-kay! Whaaa!" She was upside down one minute, with her hair pulled in all directions before being wrapped up like a mummy. After the next spin, she was right-side up again, with the machine's arms pulling at it before everything stopped. "Whoa!"

A bell went off on a timer next to the machine. "And there we are! Done." Varian concluded as Rapunzel panted.

"Alright. Not super fun, but it's over." The Princess chuckled in relief.

"Ha! Oh, sorry," Varian rubbed his neck again. "I meant done with the first test. But don't worry; there are only eighty-six more to go." He pushed another lever as the timer started counting down the remaining tests. The table laid Rapunzel out flat before a buzzsaw popped up, causing Eugene to pale.

"Boy, I hope your dad doesn't walk in," Austin commented.

"Is this safe?!" The former thief questioned.

"Absolutely!" Varian assured him.

"Have you used it on people before?" Cassandra asked.

"Uh, well, no, but I'm sure it'll be fine!" He looked at his friend. "Austin, you remember how to turn it off?"

"Pull the lever and push the button on the side to release the straps," Austin nodded. "I remember."

"And why won't you be here to do this?" Cass asked suspiciously.

"I have another project I need to check on," He explained. "It'll be okay. Austin will watch the tests, and if it looks like it's becoming erratic, he knows what to do. I'll be right back!" Varian headed for the door.

"Mind if I come with?" Kestrel asked, walking up beside him.

"Always a pleasure to have your help, Kes," Varian smiled.

"Sterling, wait here with Austin, okay?" The wolf nodded before sitting by the blond, watching the machine intently.

"Let's go!" Varian said eagerly as the two friends walked out.

"Whoa, hold on!" Eugene followed them. "I have questions!"

Cassandra watched them leave before glancing at Rapunzel, torn between stopping Eugene from asking questions and keeping an eye on the tests.

(Scene Break)

Eugene caught up with the teens outside as they headed for the stairs. "So, why did they come to you for these… tests?" he asked the alchemist.

"Well, there's a rumor about me being a wizard–which is not true–and thought I could help them," Varian explained. "Even though I don't have magic, I still wanted to help them, so I'm using science."

Eugene raised an eyebrow as he recalled something. "Didn't short stack set her hands on fire back at the–"

"Shush!" Kestrel whirled on him, Varian waving his hands in a 'quiet' motion. "First of all, don't comment about my height. Second of all, ex-ay on the agic-may. That is a grade-A secret." The redhead then turned around and walked away stiffly. Eugene watched her leave in surprise before glancing at Varian, who simply shrugged before following her.

"Okay, changing topics," Eugene sighed before following them. "What exactly did the Princess ask you to do?"

Varian opened the shed door. "Well, they didn't really ask for anything specific," He said before they walked inside. "But I assumed she wanted to find what was different this time and if there was a way to cut it."

"Then, what'd you find out? I know it's magic, and you're working with science, but did you find out anything?"

"Well," He opened a trapdoor, revealing a ladder going down. "for one thing, her hair isn't like normal hair anymore."

"I think that was already established by the fact it can't be cut anymore," Kestrel remarked as Varian let her climb down first.

Varian grabbed a lantern and lit it before following her down. "That's not what I mean. I mean, her hair isn't made of hair. When we looked at it under the microscope, we saw a completely different structure of the follicles."

"… So, what is it made of?" Eugene frowned before climbing down after them.

"I don't know, I've never seen anything like it." Varian shrugged. "But the tests should help us figure that out." He then turned to walk down the tunnel under the shed, Kestrel beside him. "Then again, we're dealing with magic, so we may end up with more questions than answers."

"Right… So, why are we down here?" Eugene asked as he followed the teens. His question was answered when a sudden shockwave chook the tunnel, startling everyone into stopping as light debris fell from the ceiling. As quickly as it began, it stopped. "What was that?!"

"Is that your secret project?" Kestrel looked at her friend.

"Yup!" He smiled at her before they started walking again. "Looks like it's done heating up!"

"What's heating up?" Eugene asked with concern.

"These tunnels run through our entire village, which makes them perfect for my project!"

"What project?" Eugene asked.

Varian led him to a chamber with a large machine, multiple pipes, and various glowing dials. "This project." He gestured to the device.

"Wow…" Kestrel murmured in awe.

Eugene felt the same before becoming bored. "I don't get it."

"Through the miracle of alchemy," Varian walked over to a table, setting down the lantern while Kestrel approached the machine for a closer look. "I have found a way to heat this entire tank of water with a single drop of my newest yet-to-be-named compound," he picked up a beaker with a green, glowing liquid, "which I'll call Flynnoleum!"

"So, this is what you've been working on for weeks," Kestrel turned to her friend, impressed.

"I still don't get it," Eugene repeated in confusion.

"I'm gonna surprise my village by bringing people hot, running water!" Varian chirped as he gestured to the machine, which let out some steam. "I've constructed five of these babies all throughout the caverns."

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait," Eugene waved his hands anxiously, realizing a connection. "These–these tremors, your machines are causing them?"

"No, no, no," Varian said quickly. "My machines are not causing them." He took a dropper from the beaker of Flynnoleum and held it over a nearby barrel with glowing red liquid in it. "The chemical reactions they trigger do." He added a drop to the vat, and it let out a short yet fiery explosion, causing him to lean back to avoid it.

"And no one else knows you're doing this?" Eugene asked, walking over to him.

"Well, Kestrel and Austin knew I was doing something," Varian responded.

"Okay," The older male chuckled nervously. "listen, kiddo, I'm no expert in… whatever this is, but anything that can cause earthquakes can't be safe. We gotta warn people about this!" He pointed at the machine, not trusting this at all.

"No, we can't!" Varian denied. "Okay? I brought you down here because I thought I could trust you to keep it secret!"

"That was before I realized it was something that could blow up!"

"Look, I get you're worried, but I am an expert, and this is all perfectly safe." Another earthquake hit, causing Kestrel to jump back as a bolt from the machine shot between Varian and Eugene before embedding itself into a wall. The older man looked at the alchemist with wide eyes. "Yeah, it does-does that all the time." He brushed it off, but he did glance at the screw with slight worry.

"Dove, you okay with this?" Eugene asked the redhead, gesturing to the machine.

Kestrel was silent for a minute before turning to her friend. "Varian, could we talk for a second?"

"Sure," He nodded, and they walked away from Eugene to keep things private.

"Now, Varian, you know I trust your inventions, and I can tell you put a lot of work into this," Kestrel began, wanting to assure the alchemist before speaking honestly. "However, past experience has taught me that you, your machines, and multi-tasking do not go well together. Remember the automatic plow incident?"

Varian opened his mouth to respond but stopped as he thought over her words. "… I see your point." He conceded.

"All I'm asking is why don't I stay down here and keep an eye on your heaters," Kestrel suggested. "Teamwork, you know?"

"But there are five machines down here. How will you keep an eye on all of them?" The redhead smirked at the alchemist, making his eyes widen knowingly. "Do you–?"

"I recently mastered a duplication spell. I can make copies of myself and have each one watch a different heater. Not only that, the doubles share a hive mind. I'll instantly know if something wrong is wrong and be able to come get you."

Varian thought over her plan before nodding. "Okay," he said, then led her over to the table to show her what she'd need while Eugene watched them in confusion. "Here are the blueprints, a map of the tunnels marked with their locations, and the shut-off instructions if needed. If the heaters start shaking, turn the valve counter-clockwise until the shaking stops."

"Got it." The mage nodded.

"Thanks, Kestrel." He said as he grabbed the lantern to leave.

"Anytime."

"Let's head back, Mr. Rider!" He said to the older man.

"Uh, what about–?" He started to ask before following the boy.

"Don't worry, Kestrel's got this," He assured him. "If there's anyone I trust with my machines, it's her."

Once they were gone, Kestrel focused her magic, and her body started glowing like she did when she flew. Moments later, her form split apart as four more Kestrels appeared.

"Okay, girls, listen up," She turned to the others confidently. "We have to keep an eye on these machines for Varian. You all know what to do, so each of you head to a boiler."

"Right!" They all nodded before walking away or teleporting to where they needed to go. The original Kestrel went over to the workbench and began reading over Varian's schematics so she would know what she was dealing with.

(Back up top)

Rapunzel was still going through tests as the table shook violently. "Only twelve more tests to go!" Her voice vibrated as she looked towards the birdhouse counter, which then dinged to show that the test was done. "Yaaaaaay…" The table stopped shaking, though the Princess still twanged for a minute.

"Team Awesome is baaaack!" Varian announced as he came into the lab and over to Rapunzel, Eugene trailing behind him. "Now, Rapunzel, I know my tests have been a pain in the hmhm…" He nodded at her knowingly, but she just laughed, waving it off.

"Aw, I wouldn't say pain." He stepped away just in time for electricity to shoot through her hair, causing everyone else but Varian to flinch. Even Pascal's scales changed color to match the energy. "… Now I would." She retracted, her hair a mess.

Austin wheezed out a laugh that he tried to smother, getting a look from Cassandra.

"You'll be okay, don't worry," Varian assured her before he walked over to a curtained area. "Mr. Rider, over here!"

"Again, it's 'Eugene,'" Eugene walked over to him. "What did you want to show me?"

"Here!" Varian pulled a tassel, revealing a hidden nook with the books and wanted posters of 'Flynn Rider.' He even had some possessions of his from long ago. "I didn't get to say it before, but I'm your biggest fan."

"Really?" He smiled, suddenly intrigued. He looked closely at one of the posters. "You know, this is the most accurate poster of me! I didn't think there were any!"

"Well, they don't really," Varia admitted. "I drew that one myself after seeing you before." He giggled a bit. "I've been told I have eidetic memory."

"He used to think you were the guy in the book!" Austin called over to them with a smug smile.

"Austin!" The other cried, blushing red. The blond male just laughed in response.

"By the way, where's Kestrel?" Rapunzel asked.

"Oh, she's keeping an eye on another project of mind," Varian explained as he went to check the spectrometric press. "She and Austin are the only people I trust with my inventions."

"Soooo, Eugene," Cass grinned a little as she walked over to him. Pascal watched them as his scales changed back. "What were you and the kid doing?"

"Well, the kid ha–" Eugene started before stopping himself, knowing what she was doing. "Uh, uh, nice try, Cass!" He glared at her.

Suddenly, another earthquake occurred, causing some debris from the ceiling to fall along with a raccoon, who decided it was time to leave. Sterling ran out the door to find his human, suspecting she needed him.

"What was that?" Austin questioned, glancing at his friend suspiciously.

"Look, Raps, I think it's time to go now," Eugene said insistently.

"Now?" Rapunzel asked her boyfriend as Varian looked up. "You're kidding, right? This is almost finished." They heard a ding and turned to see the countdown timer had gone down to eight.

Austin walked over to Varian and spoke in a low voice. "Private talk?"

Varian got to his feet and hopped down to him. "Sure!" He and Austin then ran outside, Eugene watching them leave.

(Outside)

"Okay, what's going on?" Austin asked firmly.

"Don't worry about it," Varian assured him. "I–I adjusted the calculations for every possible! The margin of error is less than point five-six percent!" He faltered as Austing pinched his forehead. "No, wait, or was it point five seven…?"

"Varian, focus!" Austin snapped before sighing. "Look, V, you're one of the smartest people I know, and you've got a brain that would impress Lord Demanitus. Still, regardless of the margin of error, whatever you built is causing earthquakes!"

Varian looked at his friend, but before he could say anything, he gasped as another tremor shook the town. "Ohhhh! I see what you mean."

"Uh, Varian!" Kestrel and Sterling ran up to the boys, holding Varian's schematics. "I think something's wrong with your calculations. The numbers aren't adding up."

"Let me see," Varian asked before she handed them over. He started doubling-checking his work as his words read over his shoulders. "Okay, so that's… Wait, that's supposed to be… Then that would make the margin of error…!" Varian's eyes widened. "Uh oh…"

"I hate when you say that," Austin muttered.

The alchemist looked up with wide eyes. "We need to shut those off!" He ran for the first heater with his friends behind him, not knowing that Eugene had watched them go before ducking back into the lab.

Here is where we put the cliffhanger. The next chapter will include the rest of the first episode and more insight into the Outcasts' friendship.

Stay tuned and watch for more updates coming soon!