Finding New Love

The One And Only. Or Maybe Not

Mal had set up a total of a total of seven "games." One for each of the people whose lives Ben had ruined- for the people that she cared about. Each room, or mini game would lead him to the next and eventually to the exit.

The first was for Jane. And what better way of retribution than the things that Cinderella went through. The torment that she was put through to lower her self esteem. The way that she had been abused, and was forced to hide her bruises and scars. Everyone on the Isle knew that. Everyone knew what Lady Tremaine had done to her stepdaughter.

Mal figured that it was the least that she could do to Ben. Although, she couldn't use the actual Lady Tremaine, so she went for the next best thing. A chimera. One of her mother's making.

It was a last minute decision, and Carlos had almost died because of it, but in the end, it was kind of worth it. This particular chimera had been made by her mother, but trained by Mal herself. There were many things that she wanted to do to Ben, but she wouldn't kill him. Not yet anyway.

The next was Lonnie. Her mother had fought in the war to protect her father. The least Mal could do was give Ben an illusion strong enough to make him fight whatever monsters that Mal threw his way. The illusion that he was supposedly protecting? His father and mother.

And only once he was a little beat up did Mal undo her illusion, showing him that there was nothing and no one. She knew that he hated her at that point, but she really didn't care. He had hurt her. And nobody could hurt her and get away with it.

The next was for Evie. Her best friend. Her sister in arms. He had no doubt gotten her suspended. And she knew that Doug would have gotten suspended right along with Evie. In a way, it was kind of for the both of them.

To get to the next room, he had to figure out which apple hadn't been poisoned. And if he couldn't, then he would experience varying symptoms, such as vomiting, drowsiness, and in the worse case... death.

The fourth was for Carlos, whom was willing to get expelled to help her. A loyal little brother who she always got into trouble, but would always forgive her. And friend that would stand by her side, even when he knew it wasn't right.

Carlos definitely hated her for this one. The dogs she had used were the only dogs kind of dogs that inhabited the Isle. Stray, hungry, and rabid. One hundred and one dogs. Those were, after all, all the dogs on the Isle that they could find and cram into one space. And Ben had to endure all of it. Escape the room from all the dogs was how he would get to the next game.

The fifth was for Jay, with a little help from his father. Jay had always been there for her. He had driven her back to the Isle. He had stayed with her for as long as he could before he had to go back to Auradon. He had offered to stay with her. And so this one was definitely harder than the last.

"Mal!" Ben yelled. He had been yelling for her for the entirety of the third and fourth game. He couldn't yell in the first and second because he hadn't wanted to draw attention to himself.

"Yes?" he heard a voice reply. It was sickeningly sweet, and was worse than he had remembered.

"I just want to talk to you Mal," he said, holding his hands up in surrender.

"Why should I give you that opportunity when you didn't give it to me? You didn't let me say anything before you destroyed my world, so why should Inlet you say anything now? You got my friends suspended from school! You got Jay and Carlos kicked off the island. So tell me, Ben dearest, why should I let you talk?"

Ben was at a loss for words.

"My point precisely," Mal said. "Enjoy the next two games," she said before he was poised to a new location.

There was a big sign that looked like it was painted in blood. And he didn't doubt that it was. "There have been none that have passed through all seven seas. The games I've made are all for a need. A need of revenge. A need for tears and blood. I hope that you can get through the flood."

He knew who this one was for without any other context. It was for Harry. The water that would flood in would most likely be sea water for the pirate. Mal had told him of the pirate in occasion, but had never told him what their relationship had been. He knew now.

They had been lovers. And when he had taken Mal away, he had created a rift between the two. That's why she had been so desperate to go back to the Isle when she had first gotten to Auradon. It was why she had gone through any means to get Fairy Godmother's wand.

The room started to fill with water.

"How am I supposed to get to the next room?" he asked.

"Find the broken bridge and take that to the exit," he heard another voice say. This voice was one that he had never heard before. Rougher than even Harry's.

"Captain Hook," Ben whispered under his breath.

"The one and only," the man said from the corner of the room. "Or maybe not, since Harry is technically a captain already. He had his own boat and everything. But that's a tale for another time."

"Good luck, Your Majesty. And everyone sends their best regards, except the children that is. They don't want you to die. We do, but I swore not to kill you." There was a pause as the older Hook thought to himself. "Anyway, look forward to the next game. The next one is for herself. And she isn't very happy."

A poof sounded in the room. Ben assumed that Mal had gotten Hook out of the room. More water was entering the room, and Ben really didn't know what the whole riddle meant. The broken bridge?

Where the hell wad that?

Ben found that as he was panicking, he very much did not want to know what Mal had in store for him next.