“It’s Evie, it’s Evie! She’s here!” the Badum cousins shouted, stumbling over each other as they fought to get down the stairs first, “She’s outside! She’s outside! We saw her!”
“Shut up!” Carlos snarled, standing them up as they hit the bottom, “This place isn’t sound proof!”
“But, Uma’s got her!” they protested, trying to get around him, “We saw Sophie too!”
“Whoa, what?” Jay bounded forward, Evie and Sophie are here?”
They nodded earnestly, “We heard something upstairs and when we went up to see what it was, we saw Evie throwing rocks through the broken windows. Then Hook and his sisters came and got em.”
“Dalmations!” Carlos cursed, whirling towards the door.
“Don’t!” Jay grabbed him.
Carlos almost punched him, “But that no good son of a pirate—”
“I know!” Jay bit his lip hard enough to draw blood, torn by all the people they had to protect, “I know.”
“We’ll get ’em back, guys,” Lonnie confidently put her arms around her Isle friends, “We’ve got an army here.”
“Lonnie!” Jay was horrified, gesturing towards the others, “No way!”
She gave him a look, “Yes way!”
“Um, Lonnie,” Ben stepped forward, “They’re in charge here.”
Her eyebrows arched upward, “But we have to get our friends back! There’s no option here, guys.”
Shaking his head, Jay couldn’t help but smile at her audacity. “Alright, get the swords. Let’s figure out a plan.”
*o*o*0*o*o*
“Take Celia and leave now,” Mal whispered to Yen Sid, “Get my friends home.” Her eyes flashed green, “I’ll take care of this pinhead.”
“Long time no see, Dr. F,” she said, audaciously snatching the hat off his head. She twirled it on her finger to distract him while the others gingerly made their escape.
“Why, you little—” He lunged forward but missed and crashed into a chair.
“Watch it” she snapped, holding the hat just out of reach, “You wouldn’t want to make me mad now, would you?”
He paused, momentarily remembering all the things she’d done as Dragon Hall’s worst student. Then he shook himself and lunged again.
“Uh, uh, uh,” she wagged her finger at him. Knowing he’d had a flashback, she smiled wryly, “Come on, you know you can’t beat me. Come on, I thought you were a top tier villain. Is that all ya got?”
His face reddened with rage as her taunts began to get the best of his suave serenity and they began a slow dance around the room, sizing each other up like boxers in the ring.
“Say,” she continued, her eyes bright with wicked delight, “Where’d Celia go? I thought you wanted to talk to her?”
“What?” he whirled on his heels, gasping when he remembered his errand, “That little—” He spun back, “What’d you do to them?”
“What did I do?” she sounded offended, spinning his hat on her finger again, “I didn’t do anything. They left.”
*o*o*0*o*o*
Yen Sid’s robe billowed around him as he coasted through the squalor-ridden streets, leaving Celia to keep up the best she could.
Glancing up as she trotted at his heels, the young VK wondered why she couldn’t read minds like her dad and sister could. ”Um, what’s going on?” she finally summoned the courage to ask, “Evie and Sophie wouldn’t tell me anything.”
Glancing down, he patted her hand but said nothing and she lost her nerve to press him. Then they rounded a corner and she was promptly taken off her feet when someone barreled into her.
“Let go, let go!” Audrey screamed, shrieking in fear.
“You let go of me!” Celia fought back, “Help!”
“Not again!” Chad and Doug were on the scene seconds later, plowing into the fray just as Yen Sid recognized them.
“It’s alright, it’s alright, Audrey, Celia,” his big hands pulled them apart and set them on their feet, “It’s alright, boys.” He smiled triumphantly as relief washed over him, “Everything is alright now.”
“Yen Sid!” Doug almost cried with relief, “Evie—”
“Is fine.” he held up his hand, “In fact, young Celia is the one who found her and Sophie. We’re on our way to Maleficent’s now to send you kids home.”
“But, how-how did you know?” Audrey stammered.
“Mal came to me when she found you missing.”
“Where is she…? Doug’s head swiveled around, a flicker of worry crossing his face.
“Back at Dragon Hall.” he answered shortly, “She stayed behind to distract Dr. Facilier.”
“Is she…?” Doug couldn’t help thinking of Ben.
The Sorcerer shook his head, knowing the purple-clad girl as he did, “That is her decision to make.”
“That’s rough.” Chad glanced at Audrey, thankful that he hadn’t fallen in love with a villian.
“Yeah.” she agreed, looking at the ground, “Poor Ben.”
“We must go.” the Sorcerer gently reminded them, “Your adventure is at an end.”
*o*o*0*o*o*
“Look Uma,” Evie was motionless, feeling the coldness of Harry’s hook on her face and hoping the darkness concealed the strain on her face, “You don’t have a reason to be in our territory so why don’t you get out of here before my friends come out?”
“What? You mean, I can’t have a little fun first?” the green-clad girl giggled. Then fire blazed into her eyes, “So, who are these friends of yours anyways? No one would dare to break my seige.”
“We learned to show grace in Auradon,” Evie counter softly, sidestepping the question with steel in her eyes. She snapped her fingers, “But, the grace ends like that if you mess with me and my friends.”
Uma snorted, “No hero’s endless grace, huh? That figures. I guess it’s true what they say…you can put a tiara on a villian, but you’re still a villain.”
“I wore a tiara before I went to Auradon,” the blue-clad princess answered evenly, flipping her hair off her shoulder, “My mother is a queen, remember?”
“And how’d that work out for you, hmm?” the green-clad girl retorted, “Stuck in a castle for ten years? Not much better than Rapunzel, I’d say.”
“Evie is princess wherever she goes,” Sophie interrupted boldly, “It’s more than you could ever be.”
Laughing with genuine surprise, Uma clapped her hands, “Ooo, I like that!”
Evie too couldn’t help but smile at her friend’s boldness and she took the distraction as an opportunity to slide out of Harry’s grasp.
“Back off,” she yanked his hook out of his hand, “Or you’ll never see this again…”
Holding it just out of reach, she laid down the gauntlet, “Tell you what Uma, let’s talk here as equals. No hooks, no ropes, no jokes, no sass. What do you say?”
“Harry,” Uma was suddenly intrigued; no one had ever treated her like this, “Chill for a minute.”
“So, we’re equals, now?” She gave the blue-clad princess a pointed look.
Evie nodded mutely, fervently hoping that her friends inside the castle would notice their plight before things got out of hand.
“So, answer me then,” Uma pointed angrily at the castle, “Why did you come back? And who’s inside there?
“I came back because Mal is my best friend,” Evie decided being truthful about the first question might distract from the second. “You’ve got your crew.” she continued, “You know the importance of friendship.” She shrugged, “Listen, I know you two hate each other and you probably figure that I should too, but I don’t and I’m not gonna leave her here without a friend.” She shrugged, trying to be nonchalant even as her heartbeat raced overtime “Carlos, Jay, and Freddie aren’t going to either.”
*o*o*0*o*o*
“Ok, Jay, Carlos, Ben, and myself get swords.” Lonnie started giving directions, “Say, are there knives around here somewhere? In the kitchen maybe? Freddie, you can have a knife. Can any of the other VKs fight?”
“Gee, thanks.” Freddie was sarcastic as she headed for the kitchen, “I’ll just go get one now.”
“We know how to take care of ourselves,” Claudine answered, “but we’ve never officially trained with weapons…at least, other than Big Murph.”
“Bring some knives for the other VKs.” Lonnie called after Freddie, smiling encouragingly at the antiheroes to show her faith in them. “Everyone who can’t fight or doesn’t want to hide upstairs,” she continued, “AK and VK alike.”
“Go to the third floor and stay away from the broken windows.” Carlos added, “VKs, if this goes south, you guys will have to defend the AKs with your lives. Got it?”
“You’ll be the most important ones.” Jay encouraged them.
“Mal said I could have a sword if I disarmed you!” Big Murph complained in Lonnie’s face.
“Not now, Big Murph!” Jay growled, looking irritated.
“But—”
“We don’t have time!” Carlos snapped, gesturing towards the door, “We’ve gotta get out there!”
“We’ll test ya out when we get back.” Jay’s irritation quickly gave way with a closer look at the young pirate. He gave the enthusiastic VK a friendly pat on the back.
“But I can help! Just give me a sword!”
“Just shut up about it right now, alright!” Carlos snapped, “We told you there aren’t enough!”
“Hey, man, I know what Mal said,” Jay continued to be more understanding, “But, I’ve learned there are more ways to fight than with a sword.” Putting his hands on the young pirate’s shoulders, he looked him square in the eye, “I remember how you used to use your fists. You even beat the Gastons a couple times.” He grinned, “Then you can take their sword.”
“Hey, yeah!” Big Murph brightened immediately.
“But that’s stealing!” Hermie Bing complained.
“So what?” Carlos rolled his eyes.
“All’s fair on the Isle.” Jay grinned.
“Really?”
“Yep.”
“Cool!”
“You want a knief, Big Murph?” Freddie asked, bounding down the stairs with a handful; she dangled one tantalizingly close to his face.
“Nah, that’s alright,” his face glowed, “I’m gonna beat ‘em with my fists!”
“Suit yourself.” she shrugged, handing knives to Claudine, Yzla, and Diego.
“Are we ready?” Ben quickly sized up the group.
“Looks like it.” Lonnie smiled, also checking their ranks, “Mom would be so proud right now!”
“Not if we don’t get ‘em back.” Jay muttered, “On three, captain?”
She nodded, “One, two, three!”
They barreled through the door and out onto the sidewalk, storming through Uma’s surprised crew with the element of surprise. But realizing that the blue-clad princess had lied, the green-clad girl recovered her forces quickly and before they could complete the rescue, Lonnie’s fighters had a brawl on their hands.
“Where’s Doug?” Evie shouted over the chaos, joining the melee beside Carlos and Diego.
“Inside,” he lied, “with the others who can’t fight.”
“Thank goblins.” She kicked a pirate where it hurts with her heel.
“Ouch,” Carlos muttered, knowing that she’d do the same to him when she found out the truth.
“What’s up, bro?” Yzla and Zevon circled each other.
“You know, I owe CJ.” he shrugged, chuckling softly as he watched her squirm with anticipation.
“VKs don’t owe each other anything.” she frowned.
“She and her pirates have done more for the Isle than Mal and her gang ever did.” he answered, “That’s why I’ve sided with them.”
“Do you even know what that is?” he continued, nodding at her weapon with a taunting gleam in his eyes.
“A knife!” She bristled at the insult.
“Where’d you get it?” he asked.
“Mal’s kitchen.”
He laughed harshly, “It probably wouldn’t cut butter! Do you really think they’d let us have sharp ones on the Isle?”
She cringed, eyeing her weapon in confusion; it looked sharp to her.
“Goodie-two-shoes don’t fight anyways,” he continued, laughing again.
“That’s not what Jay said.”
He snorted, “Jay? He’s a traitor, Yzla. He’ll say anything.” Inching forward, he kept talking to distract her, “They don’t care about us. They moved over there and they’re living the good life. But, what have they actually done for us, huh? Nothing! King Ben said he wanted to understand us, to make things better for us, but have we ever gotten anything out of the deal? Of course not!”
She stood frozen, hearing his words with a sinking feeling. He was right, of course; life on the Isle hadn’t improved until Uma fixed her mom’s old necklace. Now they had decent TV. Now they had Pleasure Island. Who knows what she’d do next!
“Hey!” she gasped, startled when he tore the knife out of her hand, “You can’t do that!”
“Looks like I just did!” he laughed, “Thanks, sis!”