“Uh, shoot…say guys,” Carlos glanced at his watch as Dragon Hall’s bell began to toll, breaking the ever mounting tension in the most mundane way possible, “I gotta get going.”
“You’re not thinking we should go to school today?” Jay cut him a surprised look, “I mean, I know you liked Yen Sid’s class—”
“Naw, it’s not that,” Carlos shook his head, “I just need to head over to Hell Hall. It’s washing day and I oughta give Jace and Harry a break. They’ve been busting themselves for me since we left…”
“We can help you do your chores.” Uma surprised everyone, “I mean, if we’re gonna start being equals and all…shouldn’t we share turf maintenance?”
“But what about your mom?” Gil reminded her, “Don’t you have to work this morning?”
“Hey, I could do your chores for you!” Evie volunteered, loving this turn of events, “I mean, my mom did teach me how to cook and clean, so…”
“How evil of her.” Uma joked.
“Her mom brainwashed her.” Mal smirked.
“I still need to go with you.” Carlos was uneasy, “Mom will blow her stack if you guys just show up and say you want to clean for her.”
“And what about Evie going to your place alone?” Mal frowned at the green-clad girl, “Won’t your mom—”
“Oooo, I’ll go with her!” Gil interrupted excitedly, waving his hand to volunteer.
“He can.” Uma affirmed, “Mom probably wouldn’t care either way, as long as the chores get done, but Gil being there could help.”
“If I go with you, it might be okay.” Carlos nodded, “And it’s a big job so extra hands would be great!”
“I’ll go with Carlos.” Jay offered, disliking the idea of his younger friend being trapped by both his mom and the pirates, “Two more hands, you know.”
“That’s cool.” Carlos understood.
“I’m goin’ to school.” Freddie said, “We all know it’ll be empty today but Celia will still have to clean.”
“I’ll go with you. I need to talk to Yen Sid,” Mal added.
“How about we meet back at the Chip Shop when we get done?” Uma suggested, “We can talk more over a private lunch…”
“And…” Mal’s lips suddenly twisted into a wicked smirk, “How about coming back here for a slumber party?”
Carlos hoped Jace and Harry were either at school or sleeping in as he crept into his childhood home, leaving the pirates outside to wait. Tiptoeing down the hall, he accidently stepped on the squeaky board then swore under his breath when his mother appeared.
“I thought I heard someone come in,” Cruella gave him a hard look, “Thought it was Horace and Jasper’s boys, but it’s you.” She shrugged, grumbling, “Maybe now I can get a decent job done around here.”
He forced a smile, “Yeah, well, that’s why I’m here—oh, and uh, FYI, I brought some friends to help.”
*o*o*0*o*o*
“Urusla!” Gil sang out, holding the batwing doors aside for Evie, “We’re here!” He waved at the impatient patrons slouching around the dirty cafe, “Hey, guys! Sorry, we’re late. But today is gonna be special! Princess Evie is gonna serve breakfast!”
A long tentacle suddenly swept around the corner, showing the old sea-witch’s displeasure at the tardy servers and forcing everyone in the dining room to take cover.
“Ursula, stop!” Evie screamed, grabbing her brown-clad companion and they dove under a bench together, “Uma sent us! We’re sorry we’re late but we’re gonna get breakfast going right now!”
“Stop it, you morons!” She continued, barking at the rowdy patrons after the slimy tentacle withdrew and the hungry VKs began crowding around the buffet table, “If everyone will just settle down, I’ll guarantee that this will be the best breakfast you’ve ever had!”
“You mean you brought fresh stuff from Auradon?” someone called.
“Well, ah, no,” she blushed, opening the cabinets to set stacks of plates, spoons, folks, knives, and cups on the counter as Gil pulled out the trash cans full of food, “Sorry, bad choice of words. I guess I’m hoping the service will make it seem a little better.”
“It already does to me!” the brown clad boy spoke up immediately.
“Say, Gil,” she turned to him, “Would you pass out the plates and stuff, please? I’m going to get the…ah…food ready and serve it.”
“Of course!”
“We’re gonna do things a little different,” she faced the dining room with her brightest smile, “No food line this morning. I’m going to serve you individually.”
*o*o*0*o*o*
“Thanks for straightening everything out last night, Yen Sid,” Mal entered his empty classroom with a lopsided smile, having left Freddie in the hallway to look for Celia, “No antiheroes today, huh?
“No,” he shrugged, hiding a small smile under his long white beard, “I don’t blame them after last night.”
“Neither do I,” she nodded, “I’m grateful for their help.”
“Me too.”
“Ah, listen,” she walked slowly to his desk, her mind spinning to think of the right thing to say, “Look, I’m sorry about how things worked out.” she started rambling, “I didn’t mean for Evie to come back but I was kinda glad to see her. We were glad to see the boys too, and even Freddie, but the others shouldn’t have come.”
Her voice caught for a moment, “I’m sorry we weren’t there to say goodbye. Evie, Jay, and Carlos should’ve been gone back with them. They wanted too, I could tell, but they stayed for me. Freddie was gonna go back for the antiheroes sake but Uma came and-and—”
“I understand.”
The purple-clad pressed her lips together, thinking about what she thought Ben wanted her to say, “There are a lot of kids who could take our place over there, you know…none of us want the program to stop.” She swallowed hard, “Do you think you could…put in a word for them at council?”
“I could make suggestions…” He spoke slowly.
“That’d be great.” she swallowed the lump in her throat, hoping what she was about to say would encourage him, “Um, ah…did you know we’ve been hanging out with Uma and her pirates last night and this morning? It was Evie’s idea originally, but, I admit, it’s worked out better than I thought.”
“You know E. She wants so much that we’re all friends.” she explained, shrugging helplessly, “I think we came to something of an understanding this morning, maybe. It’s a long story. Right now Uma and the pirates went with Carlos and Jay to do chores for Cruella and Evie and Gil went to cover at Ursula’s.” She shrugged again, “We’re still feeling each other out, but we want to try to make things better here.” She shrugged again, “I’d just like Ben to know that.”
“He’d like that.” the Sorocer smiled slightly, “I’ll make sure he knows.”
“Thanks.”
“You say the others wanted to go back?” he changed the subject, clasping his hands on his desk, businesslike.
“Yeah, they did.” she nodded earnestly, “I’m not sure they want that now though.”
*o*o*0*o*o*
Curella’s eyes bugged out of her head when she saw all the pirates aimlessly milling around on her front porch and Carlos couldn’t help but grin.
“So, I believe you know everybody,” he gave her a nonchalant shrug, finding his tongue before she started raving, “They’re here to help me get this dump cleaned up.”
“Come on in, guys.” he continued, deciding it was best to leave her stupefied on the porch, “Uh, we’ll catch ya later, mom.” Leading the way upstairs, he walked backwards to explain the procedure, “We’ll wash her coats first so they can dry and fluff while we’re doing the car then we’ll hang em back up.”
“Not to mention, Curella won’t blow a fuse for getting her coats wet with car wash water.” Jay added.
“That’s plus too!” Carlos nodded as he cracked the closet door open, “Just be really careful, guys. Mom is very particular about her coats. They’re her most precious possession.”
“Don’t worry.” Uma made a face, “We don’t want crazy-lady coming up here anymore than you do.”
“Ooo, hold up,” Carlos suddenly slammed the door shut, remembering, “The bear traps! I’m the only one who’s ever—”
“Let me at em!” Harry interrupted, boasting; he thumped his chest as he strode forward. Taking a moment to yip in Carlos’ face, he added, “I’ll go in first.”
“Actually, that’s not quite true, ole buddy,” Jay hastily stepped between them, “I imagine the Badums have it figured out by now.”
“Oh, man, that’s true!” Carlos cringed, “Dang, I’ll have to really make it up to ‘em now!”
“And then there’s…” Jay paused dramatically, “Evie!”
Carlos facepalming himself. “Ohh, crap! How could I forget that! That was awful!”
“What…?” Uma’s eyes traveled from Jay to Carlos and back again, “Did I miss something here?”
“Only the best and worst Howler that Mal ever threw on the Isle!” Jay replied, “It was during the school year so you Serpent Prepers didn’t catch it.”
“It was back when Evil Queen first came back to town,” Carlos explained, “Mal was still sore about that old party snub so she cooked up a scheme to throw a party here at Hell Hall and lock Evie in with the bear traps.”
“Mom was due back from the spa anytime so I was freaking when I found out what she’d done,” Carlos shuddered at the memory, “but E outsmarted us all and made it out on her own.”
“Well,” Harry turned the attention back to himself, “if you’ll excuse me, the master is gonna go to work.”
“Get back here, Harry.” Uma growled, “Or I’ll tell the crazy lady to hang you out to dry when she comes up here.”
Hook’s son’s face instantly cringed; he fell back with a dejected look, “I never get to have any fun.”
“Ah, come on, Hook,” Jay smirked, slapping the pirate on the back, “The fun has just begun.”
“Very true,” Carlos affirmed, “Be back in a jiffy.”