Soli Deo gloria
DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Descendants.
I've never read the Isle of the Lost series, so I'm not sure how canon this fic will turn out to be. Oh well. :P
Maleficent's shout of "Mal, get that door! And destroy that doorbell, before I destroy who's hitting it a thousand times!" echoed through the building. Mal obediently strode across the broken floorboards of their creaky 'home' and opened the door. The eight-year-old hung in the doorway chewing a piece of gum she'd stolen from a 'candy shop' and appraised the kids in front of her. Uma, daughter of Ursula, with her long blue hair in two braids and a winsome smirk on her face, stood in the center, the obvious leader. Flanking her on either side were her two cronies—Harry Hook, as dramatic and dark as his dad and full of cooties and terrible habits like running his tongue over swords and pretending to have only one actual hand—and Gil, son of Gaston, with about two tablespoons of brains in his head.
"What's up, Mal?" Uma peered around Mal, searching for certain faces she'd learned to wrinkle her nose at. "Where are your usual tagalongs?"
"Oh, they're busy wreaking mayhem and chaos and inspiring fear at the very mention of their names," Mal lied casually. Sharing an apartment with three other kids and their parents caused a lot of dissension between the four parents, while it only strengthened the familial bond between the four kids. The four kids usually ruled the Isle, trying to prove to their parents that they could be just as feared and hated as them. Right now, though, they were engaged in less than fearsome exploits. Mal didn't want the satisfaction of Uma knowing that Evie was trying in vain to teach her mother how to contour, Jay was dusting his father's trade shop, and Carlos was airing out his mother's vast, stagnant fur collection.
"Then why aren't you out with them? I thought ya liked causing people to hide whenever they hear your footsteps," Harry said pointedly.
"Mother was teaching me some spells this morning. You know, for when the barrier's brought down someday," Mal bunted off-hand. In reality, Mal had backtalked her mother that morning; if she lived in Auradon, she would've received a lecture on how she mustn't do that, but respect her parents and speak kindly. Her mother, being Maleficent, instead turned it into a teaching opportunity, a lesson. She paced the floor and gave Mal criticisms and pointers on how to improve her performance. Once again, the more Uma didn't know, the more she couldn't lord over Mal.
"Who knows when that will happen. If ever," Uma said, a little annoyance against that stupid barrier barely barred from her voice.
The two girls regarded each other. Mal couldn't understand Uma; she was such a leader—the daughter of Ursula kinda demanded that of you. Yet she obviously couldn't stand the idea of not being Mal's friend. That was a reason Uma turned her nose up at Evie, Jay, and Carlos. Somehow they'd been chosen to be Mal's squad while she was stuck in the seaweed-y muck with Dumb and Dumber? Her resentment, Isle-ly speaking, was admirable. Mal didn't appreciate the way Uma couldn't give it up.
"I can't imagine it's any fun in there. What say you sneak out and play with us?" Uma said. She slinked forward, as smooth as her mother, and put an arm around Mal. Mal smacked against her gum. She didn't resist the words. She could admit it to herself—not to Uma—that teaching lectures from her mother were boring and annoying and dragging. They made her feel like she could never be the best, be this perfect villain her mother demanded her to be. Sneak out? Leave her otherwise occupied friends and her annoying mom and enjoy fun and mischievous exploits? Well—don't let Uma know—her only option was already chosen. Still, she appraised Uma. How could she pursue her?
"Well, I dunno. Mother's getting kind of interesting. It's a bonding experience. She plans for me to fight at her side when the barrier goes down," Mal said casually. Pointed words from a shrewd villain's daughter. Mal knew from her own sources that Ursula treated Uma as a young employee; their screaming matches at each other echoed from outside Ursula's Fish and Chips. When the barrier went down (in Mal's mind, Maleficent had made it an inevitable happening), nobody thought that Ursula would have Uma fight by her side.
Uma frowned, but brushed off this slight. "That barrier's just as stuck as it always is. It shuts us off from Auradon, the goody-two-shoes kids, and any kind of magic. But it doesn't shut off us from every kind of fun. You know that sandbox we got?" Uma said persuasively. She put into Mal's mind a memory from when they were littler of a sandbox near the fish and chips shop. They'd made up kingdoms in it and ruled them, taking over the small imaginary worlds and proving themselves the baddest villains of all.
"Yeah, I remember it. What about it?" Mal said casually, though she actually felt interested in where Uma was going with this.
"Near it is that old harbor. There's some water there, next to the old ships we can't sail on any more. Wanna go check it out?" Uma offered.
It was an interesting offer; Mal mulled the idea over in silence until it was killed by Gil piping up with, "Isn't that where your mom has her fish nets to catch all the seafood and stuff for her restaurant? Are we just gonna help you with your chores, Uma?"
Uma rolled her eyes and snapped at Gil, even as she kept her eyes on Mal, "Shut up, Gil."
"What exactly would we be doing at the harbor?" Mal wondered.
"Oh, anything and everything. Climb onto the old ship, play pirates," Uma said, knowing what she said. Here Harry grinned with a psycho look in his brilliant eyes. "Shout taunts and curses at those across the water in Auradon. Figure out ways to destroy them once we get off this awful Isle, like serve their flounder and crab for lunch at the Fish and Chips shop, and send dear Princess Ariel back to the depths, out of the arms of her precious Eric!" Here Uma's eyes glowed with ambition and the angry delight in this idea shone in her voice as she impaled her sword into the creaky floorboards of Maleficent's house. Mal gave her a look as she chomped on her gum. Uma wrenched her sword out of the floor before the mistress of evil came inquiring and said, leaning close to Mal, "What'd'ya say, Mal?"
"I thought that the barrier was just as stuck as it always is? What's the point of shouting into a void, again?" Mal wondered.
Uma floated back over between her boys, back to her spot of importance and superiority. "Gets you away from your mother," was her simple answer.
Uma despised her mother ordering her around as much as Mal did hers, and Uma knew this. Mal looked over her shoulder just for a second before shouting, "I'm going to go pillage, Mother!"
"All right. Be sure to be extra thoughtful and make them deeds no one will forget for years! And don't forget to destroy that doorbell!"
Mal rolled her eyes as she slammed the door shut behind her and planted her elbow in a direct hit against that infernal doorbell. It shattered, she withdrew her elbow, and blowing a big bubble, said, folding her arms as she appraised the now terribly pleased trio before her, "Lead the way."
An unsettling, mischievous smirk passed between the trio. Mal waved it away as normal, seeing as mischievous smirks and evil grins alike were normal on the Isle, and walked behind them as they blazed the trail. Of course, they did so embarrassingly. Overwhelmed by the success of their plan they'd almost counted as a dead end, the boys acted like monkeys. Harry leapt and jumped onto retaining walls and building ledges, howling as he skipped and bounced. Gil ran ahead but then skedaddled back, only to burst forth in a sprint again, like a puppy on a leash anxious to run ahead. Uma was the only one with any chill; she fell in step with Mal and put an arm around her. "I'm so glad you're joining us, Mal. You had to get out of that house, away from those loser kids you're always hanging out with."
"Those 'loser kids' are actually my friends, so if you want me to go to the harbor with you, I wouldn't consider it a good idea to insult them right to my face," Mal said cheerfully, but with that hidden glint of bright, controlling green in her eyes.
Uma took that warning sign in stride and pretended to laugh it off. "You know what I mean. They're low-class thieves, aspiring amateurs, but, really, they're no match for the real next generation of villains. They don't have the desire to be the best and baddest, the evilest and devilish like our gang. Now, see, we three, we have a vision. Not of becoming our parents, but of being better than our parents. We plan to outstrip their plans and make a name for ourselves. I won't be Uma, daughter of Ursula. She'll be Ursula, mother of Uma. What do you say, Mal?" Uma wondered as they descended the rickety, splinter-filled wooden stairs down the side of the island to the abandoned harbor. Uma stopped Mal and said, all traces of persuasive charm disappearing into a face full of evil intent and aspirations, "Well, Mal, what do you say? Join my gang?"
Harry and Gil stopped their traipsing and leaned forward, hanging off the sides of buildings. They wanted an answer just as much as Mal.
"You all sound like you have a lot to prove," Mal said observantly.
"And tell me, who doesn't?" Harry said, curving his hook underneath her chin. She gave him a look as he withdrew it, a devilish look on his face.
"Not me. I don't have to prove anything. You guys, though. . ." Mal cocked her head and walked ahead.
Uma's face burned with pink anger and embarrassment. Harry dropped down to her side and said, "Well, wasn't expectin' that."
"What do we do now, Uma?" Gil wondered, confused.
Uma burned, breathing silently but heavily as she watched Mal nonchalantly jump down to the old sandbox they had.
"Nobody puts us down like that. Nobody thinks that we ain't bad enough material for their gang. She's gonna find out just how big and bad we can really be, and rue the day she ever doubted us!" Uma pointed her sword angrily down at Mal.
Harry's eyes glittered. "I like the sound of that," he breathed.
"Cool! What are we gonna do to her?" Gil wanted to know.
"We're gonna make her pay," Uma said darkly, too darkly for an eight-year-old.
Mal happened to look up at the angry, scheming faces and the sword pointed down at her. She raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, look, guys! There's the sandbox! Right where we remember it!" Uma sprung as a cover story. She jerked her sword to point past Mal's heart down to where her feet were crunching against the dirty sand.
The boys whooped and hopped down into the sandbox. Harry dug for buried treasure, immediately lost in a pirate's tale of his own making. Gil tasted the sand. He wrinkled his nose, but a second taste wasn't rejected.
Uma could tell Mal's interest with the sandbox was running out quickly. So she grabbed her arm and said, "Aw, we don't need that old sandbox. Come down here." Mal had a curious interest in what conniving motive Uma had as she linked arms with her and led her further down the old, broken harbor down to the pier. Its old legs were wrapped in old seaweed tendrils and barnacles. They trailed along its edge. "Look at that ocean. Isn't it beautiful? Deadly and unrelenting and sooo tempting. Mmm, I love that sea," Uma said. She leaned forward and grinned at her reflection.
Mal joined her. Eh, just the same reflection she could see of herself in the old cracked mirror at home, only bluer. "It's not that impressive," Mal said mildly. She took a half step back onto the pier. She felt kinda uncomfortable. She didn't like that description of the sea Uma purred about—not when she couldn't swim.
"Really? Take a closer look at it. It's there. You just gotta see it." Uma looked over Mal's bent shoulder at Harry and Gil. Harry's crazy eyes met her bright, devious ones.
"Hmmm, nope, not seeing it." Mal straightened quickly, shrugging it off.
"Really? Boys, don't you see it?" Uma prompted.
Harry and Gil instantly careened over the sea. "Ah, there I be. The handsomest pirate that ever lived," Harry pronounced confidently.
"I can see my reflection! Whoa, Uma, the ocean's just like a mirror!" Gil glowed.
Uma suppressed her habitual eyeroll and smiled innocently at Mal. "See? They can see it. Can't you, Mal?"
Mal's cheeks shone a sudden distinct pink, and she resolutely leaned over the pier, staring into the ocean, searching for that beauty whose call brought all to its depths.
Uma's smile disappeared, replaced by bitter jealousy. Without a word, she shoved Mal down into the sea.
The girl screamed as she slipped into the depths. This wasn't a shallow bank—these were cold, deep, dark waters. Mal immediately tangled her arms in seaweed. She'd landed with her mouth open in a scream—she had no air supply; the tangy, disgusting water filled her lungs, choking in her throat almost instantly. She waved her hands pathetically, trying in vain to throw off the seaweed and reach the surface. She felt herself falling far down, down into the unfamiliar space. Her eyes stung from the salt. Her chest burned—from the salt water bubbling and spreading through it, and her anger. Her eyes, shut against the salt, snapped open, burning an angry, vengeful green. She calmed down and tried her hands at paddling up to the surface. She wasn't quite sure what she was doing, but between desperation and anger she got to the surface.
She gasped in fresh air and almost went under again. She bobbed like a cork as she frantically paddled. Above her attempts at staying above water, she heard peals of trifold laughter. She paid no mind to the pointing fingers and sniggers of the other three kids as she managed to get her arms around one of the pier posts. She shivered and bristled and trembled, coughing up violent fits of dirty water. When she finally summoned enough strength, she pulled herself up over the edge, glaring at Uma, Harry, and Gil. Harry lay on his back like an overturned bug, his legs kicking at the empty air, his eyes screwed up and his laughter shaking his chest so much he was silent. Gil was just holding his gut and pointing a finger at her as he guffawed like a donkey. And Uma—Uma was worst of all. She just smirked, like she was trying to keep a straight face, but couldn't help the grin that snuck back again and again.
"What was that?!" Mal demanded to know, once she got to her feet. She stalked over to Uma, dripping water and smelling awful.
"Just a little revenge. We're not bad enough or evil enough to join your little clique, Mal? Sure, that just proved us the sweetest little heroes ever," Uma crowed. Gil whooped and Harry jumped up onto the balls of his feet, his manic smile right side by side with Uma's grin.
Mal burned. "That was a sneaky, cowardly move, Uma. Like I wanna be your friend. You can have that stupid old ocean and that stupid old sandbox. That wasn't real evil. That was petty and cowardly. Believe me, I'm not going to let this rest. You're gonna hear from me, and my friends: Evie, Jay, and Carlos. See ya, Shrimpy." Mal took those stairs while the boys stared at Uma with wide-open mouths. She just got owned.
"Shrimpy?!" Uma turned on her heel and wielded her sword. It was a large sword for an eight-year-old. Her arm didn't waver. She held as much anger and embarrassment in her body as Mal had.
Mal gave a prim little wave from the landing. "Seems fitting, doesn't it? Swim away back to your mummy, Shrimpy. Or, enjoy your sandbox."
Anger flowed like blood through Uma. Harry said, "What do we do now, Uma?"
"We plan our payback," Uma said through gritted teeth. "She may have gotten the last word in this conversation, but she's gonna eat her words when we become the ruling force on this island! So, she's thrown in her lot with them. Luckily I got my own squad." Uma nodded to Harry (gleeful) and Gil (confused, but just glad to be remembered). Uma ran a finger along her sword, glaring at the purple hair up above disappearing into the heights of the island. "This ain't the last she's gonna hear of the name of Uma."
So I know in D1 Mal can't swim because she says there's a barrier preventing them from swimming in the ocean. But in D2, Ursula must get her seafood from the ocean, right? Plus Uma's ship was on some water. I'm thinking that Mal can't swim 'cause the ocean was always Uma's territory. You know?
Thanks for reading! What do you think? Do y'all want any more Descendants fanfics? Let me know!