Chapter 1: We're Rotten
"They seem to have forgotten who's really in charge of this island!"
The five teenagers stood smugly in the entryway of their home; a castle smack-dab in the center of the Isle of the Lost.
"They don't know who they're messing with," Mal, the girl with purple hair, rallied.
"Yeah!" agreed the other four.
"So let's go out there and remind them that our parents are the ones who rule this place!" she shouted, lifting her fist in triumph. "Cause we're rotten!"
"To the core!" the other four chorused, lifting their fists to meet hers in midair.
They all picked up the multicolored spray cans, smirking to one another, then, almost in perfect synchronization, they all ran to different parts of their home turf, each with the same goal in mind: show them who's boss.
A boy with long dark hair went off into the market, swiping things off the carts and trays as he went, undetected by the shoppers and stand keepers. Jay, son of Jafar, was a pickpocket, and proud.
A girl with blue hair strut her way through the streets, not caring who saw her and who didn't. She walked in the middle, through the center of the crowds, making sure she (and her outfit) were wholeheartedly noticed by all who happened to have the fortune to glance at her. Evie was the daughter of the Evil Queen, and evil she was.
A boy with bleach blonde hair and dark roots wove his way in and out of bright lit streets and the back kitchens of other's houses. He did flips and tumbles, trying to not get caught (or was he?). A can slipped through his fingers, causing a commotion in a house he was sneaking through. As the owner of the house chased him out, Carlos, son of Cruella de Vil, simply chuckled and acrobatted his way out of even more trouble.
A girl with dark brown and red hair tied into a braid sprinted off to the East side of the island, several spray cans stuffed in her arms and her pockets. Her sword kept smacking her in the leg as she went on her way, stalking through the very darkest alleys and the dirtiest neighborhoods. This girl was none other than Quinn of Hearts, the malicious Queen of Heart's daughter.
The leader of them all, a girl with purple hair, went off to the center of the island, the industrial section, looking for the perfect wall to paint her masterpiece on. She went the back ways, avoiding people. She knew that once she and her gang were done with their mission, everyone would know it was them.
The five teens all strode up to their prospective canvases, ready to do some damage.
Some finished before others, already wreaking havoc on the way back to their castle.
Mal finished with the green spray on the background of her LONG LIVE EVIL sign, spun on her heel and sang, "They say I'm trouble, they say I'm bad…"
She jumped from her spot next to her artwork, purposely bumping into two other Isle of the Lost boys on her way down. "They say I'm evil, and that makes me glad."
Across the island, Jay scurried away from his own stroke of genius, passing a smaller version on his way down a ladder. "A dirty no-good, down to the bone. Your worst nightmare, can't take me home!"
Then, on the other side of the island, Quinn drew her short sword and stabbed the empty spray cans, the black, yellow, and red silhouette of her mother and the LONG LIVE EVIL logo behind her.
She adjusted her backwards, yellow snapback with a maroon heart on the front and shook out her dark red plaid sleeves. She stomped up behind a few unsuspecting islanders and shook out the rest of what was left in the paint cans onto their heads. She laughed and sang, "Tell me I'm heartless, soul cold as ice…"
She slid her sword through one of the men's top hats and sliced it to ribbons in front of him, then threw it up into the air like confetti over the rest of the group. "I might be mad; I don't play nice."
She quickly put her sword back into its sheath and jumped up onto some crates. She made her way back to the others.
Evie was still strutting, but this time on long strand of tables that had been squashed together for an impromptu tea party by former Wonderlanders who had followed Quinn's mother to the Isle of the Lost. "So I've got some mischief in my blood. Can you blame me? I never got no love."
Close by, Carlos was going through yet another apartment. "They think I'm callous, a low-life hood."
He snuck up behind a worker and swiped his red bandana, the worker yelling protests after him. As he rounded a corner, he spotted a little girl with an apple. "I feel so useless…"
"MISUNDERSTOOD!" they all shouted.
Quinn leapt off the top of a building onto a few crates, then bounded down the crates to get into line with Mal and Evie. They marched down the alley together.
"Mirror, mirror, on the wall," the three sang in harmony, "who's the baddest of them all? Welcome to my wicked world, wicked world…"
The five met up outside the gate of their first shortcut – the homeless shelter that housed most of the homeless on the island. They all sang together.
"I'm rotten to the core, core, rotten to the core."
The five flooded the workers with mischief. Quinn jumped off of the ledge, drawing her sword and slicing through several bags of grain. She high kicked a worker trying to attack, then hopped into several piles of laundry, wiping her dirty yellow combat boots on the nicely cleaned sheets. She tore through sheets with her sword; the ones on the lines to dry and the ones workers were holding.
"I'm rotten to the core, core, who could ask for more? I'm nothing like the kid next—like the kid next door. I'm rotten to the, I'm rotten to the, I'm rotten to the core!"
Jay picked up several stray pipes, clanging them against the empty washing tubs as the workers chased them out. Quinn picked up one extra, a pipe in one hand and her sword in the other. She smirked and followed in line behind Mal as they laughed and banged their pipes through a plumbing-lined tunnel, hoping to find more trouble waiting for them at the other end.
They split up once they were out, each causing their own trouble in the next shortcut: the marketplace.
Mal, who still had a spray can leftover from her vandalism, caused some trouble for a man in a bathtub.
"Call me a schemer, call me a freak," she sang mischievously, "How can you say that?"
She sprayed a giant purple M on the curtain, then drew it back, revealing a man in a tub, a large scrub brush in his hand.
"I'm just…unique!"
Jay pickpocketed and stole his way through the merchant's area. He climbed up onto the tent of one vendors, then jumped down and interrupted people drinking tea. He picked up their shiny silver kettle and pretended that he was about to pour them more tea. "What? Me, a traitor? Ain't got your back? Are we not friends?"
He quickly launched himself over their table, taking the kettle with him and scrubbing it off with a random cloth he picked up off another table. "What's up with that?"
Quinn swung her sword casually in the blacksmith section of the market. She spotted a circle of people, watching a man test out a wooden sword on a wooden shield. She pushed her way through the crowd and sang, "I've got some edge here…"
She pushed the man with the toy sword out of the way. "Hear what I said?"
She performed several attacks on the wooden sword on the stand, the crowd taking a step back. Her sword, stuck for a moment, swung off the stand with her blade. She merely smirked and strode through the mass of people, all taking several steps back. She raised her sword high, then brought it down hard onto the pavement. The wooden shield splintered beneath her strength and her blade. "This island's ours now, off with your head!" She shoved her sword into her sheath and ran away to join the others.
Evie sauntered through the textiles section of the marketplace, toying with an older boy who worked there. "So I'm a misfit, so I'm a flirt."
She tugged on a long scarf the boy had wrapped around his neck, making him spin and tumble. "I broke your heart?"
The boy stared after her through the curtains of fabric, watching her strut off to meet up with the other four. "I made you hurt?"
Carlos caused chaos in the food part of the markets. He kicked over barrels of water, knocked buckets of lettuce and other vegetables off of tables, and threw hay in shopkeeper's faces.
"The past is past! Forgive, forget…"
He smashed his foot against a large tub of apples, the fruit flying everywhere. The head shopkeeper yelled and shouted, vindictive of Carlos and his "friends" that were terrorizing the customers at the market.
Carlos jumped down off the tables, throwing a basket over the shopkeeper's head. He sang, "The truth is…"
"YOU AIN'T SEEN NOTHING YET!" the five shouted together.
Quinn was in the kitchens with Jay and Carlos as Mal and Evie watched from above. Quinn shoved the cook out of the way, flipping the eggs he was cooking onto the wall as she sang in harmony with the other two. "Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who's the baddest of them all?"
She took the knife from the smaller kid, who merely trembled in fear. She raised her eyebrows once as a threat and he quickly moved to the side. She jumped up onto the table and smashed whatever he was chopping into smithereens with her boots.
"Welcome to my wicked world, wicked world…"
She jumped off the table and landed next to Jay and Carlos. They grinned at each other, all satisfied with the pandemonium they had created.
"Come on!" Jay urged them, pulling Carlos by the arm.
They all felt the music surge, random followers of their parents joining them in their invasion of the main square right outside their castle. Villagers scattered, making room for the villain's children to take over.
Quinn moved with the rest of them, as they sang.
"I'm rotten to the core, core,
Rotten to the core.
I'm rotten to the core, core,
Who could ask for more?
I'm nothing like the kid next,
Like the kid next door.
I'm rotten to the, I'm rotten to the,
I'm rotten to the core."
The music faded and the five kids and their followers were left standing there, out of breath.
A small child seated in a wagon being pulled by his mother passed by. Mal noticed and smirked, then instantly swiped the lollipop from his tiny hand. She turned around and held it up like a trophy.
Quinn laughed with the others and patted Jay's shoulder, holding herself up for balance from laughing so hard.
Classic Mal, she thought.
Then, as if out of nowhere, townspeople starting screaming. They grabbed their things and ran in all directions. Merchants bumped into each other, things spilling out onto the street. The more agile scaled the buildings while others simply dove into the nearest shelter.
Quinn froze slightly as two Knuckleheads strode up into view, stopping in front of the five of them. She knew exactly who was behind them, and so did everyone else.
She watched as Mal, annoyed, cleared her throat and lowered the sweet, spinning on her heel to face the most feared villain on the Isle.
"Hi, mom," she greeted.
Maleficent shoved the two minions aside, an almost bored expression on her severe features.
"Stealing candy, Mal?" she wondered. "I'm so disappointed."
"It was from a baby," Mal clarified. Quinn could hear the hopeful tone to her friend's voice.
Maleficent grinned evilly. "That's my nasty little girl!"
She grabbed the lollipop from Mal, spit on it directly, then held it under her armpit. It made a sizzling noise, as if poison was being burned into it (which, Quinn knew, what was actually happening). She handed it to a Knucklehead. "Give it back to the dreadful creature."
Quinn could almost hear Mal roll her eyes.
"Mom!" she complained.
"It's the 'deets,' Mal, that makes up the difference between mean and truly evil!" her mother explained, waving almost presidentially at the mother and her child who now had his lollipop back.
Quinn exchanged glances with the other three. Maleficent had always been the leader of the five elite villains. She was the one who was sort of in charge of making speeches on the island and the one who dealt with the people and other villains. They each believed that their own parent was very evil, but they knew Maleficent had more power. She had, after all, committed the evilest acts of all time.
"When I was your age, I was cursing entire kingdoms."
Quinn raised her eyebrows as she realized that Mal had mouthed along with her mother's saying, which was said fairly often in their house.
Maleficent smirked slightly at her daughter, reprimanding her for her actions. She laughed darkly, then her face fell in a serious expression.
"Oh, you. Walk with me," she demanded.
As Mal and her mom walked away from the group, Quinn and Jay moved closer to Evie and Carlos.
"What do you think they're talking about?" Jay supposed.
Quinn shrugged, her leather studded, armless hoodie squeaking slightly.
"Something evil," she replied, an obvious tone to her voice.
"I don't like it," muttered Carlos.
"Oh, there's news!" exclaimed Maleficent, whipping gracefully around to face Quinn, Evie, Carlos, and Jay. "I buried the lead!"
Quinn frowned and flipped her braid off her shoulder. News from Maleficent was always…interesting.
"You five have been chosen to go to a different school," she announced. Then a mischievous grin came over her. "In Auradon."
Quin panicked. Auradon? No way!
She turned to bolt, but a Knucklehead grabbed hold her shoulders and pushed her back.
"Get off of me!" she cried, trying to reach for her blade.
She heard the other three struggling next to her, but she stopped once she saw Mal's hand up. She stopped fighting and yanked her arms out of the Knucklehead's grip.
Mal will fight this, she thought confidently.
"WHAT?" blurted Mal. "I am not going to some boarding school filled to the brim with prissy pink princesses!"
"And perfect princes!" Evie sighed, almost excited to leave.
Mal sent a flabbergasted look her friend's way.
"I mean, ick," Evie covered up, head hanging in embarrassment.
"Are you kidding me?" Quinn stepped forward, crossing her arms and scowling. "Those royals are our worst enemies! Do you know what they believe in?"
"Yeah, I don't do 'uniforms' unless they're leather," joked Jay. He held out a hand for Carlos to clap. "You feel me?"
Carlos, in shock, trudged forward, ignoring Jay's hand. "I read somewhere that they allow dogs in Auradon. Mom said they're rabid pack animals who eat boys who don't behave."
Quinn sputtered into laughter. Carlos was definitely the youngest of them all; and his mom the least evil of the five.
"RUFF!" barked Jay.
Carlos jumped back in fright, startled by Jay's scare, then smacked him in the arm.
"Yeah, mom, we're not going," Mal concluded.
Quinn nodded in agreement.
Maleficent groaned, leaning on her staff with a strained smile. "You're thinking small, pumpkin. It's all about world domination!"
Mal sighed, throwing her hands up, as if asking why.
"KNUCKLEHEADS!" bellowed Maleficent.
The minions left their posts behind Quinn, Evie, Carlos, and Jay, and followed behind their leader.
"Mal!" Maleficent sang.
Mal widened her eyes at the rest of the group, then did as her mother told her, and followed.
Quinn scoffed and knocked her knuckles against the hilt of her sword. The studs on her fingerless gloves made soft clanging noises against the metal handle. She inspected her yellow pained nails, then let her arm swing down against her side. The wheels in her head were spinning.
"There's got to be a reason why Maleficent is so happy about this," she reasoned as the rest of them began walking slowly towards their house.
"She's always got some crazy plan to take over Auradon," Carlos said. "This is probably one of them."
"We'll be on the inside," Quinn nodded, agreeing with the younger boy. "She'll probably want us to steal something for her."
"But there's princes there," Evie said dreamily. "They're heroes. What if they catch us?"
"We do what we do best," Jay smirked. "We're rotten to the core, right?"
The other three chuckled, bumping fists with Jay.
They were proud to be villains. And nothing could keep them from being who they were.
Wicked.
And Quinn knew that it would take an army to make her want to turn good. A stupid boarding school in Auradon was simply another mission for her. A mission she would accomplish with immense satisfaction.
Hi everybody! So I watched this movie for the first time about two weeks ago, and I couldn't get this idea for Quinn out of my head. I had to get her (and somebody else) worked into this story. I love the idea behind Descendants and I couldn't help not be intrigued.
If you'd like me to continue this fic and learn more about Quinn (and the other OC to come), please leave a review and follow! :) I'd love to hear what you think so far. You obviously haven't seen much of Quinn yet, but I hope I've sparked your interest enough that you'd like to read more!