Hello, everyone, and welcome back to the "Forever Wicked" series. I bring you Part 6 (if you want the complete list of the series, go to my profile and try to find your way from there).

As fun as the good vs. evil stories have been for me, I think it's time this series goes back to a calm and friendly atmosphere, like Part 1 ("The Kids From The Isle"). And just like Part 1, the story is divided into four stories (Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos), but still linked. Enjoy.

Leave a review after reading, please. Feedback is always appreciated.

I'd like to thank the following users for reviewing the final chapter of "A Whole New World": DragonEmperor999, CarvieCamfia2, Mustang52, Descendants123

NOTE: Italics mean flashbacks and Mal's narrating.

WARNING: Rated T for themes

Two years ago...

In the heart of Auradon City, Mal is going to address the public. It's been a few months since the war with Uma had ended and now she must further reassure the people that the suffering and deaths are over. Considering that some people on the Isle of the Lost are close to being ready for Auradon, Mal needs to ease the people's worries about the battle between good and evil continuing once a portion of the Isle's common folk are transferred across the broken bridge. A podium has been set up with a microphone. All that's left is for Mal to step up to the podium and speak.

Ben was there, wishing to be present for Mal's speech.

"You can do it," said Ben.

"Ben, I set fire to two villages filled with innocent people. I think I have the right to feel a little tense about today," said Mal.

"I know," said Ben. "But maybe you show a little bit of that steely, cold demeanor. That way, you don't have to feel so nervous."

"I'm glad you came here to support me," said Mal.

"Listening through the TV doesn't compare to listening up-close," said Ben. "Well, you're up."

Mal steps up to the podium. Cameras flashing everywhere. So many questions thrown at her face. It's overwhelming. Life of a celebrity, she thought. Well, can you consider a murderer a celebrity? Apparently, in Mal's case, yes. Sure, she was absolved of her crimes in court, but that didn't immediately erase all doubts and fears. She may be welcome to Auradon, especially after she stopped Uma and set her on a path of redemption, but there is always going to be some lingering doubt among the public.

"One at a time, please. One at a time," Mal said.

As soon as the reporters silenced themselves a little, Mal points at one reporter, giving him the first turn in asking a question.

"When will transfer of the people from the Isle begin?" Reporter #1 asked.

"Some. Some of them, to be exact. There are many - especially the villains - who are still not open to the idea of redeeming themselves," Mal clarified. "Five months. Consider it a Christmas gift for those who've decided to embrace change, like me and my friends have."

"Mal, over here!" Reporter #2 called. "News of your engagement with King Ben has been leaked recently. When are you two planning on getting married?"

Mal remembered. Someone - probably Evie, Audrey, Lonnie, or even Dizzy - leaked a picture of her and Ben with a clear view of the engagement ring on her finger. It's caused quite the buzz all over the kingdom. Mal looked at the ring on her finger just to remind herself.

"We're prolonging the engagement until we make a final decision," Mal said vaguely. "But I can assure..."

"Are you sure you and the King are staying together for good this time?" asked Reporter #3.

"Well, I'm not going anywhere," Mal replied flippantly.

"Mal, over here," Snow White called. "Are you sure you're ready to take on the responsibilities of being Queen of Auradon?"

"And I assume you are alluding to my past mistakes?" Mal accused calmly.

"These are the important questions, Mal. It depends on what you say to answer them," said Snow White. "The people need to understand you clearly."

Mal takes a deep breath before answering. "Over a year ago, I chose death over exposure. That decision cost me more than any of you would understand. I came back worse, and I have no excuses for it. All I can say is, regret is a common human experience. I've had to deal with more regret than anyone could possibly imagine. Earning the forgiveness of this kingdom and those close to me, it's near impossible. But a friend of mine told me that forgiveness from others isn't what I wanted. It was forgiveness from myself. The harsh truth is, trust is a fragile thing. No matter how close you are to someone, trust is easier to lose than to gain. But what I see myself as, who I believe I can be, that's what matters the most. My actions affect the people around me and I have to live with that. And I have. The hundreds of graves that I've forced this kingdom to dig can never be forgiven, but I know where my heart is. With the Isle. With Auradon. With the man I love."

Mal looks over at Ben and smiles at her. Ben felt really proud of her. While she's still an enigma, he's beginning to understand her better. She'll always be wickedly independent and independently wicked, but in the end, she listens to her heart.

"Rest assured, Queen of the Isle or Queen of Auradon, my priority is to the people and to the people I love, no matter where they come from," said Mal. "Although, you may want to brace yourselves during Halloween."

Mal chuckles through the microphone, purposely unsettling everyone listening. Ben can only smile and roll his eyes at the same time. That's definitely the woman he loves, alright.

Two years later, Mal is now in the woods and on the run. Armed with only a paintball gun in her hand and grenades strapped to her leather sash, the best course of action right now - besides firing - is running for her life. As soon as she was far enough from the threat, she stopped and hid behind a tree. She takes some deep breaths, needing time to calm her nerves from all the running. Unfortunately, those chasing her aren't too far behind. In fact, she could how close just by how loud their voices echo through the trees.

"Nowhere to hide, Mal!"

"You're surrounded!"

"Come on out and face us like a man... er, woman!"

Mal takes even deeper breaths as she readies herself for action. Keeping her fingers wrapped tightly around the gun's grip and handguard, she closes her eyes and plans an attack. As soon as she heard incoming fire, she opened her eyes and steadied herself.

"No more hiding," she said to herself.

She grabs one of her paint grenades, pulls the pin, and throws it without looking. As soon as she heard it explode, she comes out of her hiding place and starts firing. She had to jump to the right to avoid (paint)fire. While in the air, she continues firing. She softens her landing with a little roll and quickly aims her paintball gun back at the direction where her targets are.

"Catch!" One of the attackers said.

A grenade was coming her way. Using her magic, she sends it flying back to where it came from. It goes boom and it splashes red liquid everywhere in a three-meter radius.

"Hey! That's cheating!" An attacker whined.

Mal giggles to herself as her "attackers" approach her. As it turns out, they were just her best friends. Evie, everyone's favorite blue-haired narcissist. Jay, everyone's favorite beanie-wearing thief. Carlos De Vil, everyone's favorite white-haired tech prodigy. Evie and Carlos are both covered in red liquid, which turns out to be just red paint. (It is paint, right?)

"We said no magic," said Carlos.

"I just raised an eyebrow. I didn't nod or exactly say I agreed to that rule," Mal said mischievously.

"You are the worst, M," Evie said, wiping paint off her face.

"I know, E," Mal smiled.

"But you are the best friend," said Evie.

Evie gives Mal a hug, which results in covering her in red paint. The game may be over, but Mal ended up getting painted in the end. Instead of complaining, she just patted Evie on the back.

"I'm glad I didn't wear my favorite jacket today," said Mal.

"So am I," said Evie.

"Doesn't this feel great?" Carlos asked pleasantly. "The four of us, just goofing around like kids."

"We're still kids, Carlos," said Mal.

"You guys are already 20. I'm still 18," Carlos reminded them.

"True, but you're our cute little man," Evie said.

Evie pets Carlos in a teasing and flirtatious way.

"Speaking of the fear of us," Mal said.

Mal looked at Jay. He was lying on the ground, covered in red paint. He was playing dead. His left eye was open. He was twitching his right eye. His tongue was out. It's amusing (unless you start to think of the red paint as blood), but annoying.

Mal kicks Jay's leg.

"Game's over, Bean Bag," said Mal.

Jay stops playing dead, gets up, and says, "Same old Mal."

"Would you have me any other way?" asked Mal.

"Well," Jay joked.

Mal gently punches Jay on the shoulder and chuckles. To see her like this, it was both terrifying and delightful. A combination of nervousness and happiness filled the smiles of Evie, Jay, and Carlos.

"Don't worry. I don't take offense," said Mal.

"Two years and you're still doing it. Embracing this new badass side of yours," said Evie.

"Whoa, watch your language, Evie," Mal scolded playfully.

"We're in the woods. There's not a goddamn thing anyone can do about it," Carlos said, joining in on old habits.

"Well, anyone who tries to cut in on our fun is out of their freakin' minds," Mal agreed.

"You tell me," said Jay. "But hey, I don't give a..."

"Okay, that's enough," Evie interrupted. "We can soil our tongues after we clean ourselves."

"Game's over? Dang. I was looking forward to Round Two," said Jay.

Mal smiles and says, "I'm really glad you guys came."

"Our best friend is getting married. No way we're going to miss it," Evie said excitedly, shaking her friend excitedly.

"After two years of being engaged... that's a really long wait," Jay commented. "I mean, I'm not surprised you guys are finally getting married. I just expected it sooner."

"Hey, it doesn't matter how long the engagement was. What matters is the endgame," said Mal.

"Are you sure you're finally ready?" Carlos asked. "Ruling over two kingdoms. That-That's gonna be tough."

"Life comes with risks. And I like to take risks, remember?" Mal said. "Besides, it won't just be me and Ben. I got you guys to help me. I mean, the first thing I'm gonna do when I become queen is give you all official members of the royal councilor."

"Whoa," Carlos reacted.

"You don't have to do that," said Evie.

"E, you've had this job before. It's no biggie," said Mal.

"Uh, is this mandatory?" asked Jay. "I don't think this job is for me."

"Don't worry, Jay. You won't have to do the big boy stuff. All you need is to look cool while standing next to Evie and Carlos," Mal joked.

The other three VKs laughed. Jay ended up genuinely laughing along eventually.

"Anyway, let's go. I don't wanna look like a bloody mess when I visit the Auroria orphanage with Ben this afternoon," said Mal.

"Uh, isn't that messed up?" Jay asked. "You're kinda the reason those kids are orphans..."

Mal glared at Jay, shutting him up.

"No, you're right. It is messed up," said Mal. "But I can't erase the past. I killed all those people in Auroria and I have to own up to that. Even if doing so much as showing my face there is the worst idea in the history of worst ideas, being Queen of Auradon means I have to be able to look at the people in the eye. People from every city and every village."

"Okay, but before we go," said Evie.

Evie takes out her phone and asks everyone to huddle together. Everyone smiles for the camera and Evie takes a selfie. She quickly posts it on InstaRoyal, saying...

#FamilyByBlood #ItsNotBlood

After a shower, Mal puts on her favorite jacket and takes her scooter to Auroria, where Ben is. He arrived there ahead of Mal because she insisted on playing paintball wars with her friends. But she is here now. She parks her scooter across the street from the orphanage, where Ben should be right now. Before going in, Mal takes a moment to look around her. It's no secret that Mal has a bad history with Auroria. Nearly a hundred deaths caused by a fire that threatened to burn down half the village. A fire created by Mal to punish Ben for deceiving her.

"I told this kingdom a couple years ago that I don't need their forgiveness. What matters is that I forgive myself. To make myself feel better about moving on. Every day since the day I heeded an old friend's words is just another step towards a brighter future. I can never erase my evil, but, hey, I do have advantage. While I did tell the kingdom that my death changed me, as far as everyone knows, CJ manipulated me. I told my friends it's for the best that the kingdom believes I am only partially to blame for the deaths three years ago. As long as they don't hate me completely, I have a chance. It's the necessary evil. I mean, you know the saying. Unfortunately, it's not the end of this part of the story yet."

Mal enters the orphanage. A few adults passing by make eye contact while trying to ignore her. She ignores them back as she reminds herself why she's here.

"Excuse me," she said to the receptionist. "Where is King Ben?"

"You'll find him on the third floor. East stairway," said the receptionist.

"Thank you," said Mal.

"Congratulations, by the way," said the receptionist.

Mal looks at her engagement ring and says, "Thank you. I'm a lucky girl."

"Doesn't it make you uncomfortable to be here?" asked the receptionist. "I mean, I know Captain Hook's daughter tricked you, but still..."

"Believe me, it gets easier every day," said Mal.

Mal goes up to the third floor and finds Ben in a room filled with kids ages 8-12 just being kids. Playing, joking, and getting into brief, petty fights. Ben sees his future wife enter the room and quickly walks towards her with a big smile on his face.

"Hey," he greeted her.

"Hey," she greeted him back.

They share a quick kiss before hugging each other.

"Ew, that's gross," said an 8-year-old boy.

"Hey, how do you think your parents met, kid?" Mal responded. "Sorry. Shouldn't have said that."

"Mr. Ben!" An 10-year-old girl called as she ran to the king.

"Willow, I told you. You can call me Ben," said Ben.

"I made this for you, Ben," said Willow.

Willow gave Ben a colored drawing of him and Mal at the altar, happily married. Ben's wearing a blue tux. Mal is wearing a pretty purple dress and her hair was styled with the infamous bangs. Mal missed the bangs, but she's content with going back to her old hairstyle.

"I thought it would help," said Willow.

"Thank you," Ben said gratefully.

"Nice to meet you, Willow," said Mal. "I'm Mal."

"It's nice to meet you too," said Willow.

Mal and Willow shake hands. Willow gawked at Mal's engagement ring.

"Congratulations," said Willow. "I hope you two will be happy."

"I can only hope the same for you," said Mal.

"I wanted to hate you, but if Ben loves you, I can only feel happy for you two," said Willow.

Mal kneels down to look at the 10-year-old eye-to-eye and says, "You should hate me. I deserve it. And I am sorry you lost your parents. But if there's any wisdom I can pass down to you, it's that you can only use your past as a motivator. Remind yourself of why you're living your life, of who you're living for. Always look on the bright side, even in the darkest of times. That was a hard lesson for me to learn."

"I'll try," Willow promised.

Mal smiles, both at Willow at herself. Kids. It's another challenge for her. For most of her adolescent life, she's only ever scared children and steal candy from them. She takes any small talk with young children as practice for the future.

"I know what you're thinking. I wouldn't be worrying unless there's this big question hovering over me. Does Ben even want kids? The answer is... yes."

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ ROTTEN TO THE CORE ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

Mal and Ben decide to spend some time alone on a small balcony in the next room. Just watching the people of Auroria live their lives the way only know how. The kingdom may be fully repaired from the fire from three years ago, but it's still hard to picture it as complete. That day was very traumatic for those who lived here. So much death and destruction caused by magical fire. All the panic and fear.

Mal can only close her eyes and flash back to that very horrific day. Unbeknownst to everyone, she didn't just leave as soon as she started that fire. She actually watched the chaos.

Ben rescuing a young boy trapped in a burning building.

Jay and Lonnie helping a father rescue his wife and child, who were trapped in their home due to rubble.

Evie gets singed on the shoulder saving two little girls.

Freddie almost getting crushed under rubble when she went to save people inside a cottage.

"Mal," Ben called.

Mal opens her eyes, bringing herself back to reality. Ben rubs her shoulder calmly. She holds his hand for comfort.

"Thinking about that day?" Ben guessed.

"Coming here to Auroria will do that to me," said Mal.

"Mal, there's nothing more we can do except help all these people," said Ben.

"I know," Mal interrupted. "But I had to lie to everyone."

"Technically, it's not entirely a lie. CJ did talk you into joining her," Ben said.

"Okay, point. But I acted all on my own," said Mal.

"You still never told us why you were planning on betraying CJ even though you agreed to join her," said Ben.

"It doesn't matter," said Mal. "Who I am... finding that out, it cost me enough. But I got most of it back."

"I like to think you got it all back," said Ben. "You, Evie, Jay, Carlos, I saw the picture. I admit, I thought you guys were covered in..."

"Yeah, that was the idea," Mal laughed. "It was a lot of fun. College hasn't really helped keep us together, but what's about to happen will remind all of us why we're all a part of each other."

Ben kisses the engagement ring on Mal's finger, saying, "To be honest, I was worried you didn't want to go through with it."

"Believe me, I was worried about the same thing too," said Mal. "Most couples wait six to nine months. I had to wait indefinitely. I knew I wanted you, but I just didn't know when I wanted to move on to the final phase."

"It's not the final phase, Mal," said Ben. "It's just another step forward."

"I assume we're talking about the first phase of the life of a human being yet to be born," Mal guessed.

"Not exactly what I meant, but only if you want to," said Ben. "No, I was talking about how your position as Queen of Auradon can affect the lives of those who still live on the Isle."

"So far, only 25% of the Isle have been transferred here," Mal said. "Nothing majorly bad has happened, apart from some mischievous delinquents and a few petty thefts. I'm still taking it slow, Ben. As much as we want to give the people of the Isle hope, we can't rush it."

"You think I rushed it with you, Evie, Jay, and Carlos?" asked Ben.

"Well, you invited us to Auradon without keeping a close eye on us, allowing us to sneak into the museum to steal Fairy God Mother's wand without anyone being the wiser," Mal reminded him.

Ben laughed. Maybe she had a point, he thought.

"But it doesn't matter now if I waited too long or not," said Mal. "I'm ready. No matter what challenges await me in the future, I want to face them with you by my side. I don't see any other future coming to pass than this."

"We always need someone to lean on," said Ben. "All I wanted is for you to understand that. Maybe I don't understand it fully, but relying on yourself can be tempting. I feel that way sometimes when I became king. But I always have my parents, my friends, and you to guide me."

"A king should be able to guide himself, and you've done mostly a good job at that," Mal commented.

Ben smiles and says, "I love you."

"I love you, too," Mal said.

Mal and Ben kiss again. This time, it's a long one. Mal had to magically close the door to prevent some kids passing by from seeing them. She just wants to enjoy this moment with Ben, allowing it to give her a brighter perspective on the upcoming event.

"I'm getting married. Can you believe it? I can hardly. After all the heartbreaks, tortures, and broken trust, I'm finally going to marry the man I love. To be honest, this wasn't exactly a dream of mine when Ben and I got together. Wanting to be with him, that was one thing. Wanting to marry him, that's something entirely different. This could be the biggest day of my life. At least I have my friends to help me not screw this up. All of Auradon is watching. Smile for the cameras, Mal. You don't want to show them your bad side."

While kissing Ben, Mal opens her eyes and raises her arm, staring at the dark magic surging from her veins.

And so that ends Part 1 of Mal's arc in this story. And yes, Bal fans, you read it right. Mal and Ben are finally getting married. I hope you are all ready, because I am trying my best to make this worth reading. I am so nervous, but also so excited. It feels nice to write a simple story instead of a good vs. evil. (Don't worry too much about what's going on with Mal in the end; the wedding is the big deal here)

So, what did you think of the first chapter?