When Ben walked into his first Assembly meeting, he was terrified. He scanned through the all the people talking and quickly found his father sitting at the front of the room at a huge, ornate desk raised above the rest of the room. Slightly below it and directly in front of it was another desk almost as equally ornate, at which Lumiere was sitting.
He walked up to his father. "Where do I go?"
"Sit here," his father told him, pointing to a chair next to him to Ben's left. Ben sat gingerly on the chair, but his father stopped him. "No, don't sit down yet. Wait."
Ben stood awkwardly, waiting.
Soon Adam sat and pounded a gavel down on his desk several times. "Everyone please cease conversation and take your seats. This session of the Assembly will come to order."
Ben hastily obeyed his father and sat, watching the other people in the room sort themselves out to what seemed to be assigned seats.
"Will the clerk please read the first bill on the docket?"
"A bill to be entitled. An act," Lumiere began. "Section one. For the purpose of this bill, 'villain kid' will be defined as any descendant of the original villains placed on the island regardless of age. Section two. Four villain kids, Mal daughter of Maleficent; Jay, son of Jafar; Evie, daughter of the Evil Queen; and Dizzy, daughter of Drizella Tremaine shall be brought to Auradon and live and attend school at Auradon Prep. Section Three. Any laws or parts of laws in conflict with this act are hereby repealed. Section Four. This act shall become effective 30 days after becoming a law. Section Four. Any funds needed will be pay for by the treasury under The Good of the People fund."
"Is the author of this bill present?" Adam asked.
Aladdin stood. "I am."
"Would you like to speak on this bill?"
"I would."
"You may take the well; that is your pleasure." Adam sat back.
The Aladdin walked to the round table in the center of the room. Ben supposed the table must be the well.
"I believe the children of the Isle are innocent and in grave danger," Aladdin began. "The children live with villains. The worst villains who have treated us with cruelty in the past. If they have treated us with cruelty, how will the children survive on the Isle?"
Adam shifted in his chair. "Is the gentleman in the well open for questions?"
"I am."
At Aladdin's response, several hands raised.
"The gentleman in the well is open for questions. The chair would like to recognize Queen Leah; for what purpose do you rise," Adam called, pointing the handle of the gavel in Queen Leah's direction.
Queen Leah rose, looking annoyed. "Will the gentleman in the well yield to a series of questions?" she asked stiffly.
"I will."
"How old are these children?"
"Mal, Jay, and Evie are 17. Dizzy is 10."
"Are you aware that these children have been raised by their parents - villains - for ten to seventeen years?
"I am."
"And how do you not know if these villain children have not been raised in their parent's footsteps?"
"That is exactly why we need to remove these children. We do not need any more villains, even if they are trapped on the Isle."
"No further questions." Queen Leah sat down, looking annoyed.
"Is the gentleman in the well still open for questions?" Adam asked.
"I am."
"The gentleman in the well is still open for questions." The same hands, besides Queen Leah's, shot up, and Adam continued, "The chair would like to recognize Anita Radcliffe; for what purpose do you rise?"
Anita stood, holding a piece of paper in her hands. "Will the gentleman in the well yield the well?"
"For what purpose?" Aladdin asked.
"For the purpose of proposing an amendment."
"Yes." Aladdin quickly walked back to his chair and sat down.
Adam looked down at Anita. "Mrs. Radcliffe, please present your amendment to the clerk."
Anita walked over to Lumiere and handed him the piece of paper and then stood near the center table while Lumiere read, "Amendment One. Instead of Dizzy Tremaine, Carlos de Vil will be brought to Auradon."
Adam asked, "Would the lady like to speak on her amendment."
"Yes," Anita replied. "I knew Cruella de Vil when I was in high school and as a young adult. She was, to put it bluntly, insane when I knew her and I can only imagine her insanity has gotten worse. For all we know, she may be physically harming her son. I have spoken with Cinderella and she agrees that Carlos is probably in more danger than Dizzy."
"Is the lady in the well open for questions?" Adam asked.
"I am."
"The lady is open for questions." Adam declared. Several hands raised. "The chair would like to recognize Princess Ariel; for what purpose do you rise?"
Ariel stood. "Will the lady in the well yield the well?"
"For what purpose?" Anita replied.
"To move the previous question."
Anita nodded. "Yes." She returned to her chair.
"I move the previous question," Ariel called out.
Several people called, "Second!"
Adam brought his gavel down on the desk with a bang. "Hearing a second and no objections, we will now move the previous question. We will now vote on Amendment One, which states..."
Lumiere read, "Amendment One. Instead of Dizzy Tremaine, Carlos de Vil will be brought to Auradon."
"All in favor of passing this amendment, say 'Aye.'"
"Aye," many voices rang out.
"All opposed, say 'Nay.'"
"Nay," Queen Leah and Snow White called.
Adam spoke. "As the ayes clearly do have it, this amendment does pass and is now part of the bill."
"I move for a recess," called out Mulan.
"Second!" Eric called.
Adam paused and then brought his gavel down on his desk. "Hearing a second and no objections, this assembly does stand recessed."
Immediately everyone stood and began talking.
Ben stood up and stretched. "Is it done?"
Adam laughed. "Not hardly. We're just taking a break. I'm guessing one of them wants to write another amendment or something like that. I'll call everyone back to order in a little while."
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-FlatFox