I was originally planning to write a "good vs. evil" story, but I changed my mind and decided explore some stuff from Descendants 2, like Mal becoming a Lady of the Court, Evie's friendship with Dizzy, Carlos' relationship with Jane, and Jay naming Lonnie the new captain of the R.O.A.R. team. I thought a simple story about love and friendship would be a better way to start this series before we get to the really intense stuff. Enjoy.
Ships for this fic include Bal (BenxMal), Devie (DougxEvie), Jonnie (JayxLonnie), and Janlos (JanexCarlos). Bear in mind, the latter three ships are a challenge for me, so forgive me if the romantic content is lacking what you were expecting. I'll still try my best, though. I hope.
Leave a review after reading, please. I always appreciate feedback. (Just please don't say "Update please" because it feels pushy)
I'd like to thank the following users for reviewing the prologue ("You and Me"): Menace, potput, gaaaat
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Descendants.
Mal and her friends - Evie, Jay, and Carlos - all stood around a large cauldron in a dark room. Evie drops an apple into the cauldron and started mixing. Mal opens her spell book and cited an incantation for an evil spell.
"Wicked ways beneath the skin, let all who taste it now join in."
Mal lets out an evil laugh as Jay and Carlos dumped the rest of the apples into the cauldron.
Mal/Evie/Jay/Carlos
We got all the ways to be
W-I-C-K-E-D
We got all the ways to be
W-I-C-K-E-D
Mal and Carlos head to the lockers outside. Carlos shows up with a bucket full of apples and dumps every single one of them all over the floor. The kids quickly dive on the floor to grab an apple, eager to take a bite. Mal closes all the open lockers, all of them spray-painted by her own hand, spelling "Long Live Evil!"
Mal
Crashing the party
Guess they lost my invitation
Friendly reminder
Got my own kind of persuasion
Mal feeds Jane an apple, turning her wicked. Jane steals Mal's spray paint bottle and heads off somewhere else to use it. Carlos slides the bucket towards the line of Auradon kids still lying on their stomachs, making them jump over it.
Carlos
Looks like this place could use
A bit of misbehavior
Happily ever after
With a little flavor
Carlos leans back by the lockers and dances backwards. He approaches Mal, slams the locker behind her, and then smoothly puts his arm around her, taking her away with him.
Jay, meanwhile, was on the other side of the school, throwing and kicking apples at the school band.
Jay
Bad to the bone
With even worse intentions
We're gonna steal the show
And leave 'em all defenseless
Jay throws another apple. It hits Doug's trumpet, clogging it. The vibration from the impact caused Doug to shake and stop. He pulls the apple out of his instrument and takes a bite, turning wicked along with his band, whom have eaten the apples thrown and kicked at them.
In Fairy God Mother's classroom, Evie was handing out apples to her fellow students, including Chad. She places one of the headmistress' lectern. Fairy God Mother takes a bite of the apple and succumbs to its evil spell, just like the rest.
Evie
A fairy tale life can be
Oh, so overrated
So raise your voices
And let's get it activated
Fairy God Mother and her students started going crazy with Evie, tossing papers in the air and dancing like they're in a wild party. Mal watched the chaos from above, munching on an apple. Carlos stayed at the lockers to mess around with the brainwashed students.
Mal/Evie/Jay/Carlos
Long live havin' some fun
We take what we want
There's so many ways to be wicked
With us, evil lives on the right side of wrong
There's so many ways to be wicked
Apple, apple
Dip, dip
Wanna try it?
Tick, tick
Take a bite
Come on, be bold
Change the way the story's told
Mal and Evie are serving poisoned candy apples to all the students, including Lonnie.
Mal
This time the dark is
Finally getting your attention
Evie
We're wicked by the book
And class is back in session
Jane and her fellow brainwashed cheerleaders danced and cheered all around Jay.
Jay
You like it, steal it
Gotta beat 'em to the treasure
Carlos juggles three apples and tosses two of them to Belle and Beast. They take a bite and fall victim to its poison.
Carlos
A rite of passage
Mal/Evie/Jay/Carlos
Bad just doesn't get much better
Long live havin' some fun
We take what we want
There's so many ways to be wicked
Mal brings down the flag of Auradon and switches it with a flag she made herself. It had her signature "Long Live Evil" painting on it.
Mal
Mother always knows best
Evie
Show her, pass every test
Carlos
Hear her voice in my head
Jay
Evil is the only...
Mal/Evie/Jay/Carlos
Real way to win
All of the brainwashed students and staff of Auradon Prep go outside to the school lawn, joining Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos.
All
We got all the ways to be
(Hey, hey, hey, hey)
W-I-C-K-E-D
Jay
Let's go!
All
We got all the ways to be
(Hey, hey, hey, hey)
W-I-C-K-E-D
Mal
Yeah
Chad and some students play apple bobbing at the fountain. Carlos feeds a blonde girl on a wheelchair some apples and carries her outside to join the party.
All
Love live havin' some fun
We take what we want
There's so many ways to be wicked
With us, evil lives on the right side of wrong
There's so many ways to be wicked
The party was moved to the front of the school. For added fun, Mal spray-paints Beast's statue.
All
We got all the ways to be
W-I-C-K-E-D
We got all the ways to be
W-I-C-K-E-D
We got all the ways to be
W-I-C-K-E-D
We got all the ways to be
Mal
So many ways to be wicked
Mal kisses the apple in her hand and tosses it to Ben. Mal waits eagerly for Ben to take a bite. Suddenly, Evie pokes her on the shoulder, capturing her attention.
"Mal, it's time to wake up," said Evie.
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ ROTTEN TO THE CORE ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
Mal's eyes shot wide open.
"Whoa!" Evie cried, startled.
Mal takes several deep breaths, trying to recover from the shock of the rude awakening.
"Good, you're awake," said Evie. "Seriously, Mal, I've been trying to wake you up for the past half hour. You slept through your phone's wake up alarm."
Evie grabs Mal's arm and pulls her out of bed.
"What the hell, Evie?" Mal asked, irritated.
Evie picks up a checklist and shows it to Mal.
"You have an 8:30 meeting with the King and the leaders of Auradon about the current tension between Atlantica and Camelot," said Evie, talking really fast. "Not to mention you're supposed to have breakfast with your boyfriend and his parents at exactly 7:45, and, look at the time, it's 7:32." Evie holds up her phone in front of Mal's face to show her the time. "You have exactly 12 minutes and 34 seconds to bathe, pick a dress, and fix your make-up, so let's hop to it."
"Evie, I don't have to look pretty for everything," said Mal, rubbing her eyes.
"As your best friend and personal assistant, I strongly recommend you to not show up at the breakfast table looking like you just dragged yourself out of a bush," said Evie, gesturing to Mal's messy purple hair and wrinkled clothes.
"Since when are you my assistant?" asked Mal.
"Since always," said Evie. "Now, c'mon. Let's stop wasting time."
Evie grabs Mal's arm again and drags her to the bathroom to start preparing the hot shower.
"E, you know you don't have to be here," said Mal.
"Someone has to make sure that you hurry up," said Evie.
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ ROTTEN TO THE CORE ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
After, by Evie's count, five minutes and twenty-five seconds in the shower, Mal is dragged in front of the mirror to put on her dress.
While Evie finds the right dress for Mal and reminds her about her royal duties for the day, Mal looks out the window and thinks about the dream she just had. She can remember the first time she had it. It was three days before the Royal Cotillion and reporters were gathered outside Auradon Prep, snapping pictures of her and asking all sorts of questions.
Ever since the Royal Cotillion, Mal has been having the same dream every night. At first, she thought she was just feeling nostalgic for the times she can run wild and break the rules whenever she wanted, but lately, she's been thinking about it differently. Two images from that dream kept flashing in her head over and over again ever night. The first image was of Carlos when he made a smooth move on her. The second image was the girl on the wheelchair.
It was only her schoolwork, royal duties, and dates with Ben keeping her from wondering even further about what they mean. But now, she was nearing the point where she desperately needs to know why she keeps having the same dream, as well as why the aforementioned two parts of her dream keep popping up in her head. Could the dream be more than just a dream? Is it a vision? Are there messages hidden within the dream?
Before Mal can think any further, she feels Evie pulling her arm again. Evie shows her a short purple dress with a glittery skirt.
"I think this one will do quite nicely," said Evie.
"It's just breakfast, E," said Mal.
"No time to argue. We got exactly 6 minutes and 31 seconds before breakfast begins," said Evie.
"Can't you just simply say, six and a half minutes?" asked Mal, annoyed.
"Dress. Now," Evie ordered, giving Mal said dress.
"You know I can fire you, right?" Mal said.
"But I know you won't," Evie smiled.
After getting into the dress, Mal sits through, by her friend's count, one minute and forty-five seconds of make-up. It was grueling for Mal because Evie was being both gentle and fast. The rapid powdering of her face made her sneeze. Once she was pampered up nicely, Evie shoves her out the door. Mal was seriously consider firing her as her assistant if she's always going to behave like this.
Mal takes her brand new scooter, which she had retrieved from the Isle of the Lost when Dizzy Tremaine was being invited to Auradon, to Beast Castle. She would've ran to the dining room, but since she was wearing the six-inch heels that Evie made her wear, she had to race walk instead. She almost lost balance a couple times, but she remained on her feet. She arrives at the door leading to the dining room. She opens it quickly, only to hit someone by accident.
Mal looks at the other side of the door and sees Lumiere lying on his back. Belle quickly stands up and helps her friend back up.
"I am so sorry, Lumiere," Mal apologized. "I didn't know you were standing there."
"It's okay, mademoiselle," said Lumiere, his hand on his bruised forehead. "Accidents happen, especially in this castle. You should've seen what happened on King Ben's 6th birthday party."
The Beast family smiled at the memory.
"I remember. Chip accidentally caused the six-story cake to topple over us," said Belle, laughing.
"I swear, Dad was about to go all Beast on him," said Ben. "Good thing mom was there to calm him down."
Belle walks over to her husband and gives him a kiss on the cheek. It always made Ben smile to see how strong the love was between his parents.
"So, uh, am I late?" asked Mal.
"Not at all, Mal," said Beast. "Please, sit down."
"Thank you, sir," said Mal. Lumiere pulled back a chair next to Ben for her to sit down on.
"Only the people call me sir, young lady. You're part of the family now. You can call me Adam," said Beast.
"Well, if you wish, Adam," said Mal politely. "Can I still call you Adam when I become your daughter?"
"Um, we'll discuss that another time," said Beast.
"You look lovely, Mal," said Belle.
"Indeed, she does," Ben agreed, kissing Mal's hand. "But I thought you were done trying to be royally perfect."
"The dress and the shoes were recommended by my personal assistant, Evie," said Mal with sarcasm.
"I suppose a Lady of the Court could use one," said Beast.
Mal rolls her eyes at the former king's comment. The chefs enter the room and serve Mal a bowl of soup, along with strawberries and the grey stuff that Belle loved so much. Mal dips her finger into the grey stuff and tastes it. Her smile tells the Beast family that she loves it.
"Lumiere was right. It is delicious," said Mal.
Belle was gonna tell Mal to use a spoon, but she decided against it, remembering that her son loves Mal for who she really is, horrible table manners and all.
"So, Ben, what's the next meeting all about again?" Mal asked as a she picked up a strawberry and popped it in her mouth.
"Three days ago, Camelot was attacked by a mysterious creature," said Ben.
"Again?" Mal laughed. Realizing the inappropriateness of her tone, she apologizes. "Sorry. It's just that, isn't this the second time in the past two months Camelot has fallen victim to an attack?"
"Apparently," said Ben. "Unfortunately, no one got a clear visual on the creature. All they know is that the creature is large and has tentacles."
"Sounds like a giant octopus," said Mal.
"King Arthur believes this is retaliation after he denied a trade request with King Neptune," said Ben. "King Neptune claims he never ordered an attack on Arthur's kingdom, but some of the villagers from Camelot reported sightings of warriors wearing Atlantica's armory. Twenty-four hours ago, King Arthur arrived in Atlantica unannounced to speak with King Triton. Let's just say that meeting didn't end so well."
"They're about to go to war," Mal guessed. "I'm guessing that's where you and I come in."
"The meeting is about finding a way to resolve the conflict before war breaks out," said Ben.
"Who'll be there with us?" asked Mal.
"Aladdin and Jasmine. Cinderella and King Charming. Princess Ariel and Prince Eric. Queen Leah and King Stefan," answered Ben.
"Ugh," Mal groaned, leaning back on her chair with displeasure. "Why does it have to be Queen Leah? Why couldn't Auroria send Sleeping Beauty and Prince Philip instead?"
"They have a meeting with Queen Elsa in Arendelle, so I'm afraid they can't be here," said Ben. "Don't worry, Mal. I'm sure Queen Leah will warm up to you."
"It's not just her I'm worried about," said Mal. "You're asking me, the daughter of Maleficent, to attend a meeting that's about ending conflict. I think we both know I'm more of an expert on starting conflict."
Ben gently hold Mal's hand with both his own and smiles at her. "You don't have to worry. I'll be right there by your side. I know you can do this."
"Got any tips?" Mal asked, still feeling nervous about the meeting.
"No," said Ben. "You want to be your own Lady, right? I'm not gonna ask you to be the perfect princess you didn't want to be. Just sit down, listen, evaluate the situation, and use that brilliant mind of yours to come up with your own solution."
Mal smiled. "You really love me for me, don't you?"
"It's the reason why the stained glass portrait of us shows you for who you really are," said Ben.
"You're really cute when you try to cheer me up," said Mal.
Mal leans in closer and plants a kiss on Ben's cheek. Belle and Beast smiles grew wider at the sight.
Later that morning, Ben meets with the leaders of Auradon in Beast Castle's conference room. Mal was three minutes late because she was asked by Evie to return to her dorm to change her dress. Mal insisted she wears the post-dragon-transformation dress she wore in the Royal Cotillion to get away from her assistant as soon as possible.
Mal sits down next to Ben and greets everyone, especially Queen Leah, with politeness. The meeting begins as Ben brings up the topic of discussion, which is the possible war that will occur between Camelot and Atlantica. The first fifteen minutes were full of recapping the events that led to the tension. Afterwards, they move on to proposed solutions to cease the conflict.
"My father keeps refusing to negotiate," said Ariel.
"He said, and I quote, King Arthur is not to step foot on my bay unless I say he can," said Eric.
"We talked to Arthur and he, too, refuses to go through with negotiation," said Cinderella.
"What if we tell them that I will be present for the negotiation?" asked Ben.
"That's what I said to Arthur. He still refuses," said Charming.
"Stubborn, he is, just like Triton," King Stefan commented.
"I assume Triton also won't allow the King's involvement to change his mind," Jasmine guessed.
"You assume correctly," said Ariel.
"If we don't find a way to get those two to make nice soon, the first war in the history of Auradon will begin," said Aladdin.
"Understood," said Queen Leah. "Lady Mal, what do you..."
Queen Leah paused when she laid her eyes on the purple-haired sorceress. She was asleep. Her eyes are closed, her head was resting on her crossed arms, and she was snoring.
"Uh, Mal, the meeting's still going on," said Ben, gently shaking Mal to wake her up.
Mal wiggled and moaned, but she didn't wake up. Ben shakes her again, but all she did was moan again. She started singing in her sleep for some reason.
"Crashing the party... lost my invitation," Mal mumbled, eyes still closed.
"Uh, she's probably just tired from sleeping late last night," said Ben, trying to justify Mal's sudden slumber.
"Happily ever after... with a little flavor," Mal continued to sing.
"Mal!" Ben whisper-shouted.
Mal finally wakes up. She rubs her eyes as she yawns. When she opened her eyes, she was met with confused glances and a disappointed Queen Leah.
"King Ben, has Lady Mal here been tutored on the manners of a royal meeting?" asked Queen Leah.
"No, but she did use to read books on how to behave perfectly like royalty," said Ben.
"Use to?" Queen Leah asked.
"I apologize for my behavior," said Mal. "This is my first meeting, after all."
"When did we lose you?" asked Jasmine.
"Uh, at the first mention of the word negotiation," said Mal with a bashful grin on her face.
"Must we recap all that we've discussed for Lady Mal?" asked Cinderella.
"A short recap would be nice," said Mal.
"To put it simply, both Triton and Arthur refuse to negotiate," said King Stefan.
"What do you propose is the right course of action?" Charming asked Mal.
"I say we let them fight it out," said Mal casually.
Everyone was stunned by Mal's response. Ben was putting on a fake smile to hide his embarrassment.
"I'm just kidding," said Mal, laughing.
"This is no joke, Lady Mal," said Queen Leah. "Camelot and Atlantica will wage war on each other and people will get hurt or worse."
"I understand the seriousness of this situation," said Mal.
"Then act like you do," said Queen Leah, losing her patience with the daughter of Maleficent.
"Dear, please, calm down," King Stefan pleaded to his wife, holding her hand.
Ben clears his throat before speaking. "Lady Mal, I have to repeat King Charming's question to you. What do you propose is the right course of action?"
Mal taps her fingers on the table in tune with the song from her dream as she thinks. She twitches her lips and takes deep breaths as she tries to come up with the best possible solution to the problem.
"I say negotiation is the best course of action," said Mal.
"But if Arthur and my father won't try it in spite of King Ben's orders, how can we convince them to?" asked Ariel.
"By looking for the missing part of the story," answered Mal.
"What do you mean?" asked Eric.
"I will personally travel to Camelot with King Ben and investigate the damage caused by the attack," said Mal. "Something tells me that the attack is not what everyone believes it is."
"What make you say so?" asked Aladdin.
"I'm not sure, but I can feel it," said Mal. "Let's recap. Atlantica's so-called retaliation included sending a giant octopus on dry land far away from Triton's Bay. I know that in a magical world like Auradon, anything is possible, but this isn't one of them. There is a third player in this game and I intend to find out who or what it is."
"Then consider your request for a trip to Camelot approved," said King Ben.
"Are you certain that is wise, your highness?" Queen Leah questioned.
"I trust her," said Ben.
"In the event I do find something off, I need King Arthur and King Triton to meet at Triton's Bay for a negotiation tomorrow morning," said Mal. "I don't care how hard it's going to be to convince them. This is necessary to prevent a war."
"I'll try," said Ariel.
"So will we all," said Cinderella.
"Meeting adjourned," said Ben.
After dressing up in their school uniforms, Mal and Ben head to Auradon Prep. On the way, Ben decided to speak to Mal about the meeting. The smile on his face tells Mal that he must be glad about how it went down.
"You did well back there," said Ben.
"I wouldn't say so," said Mal. "I fell asleep, remember. Again, I'm sorry about that, but politics bore the hell out of me."
"It's a start," said Ben. "You used your head, thought of what you thought was the right move, and I'm proud of you for that."
"I try," said Mal.
"Don't try too hard. You'll stress yourself," said Ben.
"Don't you stress yourself all the time?" asked Mal.
"I try not to," said Ben. "My mom taught me some ways to control my Beastly temper."
"She's a good mother," Mal said, feeling a little envious of Ben for having such a loving mother.
"Yeah, she is," Ben agreed.
"Do you really agree with what I said back there?" asked Mal.
"I do believe you have a point," said Ben. "You know the saying. Some things aren't what they seem to be."
"I knew this whole Lady of the Court thing was gonna be hard, but it's proven to be way harder than I thought," said Mal.
"Running a kingdom is never easy," said Ben. "But I have full confidence you can handle it, just as long as you stay true to who you really are."
Mal smiles at Ben again, happy to hear him say those words. She curls her fingers around his and rests her head on his shoulder, glad to have him by her side.
I would like to tell all of you to not think too hard about Mal's dream. It's not vital to this story, but it is part of setting up future stories. Mal's side of this story will mostly focus on her adjusting to her position as Lady of the Court. I hope this was more than just a good start to the story. I don't believe in taking it easy when it comes to starting a story. I believe in making your first chapter as exciting as you can.
