FILIPENDOLULOUS: hanging by a thread
MAL
Mal couldn't believe this.
She had left, and she had caused this.
Ben was tied to the mast of Uma's ship, clearly beaten, blood and bruises covering his skin. His clothes were visibly torn in some places, even from where she was standing twenty or so feet away. He was standing, despite all of this, but Mal realized that he was unconscious after a few minutes of watching him.
And it was her fault.
"They're here!"
Harry Hook's shout broke Mal from her reverie. Uma's eyes met hers only seconds later-
-and, apparently, did not seem to like what they found there.
Uma grabbed Gil's arm and pointed up to where the new arrivals stood on the dock, smiling in a way that did nothing to remove the realization from her eyes. Mal was absolutely livid, seething with rage, but completely calm on the outside. Uma had seen this only once before from the purple-haired sorceress-it had been the reason that they had chosen to leave, the very same day that Mal and the others had left for Auradon.
A twisted pleasure grew in Mal's chest at the sight of Uma's discomfort. It was obvious that the pirate queen was unsure of the witch's wrath, what it might bring-clearly, she was afraid of whatever emotional response she had brought out of her old rival. Perhaps she had not known that Mal truly loved Ben. Maybe she had thought that Mal would only show to save face in Auradon-thus proving Uma's point.
It doesn't matter what she thought was going on. What she thought I would do, Mal reminded herself. She deserves to be afraid of what I might do to her.
Her magic sparked inside her. Evie, sensing the change, put a hand on her arm and muttered, "M, if you lose it, considering the exact point of your aggression at the moment, there's a very good chance whatever you do is going to go straight back at Ben." Evie's tone was as clipped as it ever became, gentle as it always seemed to sound. For all Mal could tell by her best friend's (her sister's) voice, someone had messed up a dress at one of her dress fittings, or messed with the stationary on her desk.
Evie was always so calm and collected and even this, even this, when Mal knew that Evie saw Ben as one of her best friends, held him responsible for saving their lives and giving them this second chance, couldn't rattle her sister.
Sometimes Mal wished she was like that. Wished she was as logical or strategical as she had seen Evie be, instead of this angry, raw aggression that seeped out of her when things like this happened. But Evie's presence reminded her that they both brought things to the table, including everyone behind them, and where Evie was the brains of the operation, Mal, too, could strategize.
But Mal was also raw power, magic that was nearly impossible to control, that she could feel just at her skin on days like this.
Ben knew that, she reminded herself. Ben knew how out of control she felt sometimes. Ben knew that, just like Evie and Jay and Carlos. And just like Evie and Jay and Carlos, he had never looked at her any differently for it.
There was so much of this to deal with-the exchange, the escape. The negotiation, because nothing with Uma was easy. And the Daughter of Maleficient knew about all of this, and her and Evie had had a plan to pull it all off, but somehow Mal could not make her lips move. She couldn't take her eyes move off of Ben's collapsed form, couldn't remember what she was supposed to say, couldn't think past the hand apiece that Jay and Evie had placed on either of her shoulders and the King unconscious on the deck below.
After a brief discussion behind her, it seemed to have been decided that Evie would speak with Uma. (It was clear that Mal was much too angry, and she would only make things worse, probably.) "We brought you what you wanted, Uma," Evie called from behind her. "Give us what we wanted"-Mal was so thankful that Evie was doing this; she never would have thought to talk like that. Yelling that they had the wand (even if it wasn't the real one) and Uma had the King of Auradon so many feet in front of them would only draw more attention. More attention only meant more people to fight their way out through-"and we'll be on our way."
Evie's voice sounded cold. Downright nasty. Mal was suddenly taken back to their first weekend at Auradon Prep, right after they'd left the Isle.
Back home-they'd still called the Isle "home" right after their arrival-they'd gone to parties and rampages across the city, but there didn't seem to be a scene like that in Auradon-or, at least, one that they were invited to.
So they'd stayed inside all weekend, Evie doing her homework and meticulously copying over her notes (sticky notes, highlighters, multi-colored pens) and Mal sorting through that spellbook. Evie had managed to convince her best friend to accept some assistance with her own homework, though, and eventually put together their own girls' night. Evie had painted Mal's nails a vivid purple, and they'd watched TV-it was better in Auradon after all-and talked about boys. Doug had started talking to Evie and Mal was going to spell Ben into taking her to his coronation.
Looking back, Mal knew that Evie had not smiled at her plan to put a spell on Ben-Evie had somehow known what would happen as a result, though, and her best friend's faith in her and Ben made Mal stand up a little straighter.
This would be okay. It had to be.
They survived their parents and duties and obligations. They survived falling in love. They survived Ben's grand idea to bring the VKs to Auradon, his coronation, and these cotillion plans.
And if they managed to survive this one too, Mal would go to cotillion with Ben, no questions asked.
Mal would go to Mars or the moon or anywhere with Ben, if they made it off the Isle.
·§·§·§·
The fight was messy.
They had almost handled it diplomatically, really. But Uma wanted a demonstration of the wand's powers, and, because they didn't have the actual wand, they had tried to stall. One of Uma's goons accused them of lying, and the entire situation fell apart.
The fighting broke out almost automatically, the guys behind them falling into their old habits, old fighting styles and techniques. It was effortless, the kind of thing your body doesn't just forget.
Several of the goons came barrelling towards Mal, but she simply shoved them down with her magic. It was only when she realized that Harry and Gil had gone for Ben that she moved. The violet-haired Daughter of Maleficient created a path of her own, forcing anyone in front of her out of her way.
"Hook, either you get away from him or you go swimming!"
"We can help with that!" two voices yelled from behind her. Mal and Uma's two underlings looked up just in time to see the pirate queen being flung from the side of the boat and into the water. Evie's shocked voice reached them from where she was on the other side of the ship, and she was beside Mal in an instant, Lonnie on her heels.
Harry and Gil shared a look, ran, and dived after their leader.
Mal took a step forward, but stopped haflway. She wanted so badly to go to Ben, to pull him into her arms, but what if she hurt him? What if all of this had changed his mind about her? What if he thought she was just as bad as Uma? Or the other kids from the Isle?
Mulan's daughter put a hand on Mal's arm. "We have to get him out of here," Lonnie muttered. Her eyes flicked between the King and the rest of the ship. "Up the ramp and back across the dock. If we hurry..." Out of it as she was, Mal was sure that the light in Lonnie's eyes was real-another strategist running on adhrenaline.
Evie put a hand on her best friend's shoulder, lightly shoving her forward. She can read minds now, Mal thought to herself. Still, the Daughter of the Evil Queen's voice was quiet in her ear. "Go to him. He looks pretty beaten up." She paused, stepping forward to study Mal's face. The Daughter of Maleficent knew that look-those eyes could make you feel like she was staring into your soul. Evie must not have liked what she found, because a handful of seconds later, Evie shook her head and continued, "If I was him, you're the only person I would really want to see."
The violet-haired girl shot an ill-aimed and half-hearted glare in her best friend's general direction, but moved forward anyway.
Mal waited until she was only a couple of inches from her boyfriend to say anything. "Ben?" He didn't answer. "Ben, are you in there?"
Nothing.
She was right in front of him now. Close enough to touch. And he was covered in bruises, blood, wounds scarring over-it looked so much worse this close to him than on the dock. Her stomach dropped just looking at him, her insides lurching with the impulse to pull him to her.
There'd been a time, right after they really started dating, when Mal wasn't sure how she was supposed to protect him from her and the other VKs' collective pasts. They'd all been through so much growing up, and, at first, they had left out the most gruesome details when conveying this to Ben. Mal hadn't had a clue about how to tell him that he could be in danger because of her, even after her mother was shrunk to what Carlos called "action-figure-size". There was always worse on the Isle-and she'd been terrified that that "worse" would get off of the Isle and come and find them in Auradon.
It appeared that it had indeed come for them (even if it really hadn't come for them)-and Ben had paid the price, even though Mal was the one who ran away.
What do I do? She asked herself. She didn't have any idea.
Ben's head had dropped forward, probably when he'd lost consciousness, and so Mal lifted his chin with her fingers until he was looking up. He seemed to wince, but maybe she was imagining it. Maybe he's just asleep? She shook her head, still holding his head up, and thought to herself, With all the fighting going on? He'd never sleep through that. He's got to be unconscious.
She still didn't know what to say, but she had to say something. Something. Say something. Something. Something. Something.
She settled for: "We're gonna get you out of this, okay? Back to Auradon, back to your family." Mal motioned for Lonnie to come over and directed her to the ropes holding Ben to the mast. The Daughter of Mulan raised her sword. Mal put her hands on Ben's shoulders as gingerly as she could to keep him from falling to the deck when he was freed. Lonnie brought her blade down, and the King fell forward into Mal's arms.
Ben groaned (is he in pain? Or did that scare him?), and Mal nearly cried out (he's awake, he's awake), but managed to stop herself. "Ben," she whispered, "it's okay now. You're safe. I've got you."
He nodded into her shoulder, and she could've sworn that her heart shattered in her chest.
