Chapter 2: Chillin' Like a Villain
Disclaimer: I own nothing except my OC.
Teleporting back inside her room after attending Colonel Calloway's ten mile jog around campus, Lauren leaned against her vanity. The run had been an excellent way to start her day and it was a lovely added bonus that she had easily outstripped all six cadets, along with the Colonel, and quite literally jogged circles around them from time to time just to annoy Calloway. She was in the process of yanking the tie out of her hair when she noticed that she was not alone. Not turning away from the mirror and continuing the process of fixing her hair she greeted her guests. "Hi, Evie, King Benjamin. Of how may I be of the service to the crown?" she asked, bowing slightly, her running tank that read 'Forget the Glass Slipper This Princess Wears Running Shoes' coming undone from the side knot she had made in it earlier. As she pulled out of the bow, Evie ran up to her and practically threw herself into the other girl's arms. Lauren gladly returned the embrace. "I've missed you, too, Evie," she sighed into the other girl's shoulder before pulling out of the embrace. The too looked at each other before nodding in approval in regards to the other's hair and makeup.
After a moment, the ghoul turned towards Ben who bowed back at her. "Princess Lauren." he announced, stating her formal title.
With a frown, she turned to Evie. "You told?"
"You can thank Mal for that." Evie replied with a sniffle. "And speaking of Mal, she's back in the Isle. We need your help to bring her back."
A look of cold determination graced Lauren's complexion as she said "I'm in. Let me change and I'll teleport us back to Aurodan."
Ben and Evie went to stand just outside her room as Lauren changed. She quickly stripped out of her running attire and pulled on a pair of black leggings, a 'Rotten to the Core' white tank, a black cotton leather jacket that she left unzipped, and a pair of black, studded combat boots. Grabbing her hair, she wrestled it into a messy bun with a french braid frame. For a finishing touch, she magicked a massive black sword before holstering it onto her side. If she was going back to the Isle, she wanted to look as intimidating as possible. Giant swords were very good at that. After one last look in the mirror, she walked out her room, grabbed Ben and Evie's hands, said "Let's go,", and teleported the lot of them back to Aurodan. Once there, she quickly let go of Ben's hand.
The soon to be king doubled over, gasping for breath. "What was that?" he asked, panting.
"Teleportation. Sorry, but there wasn't time to warn you. Let me cure the nausea." Lauren explained, gripping his face in between her palms. Shutting her eyes, she focused on curing him. After a beat, he stood up, right as rain. Not sparing him a second glance, she turned towards Evie and asked "Where's Jay and Carlos?"
"Right here." came a voice. All eyes turned to see Jay and Carlos sprinting towards them.
"Lauren!" the two boys cry in both surprise and delight upon seeing their friend. She was quickly scooped up in a tight bear hug.
"Hey, guys, I missed you!" she exclaimed, eager to see them.
"We missed you, too." Carlos told her honestly.
"Yeah, as if we wouldn't." Jay added with an easy grin, as though the situation that brought them together wasn't a serious dilemma.
"Ahem. I hate to interrupt but we need to rescue Mal." Ben called impatiently.
Lauren looked him up and down before saying "Sure, but you can't go dressed like that. Evie?"
"Let's go. This won't take long." Evie replied, rushing them into her studio. She took a few quick measurements of Ben before grabbing some clothes and making various adjustments to them. After a matter of minutes she was done. Smiling at her work, she held them out to Ben who stepped into another room to change. Once he was out, the five of them grabbed Lauren's hands and prepared to teleport.
"Wait, you can't use magic in the Isle. How will we get out?" Ben asked, pulling his hand out of Jay's grip.
Smirking slightly, Lauren replied "I've been teleporting in and out of the Isle since Mal and I were just kids. If it worked then, it'll work now." Ben's eyes widened in shock. "Don't worry, no one else apart from myself and my Father can do that. And we're the good guys so it's all good. I'm sorry, but I can't give you the full explanation now. We don't have time to lose." And with that, she went to turn her body, teleporting them.
"Wait! Something's wrong!" Evie exclaimed. Everyone froze as she strutted over to Ben. Once in front of him, she adjusted his beanie so it nearly covered his eyes. Finished, she quickly got back into her place in the circle.
Not waiting for anyone else to say 'Stop!', Lauren teleported them to the Isle right as a dog jumped into Carlos's arms.
"No Dude, stay here!" Carlos ordered.
"I don't want to." Dude said, not that he had a choice since Lauren had already teleported them. They arrived on the Isle and Carlos dropped his dog.
"Did that dog just talk?" Lauren asked. "I mean, animals talk to me all of the time, but usually I'm the only one who can understand them."
"It's a long story. I'll explain later." Carlos replied as they looked around.
Lauren had teleported them into an old, dusty garage that was fortunately vacated of the Isle's denizens. "Are you okay?" Lauren asked, approaching Evie who was nervously looking around.
"It just feels really weird being back here." Evie replied, anxiously rubbing her arm up and down.
"We'll get in and get out." Jay assured her.
"I'll make sure of it." Lauren promised.
Ben had wandered off and was looking inside a massive pipe that lead outside the building they had teleported to. "What's in there?"
Carlos yanked him away as Jay replied "You don't want to know."
"Hey, guys, keep it chill. We don't want our parents to find out we're here." Carlos warned them.
Fingering the hilt of her sword, Lauren absentmindedly put "I wouldn't mind if they showed up. I still owe them for treating you the way they did. And now I can do more than have my Father send them devastating Nightmares. Now I can physically do some damage. So if they show up, I think they'll be a bit more occupied with what I'm doing to them rather than worrying about you three."
And with that, the five of them headed off in search of Mal. As soon as they emerged into a crowd, Evie was robbed by two little kids. "Hey, stop!" she cried, snatching her money back. But upon seeing their sad faces she amended "Just take it. Go on." The two ran off without a second glance.
Suddenly, Lauren placed a hand on Evie's shoulder. "Here," she simply stated, holding out a black stone. "It's the only thing located below the island. It's not much, but it is easily of more value than the money you had on you. I can get you more when we get back on the mainland incase you get 'robbed' again." Evie took it and gently clenched the stone in her fist. "It's onyx." Lauren explained, a small smile on her lips.
"I can't believe there's any left. You used to conjure this stuff up all the time for us when we were little and we'd go on actual shopping sprees. The vendors were so surprised to see us taking their stuff and paying them back with actual money." Evie said, a pained smile cropping up on her lips.
"Well you guys don't have to worry about that anymore. We are going to find Mal and then we are leaving. And trust me, you won't be coming back." Lauren told her confidently.
The two girls then joined up with the guys. Looking around, they noticed Ben had wandered off. They found him being growled at by an Isler.
Evie grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him away. "Ben, stop. This isn't the palace, it's the Isle. You've got to remember that."
Lauren gave the would-be attacker a stone before sending him off.
"Keep your hands in your pockets unless you're stealing." Jay instructed helpfully.
"Either slouch or strut." Carlos added.
Evie spun him around and commanded "And never, ever smile."
"Unless you're stealing." Lauren added, earning an eye roll from Jay.
"Thank y-" Ben began but was quickly cut off by Lauren.
"And drop the 'thank you's'. And the 'pleases' as well. Just chill."
Evie nodded approvingly of the advice Lauren gave before beginning to instruct him. "Let me tell you something you can really trust. Everybody's got a wicked side. I know you think that you can never be like us. Watch and learn so you can get it right."
The others joined in and added "You need to drag your feet. You need to nod your head. You need to lean back. Slip through the cracks. You need to not care."
Jay walked over to him and said "Uh, you need to not stare."
"You need a whole lot of help. You need to not be yourself." Evie told him, adding the last part as an afterthought. "You wanna be cool? Let me show you how. You don't break the rules. I can show you how. And once you catch this feeling. Yeah, once you catch this feeling. You'll be chillin', chillin', oh. Chillin' like a villain. Chillin'. Chillin' like a villain. Chillin'. Chillin' like a villain. Chillin' like a, chillin' like a villain." "Your attention when you act like that. Let us teach you how to disappear. You look like you would lose a fight to an alley cat. Gotta be wrong to get it right 'round here." Evie instructed helpfully before they all added "You need to watch your back. You need to creep around. You need to slide real smooth. Don't make a sound. And if you want it, take it. And if you can't take it, break it. And if you care about your health then seriously, you need to not be yourself. You wanna be cool? Let me show you how. You don't break the rules. I can show you how. And once you catch this feeling. Yeah, once you catch this feeling. You'll be chillin', chillin', oh. Chillin' like a villain. Chillin'. Chillin' like a villain. Chillin'. Chillin' like a villain. Chillin' like a, chillin' like a villain."
Ben took this in before imploring of them "I really wanna be bad a lot. And I'm giving it my best shot. But it's hard being what I'm not."
Jay retaliated "Well if you don't, you're gonna get us caught."
Nodding her head, Evie added "You gotta stay low-key. Now show us how bad you can be."
Ben thought about it before saying "Oh yeah, I think I got this. Let's go, I'm ready to rock this. And I ain't gonna thank you for your help. I think I found the words to myself."
Smiling, Evie sang "You wanna be cool? Let me show you how. You don't break the rules. I can show you how. And once you catch this feeling. Yeah, once you catch this feeling. You'll be chillin', chillin', oh. Chillin' like a villain. Chillin'. Chillin' like a villain. Chillin'. Chillin' like a villain. Chillin' like a, chillin' like a villain."
At the end, Ben walked ahead of the group, eager to prove to them he could indeed act like a villain. However, he wasn't watching where he was going and ran into Gil, son of Gaston.
"Hey, man," Gil cried as the others caught up. "Hey, I know you."
"No you don't. I don't know you." Ben argued, pulling his beanie over his eyes in an attempt to hide his identity.
"Uh, yeah, you do. C'mon, man, really? Dude, I'll give you a hint. My dad is quick, slick, and his neck is incredibly thick. C'mon, man, I-" Gil cut off as his eyes locked onto a poster hanging nearby. The poster featured Ben and Mal. "Oh, you're King Ben!" Gil loudly exclaimed.
Everyone clambered to get away as he called after them "Hey, Jay, Evie, Carlos, random hot chick who looks like Mal! Uma's gonna love this."