Disclaimer: I don't own Descendants, or any of the associated Characters or Media
Summary: See Previous Chapters.
Rules were made for Breaking
Jay stared at Chad in disbelief as the blonde tried to cite phrasing in a rulebook as why they should reject a skilled and much-needed team-mate. The sad part was, Chad was actually serious.
Rules were flexible, in his experience, especially stupid rules. One lesson everyone on the Isle learned young was that Evil had no gender, and being female didn't make you any less of a threat. Maleficent and Evil Queen had ruled the Isle of the Lost, for whatever that was worth, at least until Mal defeated her mother, and no-one had tried to claim that being female made them unsuited. (If anyone had tried that in the past, they were no longer around to talk about it.)
Mulan was one of the few Heroes who was actually respected by the Villain she defeated, in Shan Yu's odd code of honour. Huns respected a good warrior, whether friend or foe, and none of them would deny that Mulan had been a cunning and worth opponent. Lonnie might be a lot more interested in fashion and balls than her mother ever was, but it was obvious that her parent's hadn't let her go untrained. If anything, Lonnie being female was an asset, because opponents who thought like Chad would underestimate her.
Mal and Uma and Evie were girls, and Jay would never even dream of telling them that being female excluded them from fighting. (Jay might dream about their hypothetical reaction to being told as such, but only in his nightmares.) Lonnie was no different, except that she had never been a Villain. She fought well, but without the passion and fury that came from knowing that every battle was life-or-death.
Lonnie might be a curious mix of girly and fierce, but she had proven herself competent. Besides, she was still holding her sword, and the glint in her eye suggested that she was close to using it. Chad might be a self-obsessed jerk, but he was also the best on the team, after Jay himself, and the team couldn't afford to be down two members just because one of them couldn't keep his mouth shut.
Jay had always been good at charming his way out of problems with a silver tongue. He could do the same here. "Chad, Lonnie just fought me to a stand-still, and we are down a team-member. Give me a good reason that doesn't involve picky phrasing in a rulebook that hasn't been updated in decades."
Chad floundered for a moment, while Lonnie smiled at Jay. Unfortunately, the blond rallied. "We don't know if the other teams will accept it, and we might get kicked out of the competition!"
Damn. That actually was a good point. What would Mal do? Probably curse Chad into long hair and a dress, and leave him that way until he re-considered his biased attitude. Jafar would either kill the prince, or actually turn Chad into a girl, but Jay didn't think that a simple gender-change would make Chad any less of a Diva, and that wasn't something he wanted to deal with. Never mind, what would Evie or Carlos do to find a solution?
Thinking furiously, Jay bit his lip. "You both have valid points. Lonnie, practice with us for now, but I'm holding off the decision about putting you on the team until I talk to Coach about whether the 'eight men' thing is literal or just bad phrasing."
Lonnie scowled and muttered something about "stupid archaic gender stereotypes", but agreed. Chad glared, but couldn't find a better argument.
Well, that was one crisis averted. Being a captain was harder than it looked.
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A/N: You're telling me that Jay, best friends with Mal and who probably saw his fair share of female Villains on the Isle, didn't think twice about agreeing with Chad?
Jay says that Coach trusted him and put his desire to remain captain over Lonnie's worth as a team-mate, which seemed really OOC to me. Out of all of the VKs, I think Jay struggled nearly as hard as Mal to fit in, and made some equally questionable choices.
As always, Reviews are appreciated. Expect a new chapter soon.
Thanks,
Nat