Trumpet music erupted from the screen as Mal smirked. "I win again." After the girls' day out on the town, Joey had suggested that they play his favorite video game: Magic 202. Unfortunately for him, despite being a level 90 necromancer, Mal beat him for the tenth time.

"How is that possible?!" Joey exclaimed as he threw his hands in the air. "I'm level 90!"

Mal just continued smirking. "It takes a dragon to know one. Want to play again?"

Liv, Maddie, Joey, and Parker gently put their controllers down and slowly leaned back. Mal was a fierce player and took her gaming seriously.

"How did you get so good?" Maddie asked in amazement.

Mal merely shrugged. "Guess I was good at video games and didn't even know it. Of course, the real gamer among my friends is Carlos."

Parker raised an eyebrow. "Whose Carlos?"

"Son of Cruella De Vil," Mal answered. "He's really good with Technology stuff. He once even broke a hole in the barrier."

"What barrier?" Liv asked.

So, Mal explained about the Isle of the Lost, where she grew up. " Nobody could escape, until..." She suddenly grew quiet and looked down at her hands.

Before Maddie could ask if something was wrong, they heard the door open.

"Kids, we're home!" Pete said as he walked in. Liv and Maddie exchanged looks. Their parents had been on a date all day, and Liv and Maddie had forgotten what time they were coming back, until now. Hopefully, Mal wouldn't say anything about Auradon. If she did, who knows what might happen.

Karen walked in the room and noticed Mal. "Now who is this? You never told me you were going to invite someone over." Maddie gave an internal sigh of relief. Her mom didn't sound angry, then again, why should she? Herself, Liv and Joey were adults now. They could take care of themselves and supervise if Parker has someone over. No, she sounded more curious. The worst that could happen at this point was that Karen would want to show Mal their baby pictures.

"She's a friend from Broadway," Liv answered. "Her name's... Malkiah."

"But I go by Mal," Mal said.

"Nice to meet you Mal," Karen said , sticking her hand out. "I'm Karen Rooney, Liv's mom.

Mal shook Karen's hand before Liv spoke again. "Is it alright if she stays here for a few days?"

"I don't see why not," Karen said. "But we don't have a bed for her."

"We could use Ruby's bed," Maddie suggested. "I'm sure Ruby and Aunt Dena won't mind." Aunt Dena had gone... well, Maddie wasn't sure what it was called, but she called it a hippie fest.

"Good idea Maddie," Karen said. "Now, why don't you all get to bed. It's past Parker's bedtime."

"Mom!" Parker exclaimed.

Mal couldn't tell where she was. The fog was too thick for her to see anything, but before she could take a step further, someone called her name. "Mal."

She instantly recognized the voice. "Ben?"

"Mal."

She looked around. "Ben?"

Some of the fog parted, revealing her boyfriend. "Mal."

She turned towards the voice and saw him. "Ben!"

They started to run towards each other, but all of a sudden, Maleficent rose out of the fog, laughing evilly. "Oh, you want your boyfriend, do you? Well too bad! Because you'll never see him again!" Looking her terrified daughter in the eyes, she shrieked victoriously.

"Ben!" Mal bolted upright in bed in a cold sweat. Her glowing eyes darted around the room, examining everything and wondering why she wasn't at Auradon Prep. Then, the events of yesterday went crashing down on her: Her mother wasn't a lizard anymore, she had tried to defeat her by conjuring a portal, but she got pushed in instead, and her mother left her in this place called Los Angeles, California, where she was staying with the twins and their family.

"Mal?" Liv said as she woke up.

Maddie also woke up. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah," Mal answered . "Go back to sleep."

However, Liv and Maddie didn't seem convinced.

"Are you sure you're ok?" Liv asked.

"Yeah, no one screams 'Ben' in the middle of the night unless something's wrong," Maddie chimed in. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Just then, Joey and Parker walked into the room and turned the light on.

"What's going on?" Parker asked.

"Yeah, we woke up to some screaming 'Beh!'" Joey added.

"His name is Ben," Mal snapped before taking a deep breath. They had already let her stay, and the least she could do was answer their questions. "Yeah it would be nice to talk about it." Everyone moved towards the bed. "Remember when I told you about the Isle? Well, a few days ago, there was some activity near the barrier, so Ben, the king of Auradon, went to check it out. He's been missing ever since."

"And you're close with King Ben?" Liv gently asked.

Mal nodded. "Yeah. Actually... he's my boyfriend."

"Whoa!" Maddie exclaimed as she put her hands up. "How old are you?"

"We're the same age, " Mal reassured, in case they were getting the wrong idea. "Sixteen."

Parker raised an eyebrow. "They made a sixteen year old king?"

Mal nodded. "It's a long story, but yeah. Anyways, a villain got out, and freed my mom from her... prison. And now that she's loose, all of my friends and Ben are in trouble, and I can't remember how to open the portal, so I can't help them." At this moment she was holding back tears, thinking about all the horrible things her mother might be doing and the fact that she couldn't do anything about it.

Liv crawled towards Mal and put an arm around her shoulder. "Don't worry. We'll find a way for you to get back."

Parker stood up and sighed. "Fine, I suppose I could create a wormhole that could bring us to Auradon."

Mal raised an eyebrow. "Us?"

"You don't think we would let you face your mom by yourself, did you?" Maddie asked as she tilted her head.

Mal's eyes widened as she shook her head. "No, I couldn't ask you to do that."

"Mal, you're our honorary sister," Liv said. "We would do anything we can to help."

"It's what families do," Maddie added.

"And I want to see the dragons!" Joey exclaimed. Everyone in the room glared at him. "I mean... We don't want you to get hurt."

Mal was surprised. Sure, she often thought of Evie, Jay, and Carlos as family, but she had never thought that people who she had just met hours ago would consider her as family. "Thanks."

Just then, Karen and Pete walked in.

"What's going on?" Karen asked.

"What are you all doing our of bed?" Pete added.

" Mal had a nightmare, but don't worry mom and dad, " Maddie said. "We got this."