A/N: Some interesting opinions come up in this chapter about how Mal is more masculine like a father figure, where Evie is a mother figure. I want the readers to know that I don't really believe gender roles or parenting roles are so cut and dry. The opinions expressed here are because of Mal's own opinions and biases as I write them, not the opinions of me, the author!
Contains: The same dark isle we know from this au, including rough situations, starvation, and Isle Negotiations. Also includes a cute Jaylos moment though ;)
"What the fuck happened here." Mal commanded, and her troupe of thieves looked guiltily down at the floor. At a nudge from Evie, she added, "I'm not mad at you. I'm mad at the idiot who beat you up. Messing with my subordinates is messing with me, and I had no idea anyone would doubt my power enough to go after you."
"A massive breach of respect..." Dizzy muttered, and Evie thanked the stars that her surrogate sister had only suffered bruised ribs and a black eye.
"It was Uma's crew." Ginny muttered, nursing a sprained arm and the same bleeding cuts that everyone had. "They took us by surprise, never saw it coming."
"That bitch used divide-and-conquer tactics," Another thief noted. "She got us separated, and we came back with nothing."
"That's going to be a problem." Mal frowned, going through the options in her head. "You're all dismissed now. Evie, you know what to do."
Mal left the room, with Evie tending the wounded. In times like these, Yzla always worked as her assistant, and got the patients fixed up sooner. Minutes later, Evie rushed back out to follow Mal.
"You okay, M?" She asked, quickly entwining their fingers.
"No, I'm not okay. Who does that little shrimp think she is? She has no right to take what's ours. She hasn't earned it, like we have." The little Maleficent growled. The two girls headed outside the building, aiming for Jay's Junk Shop, to convene with their lieutenants Jay and Carlos.
"Hey, good news Mal!" The white-haired boy exclaimed when the girls walked in. His excitement was short-lived, however, when he saw the look on his leader's face. "Or... not."
"Hi Carlos." Evie smiled sympathetically. "We can talk about your good news after we're done plotting."
"Did someone say plotting?" Jay smirked, emerging from behind the counter.
"Uma attacked our last barge crew." Mal explained quickly, cutting right to the point, and the heaviness of that statement sunk right to everyone's stomachs.
"Didn't you send an escort?" Jay asked, knowing full well that they'd trained plenty of young men for that purpose.
"Didn't help. Uma's gotten her hands on swords and cutlasses, apparently, and everyone got pretty cut up in the skirmish." Evie replied, going off of the things she'd heard while patching up the victims.
"Seriously?" Carlos exclaimed. "Where'd they come from?"
"Maybe it was one of Hook's stashes?" Jay offered. "I heard he kept a few around after his exile."
"In any case, we need those supplies for winter. We have kids who depend on us." Mal muttered darkly. She and Evie had really taken to those children after the Day of Reckoning, that day, not too long ago, when she'd personally killed forty-seven people who had been charged with criminal neglect, and what the Auradonians would call felony child abuse.
Those children had come to view Evie as a mother-figure, an angel who comforted them when they failed, who fed them and clothed them, and bandaged their wounds. Mal was like a father-figure, despite the fact that she was very, very female. She was the protector, the one who taught them to fight, and enforced structure into their lives, and Mal couldn't let them down. She couldn't.
"Obviously, we need to get those supplies back." Mal growled.
"And we need to knock Uma down a peg, while we're at it." Jay added.
"What's the plan?" Carlos asked, curiously. "Are we gonna wipe them out?"
"Machiavelli says that men must be either treated well, or crushed." Evie commented, loosely quoting the Corona book she'd been reading lately.
"I don't want to crush Shrimpy." Mal explained. "Knowing her, she'll just find a way to bounce back twice as hard."
"So negotiation it is, then." The blue princess sighed.
"Ah, but we have to make sure we hold the upper hand." Jay mused. "We have to make her an offer she can't refuse."
"So... First, we need motivation. Did Uma raid the barge because she needed that stuff, or because she wanted to spite me?" Mal asked, mostly talking to herself.
"We have been taking a lot from the barges lately..." Evie noted.
"But the pirates don't need the food like we do. They always fish off their boats, or on the docks." Carlos pointed out.
"If she just wanted to spite you, there's not much we can do, Mal." Jay added his own opinion to the mix. "That's both reckless and pointless. She's just going to get worse until we put her down like a rabid dog."
"But then we'd have to kill Harry and Gil, too. If any of the core leadership survives, they'll just remobilize for revenge." Mal groaned, and flopped onto Jay's lumpy, patched couch. "Ugh. Why is ruling an army so damn difficult? It's haaaard."
"That's what she said." Jay muttered, sarcastically.
"Um, yeah? Mal said that just now." Carlos deadpanned, not understanding the joke.
"Oh, Carlos. My sweet, innocent DeVil..." Jay chuckled. "I have much to teach you in the way of lewd jokes."
Evie glanced at the two with a faint smile. It seemed like they were getting closer, and she secretly wondered if something was going on between them.
"Okay." Mal sighed. "What's the best way to get Uma's attention for a meeting?
"Gil." The other three immediately replied. It was no secret that Uma and Harry had a soft spot for the youngest son of Gaston. It had long been rumored that the three of them were an item, but no one could say for sure. All they knew was that if they snatched (the relatively terrible fighter) Gil LeGume, they'd be all set for a showdown, with a hostage on the line.
"Jay - can you supply the weapons? We can't go up against Uma unarmed." Mal asked, adding her second sentence for clarification.
"What about your magic?" Carlos asked, remembering the pool of blood and the magic runes, and the Mal-shaped scorch mark in the headmaster's office.
"The tricks I did as a kid, minor sleep charms and stuff, probably won't have any affect on Uma. As a half-Atlantean, she has a high resistance to most magic. And that serious stuff I used on mom..." Mal trailed off, before swallowing hard. "I... still don't know how I did that."
"Don't sweat it, Mal." Jay replied earnestly, simply, patting her on the back.
"Right!" Evie added, wrapping her girlfriend in a warm hug. "We can just do this the old fashioned way!"
"For our army..." Mal noted, putting her hand out.
"For our subjects." Evie added, clasping her hand over Mal's.
"For respect." Jay added his own creed, and stacked his larger, tanned hand over the girls' fingers.
"For us." Carlos finished, looking at the other three young villains, to whom he owed his life. To Mal, who took him in, and fought for him until he was strong enough to fight for himself. To Evie, who called herself his sister, and loved him unconditionally. To Jay, who loved him to the moon and back, but not in the same way Evie did, Jahid Jafarson, who was his best friend, the other half of his soul.
They would win. There was no way a team such as theirs could ever lose.
• • •
"Come on out, Shrimpy!" Mal shouted at the barge, flanked on either side by her most trusted friends. Gil was pushed along in front of her, with a knife to his throat. His hands were bound behind his back, and his feet were shackled close enough that he could just shuffle along, and had no hope to escape by running.
"We have your little boy-toy, Uma!" Evie added in a sinister purr.
When Uma and Harry finally emerged from their cabin and headed to the deck, Mal noticed they both looked like death.
"What have you done to him!?" The daughter of Ursula screamed, while Harry literally growled, like a wild animal.
"I just wanna have a nice calm discussion, Uma. Come out peacefully, and Gil won't get hurt." Mal explained, as a wicked grin crept across her face. "Try any funny business, and I give your boy a new red necklace."
Carlos dragged a finger across his throat, for effect, and pulled out that crazed expression that drove enemies to terror. Naturally, Carlos wasn't really homicidal, but image was everything, and his mother was a sickeningly good teacher, at least where crazy was concerned.
"Fine, I'll talk." Uma conceded. "Only if Harry gets to come too."
"Fine, but leave your crew on board!" Mal ordered, and watched as the two pirates shimmied down the side of their boat to the docks.
"Give him back!" The daughter of Ursula shouted, lunging for Gil. Mal pulled him back, while Jay stepped between them.
"Ah- ah! Not until we talk." Evie chided, teasingly, with her trademark grin.
"H-hi, guys!" Gil added, unhelpfully.
"Why did you attack my shipment, Uma?" Mal asked. "You know I'm stronger than you. Did you think I wouldn't retaliate?"
"You don't have any power, Mal." Uma snarled with venom. "You got lucky once with your mom, and I can take you."
"Even if I don't have any magic, which I do, by the way, I still have enough power to murder Gil in front of you if you don't give me what I want!" Mal threatened. She had no desire to kill Gil LeGume, and probably wouldn't, but Uma didn't have to know that.
"Just tell 'er the damn truth, Uma!" Harry muttered, elbowing his captain.
"I won't show weakness, Harry!" Uma growled back, and Jay simply shook his head.
"You already are, Uma." The Agrabah teen noted. "You two look like death."
"Something's poisoned the fish." Harry murmured, and the dark circles under his eyes were more prominent than ever. "We can't eat them, and now we're starving. One of our crew's already died from the tainted fish, and two more from starvation."
"Oh... oh my..." Evie murmured, going into healer-mode instantly. Uma had her arms crossed over her chest, but they trembled, when faced with the truth of her weakness. How could Mal help, without also seeming weak?
"I think we can make a deal." Mal ventured, and handed Gil off to Jay. Carlos stepped up next to his leader, because he had history with Harry, even if that history was merely selling him contraband cigarettes as a child.
"In exchange for services, we can let you have a cut of the barge shipments." Carlos explained.
"We're independent. I don't wanna be part of your little goody-goody project." Uma spat.
"I wouldn't do anything to put your sovereignty at risk." Mal explained. "Evil knows, we all deserve to make our own way in the world after what our parents put us through."
"So what d'ya want from us?" Harry asked, warily raising an eyebrow.
"What are you willing to do for food and medical services?" Carlos offered.
"We have need of enforcers." Mal noted. "People who can keep order around the isle."
"And you wouldn't be subservient to us," Evie explained. "It would be an equal trade of resources. You keep the peace in Mal's name, and she gives you food and medicine in return."
"We should take the deal, Uma." Harry whispered, even though his captain looked torn. "We're in no place to argue with them!"
"Fine!" Uma glared. "I don't like it, but I really don't have much of a choice. What do you want us to do?"
"First, let Jay onto your ship, to show you how to optimize the food you have. Hell, you can even keep the food you stole, but I'm gonna have to confiscate the non-food items." Mal explained the terms of their contract.
"Fine. We don't need garbage anyway." Uma smirked.
"Next, I want you to handle disciplinary matters here on the isle, and keep a log of everything you do. We can provide a log-book, if you don't have one."
"The ship's log'll work okay." Harry suggested, to Uma's thoughtful nod.
"I'll send a delegate each month to check your log. If everything adds up, you keep getting benefits. If something smells... fishy, I reserve the right to revoke those benefits, and you go back to starving." Mal smirked.
"Sounds fair." Uma conceded,regretfully, as she extended her hand. "I swear by my reputation as a villain that I'll uphold my end of the bargain."
It was a common oath on the Isle, because no one trusted a villain's word, and reputation was all they had to go on. Uma might be rotten and ruthless, but she was known for keeping her word. So Mal shook the pirate's hand, and Gil was untied and handed over. Behind them, the waves broke against the shore, and the dim glow of Auradon could be seen beyond the waves.
"So how do you suggest we enforce your rules?" Uma asked, once Gil was safely back on board, led to the ship by a wary Hook.
"After your crew is back in shape, I'll send over a list of the laws I want to establish." Mal explained. "I want to rule the Isle with an iron fist, something my mother could never accomplish."
"Fair enough." Uma noted, rolling her eyes at her next statement. "Even with the damn trident, my mom could never really rule a kingdom. Our parents are real idiots when it comes to long-term planning."
"Isn't it nice to have an ally who actually knows what she's doing?" Evie added, and even though Uma would never, ever, ever, admit it out loud, she knew she'd made the right choice.
She'd gotten reports about how well Mal handled her own little corner of the kingdom, and she admired that. Also, her crew wouldn't be starving anymore, and policing the island would be a small price to pay for that. After all, Uma's crew was highly trained, but all they ever did was skirmish with other crews. Maybe this would be a nice change of pace.
"Just one more question." Mal added. "Why did you attack my envoy, instead of any of the easier targets on the barges?"
"The merchants have beefed up security lately. It's been harder and harder for my gang to slip by, and people on the isle are having it harder too."
"She's right." Jay noted. "Everyone's been driving up prices, since we take our cut."
"That's ridiculous. We shouldn't be taking enough supplies to change price!" Evie exclaimed.
"You're right, honestly," Carlos sighed. "But what do you expect from Isle merchants?"
"Ugh... I'm gonna have to do this 'ruling' thing on a large scale, aren't I?" Mal sighed.
• • •
"Hear ye, hear ye!" Dizzy Tremaine announced in the coward's market, a simple piece of lined paper in hand. "I have an announcement from Mal: Maleficent the second! Slayer of the Dragon, Ruler of Dragon Hall!" The little girl announced, and others stopped what they were doing to listen. No one wanted to get on the bad side of the sixteen year old who killed the Mistress of all Evil, along with forty-seven people on the Day of Reckoning.
"Mal wishes to enforce order among her subjects!" Dizzy exclaimed, reading off of the list. "In order to keep the peace, the following crimes are now illegal: the beating of a spouse, child, or other dependent. The deliberate starvation of a spouse, child, or other dependant. The murder of any person. The preceding crimes will be prosecuted at the discretion of Uma's crew, who should be treated with the respect of any of Mal's allies."
Dizzy then reached into her bag, and pulled out sheaves of paper. "Anyone who is unclear, is free to take a copy of the new Isle Constitution."
She handed out page after page of the new agreements written up by Mal. It was in small print, so that each page could hold the entirety of the new constitution, which contained much more than just the new laws. The people who picked up the pages to look, would have seen something roughly like this:
Constitution of The Isle of The Lost
Let it hereby be known, that every man woman and child within Mal's Jurisdiction, is entitled to the following rights:
1. The right to food, water, and medical care, with the understanding that everyone seeking aid will render payment for that aid. This payment might include service (such as small jobs, janitorial work, etc.), supplies (food, recycled goods, etc.), or money.
2. The right to come to any member of Uma's crew, or Mal's court with a complaint. If someone is being beaten or abused, they may come to lodge an accusation, which will be investigated. If someone requires assistance, they may come and ask for it, with no charge, save for the abovementioned payment.
3. The right to an investigation and fair punishment, as detailed below:
- If anyone is found guilty of neglect, abuse, or a similar crime, their dependent shall be taken away, and they shall receive no harsher punishment than hard labor, or similar abuse as that inflicted.
- If anyone is found guilty of murder, they shall receive a death sentence at the hands of their victim's next of kin.
- If anyone is found guilty of rape, they shall be punished with hard labor, and nothing less. If that person is guilty of the rape or trafficking of a child, they shall receive nothing less than the death penalty.
- If anyone is found not-guilty of the crime of which they were accused, that person should be released, free of harm from the court.
4. Children under ten and pregnant mothers have the right to accept aid from the Dragon Court, with no payment rendered, except for classes taken at Dragon Hall (including basic cooking skills, rationing skills, and other skills which will improve the life of the student).
This is the will of Mal Bertha Morgana, Mistress of All Evil, Villain of Villains, and Queen of the Dragon Court. So she has commanded, so it shall be!