A/N: This is purely fiction. Any resemblance to actual events, people or other works is merely a coincidence.
I don't own Descendants, Disney does.
"I can't believe I'm actually doing this." Billy grumbled. He was sitting on a bench in the tourney field, struggling to tie his shoe laces while the other boys warmed up. It wasn't like he didn't know how to tie them, he had lived in a boat all his life so of course he knew many types of knots, but the boy's hands were trembling like earthquakes. Billy was beyond nervous, even if he wouldn't admit it.
He gave up with a frustrated groan. Vicky had told him he was going to like it but Billy was hating it so far. The gear they used to play was tight and uncomfortable, the rest of the team hadn't done anything aside from looking sideways at him and whispering when he arrived and he hadn't understood the slightest bit of the game rules.
Billy felt like a fish out of water. He was the shortest of the team, (ok, maybe he was the same height as Carlos) and he had no clue how to play. What was he doing there if he didn't even know how to play? Why was he there at all?
"For the looks, Billy. Vicky said you're doing this for the looks." He reminded himself.
That was another thing bugging him. Usually, the young witch was as keen on splinting up the group as any of them, however, this time, they had to follow a plan and do it for the looks. If only she would tell him what that plan was.
It seemed almost unfair, Billy and Vicky had trusted each other with their lives since they met. Why was she acting so secretive now? And above that, why was he getting the feeling that he was the only one, not counting Harley, being left out?
Suddenly, he heard a barking that interrupted his train of thought. The young pirate turned to see the source of the sound and noticed a small, brown dog sitting in front of him. "Hey there, buddy." Billy reached out his hand to let the dog sniff it and then petted its head. "What'cha doin' here?"
"Dude! Come here boy." Someone called. The dog turned his head and ran happily to a short and cute girl with short brown hair, a pink hairband and a light blue and pink dress. She picked up the dog and walked slowly to where Billy was sitting. "I'm sorry he disturbed you. I'm supposed to watch him while Carlos is away." She explained.
Billy took a better look at her, and now that he thought about it, he had already seen her hanging with dog boy Carlos and that dog and he remembered Fairy Godmother mentioning her a couple of times. "That's ok. He wasn't buggin' me." The short boy shrugged. "You're Jane, right?"
"Yes I am." She smiled a bit nervous. "H-How do you know? I-I mean, I don't think we were introduced."
Billy looked away from her and shrugged again. "It's kinda hard not to know, your mother talks about ya a lot during remedial goodness class. And I've seen ya around."
Jane felt slightly embarrassed. She hated when her mother mentioned her to her students, mainly because she was still shy now that she wasn't pretending to be someone she wasn't.
"W-Why aren't you warming up?" Jane asked to change the topic.
Billy shrugged, again. "Not in the mood and so ain't these shoelaces." The boy said, lifting one foot to show the untied laces hanging loose. It wasn't meant to be a joke, but it made Jane giggle. She covered up quickly in fear of offending him but Billy shrugged, he didn't mind it that much.
"Would you stop doing that?" Jane said, seeing that the boy was harmless, and sat down beside him. Billy scooted away a little by instinct.
"Do what?" He asked confused.
"Shrugging. I's not very nice." She answered, feeling a little more confident around this boy.
Billy, on the other hand, was increasingly perplexed by each passing second. As if his nervousness about the game wasn't enough. He was about to say something when they heard Coach Jenkins calling. Billy groaned and kicked off his sneakers, deciding to play with only his socks to protect his feet, nothing he wasn't used to anyway. "See you later." He said to Jane, not very cheerfully, before walking to the field.
Jane stayed sitting there, watching after the boy and wondering until another presence sat beside her.
"Hi Jane." It was Carlos. Dude barked happily and stood on his back legs, resting his front paws on his owner's left leg.
"Carlos." Jane turned to him and smiled before realizing he was doing the same. The two quickly looked away, slightly embarrassed. "How's your knee?" She asked, noticing that the white haired boy still wore the black knee brace from last week, when he had tripped.
"Getting better, but for now I'm stuck here with you." Carlos laughed, not minding at all the pain on his knee at the moment.
"Just your luck, hm?" Jane laughed too. She loved their banters and he did too.
"So hum… Were you talking to Billy?" Carlos asked, scratching the back of his neck and looking at her again. Jane nodded, looking down at her lap with a bit of pink coloring her cheeks. Carlos couldn't help but to notice how cute she looked, but he stopped himself there though.
The white haired boy didn't know what was up with him lately. Every time he was with Jane, he felt nervous, his hands would tremble or get sweaty (or both), his brain would fail to function sometimes and he would find himself staring at her, but he would quickly turn away with a racing heart if she caught him looking.
Carlos had a suspicion of what was going on, but he was afraid to acknowledge it. Jane was a great friend and he would rather return to the Isle of the Lost than to lose their friendship. He'd have to go talk to Evie about it later
Meanwhile, Coach Jenkins was trying to explain tourney to Billy, but the boy was more focused on the rest of the team around him. As soon as he had joined them on the field, there were whispers and some boys laughing quietly. He had even made out a conversation between Chad Charming and another boy with the words "smelly" and "shorty" on it, followed by a stream of laughter. It infuriated the young pirate to the bone. His friends could call him that because Billy knew they didn't mean it with malice. But when other people called him that, it was an insult. How he had hoped the teasing would stop once he got to Auradon. It was supposed to, but everyone can be wrong.
Coach Jenkins snapped his fingers in front of Billy's face, taking him back to reality. The boy blinked and looked up at the adult.
"Understood?" Coach asked. Billy was about to shrug, but stopped.
"Nop." Was his simple and unaffected answer. Coach Jenkins sighed and pointed to the center of the field. He swore the boy was doing it on purpose to upset him.
"Just go in there and try to score using this to carry the ball." He said before tossing him a tourney stick. "Be careful with blocking and the projectiles while on the kill zone."
Coach Jenkins gave him a push towards the field, where his teammates were already in position and waiting to start playing. Billy looked back at the coach with a questioning look but the adult only rushed him forward.
"Ok, here it goes." He thought nervously to himself. Before the game started, he took a quick glance at the opposite team, but once his eyes fell upon their center forward, Billy wished he hadn't.
"Good luck, shorty." Said Jay. It was intended as a friendly incentive, but Billy's heart started to race, his eyes widened and he suddenly found it very difficult to hold the tourney stick…or to stand…or to breath.
"Hey." Someone called on his left. The young pirate turned to see Ben with a worried expression. "Are you ok, Billy?"
Billy didn't say anything, but nodded… or tried to. He looked at the ground, still feeling a bit of panic, and took a deep breath. No, he couldn't have a panic attack now. "Just ignore him, Billy." He thought to himself.
Before he knew it, there was a whistle and everyone started to move quickly around him. The young pirate was startled by a moment, desperately looking around to try and understand what was going on, until he saw the ball flying towards him. He acted on instinct and dodged it.
"Stop!" Shouted Coach Jenkins after whistling to stop the game. "Hey kid, you're supposed to catch it and take it across the field to score."
Billy felt embarrassed, but he tried not to show it too much, and it didn't help that some boys were laughing at him. But then, Ben spoke: "Oh, come guys, stop laughing. He's new at this." Of course no one dared to disobey their captain and king, so everyone went quiet. Billy didn't say anything nor did he look at Ben but he was thankful.
It took him a couple more tries to get it right, but half an hour later, Billy was able to receive the ball and take it to, at least, the other team's side. Dodging other players' blocks and the "dragon fire" in the kill zone had been a problem at first, but as he started to understand these tactics, the young pirate was able to focus and use his speed and agility to avoid most of the obstacles and swiftly pass the ball to the other players on his team when necessary.
It was going well for the boy. He was starting to understand, and even enjoy, this game when something happened. He had the ball, which meant he had to be extra careful with the other team trying to block him, but an aching on his feet for a split second was enough to make him lose his concentration and fail to see someone approaching.
Billy was tackled to the ground and landed with a painful thud on his right side. But the shock came after, when he looked up to see who had tackled him, and Jay was standing right beside him. With the rush of adrenaline from the game, plus the shock from the landing, and his own trauma, Billy lost sense of reality.
He wasn't in Auradon anymore, instead, he was in The Isle of the Lost, more specifically in the docks. As he looked up in fear and saw Jay's cruel smirk, the young pirate knew what was going to happen next. He would be kicked on the ribs, stomach and back and pushed around until he fell on the dreadful water.
"Get away from me!" He screamed, crawling away from a confused Jay. The pirate crawled up in a ball and squeezed his eyes shut, his head between his hands and breathing fast as panic invaded him.
Everyone stopped. Even Jane and Carlos, who had been talking by the bleachers, stopped their conversation when they heard Billy's desperate cry. Nobody knew what was going on and nobody dared to say or do anything.
Until Coach Jenkins and Ben approached him. "Are you ok, boy?" Asked the Coach with concern. Billy slowly opened his eyes, the panic subsiding as he took in his surroundings. He wasn't in the island, he was in Auradon and he was safe.
"What happened?" Asked Ben. He tried to help the young pirate getting up but the boy dismissed his help and stood up by himself, stumbling a bit as he did.
"Nothing, I'm just done playing." He said, looking down in shame.
Coach Jenkins nodded, practice was almost over anyway, so he dismissed the rest of the team and Billy almost flew to the changing room.
Jay was left confused on the center of the field. He wanted to go over Billy and ask him what was wrong until he remembered something. He remembered who he was to the shorter boy. He felt bad. Worse than that, he felt awful, his new found conscience could be a pain sometimes.
"Hey Jay, you know what's got into him?" Asked Ben as he approach him.
Jay gulped before answering. "Yeah, I know. But I wish I didn't." And with that, the ex-thief ran to the changing room and it was Ben's turn to be left confused. Until Carlos ran (or better said, limped) to him.
"Ben, was Billy alright?" The white haired boy asked. Ben responded that he didn't know and Carlos looked troubled. "Look, I think I know what happened."
Ben was the first one to get out of the changing room, like he usually was. He was worried about Billy, the boy had been quiet since the incident, and if what Carlos had told him was true, he'd need to talk to Jay later.
"Hey, King boy!" Ben heard someone call from behind him, and when he turned around, he saw Vicky walking towards him.
"Hi Vicky." Ben greeted with a smile and walked to meet her. "How was reading club?"
Vicky shrugged with a bored expression. "I was barely there, between a silly book they made me read and a few naps..." She said, failing to contain a small laugh at the end. "But anyways, where's Billy?"
Ben scratched the back of his neck before answering. "Trying to take a shower."
"What?" Vicky's eyes widened with shock and surprise as a wide grin appeared on her face. "No way. Billy? My friend Billy Black, the boy with an H2O allergy?" The young witch asked with disbelief and Ben nodded.
She laughed and Ben laughed with her. It was a good thing she wasn't acting with hostility. It was progress, he thought.
"Is it that weird? I mean…" He tried to say something but Vicky cut him off.
"It's not weird, it's something out of this world." She said, crossing her arms and controlling her laughter. "Billy has a trauma with water, so, if he does take a shower, I guess you don't need magic to make a miracle."
Ben had never seen the green haired witch acting so lightly, or in a good mood at all, so he took his chance to try more dangerous grounds. "You all have some kind of trauma, don't you?" The young king asked, trying to keep it casual.
Vicky's smile fell a little and she looked away from him. "Well, yeah. Like every islander kid, I guess" She replied, trying not to show how much that question affected her. She didn't like to talk about this matter with Ben.
On his side, Ben felt very guilty at hearing this. He knew it wasn't his fault that these and more kids had had to grow up in the island with the worse people in the world as parents, but it had been his parents' law and he still felt responsible.
"I'm sorry to hear that." He said honestly.
Vicky didn't react since she was too lost in though. "These Auradonians do care about us…" She thought. "Or at least Ben does, he has done nothing but trying to help us since we arrived. It almost makes me feel bad for having to betray him…almost."
She snickered at the thought, and although Ben didn't understand, he was glad he hadn't set her off this time.
"Ben?" Someone called, making both teens look around. Ben smiled widely while Vicky frowned. Mal stood there with her arms crossed and a stern look directed at the young witch who returned it gladly.
Ben ran to his girlfriend, already feeling the tensing building up. He knew that Vicky and Mal together in the same room were a ticking time bomb that could go off at any minute (like, literally, they had chemistry together and…Well, let's just say that they were still fixing the lab).
"Hey Mal, you done helping drama club with the setting?" The young king asked, blocking Vicky from Mal's vision. The purple haired girl smiled, happy to have her boyfriend's attention.
"Yep, and I was here hoping we could go for some lunch." Mal placed her arms around Ben's neck and he smiled, wrapping his own arms around her waist. Both of them smiled but their moment was cut short by Vicky's coughing fit. They looked at her, putting some distance between them but still holding each other.
"Oh, don't mind me. I'm just here watching your PDA and being completely grossed out." She scolded, all her previous good mood was now gone.
Mal rolled her eyes. "Why don't you go somewhere else then? In fact, what are you even doing here?" The purple haired asked annoyed.
"I wasn't poisoning or hexing your boyfriend if that's what you mean, I'm waiting for my friend" Vicky relied, equally annoyed. "And, newsflash princess, this is a public place. You are the ones who should go somewhere else instead of giving people a show." Vicky bickered, making both Ben and Mal blush slightly.
"Wha…We weren't even…" Mal tried to say but was too embarrassed. Vicky took this chance to annoy her some more.
"What is it princess? Can't you respond to a little teasing anymore? Or perhaps you're letting me win." Vicky smirked with her arms crossed. Mal's face grew a darker shade of red, half from embarrassment, half from anger.
"Shut up, witch!" The purple haired shouted with frustration. She would have hit Vicky by now if it wasn't for Ben holding her back.
"Hey, I think that's enough, you two." He said, trying to end their fight, but it only made Vicky laugh more.
"Oh, isn't that cute." The young witch said sarcastically. "I mean, I knew you were pathetic Mal, but do you really need your boyfriend to fight for you?" More laughter. Mal was glaring at her with hatred and you could almost see the smoke coming out from her ears. Ben knew he had to do something. "Tell me again, who is the weakling here?"
"I said, that's enough!" Ben yelled, surprising both girls.
He walked to Vicky with a stern look on his face but she just stood there, burning anger on the inside but, somehow, managing to stay calm and collected on the outside. She was looking and acting like a totally different person and it was hard to believe that they had been laughing just a few moments ago. Either she had double personality or was trying to fool someone… And Ben hoped for the first options.
"What? I thought that Auradon was a free kingdom. Can't I express my opinion?" The green haired witch asked as if it wasn't a big deal. How could she be so insensible?
"One thing is expressing your opinion, but you just insulted my girlfriend and I won't allow that." Ben said with contempt.
Vicky snickered and raised her hands in a surrendering manner. "Ok, but I won't apologize, if that's what you're expecting."
"What's going on?" A new voice asked. The three of them turned around to see Billy Black standing a few feet from them with a confused look on his face.
There was something different about him, Vicky noted. The stench that usually followed him everywhere and announced his presence was nearly gone, explaining why he had managed to sneak up on them, his skin was cleaner, although some smudges were still visible, and his hair was less greasy. Vicky was shocked, to say the least, but they would have time to talk about that later.
"Nothing Billy, I was just talking to our classmates over here but it seems like we're done." She walked over to the young pirate, turned him around and the two made walked away. Billy was still confused but he knew that, if Mal was there and Ben was angry, it couldn't have been a good thing.
"Are you ok?" Ben asked Mal, walking back to her with a worried expression, once the two islanders were out of sight.
"Yeah, don't worry." The purple haired nodded, managing a smile, before grabbing his hand. The two started walking in the opposite direction. "I'll just ignore her. That girl annoys the heck out of me sometimes but, so far she hasn't done much." She added with a mental note "And I hope it stays that way."
Ben smiled. "Now that's a positive attitude." The young king pulled his girlfriend into a side hug and kissed the top of her head, making her giggle.
A/N: Sup Guys?
Again, this was a long one and I wanted to write a lot more but then I remembered that I'd have to save some for the next chapter, and also that I don't like to read huge chapters so I figured I shouldn't do that to you.
With that being said.
Have a good day!