Ben agreed with Mal. They had to get to Auradon. But how were they going to get there before Morgana? She had a great head start already. And even if they ran all the way back to Auradon Prep, they'd be far too late.

"Yeah, but, Mal," he thought aloud, moving closer to his fiance so he could whisper to her. "How...how are we going to get back? We didn't bring the limo..."

"We don't need the limo," Mal waved his worry off. "The six of us can get to Auradon another way." She turned towards Jane, Lonnie, Uma, Harry, and Gil. "You guys should go on ahead," she told them. "See if you can get back in time to warn everyone."

"Right," Jane said with a nervous nod. "But what are you going to do?"

"We're going first class," Mal answered with a smirk. The others didn't wait for an explanation. Uma took the lead and they took off down the alley at a run. Even before they'd disappeared into the shadows, Mal had already turned back to the five teens standing expectantly around her.

"Mal?" Carlos whispered.

"Mal," Jay added louder. "What are you thinking?"

Mal smirked. "There's something about the Dragonfires that I didn't tell you all. Now I think it's time I showed you what they can really do. Eves?" She turned towards Evie who looked surprised but stepped forward obediently. "Hold out your Dragonfire," Mal instructed, pulling out hers as well. The two stones crackled as they touched. Mal glanced at the others. "Well? What are you waiting for? Dragonfires! Now!"

The others hurried to obey, fumbling around for their stones.

Mal frowned impatiently. "Come on! Come on!" She gestured for them to get a move on. They obeyed. First Carlos stepped up. Then Jay. Then Doug. Then Ben. They all stood in a tight circle, holding out their Dragonfires in a confused fashion.

Ben frowned. What was Mal up to? He knew she must know something about the stones...they had been her mother's after all. Was it safe? Knowing Mal, probably not. But it wasn't like they really had any other option. They certainly couldn't let Morgana destroy Auradon. They had to get there first.

Though how they were going to do that, Ben was still a bit foggy. Nevertheless, he trusted Mal. She had to have a plan. She always did. "Mal?" he questioned. "What are the Dragonfires going to do to help?"

She smirked, eyes flashing emerald green. "Everybody get ready. Spread out!" she added, tearing her Dragonfire away and stepping back as the smoke began to rise around her. She transformed into a dragon in a matter of seconds. But, instead of the smoke going away as it normally did, it burst forward with a little help from Mal's wings and surrounded the teens.

Ben was instantly blinded by the purple haze. He heard Jay laugh gleefully, possibly knowing what was happening, and Doug shriek in absolute terror. Ben didn't know what was going on, but he had a feeling that it was going to be something big. A rumble of thunder echoed throughout the heavens, followed by a tremendous flash of light. Ben fell backwards and everything went dark...

He opened his eyes a moment later, gasping and blinking furiously. He found himself lying on his back, staring up at the heavens. The smog was gone and the clearing was once again dark and silent. Silent? "Mal?" he groaned, starting to stand up, feeling his legs shaking underneath him. Make that four legs. Ben gasped, lifting a hand which had morphed into a scaly foot. He touched his face. It too had grown scaly. And long. Without glancing around, he knew he would find a tail as well. I'm a dragon! he realized. Just like Mal! The only obvious difference was that he was green while Mal was purple.

And speaking of Mal.

"Ben!" He heard her voice and he turned, spotting her hovering overhead. Even in dragon form, he recognized the ghost of a smile on her face.

"Mal!" he tried to shout but the only sound that came out was a roar.

Mal shook her head and tapped her skull. "You can't talk," she telepathed to him. "Your mind. Use your thoughts."

"Sounds like something out of a movie, huh?"

Both turned at the flat but obvious voice of Jay as he appeared, his hulking red form glimmering in the moonlight. He paused mid-stride, noticing their looks. "What?"

"You...handled the transformation well," Ben thought, unsure how the telepathy worked exactly. But Jay seemed to understand as he gave a short nod.

"Yeah. Well, it helps when you've been turned into a frog, a rabbit, and a porcupine by someone who was learning to do mag-"

"All right, Jay," Mal cut him off abruptly. "I think we get it."

"Get what?"

Evie. Her voice was high, a bit fearful. She emerged from the shadows to join them. Ben's eyes widened. She was slimmer than Mal with blue scales and startling brown eyes. She looked more like she was designed for the water. It matched her Dragonfire perfectly. "Whoa..." she breathed, glancing down at her reflection in a pool of water. "I'm...beautiful."

Mal smiled slightly as she came to hover closer. "E, where's Carlos? Is he with you?"

"No. I'm right here."

There was a shuffle and the orange dragon stuck his head over the end of a nearby building. He stared down at them with a mixture of fear and awe. "Whoa...okay...Mal? What exactly did your spell do?"

Mal smiled and landed among them and signaled for Carlos to come down which he did a bit clumsily. "This the secret of the Dragonfires," she explained. "This phenomenon can only happen when all six stones are aligned. My mother called it the Bond Effect. Your stones have literally merged with you and revealed their true powers."

"True powers?" Jay questioned. "I thought they were only good for blasting things."

"Or seeing the future," Evie put in. "Which reminds me. Where's Doug?"

Mal frowned, glancing around.

Ben did the same. She's right, he thought, counting the dragons in the ring. There are only five of us. Before he could say anything, Evie had already broken away from the others and was searching the alley frantically, half-flying, half-hopping from shadow to shadow.

"Doug? DOUG?" she screamed, her voice coming out as a roar. She fluttered into the air for a moment, her head shooting around around wildly. "Doug, where are you?" Her eyes widened as she reached the end of the alley and still didn't spot him and kept going. She didn't even seem to realize that anyone or anything else was there.

"EVIE!" Mal bellowed in Ben's head. He winced slightly but Mal didn't seem to notice as she took off after her friend. "EVIE! HE CAN'T HEAR YOU IF YOU KEEP ROARING LIKE A RAGING LUNATIC! GET. BACK. HERE. THIS. INSTANT!" She sprang into the air, narrowly dodging a couple of buildings, and came down hard on the road, blocking Evie's frantic search. "Calm down!" she snapped, holding out a wing to stop her. "We'll find Doug, all right? But you're not going to do him any good by getting yourself hurt."

Evie stared at her, tears welling up in her eyes. Mal saw this and softened. "It's all right," she told her reassuringly. "Come on, let's go back to the others. Then, together, we'll go look for Doug, all right?"

Ben waited, a bit impatiently, as the two girls hurried back to join them. "Okay," he said, instantly taking charge, ignoring Mal's look of confusion. "Let's think about this logically. We were all here when the transformation took place, correct?"

They all nodded.

"Which logically means that Doug must be around somewhere, right?" Ben finished.

"But he didn't answer when I called," Evie sounded desperate.

Mal rolled her eyes. "Well, that's because you were screaming your head off," she pointed out. "Which Doug would not have understood, considering you can't make words now."

"Uh...guys?" Carlos' voice interrupted their plotting. They turned, spotting his orange tail disappearing over the top of a nearby roof. "I think I found him."

"What?" Evie gasped as they hastened after Carlos. "How in Auradon did he get up there?" She took the lead, Mal and Ben were right behind her as they landed on the small rooftop and Evie moved forwards towards where Carlos was waiting, staring up at them wide-eyed. Ben watched as Evie disappeared around the corner and had just settled down to wait when her voice rose above the stillness. "OH MY BADNESS! MAL! GET OVER HERE! HURRY!"

Mal didn't question why. She rushed around the bend. With a glance towards Jay, Ben followed. He rounded the corner and found them huddled around Doug's unmoving form. His very human form. "What happened?" Ben gasped as he rushed up to join them and stare down at his friend. Doug's eyes were closed, his clothes were singed and black, and a tremendous scorch mark encompassed the ground around him. "Why is he not a dragon?"

Evie couldn't speak. She kept choking on her tears. "Mal...Mal...please...do something..." she whispered.

Ben understood why she was concerned. This wasn't like before in Evil Queen's castle when Doug had simply been unconscious. Something far different was happening. And, by the look on Mal's face, it was something really serious. "Stand back!" she snapped at them all, holding out her wings and shoeing them away. Her eyes flashed green as she knelt down next to Doug and hissed something that the others didn't understand.

Ben pulled a sobbing Evie back and she buried her head in his chest. Ben kept his eyes fixed on Mal as she transformed back into her human form and gently lifted Doug's head. Light was pulsing through her hands. It collided with the Dragonfire that was clutched tightly in his hand and a bright light began to pulse across the rooftop.

Come on, Doug, Ben thought as Evie slowly turned around to face Mal. Come on.

The light intensified. Mal gasped. The magic was evidently draining her fast. There was one final blast of light, and Mal collapsed beside Doug, panting. "Mal!" Ben yelled, hurrying over to her, just as she began to get up. "Are you all right?" he asked, helping her up.

"I'm fine," she grunted. "What about Doug?"

Even as she spoke, Doug groaned and began to stir. "Owww. Hey, guys. What did I miss?" He started to sit up and Mal helped him up. He blinked, and then noticed Ben who was standing next to Mal. "Ben?" he gasped. "Ben?" he shrieked, leaping back with a yell. He turned around slowly and spotted the others standing there. "What...what...?"

Evie hurried over to him. "Doug! What happened? Are you all right?"

Doug jumped slightly. He frowned. "Evie? Is that you? I can't...understand you."

"He doesn't know what you are saying," Mal reminded her. "His Dragonfire didn't work."

"How is that possible?" Carlos asked. "He was there with us the whole time."

Mal shook her head. "I don't know. But I think we might have a bigger problem to worry about."

"What's that?" Jay questioned.

"If Doug can't fly, then we can't get back to Auradon before Morgana."

"I'll take him," Ben offered, drawing their attentions. "I'm probably the strongest out of all of us," he explained when Mal seemed a bit hesitant.

"But you don't even know how to fly," Mal argued.

Ben shrugged. "I'll figure it out. Doug, is that all right with you?"

Doug stared.

Ben sighed. "Okay. This is going to be a bit harder than I thought. You." He pointed at Doug. "Come. With. Me." He held out his wings and knelt down, pointing first to Doug and then himself. "Do you understand?"

"Um..." Doug glanced back at Mal to make sure he understood correctly. She nodded. "Sure?" He walked over and struggled onto the king's back.

"I feel kind of like I'm riding a flying horse," Doug admitted, returning the Dragonfire to his pocket and grabbing a hold of Ben's scales.

Just don't think about kicking me, Ben thought. Mal stifled a laugh. Ben blushed, forgetting that she could hear his thoughts. He shook his head and moved a little, testing to see if Doug was ready. The dwarf suddenly grasped Ben's scales tighter.

"Ready?" Mal questioned as she turned and, transforming back into a dragon, leaped off of the rooftop and headed straight for the heavens. The others all whooped and shouted as they followed. Ben was last. He could feel Doug trembling and he tried to push it out of his brain.

Get ready, he told his friend silently as he turned and started running for the edge. He felt Doug suddenly lurch forward and grab a hold of his neck for dear life. As Ben hit the end of the roof, he kicked off as he had seen Mal do and beat his wings furiously. He almost closed his eyes, afraid that he was going to fall and crash-land on the ground. But, to his surprise, he flew.

I'm doing it! I'm flying! He laughed as the others came back to swoop around him. Carlos and Evie on the left, Mal on the right. Jay was next to Mal, but flying upside down, whooping.

"Nice going, Ben!" Carlos called.

"Great job!" Evie added.

"Now, let's get to Auradon!" Mal decided. She put on a burst of speed and took off.

Ben laughed and hurried after her, just now hearing a weak whimper from above him.

Suddenly he realized Doug had been screaming the whole time.