"Mal," Carlos began warily, tensing as the mind-bent purplette moved toward them. "Mal, wait. It's me! It's Carlos! Mal, think about what you are doing! This isn't you! We're supposed to be stopping the villains, not helping them!" Mal took another step toward them. Carlos put out an arm, signaling Doug to back off a bit. "Mal, listen to me! Is this really what you want to do? Is...hurting people...the answer to anything? Mal, look what you did to Evie! You don't do that! You said it yourself. Taking over the world doesn't make you happy! And neither will killing me."
He felt Doug's gaze shoot towards him but he pushed it away. He'd already riddled most of it out for himself. A hero and a villain. It wasn't Mal. Evie was sure it wasn't her. Jay was under Queenie's spell so, logically, it couldn't be him. That left him. Cruella De Vil's son. The youngest, and smallest, of all the VKs. He was ready to accept his fate. If he was destined to somehow defeat Morgana, than he would do his best, or die trying.
Queenie's eyes lingered on him for a moment. "My dear boy, who said anything about killing you?"
Carlos reeled at this. Not him? How could it not be him? Who did that leave? It isn't a VK? His mind was so caught up in trying to unravel all the information that he almost didn't see where Mal was going to strike next. His eyes widened and he gasped. "Doug! Move!" He lunged backward, knocking the boy onto the ground. Carlos threw his arms over his head, feeling the heat of a spell rush past them, missing by mere inches, and hearing the tremendous crash as it smashed into the the wall.
What is going on? He heard his mind screaming as he lay there, feeling Doug quivering beside him. Why is Queenie doing this? Why attack Doug? He's got to be the least threatening of all of us! He had no time to process all these thoughts, however, as he heard a loud hiss and knew what was coming next. Even as he lifted his gaze in horror, he inhaled the pungent purple fumes. Ice-cold dread flooded through him as he grabbed Doug and drug him to his feet.
"Oh no..." the dwarf gasped as the two of them stood before the large reptile that was forming before their eyes. "Please tell me she's not doing what I think she's doing."
"Man," Carlos groaned, already tensing to run. "I wish I could."
Mal, the dragon, lunged at them with a earth-shaking roar.
"Oh Dalmatians. RUN!" Carlos screamed, grabbing Doug's arm and yanking him after him. The two abandoned Evie's side, though it was clear the villains were not at all interested in her. Carlos in the lead, the two boys raced behind a series of thick columns. Forcing Doug down beside him, Carlos took shelter as Mal came leaping around the bend after them, teeth flashing hungrily.
"Why is she chasing us?" Doug yelled, squeezing his eyes shut as fire exploded around the columns.
The heat radiated off of Carlos' skin as he waited, heart-racing, for the fiery breath to extinguish. "I don't know!" he shouted back. "But I suspect it has something to do with the Dragonstone...and something called the NeoMerlin. Do you have any idea what that is?"
"No! I...I mean...y-yes! Well...a little!"
The fire ended and the roar got louder.
"Er...hold that thought..." Carlos stopped him. "Time to go!" Grabbing his friend by the arm, Carlos jumped up and darted to the right, just as Mal came crashing around the poles, knocking over several large items of furniture and other various things. Her tail smashed into the wall and punctured a hole right through it.
The two boys retreated towards the fireplace. Carlos scanned the clearing, searching desperately for a way out. "We have to get out of here!" he gasped, eyeing a window as a potential escape route.
"What about Evie?" Doug protested, glancing desperately back at the girl who was still unresponsive.
"There's no time!" Carlos snapped. "It's us they're after. And, until we can figure out why, we have to get out of here!"
Doug bit his lip. "I can't leave her here!" he cried.
Meanwhile, Mal was getting closer. Carlos knew they'd have to do something, one way or another, before they both became extra crispy marshmallows. "Dude, I admire the bravery, really, I do. But this is not a great time to try and be a hero! Are you listening? Doug? Doug!"
The dwarf was already gone.
Carlos sighed and lifted his eyes to the heavens. But what was he going to do? He had to provide his friend with some cover, so, as Mal neared, he lunged forward and waved his arms frantically in the air. "Here, Mal! Over here! Hey! Yeah! That's it! Look at me, you overgrown lizard! Have I ever told you how much I hate your hair? And how much of a better leader Uma would have been than you? Maybe it would have been better for Uma to dump that bucket of shrimp on your head! And did I mention I hated your hair?"
The dragon growled and puffed out a billow of hot steam, crouching down, her nose just feet away from Carlos who did his best not to look as unnerved as he felt. He could see Doug creeping along out of the corner of his eye. He was almost to Evie. But, now, Queenie, Ben, and Jay seemed to notice something was amiss and were already beginning to react.
"Oh sheesh," Carlos moaned, struggling to keep Mal's eyes on him. "Doug! You've got company!"
"It's a diversion!" Queenie screamed. "The dwarf is going for the Dragonstone! Stop him!"
The reaction was almost instantaneous. Ben and Jay drew their swords and rushed at Doug who was only meters away from Evie.
"DOUG! LOOK OUT!" Carlos yelled the warning. At the same time, Mal lunged. Carlos threw himself sideways. He hit the ground on his shoulder and Mal whizzed over his head and crashed into a wall before staggering back up and turning on him once more.
Meanwhile, Doug had, rather clumsily, drawn his own sword, and was doing his hardest to block and defend himself and Evie. But, after only a few blows, he had retreated to his knees, still fighting his hardest. But Ben and Jay were both professionals when it came to fencing. The odds were two to one against him. Doug was crow food. But, with newfound strength, he held his own. Both blades came flying down at him at once. He fended them off and thrust his sword up, throwing the two back. He scrambled back to his feet and stepped protectively in front of Evie.
"Don't let him get the stone!" Queenie howled.
Mal's attention swung away from Carlos, much to the boy's dismay. Her glowing green eyes fixated themselves on Doug who continued to battle but was obviously growing weaker by the minute. Carlos leaped back to his feet and, drawing his sword, charged after Mal. He needed to get to Doug. The dwarf was smart, but fighting was way out of his element.
Mal seemed to sense him coming, however, and slammed her tail backwards, colliding with his chest and sending him soaring backwards and rolling to the floor, gasping and winded. He tried to stand but found that his lungs refused to let him. He could only lay there and watch the scene unfold helplessly.
Doug seemed to realized the tide had turned as well. Still fending off Ben and Jay, Doug retreated a few steps so he stood near Evie's head. He kept fighting, but, at the same time, he shot desperate glances toward her motionless form. Carlos was quite surprised by this natural show of ability that he'd never seen in his friend before and the precision at which he could multi-task. The white-haired boy made a mental note to have Lonnie teach Doug a few tricks when they got back home. The boy had real potential.
Queenie frowned, possibly noticing this sudden turn of events as well. Her eyes flashed orange and, with a flick of her hand, she commanded Mal to close in on the battle.
Doug didn't seem to notice this as he frantically battled on while simultaneously pleading Evie to respond. "Evie, Evie, please! Wake up! Evie, we have to go! We have to get out of here! Wake up!"
There was no response from the bluenette.
In a moment of distraction, Doug lost sight of the battle, and Ben took advantage of that to knock his sword away. Jay proceeded to kick the boy to the ground. Doug fell hard and his sword clattered out of reach. His glasses jumped from his face and landed on the floor beside Jay who promptly smashed them under his foot with a wicked grin.
"Doug!" Carlos wheezed, eyes widening in horror as the dwarf felt along the ground desperately, no longer able to see. "Above you!"
Doug turned towards the sky, squinting, not able to focus on anything, and definitely not seeing the sword that was plunging straight for his heart. But, hearing Carlos' warning, he instinctively rolled to the right, towards Evie. The blade sunk into the tile inches away from where he'd just been lying.
"The Dragonstone!" Carlos yelled again. "It's right beside you!"
Doug felt for it. His hand touched it and he quickly balled a fist around it. He turned, gasping and breathless, to face down his friends.
"No! Doug!" Carlos was shouting. "You can't use it! You're not a villain! Toss it here! Toss it to me!" He struggled up, reaching out desperately for it.
Doug didn't respond. His eyes were fixed on something else, or someone else.
"Doug! Throw it!" Carlos screamed, watching in horror as Jay and Ben moved in to finish the attack. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING? THROW. IT!"
Ben raised his sword once more and prepared to strike.
Carlos' voice was hoarse from screaming. He tried to shout out another warning, but couldn't.
Suddenly, the stone began to pulse with a strange orange glow. The light burst from the jewel and spiraled upwards around Doug who nearly dropped it in shock. Ben and Jay backed away, shielding their eyes from the light. Mal reared backwards, howling, as the glow intensified. Carlos stared, jaw dropped, at the scene that was unfolding before him.
No...it couldn't be...could it? Doug?!
The stone can only be used by a villain...
The NeoMerlin...
Doug...not a villain...a hero...not a villain...
It's just not possible!
And yet, it was the most obvious solution. There was no denying the power that was radiating from the stone, a kind of power Carlos had only seen once and desperately hoped never to again. I don't believe it.
Queenie screamed painfully as the light exploded around the room and everyone was thrown violently to the floor. Carlos threw his hands before his face to shield himself from the flames and then, heard the grunts and groans from the others. He looked up, spotting Jay and Mal, who'd reverted to bring human again, staggering to stand up. The zombie-like look was gone from their faces. They just seemed confused. So did Ben as he sat up across the room and blinked, staring at all of the mess.
"Er..." the king began. "Someone wanna tell me what happened here?"
"You fools!" Queenie screamed. She took a faltering step backward as Doug, forgetting the stone in his haste, knelt down and kissed Evie firmly on the lips. A moment passed. The sapphire-haired girl groaned and stirred. She opened her eyes in confusion, a small smile crawling into her face as she saw Doug kneeling beside her.
"Did you..." she began in a faint whisper.
Doug nodded and helped her to her feet. "Now we're even." He held out the Dragonstone as he turned slowly to face Queenie. "And now, I think it's time to finish this, what do you say?"
Evie frowned, seemingly confused as to why Doug was holding the Dragonstone. She did not question it, however, as she backed away to let him to his thing.
"You can't do it," Queenie rasped, her voice breaking in fear. She backed up until she could not go any further. "You're not strong enough. That hero blood makes you weak. Morgana was right. Your mother was wise to abandon you. She knew you'd be nothing but a weakling. Such a waste, really, all that power, used up on a disappointment like you. Not even worthy of being called a villian's child."
Doug flinched. "She didn't abandon me," he fired back. " My mother is dead! And she wasn't a villain!"
"Oh really? How else do you explain that?" She pointed to the glowing Dragonstone still clutched tightly in Doug's hand. "The offspring of a hero and a villain. Of life and death. The only way one could wield it."
Her words seemed to sink in and Doug lowered his gaze. "No..." he whispered. "No...that's not true. Y-you're lying!"
She arched an eyebrow. "Am I? Look for yourself, dwarf. You are the NeoMerlin. You are a villain."
"No...no...no, no, no!" Doug opened his hand and stared at the pulsing stone. It glowed, almost as if it had a life of its own. " It...It can't be me. Evie..." he turned toward his girlfriend in confusion. She stated back at him with a mixture of horror and amazement.
Carlos copied this expression. After all this time, after coming so far, after being so certain that it was Evie, it was Doug, the least likely out of all of them.
"Yes," Queenie laughed. "I'm sure it does a bit strange. Turns out, Evie just has inherited her mother's powers. There's nothing special about her. But you," she strode closer. Doug tensed but did not run away. "You are something extraordinary. So, tell me, how does it feel to be chosen?" She raised a hand, preparing to cast a spell over him, possibly like the one she'd placed on Mal and the others.
Carlos started to run forwards to push them out of the way of the spell, but someone beat him to it.
Queenie hissed the curse and brought her hand swinging down. The light burst from her palm and barreled right toward Doug's chest. He froze, petrified, as the spell shot at him. His feet were stuck. He couldn't move.
The spell got closer.
Right before it could hit, someone threw themselves in front of him, shielding him from the blow and taking the hit themselves. They fell to the floor.
Queenie laughed. "So long heroes." She disappeared into a plume of black smoke.
Carlos was still in shock at the whole ordeal. It was only Doug and Mal's screams that awoke him from his trance and opened his eyes to the horrible reality that had descended upon them.
"EVIE!"