Disclaimer: You kidding me? Would I be writing fan fictions if I owned the characters!

30 Hours Till Cotillion

~Hideout~

Mal and Lilo are just chillin' around the loft. The moment Lilo walked into the hideout - which resembled a big loft - she felt a strange peace and bittersweetness fill her body. Mal's graffiti was plastered on nearly every wall except for the spots holding hers, Evie's, Carlos' and Jay's belongings. It had been a hideout for when one didn't want to be around their parents...and that usually tended to be a lot of the time according to their stories.

"Rotten to the core," Mal read off from the biggest painting on the wall which was of the four of them with the words written below.

"That's really cool work Mal."

"Thanks Lilo." Mal then grabbed a piece of her hair in disgust. "I need to get rid of the blonde. I hate it."

Lilo gets up from where she was taking notes. "Okay so where do we do that?" Mal looks at her.

"You said you wanted to meet Dizzy right?" Lilo nods. "Well her Grandmother owns Lady Tremaine's Curl Up & Dye. We could go there."

"I love the name! Sounds good." Mal looks at her.

"Are you sure you can handle this. I mean the Isle is kinda rough."

Lilo scoffs. "I've been to several intergalactic prisons and Ben has told me stories about Incarcecon and the Null Void. I can handle anything." Mal's confused.

"Why would Ben know anything about prisons." Lilo facepalms.

"I forgot. My boyfriend's name is Ben Tennyson. He publicly goes by Ben 10. Have you heard of him?"

Mal shakes her head. "Not that I know of. Why? Should I have?"

"No, it's just sometimes people do. Anyway, I can handle the Isle. I've been to bad places and come out just fine. Let's go." She heads down the staircase with Mal on her heels.

~Lady Tremaine's Curl Up & Dye~

"Nice place." Lilo looks around. "I like all the colors." She then spots a girl with headphones on sweeping the floors until she spots Mal.

"Mal! Did Evie come too!"

"No." The girl pouts. "But I brought someone I would like you to meet. Dizzy Tremaine. This is Lilo Pelekai. One of my best friends in Auradon." Lilo shakes Dizzy's hand.

"It's so wonderful to meet you!"

Dizzy smiles. "You too!"

Mal interrupts. "So, Dizzy, has your grandmother given you any customers yet?"

"Ah, just a witch here and there," Dizzy gave a slight shrug of her shoulders. "Mostly, it's a lot of scrubbing and scouring and sweeping. Lots and lots of sweeping."

"Sounds like the old Cinderella treatment, eh?"

"Yeah, she's gone from Wicked Stepmother to Wicked Grandmother!"

Lilo laughs at that.

"Dizzy, I heard that you used to do Evie's hair, right?"

Dizzy nodded, quite proud yet still abashed. "Yeah. I thought of the little braids."

Mal lifted a strand of her hair for Dizzy to see. "You have any ideas for me?"

Dizzy looks at it in disgust. "Bleached blonde with your skin tone is a major don't. I'll fix it right away." She turns to Lilo. "What can I do for you?" Lilo is shocked for a second.

"Right. We'll get to that in a second. First I need to mention that, I am one of the people who chooses who comes over from the Isle in our program." Dizzy gasps. "I wanted to bring you over last time, but you were too young for us to be comfortable with asking you to Auradon."

"I understand."

"So it is my honor and my privilege," Lilo pulls an envelope from her bag. "to invite you, Dizzy Tremaine, to Auradon Prep next semester." Dizzy takes the letter with trembling hands.

Dizzy Tremaine

We would be honored if you would join us at Auradon Prep.

"For real. Really real!" Lilo nods. "Yes! Yes! Yes!" Dizzy lunges forward and starts hugging Lilo and jumping up and down squealing.

Mal laughs in the background. "Maybe I should have had her do my hair first, before you told her the news."

"You're probably right!"

~Later~

Dizzy turns around Mal's chair. "Hey! There I am!" Mal now had long straight purple hair.

Lilo gives a double thumbs up from her adjacent chair, where Dizzy had done some emerald green streaks to her hair. "I like it!"

"So do I. I'm me again!" She turns to Lilo. "Though I've got to ask, why emerald green?"

Lilo opens her phone. "It's my boyfriend's color. I thought it would look nice." She shows her phone to Mal, who sees a picture of a brunette, emerald eyed boy, a little shorter than King Ben, wearing a bright green jacket and black t-shirt holding a blushing Lilo while smiling at the camera.

"He's cute. You look happy with him." She hands back the phone.

Lilo sighs in bliss. "He and I have been officially dating two years." Mal raises an eyebrow. "We've known each other for seven years and kissed once when we were 10. So yes, there's the official years and the unofficial years."

Dizzy awwww's. "That's so sweet. I wish that could happen to me."

Mal comes up to Dizzy. "It will happen someday kid. Just give it some time." She hands her some money. "Here. You've earned it."

Dizzy looks at it in shock. "Really. You mean it!"

"You did good, kid."

Dizzy walks over to the register, when a boy with a hook for a hand, wearing a pirate hat and tattered red coat comes flouncing in.

"Hand it over. You little runt. All of it." Dizzy does so reluctantly. Lilo steps forward, but Mal pushes her back. Hook boy taps the cash register and Dizzy gives him the money from that too.

"So, you're still Uma's errand boy. Do you actually get anything out of it or does she get it all?"

Hook boy stops in his tracks and turns back around. "Well well, look what I've got in my hooks reach. This is a nice surprise Mal."

"Hi Harry."

Harry saunters closer. "Just wait until Uma finds out that you're here. It will be beautiful. Seeing you two tear each other apart." He pulls his hook through Mal's hair, behind her neck. "Maybe I should save her the trouble and hurt you now."

Mal grabs his hand and pushes him back. "You can't do anything without Uma's orders. Isn't that right." She leans in towards his face. "Get out and tell Uma, the Queen of the Isle is back. And I will be taking back my territory and her's." She backs away.

He backs up to the door and gives her a mocking bow as he exits. "See ya later, Pet."

Mal scoffs at the name.

Dizzy huffs. "Great. More for me to clean."

Lilo looks between the door and Mal a couple of times. "Is that guy your ex or something?" Mal gives her a look and walks out the door.

~Auradon Prep Parking Lot~

Jay is the first seen heading for the car, wearing his maroon and gold leathers. He was soon followed by Carlos in his red, black, and white leathers and Ben in a studded blue leather outfit and knit cap.

"Jay! Keys." Toss. "Remote." Toss.

"Quiet Ben or we'll get caught and we won't be going anywhere!" Evie in her blue leathers angrily whispers.

"Sorry.

Jay, Evie, Carlos, and Ben are going for the parked limo, when they hear a car horn above them and look up to see Stitch in his hovercraft, who lands it without issue. "Aloha!" They wave. Stitch looks around. "Where Lilo?" The kids exchange looks.

Carlos turns to 626. "Lilo's on the Isle of the Lost with Mal and we're going to go get them."

Stitch steps forward. "Stitch come help."

Ben looks at the VK's. "He'll follow us regardless." They exchange nods.

Jay opens the door. "We better hurry! Everyone get in."

~Alleyways~

"It's really weird being back here," Evie pushes her hair back as they make a turn to a new street. They decided that they would attempt their luck at finding Mal near their old hangouts.

"We'll get in and get out," Carlos claps his hands together. "We just have to do that before anyone realizes we're back."

"Ben!" Jay catches Ben distancing himself while he gets to know the new area.

Stitch snorts. "Stupid head."

Jay dashes after him as do the rest.

"Hey, guys," Ben is in awe of the completely different environment presented before him. Everything was so...tattered? And the smell - there was a quirky smell in the air. "I think I just found a coffee shop-"

"No you did not," chorus the three Isle teens. Stitch facepalms at Ben naivety.

"Ben, you have to keep it chill, alright?" Evie leads the way towards the alleys. "The last thing we need is our parents figuring out we're here." On a turn, two children pop out from the sides and attempt to take Evie's wallet from her. "Hey! Hey!" she grabs each of the children's wrists. Their small faces blink at her innocently, and make Evie stop. "Just...just take it," Evie lets the children go and motions them to leave. The two children stare at her, confused. "Just take it, really," Evie nods and gestures to her friends to keep moving.

"Ben!"

Evie hears once again and turns sideways to see Ben stopping to see what a young man's coat was full of. Carlos is pulling him away while Jay basically intimidates the stranger to leave.

"Ben, you can't go around like that!" Carlos hisses.

"Why?" Ben frowns, totally confused about what was the big deal.

"This isn't a parade. It's the Isle," Evie walks back and snaps her fingers to get Ben's attention.

Jay points to his hands. "Keep your hands in your pockets unless you're stealing."

"You either slouch or strut," Carlos points out, before Evie finishes.

"And never, ever smile."

Ben nods. 'I hope I can remember all of that.' "Okay, thanks-"

"No!" Evie waves her hand in his face to stop him. "No 'thank you's' and drop the 'please,' too. Just...chill." She wraps an arm around his shoulder. "Let me tell you something you can really trust. Alright, everybody's got a wicked side." She points to the others. "I know you think that you could never be like us." She steps in front of him. "Watch and learn so you can get it right."

She demonstrates, "You need to drag your feet, nod your head, lean back, and slip through the cracks. You need to not care about anyone or anything, but yourself."

Carlos moves around Ben who was wide-eyed, "Uh, you need to not stare."

All the VK's and even Stitch hold up a hand. They all had pick-pocketed something from Ben without him ever noticing. The King scrambles to get his belongings back.

Evie made a motion to Ben to watch them closely, "You need to not be yourself. You wanna be cool?" Ben nods eagerly. "Let me show you how. Need to break the rules." He hesitates. "I can show you how. And once you catch this feeling. You'll be chillin' like a villain."

The group of teenagers strut down the alleyway and move towards a rail serving as makeshift seats for everyone. Ben, however, stops once again when he sees someone offering a trinket. He pulls out his wallet to pay when Evie brings him back. She then stomps her heeled boot at the stranger warning him to get lost.

Evie hisses. "You draw attention when you act like that." She takes a breath. "Let us teach you how to disappear."

They all sit on the rails and try to teach Ben how to get loose and not so...rigidly Auradonish.

Evie got up on the railing and got in Ben's face, smirking, "You look like you would lose a fight to an alley cat You gotta be wrong to get it right 'round here - rawr!" she mimicked a cat's paw and cry.

All of the Isle teens stood on the rail.

Jay continues. "You need to watch your back, creep around, and slide real smooth."

They all jump off the railing at the same time. In his surprise, Ben stumbles against a trash bin and makes it fall down.

Carlos grabs him. "Don't make a sound!"

They went under the rails to be on the same side Ben was.

"And if you want it, take it." Jay demonstrates. "And if you can't take it, break it. Because if you care about your health it's all about showing force."

Evie tosses her hair behind her shoulders and backs up, pulling Ben with her, "Seriously, you need to not be yourself."

They all sit on the railing and have Ben mimic them crossing their arms and swinging their legs.

Evie nods and then gestures for them to follow. They strut their way down a new part of the alleyway.

'Let's see if I can do this.' Ben starts going through the group, hugging here and there, "I really wanna be bad a lot. And I'm giving it my best shot...but it's hard being what I'm not."

Carlos pats his shoulder. "Well, if you don't, you're gonna get us caught and we don't want that."

Evie lightly hits Ben on the side, "He's right, we gotta stay low-key. Now show us how bad you can be."

Ben smirks and starts pulling out the things he had taken from each and every single one of them. "Like this? Like this?"

Evie and the rest beam at his progress. "Yeah, yeah, yeah!"

Ben bounces a little in place to loosen up. "Oh yeah, I think I got this. Let's go, I'm ready to rock! I think I found the worst in myself."

Evie pats his head. "Don't get too cocky. You can make it with us, but going anywhere by yourself is just asking for trouble."

Ben heads down an alley confidently and nearly crashes into someone. That someone turns out to be one of Uma's pirate comrades, Gil, Son of Gaston.

"Hey, I know you!" Gil points at Ben who immediately tries hiding his face.

"Uh, no…" Ben mumbles and tries getting away. "Don't know you, either, man." 'Please go away!'

"Uh, yeah, you do," Gil insists. "Come on, man. Really? Huh? Dude, I'll give you a hint. My dad is quick, slick and his neck…is incredibly thick," he motions to his neck, but no such thing was visibly received.

'Note to self: Definitely do not tell mom or dad about this encounter.'

"Come on, man…" Gil turns away for a moment and catches sight of an Auradon poster on the wall behind him. His eyes dart from it to Ben. "Oh! You're King Ben!"

"Okay, let's go!" Evie hurries over to get Ben.

"Yeah, yeah, you totally are King Ben," Gil nods, more sure himself as the seconds tick by. "J-Jay? Carlos...and Evie! Hey, guys! Oh, Uma is gonna love this!"

As the others pull Ben away, Gil hurriedly runs to inform Uma.

For the love story between Lilo and Ben 10 look for my story Love is Universal.