THE FUTURE OF THE FREE WORLD? DON'T BLOW IT? JEEZ. TALK ABOUT NO PRESSURE. AWAY WE GO!
A black stretch limo was parked outside Maleficent's tenement. It looked wildly out of place in the squalid city. Villagers crowded around it curiously. Jay, Carlos, and Evie walked outside, whooping with glee to see their ride.
"Ugh," said Evil Queen, eying the villagers. "Smells like common folk."
"Come back here, now!" Cruella shouted as Carlos ran ahead of her to get away. "Carlos! Ingrate!"
The driver emerged from the limo in a crisp gray suit and dark sunglasses. He took the teens' luggage-Jay's carpetbag, Harlow's duffle bag, Evie's suitcase and sewing machine, and Carlos's big black trash bag-and loaded it into the trunk. Jay swiped the crown-shaped hood ornament and climbed into the limo along with Evie and Carlos. Mal handed the driver her bag, and he tossed it in and slammed the trunk shut. She took one last look up at the balcony, where her mom gave her an "I have my eye on you" sign. Mal nodded. She hopped into the limo.
The driver slid into his seat and shut the door. "The jackals have landed," he said into a mike inside his lapel.
The villains waved good-bye to their children from outside the limo as it began to roll. "Bring home some gold!" "Bring home a puppy." "Bring home a prince." The kids heard their parents shout. On the street, the villagers looked on as the limo cruised away.
Mal and her friends took in the inside of the limo. The boys took one look at the wall of candy in the limo, then at each other before fighting over who gets what. They all ogled all the buttons, gadgets, colored lights, refreshments, and vast arrays of chocolates, gumballs, jawbreakers, jelly beans, rock candies, and other sweets. Jay wrenched open the fridge. His friends played with the sound system, unwrapped candies and opened cans of soda, and pressed every button, quickly trashing the limo.
Evie went at Mal with a makeup brush she had taken out of her box purse. "You're looking a little washed out. Let me help you out." She began to attempt to put a little blush on Mal's cheek.
"Ew, stop. I'm plotting." Mal said as she swatted Evie's hand away from her face.
"Well, It's not very attractive." Evie said as she ate a blue rock candy. She slowly tried to inch the brush closer to Harlow's face.
"I dare you to put that brush any closer to my face." Harlow said, not even having to look at Evie to know what she was trying to do. Evie retracted her hand quickly.
Carlos wolfed down a chocolate peanut butter cup and shook his head with wonder. He quickly tapped Jay's and Harlow's arms to get their attention. "Oh! These! It's salty like nuts but it's sweet like I don't know what."
"Let me see." said Jay. Carlos opened his mouth for Jay to look at the chewed-up peanut butter cup on his tongue. Some fell out.
"Ew!" Harlow said as she hit Carlos before she took another cup from him and popped it into her mouth, noticing how good it was. She reached over and grabbed a blue piece of candy, noticing the unique flavor it had to it, trying to think about what it was.
Mal clicked a remote. The screen that separated the teens from the driver opened.
"Look!" Evie said as they approached where the barrier was, now that she had a clear view out the front of the limo. The five teens stared ahead at the ruined remains of a bridge and the impenetrable barrier. There was just sea ahead. It looked like they were going to be driven straight into the water. They cowered.
"It's a trap!" said Carlos, terrified.
They all screamed. Carlos jumped onto Jay, and Evie clung to Mal for dear life. The driver pushed a remote attached to the visor. The limo hit the ruins of the bridge and barreled through the barricade. They did not hurtle into the sea. Instead, a magnificent bridge appeared under the steady wheels of the limo. Quickly, Mal and her friends composed themselves, embarrassed about losing their cool. Jay peeled Carlos off him.
"What just happened?" Carlos said, noticing they weren't in the water.
"It must be magic." Evie gushed.
Mal tapped the wall behind the driver. "Hey!" She held up the remote she had in her hand. "Did this little button just open up the magic barrier?" she asked him.
"Nope." The driver indicated the remote on his visor. "This one opens the magic barrier." He motioned at the remote Mal held. "That one opens my garage. And this one..." He pushed a button and the screen slid up, shutting off Mal and her friends.
"Okay. Nasty. I like that guy." Mal said before they began to cross the barrier.
Harlow suddenly began to feel an immense amount of heat on her neck, and brought her hand back to try to feel what was happening. "Anybody else just start feeling hot all of a sudden?"
"Maybe it's because of that." Carlos said, pointing at her hair, which was now almost entirely a neon blue color with little flames coming from the sides.
"That's pretty cool." Harlow said, picking up a section of her hair.
"Maybe you should try to figure out how to control that." Mal said. "We don't want the people to get suspicious of us by seeing one of us use magic."
"Easier said than done. I don't know how to control this." Harlow said, sinking back into her seat.
The limo traveled across the bridge, which continued to extend over the wide expanse of water toward Auradon. The bridge behind the limo disappeared, leaving no way for them to travel back or for anyone to follow. The driver pulled the limo into the sunny kingdom of Auradon and slowed in front of a sign that made Mal and her friends gag:
WELCOME TO AURADON PREP.
GOODNESS DOESN'T GET ANY BETTER