Hiya Descendants!

Sorry this is getting out late. Yesterday was my husband and my anniversary, so we were... cough... a little busy. ;)

Time sure does fly when you marry your best friend!

Anyway, here it is, the chapter I'm sure you've all been waiting for.

What will the Core Four do when they're found?

Are you ready for it?

Lots of Love!

-Dark-

She looks around in confusion when she hears a faint sound in the darkness.

Shit.

Her eyes narrow as she looks around suspiciously, muscles coiled to spring into action at the first sign of threat.

She glances down at the others.

She didn't want to wake them over something as stupid as a rat. And with how faint the noise was…

She slowly untangles from Carlos as she stands to her feet.

"Mal?" Carlos groans, still half asleep.

"Shh," She coaxes, "It's alright. I'm just going to go check on something."

"Okay. Take Dude with you." Carlos smiles sleepily up at her before he curls against Evie in her absence, "Thanks, M. You best."

The mention of Dude hits her hard, but she quickly pushes it aside, "I know." She pats his head before she steps away from her pack.

She frowns, peering into the darkness as another soft sound catches her attention.

Her head tilts as she strains to hear-

Squeaking?

She frowns as she tries to place the strange and yet somehow familiar sound.

It wasn't-

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

How? How did that fucking marshmallow-

Oh no!

She looks around wildly.

Jay was in no condition to get up, let alone run.

And if that marshmallow was here-

Her heart pounds against her chest painfully as fear floods her.

Fuck!

They'd been- Fuck.

Her breath hitches as she struggles around a lump forming in her throat.

Fuck.

What were they supposed to do?

What was she supposed to do?

They couldn't be caught.

Evie and Carlos-

Maybe she and Jay could handle going back. But those two?

No.

Not after what happened with her mother.

If she'd been livid, Cruella and EQ would be-

She chokes on terror.

They couldn't go back.

She refused to let that happen.

Re-fucking-fused.

She holds her throat.

Shit.

Was this how Jay felt during his episodes?

She couldn't-

She needed to breathe.

She needed to breathe.

She needed to figure out what the fuck to do and remember how to breathe.

Why weren't her lungs working?

Why couldn't she string her thoughts together?

What was she supposed to do?

Her eyes widen as her entire body seizes.

Oh no!

No! No! No!

Not again.

Please not again!

It had been terrifying the first-

Her head shoots up as an unpleasant sensation creeps down her spine.

All of her joints pop uncomfortably as purple smoke rises around her.

Nonononono!

She desperately tries to waft away the smoke.

"Mal?" Carlos blinks up in confusion as Mal continues to move away from the group, "Mal, what's-"

Oh no.

Was she changing into a dragon?

Down here?

He sits up before he pushes to his feet, "M? M, uh, uh, try to breathe. It's okay. It's gonna be okay."

What were you supposed to say to a person who was turning into a dragon?

"The fuck!?" Jay shoots up

"I can't. I can't. I can't." Mal chokes out, shaking her head before she curls into herself and covers her head as smoke swallows her.

"What?" Evie startles awake.

"Mal's um, I don't know what happened." He explains as he looks between Evie and the cloud of purple smoke hiding Mal.

"Damn it!" Jay grunts as he stumbles between them, one hand on his chest as the other hand grips his shoulder, "Mal, talk to us. What's wrong?"

"Mal," Evie coos, "Mal, hunny?" She calls out when Mal doesn't respond.

A large green eye blinks back at them as the fog clears.

Huh.

Did- Did she just- Could dragons whimper?

He might never know, because he sure as hell wasn't going to ask.

Mal lowers her head closer to the ground as she studies them.

"Um…" Evie takes a hesitant step forward.

And then another step.

She waves off Jay's concerned hand before she places a hand to Mal's snout. "What's wrong, M?"

They stand silent for a moment as they wait to see if she can answer.

His eyes narrow before he turns towards the soft squeaks, "Wait- Do you hear-"

Mal's head lifts suddenly before she turns towards the entryway, her eyes flashing dangerously as she sniffs out a plume of smoke.

"Seriously?" Jay grunts as he pulls Evie back, "She might need to take off." He explains absently as he looks around the dark.

A low snarl leaves Mal before she looks to them and back before-

Terror washes over him, making him cry out as something rough slides across his back.

But it was only Mal's tail curling around them protectively as Baymax waddles into view.

"Hello, I am Baymax. I was summoned to aid you in your distress and to treat your injuries. Please, do not be afraid."

"Hiro?" He calls out in disbelief.

How? They'd smashed their phones and dumped them.

He'd taken the battery out of the watch so it couldn't be turned on.

How had-

"I am detecting elevated stress levels in three of you." Baymax's head turns and tilts back to stare up at Mal, "I apologize, but I am not equipped with dragon anatomy software. Would you like me to scan the internet for better results? You are stressed."

"Baymax-" His voice catches in his throat.

If the robot was here-

If they'd been found-

Evie bites her lip as she wraps an arm around him and presses him against her.

"Jay needs help guys," he says as he twists to look up at Evie, "We should let Baymax help-"

"I'm fine." Jay grunts as he feels him squeeze his shoulder, "We have to go."

"M…" Evie breathes out in concern.

"Please, don't hurt it," His eyes widen when he sees Mal's claw extended towards the Baymax, "he, he's Hiro's original."

Mal rolls her eyes before her giant clawed paw slowly covers the robot's head and turns him towards the exit before she releases and pushes him away with a knuckle.

"I can see you wish to dismiss me, but I can not leave while there are injuries and distress. It is not in my programming."

"I am satisfied with my care." Jay snaps.

"I am sorry," Baymax holds up a finger, "but you can not be satisfied if the pain you are in distorts your vocal tones."

"E." Jay bumps her shoulder.

"Oh!" Evie blinks, "I am satisfied with-."

"No!" He shakes his head before he pulls away from Evie and turns to face the group, "I know we can't go back, but this is stupid. Jay. Is. Hurt." He stomps his foot, "Let Baymax look him over, now."

"C, come on, I'll heal. But we've gotta move. If Baymax found us-"

Mal growls as her head turns towards a tunnel.

"Others aren't far behind." Jay finishes with a shake of his head.

"If they're sending us back to the Isle anyway, you might as well get fixed up, Jay." He points out stubbornly.

Mal sniffs with a low rumbling growl before she reaches out and plucks up the Baymax.

"MAL!" He shouts out in concern, only to blink when she drops the robot in their circle.

"Thank you, dragon. Now Jay, on a scale of-"

"Oh my fucking-" Jay glares at Mal before he turns it to the robot. "Six, seven, who gives a fuck. This is not a good trade-off M."

"Oh god!" Evie whispers as she covers her face, "I don't want to go back." Her breath hitches.

"Mal?" He looks up when she suddenly sits, wrapping her tail around them tighter.

Like she was securing them.

He looks around in confusion, but honestly, he was just happy Mal was listening to him about the Baymax.

He knew it had the original chip Hiro's big brother had created in it. Knew that Hiro would be devastated if something happened to it.

He presses his hand to his chest.

And yet, Hiro had sent it looking for them.

And he did think it was a good trade-off. They were all worried about Jay, worried about how hard he'd pushed himself when he was so hurt already.

He jumps when the ground shakes beneath them as Mal's claws sink into the cement before she starts flapping her wings, sending dust and bits of trash flying in her wake.

"Consider me warned, Mal." David says as he steps out of the entrance with his hands up, "Not that I'm here to do anything other than talk." He leans against the wall and looks them over. "But seriously. Very warned."

"David?" Jay turns to face him.

"Ey brah." David grins brightly, "Fancy meeting you here."

"Does it hurt when I do this?"

"Fuck!" Jay growls as he backs away from Baymax's hand, "Fuck, yes. Don't do that."

"Jay!" David jumps forward, only stopping when he's met with a dragon's snout.

"I'm fine," Jay coughs as he glares at the white robot, "I am satisfied with my care, go the fuck away."

"I am sorry, but you can not be satisfied with your care when I have not treated you." Baymax responds.

"Call it off C, I know you still have the watch."

"No." Carlos covers his wrist. "You need help."

"What's wrong brahs? Come on, talk to me. I know things got-" David sighs as he takes a careful step back from Mal's glare, "Look hella lolo ain't even a drop of water in the ocean of what that was, but I'm still here for you guys. You, not anyone else. Talk to me." He breathes out, "Please," He adds desperately. "I'm just worried about all of you." He pleads as he places a hand on Mal's snout with an insurmountable level of trust.

Carlos looks between Mal and Jay several times before he pulls away, "We didn't- We didn't know that was gonna happen. We didn't do it. None of us."

"We really didn't," Evie adds softly with a trembling voice. "We swear."

"I know. I know that had nothing to do with you guys. Just like I know you didn't have to fight back, but you did. You faced- Kai, you faced the greatest threat to the Kingdoms, and your own personal worst traumas and nightmares. And I'm so sorry you had to. It's bull shit."

Mal's eyes narrow at David as she studies him.

"Me, Nani, Lilo, and Hiro have been looking for you since we were unfrozen, so have your friends. But right now, it's just my Ohana here. Your Ohana. And we just want to talk."

Jay's hand clamps down on Carlos's shoulder again.

Smoke curls from Mal's nose as she steadies her gaze on David in silent warning before she lifts her head and turns to Jay.

Jay sighs as he turns glassy eyes on David, "We, we can talk. But man, you have to promise me that you'll at least," He bites his bottom lip as he tucks an arm to his chest, "promise you'll at least keep E and C safe from this shit, keep them off the Isle. If you can only save some of us, save them."

Mal nods curtly before she glances back at David.

"Brah," David swallows against the quiver in his pitch, "I promise. I swear to Kai. None-" He takes a deep breath, "I promise. If it comes to it-" He closes his eyes, "If. I promise I will do everything in my power to keep Carlos and Evie safe." He swears, "Just- Please brah, talk to me."

He grits his teeth as he looks away from David, his eyes lingering on Carlos and then Evie before settling on Mal.

He grimaces as he shrugs.

Fuck, just breathing hurt, moving made spots dance in his eyes.

Mal blinks before she slowly uncoils her tail to allow David access to their dragon fortified sanctum.

"What's to talk about, man?" He asks slowly, doing his best to keep his chest still. "I saw the news when I was buying shit. It ain't looking good for us."

David's brow knits together before he shuts his eyes and takes a deep breath. "Brah," He sighs as he looks at him, "There are always going to be two sides. It doesn't matter where you are. Who you are. There's no such thing as making everyone happy. It's impossible." He runs a hand through his hair to leave it on his neck.

"We weren't trying to make everyone happy, man."

"No, you weren't." David nods, "You were trying to save everyone."

Evie gasps, "Who? No one, I mean, was any one-"

David quickly holds up his hands. "There were injuries, but whatever it was you did kept everyone safe enough. More than enough."

Mal shifts uncomfortably as her tail flicks across the floor. Then she picks up her back paw.

Evie stares at her for a few seconds before her eyes widen, "Oh, the King? Is the King okay?"

"The-" David's eyes widen as he turns to Mal, "He's bruised, but he's alive thanks to you." He grins sheepishly, "Sorry. Should've led with that. He's been defending the four of you to his people since shit went down."

He can't help his snort, though he really wished he could have.

Every single noise he'd made the past few days had been glared at by the two girls.

"You need to sit," Evie whispers from the corner of her lips.

"Yeah yeah, Princess." He assures her.

He just needed to figure out what their next move was.

Needed to figure out if it was safe to trust David.

The very thought makes his heart thud painfully against his burning ribs.

Mal turns to glare at him, and he finds himself sitting on her tail as her large, slitted eyes turn to settle on Evie.

"Right." Evie nods before she joins him.

Quickly followed by Carlos, who had his hand up.

He sighs when they carefully wrap their arms around his back to keep him steady.

David's eyes sweep over them, sitting together on Mal's tail. "Well, that's a picture."

"We're adjusting." He grins before he looks up at Mal as he pats her tail, "It was a, I'm gonna go with shock."

Mal nods slowly.

"It was all a shock," Evie whispers.

"No one, like," Carlos fidgets with his fingers, "No one else, got free, did they?"

David sighs, "That's yet to be determined, unfortunately."

Mal growls, the sound soft and reverberating.

"And Maleficent? What, what happened?" Carlos continues as his voice becomes tight.

"Currently begin kept in a high-security fish tank." David breathes.

"She's still a lizard?" He asks as he watches Mal.

David nods. "Yep. According to Janice she will be for a long time," He turns to Mal and grins, "Not sure what ya did, but ya apparently shrank her to the size of the love in her heart. So… Ya know, short of a shit load of counseling- Which so not volunteering for- She's pretty fucked."

He smiles at the collective snort from his pack.

This, talking with David made things less scary.

But being less afraid had made him slow and dulled him before.

Not that there was really anything they could have done to prepare to face Maleficent.

A magic-wielding Maleficent.

"What happened to the Isle? How, how did this happen?" If Maleficent had somehow gotten off the Isle, wait, how the hell had Maleficent gotten away? "It wasn't supposed to happen. We, we thought they couldn't get here."

David sighs as he looks down at his feet before he turns back. "The only thing anyone seems sure about was that the…" His eyes narrow, "Beam? Let's go with beam. The beam of magic cracked it. They've started the repairs but it's going to take some time to fully seal. They are keeping it under heavy surveillance. There are a lot of stations covering it." He rubs the back of his neck. "And no. No, it wasn't supposed to happen. We were told, all of us were told, that the barrier was impenetrable. That you four would be safe."

Mal grumbles with a roll of her eyes as smoke curls from her nose.

"Yeah, I um, I don't speak dragon-" David blinks, "But that pretty much sums it up, yeah."

Jay sighs, "Okay, so it sounds like things are being handled. What's the next step then?"

"Making sure you four are safe." David breathes. "There are a lot of people who want to thank you. A lot of people are worried about you. You four made quite the impression."

"Safe?" Jay snorts, "How the fuck are we supposed to be safe? We've never been safe, and pretending to be safe almost got us killed, or framed, at the least hated for no fucking reason." He grimaces as he presses a hand to his chest.

"That's fair brah," David holds up his hands. "But that's not quite- You four didn't quite leave in the best condition. A lot of people are worried that some of you didn't make it."

His heart was breaking.

Shattering.

Which was so at odds with the innate fear that came from standing next to a quick-tempered, hormonal, teenage dragon.

Fucking. Dragon.

He thought aliens had been terrifying.

But this? Listening to their concerns, their fears? It was enough to push aside his self-preservation and keep his shit together.

He wanted so badly to assure them everything would be okay. That they were safe.

But, as much as it killed him. He couldn't.

"I wish I could say that we could keep you four safe from this. Protected from your parents. Shielded from the media. Guarded against your fears. And honestly, I'm pissed at how badly we were misinformed when we made those promises. We should have known better. Nothing is ever certain…" His eyes narrow.

That wasn't quite true.

"Well, most things." He frowns. "There are always exceptions as we all just learned." He sighs. "But for what it's worth, I'm sorry. Sorry that I gave the four of you a false sense of security. That I promised your parents could never touch you here. I shouldn't have said that. Shouldn't have promised something I had no control over. That was a mistake. But-" His eyes sweep over all of them until they settle on Jay. "The rest of it? The love we feel for you. The concern we have for you. The worry. Those weren't lies. I swear brahs. We only want to keep you all safe. There's nothing we can do for the rest of the kids suffering on the Isle right now. And for that, I'm pissed and sorry. But we have you. All of you. And you all deserve so much better."

Mal's head lifts as she looks over his shoulders, glaring into the darkness.

"Fuck." Hiro falters. "You haven't been stuck like that the whole time have you?" He asks in concern. "I could've sworn you turned back but," He rubs his head, "Was kinda focused on-"

"Hiro?" Carlos blinks as his head snaps up.

"CHIBI-CHAN!" Hiro bolts towards them.

Mal quickly lowers her neck to block his path.

"You better fucking stand up pup," Jay groans as he pushes at Carlos, "If he touches me I might punch him and none of us want that."

"Damn it, Hiro." He glares as his brother in law scrambles over Mal's neck and jumps off it.

Mal sniffs in derision as she pulls back to glare at Hiro indignantly.

"Hiro, you're okay!" Carlos takes several steps forward before Hiro falls to his knees and wraps him in a tight hug.

"Tch." Hiro snorts, "I wasn't the one who dipped with my head gushing blood."

"Oh." Carlos winces as his back pops, "Sorry, Mal fixed it. It only needed two stitches."

Hiro leans back to glance over Carlos's scalp. "Ya know, when I was encouraging you to break some rules, mine weren't the ones I was talking about."

"What rules?" Carlos asks as he watches Hiro.

"Well, I mean" Hiro blinks, "Running away from us is definitely first on the list." He grumbles as he man-handles Carlos's head gently. "Did you guys use floss?"

"What else are you supposed to use?" Jay asks as he looks up, "Not that we had a lot of options anyway."

"No judgment." Hiro looks up. "It's very ingenuitive. I was worried you were going to use thread cause of-."

"I dare you to finish that, you heathen." Evie glares.

"Scary girl!" Hiro pulls himself back to his feet but doesn't release Carlos as his eyes sweep over Evie. "You're alright- You scared the shit outta everyone."

"Yes, I am alright," Evie huffs as she crosses her arms over her chest, "and perfectly capable of knowing that thread is a poor choice of suture and much better suited for making clothes."

Hiro snorts as he holds up his hands. "Valid. Calm your skirts."

"Okay, M, if you can figure out how to smoke back to, ya know, you." Jay bites his lip as he forces himself to his feet, "Come on."

"Woah there," Hiro frowns before he walks over and braces Jay, "Been there before."

Jay eyes him carefully before he sighs, "I'm fine."

"Oh really?" Hiro lifts an eyebrow before he brings up his pointer finger and hovers.

"Man, you touch me, I will fucking deck you." Jay swats Hiro's hand away with a grunt of pain.

"Fine huh?" Hiro snorts as he drops his hand. "Iki liar."

"You just focus on Carlos," Jay growls, "how about that?"

"I am. He keeps looking at you in concern."

Evie steps in front of Carlos, "Don't you dare get mad at him, Jay. We've been worried about you for days."

"Mal, are we going to figure out what we're doing" Jay takes a slow breath, "or are we just going back like nothing happened?"

Mal glares before she stomps her foot and growls.

"Seriously?"

Mal snarls before she snaps her teeth at him.

Jay shakes his head.

"Fuck-" Hiro turns back to Mal, "You're actually stuck."

"It's not like there's a how-to dragon manual." Carlos sighs, "How did you change back before?"

"M," Evie steps over to lay a hand on the side of her head. "Just focus. I know it's hard, and you're really worried right now. But we need you again. David and Hiro aren't going to hurt us. They're just trying to help. So stop working yourself up and psyching yourself out and breathe. You worked yourself up to transform."

"Go tell M you're not kidnapping us or something." Jay snaps at Hiro.

Hiro turns to him with a raised brow.

"You heard him." He rolls his eyes. "He knows what he's doing."

He hoped.

Jay could be as stubborn as the ocean.

"Ugh." Hiro slowly releases Jay before he walks away to study Mal.

"Thank you." Jay nods at him before he inches away from the group to lean against the wall and slowly lowers himself to the ground.

He watches Jay with concern, wanting nothing more than to rush to his side.

But he knew better.

He'd completely ruined the trust they'd built.

Accident or not. It was going to take time to gain that back.

If he could earn it back.

He grimaces as the realization stabs his heart.

He wasn't sure he'd ever felt so lost.

"Okay, Malgon." Hiro walks over to Mal, his hands in his pockets as he eyes her.

"If he's not careful, she is going to bite him." Jay sighs.

He closes his eyes, "Don't encourage him. He probably wants to be. He'd love to be scarred by a dragon."

The small smile that curves Jay's lips eases a little of the tension in his chest.

"T." Jay chuckles before it turns into a short cough.

He tenses, fighting the urge to pull him into his arms.

He was beaten up.

He was in pain.

But Kai, he's never wanted to just hold the kid so bad.

"I'm sorry." Jay eventually breaks the silence between them.

He blinks, "You're-" He frowns, "There's nothing for you to be sorry for, brah."

This kid.

Atlas didn't have shit on him.

"We didn't think when we ran. It just, it made sense at the time. The school turned on us when things started going missing, it just, with Maleficent. And not knowing if any other OVs were free." He sighs as he lets his head fall back to the wall, "And Mal turning into a dragon, and Evie collapsing. Mal said run and it was like we were all back on the Isle."

"Jay…" His breath hitches as he takes a step forward, "You don't owe anyone an apology or explanation for why you did what you did."

"I owe you." Jay looks up at him, "After everything you've done for us? Are still doing. I just, I hope it makes sense to you and your counselor brain."

He takes a deep breath as the tension he'd been feeling eases out of him. "I-" He takes another step forward, watching to make sure he wasn't coming off as a threat to Jay, "This Jay. This is why I can't help loving you. Why Nani can't help loving you. You're so selfless. Caring. Considerate. If it's ever a path you choose, you'd make a fantastic counselor yourself."

Jay snorts as he adjusts against the wall, "Too bad that's not an option anymore."

"Jay," He closes more of the gap, "I can't say that everything's going to be okay, but I know at the very least that's not true. You still have a lot of options. Hundreds. Thousands of them."

"Do we really have the option to go back? For Hiro to adopt Carlos," Jay's eyes drop to his hands, "for all the adoptions?"

He bites his lip when he finally makes his way next to him. "If you still want. I know it hasn't changed on our end. But we're not going to force you guys to do anything you're not-"

"MAL! SPIT OUT MY DAD. HIRO. SPIT OUT HIRO!"

"Oh yeah, C sounds real forced to call Hiro Dad." Jay rolls his eyes as they watch Carlos wiping Hiro off, all while Hiro laughed his ass off.

"That… Is going to be an interesting relationship." He slowly slides down the wall to sit next to him.

"They were all hurting, knowing what we were leaving behind." Jay slowly admits, "What we thought we lost."

His eyes sweep over him. "I know it's hard to hear, especially right now, but you didn't lose us. None of you lost us. We've all been worrying ourselves sick. Snow's been inconsolable."

"Sorry." Jay winces, "It made sense at the time- It made sense when I saw the news."

He turns to him with a frown. "Brah," He breathes. "No one's mad. Or upset. What you guys did was totally understandable. It hurt. A lot. But not in the way I think you're thinking." He lifts his hand to place it on his shoulder before he thinks better of it. "The fact that you guys were so worried you'd get in trouble for saving people? For doing what people triple your age wouldn't dare to? It speaks volumes, brah. Loud volumes about what you guys are terrified of. You faced off against Maleficent when most would have run."

"We fucking wanted to, just to get her the fuck out of the building, brah. That was," Jay shakes his head, "like the worst place for a fucking fight."

"Exactly." David nods. "You didn't run away from the person who'd spent your entire life hurting you. You ran away from a nation you want to be accepted into. Auradon has a lot to answer for. You four are heroes. You can fight me over it when you're feeling better." He grins.

"You sure?" Jay snorts, "You stand a chance of winning if you try to take me now."

He smiles, "I meant in Crown of Duty."

"I mean, same thing, brah," Jay smirks as he shakes his head.

It takes everything in him to not hug Jay to his side at the shot. "You wish brah."

"I do." Jay nods, a slow grin forming on his lips as he leans his head back against the wall.

This was, this was nowhere near as bad as he'd been bracing for.

Jay was still shouldering the burden, but talking to him-

He looks down when he feels his shaky hand on his arm.

"Pineapple."

Pineapple? He looks up into Jay's bloodshot eyes.

"Pineapple, please."

He does a double-take before he nods and jumps to his feet.

His chest was suddenly tight at the realization that Jay-

Jay wanted to go.

He could have smiled if he weren't so worried.

Jay wanted to go!

So it was time to go.

"Mal!" Evie cries in concern.

"Dad!" Carlos yelps as he bends over Hiro, who seemed to have collapsed.

"Fuck! Hiro!" Mal screams as she rushes over to Carlos, suddenly human again as she skids to a halt beside Hiro and slaps his cheeks. "What the fuck is wrong with you!" She turns to Carlos. "I wasn't trying to actually-"

A snore from Hiro interrupts her.

"Wait." Carlos looks down, "He's asleep?"

Baymax sighs, "Hiro has finally succumbed to sleep deprivation from taking too many stimulants." He pats Carlos on the head gently, "Do not be concerned. He will recover after a good night of rest and plenty of non-carbonated or caffeinated fluids."

Mal looks up in confusion. "When the fuck did the health-bot get sassy?"

Baymax holds up a finger, "I am the original, and Hiro has enabled me to have more of a personality than those that are sold."

Mal rolls her eyes before she shoots them a concerned look. "I didn't kill him. He's just an ass-" She blinks, "Shit."

He looks down to find Jay asleep. "Baymax. Come here buddy."

"Oh no." Baymax waddles up to him before he scans Jay. "Jay requires immediate medical attention. Should I call nine one one?"

He shakes his head, "Just pick him up, please. The kids have enough to deal with."

"Yes, David." Baymax carefully scoops Jay into his arms.

He nods before he walks over to Hiro and nudges him with his foot, only to have him grunt and curl into a ball. "Sorry guys." He sighs, "But, we've gotta make a stop at the hospital."

Mal's eyes widen as she looks up at him, "Jay's that bad?"

"He'll be alright with proper treatment," He shakes his head, "Baymax just isn't equipped to handle his injuries."

"I am not."

"Ready to go home?" He asks curiously as he helps Mal off the ground.

"Home?" She pulls back in concern.

"Yeah, ya know, currently Auradon Prep." He assures her. "Janice, Snow, Nani, and Lilo are all worried shitless 'bout you guys. So are your friends. Especially a certain sewer diving Prince."

Evie's mouth drops open, "Prince Ben was not running around the sewers."

"Well, not alone he wasn't."

"Great." Mal rolls her eyes, "We've inspired our friends to run around in filth. For no fucking reason, apparently."

"Mal," He drops a hand to her head. "Don't do this to yourself. You were all exhausted and running on adrenaline from defeating your mother. Something you should have never been forced to do. It's alright that you were worried about what would happen. Auradon hasn't exactly been the most welcoming, and none of you were in any condition to defend yourselves properly. There's nothing wrong with what you did. Any good leader would've done the same."

Mal frowns as she drops her eyes to her feet, "Then, yeah." She glances over to Evie and then at Carlos, "I think we're ready to go home."

"Please?" Carlos looks up at him.

"I have received a message from the ship," Baymax states as he holds Jay carefully in front of him, "Nani and Lilo say they have everything ready to go."

"Oh, thank god. I've never needed a shower more in my life." Evie frowns, "Or a flame thrower."

"And Lilo would appreciate you picking Hiro up for her."

"If I must." He sighs as he picks up Hiro and dumps him over his shoulder. "Sorry Mal, he can be an obnoxious asshole."

"I seriously thought I'd killed him."

"You did change back real quick, though." Evie smiles as they start following him.

"Fear is not the way I-" Mal snaps her mouth shut. "Fuck you."

He chuckles, "I'm sure we'll be able to figure out what it really is Mal."

For now, he just wanted to lead them back to the ship, get Jay to a hospital, and get warm food and fluids in the others.

Until then, everything else could wait.

This chapter tho.

Fuck.

Boss though right?

There were so many good parts.

So, know this is out of order but-

Anyone surprised that Hiro basically pried Mal's mouth open to shove his head in it?

Back tracking-

What do you guys think about the Kawena Ohana's dedication?

Surprised Hiro passed the fuck out? Jay?

What about Mal turning back to human because she was scared she killed Hiro?

How fucking brave is E by the way putting her hand to a confused Malgon's snout?

Fucking lolz by the way, was that the first time we used the nickname? Cause I fucking love it. Do you guys?

Okay, okay, enough questions-

Tell us what you think, please. This is one of our favorite chapters.

Fave Quote (well in this case lines):

Which was so at odds with the innate fear that came from standing next to a quick tempered, hormonal, teenage dragon.

Fucking. Dragon.

He thought aliens had been terrifying.

-David introspection

What was yours?

Much love and appreciation

-Twisted

SN: Anyone heard of Flock of Seagulls I Ran?

Cause it's one of my fave songs-

And I got the chorus to work with these chapter titles just like I got ignorance is bliss, but knowledge is power snuck in here for Dark. Love it!