I do not own…
Chapter Thirty-three: Barrier Down
At the VK's house the girls waited for the boys to return. Sitting down at the kitchen island were Uma, Ceila and Maggie as they ate some of Janes' birthday cake. Mal was standing by the kitchen window keeping a lookout. Vanessa came around to get a slice of cake as well and noticed Mal looking at Uma. When Mal noticed Vanessa, the princess witch nudged her head to Uma and mouth for her to apologise. Mal mentally groaned but understood that she had to.
"That was a really good idea." Mal said "To check Audrey's room. Now we know that we're on the right track."
"Is there an insult in there that I missed?" Uma asked
"Just...I wanted to thank you." Mal said
This surprised Uma and took the thank you. Vanessa smiled at this and gave a slice to Mal before she sat down with the rest of them.
"I don't know whose birthday it is, but I want this cake." Uma said
"So, I...maybe kinda missed the boat a little bit on calling you Shrimpy and not letting you join the gang." Mal said
"Yeah. We really could've torn up the Isle together." Uma agreed
They laughed but the happy moment didn't last as the house started boarding up. Looks like Audrey is trying to trap them in. Mal tried to use her powers but it wasn't strong enough. That's when Uma's seashell necklace and Vanessa's medallion started glowing. The three girls held hands and used their powers to destroy Audrey's spell.
"You did." Evie smiled "You worked together"
Uma and Mal smiled as they agreed.
"I guess my shell likes you." Uma smiled and gave Mal the amber. "Why don't you hold onto that?"
The two fist bumped before Uma looked at Vanessa.
"Well...at least I got to help you on this." She said
"Just be glad there's no basilisk around." Vanessa shrugged
Mal and Evie looked at her with a brow raised.
"I'll tell you guys about that later." Vanessa said
Celia hurried towards the door and showed the boys heading their way.
"Hey, it's your bae." She smiled
Mal and Vanessa quickly hurried to their boyfriends and hugged them. Then Vanessa quickly hugged her brother as Mal hugged hers.
"Are you okay?" Vanessa asked
"Yeah, I'm fine." Ben said before looking over at Uma. "I always knew you'd be part of the solution."
"Oh my god, Ben what's with the beard." Vanessa asked with a chuckle. "Mal, have you seen this."
"Yeah I saw it." Mal smiled
"What, you don't like?" Ben asked
"I don't, I could get used to this." Mal smiled
"You like this?" He asked
"I love this."
Both Vanessa and Uma got close and noticed the fangs.
"What about those?" Uma asked
Mal saw the teeth and shook her head no.
"Okay. so we all think that Audrey could be at Fairy Cottage. We've no idea where it is, did she take you there?" Mal asked
"Every Fairy Godmother's Day. Where is Fairy Godmother when you need her?" Ben said
"I wish I knew." Jane said
"Doug. Go with Jane. You need to find Fairy Godmother." Ben said to Doug.
"They might need some muscle." Uma said
"Hey." Doug said defensed
"Well, I'll go." Gil volunteered
"I'll go too." Axel added
"Yeah, actually, I would feel better." Carlos said
"Yeah, I would feel better too." Evie said
"Me, too." Mal piped in.
"Actually, I would, too." Doug replied
With that said Jane, Gil, Doug and Axel left to find Fairy Godmother while the rest geared up and headed to Fairy Cottage. It took them until nightfall to get there but she wasn't there. They did find Chad as he was locked in a broom closet and he ran for it.
"Oof, alright, let's get this Audrey chick taken care of already." Uma sighed with a chuckle and looked at Mal. "What do you say girl? Time to wrap this up?"
"You know, someday, you're gonna have to tell me how you guys all got teamed up." Ben said
"Actually, Mal promised to let all the kids off the Isle once this is over." Vanessa smiled "Isn't that great."
Ben frowned and looked at Mal. Unable to keep it in anymore she told them the truth.
"Actually, I have to tell you guys something. Um...I lied to you." She said "The kids won't be coming off the Isle."
"What do you mean?" Hunter asked, crossing his arms.
"The program is shut down." Mal said "And the barrier will be closed for good."
"For Auradon safety." Ben muttered
Vanessa looked at her in disbelief.
"Ben. How could you…? You actually think that...do you have any idea how much you sound like dad." Vanessa glared "You're letting their fear take over."
Then she looked at Mal with a glare and took off her medallion. If she's gonna get the truth out Mal, her mind reading at her strongest when she's in her vampire form. When she looked into Mal's eyes she saw everything she was thinking. All she was doing was thinking about herself and her friends and was willingly sacrificed the others for their life.
"I'm actually surprised by you. You're willingly going to let them rot there just to save yourself. I thought you wanted to save them, help them have a better life just like my brother and I did for you, Hunter, Evie Jay and Carlos. I thought you believed in the cause. But I guess I was wrong. Like always you only think of yourself." Vanessa said
"Vanessa...you're not supposed to…" Ben said
"I don't care anymore, Ben." She sneered
"And I think she looks better this way." Uma said and glared at Mal. "So we're saving your precious people, and your behinds, for a lie?" She glared "I knew it was a mistake to trust you. You're always out for yourself."
Hook let out a growl and looked at Ben.
"And you, King Benny." Hook glared "You're probably just gonna throw us all back inside, eh?"
"You know what?" Celia sneered, on the verge of tears. "I actually thought you were brave, but you're nothing but a chicken. Too scared to tell me I was never gonna see my dad again."
"Celia." Mal said
But she was cut off when Celia grabbed the amber out of Mal's hand and threw it in the water of the birdbath. Mal gasped at what she did and tried to dry it up but the power was gone. She looked at Uma and Vanessa for help but they wouldn't. Vanessa was done helping her.
"Come on, Uma, I'll help you guys find Gil and try to find a way to get them off on our own." Vanessa said
"Vanessa…" Ben said
"Don't talk to me." She glared
"Let's go." Uma said
Vanessa, Uma and Hook left and to Mal's surprise so did Hunter.
"Hunter?" Mal said
She stopped when he gave her a dark glare. It was the only thing that always scared her.
"I'm tired of making excuses for Mal. I'm done." He scoffed
He walked off with Vanessa, Uma, Maggie and Hook, leaving Mal hurt. She looked at her friends and saw that they all had a distrust and hurt look towards her.
"Evie. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry, I just...I thought that...I was afraid to tell you and Hunter. I thought that I was gonna lose my best friend and brother. But I had to do something, I had to...protect Auradon." Mal explained herself.
"Closing the barrier was your idea?" Evie stated
"I did it for us!" Mal said "I did it for...our life that we have here now."
"For our life?!" Evie glared "What about the kids that we left behind on that island?! The kids that we promised! We were their only hope. We all thought you were gonna stand up for the VK's. But instead you lied to them. And you lied to Jay. And you lied to Carlos. You lied to Hunter and Vanessa. You lied to me. We're your family."
Mal tried to explain herself again but Audrey sent another curse and turned Ben, Jay, Carlos, Malcom and Evie into stone. Seeing that she needed help she hurried to find Vanessa, Hunter and Uma who were near the school but neither wanted to help. They stopped when they heard Ceila calling for help and hurried back. When they returned Mal was in her dragon form trying to fight Audrey. Vanessa wasn't going to let Audrey hurt anymore people and suddenly her body felt different. Her body formed into a swarm of bats and flew in the sky. She was able to form back into her human self and kicked Audrey away from Celia. The evil princess tried to blast her with the separator but Vanessa was too fast in her vampire form. Mal roared for her to get out of the way as she was able to enlighten Ember with her fire but it wasn't strong enough. When Vanessa got Celia to safety and looked at Hunter and Uma. They both agreed that they needed to help Mal. Vanessa and Hunter took out their wands while Uma held out her seashell and pointed them to the ember.
"We're stronger together." Uma said "Stronger together."
"Regain your might and ignite." Uma, Vanessa and Hunter incarnated
"We're here for you, Mal." Vanessa said
This made Mal smile in appreciation and looked at the ember. It started to glow again and flew back in the air. Mal and Audrey faced each other and used the power of the separator and ember. The two powers collided and it wasn't long till Mal won and knocked out Audrey. With the separator out of her hands all her spells were broken but Audrey wouldn't wake up. By the time they reached her dorm room her parents returned home with Harry and they explained everything that had happened. They called for Lupin and Fairy Godmother to try and save Audrey but none of their magic could help her.
"She's slipping away." Evie said
"Mal, there's only one person in the world who might be able to do something about this." Hunter said
"I know. That's Hades." Mal nodded
"Hades? He wouldn't do it." Ben said "And I wouldn't risk it."
"Actually, Ben, he'll do it for Mal and Hunter." Vanessa said
"He's our father." Mal said
Suddenly Ben got all tense and nervous at the thought of meeting his girlfriend's father. If the situation was life and death Vanessa would have made fun of him.
"Well, I'll have to send guards to get him." Ben said
"Maybe I can hitch a ride." Uma said
"Uma?" Vanessa asked
"I like Hogwarts but the Isle is my home." Uma said "Someone needs to be there to protect it."
"Well, then, you'll need your first mate." Hook smiled
"The Isle will be in very good hands." Mal said
"Can I go, too?" Celia asked "I wish I could be in both places."
This broke both Mal's and Vanessa's heart.
"I really think that Evie and Vanessa were right. And...I do think that we could've been friends." Mal said "And I'm really sorry that I lied to all of you guys. You deserved so much better than that."
"You're just trying to do the right thing." Jay said
Vanessa wanted to scoff at that but held it in. This wasn't right but it was not her choice to choose. So like Ben said he sent guards to get Hades while dropping off Uma, Celia, Maggie, Hook and Gil on the Isle. The guards came back with Hades that were in magical chains and took him to Audrey's room where everyone was at.
"Thank you for coming." Mal said
"Didn't have much choice." Hades said
"Can you wake her?" Ben asked
"Since when do heros care about villains?" Hades asked
"She's…" Ben started
"One of your own?" Hades mocked and let out a hollow laugh. "Right. When you guys try to destroy the world, it's an error in judgment. But when it's one of us, lock 'em up, throw away the key." Then looked at Adam. "Right, Beast?"
When Adam saw his daughter look at him in disappointment he didn't respond, knowing that he was right. Hades sighed and held out his hands, which scared most of the guards, Mal, Adam and Ben.
"Yeah, I'm gonna need to use my hands." Hades explained
Ben nodded for the guards to take off his cuffs. Mal gave him the ember and it restored his powers, making hair turned into blue fire.
"Haven't lost my touch." He chuckled
When he faced Adam both stared each other down and growled.
"Dad." Mal and Hunter said
"Daddy." Vanessa rolled her eyes.
Hades shrugged and walked over to the end of the bed. With a swift of his powers he was able to revive Audrey from death like sleep. The princess looked at everyone in remorse as she didn't mean for it to happen. She let her anger and jealousy take over that she wanted to hurt them all. Ben and Mal forgave her and Hades just scoffed at that.
At least she and Queen Leah apologise for everything. With that Hades was sent back to Isle but not before he got Mals' love and hugged his kids goodbye.
A few days later everyone had gathered for Vanessa's birthday party. They cheered and applauded when they saw the witch princess walking out with Hunter. She was a bit curious as Evie told her that Mal and Ben had a big surprise for her. When they reached the top of the balcony with Mal, Ben, her parents and Fairy Godmother the applauding stopped.
"Thank you, everyone, for celebrating my sweet sister's fifteen birthday with us today." Ben said "I couldn't be prouder or happier to call her my sister. So raise your glasses. To Vanessa, princess of Auradon."
"To Vanessa, our princess of Auradon." Everyone cheered
"Mal, your speech next." Carlos cheered
"Yes, speech, oh, Fancy One." Jay teased
Everyone laughed at his joke.
Mal stood next to Vanessa and took her hand.
"Vanessa, you have been like a sister to me. You are the bravest person I know and daring. But most of all you have a big heart and care about others, especially towards those on the Isle." Mal said "And you were right. I was only thinking of myself and I was afraid. It is time that I kept my word. I can't live in fear, we can't. No one ever knows where the bad is gonna come from. And we'll never know where the heros are gonna come from either. We are all capable of good and bad, no matter which side of the barrier we come from. I can't be Queen soon if I turn my back on them. So my gift to you is what should have been done a long time ago. It's time that we take the barrier down forever. "
"We can't do that." Adam said
"It's up to us, Dad." Ben said
Vanessa smiled at their words.
"My sister always believed in second chances and I do too. She had helped me
to be a king who moves forward. It's time for forgiveness. It's time for new beginnings. The barrier will come down."
"Yes!" Carlos cheered as did everyone.
"You want to do the honor sis." Ben smiled
Vanessa nodded as Fairy Godmother handed her wand.
"All of us. Together." Vanessa said
Both Hunter, Mal and Ben placed their hands on the wand with her and pointed to the barrier.
"To make the world a better place we have to do it face to face." They incarnated
With a point of the wand the barrier was taken down, the dark cloud was gone and a bridge was made.
"Thanks for my gift, guys." Vanessa smiled
Mal and Ben hugged her before looking back at the Isle.
Vanessa 'It's time to bring it together
Time for a brand new start'
Uma 'We gonna put it in mo-o-otion
Break down what keeps us apart'
Vanessa 'No more, no other fishing,
We're down
No team, cut the vision, unite'
Uma 'So we stand
Now we live in mountain'
Vanessa and Uma 'In the light
One two, one two like'
Vanessa 'I see you'
Uma (You see me)
Vanessa In perfect
Uma (Perfectly)
Vanessa and Uma 'Face to face
We can see clearly our similarities
Like'
Uma 'Day and night'
Vanessa 'Wrong or right'
Uma 'We come together for a good time'
Mal, Evie, Jay, Carlos, Hunter and Ben 'We're gonna break this down
We're gonna rock the town
Everyone all around
Let's be whoever like this
Stronger together like this'
Uma 'Believing in second chances'
Celia 'Everyone start today'
Hook 'Marching on in a new land'
Uma, Hook, Ceila, Gil and Maggie 'Our world's a better,
A better place'
Evie 'Welcome, be our distin new love'
Carlos 'Unit, new beginning for us'
Jay 'Harmony, that's our mission,
My champ'
Everyone 'In the light,
One two, one two like'
'I see you'
(You see me)
In perfect
(Perfectly)
Face to face
we can see clearly our similarities
Like'
The VK's 'Day or night'
Uma's team 'Wrong or right'
Everyone 'We come together for a good time
We're gonna break this down
We're gonna rock the town
Everyone all around
Let's be whoever like this
Stronger together like this
We be reunited like this
Bringing it,
Bringing it,
B-B-Bringing it down
Bringing it,
Bringing it,
B-B-Bringing it down
Bringing it,
Bringing it,
B-B-Bringing it down
Bringing it,
Bringing it,
B-B-Bringing it down'
Mal (Down!)'
When Uma and the Isle kids came to Auradon unsure, Ben, Vanessa and the other Auradon's bowed to them. This made them smile and once and for all both sides were reunited.
Everyone 'We're gonna break this down
(Break this down)
We're gonna rock the town
(Oh, we're gonna rock it)
Everyone all around
(Oh, around)
Let's be whoever like this
(Come on!)
Stronger together like this
(Uhh)
We be united like this
We're gonna break this down
(Come on!
We're gonna break this down)
We're gonna rock the town
(Come on,
Everybody on this isle gonna like this)
Everyone all around
(Oh, around)
Let's be whoever like this
Stronger together like this
(Stronger together like this)
We be united like this
(Hey!)
Bringing it,
Bringing it,
B-B-Bringing it down'
At the end of the song the rest of Islers' came with a chinese paper puppet dragon of Mal and a paper bat. This made Mal and Vanessa smile and the younger kids came to hug them.
"You know what? Mal came through." Uma smiled
"She always does." Evie agrees
"So she's definitely taken?" Hook asked
"Definitely." Evie glared
"What about Vanessa?" Hook asked
"Yes." Hunter glared
Hook looked at Evie and Doug was gonna tell him off but Maggie overheard this and pulled Hook away by the ear.
"Boy, is she gonna rip him a new one." Uma smirked "And I don't feel sorry for him."
"Hey Hunter, your dad is here?" Evie said
He looked at the bridge and saw Hades heading towards them.
"Am I invited to the party?" He joked
"Dad." "Daddy." Hunter and Mal smiled and hugged him.
Vanessa and Ben walked over to greet him.
"I'm sure you four will be very happy together." Hades said
This Mal smiled more and Ben and Vanessa did the same with Hunter. She heard Hunter chuckle and when she saw what he was laughing at she couldn't help but do the same. The look Hades was giving Ben made her brother shrink a little.
"Welcome to Auradon, dad." Hunter said "Come on, I'll show you around."
"By the way, how is my dad?" Vanessa whispered
"Better than ever. And free." Hades whispered and winked
Vanessa looked back at the Isle and smiled, knowing that her father was no longer a prisoner.