Mal and Audrey soon got into place for a race that would begin The Games. Both girls looked rather intense and determined to win for the school they had represented, even if Audrey was betraying her own school just to come out on top before Mal in something.
"Hey," Mal said with a small smile as she tried to be a good sport as she faced Audrey. "May the better girl win."
"I plan to." Audrey retorted in determination.
"So what are you doing in that uniform?" Mal asked. "I'm not interested in Ben like that, remember? We had an understanding."
"I'm over Ben," Audrey scoffed with a smirk. "I'm better off with someone who understands me a lot better than him." she then looked over at Peter and blew a kiss at him.
Peter glanced over from where he was before he seemed to shrug before waving at her, seeming indifferent.
"No offense, Audrey, but he doesn't seem that interested in you." Mal remarked as even she could notice that.
"Oh... You're just jealous," Audrey scoffed. "What're you gonna do now? Break up with Harry in front of the whole school and then you're gonna try to pursue after Peter? Just where do you get off?"
Mal frowned a bit as that made her stomach turn slightly, though no, she did not intend to do such a thing at all. A gunshot was soon heard and it was soon time for Mal and Audrey to run across the track and to meet Ben and a boy named Neddie Hugson on the other side of the track. Eventually, Mal and Audrey had met up together before slapping hands with their teammates and now it was time for Ben and Neddie to run off together.
"You got this, Neddie!" A girl cheered from the crowd.
"Thanks, Dottie! I'm doin' this for you!" The boy called back to the girl from the crowd.
"You know that girl?" Ben asked knowingly, referring to Dot of course.
"Sure. She's my sister," The boy nodded. "I'm Neddie by the way."
"Nice to meet you, Neddie," Ben smiled. "My name's Ben."
The two shook hands as they seemed to become friends, even though their schools were rivals against each other. They then continued to watch as Jordan filmed this on her tablet and would send it to the school website later.
Since Audrey was done running, she came over to Peter who brought out a water bottle for her. "Thanks..." she said with a pant before she took a big drink from the water bottle.
"Well done." Peter approved with a nod.
"Thanks..." Audrey said to him in between sips before looking back at him. "So, uh, Peter...? You said you had special plans for the final night of The Summer School Games? Can I know what they are?" she then asked hopefully.
"Ah, ah, ah, my dear lass~" Peter smirked as he pressed a finger onto her lips, making her blush and whimper a little bit. "I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise, but let's just say The Summer School Games will go out with a bang."
"And you don't think that you will fail?" Audrey guessed.
"Of course not," Peter shook his head. "Didn't they ever tell you? Peter Banning never fails."
"Mm... I really like this competitive and brave side of you," Audrey said, nearly purring as she was feeling a bit turned on. "You simply are amazing."
"I know." Peter replied smugly.
Eventually, the race ended as Evie and Dot then tied. "I won!" both girls said to each other before laughing a little bit.
"Chuckle-Heads..." Peter glared and shook his head.
"Well... At least that won't count as points against us, right?" Audrey said to him with an innocent shrug.
"No, I guess not, but I'm not quite fond of tied games," Peter replied. "Sure, in a way you both won, but in another way, you both lost."
"Oh... I guess that's a pretty good point..." Audrey had to admit.
"Just get ready for your cheer," Peter said before smirking. "I'm sure both of the schools will find it interesting since you're in the squad with Andrea, Wilhamena, Bella, and Dot."
"Mm-hmm..." Audrey said before smirking back at him and even nodded in agreement. "You always know how to cheer me up."
Peter just grinned and chuckled at her.
The next challenge was rock climbing which was often seen as a bit risky. It was going to be Evie against Bella now and they would have partners in the form of Doug and Boris.
"I don't see why I have to do this," Bella complained before she checked her fingertips. "I mean... I might break a nail."
"I think it's cuz you lost the coin toss against Andrea." Boris nervously said to his twin sister, acting a bit cowardly in contrast to her behavior.
Bella blinked before snarling like a lion to him which made him grin nervously before running off back over to the others.
"Nice sister ya got there." Carlos commented dryly.
"I like her fangs." Jay added.
"Aw, Bella acts all tough and mighty sometimes, but she means well... Sometimes," Boris said with a small shrug. "I try not to worry about her sometimes."
"Yeah... I guess," Carlos replied. "Sometimes I wish I had a sister."
"Really?" Boris asked him.
"Yeah... Or at least someone to help to make growing up with my mother be not so horrible," Carlos said before shrugging. "It's pretty lonely, but I do have some new company nowadays from the animal shelter."
"That at least sounds like fun." Boris said with a small smile.
"Yeah... I guess it does in a way..." Carlos said before smiling back a little bit.
Eventually, Dizzy and Danny came back over to the rock wall.
"Whoops... Looks like I gotta go and help my sister out." Boris said nervously.
"Okay, you go on ahead then," Carlos said before nodding. "See ya on the other side, kid."
"Erm... Right... Thanks." Boris said nervously as he came back over to his twin sister and everyone else.
Carlos smiled before facing Jay. "These Emerald Acres kids aren't so bad." he then remarked.
"Yeah... I guess they aren't, compared to most of the other schools we go up against in other competitions," Jay replied. "I just wish the same could be said for Audrey and Peter, even if they aren't originally from here."
"Something is not right about that boy, I just know it," Carlos then said. "He keeps smirking about something... What could he be up to?" he then wondered.
"He's Peter Banning... What's not wrong with him?" Jay said as he shrugged in defense.
"No... I mean... Look at him..." Carlos said as he pointed over in concern. "He looks like he's up to something."
Jay glanced at Carlos before taking a look at Peter, who looked rather sneaky and diabolical compared to most troublemaking kids in their age group and that was saying something, considering Jay had kleptomaniac tendencies. "Well... I guess now that you mention it... That smirk IS full of nightmare fuel potential," he then commented. "I guess something might be up from the way things look with him."
Carlos nodded as Danny and Dizzy came to do some more coverage during The Summer School Games.
"And now, it's time for the rock climbing challenge," Danny commented as he stood by. "When I was a little kid, I always dreamt about wanting to fly, but I don't think I could handle this challenge."
"Yeah, me neither," Dizzy agreed. "Whatever you guys do, don't look down." she then advised.
"Dizzy, you shouldn't tell someone that just as they're about to climb up somewhere pretty high." Evie advised in a big sister tone of voice.
"Oops... Sorry, Evie." Dizzy said bashfully.
"It's okay, Diz," Evie replied. "It's just not a good idea, no matter how tempting is or if you think it might help."
Bella just scoffed, crossed her arms, and rolled her eyes a little.
"Excuse me, but are you having an issue?" Evie asked with a firm pout.
"Nothing... I just wanna get this over with so we can be done already," Bella rolled her eyes before scoffing at Evie. "You just better not cramp my style, Princess Blueberry."
"Oh, no problem..." Evie said aloud before mumbling quietly to herself a little bit. "I think you lost class and style a long time ago."
Danny and Dizzy soon came to get out of the way as it was time for Doug and Boris to get ready to help Evie and Bella up the rock wall.
"Okay, Doug... Are you sure that I'm all set and ready?" Evie asked the bespectacled boy.
"Yeah... I just gotta tighten this belt and you'll be good to go," Doug reassured. "You'll be just fine though. Remember, I go camping all the time and I used to be a scout."
"Thanks," Evie smiled. "I bet you were a wonderful scout too."
"Oh, yeah... Except for with my cousin Otis..." Doug said before shuddering a bit and shaking his head. "He is not as happy as his father... He's actually got quite a dark and mean streak to him."
Evie put her hand to her mouth, chuckling a bit in amusement before he smiled at her bashfully.
"Climbers, get ready!" Principal Walsh called out.
Peter whistled a bit behind the rock wall and made a "come hither" gesture. Audrey looked over as she noticed that and soon tiptoed over to go and meet up with Peter as they had planned about that.
"You know what to do?" Peter asked Audrey.
"Yes," Audrey nodded. "I won't let you down, Peter. I promise."
"See that you don't," Peter replied. "Don't be another Felix."
"Yes, sir." Audrey nodded again.
"Get set..." Headmistress Fairgood soon added.
"I just better not break a nail on this thing." Bella grumbled to herself a bit.
Audrey soon snuck over and moved Doug's hook a little and moved it around Evie's skirt. The latter girl blinked and looked around as she thought she felt something before shrugging and smiling as she looked hopeful while Bella was complaining and looking very impatient.
"And... GO!" Headmistress Fairgood and Principal Walsh soon called out before they blew their whistles to signal their respective students.
And so, it was time for the climbing. Doug and Boris smiled as they watched Evie and Bella climb up together up the rock wall. Doug let out a small sigh as he wished he had the courage to share something special with Evie, but he always tried to wait for the right moment... He just hoped he wouldn't delay too much in sharing the emotion with her.
"Steady, Evie... Just don't look down..." Doug whispered as Evie continued to climb with all of her might.
"Careful up there, Bella!" Boris called out.
"Relax... Nothing bad is gonna happen to me." Bella scoffed as his fear as she continued to climb.
Evie just kept her eyes up and whispered to herself to give herself enough encouragement to keep going up and not give up. Audrey looked up at Evie before looking closer beside herself as she hid with Peter. Peter soon looked at her before nodding with a determined grin on his face that looked very unholy. Audrey nodded at him and soon pulled on the hook she had which yanked right behind Evie who then suddenly heard a ripping sound.
"...That didn't sound so good." Evie said as she suddenly froze in place, looking scared and concerned.
Everyone on the ground soon gasped as they saw something that Evie was unable to. The hook had ripped across her skirt and exposed her panties to everybody.
"Nice view." Otto smirked from where he stood.
"I see London, I see France, I see Princess Evie's underpants~" Audrey sang out of mockery before laughing maliciously.
Evie soon glanced over before flinching and gasping. "Oh, my God! So not cool!" she then yelped out, feeling totally embarrassed right now and unable to move any further.
"Aw, Evie..." Doug groaned and winced for poor Evie as that had to be the worst moment of her life right now.
Mal face-palmed a bit while Harry looked like he wanted whoever did that to Evie to pay. Because since Evie was important to Mal, she was important to him too and he would make sure of that.
"Don't look!" Evie cried out from the rock wall.
"Man... Poor Evie... That really has to suck." Mal cringed a bit.
"Well... At least this won't be on national television and then the whole world will see you." Bella commented to Evie.
"Stop it!" Evie cried out as she felt embarrassed to death.
"Evie...? You okay...?" Doug called in concern.
"Please... Just take me down... Let me back down..." Evie begged as she looked scared and worried.
"Hang on, Evie... I got you..." Doug said softly and tenderly as he came to let Evie back down.
"I'm afraid that's an automatic disqualification for this game," Principal Walsh commented. "And she was doing so well too."
"Indeed," Headmistress Fairgood nodded. "Poor dear."
Jay cupped his mouth. He may have laughed at other people's pain, especially among the other boys in school, such as Carlos or Chad, but this time, he did not feel like laughing at all. Bella was the winner of this competition due to default while Evie cupped her face and hid her eyes before Doug rushed over and covered her front and back with a couple of books. Mal and Harry then came over to Evie and came to remove her safety helmet, the slings, and knee and elbow pads so that she would be good to go.
"Come on, Evie... Let's get out of here." Doug advised before he walked away with her once they got out of the rock climbing wall.
"Harry, I have to go with Evie, okay?" Mal said to her boyfriend.
"Yeah... Of course," Harry nodded in understanding. "She's your sister from another mother... Did I say that right?" he then asked.
"Uh... Close enough..." Mal said before she then kissed his cheek and went to go and join Evie who was absolutely beyond mortified.
Harry nodded before looking around firmly and sharply.
"Looks like the poor little princess had an accident." Peter smirked at Audrey before chuckling meanly.
Audrey soon laughed along with him before they were soon given some company.
"You two... I might have known," Harry glared at the two. "Did you do this to Evie?"
"Oh... Hello there, Codfish Jr," Peter smirked. "You look upset about something... Doesn't he, Audrey?"
"He most certainly does, Peter." Audrey nodded in agreement.
"You did do this, didn't you?" Harry demanded, not buying their bullshit excuses or dodging his question even for a second.
"Who? Us?" Peter asked innocently. "My, my, someone does look pretty angry like a salty codfish."
"I'm beyond angry!" Harry glared. "I should've known you would do this, Peter Banning! You have a black, shriveled up heart and no soul at all!"
"I guess sometimes the truth hurts and sometimes you can't take the heat," Peter shrugged with a small smirk. "You haven't changed a bit."
"Oh... Wait... You guys know each other personally?" Audrey asked then.
"It's a long story..." Harry snarled. "I hope you can live with the fact that you just beyond humiliated Evie and ruined her life, Audrey."
"She doesn't care because now she has me," Peter said as he put his arm around Audrey. "Isn't that right?"
"Yes, that's right," Audrey nodded. "We're going to win for Emerald Acres and today it's Emerald Acres, but tomorrow it's the world."
"The world?" Harry asked before glaring. "You think you're going to control the whole world?"
"Oh, I don't think, Codfish Jr, I know," Peter scoffed, not feeling scared in the slightest about his threats. "No one will stop us until the world will be ours. You've really lost your touch ever since you disbanded ways with Uma."
"You're recruiting Uma too?" Harry demanded then.
"Pfft... No! But now that you mention it, that's not a bad idea." Peter smirked.
"No... You will not take Uma," Harry glared then. "She's my best friend and I know her. She would never side with you in a million years."
"You sound so sure of yourself," Peter smirked. "Though I suppose she's not worthy enough to join my side with Audrey here, my Queen of Mean, and Prince Mophead."
"Ah, right..." Harry said before nodding. "I did hear that you were going to have Chad work with you after Jane's little birthday party fiasco."
"Well, well... I guess you aren't so dense like your Peanut Brained friend, Gil," Peter scoffed before smirking. "Anyway, we better get going. We can tell when we're not needed."
"See that you do..." Harry snarled. "You better not humiliate anyone else who's important to Mal or I'll-"
"Ooh... Threats? Just what will you do to me if I don't do what you say, Codfish Jr?" Peter kept his weaselly smirk. "You'll cross my personal line and then Codfish Jr will hunt me down with his shitty seafood Conga line?"
Harry just growled in response.
"Come on, Audrey. We're out of here." Peter said before walking off suddenly.
"Yes, Peter," Audrey nodded with a smirk before facing Harry with her hands on her hips. "Oh, Harry... You had such promise and potential. Your life has really gone downhill ever since you decided to date Mal after she embarrassed my boyfriend to death in front of the whole school. Now Evie knows just how he feels and since Mal's emotional support is destroyed, maybe you or she will be next. Do yourself a favor, Harry, and quit while you're ahead." she then said before pushing him back suddenly.
Harry stumbled a bit, but he didn't exactly fall over that easy. Audrey just laughed as she kept going to follow after Peter.
"Nice work on Codfish Jr, my dear." Peter chuckled in approval.
"What can I say? I learned from the best." Audrey shrugged with a small smirk as she came to take his hand as they left the field together.
Harry narrowed his eyes before walking off.
"Poor Evie..." Dizzy frowned. "I wish that I could help her out."
"I'm sure that she'll be fine soon," Danny replied. "This must've been how Wendy felt after Peter Banning humiliated her when she came to tell him how she felt about him."
"Ugh... Some people..." Dizzy groaned and rolled her eyes, shaking her head a little. "We need far fewer Ivys in this world."
"Ivys? You mean like your sister?" Danny then asked.
"Exactly," Dizzy nodded. "One of her is bad enough already."
"I have to agree with you on that," Danny said before looking nervous since he liked Dizzy and just insulted her own sister like that. "Oops... No offense of course."
"None taken... She deserves it." Dizzy reassured with a small smile before they both soon laughed at that.
"I swear... The next time I see that Peter Banning, I am going to hook him..." Harry snarled darkly as he walked off on his own, going to see if he could catch up with Mal and Evie. "I'll make him wish that he was never born or ever met me."
Principal Walsh and Headmistress Fairgood decided to end the Games for the day due to Evie's condition and neither held it against the girl. Soon, Zelena came to see them at the door with a small smile before looking concerned as she saw her niece in distress and instantly came to help out. Evie was currently wearing an apron in the place of her skirt while Zelena sewed it up and Mal decided to play with Emerald a little bit on the floor.
"I'm sorry about this, Evie," Mal said softly as she took Emerald by her tiny arms and began to bounce her up and down a little. "I hate that everyone had to see this. I just feel so terrible."
"It's okay... You can't really do much to help anyway," Evie said before sighing in defeat. "I just don't know how to tell Mom I have to change schools."
"Now here it is! Good as new," Zelena smiled as she soon lifted up the mended skirt. "All better now, Sweet Pea. You can put it on now."
"Oh. Thank you, Aunt Zelena," Evie said softly as she removed the apron and soon went to put the skirt back on as calmly as possible. "Uh... I don't suppose you think Headmistress Fairgood would mind if I dropped out of The Summer School Games after today?"
"No... But there is an old saying, Evie," Zelena said with a small smile. "A banana without its peel is still a banana."
"Uh... What?" Evie blinked, feeling confused a bit. "What does that mean?"
"I've never heard that one before either." Mal added as she continued to play with Emerald.
"It means people get embarrassed all the time," Hades spoke up as he soon walked into the room right away, almost as if on cue. "You're still you, Evie. A smart, kind young lady. With or without your skirt."
Evie smiled softly as she seemed to like the sound of that.
"Wow... That was actually... Helpful..." Mal commented. "Almost... Paternal actually."
"...Thank you, Mal." Hades said softly. Though he had to admit that that stung a little bit and he probably deserved it.
"Sure... Whatever..." Mal rolled her eyes a bit.
Zelena looked soft. "...Why don't we have a little talk?" she then suggested. "I can tell that this talk is long overdue."
"A special talk?" Mal asked then.
"Yes... Concerning me and Hades of course," Zelena replied calmly. "If you don't mind that is, Mal."
"...I guess not," Mal replied with a shrug. "They decided to end the Games for the day until tomorrow because of what happened. We might as well talk and hang out."
"Maybe we'll get some ice cream after." Zelena then suggested.
"Nothing beats Ms. Fisher's ice cream though," Evie commented. "But that does sound very wonderful."
Mal nodded with a small smile as not even she could say no to ice cream.
"Well... I guess I could go out," Evie said softly. "I just hope no one laughs at me."
"Oh, Sweet Pea..." Zelena cooed softly.
Mal looked soft before narrowing her eyes with a smirk. "Even if I do, I'll just do what I did at my old school." she then suggested.
"What was that?" Hades smirked as he stepped by. "You just stare at people who are laughing or making you feel embarrassed and that usually gets them to stop doing what they're doing?" he then guessed.
"Actually... Yeah," Mal replied as she looked back at her estranged father. "I take it you used to do that a lot at my age?"
"Well... Yeah... Who do you think you get your scare tactics from?" Hades chuckled. "Lily used to do that all the time too."
"...She did?" Mal asked softly.
"Oh, yes, indeed," Hades nodded. "Come on. Let's all get some ice cream and you can show your other new friends who your father is."
Mal smiled, but at the same time, she felt unsure about that.
Evie seemed to notice that. "...Actually, let's just say you're my new uncle," she then suggested. "I don't think Mal's ready to tell everybody just yet that she found her dad. It's a bit awkward if you ask me."
"Oh... Okay, yeah... Sure," Hades said before nodding. "Either way, we can all hang out."
"Yes," Zelena agreed as she brought out her baby daughter's stroller so that they could go as she got her purse ready too. "Let's head on out. Maybe we'll see some of your friends there too and don't let them get to you, Evie," she then said as comforting advice to her niece. "We won't let them embarrass you."
"Thanks, guys." Evie beamed warmly.
"What's family for?" Hades asked gently with a small smile.
"Hm..." Mal firmly pouted at that, but she kept it hidden from him.
And with that, the family soon went to leave the house together to head on over to Aunt Em's Diner.
A/N: Meet some of the students of Emerald Acres! Before you ask if you don't know, no, they aren't OCs, most of them are from a series called Oz Kids and you should look it up for more information, but basically, Dot and Neddie are the children of Dorothy Gale, Boris and Bella are the kids of The Cowardly Lion, Andrea is the daughter of Glinda, and Otto is the son of The Nome King. If you need to know more, I suggest you look that series up and I hope you're enjoying more of the story while it's still here. I know this is kind of an abrupt ending, but I did my best, plus there are some special things planned before the big ending of this trilogy (unless I do the Halloween and Christmas special if you guys really wanna see that) and I can move onto my big project of Modern Fairy Tale Town. Just remember to Read & Review!
