Carlos's eyes fluttered open and he felt a familiar headache. Not too severe however, he was used to hangovers by now. He looked around the room and was confused at first by his bright and well kept surroundings. Right, Auradon. He thought as he sat up in his bed.
"Morning Sleeping Beauty." Jay said, handing him a small glass of water.
"Good one," He said, taking a sip. "What happened last night?"
"Oh you don't remember? Well a galactic overlord came down-"
"Sorry I asked." Carlos interrupted. "How late am I late for class?" He asked, grabbing his things fast.
"It's the weekend, chill." Jay said, trying to calm him down.
"What's on the agenda today? Trying to find a way to free our parents?"
"I don't think that's too high on Mal's bucket list." He said with a laugh. "Listen Carlos, about the whole Black-Out Carlos thing-"
"Ah! What is that smell? When's the last time you showered man?"
"Apparently not recent enough." He said with a sigh heading into their bathroom. Carlos grabbed his phone and saw texts from plenty of numbers he didn't recognize.
I'd give you a nine for the dive but a two for the landing. The first one said.
That was really high up, are you ok?
Well, I know someone who wouldn't be scared to go sky-diving.
Carlos? It's Ben, we need to talk⦠"Well shit,"
He got up slowly and planted his feet to get his head sorted quickly. He changed his clothes before walking up to the door to his and Jay's bathroom (inside he could hear the shower going) and knocked on the door. "Hey, Ben texted me saying he wants to talk. I'm heading to his dorm and then I'll be back." Carlos left his dorm, out into the hall. It was pretty quiet in comparison to the rest of the week. Most students probably weren't even on campus at the moment.
"Carlos!" He heard from behind him. He turned around and saw Evie was actually coming to his dorm.
"Oh, hey. Wassup E?"
"Don't try to act like nothing happened last night. Are you ok?" She asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Evie, I jumped off a roof into a pool before. Remember Mal's sixteenth birthday?"
"I wasn't there, remember?"
"Right, well go talk to her, she'll tell you I'm fine."
"Are you?" She asked. "We've been here for a week and you've already fallen pretty hard for Chad."
"Maybe it's meant to be or something. You know true love and all that? Listen, I need to go talk to Ben about something. I'll catch up with you later." He said running away from the conversation.
"Got a few sentences out, better than usual." Mal said coming up behind her.
"We're gonna have to tie him down eventually, I swear."
Carlos made his way down the hall to Ben's dorm. Being the prince, his dorm was bigger than the others and he also didn't have to share. Carlos knocked on the door and waited patiently for a response. Nothing. He knocked again, harder this time and heard groaning inside. "Ben? It's me Carlos." He said loudly, hoping the prince would hear him.
"Coming~" He heard a groggy voice say from inside. The door opened and a very tired looking Ben stood in front of him. "Oh Carlos, we need to talk about last night."
"Yeah?" Please be good news. Carlos thought
"Can we just pretend what happened upstairs never happened?" Ben asked him.
"Um, yeah, or course. I was hoping we could too." He said in a slightly disappointed voice.
"Really? Cool, I'm glad we're on the same page." He said about to sink back into his room.
"Just one question first," Carlos said, stopping the prince in his tracks. "Are we ignoring last night because I'm from the Isle or because I'm a guy?" Ben stood in silence for a moment, trying to find the right words before Carlos spoke up. "Silence is an answer too." Carlos said before walking down the hall.
"Alright, what's the plan then?" Jay asked while drying off his hair and talking to the girls.
"I don't know about you guys, but I'm tired of being stuck in the school this whole week." Mal told them.
"Are you saying we're finally going out on the town?" Evie asked, excited.
"If we're gonna take over this place, we should get a feel for what it's like outside."
"I have to pick an outfit," Evie said, getting up and running to her room.
"You wanna leave so I can change?" Jay asked.
"Nothing I haven't seen before." She told him. Jay shrugged and began to remove his clothes when Carlos walked in, but stopped moving when he saw Jay shirtless and about to drop his pants with Mal still in the room.
"I'll leave you two alone." He said turning around.
"Get back here, I was leaving." Mal told him, walking out into the hall.
"Were you and Mal going to-" Carlos started to ask while closing the door.
"Don't you dare put that image in my head." Jay said cutting him off. There was a knock at the door and Carlos turned around to open it and saw Chad was there with a cooler.
"Chad!" Carlos said, louder and more excited than he planned. "What's going on?" He asked, leaning against the door frame to try to appear casual.
"My parents are coming home today, I was wondering if you'd be willing to take these off my hands." He said opening the cooler and revealing the beers from the party. "I mean, it's not like your parents are here to watch over you or anything."
"Sure thing. And if you ever feel like stopping by and cracking one open, I'll be here." Carlos told him with a smile.
"Sweet, I'll see you around." He said, handing over the cooler and patting the smaller boy on the head. Carlos turned around to see Jay giving him a look.
"I'll only have one a day if it'll make you stop looking at me like that."
"Wow! The city is so clean!" Evie said in amazement as the four of them roamed the city.
"Not a single puddle of mud in sight." Carlos added.
"And some nice looking shops." Jay said with a smirk looking in every window.
"Hands in your pockets Jay." Mal told him. "If we get kicked back to the Isle because of you, I'll gladly tell my mom who will tell your dad."
"Yeah, yeah, I got it." He sighed, shoving his hands into his pockets.
"Is it just me or is Auradon fashion not nearly as tight as our's?" Evie asked. "It's seriously hurting my eyes looking at it for so long."
"Guys, look at this." Carlos said holding up a pamphlet he got from one of the many people walking the streets. "The museum's hosting a new exhibit featuring some of our parent's stuff. It says many of the items were confiscated-"
"Stolen." Mal interrupted.
"So, it's ok when they do it?" Jay asked.
"When all the criminals were placed on the Isle of the Lost. We should go check it out."
"Oh yeah, that sounds...fun." Jay said with a yawn.
"Wait, Carlos may be on to something. If we go later at night, we might be able to grab some of our parents' old toys and help take over this place." Mal said quietly.
"Good, that gives me time to go shopping." Evie said as she started to walk off.
"I thought you said the clothes weren't as good as ours?" Carlos said, confused.
"They're not, I'm gonna buy some material to make my own."
"Hold up, I don't know what that smell is, but I'm following it now." Jay said heading off in another direction.
"I wonder if there's a good paint store nearby." Mal asked out loud and made her way down the street.
"So much for sticking together." Carlos muttered.
"Is this the darkest blue fabric you have?" Evie asked the employee at the store who nodded without speaking a word. Everyone in the store had been staring at Evie since she entered. While she knew the reason, she had managed to see some of the guys inside checking her out which helped boost her ego. "I guess I can make this work. How much?"
"Evie?" She recognized the fake enthusiasm in the right away.
"Audrey? I didn't expect to see you here." She said faking a smile herself.
"The nuns that raised my mom think it's important that I learn to make my own clothes. Don't ask me why when everyone knows I could buy half of this block without batting an eye." Evie rolled her eyes in her head as she paid for what she was buying. "But what are you doing here and where are your little friends?"
"We wanted to see more than the school while we were here, but we all had different interests so we're a bit scattered right now."
"Oh, how fun!" Audrey said, her fake smile looking painful by this point.
"Hey, I have an idea! Why don't you and I go on a shopping spree? Have a fun girls day out. What'dya say?" Evie asked.
"That sounds great! Let's go!"Audrey replied, her acting actually sounding convincing.
"There it is, the most beautiful sentence ever written." Jay said looking at a sign outside a sushi restaurant. "All you can eat." He said aloud walking inside and seeing about half the football team inside pigging out at the counter. "What no one thought to invite me?" He asked aloud. His teammates turned their heads around and while some cheered, Chad got up and pulled him into a seat.
"We're having an eat off. You in?" Chad asked.
"That even a real question at this point?"
"Hey Wasabi! Get this guy a plant too! Add him to my tab."
"Oh Hell yeah," Mal said, grabbing a can of spray paint. "I was almost worried I'd have to go home to grab some."
"Psst!" She heard the aisle next to her.
"Um hi?" She responded.
"Shh, be quiet! Act natural." The voice whisper shouted to her.
"Alright then," She said, a bit uneasy, but did what the voice told her to. "Who are you?"
"My name doesn't matter, but I work for your mother." Mal's eyes shot wide open. "Don't be surprised, she still has a few followers here on the mainland. Listen, I overheard you and your partners talking about heading to the museum tonight. No doubt to grab your parent's belongings in an effort to free them right?"
"Uh, yep. You are so right." Mal said, knowing whoever this was would get back to her mom with what she says.
"Good good, as you were, daughter of darkness." The voice said before she heard footsteps walking away. Mal clenched her fist and breathed in heavily.
"Fine Mom," She said to herself, "You win this one."
Mal, Jay and Evie assembled outside of the museum late at night. It was nearly two in the morning and there was no one in sight for miles.
"Anyone heard from Carlos?" Mal asked.
"I was eating all day," Jay told her.
"I shouldn't have suggested Audrey and I go on a shopping spree. I'm starting to think that she doesn't need to breathe. She never stopped talking for a second." Evie groaned while carrying a lot of shopping bags.
"Did she say anything useful?" Mal asked.
"Hardly. However, she did say that Ben's been talking about you lately." Evie said in a flirty tone.
"So no, she said nothing that we can use." Jay confirmed.
"Where is Carlos?" Mal asked, getting annoyed. The doors to the museum opened up slowly and they all looked to see Carlos inside.
"Since everyone took off, I decided to come look over the place. Now come on, I turned off the cameras, but someone's bound notice." He said, leading the other's inside.
"Evie, leaves the bags outside." Mal told her.
"But what if someone takes them?" She asked worriedly.
"In Auradon?" Mal asked sarcastically. Evie shrugged and left them outside the door. "Alright Carlos, where're our new toys?" Mal asked as they sped walked through the halls.
"First, I need to show you guys something." He said running upstairs with all of them tailing behind them. They stopped in front of a big open room that had a sign that read "The Hall of Criminals." Inside were statues of each of their parents.
"Mommy?" Evie asked.
"Killer," Jay said.
"I'll never forget Mother's Day again." Carlos mumbled.
There were a few other statues of some of the other criminals on the island as well as painting lining the walls.
"Alright, this was fun, let's bounce." Jay said as he, Evie and Carlos ran down the hall. Mal stayed and continued to stare at the statue of her mother as the last words she said to her rang in her head.
"The future of the free world rests on your shoulders. Don't blow it."
"Look at you, look at me
I don't know who to be
Mother
Is it wrong, is it right?
Be a thief in the night
Mother
Tell me what to do"
"Mal," Evie said, running back into the room and waving to follow her before leaving again. Before she could move, she heard her mom's signature laugh behind her. She turned around to see the statue moving as if it was her real mother.
"Mom?"
"Don't be so serious darling," The statue said with a small laugh.
"I was once like you my dear
Slightly insecure
Argued with my mother too
Thought I was mature
But I put my heart aside
And I use my head
Now I think it's time you learned
What dear old mama said
Don't you wanna be evil like me?
Don't you wanna be mean?
Don't you wanna make mischief your daily routine?
Well you can spend your life attending to the poor
But when you're evil doing less is doing more
Don't you wanna be ruthless and rotten and mad?
Don't you wanna be very, very good at being bad?
I have tried my whole life long to do the worst I can
Clawed my way to victory
Built my master plan
Now the time has come my dear for you to take your place
Promise me you'll try to be an absolute disgrace
Don't you wanna be evil like me?
Don't you wanna be cruel?
Don't you wanna be nasty and brutal and cool?
And when you grab that staff that's when your reign begins
Who wants an evil queen without a sack of sins?
Don't you wanna be heartless and hardin' as stone?
Don't you wanna be finger likcing' evil to the bone?
This was not for us to ponder
This was preordained
You and I shall rule together
Freedom soon regained
Mistress of the universe, powerful and strong
Daughter, hear me
Help me, join me
Won't you sing along?"
""Now we're gonna be evil it's true
Never gonna think twice""
"And we're gonna be spiteful"
"Yes, spiteful
that's nice
In just an hour or two
Our futures safe and sure
This mother, daughter act is going out on tour
If you wanna be evil and awful and free
Then you should thank your lucky stars
That were born the girl you are
The daughter of an evilicious queen
Like me!"
Her mom statue cackled loudly when Evie ran back into the room. "Hey," Mal turned around to face her. "We found them,"
Mal turned back to see the statue had returned to its spot. She glanced at it for only a second longer, just to see if it would move again, before following Evie down the hall. They caught up with the boy's downstairs in a smaller hall than the room with their parent's statues. Thus one containing the various tools their parents had used on display.
"Whoa Evie, is this your mom's 'magic mirror?'" Carlos asked, putting air quotes around magic mirror.
"Yep, that's the one."
"Think it's big enough?" Jay asked.
"Well, it needed to be able to connect to every camera in her castle, so I'd say so."
"Jay, look what I found." Mal said standing next to his dad's staff in a glass case.
"Hey, that should be mine." He said walking over to it.
"Didn't your dad use it to hypnotize the Sultan?"
"He describes it differently. If he could completely hypnotize someone, he wouldn't be on the island."
"Nice fur," Evie said, standing by the heavy fur coat in it's own glass case.
"This looks real." Carlos said staring at what used to be his mom's.
"Aren't they all?" She asked.
"Don't let her know I told you, but ninety-eight percent of her coats back home are imitations." He whispered.
"And now, for our main attraction," Jay announced to the rest in a mocking royal accent. "The scepter of Maleficent herself. It's said that it contains mysterious powers allowing the user to pull off what should be impossible."
"Care to tell us how she pulled all her deeds off?" Evie asked, turning to her best friend.
"No idea. She told me she'd explain it all once I prove myself." Mal told them all.
"Well, let's grab it and get out." Jay said, but as soon as he placed his hands on the glass alarms started going off. Very loud alarms.
"Carlos, didn't you turn them off?" Mal asked annoyed.
"Someone must've taken too long looking at a statue and they reactivated." He said, glaring at her.
"I think it's time for us to leave." Evie said before they could start shouting at each other. The four of them sprinted toward the exit and ran out, Carlos handing behind when he heard a phone going off.
"Uh hello?" He said, picking the phone up. "Just a second." He told the person on the other line before pushing some buttons on a control panel in front of him. "No, no, false alarm. It was a malfunction in the 714 chip in the breadboard circuit. Ok, say 'hi' to the missus."
Mal looked back and saw Carlos inside on the phone. "Carlos!" She called, feeling annoyed.
"You're welcome," He said to her as they four fled back to the school grounds.
There it is, the long awaited (i think, ya'll still reading?) next chapter. I would've gotten this out sooner, but I was incredibly busy this semester as well as coming up with new story ideas (just some original works, might not post them here) but hey, we're all stuck inside for an undisclosed time and summer's starting so anyways so expect this account to start posting content for you guys to (hopefully) enjoy. I'll see ya'll later
