Chapter 63: Fitting In
The moment Terra gave the call, Taren and Mal sprinted into action with Mal making the first move by performing a powerful Firaga Burst, aiming her keyblade creating an orb of fire before it burst into smaller flames to come directly at Taren, forcing him to take the defensive position to use Barrier to block them.
They didn't seem that strong to break the barrier but the combustion caused by impact created a cloud of smoke to blind his sight from knowing where she was when discovered she was gone. Taren would not have expected her to use fire-based magic against him, trying to know what she was up to. "Trying to use my own element against me? That's not her style."
"You're right. It isn't." He turned around and found Mal rose up from his shadow, only to stop by the waist and swiped her keyblade across his feet to throw him off balance for her to gain the advantage.
"Ugh!" Groans upon falling over and flipped on his back to face the smiling Mal, he should have seen that coming a mile away but never knew where she would come out from any shadows. Swung her keyblade and pointed it towards him in an attempt to keep him down.
"YEAH! Way to Mal!" Jay cheers and throws his fist in the air.
"First plants, now shadows? What has she been learning?" Carlos was stunned by how she could do such magic. He thought it seemed fast, but noticed the redhead wasn't moving and assumed he was down for the count until he clasped the feet together and pulled them back for something.
Bloom watched surprised Mal would use an element that was being his strongest element until it was in fact a distraction to catch off guard, when he was about to be knocked over, she realised what he was about to do next.
Mal immediately pulled herself back in his shadow before a burst of flame could catch her while her opponent was more distant from her and landed by the closest pillar. She emerged and jumped to use Glide to to fly through the way and swung her keyblade against his, batting and clashing against his several times to take the aggressive force but he would not yield and then took his stand to exchange a few slash and blows with her keyblade against his.
Taren had something in mind to try out from his training and a perfect chance to test it. "Brutal Blast!" He shouted and created a light wave spinning around him to knock the stunned Mal into the air, catching her off guard by a new magic command.
She landed back on her feet, taking some hits from that attack, but not enough to be concerned about. Mal didn't expect that to happen or how he learnt it. "Where did you learn that?"
Taren smirks by the look on her face that she was not prepared for that, he then decided to answer her question. "From Terra, he taught me how to use it when I first heard of it." It happened after his return to Radiant Garden and when preparing for his training, he asked one of the masters of skills he thought would work for him. It was hard to work with being an ultimate class spell and needed to work on it.
Terra watches and smiles of how Taren performed it right, a little slow and could see it took some energy from him for conjuring it but showed a lot of potential in it. "Well, I'm impressed how he got it right for his first tryout."
"So you taught him some skills, Master Terra?" Fairy Godmother pondered when he mentioned the keyblade master.
"Yeah, but it was also his parents' idea when they thought he needed to be ready
Mal did not seem fazed by the latest stunt he pulled. "So you learnt a few new tricks, big whoop. But will try something a little more. Palmon?" Summoning her Digimon partner beside her, taking a fighting stance to join her.
Taren decided to do the same and brought out Agumon.
"Looks like they're bringing out their Digimon." Layla stated, curious to see how strong they are, since the last time she met them.
"No doubt they will have something to surprise each other." Flora said.
"Wait, that guy has another one like Mal?" Jay never expected to see a little yellow/orange dinosaur that looked small. It would be a surprise for them to find what happens next.
"Poison Ivy!" Palmon whips out her extended tendrils at Taren and Agumon, both dodged them by going into separate directions.
Taren jumped and rolled over to avoid them as well as Mal's Seeker Mines, sprinting forward to close in but had been knowing she has more skills in magic than him, he had to catch her by surprise. Swatting a dark fireball and getting a direct shot. Agumon launches his Pepper Breath attacks from the other side, Mal conjures a barrier to block them and shoots a magic shot at the Digimon, but inadvertently leaves herself and her partner wide open with her back turned on Taren.
"Sparkra!" Summoning a spell that created two rings made of crystals shot at her and Palmon, they took light damage from the hits, but pulled through and clashed with his keyblade, she deflected the first three before she casted a Lightning spell that forced Taren to back off. The two dashed once again, clashing their keyblades' enhanced speed. Agumon swatted his claws at Palmon who jumped and kicked him, the two exchanged blows for a moment before backing off for distance.
The observers with the exception of the Master ranked keybearers and Winx watching were stunned by seeing the two teens going at it. This also stunned Mal's friends who now witnessed how strong she had become in the past several months, Jay had his mouth open and barely got any popcorn to his mouth while Evie's eyes barely left the holo projections.
"Looks like you got better, Mal." Taren gave a compliment while keeping his eyes on her for the next move.
Mal had to admit it, but so did he. "Same to you. But don't let it get to you." She had other tricks up her sleeve. "Palmon?"
"Ready." Palmon stated.
"Agumon?"
"Right!"
At the same time, both their Digimon proceed to Digivolve for the next level of combat.
"Agumon, digivolve to… " Agumon transforms into his Champion Level form, leaps and grew big before making a roar. "Greymon!"
Palmon then transforms as well. "Palmon, digivolve to… Togemon!"
As the crowd was astonished after witnessing the two strange creatures into larger sizes, for Carlos he let out a startling high pitch scream of the sight of Greymon he practically lept in the surprised Jay's arms. He was immediately pushed off him back on his seat and brushed off the popcorn that fell on him. "Can you just do anything that's not jumping up in fright every minute?"
Carlos was too terrified of the sight of Greymon, especially with the sight of his horns, teeth and claws. "That's a monster with sharp teeth! It suddenly grew from small to huge!"
"Same for that small plant thing into a cactus with boxing gloves." Jay muttered, and he had to admit to being surprised of how they could change that much. But he thought the one called Greymon looked cool.
But Evie was in awe and thought Palmon looked awesome in her champion level.
"Oh this will be good, we get to see her in action." Musa smiles and eats a handful of popcorn.
Poking out of Layla's backpack was Chatta upon seeing the action. "Oh this is gonna be awesome!"
"Hey, get your foot out of my face, Chatta!"
"It's awfully rude!"
"Hey, I wanna see."
"Quiet, you guys." Layla reminded them to be quiet, having to bring them along, but having to be sure they stay close and reluctant to stay inside her bag for the time being when it's safe to let them out.
Tecna immediately brought out her mini laptop to gain some information on their abilities.
Togemon stared into her opponent, ready for another round after digivolving. "You're going down, big boy!" Pounding her boxing gloves together to give a tough talk.
Greymon said nothing and growled under his breath, flaring his nostrils until making the first move to rush into them. Taren could see he was ready for a fight and gave the order. "Let's go!"
Mal fires Triple Dark Firaga from her keyblade while Togemon jumps in the air to use the Prickly Bang-Bang to shoot a rain of needles. Taren stepped in front of his partner to use Wind to disperse their attacks and then use Thundaga to make a counter attack, Greymon charges in with his head forward for his Horn Attack.
"Coconut Punch!" Greymon was hit on the head by Togemon's punch, taking a hit, Dinosaur Digimon stopped his attack and was somewhat disoriented for a moment to kneel down before Taren came to help him.
"Cure!" Taren casted a cure magic to help him recover from the punch. Seeing him healed up, decided to try another tactic. "Guess they really put some effort into it, we need to watch out next time."
"Got it." While Greymon felt better, he needed to be careful not to underestimate Togemon. Both got into close range to exchange a few hits, this time Gremon dodges the fast moving punches, only took one in the second throw but returned the favour by swatting his tail at her, causing the Cactus Digimon to stumble but Mal came to her support by creating a Reflect to bounce off the tail attack. Greymon then pulls his right claw back as Togemon does the same to give another powerful punch.e
"Stopra!"
Without warning, both Greymon and Togemon were frozen in the moment before they could clubber each other, neither Mal or Taren who were in the middle of clashing their keyblades saw this and were baffled. The Winx were surprised of how this happened and confused
"Hey, did you do that?" Taren didn't see her use it on them.
"Me? I thought that was you?"
"Fox Fire!'
"Wind!"
A spiral of wind with a stream of blue fire shot both the Digimon by the time the spell wore off, throwing them off the ground and tumbling to their partners. The two rushed for their partners and found them not too hurt but lightly bruised. But now I wonder who else is in the colosseum with them.
"I apologise for the sneak attack on them, but thought to make my move."
"Hey! Who do you think you are taking out my partner like that?" Mal wanted to find out who it was as Togemon slowly sits up.
"Ugh, what hit me?" Greymon groans.
Taren had heard that voice before and the attack he recognised. "Uhh, wasn't that… Garurumon?" To their surprise when they see Garurumon leap onto a fallen stone pillar. And on top of him was a rider wearing a long blue coat, gloves and a mask shaped like a wolf with a silver mane and two curved horns. This surprised those who noticed this, most of all Carlos screaming and crying out "WOLF!" Once again jumping in fear to cower fear of the large wolf.
'Ben?' Both the keybladers and the Winx mutually thought, according to Layla Digimon partners can't digivolve without their partners, but if that is Gabumon's champion level, who was but unable to understand how Ben be here… and someone riding Garurumon?
None of the students or teachers seem to know who he is and believe to be the third keyblader they heard about from the stories, but never knew his identity.
Even the Fairy godmother was puzzled when she knew who the digimon was by the knowledge and looked to the prince who seemed unfazed.
"If you wanna know, that's not actually Ben." Terra whispered close to her so nobody could hear them. She looked at him in wonder as if the one next to them was in disguise. "If you wanna know, best ask him after this."
Ben, the real Ben kept his face hidden behind the mask while riding on his partner's back, brings out his keyblade and slides off Garurumon. "Apologies for that, but I thought to make a good attempt for us to attack when their guard was down."
"Since when are you the type to attack by surprise?" Mal found it not his style to attack.
"Since we needed to be more prepared facing a new enemy everyday." The prince casually told her.
Mal decided to see how he's improved and dashed towards him, swinging her keyblade, but find his movements swift and fast, dodging and deflecting her keyblade with his and used Quake to knock her off, jumps in the air to evade a Firaga from Taren. Ben fell and swiftly swung his foot to knock him off balance, but didn't take the moment to see him fall when both were blown away by Mal's powerful wind magic.
Meanwhile Togemon charges in to attack Garurumon, he pounces on her before Greymon rushed in and swung his tail. Garurumon goes for the Frost Bite when both are suddenly suspended in mid-air, caused by the smirking witch using Gravity for Togemon to attack.
"Lightning Jabbing!"
However, Greymon was ready for her. "Nova Blast!" Taking a direct hit on Togemon, she was caught off guard and thrown back while he was hit by Garurumon's attack.
The trio fought one another, mostly sometimes to temporarily join to knock the other out but always switched roles. Ben jumps over a large rock to avoid Taren's Strike Raid, clashing into a pillar before he gets swatted by a surprise attack by Mal's Seeker Mines, throwing him in the air and fell on his back, groaning from the impact. He had to admit, Mal and Ben certainly got a lot better the last time he saw them.
Stella groaned and thought that had to hurt. "Ooh, he's gonna feel that in the morning."
"Least he's fine." Bloom assured and hoped he didn't get too hurt.
Mal chases after Ben, the two are locked in a sword fight but also with a mix of dances, watching each other's movements for any tricks. She can see behind his mask, he was watching her and amazed by how much improvement he made, improving his speed and strength. Maybe try another summoning to attack him.
"Quak!" However, Ben slams his keyblade into the ground, creating a tremor to knock her out of her thoughts by his attack.
The prince sees his partner getting up and gestures to him to go to the other side to check.
"She's not there." Garurumon told him of Ben's lack of surprise and ready for her when suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder and found a keyblade by his neck.
"Surprised?" He could hear her voice over his shoulder, having him trapped in a position to strike and didn't need to know that she was smiling with confidence.
"Wow, she got him!" Jay cheered.
However, Audrey didn't find it fair in her case of watching. "That's cheating! She wasn't fighting fair!"
"It's not about being fair, it's about learning their skills and how to surprise their opponent." Tecna corrected her with her due to the experience of fighting villains. "If they were in a real battle, it wouldn't be fair for them when facing an enemy that doesn't abide by the rules."
"She's right." Terra joined in having to hear her reasons and share his wisdom of previous events. "Doesn't matter if they are villains or not, your opponent won't always follow the same code of honor or rules of engagement. I;ve faced many who fight far worse."
"Beides, when has Mal ever fought fair?" Carlos pondered which many would share the mutual question.
With Ben, he didn't seem concerned. "You got better."
"Thanks." She took it as a compliment, but suddenly his leg intertwined with her's and threw her off balance, grabbing her arm and flung the startled Mal to the ground. She yelped in surprise and found herself now lying on the ground with the prince on top of her with his keyblade to restrain her. She was stunned and did not see this coming.
"Learned that from Macbeth and Riku." He couldn't help but chuckle and find it a victory.
"Mal!" Togemon was about to help her but Mal stopped her.
"No. I give." She declared defeat and looked at him. Not wanting to admit that this was a surprise of his skills. He gets up and helps her up as their DIgimon change back to their rookie forms and Taren gets up on his feet.
Terra was impressed by their skills and nodded. "I think they've gotten better."
Fairy Godmother nodded to agree with him. They certainly improved their abilities under Yen Sid's training. "Indeed, though who might be-"
"Ben asked us for someone to take his place so-" With no one to notice, 'Ben' was then changed into Genie.
"Boy! I didn't know how long I could pull it off." Genie smiles. "But they sure made a great show! I didn't know who to root for." Pulls out three flags with their names on each of them.
"So that explains it." Bloom came over and found out it was him along with the Winx.
"Figured it had to be someone like you to do it." Musa said.
"It was either him, or Ven but he's too tall for it." Terra tells them.
"So, you had someone to take your place and pose as the mysterious keyblader to everyone?" Flora recalled what he had told them for wearing the mask and for having a double to take his place.
The prince nods his head to confirm it. "Yeah, though, not many knew where I was for months and while I wanted to show that I became a keyblade wielder, the masters and my parents thought it would be best to keep it under wraps for now until my coronation. I decided to go along with it to be treated as a normal kid before they know the big secret."
"So you decided to use the old secret identity routine, probably a good idea." Taren easily guessed after finding out it was Genie in his place.
Ben nodded"Yeah, sorry about that. But I wanted to see how you guys improved since our last mission."
"Hey, least we know you didn't slacked off and to kick Taren's butt." Bloom wore a teasing grin, much to Taren's annoyance.
"Very funny, Bloom(!) He only got lucky that time." Taren would remember to not underestimate him.
"So anything about this museum you wanted to show us?" Mirta asked with Ben leading the group.
"It's called the Museum of Cultural History, thought to maybe show you girls around." Ben offered to take them to the museum for the trip and show around to learn more about Auradon, Bloom, Mirta, Layla and Flora came along while the others stayed at their current place while Taren would come along with them, but also keep the VKs from wandering off or get lost.
"After the worlds came together after years of separation, they built this museum to preserve their collective histories and cultures for future generations to learn about." Ben shows them around with the hallways filled with artefacts put on display, including those used by both heroes and villains in the past.
Layla was intrigued to learn about Auradon's customs and history, but couldn't help but ask about the items the prince mentioned and felt a little concerned. "Do you suppose it's safe to have such powerful artefacts on display when possible that they could be stolen." The idea of many falling into the wrong hands would spell disaster.
"Not to worry, these are actually replicas of the real things that the kingdoms feel would be too dangerous or too important to let go." Taren assured her. "They have a copy of Yen Sid's hat." Pointing to a display of one very similar to Yen Sid which caught their attention.
Ben nodded to confirm Taren's statement as it would be dangerous for some to be in the same room, especially during the time of crisis on their hands. "Yeah, it would be a bad idea to have the real one on display."
"Yeah, hard to imagine the great sorceror giving up something as powerful as that for display." Mal leaned towards Ben to whisper for him to hear. "Uh, is there anything here that's valuable like say… a Devil's Eye here?"
Giving her a puzzled look but answered her question when rubbing his chin. "Think so, why?"
"Just asking." Mal simply shrugged. "Better keep it out of Jay's sight… and out of reach, last thing we want is for him to get drawn by treasure."
"Oh." Ben got the picture but doubts that he would go that far to steal something from a museum. He turns to the group to be sure they are close. Mal assured him Jay wasn't a thief, but would want to get it due to his habit of taking things. They found many items in the museum from prior to Auradon's founding, from the Enchanted Rose preserved in a glass case when it belonged to Ben's parents during his father's time as Beast, King Triton's Trident, Hercules' sword, Cinderella's glass slipper, a replica of the Magic Carpet which explained to the Winx that the real carpet being sentient so they had one made in it's image to put up, including one of Genie's lamp.
"That glass slipper looks gorgeous." Bloom was in awe of the glass slipper in the glass case, she read how it once belonged to Cinderella when it was made by the Fairy godmother to go to the ball and had a dance with the prince, but after running away when turned midnight, she dropped it and later found her after trying it on with one having shattered by her cruel stepmother. She found the story romantic with a woman who was badly treated into being a servant, was able to win the heart of the prince and even had help with one of the keyblade masters years ago. "You think if they let anyone try it on, you think it would fit on me?"
"Good luck, I heard a lot of women in that kingdom tried it on and barely fit. It would be a little awkward to wear only one slipper." At least from what Taren had heard about.
"Not to mention if Stella saw it, she'd be begging to try it on no matter how hard it fit." Flora could picture the blonde in her desperate attempt to force her foot into.
Mal held back the snigger of wanting to see that to happen. "If it does happen, let me know if it is recorded to see it."
"Is that… the Spinning Wheel?" Taen had heard many stories about Sleeping Beauty's history and how she was cursed on her 18th birthday by the Dark Fairy. He just assumed it was menacing looking but looked so… plain.
Jay smirked and found it so lame after hearing the stories about the famous spinning wheel. "That's your mother's spinning wheel?"
"Yeah, It's kinda dorky." Carlos added.
"It's magic. It doesn't have to look scary." Mal explained as not everything has to look fancy and scary looking. It was enough to bring Sleeping Beauty to an eternal sleep.
"You think it's still active considering that she's…. You know." Evie had no idea if the magic was still effective after her death for years.
"Not as powerful as it would be now." Mal told her, even if it was still enchanted, the spinning wheel wouldn't be as effective as it was since her mother's defeat. There was even a 'do not touch' sign.
"I wouldn't wanna be pricked by that thing and sleep for a hundred years." Bloom shivered.
"Me neither." Layla agrees.
"Don't worry, the barrier surrounding it keeps it from being touched by accident." The prince assured them that it was safe.
"Hey, uh… guys." They hear Carlos call to them, looking very scared and making an audible gulp with his eyes unable to look away.
Curious to what was the matter with him until he pointed his finger to show them. And what they found was a statue of a very intimidating man with silver hair reaching far down to his waist with long bangs that framed his face, wearing a black leather coat with silver pauldrons, black boots, and black trousers. The top of his coat is open to reveal his chest The coat has a large collar that reaches his ears even when folded back and is kept closed by a black belt with a silver buckle around his waist and leather suspenders across his exposed chest. What made this person drawn their attention was a large, dark wing with navy blue highlights on the tips of the feathers sprouting on his right shoulder and a seven foot ōdachi sword.
"Whoa. This guy looks… scary." Mirta would have thought how intimidating those cold green eyes glaring at them.
Flora would nod her head "Who is he?"
"That's Sephiroth. One of the most feared and powerful foes ever to exist." Taren tells them, his eyes bore nothing but disdain upon the statue of the man who had been Cloud's. Crossing his arms over his chest. "I only heard stories about him, he was one of Gaia's most powerful SOLDIERs ever existed, some stories say he could wipe out entire armies all by himself with a sword like that." Pointing his finger to the sword with the name Masamune written on it.
"The only one who ever bested him was none other than Cloud Strife." Taren turns around and finds a young blonde haired girl smirking at him with her hand on her hip. "Thought I found you here on Auradon when I got word about it."
"Hey, what are you doing here?" Taren was surprised to meet her.
She seemed displeased by his gesture of greeting and puffed her cheeks. "Gee, no 'oh, hey good to see you, Estrid' or 'How have you been'?" The blonde retorts, then proceeds to extend her finger to poke his chest. "I haven't seen you in ages and that's all you have to say?"
"Uhh… good seeing you again?"
"Uh, Taren? Care to introduce us?" Flora asked, curious to know about her and how the two know each other.
Turns to his friends upon realising they were left out of the loop. "Oh, right. Obviously never had the chance to meet each other; this is Estrid. She's from Radiant Garden and practically Namine's apprentice."
"Who also happens to be his honorary aunt due to the connections between his mom and Namine." She smiles at them warmly.
Smitten by how hot she was, Jay sways in front of her to give the usual charming smile. "Hello, gorgeous. The names… Jay."
The blonde blinked her eyes, somewhat confused by his charm and not affected with a blank stare. "Uh…. yeah, nice to meet ya."
Surprised how his skills didn't work on her, even Mal was surprised how she didn't seem to be flattered or flustered by his womanizing skills, most of those she finds him flirting with usually couldn't find the words to speak or look away. Seems she is one of the exceptions. Decided to step in to introduce herself and her friends. "Don't mind him, but you can call me Mal, this is Evie and Carlos. You already met Jay."
"I heard about you and you really showed some moves, even saw your match along with tricking Taren by surprise."
Taren turned to her from trying to encourage his rival. "Hey, don't give her any false praise."
Estrid dismissed his question and smirked. "Why, afraid she would kick your butt again?"
Mal was starting for a rare moment giving a liking to this girl, despite her neat clothing that spells out 'rich girl' to her, she hardly shows any of the personality traits that she likes. "Oh I wouldn't mind at all, not expected from someone who doesn't criticise my style."
"Eh, I like to meet interesting people. Maybe chat with you some more?" She asked, much to Taren's mental horror, if they share ideas and secrets to give Mal the advantage over him. Estrid then turns to most of the Winx Club present. "It's a real pleasure to meet you and would have had the chance to meet you back at Red Fountain but had limited time with the wounded."
The girls had no idea she came to Magix and not seen her anywhere. "Wait, you've been to Red Fountain?"
"Sure did." Estrid answered. "Yeah, but only for a short moment when they needed some help and I volunteered with how much damage those witches and that Kefka villain caused."
"Yeah, you should have seen what they and their pals did to the city of Magix." Bloom could still remember how they unleashed an army of Grimm to wreck havoc on the cities in their path, and also how they destroyed the original Red Fountain, she feared what they could have done to Alfea and would have invaded other worlds, including Earth but they pulled through in the end to stop them.
"Uh, just to be curious, who are the Trix?" Carlos raised his hand to know what they were talking about.
Mal decided to answer his question by giving him the idea about them. "Think of them as three witches like me, but on a very bad day and more power mad."
"And if the people at school think you were bad, they haven't met the Trix yet." Taren would hate to think of them coming to Auradon at the time of the coronation in a few days and last thing they need is the kingdoms to be thrown into a state of panic.
Bloom shares his concern and only hopes they have a day without worrying about the Trix. "Well, it's very nice to meet you Estrid and appreciate how you offered to help out." Giving her hand out to offer a handshake.
Estrid took a liking to her personality and accepted it. "A real pleasure to meet the one who managed to woo this lazy bum. I didn't believe it at first with how they described your appearance."
Bloom could understand what she meant. "A lot of stuff happened unexpectedly."
"Bet you probably heard of us. The Villains Kids." Evie introduced herself and then to her friends. "You met Jay, this is Mal, I'm Evie and this is Carlos."
"Bet you must be scared of us." Jay at first though she was when they got some looks from other students and teachers.
However this came as a surprise from them when she seemed hardly fazed by their presence. "Compared to others I've seen and read, you seem like any other teenager. I've seen things way scarier than you."
"Got us there." Carlos seemed to agree with her and nodded his head. "I mean those monsters we just saw were terrifying." Mal gave him a narrow look of mentioning her partner and immediately gulped. "Except your little friends. I was referring to those other monsters. The Grimm?"
Taren would have said something before noticing something new being displayed, some sort of wooden shield with a tree emblem in the centre and ten green orbs curved halfway around the bottom. "Hey, this is new. Don't remember seeing this on display."
"Oh that, it was recently found in some ancient ruins near the Moors." Ben tells him. "Some believe this shield was in fact belonged to the Dark Fey in their time by a Fairy known as Titania, a Queen of the Third Race as a sign of trust."
"The Third race?" Evie pondered.
"Titania? Who's that?" Layla was unfamiliar with that name
"Wait a minute, I know that name, or at least the story about her" On a rare occasion, Bloom, who had been trying to know much of the customs and legends of the Magic Dimension actually knew something she was familiar with and answered for her. "She was said to be the queen of the fairies, at least in Shakespear's story, the Midsummer Night's Dream. I read about it a while back."
Taren nodded and surprised Bloom actually knew of it, but find it hardly surprising when she always had books related to fairies back on Earth. "We heard about it as well from our training, they're said to be called the Third Race."
"Macbeth and Yen Sid told us about them. Believe it or not, Earth has more than just humans, there's also another called the Gargoyles and the ones that are often called the Children of Oberon." Mal explained to them, earning the surprise looks from the Winx upon finding out more about Earth than they realised.
"Really? I never knew that." Bloom couldn't believe that there are actually some magical creatures still exist on Earth; she wondered if the Earth Fairies that vanished centuries ago could somehow be related to this Third Race. "So if the Earth Fairies aren't the only ones, how come they were never mentioned?"
"Yen Sid explained that they are a race of shapeshifters and tricksters. They go by many names in different cultures, like the Fair Folk, Dark Elves, the Sidhe." Mal tells them. "According to legend, they are creatures of pure magic and shapeshifters. Some even posed as gods in Earth's mythology, with exceptions such as the Olympian Gods."
"If they can change form then it would explain why we never heard of them." Flora found it fascinating that another race exist on Earth right under everyone's noses without them even being aware of it. Clearly there is more to it than they realise and perhaps if the headmistress knew or was aware of it.
"Ever met one of these 'Children of Oberon' guys?" Jay asked them.
Taren shakes his head. "Nope, but were warned to be very careful if we come across one. They're said to be very powerful and unpredictable." He then turns to Estrid. "So guessing you be sticking around for the coronation?"
"Sure, if the prince doesn't mind." Estrid asked.
Ben didn't see no reason not to. "Hey, you're welcome to the party as well."
"Great. And maybe next time I'll come to visit your world and show what I can do." She smiles and comes along with them.
Among the rest of the group, Mirta didn't say much while left to ponder in her own mind. Uncertain to understand why and couldn't put a finger on it, but for some strange reason when the name Titania was mentioned; it was as if it sounded very familiar to her and this was the first time she heard this name. 'Weird, where have I heard that name before?'
"Mirta? You alright?"
"Huh?" Snapped out of her train of thought to feel Flora's hand on her shoulder and looked over her shoulder. "Oh, sorry, I kinda got lost in thought for a moment. Better catch up with the others." Flora nodded and make their leave, but she couldn't help but notice the emblem on the shield and where she saw it before. Perhaps do some bit of research when they get back and certainly felt some strong magic from it.
The two girls make their leave, no one paid attention to a trio of teens stepped forward before the shield on display, they were none other than the Trix in disguise.
"Is it possible? This be the thing?" Darcy lifted her shades.
"We were told to look for the second codex but to think they had one of the artefacts right here and not know of its true nature And they think it belongs to some tribe of fairies?" Icy gazes at the shield. She knew it instantly from researching the ancient lores. "The Shield of Unity, wielded by the powerful Monarch of the Nature Civilization, the Almighty Colossus. We get it we will summon and command hordes of mighty beasts."
"And how will we get it out of here? Security here is tight." Stormy brought up a valid point with the security guards, not to mention the keybladers would know they are here if they cause trouble. "But look at this stuff, its a treasure trove waiting to be looted."
"Enough to make us powerful and no doubt Kefka wanted us to come along to make this a lot of fun. They say the prince's coronation is coming up, why don't we wait a little while and have some fun."
Coming back to the school, they somewhat split up while the VK take on a course by Fairy Godmother, Taren decided to find Flora in the library after collecting some books according to Bloom. Probably helping Tecna out with some research, so maybe drop by to see her. Making his way to his room to find her back facing him with some books.
"Hey, Flora, something you find interesting." He came in and heard a soft 'eep' as if he startled her.
Not showing her face and having the book in her hand up to her face. "Oh, uh, well I just thought to look into something and brought some with me in case."
Curious as to why she was keeping her face behind the book as it wasn't like her, he can picture Tecna or Timmy but not Flora. She seems to be hiding something. "Uh, Flora?"
"I found something about that shield and thought the symbol on it was familiar."
"Really? You think that shield is important? Well, maybe I can find out about it when we get back, I was thinking of taking you girls out in town." Thinking of trying to get a glance and yet she still kept her face down on the books.
"Oh that would sound lovely thank-hey!" Suddenly found the book she was reading was swiped from her hands and startled. "Wait! Taren!"
"Come on, what's with hiding your face like that?" Wondering why she was so keen to hide her, but then unexpectedly finds her wearing a pair of rimmed glasses on her flushed and embarrassed face. This surprised him to find her wearing glasses before. "Huh? Glasses? I had no idea you wear them."
It was something that Flora usually didn't bring up and felt her face turn red to be caught like this. "W-Well, not usually since I was a kid back then but gotten better. I normally wear them to stay focused and to read. I didn't say this to anyone out of embarrassment. " She thought her boyfriend would find it funny and silly of how she looked with them for reasons of not bringing the subject up or wearing them in front of her friends in the belief they would laugh at her.
Taren simply blinked his eyes while looking at her with them. "Really? I don't see why, don't make much difference to me." Smiles and chuckles. "I mean, they sorta look cute on you."
She was flustered by his compliments on her and felt happy to hear it while stuttering. "Y-You're just saying that to make me flush."
"Nah, I mean it, and I doubt the girls would laugh just for wearing glasses." Taren smiled
when suddenly their moment was interrupted by the sound of two boys fighting.
Flora takes her reading glasses off and stood up to hear the commotion. "What's going on out there?"
"Get off! It's mine!"
"I Got it first!"
"No way! Get your own!"
Taren knew those voices and sighed. "If I had to guess, it would be those friends of Mal, Jay and Carlos." Steps out of his room and finds Carlos with Jay holding one of his arms as if trying to pull something while they wrestled each other.
"Hey, guys, knock it off. You want to get in trouble?" Taren decides to intervene and try to get in between them.
They heard Taren and paused for a moment. Jay smiled and waved at him. "Taren! Glad to see ya, we need to know that stealing an answer is cheating?"
"Yeah, cause I was gonna answer some questions and you didn't." Carlos argued with Jay's arm around his neck like a vice grip.
"But I said it first." Jay stated and gave Carlos a nuggie on the head, causing him to squirm more.
"Well, maybe if you start by letting go of him before he turns blue would help your case." Taren suggested and gestured to Carlos.
Flora nodded. "Besides, this is just childish."
"Ahem! Boys!" The Fairy Godmother came by from the corner and found them in a moment of a fight. "Jay, if you let go of Carlos please?" Jay did so as Carlos freed himself and was able to stand. She obviously noticed Taren with one of the Winx members. "Oh, Taren, glad I found you so this saves the trouble. I thought perhaps you boys would take part in using that energy other than combat for something like the Tourney Fields. What do you think?" She thought it would be a good start for the new transferred students to gain positive activities and after seeing Taren's performance, the coach was eager to have him on the team for the tourney events.
The boys seem uncertain about the idea. "Oh no, that's okay… whatever that is." Carlos said. "We'll… we'll pass."
"Yeah, thanks Fairy Godmother, I think I'm cool with what I got at the moment." As much as Taren would like to, but he had his hands full on focusing on the current stuff to do as a keyblader. At least what he thought would make her see that as his responsibility.
Not taking 'no' for an answer, Fairy Godmother had them all sent to the field wearing gym uniforms for the try outs. Ben came along when he was surprised to hear that Taren was pulled into it.
"So how did I get roped into these things? Never saw myself as a Blitzball player, let alone a Tourney." Taren carried the helmet and a tourney stick to use for the game. He was wearing a blue themed uniform with Jay and Ben while Carlos wore yellow.
"Well think of it as some alternative try out than just keyblade training." Ben suggested. "Besides, least you might impress some whose watching.
Beside them were Flora, Tecna, Stella and Mirta were sitting. Mal and Evie were unable make it with being in a different class.
"So what exactly is this anyway?" Stella wasn't much of a sports person but came along to watch.
"It's called a Tourney." Tecna explained after conducting research on the sports. "It's a popular sport in Auradon, a mix between a lacrosse, hurling, soccer, and football put together."
"Might as well see how it turns out, even the guys got roped in it." Mirta said. "I can imagine some of the guys back home would have wanted to watch this, I even hear they have another game called Blitzball?"
Flora nodded. "Taren said it's another popular sport, I heard about it but never been one so he said we would go to watch next time."
"Say, Flora if you three are planning a date, maybe invite two more?" Stella suggested.
"Let me guess, you and Brandon?"
However, Stella shakes her head. "Nope, although no doubt he'd wanna come, but I thought maybe Musa and Riven to get them closer, this so-"
"Stella, I thought we agreed to let them sort it out on their own. They still have other issues to deal with." Flora thought to remind her of the last time she poked her business in other people's relationships when it almost got Musa in trouble with the witches.
Stella decided to back off upon being reminded. "Only thought to help."
Amaryl sighs as she could imagine the romance. "Aw, it would be so romantic."
"Alright, listen up Jay, Ben, offence. Taren, you go with them, Chad, you're defence." Coach Jenkins calls out to the players for the tryout for the team. "Taylor, you're the shooter. Hey. Hey! Hey, you. Lost boy!" He yells at Carlos who had not put on his helmet before catching his attention. "Put your helmet on. Get out of the kill zone! Come on."
"Kill zone?" Carlos wondered what that was until he walked where he was suppose to be.
"Pick it up! Put it on! Two hands." The coach then blows his whistle to start the game with Ben making the first move by picking up the ball, confronted by the two players trying to block his path but passed the ball to Taren who was running to his side, Giving Ben the chance to tackle one of them to the ground.
"Alright, Taren!" Stella cheers.
"Watch out!" Flora showed some support but also worried for his safety, yet doubted he would easily get hurt after seeing how strong he can be against powerful foes.
Taren ran and dodged another defence player, but when came the Dragon Cannons he flipped over a passing disc, he stopped and rotated his body with the build up adrenaline but when came another, he stumbled back of how close it came and drops the ball to block and deflect the next one. He was unharmed thankfully, but found his pass blocked by more players rushing towards him, when he spotted Jay tackling one of their opponents to the ground and saw an open. "Jay!" Used the stick to pick up the ball and threw it over to Jay.
Jay heard his name call out and caught the ball, with the path cleared for him and most of the players focused on Taren he made his move to run, moving so fast he swiftly jumped and spins himself around, dodging the projectiles, keeping his focus on the goal, passing the red line and took down another player, he let out a battle cry with Carlos ont he defence.
Carlos knew Jay being the toughest kid and seeing him running towards him made his body start to quiver. "Jay, It's me! It's Carlos!" However, Jay had no intention of slowing down with the ball in arms reach. "Wait, stop, Jay. Stop!" Thinking fast, he tried to throw the stick at him but hardly did anything, Jay whacked the ball into his shield and went in for the tackler. "No, no, no, no. No!"
Carlos raised his shield in time as Jay ran and jumped in mid-air to go for the ball, one of the other players was about to take a hit but he knocked him over ato claim the victory for himself. Lifting the ball in the air and gave a powerful swing to throw the ball into the ball.
Taren watched and was glad he wasn't on the different time. "Damn, never knew he had that skill."
Ben agreed with him and took his helmet off after being thrown off. "No kidding."
The cheerleaders, minus Audrey jumped and cheered for his win as Jay then start get into a victory dance. "OH YEAH! COME ON!"
Jenkins had seen enough and calls out to Jay. "You! Get over here!"
Jay stops his dance and walks over to him, the two boys follow, thinking he was not impressed by his tactics. Jay runs to the coach for what he wanted to say to him. "What do you call that?" Jay expected him to be scolded for how he played, but instead the coach smiled and looked very impressed. "I call that raw talent. Come find me later. I'll show you something you haven't seen before. It's called a rule book. Welcome to the team, son." The coach then turns to Taren. "That's some impressive moves you pulled, and I saw how you played in that spar match, we could definitely use yoru skills for the coming matches if you want."
"Um, sure." Taren could do some more, earning a nod of approvement from the coach before turning to Carlos who had shown little to the tryouts.
"You ever thought about band?"
Ben had thought of maybe offering some help for him get a little better. "I'll work with him, Coach."
The coach approved and willing to give another chance when he's ready. "All right. Let's run that again."
For Jay, he was starting to get the hang of it and ready for another go, turn saroudn and came face to face with Chad, the prince who he had tackled earlier and seemed less happy. "Hey, Jay, you coming?" Taren called him, Jay chose to say nothing and brushed him aside by the elbow. With no one looking Charming let out a groan in pain on his shoulder.
When practice was over, Ben came out of the hallway with Chad and Audrey, while Ben thought it be a good thing for Carlos and Jay to be accepted by the coach with such skills, things might be a good start so far. But still a long way to go for them and hoping Mal was doing alright fitting in.
Chad glanced over and suddenly showed disdain when he saw something and patted Ben on the arm. "Those kids are trouble."
Ben turns around and finds out he was referring to Mal and Evie by the lockers before the blue haired girl departed. Chad was obviously still bitter about Jay being accepted in the team and still believes the kids are trouble makers, it is a pity they don't seem to give them a chance to know them better. It was also clear that he also thinks Taren is starting to be like them for not acting like everyone. The prince shrugged his shoulders and saw nothing wrong with it. "Come on, Chad. Give them a chance."
"Oh." Audrey sighs and lifts her sunglasses to take her former boyfriend's hands to try to reason with him. "No offence, Ben, but you're just too trusting. Look, I know your mom fell in love with a big nasty beast who turned out to be a prince." She said, oblivious to Ben's sigh of her point of view of how it happened. "But with their parents, they caused a lot of crimes to be sent to the Isle. And should have been for the Evil Fairy. Not sure who's mother that girl is but she could be trouble."
While part of it was true about his father being a prince who was turned into a beast due to a curse, but his mother willingly stayed in the castle with him and eventually fell in love with him, even if he wasn't or even cursed for that matter which broke the spell to redeem him. Thinking back of his parents' history reflected on reasons why he started to fall for Mal even if she's the daughter of the Dark Fairy. And also for why he chose to end his relationship with Audrey who didn't understand his view of giving others a chance, including the Villains Kids.
"I think you're wrong about them. Especially Mal. Why else would she have been a worthy wielder of a keyblade? I've given her a chance, Taren, our friends, even the keyblade wielders. I'll see you later." Decided it would be best to leave, while Audrey spins around to go to the other direction and followed by a baffled Charming who still didn't understand why Ben would think that.
Oblivious to Ben, Mal could hear him on the last part and listened to what he was saying. Hearing that made Mal secretly smile. She never expected for him to come to her support and still even when he knew who she was and couldn't help but smile. True, when she came out with her secret, they didn't treated her differently, but from Ben it made her heart flutter and loss for words.
"Hey."
She spun around and snapped out of her thoughts to find him right beside her as she closed her locker. Acting as though she wasn't aware of what was happening and tried to act normal. "Hey."
"How was your first day?" Ben thought that was an awkward question to say and wanted to ask something else but didn't think of anything else but idle talk.
Mal was trying to think of a good reply fast, trying to say anything odd. "Super."
Ben nodded and looked at her painting and thought it was really talented. "You should really think about taking this talent off the locker and into art class." He remembered some drawings from Bloom, maybe the two could exchange ideas to help one another. "I could, uh, sign you up. What do you think?"
Mal would have thought of it when she saw a nervous looking girl dressed in old fashioned style light blue outfitbut with a bow on top of her head. She had shoulder-length brown hair, Jane she was called passing by who was in fact the daughter of the Fairy Godmother but notice how she was very shy to people, especially to the VKs when she met her in class. Turns back to Ben to answer his offer and while it may sound interesting but always known to express her talents her own way. "Way to take all the fun out of it." She gave a playful grin and strolls off.
"Huh." Ben thought how that went well, slumped back against the locker and thought to have come up with something else, trying to talk with his crush of how he actually feels for her was going to be harder than he thought.
Meanwhile Bloom took notice of their interactions while having her meal and couldn't help but smile of how it was like her with Taren.
"Something funny?" Speaking of her boyfriend, Taren pondered what she was she was smiling about when he turned around noticed and looked around to see Ben. "What's with him?"
Obviously since he was sitting with his back turned, he missed the moment to see Ben and Mal having a brief but awkward moment. She decided to ask him about it. "Just something of how he and Mal have been acting to each other. Have you noticed that?"
Not that he had for a moment, but did seem to notice how they behaved awkwardly to each other more frequently and didn't know why. "Yeah, now you mention it. I've been wondering what was going on. I always thought it was to help her fit in."
"True, but I think it's something more to it if you know." Something Bloom caught on to what she found out.
Mal took some privacy in the bathroom to get her head straight, sighed after that little chat. 'God what is wrong with me? He was right there and I could have said anything.' She could have said how she heard what he told those snobs how they think of her. Maybe she could get some advice from the Winx of how they usually go through this, maybe Bloom, Flora or Musa, Stella being the last person who would claim she was right about her. Opening the door to make her leave when suddenly find that girl from earlier cleaning up by the sink and looked startled to see her.
"Hi! It's Jane, right?" Mal guessed it right from her memory when she barely met her. "We didn't exactly meet, names Mal."
Jane barely said a word and "Your-"
Mal could already guess what she was gonna say. "Yeah, one of the Villain Kids, but also the official wielder of a keyblade. You probably heard about it."
"Uh,nice to meet you." Overwhelmed by her shyness and decides to make her leave but Mal stops her.
"Hey why the rush? I mean, I would have thought you would be… I dunno asked a lot of questions or something, but hoping at least hoping to get along with people." Mal did at least want to be accepted and hoped to make a good impression with the daughter of the Fairy Godmother but did not want to push her luck. "I mean, you probably have all the friends you need though, huh?"
"Hardly." Jane admits, which surprised Mal to hear about this for someone with a famous parent would have little friends.
"Really? I mean, with your mom being Fairy Godmother and headmistress? I mean, not to mention your own, um... personality." Didn't want to bring up her choice of clothing of how plain they look.
"I'd rather be pretty." Jane said as she wanted to be like the other girls in school than have a common look. "You've got great hair."
This surprised Mal that someone in the school actually complimented her hair and did have a habit of changing its colour for various reasons. Then suddenly thought of an idea to make a good impression to show her good side. "You know what? I have just the thing for that." Takes out an old spell book she had kept, while hardly using it with new magic she learnt in Cloud Tower and thought to make use of it. "It's right... Ah, here." She smiles and begins to read the spell to enchant it. "Beware, forswear, replace the old with brand new hair."
Flicks her finger from left to right, causing Jane's head to follow and when she flicks it downards, causing Jane to gasp and kneel down and come back up with long dark brown hair with soft curls on the side. Shows her reflection in the mirror and awed by her new look as she was speechless."Well, I say that's a new look to give a good impression?"
Jane couldn't believe it and was happy by her new prettier look, she was thrilled and maybe ask Mal for anything else of improvements. "Do my nose!"
Mal flinched and held her hand up. "No!" Almost caused Jane to flinch by her response until she calmed down. "Uh, I mean, well I can't do it cause last time I tried that… it didn't work out as I thought. Almost blew the house down with one sneeze." Something she did not want to bring up on the incident.
Somewhat disappointed but could possibly understand if she couldn't do it.
"But I think your nose is fine as it is." Least giving some hope to her. "Not like your mom with her wand. I mean, one swoosh from that thing and you could probably have whatever features you wanted." She would have expected Jane to inherit any trace of magic from her mother and could have done it herself.
"She doesn't use the wand anymore. She believes the real magic is in the books. And not the spell books, regular books with history and stuff." Jane tells her the reason why her mother never uses it these days since becoming the headmistress.
As much as Mal finds it unfair, but having to take Yen Sid's lectures on gaining knowledge rather than focus on the one thing. "That sort of feels… unfair, but don't see why we can't have both."
"Yeah." Jane agreed.
"Well, I mean, sure from our history it sort of has been used by both good and bad intentions like your mom to help Cinderella get to the ball… Ben's dad gets turned into a beast and … Maleficent.. Put a sleeping spell and use the Heartless." Uncomfortable with bringing her mother into it. "You heard of her and the Organization XIII?"
Jane nodded her head in fear of the names. "Yes, they were the worst. It was the reason she chose not to do magic. It's... It's just, you know, tough love. 'Work on the inside, not the outside.' You know, that sort of thing."
"Maybe she was just looking out for you, I kinda get that sort of impression from the fairies and usually being a troublemaker at times to other kids." Mal chuckled at the memories when she pranked them with her magic and at one point made rain in the inside of the house.
"Didn't you get into trouble over that?"
"Plenty, I was only a kid and matured…ish." Mal said. "If you gain magic, maybe you could convince her to use it. And, hey, If your mom does decide to, you know, break out the old wand, invite me or the other keybladers. Well, at least to keep a close watch in case any villains come."
"If I can convince mom, you're so there." Jane accepted the offer and shook her hand.
"Great, oh and if you wanna know about those girls, they're friends with me, Ben and Taren."
"Ben knows them? How?"
Mal mentally slapped herself for dropping Ben's name in it when he said to keep it a secret for now. "Uhhh… met after we dealt with the bad guys, he wanted to invite our friends over and meet other schools in the Magic Dimension. Anyway, better go." She makes her way to the door when suddenly it slammed into her face, startling Jane when it was done a blonde haired girl.
The blonde haired girl smiled at her. "Oh, sorry, have you a girl with eye sore of purple clothes and hair?"
"Right. Here." Mal pushed the door off her, with a red mark on her forehead and glared at her. "Stella, you better have-"
"There you are, Flora said she found something and need you pronto." Stella didn't take notice of her bump but more towards Jane's appearance. "Oh, love your, but you could do with the change of clothe-ack!"
"Give some fashion tips another time, just go!" Mal pushes her out of the bathroom, having no time to deal with her and hope whatever it was they have better be worth it.
"This better be good." Mal groans, rubbing the soreness on her forehead and giving a stern look at the Solarian princess who had apologised to her many times. She just hope it doesn't grow into a bump. Everyone gathered in the room for what it was Flora had found.
"It is and I found out where I saw that emblem before, the people believed it belonged to a race called the Dark Fey." Flora tells them and opens a book in her hand, passing a few pages and showed them the picture of the shield. "It's not actually from this world. It is in fact the Shield of Unity wielded by the Almighty Colossus."
"You mean it's an artefact?" Tecna guessed when Flora nods.
"Yes, and a shield of the Nature Civilization, I thought it had a familiar aura and mana."
"Wait, there were legends of such of the Dark Fey." Mal took her turn to speak. "Some say in the old times they used it to summon spirits of the Forest against the invading kingdoms to protect the Moorlands."
"How do you know this?" Musa asked her.
Mal gave her answer to explain. "Well, my aunts told me this story about the Dark Fey when I was, I never met them and no one has, they presumed to have vanished centuries ago by the war. There had been legends about them using magic. Not many know what they look like to be honest."
"Well, guess that would confirm the possibility if they somehow learned to summon creatures." Taren could guess if the stories were true. "So if it is the real thing, we should least explain to them to let us take it from being stolen."
Ben thought of an idea. "Maybe the Keyblade Masters could tell the Fairy Godmother of the situation and have it be given to Radiant Garden, much as the museum is heavily guarded, but better to keep it out of harms way if the Trix of Kefka find out it's here."
"Or Cronos." Mal said, getting everyone's attention. "Turns out he's working with them to get the artefacts when we fought him in the Underworld."
Taren sighs as if more trouble to deal with. "Great."
"Looks like we may have more trouble to deal with." Bloom said. "But maybe we should be ready, with the rest of us here, maybe call the Specialists for help."
Layla nods her head. "Good idea. If we can ask Saladin to let them spare some time on the Coronation, it would be a perfect chance for any villain to make their move."
"I'm good with that." Ben saw no objection to the plan. "Let's just keep our guard up for any signs of trouble."
And hope it can be smooth as it can be until the big day.
"How you holding up?" Musa had been dragged in to the science lab with Tecna as part of the transfer students of Alfea, luckily she has tecna as her lab partner to help.
"Compared to the science back home, this is like being in 4th grade." Tecna found no trouble to knowing the chemistry they were being taught, to her its child's play.
"Wow, you seem really good at this." Next to them was Evie alongside Doug. Evie was awed by how skilled she was. "I wouldn't know a thing about it."
Tecna didn't see it as a big deal to her. "When you lived on Zenith as long as I have, it comes as a natural habit."
"Usually the brains of our team." Musa commented.
However, Evie's attention was more to Chad sitting on the opposite of the table. "Any chance he's in line for a throne? Anywhere in line?" She asked Doug as she was fixated with him.
Doug didn't seem interested in bringing it up about Chad but answered her question. "Chad. Prince Charming, Jr. Cinderella's son. Chad inherited the charm, but not a lot of there, there, know what I mean?"
The girls pondered what he meant, but taking a glance of the prince who was barely noticed anything but staring blankly into space.
"Oh." Musa easily see it as Tecna did, finding immediate lack of interest in him.
"Indeed."
"Looks like there there to me." Evie didn't seem to noticed and smiled dreamily at him, causing Musa and Tecna to roll their eyes and shake their heads. Even Doug seemed to share their mutual thoughts.
The chemistry teacher, Mr Deley came up tot table table. "Evie. Perhaps this is just review for you. So tell me, what is the average atomic weight of silver?" Asking her a question to solve.
Tecna would easily answer this question in seconds, but had to remain silent since this was for Evie to solve it herself.
"Atomic weight?" Evie asked. "Uh, well, not very much. I mean, It's an atom, right?" She chuckled as did Charming, but the teacher was waiting for an answer, gestures his hand for her to come to the board. Evie gets up from her chair, drawing Musa's attention of her picking something up like a mirror which confused her of why she needed it. "Let's see. How do I find the average atomic weight of silver? That would be 106.905 times .5200, plus 108.905 times .4800, which, Mr. Deley, would give us 107.9 amu."
"Amu?" Doug and Tecna said at the same time.
The teacher was amazed by her answer and seemed correct. "I forget. Always a mistake to underestimate-"
"A villain?" Evie smirks. "Don't make it again."
Chad slipped a note to her as she passes, easily noted by the girls who had a bad feeling about this when mentioned of him by Taren and Ben. She opens it and reads "Meet under the Bleachers at 3."
"You think he-"
"Yep." Tecna nods and sighs as this could be trouble.
Ben used the spare time to help Carlos for some practice to give another shot on the Toruney time, hopefully to give some encouragement to help him out. Layla offered to watch along with Terra during his stay.
"Okay. Carlos, we're gonna do some sprints. You ready?" received a nod from Carlos, Ben set the timer when suddenly Carlos sprinted immediately with a dog chasing him.
"Oh! Ah! No, wait!"
"Wow, he sure can run." Layla commented.
Ran passed the trio, Ben was amazed by the timing. They realised he wasn't stopping and were alarmed. "Carlos? Carlos!"
They went after him and found him clinging to a tree in fear by the dog.
"Carlos!" Terra called out his name.
"No, stop!" Carlos warned them
"Whoa-Whoa-Whoa!" Ben calms him down.
"What's the problem?" Layla asked why he ran off like that.
"Guys, help me! This thing is a killer! He's gonna chase me down and rip out my throat. This is a vicious, rabid pack animal!" Carlos cried out in fear and accused the dog of being a killer.
Ben wondered where he got such an idea. "Who told you that?"
"My mother." Carlos told them.
Terra could guess who he was talking about. "Cruella?"
"Who's she?" Layla never heard of her and asked.
"A woman so obsessed with fur, she wanted a fur coat out of nearly a hundred Dalmation pups for their spots." Terra explained to her, causing Layla to gasp in horror.
"What?! That's horrible!" She couldn't believe someone would be so cruel to harm such innocent puppies for their fur.
Carlos thought it was obvious. "She's a dog expert. A dog yellerer."
"I think you got it backwards." Layla could hardly believe a thing like the dog so adorable to be a killer. "Look at him he's harmless" She picks it up in her arms.
He thought she was out of her mind to pick up the supposed killer dog. "Why are you holding him? He's gonna attack you!"
Ben realised that he must have been told of these lies by his mother even when she was sentenced to the Isle for her crimes. He must not have been around dogs his whole life. "Carlos, you've never actually met a dog, have you?"
"Of course not." Carlos admits to him.
Ben thought of an idea to get him out of this phobia. "Dude, meet Carlos. Carlos, this is dude. He's the campus mutt."
Carlos takes a closer look, he admits that the dog didn't seem as scary as he thought it was. "He doesn't look like a vicious, rabid pack animal." Slowly climbing down from the tree. "Jeez. You're a good boy, aren't you? You're a good boy."
Layla smiles and hands him over to Carlos who, seeing him grow comfortable by touching and stroking the dog.
"I guess even on the island, your parents had it rough on you."
"Yeah. Well, not so bad in the village with the other kids, but do tend to keep in touch with our parents.
"Good boy." Ben pats him on the shoulder but corrects his words. "I mean, you're a good runner. You're... you're fast, you know."
"Oh. Yeah. Thanks." Carlos appreciated his generosity.
"Yeah. Listen, we're gonna give you guys some space, yeah?" Ben suggested letting5 Carlos and Dude bond with each other. "You guys get to know each other and just, you know, come find me when you're done, okay?"
Carlos nodded. "Okay."
"Don't be out here too long." Terra advised him as the trio left them be. "Gotta say, your highness, you might have made a good influence on that kid."
Ben smiled and appreciated the master's words. "I just said what I felt was right, not all of them should be treated like that."
Layla was baffled by how the VKs can be treated like outcasts for no reason. "What I don't understand is how anyone in Auradon would treat them like criminals. They did nothing wrong, it was their parents who did those crimes, right?"
"That's right, however, it's been going on for years by some, especially Maleficent when they took part in the last Keyblade War many years ago." Terra told her, given her lack of knowledge of their worlds. "With some given a new chance in life, we sought to exile them to the Isle of the Lost, hoping to at least gain some redemption while keeping their children from their influence.
"If you ask me, that seems to do little to help out." Layla implied.
Terra could hardly argue with her logic on it. "You're right, it's not fair for them, which is why we need to break that cycle of fear and hate to move on to the future rather than hold back by our pasts. If we can reach out to some, we might have that chance… otherwise we'd end up creating a new generation of hate because of the unwillingness to let go of the pain we suffered."
Ben listens to his words, understanding what he meant and reasons he wanted to make an effort for the other children of the villains a better life than follow in their footsteps. But knowing some who have doubts or refuse to accept them is another matter to deal with.
Evie followed Chad's note to meet him behind the Bleachers at 3pm where he was waiting for her, she believed he wanted to ask her out and couldn't be excited to go out with a prince.
"Is everybody at home as pretty as you?" Chad asked her.
"I like to think I'm the fairest of them all." Evie smiled. "How many rooms in your castle?"
"Oh! Too many to count." Chad said without even knowing it himself, Evie sighs until he continues. "You really nailed that chemistry problem today. You're gonna have all the nerds in love with you."
"I'm not that smart." Evie tells him as what she thought.
"Oh, come on." Chad smiles.
"No, really, I'm not. But I'm... I'm really good at sewing, cooking and cleaning. You know, like your mother, Cinderella, without the ratty dress." She then takes out her mirror from her bag to show him. "See this? If I ask it where something is, it tells me."
Gained his interest that a mirror could do that. "Are you kidding?"
"No." Evie was certain.
He takes it from her hand to try it. "Where's my cellphone?"
"It won't work for you, silly." She giggled as it didn't seem to respond to his command.
"No biggie." Chad dismissed it casually. "My dad will just get me a new one."
"Prince Charming."
"Yeah."
"And Cinderella." She leans closer to him.
"Yeah."
"Fiary Godmother." She sighed. "Um, maybe… hang out more?"
"Gee, I love to… but…" Chad groans in a dramatic dismay. "I'm just swamped. Unless…"
"Unless?" She asked him.
"If you could knock all my homework out along with yours, then maybe we could get together sometime. Hang." Taking his backpack off of his shoulder and giving it to her, she didn't show any hesitation after he was offering to hang out with her, thinking it would be a date. Oblivious to the fact that he just conned her into doing his homework for a false promise.
"Okay!"
"Thanks, babe." Chad flashes a grin to make her giddy.
Suddenly, Doug who was sitting above the seats leaned down to poke his head through the gap. "I couldn't help but overhear-"
"Are you stalking me?" She accused him.
"Technically... yes." Doug reluctantly admitted. "But only for a good reason and the others did."
Standing behind her were Tecna and Musa who shared a look of disapproval after that display they witnessed. They followed her after finding out from Doug of his intentions and made certain to stay at a good distance
"Wow, that's some prince." Musa said with sarcasm.
"For someone who makes others do their homework sounds odd, don't you think, Evie?" Tecna asked her.
But Evie didn't take any notice and was annoyed they followed her. "You two are just jealous for not having any princes to date."
"We don't need a prince to date and already have someone in mind." Musa said.
"And certainly not like him." Tecna said. "Stella's a princess but also dating a squire for a boyfriend. But Taren has told us about him, and told us to warn you that this Charming fellow isn't what you think he is."
"I'd take her advice, believe me I know." Doug took her side for it and climbed down through the bleachers. "Perhaps if you need any help, we could sit next to each other and discuss its attributes?"
Offering her a chance to hang out, only to be brushed off by Evie who seemed more into Chad when she walks away.
Tecna pats him on the shoulder for comfort. "Don't worry, maybe she will give you a chance."
"You think? I mean, no way someone as pretty as he would go out with me." Doug didn't seem convinced.
"Not to worry, she's got someone who has the hots for her and also brainy." Musa smiles, causing tecna to flush.
"Musa!" She pushes the snickering music fairy to the other side. "Let's go and maybe find something about the shield of Unity."
"Are you on about that ancient shield?" Doug inquired to what they wanted to know about it."
"Uh, just something that we might know about." Tecna told him. "By the way, was there information about it like its origins?"
Doug had a moment to think. "Uh, well, not much other than believed to been used by the Dark Fey and given by a fairy Queen Titania, but not much."
She thought perhaps if any further information about it but maybe ask Mal given her more knowledge about it. "Okay, thanks anyway." The two made their leave and look for the others of what they found.
Much as I wanted to do more but thought to end it here for another segment for the Auradon arc, hope you enjoyed the fight, I didn't do much as thought to focus on how they improved, but will get better with new magic commands they will learn. Now they found the third artefact and surprised it was in Auradon the whole time but had some myths. For those familiar with gargoyles I decided to add more to it than just Macbeth, given being a fan of the show when I was a kid. They will meet the characters soon and build up more lore to mingle together, given Bloom the realisation that there was more than just Earth Fairies involved but other races as well. Also added the Dark Fey from Maleficent movie and have ideas for them in the future.
Thought it be fun for Ben to have like a secret until he will reveal it to them that their prince and future king is a wielder of a keyblade. Also planning an idea to give a tribute to our beloved Dark knight who gave the one and only voice of Batman, Kevin Conroy who passed away a few days ago. God rest his soul. As for the changes since they don't have a mission to steal the wand, but will play a role in it, so had to change a few things.
Working on the next one as I already have some bit of scenes so that would give a head start and have some interesting twists coming up so keep a look out.
