The next morning, on New Year's Day, Ben woke up after having a dark nightmare, where he was standing alone in darkness and he felt a dark presence in there with him. All Ben heard was an evil laugh, a laugh that he was familiar with. That caused Ben to wake up and all the Force spirits were looking at him. Ben looked at them and asked, "You all felt that?" The Force spirits nodded and Luke said, "Indeed. That dark presence felt familiar. I think I know who that was." "Palpatine," Anakin said. "I know that laugh anywhere." "Could he be the one behind Uma and Audrey's revenge schemes?" Han asked. "Maybe," Leia said. "But he is masking himself so we can't be sure. But this dream of yours, Ben, must be trying to warn us that something is coming, like Agathe warned." "Your mother is right," Obi-Wan said. "The Force is warning you that something is here, and you need to find it and defeat it." "But," Ben said. "Can I defeat it on my own? What about Mal?" "Her memories and Force connection," Yoda answered. "Returned they must be. Only then can you defeat this darkness with her help." "Do you know what her decision is yet?" Padme asked. Ben shook his head and said, "No, I don't. I want her to make the choice on her own. No pressure. But I want her to get her memories and Force connection back. But it's not my choice. Until then, I will search for this darkness and defend this kingdom from it anyway I can." The Force spirits nodded and disappeared back into Ben's body. Ben got out of bed, Chewie following behind him, as Ben went into his closet to change.
His phone beeped and it was from Lumiere, telling him that last night went great and that preparations for tonight's New Years Address in the throne room were underway. The address was not going to be as formal as the ball the previous night, but everyone who was there the night before was to come back and listen to the speech Ben and Mal had to give. Ben looked over and saw the notes for his speech on his desk. After he got dressed, he picked up those notes and ran out of his room.
Mal awoke from a similar dream, where like Ben, she was in a dark void and heard evil laughter ringing in her ears. She immediately thought of Ben as she felt that he probably had the same dream. Knowing that she had to get to Ben's castle immediately, Mal got out of bed and went to her closet to change. She was still staying at Evie's house during the winter break and she ran out the door without saying hello to Evie, Carlos, or Jay. Her three friends were shocked at Mal's actions but Jay said, "Maybe she forgot that she had to do something and was in a hurry. We can ask her later." Evie and Carlos nodded in agreement.
Mal transformed into a dragon so that she could fly to Ben's castle, forgetting that she could have just teleported herself there. She landed at the front and transformed back into herself and ran inside. She ran past the throne room, which had staff members taking down decorations from last night and putting new ones up to the New Years Address that she and Ben were to give later in the day. She found Ben walking towards his dad's office and ran right up to him and gave him a hug, which Ben gladly returned. Ben pulled away and said, "Someone is happy to see me this morning." Mal nodded and said, "I always am. But I wanted to talk to you. About this dream I had." Ben got serious and whispered, "After this morning's meeting, we'll talk. Did you bring your notes for our speech tonight?" "Oops," Mal said. "In my hurry, I forgot." Ben smiled and said, "We can go back to Evie's place to pick them up later. Ben grabbed Mal's hand and they walked to his dad's office, where Adam and Belle were waiting.
"Hey, you two," Adam greeted. Belle walked over and Ben gave his mother a kiss on the cheek. "So," Belle said. "How do you two feel last night went?" "The ball went very well," Ben said. "Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. No problems came up." "Actually," Adam said. "We got a call from Chad's parents this morning. He went missing just after midnight and guards found him lying outside the forest surrounding the castle. He's in a coma." Ben and Mal looked at each other, then back at Adam. "Where is he now?" Ben asked. "At his family's castle," Belle said. "Fairy Godmother is with his parents. They don't want visitors right now. Maybe when he's awake they'll let you visit him." Ben and Mal nodded and Ben asked, "Anything else?" Adam shook his head no and said, "Not for right now. I know you two have meetings today and you need to finish preparing for tonight's address so we'll let you go." Ben grabbed Mal's hand and pulled her out of the room.
Ben dragged Mal into his own office and closed the door behind him. He then summoned the door to his secret room and led Mal inside. Once inside, Mal turned to Ben and said, "Something's bothering you. What is it?" Ben sighed and said, "I had a dream last night. About the dark presence that affected both Uma and Audrey. I think he's the darkness Agathe referred to. He may be coming back in some way." "That's what I wanted to talk to you about," Mal said. "I had a dream last night where I was in a dark void and I heard an evil laugh. Could that have been him?" Ben nodded and said, "I had that exact same dream. And I recognized the laugh. I think he is the Emperor that I told you about." "Him?" Mal asked. "The Emperor who created Snoke and was a voice in your head for most of your previous life?"
Ben nodded and said, "Yes. I think he somehow found a way to come here. Why can't he just be gone for good?" Ben started to pace and Mal said, "Ben, it's OK. You defeated him once, you can just do it again." Ben stopped and turned to Mal and said, "That's just it. I wasn't the one to defeat him last time. Remember, that was you. Well, the old you. I was sent down a large ditch. By the time I reached you, Palpatine was gone and I had to bring you back to life." "Sorry," Mal said. "I forgot. Plus, my memory dreams haven't shown me anything about that except you dying."
Ben sighed and said, "I know. I'm sorry. It's just, Mal, he is an evil man. You think the villains here are bad. They are mellow compared to him. He took over the entire Old Republic to become Emperor while doing Sith things on the side. He created an army out of clones and created an Empire where war always raged. He created a giant planet killer called the Death Star, twice, that destroyed the home planet of my mother's adopted parents and my parents and uncle had to destroy it both times. Not to mention he is the same man that manipulated my grandfather into becoming Darth Vader which led to my grandmother's death and my mother and uncle being separated for the first 25 years of their lives. Darth Vader, the man who kidnapped his daughter and made her watch as her planet was destroyed, the man who cut off my uncle's hand in combat…." "Hey!" Anakin shouted in Ben's head making Ben wince. "Sorry," Ben said. "My grandfather took offense to that. Mental fight. Anyway, my grandfather threw Palpatine down a long shaft and somehow that didn't fully end him. He made clones of himself so he could transfer his spirit. He then found out about my existence and under the guise of Snoke, mentally abused me through lies and deceit and drove me to the Dark side. And…."
Ben looked at Mal, who said, "Ben? What is it?" Ben sighed and said, "Mal, Palpatine is….was your grandfather." "What?" Mal said stepping back. "Yes," Ben said. "He's your grandfather. I forgot to mention that when I unloaded everything onto you. You were the one to defeat him." Mal took some deep breaths and said, "Does he know about me?" Ben shook his head and said, "No, he doesn't. He knows that you are important to me, but because you haven't gotten your memories or Force connection back, he can't sense you." "OK," Mal said. "That's a good thing, right? If I don't get my memories and Force connection back, then we can be one step ahead of him and find a way to defeat him." "Yeah," Ben said, looking down. "Ben?" Mal asked. "What's wrong?" "Well," Ben said. "Yeah, we can do that, but he is one of the most powerful Force users to ever exist. I can't handle him all on my own. The best way to defeat him is if the dyad is reunited. If you get your memories and Force connection back."
Mal stared at Ben and said, "Ben, you said you wouldn't pressure me into this choice. It's a big choice." "I know," Ben said. "But I wasn't expecting the man who ruined my entire family to come back and potentially threaten everything that I have worked hard for to make your wish of us having a better second chance at life together! And I have waited a very long time for the other half of the dyad to be reunited with me fully! I am losing my patience!" Ben stopped when he realized what he just said and looked at Mal who started to tear up. "Mal," Ben said. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean any of that." "Yes, you did," Mal said. "I didn't realize that this was hard on you. I should be the one who is sorry. I didn't mean to make you suffer as you wait with my decision. I'm so sorry."
Mal started to cry as Ben walked over and held Mal in his arms as she cried and Ben said, "I'm sorry Mal. I didn't mean to unload all of my feelings onto you. It's just been so hard all of these years waiting for you to come over to Auradon, to develop our relationship, and to wait for you to be fully reawakened. My patience has been wearing thin. Palpatine's potential return has me on edge. Of course I don't want him to get to you. But I know that we can defeat him together, like we should have before once and for all." Mal pulled away and dried her eyes, saying, "I understand. I will make my decision soon, I can promise you that. For now, let's just keep our guard up and see what we can find out. Maybe we can go visit Chad when he wakes up and find out what happened and if he encountered this Palpatine. Maybe he did, maybe he didn't. But we can't worry about it. We can just be prepared." Ben nodded his head and said, "Well, why don't we go over to the computers and see if we can research what happened last night since Chad is in a coma?" Mal nodded and Ben led her to the computers in the room.
Meanwhile, Chad, or rather Palpatine in Chad's body, woke up. He sat up and looked around. "This must be the boy's bedroom," Palpatine thought. "Then my plan worked perfectly. I can sense people waiting outside. Yes. I sense the Fairy Godmother that I have seen through Uma and Audrey. She could be very useful for what I have planned." He heard the door click and saw the boy's parents and Fairy Godmother walk in. "My boy!" Cinderella ran to her son and hugged him. "I am so glad you are alright. What happened, sweetheart? Why were you out in the forest last night?" Palpatine then said in Chad's voice, "I am sorry, mother. I didn't mean to scare you. I got upset at the ball last night and I needed some air. I didn't mean to wander out so far." Cinderella put her hand on Chad's forehead and was surprised that he felt cold. "You feel cold," Cinderella commented. "Are you sure you're alright?" Palpatine gave a creepy smile on Chad's face and said, "Of course, mother. I've never felt better."
He then surprised everyone by raising his hands up and freezing the three adults in place with the Force. Letting out an evil chuckle, Palpatine said in Chad's voice, "Now, you three will obey me." He then reached out with the Force and used his power to put the three adults under his dark control. Their eyes glowed yellow as Chad's eyes turned yellow for a second. Sensing his work was done, Palpatine put his hands down and said, "Good. You three are now under my control. Correct?" "Yes, Master," Cinderella, King Charming, and Fairy Godmother said. "Excellent," Palpatine said. "Now, there are some things we need to discuss. Starting with this. Is is true that I will become king if King Ben falls?"
Ben and Mal were looking at the computers in Ben's secret room as C-3PO said, "There had been no signs of Force energy in the areas that you are looking at, Master Ben." "I figured," Ben said. "As advanced as these computers are, if someone like Palpatine is strong enough to cover his tracks, then this computers can't help in any way." "Wait a minute," Mal said. "We might be looking at this the wrong way. Ben, can you use the Force to sense where Palpatine might have been?" Ben closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them and said, "Unfortunately I can't. Like I said, Palpatine is masking himself somehow. I can't sense him." "Then," Mal replied. "If we can't sense or track him, then we should go about this from another angle. Can we track where Chad might have gone to last night?" Ben realized what Mal was saying and gave her a quick peck on the lips and said, "You're a genius." Mal smiled and said, "I know." Ben typed away at the computers and got a hit. "There," Ben said. "I have a weak heat signature that's about 10 hours old. We can start there." "We shouldn't do this alone," Mal said. "The forest surrounding your castle is huge. Plus we made need some more magic at our side if we are dealing with this all powerful Force user. I'll call my gang and Uma's crew and have them meet us at the forest's edge." "Tell Uma to bring Celia with us," Ben said. "She's a seer and we may need that."
Audrey was sitting in her bedroom drinking tea. She was smiling thinking about her night with Harry at the ball. She was going to see him later at the address at Ben's castle. She looked over to the door when she heard a knock and said, "Come in." A guard came in and said, "Princess, your parents and grandmother request your presence downstairs in your father's office. Immediately." Audrey was confused. Her parents never requested her like this before. She took a deep breath and got up and said, "Alright. I am coming." She walked past the guard and out of her room.
She arrived at her father's office and was surprised to see Chad's parents sitting there with her parents and grandmother. She curtsied out of respect and said, "King Charming. Queen Cinderella. Greetings." King Phillip looked at Audrey and said, "Darling, your mother, grandmother, and I have been discussing with the king and queen of Cinderellasburg and decided to unite our two kingdoms through matrimony to their wonderful son, Chad." Audrey's heart fell to her stomach as she whispered, "Marriage? To Chad? But why? I don't love him. I love someone else." "To that pirate?" Queen Leah sneered. "Yes, we heard all about him and how you two have been seeing each other in secret. Chad told us what happened last night. How he was trying to talk to you and that pirate beat him up. No wonder Chad was a mess when they found him outside the forest this morning." "That's a lie!" Audrey shouted. "Chad assaulted me because I denied him and Harry saved me. I have the bruises on my arm to prove it." "Audrey!" Phillip shouted. "That is no way to talk to your grandmother. This marriage to Chad is happening and that is final. You already failed one betrothal so you will not mess this one up!" Audrey was appalled at how her family was acting. This was not like them. Standing tall, she glared at her family and said, "With all due respect to everyone here, I will not marry Chad. I will fight this with all my strength. I love Harry, and there is nothing that can change that."
"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure about that." Audrey twirled around and saw Chad standing in the entryway, smiling a creepy smile. "Now, can everyone except Audrey please leave for a moment? I want to talk to my future bride alone." To Audrey's surprise, all the adults in the room stood up and walked out of the room, the door closing behind them, but Audrey noticed a yellow glow in their eyes, which disturbed her.
She turned to Chad and said, "What's going on? I understand that you are upset about last night, but this? Why? This isn't you." Chad chuckled darkly which made Audrey shiver with fear. "What's going on is that as future king of Auradon, I need a queen by my side and I chose you, my dear." "What?" Audrey said. "You can't be future king of Auradon. Ben is king." "Not for long," Chad said, grinning. Chad's eyes flashed yellow and Audrey took some steps backwards and said, "You're not Chad."
Suddenly Chad let out an evil laugh, and the voice sounded familiar to Audrey. She gulped and whispered, "You. The one who made me steal the scepter and crown." "Very good," Chad said but this time in Palpatine's voice. "For a spoiled princess, you are very bright." "What did you do to Chad?" Audrey shouted. "Ah," Palpatine said. "Well, after your little revenge scheme failed, you gave me enough dark energy to come to this world. Unfortunately I was just a spirit with no body so I needed a vessel. And this prince wondered into the forest with a broken heart. He was right for the taking. His soul is trapped in his mind while I occupy it. And now I will conquer this world and the worlds beyond this one. But in order to do that, I need to get rid of the current king. And I am giving you what you always wanted, to be queen of Auradon." "I don't want that anymore," Audrey said. "I realized that I was wrong. Ben was never meant to be with me. I found my true love." "Ah," Palpatine chuckled. "That pirate. Interesting choice. I know of a pirate, or smuggler in this case, from a long time ago in a galaxy far far away. He fell in love with a princess. Their union created a son, a son that I molded with my hands and mind to make the perfect dark warrior, Kylo Ren. Only he disappointed me in the end." Audrey's eyes went wide and she whispered, "Ben." "Oh," Palpatine said. "So the king has told you his little secret. Interesting. This will help my plans even further."
"What plans?" Audrey asked. "My plans for domination," Palpatine answered. "I am going to expose the king for not being who he says he is and remove him from the throne. Then I am crowned king, with you as my queen. Then my darkness will build on this world until it dominates it completely. Then I will conquer the galaxy, planet by planet. Just like I did millennia ago." "You won't get away with this," Audrey said. "Ben is more powerful than you think, and no one will believe you." Palaptine let out an evil laugh and said, "Oh, people will. I'll show them what happened on that fateful day. When the king ran into the forest, heard the siren's call, and was possessed by an ancient spirit who wants to take the throne away for himself and cause chaos to Auradon, all in the name of the Enchantress, who wants her revenge on the kingdom that banned magic and cast out the villains in such horror. Oh yes, I have heard of this Enchantress and how she threatened King Adam and Queen Belle that there will be consequences for their actions. Fairy Godmother is very enlightening when she became under my control. In fact, she is meeting with the council right now and spreading my darkness to them, like I did to your family. During the New Years Address, I will expose the big secret and force his hand. And the former king and queen will force that villain Hades, who Fairy Godmother will magically capture beforehand, to remove the evil spirit from the king and expose him in front of the entire kingdom. But, the poor parents will find out that they just ordered the death of their only son. So, since the king has no heir, I will take the throne, as I am next in line. Then my new empire will begin."
"You're a monster," Audrey said, backing away. Palpatine raised his hand and used the Force to summon Audrey into his arms. Audrey tried to break free but couldn't as tears started to run down her face. "Don't worry, my dear," Palpatine said. "Once you are filled with darkness again, you will understand and you will join me." Palpatine crushed his lips onto Audrey's and through the kiss he had some of his darkness go into her. Audrey tried to fight him off, but the darkness was winning. A sign of it working was that her hair was turning back to the pink with blue highlights like it was during her revenge scheme. Palpatine pulled away and saw Audrey's eyes turn yellow for a second before going back to normal. "There you are, my dear," Palpatine said. "How do you feel?" "Good," Audrey said with an evil smile. "Excellent," Palpatine said as he held out his arm. "Come. We must go find Fairy Godmother to check her progress. Then we will go to the New Years Address and enact my plan. The people of Auradon are in for a surprise." Audrey took his arm and the two walked out of the office.
Over in the forest, Ben and Mal met up with Evie, Carlos, Jay, Uma, Harry, Gil, and Celia. "OK," Uma said. "So explain to me again why we are out here in the cold retracing some prince's route?" Ben glared at Uma and said, "Because something dark has entered this world that should not have. The same darkness that was in that amulet you had. The same one who affected Audrey. And the same one who messed with my family millennia ago!" Mal walked over to Ben and said, "Ben, breathe. It's OK. We will get to the bottom of this. Just breathe." Ben took some deep breaths and turned to Uma and said, "Sorry. It's just, this dark man has done so much evil that it makes everything all the villains did child's play." Uma nodded and said, "I get it. From what I remember of him when I had the amulet, his darkness was strong. If Chad somehow encountered him out here, then we need to find out."
"Gil," Ben said. "You're good at tracking. Can you find Chad's footsteps?" "Sure," Gil said. "Harry can help me." Harry nodded in agreement and went with Gil to find Chad's footprints. Ben turned to Celia and said, "Celia, can you use your visions to figure out what happened last night?" "I can try," Celia said. "It works best through touch." Celia started to walk around and tried to sense where Chad was the night before.
"OK," Jay said. "So Chad gets upset because of Audrey and Harry, so he runs out here. Why?" "He probably was suffering from a broken heart," Evie said. "He worships Audrey. And now that he knows that he isn't her true love, he's heartbroken. So he probably ran off into the night, not thinking about where he was going." "Poor guy," Carlos said. "I mean, I am not the biggest fan of the guy since he likes to sneak into my room to use my 3D printer, and he's never been the biggest fan of us VKs, but he didn't deserve almost freezing to death out here."
Mal listened to what her friends were saying, but then she got the feeling that she was being watched. She turned and saw Agathe standing in the distance, staring right at her. Suddenly she heard Agathe's voice in her head, "Mal. The time has come. Time to regain what you have lost and what you need so you can start your true destiny. Come find me, Rey." Mal stared at Agathe as the woman held out her hand towards Mal, silently begging her to come to her.
But then Evie stepped in front of Mal and said, "Mal? Are you OK? It looks like you've seen a ghost." Mal looked at Evie, then back where Agathe was standing, but Agathe was gone. Mal shook her head and said, "I'm fine, Evie. Just thinking. Nothing to worry about." Evie didn't seem convinced, but dropped the matter for now.
As Gil and Harry were trying to find Chad's footprints, Harry kept rubbing his chest in pain. Gil noticed and asked, "You OK, man?" "I don't know," Harry said. "I've been feeling chest pains for a little while today that won't go away. And for some reason, all I am thinking about is Audrey. I don't know why." Suddenly Gil stopped making Harry bump into him. "Gil? Warn me next time?" Gil pointed his finger to some tracks. Harry smirked and shouted, "Guys! Over here!" Everyone gathered around them and Carlos said, "Good work, Gil. Based on the imprints, these are definitely Chad's footprints. Only he wears shoes like these."
The group followed the tracks that led to a small clearing and everyone stopped in shock. They saw decay all around the area. "What happened here?" Evie asked. "Something bad," Uma said. "I can feel all sorts of darkness here." Ben closed his eyes and reached out with the Force. Suddenly everyone heard an evil laugh and Ben opened his eyes. "Palpatine," Ben said. "He was here. That was his voice." "Does that mean Chad interacted with him?" Jay asked. "I don't know," Ben said. "I can't see anything. The Force is clouded around here. Palpatine covered his tracks." Celia knelt down and put her hand on the ground and she got fractured visions in her mind. "Ben's right," Celia said. "I can't get a clear vision of what happened here. All I can sense is a dark spirit and Chad's fear. The two definitely interacted here. And the darkness was so great that it killed all wildlife in this small area. Even my shadows are afraid. If we want to figure out what happened, we need to talk to Chad. Physical contact with him will help clear the visions I got."
Ben's phone beeped and Ben pulled it out seeing a message. "We need to head back," Ben said. "Is it about Chad?" Mal asked. Ben shook his head and said, "It's almost time for the New Years Address. We need to go get ready. I'll try to contact Chad's family and see how he is doing." Everyone nodded and walked out of the forest. Mal turned back to the forest and saw Agathe staring at her again, but Mal turned around and followed Ben and their friends.
Hades was sitting in the little apartment he was given after leaving the Isle. He was going to watch the New Years Address from there as even though he wanted to be there, he knew that many people in Auradon still didn't trust him. He looked over at a box that contained his ember. Mal had returned it to him after the barrier came down since she said, "It was never meant for me. Like you said, I'm half Hades. It will always be yours." Hades sighed as he looked out the window and saw the Isle in the distance. He was glad that he was able to spend more time with his daughter, but he sensed that Mal was troubled as of late. Since he found out about who Mal truly was, he sensed her conflict about if she wanted her memories and Force connection back. He wanted to help her, but knew that he couldn't.
As he was thinking to himself, the door to his apartment blew open and Fairy Godmother along with some guards burst in. Fairy Godmother had her wand and waved it at Hades, putting him in magical chains around his hands and legs. "Hades," Fairy Godmother said. "You are under arrest for conspiracy!" Guards circled Hades and grabbed him as the god struggled. "Unhand me!" Hades shouted. "I have done nothing wrong since being released from the Isle!" Fairy Godmother waved her wand and Hades' mouth was covered up so he couldn't talk. She looked over and saw the box that the ember was in and picked it up. "We'll be needing this," Fairy Godmother said. "You will help expose the false king for who he really is." Hades' eyes widened as the guards dragged him away, Fairy Godmother pulled out her phone and calling Chad, or rather Palpatine.
Back in Cinderellasburg, Palpatine, in Chad's body, was lounging in the library with Audrey at his side when his phone rang. He answered it, "Is it done?" "Yes," Fairy Godmother answered on the other side. "We have Hades and his ember." "Good," Palpatine said. "I will go to the king's castle and you will wait outside there until I call for you. Have the guards with Hades at your side." "Understood," Fairy Godmother answered then she hung up.
Palpatine looked over at Audrey, who was sitting quietly, and asked, "Are you ready to overthrow the king?" Audrey smiled a creepy smile and said, "Absolutely." "Very good," Palpatine said as he stood and Audrey took his arm.
They walked out where guards that Palpatine had under his control along with King Charming and Queen Cinderella were waiting. "It's time," Palaptine said. "Time to expose this false king and have the true king take the throne. My darkness will spread throughout this world and I will reign as Emperor once again!" The mind controlled crowd cheered as Palpatine smiled. For some reason, he felt like singing a song, which he didn't know why, as the words started to come out of his mouth and as her sang, the other people in the room chanted along with him,
(Palpatine)
King Ben is yesterday's message
A clapped-out, distracted regime
Whose failings undoubtedly presage
The need for a different dream
Yes, Auradon's times are a-changin'
Which means that you all must too
My vision is clear and wide-ranging
And even encompasses you
So prepare for the coup of the century
Prepare for the murkiest scam
Meticulous planning, tenacity spanning
Decades of denial is simply why I'll be king
Undisputed, respected, saluted
And seen for the wonder I am
Yes, my teeth and ambitions are bared
Be prepared
(Everyone else)
Be prepared
Be prepared
Be prepared
Be prepared
(Palpatine)
Be prepared
(Everyone else)
Be prepared
Be prepared
Be prepared
Be prepared
(Palpatine)
Be prepared
(Everyone else)
Be prepared
Be prepared
Be prepared
Be prepared
(Palpatine)
Be prepared
Yes, my teeth and ambitions are bared
(Everyone)
Be prepared
Palpatine let out an evil laugh as Audrey joined him and everyone cheered around him, ready to enact Palpatine's plan to expose and overthrow King Ben.
