Mal's POV

Ben stood in front of me with relief at first, but then worry when he saw the look in my eyes. I felt the others come up behind me, their footsteps silent from years of sneaking and the soft carpet.

"Mal," he said calmly. "Give me the wand."

I looked him in the eyes and said, in a masked voice that hid all my emotions, "Stand back."

"It's okay," Ben said, trying to be calming, but it didn't worry. All the emotions were piling up and I was drained from stopping the wand but at the same time my magic was more wild than ever before. My eyes lit up and I screamed, "Ben I said STAND BACK!"

"Mal," Evie whispered, placing a hand on my shoulder. I calmed down a bit, but my eyes still glowed with power.

"I told you so!" Audrey yelled, not hearing Evie, and I snarled, turning to her. My magic was out of control, wild and filling the room. I wasn't myself, I was nothing more than a vessel for all the power inside me.

"Mal," Evie repeated, her voice soothing and quiet. "You can do this. Overpower it."

I screwed up my eyes, but the green wouldn't go away. The power was taking over me.

"You really want to do this?" Ben asked.

"We have no choice, Ben!" I shouted, the end of my sentence turning into a broken sob. "Our parents-"

"Your parents made their choice. Now you make yours," Ben said.

"But can I ever be good?" I asked.

"You are good!" he insisted, but I felt the power overtake me again and shouted, "How do you know that?!"

"Because I'm listening to my heart," he said, smiling softly at me. "Please, Mal, listen to yours. Does helping your mom, living in an evil Auradon, really make you happy?"

I turned to look at my friends. Carlos holding Dude close to him, Evie wearing the dress she made herself, and Jay wearing the same boots as when he played tourney. I looked in their eyes and saw the fear and sadness but at the same time something that we hardly had on the Isle. Hope. And I recognized that as exactly what I felt at that moment.

As I looked at my friends' I felt my emotions start to get stronger, my true feelings. They weren't being drowned out by the power now. I smiled, my eyes still glowing green, but the wild magic in the air faded away.

"I want to be good," I said, looking up. Green eyes met brown, and I saw the love and hope in Ben's eyes, which I was sure were matched in mine. "I want to be happy."

I turned to look at my friends and saw the tears in their eyes. But not sad tears - they were happy. And I felt the same tears in my eyes.

They all nodded, smiling at me, and I turned back to Ben with a smile.

"I want to go to school," I said. "I want to be with you." I smiled at my friends and said, "I want to be friends with you all. That is what makes me happy. Not destroying things. Being me. I choose good, you guys."

Jay smiled and put his hand over the one I held out.

"I choose good too," he said, and Evie smiled tearfully.

"I choose good."

We all turned to Carlos, who grinned and said, "So, we don't have to be worried about how mad our parents will be? Because they're going to be really, really mad."

We all laughed, and Ben said, "Your parents can't reach you here."

"Okay then," Carlos said. "I choose good."

All of our hands were out, and I looked over at Ben, motioning with my head for him to join us. He smiled and put his hand out with ours, and we all smiled.

Then, of course we all teared up and embraced, as the crowd around us erupted in cheers. (I've been in Auradon too long, haven't I?) But our victory was short-lived, as a moment later green smoke swirled around the front and none other than the Mistress of Evil, my mother, appeared.

Jay's POV

As Mal calmed down from the magic and gave her speech, I thought everything was fine. Her eyes were still glowing, but it was a good glow. A calm and peaceful glow, not a guarded and power hungry one.

We were just hugging while people celebrated our turn for the good, but then Maleficent poofed into the room, and my first thought was, We are so screwed.

Not the most heroic thing, but what do you expect? The Mistress of Evil appears in front of me and my first instinct is to scream, "Off with her head!" like Quinn Hearts and Hannah Hearts or something?

Yeah, not likely.

"I'm baaack!" Maleficent sing-songed, and I nearly snorted. She's much less terrifying when she's singing. For some reason, an image of her singing while she danced around Mal appeared in my head, but I pushed it away, shuddering a bit.

Mal turned out to be the brave one, and shouted, "Go away Mother!"

Maleficent burst out laughing, as though Mal was joking. My friend's eyes were still glowing, but that didn't stop her from rolling them at her mother's stupidity. Our Isle masks slipped back on, and Carlos set Dude down on the ground, letting him run away. Evie and I stood at Mal's sides, both of us glaring at Maleficent while Carlos brought up the rear, her arms crossed. Our faces didn't betray emotions.

"Oh, she's funny," Maleficent laughed. "She's- You're all very funny here." Then, she abruptly stopped and snapped, "Mal, wand me. Chop, chop!"

Mal glared at her and said, her voice firm, "No."

Then, she tossed the wand to Fairy Godmother, who caught it and started to say, "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-"

"Boo," Maleficent interrupted in a bored voice, snapped her fingers and freezing Fairy Godmother in place. Then, I realized it wasn't just Fairy Godmother but everyone in the room. Those very heroic words from when she appeared repeated.

"Sike," Maleficent said, and cackled.

I watched her walk around and fool with the frozen royal family, but when she started singing I shuddered again. Mental images begone.

Then she grabbed Fairy Godmother's wand and turned back to us with a smirk.

"Where shall we begin?" she mused. "I know. Why don't we start by getting rid of this?"

The beast ring Ben gave Mal flew off her hand, despite her attempts to grab it back.

"Falling in love is weak and ridiculous," she snarled. "It's not what you want."

"And how do you know what I want?!" Mal suddenly shouted, her eyes glowing a bit brighter. They weren't that calm glow from before, but not that power hungry one either. More like...a sad and angry glow. If that makes sense, which it probably doesn't.

"Mother, have you ever once asked me what I want?!" Mal continued. "I'm not you!"

"Obviously not," Maleficent said, and I couldn't help the pride I felt when Mal didn't even react to the words that at one point had been her worst nightmare. "I've had years and years and years of practice being evil. You'll get there-"

"No I won't," Mal said boldly. "And I really wish you had never gotten yourself there, but while it's too late for you it's not for me! Love is not weak or ridiculous, and it's actually really amazing!"

"I know one thing young lady," Maleficent snarled, and I saw Mal flinch a bit at her mother's cold gaze. "You have no room for love in your life!"

Mal's eyes glowed bright as she shouted, "And now I command, wand to my hand!"

The wand flew into her hand, and again I felt pride. But Mal didn't stop to revel in her achievement, instead glaring at her mother, who looked furious.

"You will regret this!" she shrieked, and then green smoke surrounded her again. When it was gone, the Mistress of Evil was gone and in her place was...a dragon. A dragon that I just happened to be in the path of.

"Jay, run!" Mal screamed as Maleficent blasted fire at me, and I rolled out of the way, jumping up and sprinting away once I could. I ran through the room, but then skidded to a stop. I heard Maleficent's voice, not from the dragon but from what seemed like everywhere at once.

"I said you would regret this."

And then she picked me up, and I felt blind panic before I saw green magic build up in her throat. She hissed it at me, and I heard Carlos scream my name...and then the world went black.

And the real cliffhanger comes in! What will happen to Jay? Let me know what you thought in a review!

-Creator of Magic