Rivalry

AN: So here is another story, this one is about Jay and Harry mainly. Enjoy!

"THIS IS NOT ENOUGH!" Dad shouted furiously and I ducked to avoid the rusty saucepan he chucked at my head. "I SEND YOU OUT TO STEAL ALL DAY AND ALL YOU BRING BACK IS THIS!" He slammed his fist onto the table, causing the small amount of trinkets and jewellery I had stolen today to jump around and fall off. His Agrabah accent was coming out again, this always happened when he was really mad. I tried to explain that I had been at school, but he didn't want to hear it.

"I'VE TAUGHT YOU SO MUCH OVER THE YEARS AND THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY ME?" he bellowed.

"Dad, I was held up by Anthony Tremaine after school and I had to teach him a lesson-"

"I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT! OUT! AND DON'T COME BACK UNTIL YOU'VE STOLEN SOMETHING WORTH SELLING!"

I sighed and slammed my way out of the shop. Muttering to myself angrily, I bumped into someone. I looked up, ready to punch their face in and noticed it was just Carlos De Vil, holding a ripped backpack and sporting the beginnings of a black eye. He had obviously been ambushed by some of the guys in my year. I gave him a shove and growled "Look where you're going, nerd." I went on my way, immersed in thoughts but my feet automatically went to the market. There were heaps of people there, which meant lots to steal and also the promising chance of getting food.

I weaved my way through the crowd, and looking away I grabbed a bruised apple from a market stall and bit into it. Hang on, there was something slimy! I spat it out and it was a fat wriggly maggot. I made a face and ate the rest of the apple. Hm, only one maggot, I had got lucky.

Eagle eyed like usual, I spotted Ginny Gothel in Mal's class wearing a shiny necklace straight from the goblin ships. I smiled, and walked up to her.

"Hey there," I gave her my best smile.

"Errm, Jay, right?" she said, screwing her face up to try and remember.

"How about we go get some frog brain coffee at that Yzma place? I hear they've expanded and are now doing edible stuff as well as poisons." I slung my arm around her casually.

"Ok, that sounds great."

"That necklace looks new." I looked her in the eyes long enough to seduce her, and then looked away leaving her wistful.

"Yeah, I went down to the goblin ships super early and got some good stuff. Mum said you sometimes have to suffer to look beautiful."

"Well, you shouldn't need to suffer much." I said softly, moving closer. She immediately blushed and giggled in that stupid way girls do when you're flirting with them.

We reached Yzma's Poison Pharmacy (with a new crooked sign underneath reading 'and cafe') and I ordered two frog brain coffees. The massive dumb-looking guy almost dropped the chipped cups when he handed them over. We drank quietly, and then Ginny broke the silence by saying "So, you seeing anyone at the moment?" she was hinting heavily and I decided to go along with it.

I looked her in the eyes seductively. "No, I'm free."

"Good."

She leaned closer and I tucked her hair behind her ear, then moved my hand lightly to the back of her neck. She was a centimetre from my face, I could literally see her lips pursing. Then I undid the clasp of her necklace expertly and pulled away before she touched my lips. I slipped the necklace into my pocket.

"Hey, where are you going?" she sounded annoyed.

"I just remembered I have to be somewhere." (I wasn't exactly lying, I did have somewhere to be:in the market, stealing.)

"Aw, too bad. When can I see you again?" she pouted mockingly and looked at me from beneath her eyelashes. I was used to girls acting this way around me, I don't know why it happened, I guess it was just my good looks and charming personality. (You think I'm a show off, go talk to the Gaston twins. They can't go a sentence without talking about themselves.)

"Soon," I replied, and smiled flirtatiously again, then turned on my heel and left. Ha! I took the necklace out and examined it, wow it was fresh from Auradon and would sell well. I put it back in my pocket and sniggered at the sound of Yzma's screechy voice demanding payment from Ginny. Awesome, a win-win really - for me! I had got free coffee and an expensive necklace.

The rest of the evening was a lot easier, I just slipped my hand casually into strangers' pockets and came up holding purses and random stuff. I was pretty desperate to make Dad proud, so I took some risks and grabbed food and jewellery straight off the stalls, sprinting away from the angry goblins and their various weird missiles. I stopped in an alleyway and took out a pocket watch I had stolen from that creepy Frollo guy with the weird hat to check the time. It was already half past eleven, so I headed for my usual falling-down treehouse near Hell Hall, where I usually slept when I got kicked out the house. It was a strange place, filled with metal nuts and bolts and half built inventiony things. But it was sheltered and it even had a raggedy old blanket, so I used it as my own personal bedroom when I got kicked out the house. Sometimes I would get the feeling someone came there when I was out, because when I came back a few weeks later I would find some new creations, or one of the holes had been boarded up. Whatever though, it was my place anyway.

I opened the splintery door as normal and headed to the broken old chair to take off my jacket and my beanie. I turned around and jumped a mile when I saw Carlos sitting on the floor with a screwdriver (at least I think it's called that) staring at me. "What the hell are you doing here?" I demanded, embarrassed that I had jumped at a skinny little thirteen year old.

"It's my treehouse." he replied defiantly.

"What do you mean, it's your treehouse?"

"I mean that I built it and all this stuff is mine."

"Ok, if it's yours then how come I never see you in here? I challenged.

"I don't know, I don't come out here very often, only if Mum's asleep and I've finished my chores."

"Well I only come here when I get kicked out." Then I stopped, feeling that I had revealed too much. He was after all, only the annoying nerdy guy who was really easy to stuff in his locker since he was so SMALL. He continued working on his metal thingy. "What's that?" I asked, leaning over to take a better look.

"It's a device that sends out radio waves and matches them to the frequency of nearby ones."

"I don't get a word you just said."

"Basically it's kind of like a special TV antenna."

"Oh," I nodded, still confused. "Well keep it down with the geek stuff cos I'm sleeping here." Carlos looked as if he was about to contradict me, but then I glared at him and he gulped and returned to his antenna thingy. I grabbed my beanie off my chair and put it over my face to sleep.

A sharp noise woke me. I groaned sleepily and opened my eyes. It was almost pitch black but I could make out Carlos' silhouette in the darkness. "WHAT are you doing?" I complained.

"Sorry, I dropped my screwdriver." Of course he would APOLOGIZE, even if he is the son of Cruella De Vil.

"Didn't I say keep it down?" I threatened.

"I know, I'm going to sleep now so I will."

"What's the time?" I asked, confused as to why he would stay up for no reason.

"Two." he answered, looking at the bashed up clock. I was completely at a loss for words. I stayed up if I had to (or wanted to go on midnight crime sprees with Mal) but if I didn't have anything to do, I would jump at the chance of sleeping.

"Why didn't you go to sleep?"

"This is the only time I get to work on my inventions." he replied. Weird nerd. I rolled my eyes and put my beanie back on my face, a sign that he should shut up and leave me alone.

This time I was woken up by the sound of rain hitting the poorly constructed roof. I yawned, got up and looked through the 'window' (basically a hole in the wall) and saw a gloomy morning with dark clouds. "Good weather today." I turned around quick as a flash.

"You have to stop doing that!" I exclaimed angrily.

"Sorry," Carlos said looking alarmed. I agreed with him though, it was better weather than usual.

"Ok, I'm going to leave now." I stated.

"Okay." I almost walked out the door, then backtracked and gave Carlos a wedgie just for the sake of it, then actually walked out the door to sounds of "Owww! Ow."

Again I made my way to the market and grabbed a brown banana off one of the early-morning stalls, and I spent the morning wandering around and nicking people's stuff until my pockets were full and I was sure Dad would be satisfied. "Jay!" I turned around to the sound of my name. Mal stood there holding some stale bread. "I saw you nick Facilier's cards. You know he's gonna want those back, right?"

"Well he can BUY them back from my Dad." Mal laughed at that and tossed me a piece of bread. I stuffed it in my mouth. "I'm bored. Wanna go trash talk Uma?"

"Sure," I replied indistinctly, my mouth still full of bread.

"Yuck. Say it, don't spray it." Mal complained and I shoved her playfully. We were a team, not friends because villains don't have friends, but we stuck up for each other and were always competing in evil deeds. And one of our favourites was going to Ursula's Fish and Chips and annoying the hell out of Uma and her pirate crew. Especially Harry, he was an idiot.

We made our way to the Fish and Chips and stole a plate each from some random people sitting at the dirty tables. We stuffed ourselves and then went to the back where Uma was wiping a surface. "Hi there Shrimpy." That was Mal's nickname for Uma who hated it.

"Ugh, it's YOU again." Uma replied, making a face. They continued arguing and I was bored so I went round the back to find Harry. He was standing around with a bunch of other pirate guys, including Gil. His back was turned to me. I grabbed his shoulder and flipped him around. "Harry," I growled.

His eyes surrounded with black stuff lit up maliciously. "Well, well, well.." he said in his stupid accent. "Jay's come to try and scare me."

I glared at him furiously and punched Gil in the face, taking his sword. Harry looked taken aback. "No, I'm going to scare you." I declared. "And then I'm going to beat you so hard your precious little hook's gonna fall off." I beckoned him with my free hand, holding the sword aloft.

"Alright then. You want a fight, you're getting one, JAYDEN."

I gave him the stink eye at the use of my embarrassing full name, and got into a fighting stance. I was pretty confident about this, he may be better at swordfighting, but I'm stronger and worst comes to worst I can abandon the swordfighting and finish him with fists. We started swiping at each other, he was very fast but I blocked equally fast and returned his attempts. Getting used to the sword was quite easy, I found myself blocking more easily and almost getting past his defence.

All the pirate dudes had gathered round in a circle and were cheering Harry on. They needed some silencing, so I suddenly swiped the sword in a wide circle, causing them to step back fearfully. I ended at Harry's neck, forcing him back. "Move and this is going into you," I threatened. Harry dropped his sword and raised his hands (well, hand and hook). I smiled vengefully, I had won and won easily. I was about to let him go and walk out when someone grabbed me from behind. I struggled furiously, turning my head I saw that two pirates had grabbed my arms so I couldn't move. "Let me go you dickheads!" I shouted angrily. They just squeezed me harder.

Harry picked up his sword and put it to my throat. "YOU move and this is going into you." he drawled. Then suddenly he sliced his sword down, leaving a long deep cut on my upper arm. I clenched my teeth to stop myself making a noise. "Let him go." he ordered the pirates. They immediately let go and skulked back into the crowd. I stood there giving Harry my best death stare, and readying myself for battle.

I attacked quickly, swiping the sword in an attempt to cause him injury. He blocked me again and again, laughing like a maniac. By now I was getting really mad, I was attacking wildly and I could feel sweat pouring down my neck. Our swords crossed with a clang and we stood there, like time had slowed down, trying to prevent the other one from moving their sword. Then I saw a way out, I kicked him in the stomach and with my sword cut a long line on his leg. He hissed in pain and straightened back up again.

I carried on blocking and attacking, and then I tripped and failed blocking his sword, which left another cut on my shoulder. I stabbed at him fiercely but he moved out of the way. My blood boiled and I let out a wild battle cry and rushed at him.

Now I was attacking faster than ever, my breath was coming in huge gasps and I was making wild movements with my sword. His sword cut me again, and I barely took any notice, striking out at him violently. He made a wide movement with his sword and I seized my chance. I somersaulted over him, and in mid air I snatched his sword, landed behind him and crossed the swords. I held them crossed at his neck and forced him into a corner. "There, I've won again," I hissed. "Even with your dumb pirate mates helping you." He smiled and said "Oh, it's not over yet." then kneed me in the stomach causing me to drop both the swords. He grabbed them, chucking off his hook so he could hold them both. He pointed them at me vehemently. I backed away, fuming, and decided to distract him. "Oh, Daddy finally lets you play with real swords now?" I taunted.

Harry scowled and retaliated with "Your daddy kicked you out again cos you didn't steal enough?" I looked daggers at him.

"At least I don't wear a fake hook on my hand to try and look cool," This earned me another cut, on my calf this time, and I clenched my teeth again. I wouldn't let him know that I was in pain.

"You think you're all that, don't you?"

"Well, I got stuff to be proud of." I replied defiantly.

"You little idiot," I snorted in disbelief, I was actually taller than him, how dare he call me little? "I'll show you." he snarled menacingly.

I scoffed. "Am I meant to be scared?" I teased.

He went up right to my face. "Yeah, you are," he hissed. I stared back at him, hating his every particle. He lifted the sword and thrust it in my stomach. "AGGGGHHH!" I screamed in agony. He smiled evilly, and pulled it out. I fell to the floor, panting heavily. I saw him lift up the sword with the top few centimeters bloodstained. Red spots danced in front of my eyes and my vision blurred. I was dimly aware of Harry and his crew laughing and walking away, then a smaller figure rushed in shouting "Jay! Jay!" then the world fell into darkness.

Where am I? That was the first thing I thought of as I woke up. I opened my eyes and after a few seconds I realized I was in my, I mean Carlos' treehouse. I tried to sit up, but a severe pain in my stomach forced me down and I groaned. I heard someone scrape a chair, and then Carlos' face came into full view. He was asking "Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine," I replied, still confused as to why he was there. Then I remembered that I was in his treehouse. "What am I doing here?" I asked him.

"I went to Ursula's Fish and Chips to get food and then I heard you trash talking Harry behind the chippie so I wanted to see what was going on. Then I saw him stab you and they went away so I wanted to get help. I tried to lift you but you were too heavy. So I found Mal and together we brought you here."

I was a bit embarrassed at collapsing in front of him, but ignored myself and asked him "So where's Mal?"

"She left as soon as I finished bandaging you."

I looked down and saw purple cloth wrapped around my stomach. "Did she-"

"Yeah, she volunteered her top."

I felt a warmth spread inside me: Mal always had my back (or my front - bad pun I know)

"Well, erm, thanks for patching me up." I said to Carlos awkwardly - I wasn't used to thanking people.

"That's ok. You should get some rest."

Yeah, rest. I leaned back gratefully and fell into sleep.

Wow, that was a lot longer than I intended! It was meant to be mainly about Harry and Jay's battle, but I got carried away on the intro so it turned out really long! Anyway, hope you enjoyed, and the next oneshot is coming up soon.

unicornyay xx