"Mal's back," Harry said, entering Ursula's restaurant. "I saw her at Dizzy's. She got back not long ago."
The entire place fell silent. It had never been that quiet. It was terrifying, not one person made a sound, only the low hum of the Auradon propaganda from the television echoed through the room.
"I knew it," Uma scoffed. "Thank god we planned for this. How long was Dizzy going to keep her there for?"
"Not too long. She used the signals CJ taught her to tell me less than a few minutes. Diz was goin' to run here as soon as the Queen Bitch left," Harry huffed. "I left Dizzy a sword. She'll be joining the crew later tonight. That was her final test of loyalty."
The Tremaine girl was friends with Harry's younger sister, CJ. She had been given a series of tests to make it on the crew for months, ever since CJ had officially joined up.
"Finally. I didn't think she'd ever be useful. She will be an informant and a pawn to play at the rotten four's heartstrings the rest of the mission."
Gil jumped on to the counter. "Dizzy is loyal to us, and whatever Mal is planning, Dizzy will be useful. Evie will follow Mal back to the Isle. She has more here for her than just Mal running off. Evie will go to many lengths to bring her back. We make it seem like Dizzy is being held hostage, and they will be more wary to go against us, and might be more compliant with our demands." He stood up proud and tall on the bar. "Captain, our time is coming, looming just beyond the horizon. We will be free before the sun sets on the week."
The wharf was set alight with cheering at the hopeful words Gil preached.
"We've got to be in and out before anyone realizes we are gone from here, or on the Isle," Jay said, turning the ignition key, bringing the car roaring to life.
"Good idea, Jay," Margaret said.
"Ah! Where did you come from?" Jay exclaimed, taken off guard by the young girl in the shotgun seat next to him. "Margaret, what do you think you are doing?"
"Going with you. I was trained for battle my entire life, and you have no weight to pull on the Isle anymore, not since Mal started dating Prince Ben," she replied. "You will need my help, whether you need it or not." It was a lie, she just needed access to the Isle, and to her family. If this was the way to do it, the way a villain would, so be it. She was willing to take the chances.
"Says who?"
"Trust me, Jay," She said. "I know what I am getting into."
"Am I going to be able to change your mind?"
"Nope." Jay hoped that Margaret would not make him regret this. He sincerely doubted that t be the case.
Mal kicked all five of them out of her hideout not long after they made it there. She refused to come back. Auradon life was draining her, and she could not handle the strain it was putting on her at all. It was tearing her apart. Ben had left broken hearted, Mal had cruelly dumped him in front of all of her friends, and the one acquaintance who did not really fit in with why the group was there.
"Evie, do we really need to wear these gaudy clothes?" Margaret groaned. Evie had tried to make Ben and Margaret look like they fit in with the rest of the crowd, but it was not working all that well. They looked too new and too stylish to belong with what they had seen on the Isle thus far.
"It is better than nothing. You look more of the part than you did, so I consider this a major win. Now, if we want to get Mal back with us, we need to sort out a plan. Now, you are drawing too much attention to us, so try and be a bit quieter."
Ben look appalled at the sudden lack of kindness Evie was displaying. She had always been kind to everyone. She was stressed, it made sense. Margaret however, simply matched her glare.
"Do you really think the entire Isle hasn't noticed you brought strangers with you?" Gil asked. The four jumped, not having seen him come up behind them. "My, my Evie. I thought you of all people would be better at hiding outsiders on the Isle. After all, you and my brother have more secrets than most."
Evie met his gaze, but all the color had drained from her face at his words. "You wouldn't dare to go there."
"I might. Now, tell me, who did you bring along with you?" Gil drawled. It was so unlike him, normally he was goofy, or plain airheaded. He was planning something, Evie could practically feel it in the air. Luckily, she did not notice Gil meeting a pair of eyes that were the same as his own. Margaret gave a slight nod, and Gil grinned.
"It is none of your business. We will be out of your hair as soon as we convince Mal to come back with us," Evie spat. "I didn't even want to come back in the first place."
"Really? I think even your dear Prince Ben can see that you don't completely mean your words," Gil shot back. He was succeeding in his attempt to horrify the young prince.
Evie gaped. She started to say something.
"Cut it out, Gil," Jay demanded. "If it weren't for Mal's poor choices we would not have even returned."
"I know. I have always known that, Jay," Gil said. "I knew none of the four of you would really want to come back, with the exception of Mal, but did you forget about the rest of us on the Isle? Were you ever going to come back for the rest of your generation, and the generation of our own children that are already being born?" Gil was getting harsher now. "No. You didn't. Evie, I know you have things still here for you, but do they not matter to you anymore?"
A single tear fell down Evie's face. "I've been trying to gain their fucking trust, Gillian!" She hissed. "I would never have forgotten. If it were not for Mal being a moron, I would have been closer to my own goal than I have been. So you do not get to tell me that I have forgotten!"
The sharp smack echoed through the alley. Gil rubbed his cheek and watched the blue haired girl storm away from him. He smiled gently to himself as he watched Ritchie go after her. Ritchie had been following Gil around waiting to see his lover since he had heard Mal came back. Gil prayed that Ritchie would be smart and take Evie to see Evangeline. Though, the two had been intimately inactive for a few months, and it was probably the more likely outcome of their reunion.
"What the fuck, Gil?" Jay exclaimed shoving him into the wall. "Since when do you try to make girls cry?"
Gil smirked. "Like it or not, Jay, your absence has made things on this Isle change. You no longer have any power. I was simply inserting the authority that Uma now holds over the Isle. You better learn quickly how different things are around here. If not, you will be planning your own funeral." He then smashed his solid boot into Jay's shin, and ducked into the nearest building making his exit.
The Rotten Four had believed themselves to be so confident in all of their words and actions. They always had been. Gil had managed to piss them off enough to capture all of Jay, Carlos and Evie's attention, and drew it away from Prince Ben and Margaret. They didn't even notice when the two outsiders were taken away by a few crew members in the midst of the small squabble.
It was too easy to kidnap the Prince and Margaret. The Prince would be the bargaining chip. Mal had gone soft in Auradon, and would do anything to get him back. Taking Margaret would be insurance. Gil smiled at the crew when he got back to the ship, and saw the two teenagers tied to the mast, surrounded by all of the wharf rats and pirates. Things were starting to look up for them.
"Mal is going to kill us!" Carlos groaned. They had left the alley, and had tried to go after Evie. Jay had assumed that Ben and Margaret were behind them. It wasn't until Carlos had glanced over his shoulder to check on them that he noticed they were gone. They had no clue when they had gotten lost of had been taken. They were just gone, and Mal was going to kill both the boys. It was just an added bonus that Evie had taken off, and had not been seen since Gil had sent her into hysterics for a reason that neither Jay or Carlos had any valid reason for.
"Calm down, Carlos. Mal won't kill us. This will probably be a wakeup call for her. She shouldn't have left. If Mal did not leave, then Ben would not have come after her putting himself in danger," Jay shrugged.
"Jay, this is not some Isle turf war. If whoever had Ben and Margaret kills them, we will be sent back here with no innocence to get us back off. Have you forgotten Ben is a prince?" Carlos panicked.
"The pirates most likely took them, and as much as it pains me to say this, we were probably duped by Gil. He pissed us off, and the wharf rats took off with them while we were distracted. Besides, Mal has been itching for a fight, and Uma is her favorite shrimp to spar with."
Carlos was starting to get really irritated. How did Jay not see the severity of the situation?
"Uh huh, and what if we don't win? It is the three of us if we don't track down Evie against the entire crew. We do not have any clue to how they have grown in the months since we left. We could be sentencing our friends to death."
"You can't think like that. Remember we are rotten-"
"To the core," Carlos finished. "Let's go get Mal."