Welcome to the second part of the first story. Enjoy.
Rotten to the Core, Part 2
The second day of the new school year has begun and everyone was prepared, except for the Descendants, who are still mentally troubled. After their respective disasters in trying to make up for their summer mischief, they are beginning to doubt if they have made the right choice in turning to the good side. But right now, they're going to put that aside and focus on school.
Before first session, Mal was outside Auradon Prep sketching the Enchanted Lake, still trying to calm her mind. She was also yawning because she didn't get any sleep. Someone decided to sit next to her. Mal didn't need to look to know it was Ben
"Don't even start, Ben," said Mal.
"We need to talk," said Ben.
"I know you believe I'm not evil. I know you believe I can be good. But just because I told all of Auradon I want to be good, doesn't mean I'm just going to change everything about me the second after," said Mal.
"Maybe you're right," said Ben. Mal was surprised of what he said and finally looked at him.
Ben continued. "Yes, you were raised on the Isle. You were raised by Maleficent. You grew up, as you put it, rotten. But your letting you're past get in the way of your future. May be it won't be easy for you to change, but I'm not asking you to change everything about yourself. All I want is for you and your friends to have a change in heart. Find a better path than following your parents' footsteps."
Mal couldn't help but smile at the sound of Ben's words. Mal's smile was interrupted when she had to yawn again.
"Tired?" wondered Ben.
"I couldn't sleep. Not even a minute," confessed Mal.
"Do you want me to excuse you from school today so you can get some rest? I am the King," offered Ben.
"That's sweet, but no," said Mal. "I'll be fine. Don't worry about me."
Suddenly, the bell rang, which means it's time for Mal and Ben to each meet with their friends for first session.
"See you later," said Mal.
"Don't incinerate anyone," joked Ben. Mal's smile grew bigger, amused.
Meanwhile, somewhere in the village, an elderly man is trying to act inconspicuous as he heads for the coffee shop. He orders a decaf and waits on his table for his order. After getting his cup, he picks up his phone and calls someone.
"Do you have it?" he asked.
"Yes," answered the receiver.
"Is everyone in position?" asked the man.
"Affirmative," answered the receiver. "Once the time is right, we will attack."
"Long live the queen," he quietly said.
Back in Auradon Prep, the Descendants are in Intermediate Goodness Class with Fairy God Mother.
"If a child throws a water balloon at you, what do you do? A) Strangle him? B) Tell him that what he did is wrong? Or C) Throw him off a cliff?" Fairy God Mother asked.
Evie raised her hand. "B."
"Correct," said Fairy God Mother. She moved to the next question. "Next. If you were trying to escape a burning building only to see a baby trapped, do you A) Leave him to die?, B) Witness his death, or C) Save him?"
Every kid raised their hand. Fairy God Mother makes a choice and says, "Jay?"
"C," he answered.
"That's correct," said Fairy God Mother. "Final question. If you see someone robbing a bank, do you A) Stop him, B) Call the authorities, or C) Help him?"
"A," answered Mal.
"Actually, the correct answer is B, but since you've got magic, I can see why you would say so," said Fairy God Mother.
"Wait, if B is the correct answer and C is the wrong answer, what is A?" wondered Carlos.
"A would be the foolish answer," explained Fairy God Mother. "Unless, of course, you have something up your sleeve to face the robber."
"So am I right or am I wrong?" wondered Mal.
"You're right," said Fairy God Mother. "So, we only have ten minutes before the bell rings. Now, let's talk about your performance yesterday."
"Oh no," reacted Mal.
"I heard everything that happened and I am honestly disappointed in you," started Fairy God Mother. "Carlos, yelling at a little girl wasn't very nice of you."
Carlos hangs his head in sadness in response.
"Jay, I thought you learned your lesson about stealing."
Jay hangs his head as well.
"Evie, was it really necessary to spray Grumpy again?"
Evie sighs in despair.
"And Mal, you could've seriously hurt someone. Or worse. You, out of all your friends, should know better. After all, I seem to recall that you were the one who gave that inspiring speech to your friends to motivate then into choosing the right path."
Mal crosses her arms and puts on a depressed look on her face, feeling ashamed.
"I didn't want to do this, but you four have to be punished. You will all take the janitor's shift after school," said Fairy God Mother.
Meanwhile, back in the village, two mysterious hooded men are in the Auradon bank, planning something devious. While one man lines up, the other heads towards the bank safe. He subdues the guard by punching him the face. He tapes a stick of dynamite next the password pad, lights it up, and runs to a safe distance. The stick explodes, the pad was destroyed, and the bank vault was open. Also, the explosion caught the attention of everyone and the alarms rang. The man in line reunites with his partner to rob the vault.
Suddenly, three more explosions occurred at nearly the exact same time. One at the laundromat, one at a restaurant, and one at a car shop. No one was injured, but everyone started panicking because knights started popping up from nowhere and started attacking.
The man in the coffee shop saw the start of the attack. He finishes his cup and heads to an alley to change into his armor.
Back in Castle Beast, Ben and his parents were having a cup of tea. Belle and Beast decided to break the silence to start a conversation.
"So, Ben, we heard about what the kids from the Isle did," started Belle.
"Mom, dad, if you're going to suggest sending them back to the Isle, I won't do it," interrupted Ben.
"Son, we may not be the rulers of the kingdom anymore, but that doesn't mean we're not your parents anymore. We're here to guide you on ruling the kingdom. You can still make your own choices, but you have to make sure they're for the good of the kingdom," said Beast.
"Look, I understand. What they did wasn't very nice. But they've already proven themselves over and over. Should I just send them back to the Isle all because of a few mistakes?" retorted Ben.
"We're not saying you should send them back to the Isle," said Belle.
"We're saying that you should keep a closer eye on them," said Beast. "Your 'girlfriend' tried to burn innocent kids to death."
"I can agree that Mal is a little aggressive, but she's trying her best to keep her promise," said Ben.
Beast sighed before speaking up, "Look, Ben..."
Suddenly, Lumiere, Cogsworth, and Mrs. Potts burst into the living room, running towards the royal family. They started panting from exhaustion.
"What's the trouble this time?" asked Ben.
"The village... under attack... knights," said Lumiere while trying to catch his breath. He almost passes out, but Cogsworth and Mrs. Potts hold him up.
"Send our knights out now," ordered Ben.
Meanwhile, back in the school, Jay was erasing the writing on the chalkboard in the classroom, Carlos is learning how to use a plunger in the boy's bathroom, Evie is washing the dishes in the cafeteria, and Mal is mopping the floor in the hallway while listening to music on her phone. When Mal reached her locker, she saw that it was still decorated with her "Long Live Evil" graffiti signature. She decided not to think about this and just finish her duty.
"Ma'am! Ma'am!" someone tried to call her, but she didn't here anything because of her headphones.
Someone took off her headphones and said again, "Ma'am!" Mal turned around and saw Lumiere. "Um, King Ben asks for you and your friends."
"But I'm under punishment," said Mal.
"He's the king. He has the authority to bail you out," said Lumiere. "Besides, it's urgent."
"Wait here," said Mal as she puts down the mop and looks for her friends. Lumiere saw Mal's graffiti work on her locker and feels a little scared.
Mal heads to the cafeteria first only to see Evie soaked and the floor was covered with broken plates.
"Rats," said Evie, just in case Mal was about to ask.
"Never mind that, E. We have to go," said Mal.
Mal and Evie head for the classroom to find Jay only to see him covered in chalk dust.
"Hey, girls," greeted Jay, trying to pretend he's unaware of his predicament.
"Let's go," said Mal.
The trio head for the boy's bathroom, only to find it flooding because the faucet on the sink has been popped off, raining water everywhere. Carlos come out of a stall only for the others to see him wrapped around in wet toilet paper.
"Don't ask," said Carlos.
"I wasn't going to," said Mal. "Get cleaned up. We have to meet Ben."
Back in the village, Castle Beast knights are trying their best to defend the citizens from the knights attacking them. Most are managing to hold them off, but a few of them are failing and end up getting humiliated and unconscious. Just then, a limo arrives on the scene and coming out is Ben and the Descendants from the Isle of the Lost. They saw the chaos happening around them. People were running for their lives, the castle knights fighting the attacking knights, and some chubby villager slips on a puddle of spilled root beer caused of the fighting. The four ex-villains can't help, but giggle.
"This looks terrible," pointed out Mal.
"I think I've noticed," said Ben.
One knight approaches the young king and says, "Your majesty! What are you doing here? You should be in the castle for your own protection!"
"I just came here to drop them," explained Ben, gesturing to the four villains kids. "They can help."
"Are you sure, your highness?" wondered the knight, unsure of his decision.
"They faced an entire army of knights back in the Isle of the Lost. I'm sure," assured Ben. He turns back to the quartet and told them, "Make sure nobody gets hurt."
"We promise," said Mal.
Ben hops back into the limo and the driver drives back to the castle, leaving the Descendants to save the village from the knights.
"Isle of the Lost all over again, huh?" started Carlos.
"Yup," responded his friends.
"Wait a minute. Don't these knights look familiar?" wondered Evie.
The kids saw that the guards' armor have symbols of spades, hearts, diamonds, and clubs, making them look like playing cards. They realized who these guards are.
"They're Queen of Hearts' knights," said Mal.
"But how did they get here?" wondered Jay.
"Maybe Maleficent snuck into the castle last night while everyone was sleeping and stole the remote to free the villains," guessed Carlos.
"Carlos!" yelled the rest.
"What? That's the best I got," said Carlos.
"If that were true, then why are all the knights here belong to Queen of Heats?" pointed out Mal.
"Should we discuss this later and stop them now?" said Evie, pointing out that they're too busy arguing about the explanation of how the knights escaped the Isle to remember that Ben brought them there to stop them.
"Right," said Mal. "Alright, let's deliver some knuckle sandwiches to these guys, but remember, our main priority here is to protect the innocents."
The four separate to different parts of the city.
Meanwhile, the mysterious man from the coffee shop, now in his armor, arrives at the broken bridge to the Isle of the Lost. In his hand is the remote for the barrier. He pushes the button and deactivates the barrier. He walks on the magical bridge and arrives at the Isle.
"It is time, my Queen" said the knight to Queen of Hearts, who was at the other end of the bridge, waiting for his arrival with her daughter, Harley.
"A job well done, my Knave," said Queen of Hearts.
Back in the village, Mal arrives at the bank where the knights are holding some citizens hostage. Mal fires two magic blasts at two knights, rendering them unconscious, as well as capturing the attention of the rest of the knights and the citizens.
"Okay, boys. We can do this the easy way or the hard way," started Mal.
Two knights draw their swords and charge at Mal, but she dodges their swings. She knocks out one knight with an elbow to the face and another with a kick to the chest. More knights were coming at her and she gave every one of them either a fire blast or a fiery punch to the face.
"Don't move, witch. Unless you want this boy to pay the price," threatened a knight, holding a child hostage with his sword at his neck. Mal recognizes the child as one of the kids she almost incinerated the day before. If she lets him die as payback, everyone in the room will know and the word will spread. She decides to do the right thing, but instead of springing into action, she decided to talk to the kid.
"Kid, remember that stunt you pulled on me?" started Mal.
The kid remembered and bit the guard's hand, causing him to let him go. The kid immediately ran to his mother. The knight's attention was focused on the child and he didn't notice Mal's fist coming straight for his face.
Only three guards remain. Mal lights up her hand with fire, but the guards spare themselves a beating by dropping their swords on the floor before putting their hands in the air.
"Good move," said Mal.
In the laundromat, Evie saw two guards about to attack a cornered teenager. Evie takes out her sleeping perfume and sprays them from behind, causing them to fall into a not-long-lasting slumber. She looks at the teenage boy and told him, "Get out of here, kid." He gets up and runs outside. Not long before he was out of sight, half a dozen guards show up.
"Well, I could use the exercise," said Evie as she stretched her fingers.
Three knights charged at her, but Evie moves out the way, causing the three to slip on a puddle of water and they knocked themselves out as their heads slammed into a wall. One knight draws his sword and tries to strike Evie, but she dodges every swing he unleashes and uses her sleeping perfume on him. Another knight comes at her, but she evades his strikes and sprays him as well. The last knight threw a bottle of detergent with Evie's back turned, but misses. Evie turns around and looks at the knight.
"If I get close, you'll spray me," he explained.
"Alright, big boy, no perfume," said Evie, putting down her sleeping perfume.
The knight, just like the rest, can't get a clear shot on Evie with his sword because her agility. Evie takes him out by getting behind him and kicking him in the back.
"There's more to me than just looks. Remember that," said Evie as she picks up her perfume and walks outside.
Jay uses the rooftops to get to a restaurant where he sees knights chasing after citizens running away. He jumps down and engages them. He gives one knight a sweeping low kick, another a punch then a kick, and another a side kick to the hip. One knight tried to strike him from behind, but Jay leaps and lands on both his hands. He gives the knight a double kick and gets back on standing on his feet.
"Too easy," said Jay, enjoying the fight.
All of a sudden, Jay gets hit by a water balloon. He looks behind to see a child.
"Sorry! I was trying to hit him," said the boy, pointing to another knight.
Jay found a nearby fruit stand. He picks up an apple and throws it at the knight before he could hurt the child. The knight runs towards Jay, but the former thief throws an orange at him. The knight is still running towards him, but before he can stab Jay, Jay picks up a watermelon and the sword just went through it, but he can't take it out. Jay drops the watermelon and it lands on the knight's foot, causing him to hop around on one foot while complaining about how much his foot hurts. Jay walks up to the guy and trips him. He smiled at himself until he heard a lady shrieking.
"What now?" Jay heads for the direction of the scream.
Carlos was evacuating all the people out of the car shop. As everyone was finally outside, Carlos was last coming out of the door because he was dragging an unconscious middle-aged man out. He recognized the man as the father of Emily, the girl he babysat the night before.
"Daddy!" called out someone. It was Emily and her mother. They quickly approached the man and tried to wake him up.
"What did you do to him?" accused the wife.
Carlos tried to explain. "I didn't do anything! The place exploded and he was hit on..." He was interrupted when Emily kicked him in the leg. "Ow!"
"You're a very bad person!" yelled Emily.
In a split second, a dozen knights surrounded them and had them at sword point. "Don't move, son of Cruella!" said of the knights.
"Stand back," said Carlos quietly to the family. He takes out three silver balls from his pocket, activates them, and they smoke the place, blinding the knights. Once the smoke cleared, Carlos and the family were gone. They saw Carlos standing outside their circle and the family was running away.
"Alright, you rusty poker cards, let's do this," declared Carlos.
Every knight charged Carlos all at once, but he ducks, dodges, and jumps over every swing they sent at him. He took another silver ball and throws it at knight. Once it exploded, the knight was trapped in sticky paint like a straitjacket. Red sticky paint. Carlos had five more paint bombs in his pockets and used them on five more knights, trapping them in paint. Half a dozen remain. Carlos used his video game experience and fought them head-on. He uses a new combo attack he created. In sequence, he uses a roundhouse kick, then a back kick, then a spin swipe, then an uppercut, then a flip kick, and then a simple kick to the stomach.
After all the action, he decided to take one of the knights as a hostage to interrogate him. He drags him into a nearby hotel. He picks up his phone to call the others.
Later, the knight regains unconsciousness only to find himself tied up in a rope and at the mercy of the four ex-villains.
"Alright, here's how it's going to go. You tell us how you knights got here and we'll send you back to the Isle unharmed," said Mal.
"I will never talk. You can't make me," refused the knight.
"What's the point of refusing? We defeated, like, every one of you. So, you might as well spill the beans," said Evie.
"You can persuade me all you want. I will never talk," said the knight again.
Carlos draws the knight's sword and tells his friends, "You know. There are other methods of interrogation we can use..."
"Carlos!" yelled the others.
"Kidding!" defended Carlos. He puts the sword down.
"Actually that isn't a bad idea," said Mal. She takes the sword and holds it against the knight's throat. "You got on the count of ten to talk. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine..."
"Okay! Okay! I'll talk!" surrendered the guard. "Months ago, when Maleficent was transporting the King and his friends to the Isle, Queen of Hearts' daughter, Harley, secretly snuck out nearly every one of the Queen's knights. She came up with a plan to help her mother take over Auradon."
"By attacking the village?" questioned Jay.
"It's a diversion. The attack is just a ruse so Knave of Hearts can use the remote to free the Queen and her daughter from the Isle," he explained.
This brought a shock to the four teenagers. They immediately rushed out the hotel to get to the Isle of the Lost. But Mal stopped when she reached the front door. She went back to the knight, picked up the sword, and hits him in the head with the opposite end of the blade, knocking him out, just to ensure he doesn't escape.
"Mirror, mirror in my hand, where would Queen of Hearts be in this land?" Evie asked her mirror. The mirror showed the Queen with Harley and the Knave heading for Castle Beast.
"We have to go now!" said Mal and immediately started running back to the castle, with her friends on her tail.
Meanwhile, in the gardens of Castle Beast, Ben and his friends were hanging out together.
"So... any word on the others?" started Doug.
"No, not yet. But don't worry about Evie, Doug," said Ben. He then stares at the clouds which pretty much tells everyone that something is bothering him.
"You don't look happy," pointed out Lonnie.
"I'm fine," lied Ben.
"Lying isn't your thing, Ben," said Audrey. "What's the matter?"
"It's my parents. They're suggesting that I take strong security measures on Mal and her friends," confessed Ben.
"After what they did, I don't blame them," said Audrey, sounding like she would do it if she were queen.
"You're still mad at Mal, aren't you?" guessed Chad.
"She's humiliated me, insulted me, and spray-painted my reputation," said Audrey.
"Really?" reacted Lonnie, wondering if the "spray-painted" part was literal or metaphorical.
"So you're saying that I should either have a guard watch them 24/7 or send them back to the Isle?" guessed Ben.
"Whatever it takes to keep your kingdom safe," responded Audrey.
"Chad?" asked Ben.
"I second her opinion," answered Chad.
"Lonnie?" asked Ben.
"You should give them another chance," answered Lonnie.
"Doug?" asked Ben.
"I would give Evie a chance, but the others, I'm not so sure," answered Doug.
"Figures. After all, you're in love," said Audrey.
"Jane?" asked Ben.
Jane was browsing her phone because she received a text message from Carlos. It says, "Get somewhere safe. Villains are about to pay a visit to the castle."
"Guys..." Jane showed her friends the message. Audrey notices something and scrolls up to see the previous messages between Carlos and Jane.
"You two have been texting each other quite a lot lately," pointed out Audrey, suspecting something between Jane and the white-haired tech prodigy.
"I just asked him to help me with my Physics homework last night. Nothing's going on," denied Jane.
Everyone raised their eyebrows and looked at each other.
"Can we discuss this after we get to safety?" suggested Jane, trying to change the subject. However, someone pops out of the bushes and holds Jane hostage. It was the Knave. Coming out from behind a tree is Queen of Hearts and Harley.
"Queen of Heats," said Ben.
"The pleasure is mine, your majesty," said Queen of Hearts humorously, pretending to bow.
"And who's she?" asked Chad.
"Harley," introduced the daughter of Queen of Hearts. "The mastermind of this whole operation."
"You came up with this plan? Having your knights attack the village?" questioned Lonnie.
"That was just a diversion so the Knave can free me and my mom without interruption from your villain kid friends," explained Harley. "I'd do anything to make my mom proud." She and her mom exchanged smiles.
"How did you get the remote?" asked Ben.
"One of your knights was actually one of mine," answered Queen of Hearts. "Now, your highness, unless you want this girl's head cut off, you'll do exactly as I say."
"Let me guess. You want the throne to Auradon," guessed Ben.
"No wonder you're king at such a young age," said Queen of Hearts, impressed with his logic.
"Um, isn't that what all you villains want? World domination?" pointed out Audrey sarcastically.
"Not all," said Knave of Hearts. "Dr. Facilier just wants New Orleans. Captain Hook just wants treasure and Peter Pan dead."
"So what do you say, your majesty? Do we have a deal?" Queen of Hearts extends her hand, waiting for a handshake from the king.
"Don't shake that hand, Ben!" someone called out. Everyone turns their attention to the source of the voice. It was Mal, along with her friends.
The Knave draws his sword and holds it against Jane's throat. "Make a move, and she dies."
"Leave her alone!" demanded Carlos.
"Aww. It's like the prince coming to the princess' rescue," teased Audrey.
"Not now, Audrey," said Mal.
"If this is our last moment, might as well get a laugh out of it," said Audrey.
"And you do it by making fun of one of my friends?" questioned Mal.
"You just want to suck the joy out of everything, don't you? I guess I shouldn't be surprised. You're a villain kid," said Audrey.
The last words Audrey said enraged Mal. She walks up to Audrey, but Ben holds her back. "Woah! Mal! Don't!"
"Out of my way, Ben!" demanded Mal.
"How are you gonna prove yourself good if you keep letting your anger get to you?" pointed out Ben.
While everyone was distracted by the scuffle between Mal, Ben, and Audrey, Carlos pulls out a smoke bomb from his pocket and quietly rolls it along the grass and right next to the Knave's boot.
Meanwhile, Jay grabs Mal by the shoulders and tells her, "Mal, please. Don't ruin our image."
"Um, guys. Do you even care that I'm about to die here?" reminded Jane.
Carlos' ball explodes and the place is smoked. All that is heard is someone getting hit twice.
"Beware for swear, remove the mist and clear the air," chanted Mal. Her spell causes the smoke to disappear in an instant. What everyone saw was Carlos with Jane by her side and the Knave on the ground.
"Sorry, your majesty, but no deal," taunted Carlos.
"What happened to you?" asked Queen of Hearts.
"I felt someone punch me in the face, and then kicked me on my knee," answered the Knave.
All of a sudden, Queen of Hearts, Harley, and the Knave are trapped in a bubble, courtesy of Mal.
"So what are you going to do now? Kill us? Like what you could've done to those kids?" started the Knave.
"If I was my mother, I would," said Mal. "But I'm not my mother. So I spare your lives. But you're going back to Isle."
"Not all of them," interrupted Ben. "The Queen and the Knave will be returned to the Isle, but I have a plan for Harley."
"What do you have in mind, your highness?" asked Mal.
"Harley will be taken to prison, but she will be taking our rehabilitation program," answered Ben.
"Why?" wondered Harley.
"My primary objective as King of Auradon is giving the second generation of villains a chance to turn over a new leaf," answered Ben.
The four ex-villains walked over to the bubble and face Harley.
"If we can change, you can change," said Evie.
"You don't have to be what you were raised to be," said Jay.
"You can be whoever you want to be," said Carlos.
"You maybe your mother's daughter, but you're not your mother," said Mal.
The village of Auradon is under construction from the recent chaos, but everyone can rest knowing that the Descendants have saved the kingdom once again. Little Emily apologized to Carlos by giving him a drawing of him. The boy had to admit that she has a future at being an artist. The owner of the jewelry store promises Jay a raise if he works for one more shift. He accepted. The Seven Dwarfs used one of their rubies to make Evie a beautiful ruby necklace. Mal finishes cleaning Audrey's car and gives it a brand new makeover. She replaced the "Audruh" with a stylish logo saying, "Audrey". The daughter of Sleeping Beauty loved it.
Back in Castle Beast, Mal is having tea with Ben and his parents. Since Mal loves strawberries, Ben served Mal strawberry tea.
"Well, Mal. You saved Auradon. Again," started Belle.
"All in a day's work for a hero," said Mal with pride.
"So now you're feeling optimistic about becoming a hero," pointed out Ben.
"I guess that's because I just learned that once you make a mistake, you try your best to make up for it," said Mal.
"So, just to be clear, Maleficent had no hand in this?" asked Beast.
"No, your majes... sir," answered Mal, as well as correcting herself, remembering that Beast is no longer the King.
"Relax, dear. We know Maleficent will return, but we have Mal, remember?" assured Belle, holding her husband's hand.
"Don't forget my friends. I can't do this alone," reminded Mal.
The tea party was interrupted when Cogsworth came into the room.
"Cogsworth?" started Ben.
"I would like to remind Ms. Mal here that it's a quarter to 10. She and her friends promised to show up at a little boy's birthday party," said Cogsworth.
"I supposed I should get dressed. Thanks for the tea." Mal finished every last drop of her cup and bowed to her boyfriend before departing the room with Cogsworth.
"She'll make a beautiful queen someday," said Belle.
"She sure will," added Ben.
Mal, dressed in her clothes from the Isle, meets up with Evie, Jay, and Carlos in front of Castle Beast where a limo is waiting to take them to the birthday party. They were also dressed in their clothes from the Isle.
"I see you guys are going old school today," said Mal.
"That boy wants the villain kids from Isle..." started Jay.
"...so we're giving him 100% VK style," finished Evie.
"What made you decide to wear your old clothes?" asked Carlos.
"Same reason," answered Mal.
The four VKs entered the limo and the driver started driving to address of the birthday boy. Jay decided to start a conversation.
"So, bottom line, we saved Auradon yet again," reminded Jay.
"Not only that. We proved to Auradon that we're willing to keep our promise even after a few mistakes," added Mal.
"So next time we mess up by reverting to our old ways, all we have to do is perform an act of goodness to make up for it," said Evie.
"Not just any act of goodness, Evie. An act of goodness you perform because your heart tells you it's the right thing to do," said Mal. "I could've let that knight kill that boy for what he did to me, but I didn't."
Mal, Evie, and Jay turn their attention to Carlos, who seems to be glued to his phone.
"Texting Jane again?" teased Jay.
"No," lied Carlos. "W-why would you even think that?"
"Jane sent you a message while you were in the bathroom," explained Jay. "You two have been texting each other a lot."
"It doesn't mean anything. We're just... growing closer as friends," said Carlos.
"Really? I thought you liked Evie?" said Jay.
"What?" exclaimed Carlos.
"What?" exclaimed Evie.
"Didn't you two kiss, like, three months ago?" reminded Jay.
"That meant nothing," said Carlos strictly.
"It was just a kiss," added Evie.
"A kiss that meant nothing?" responded Jay.
"Okay, I'm not talking about this anymore," said Carlos as he went back to texting with Jane.
Evie looked at Jay and told him, "A word of this to Doug and I'll go Evil Queen on you."
"My lips are sealed," promised Jay, but he wasn't scared at all by her threat.
Nobody noticed that Mal kept her mouth shut the whole time. She looked back and forth between Evie and Carlos. She knew they had feelings for each other, but she really doesn't understand why they are still hiding it from each other even after they kissed... right in front of her, and Jay, and Ben, and Ben's parents. Instead, Evie is trying to work out a relationship with Doug and Carlos is beginning to get close to Jane. Mal thinks that they're each just looking for someone else special to deny their feelings for each other. Motivating Carlos back at the night of Ben's coronation party sparked everything that has happened between him and Evie during the summer, and yet, they're still acting like they're just friends.
Mal decided to forget this and focus on the mission at hand: give a boy the best birthday of his life.
That ends the first story. I know that the battle in the kingdom isn't "taking some time off action," but I suppose I can't help myself. I love a little action. As for the next story, sorry for the spoilers, but we have a special guest coming. Be patient and wait.