Hey guys! I'm back with the next chapter of Warriors! One thing you all said something about was the Jay/Evie in the previous chapter. All I can say is: it's here because the plot demands it, or else it wouldn't be here. Anyway, here are my responses to your reviews, and then the next chapter follows:
pinksakura271: Thanks for reviewing! He sure is lucky. Yes, they're together (for now - you never know what could happen...) and Henry's not that close to the Fearsome Four, just Evie. Well, Mal's going to the dungeon, where the boys are waiting for her and Evie. The four of them are gonna work together to find that wand. You should be able to know what the Evil Queen gave Evie (if not, it's mentioned in this chapter). And we don't know if they're dead or not, Mal just assumes they're dead because nobody's heard of them in a very long time.
jaleftwich: Yeah, that is completely true. And yes, I am a Ben/Mal shipper. I just don't know if we'll be seeing much of that, though I think there'll be some moments, but not yet. Thanks for reviewing!
PurpleNicole531: Thanks for reviewing! Yes, she will bring her friends. And in this story, yes, they like each other (as I said earlier, the plot demands it). Anyway, there will be some obstacles on the way they'll have to overcome.
Kingson24601: There'll be more nods to the original throughout the story. For the sake of the story, yes, they like each other. This chapter will give more insight in Jay and Carlos's friendship. Thanks for reviewing!
TKDP: Thanks for reviewing! And the tension doesn't end there - it's gonna show up quite a few other times. Well, they're still villains, so it should be bad.
Enjoy!
-Writer207
There were small stairs leading to the dungeon, and after that another long hallway. At the end of the hallway was the door that would lead to the 'lovesick fools and possible resistance members'. The second door, one that was located way closer to the stairs, led to another part of the dungeon. Many who passed that door would be convinced Maleficent kept wild, savage creatures behind that door. There was always one of them growling, attacking the door in an attempt to get out. Rumor has it only Maleficent can enter and not get ripped to pieces by these wild things.
Jay and Carlos were present in the hallway while Mal was talking to her mother. Carlos waited outside the door leading to the actual cells holding the 'possible resistance members and lovesick fools'. There actually weren't that many of either. There were just seven of her victims and just one young man who may be a resistance member. At least he has never met Evie – Carlos would've known it if he had.
Jay came out of the dungeon when Evie was already waiting there for him with Carlos. They barely talked while Jay was visiting the guys, because Evie was too busy admiring her reflection in her mother's latest gift: a small magic mirror the size of her hand. Apparently it had the same abilities as the big mirror in her mother's bedroom. She was looking at it, sometimes asking the mirror something. Carlos only wondered why she had to rhyme when she asked the mirror for something.
"Whatcha got over there?" Jay asked when he noticed her full attention went to the mirror once he walked out of the dungeon. Evie turned her head and smiled when Jay came into view. Carlos rolled his eyes. How could Jay even take that relationship seriously if he saw what happened to those seven victims? If he was born a peasant, he wouldn't have lasted five days – he would've ended up being there, too, if he was lucky enough to be noticed.
"A mirror," she answered Jay's question.
"Yeah, couldn't you see that?" Carlos then said. Jay turned his head to his best friend, who smiled at him. Jay recognized that one as a fake. He shook his head and crossed his arms.
"I see you're still angry," he said, looking at Carlos, who shrugged in response.
"No, not angry," Carlos responded, "Just irritated, that's all. You gotta remember who you're dealing with." He glanced at Evie when he said that, obvious enough for Jay to notice what Carlos tried to say. He grinned at him, amused by his position. It must be so hard for Carlos, seeing him and Evie together and not being able to do anything about it.
"Oh, I remember it just fine," Jay then said, "Do you?" He raised an eyebrow when he said it and Carlos shook his head with an irritated look. They had agreed never to speak of that brief relationship again.
"Jay, leave him alone." Evie decided to intervene before this argument turned into a fight between the boys. It wouldn't be the first time the friends fought and it wouldn't have been the last time if it got out of hand. To think they were the best of friends when they were younger and not interested in girls.
"Yeah, leave me alone!" Carlos said, "It's not like she would've put me there when she…" He trailed off mid-sentence, not wanting to finish it. There was a time, before she hooked up with Jay, where she targeted Carlos. She succeeded. Their relationship was beautiful and brief – it ended after just a few weeks. If he wasn't in such a favored position, Jay would've seen him sit in one of the cells of the dungeon today.
"You could've been there," Evie said – even if she prevented fights, she still supported Jay, "I considered it, but didn't do it. I saved you." Carlos crossed his arms; that's not how he remembered it.
"You did not," he reacted, "I just was braver than those boys will ever be! Besides, you weren't…"
"Your type?" Evie finished his sentence for him, "Carlos, you of all people should know I'm everybody's type." He didn't want to admit it, but she did have a point there. No matter how those boys acted and what their dream girl looked like, Evie still convinced them to come with her for a while. Done it before, sure would do it again.
"It wasn't just Evie who saved you," Jay then said, "Your mother did, too. Indirectly, of course. For a B-list villain she's still important enough for you to stay at this side of the door." Oh, he should've just kept his mouth shut. Then this could've still been a peaceful evening. But now, Carlos was infuriated. He walked towards Jay with a mad look on his face.
"B-list villain?" he said, "Take that back."
"It's true." Jay only said, not caring about the finger Carlos pointed at him in an angry way. The nonchalant grin on his face made Carlos even angrier. He shook his head.
"My mother is a murderer!" he almost shouted these words – almost, he was still able to stay somewhat calm enough to say these words calm enough, "She's killed puppies! Nobody can be more evil than that!" There was no denying everyone was shocked when they heard what Cruella De Vil had done to those poor, defenseless puppies. She still wore the coat in public to remind the people of her cruel deed. But Jay didn't seem that impressed with that evil act.
"She almost did it the first time," he said, emphasizing 'almost', and he pushed Carlos' finger down, "Only when our parents got off that island prison, she could kill them. Because she couldn't do it before she got off the island prison, she's a B-list villain, so you are a B-list villain kid." Why did it matter when Cruella killed those puppies? What mattered was that she actually killed them eventually, right? That didn't necessarily make him a lesser villain kid than Mal, Evie and Jay.
"As if your dad was such a bad-ass," Carlos countered Jay's explanation, "Only with the genie's help he could become a real threat. Let's face it – he's just a glorified vizier right now, whatever that is." The grin on Jay's face was long gone when Carlos mentioned his father. Now it was his time to be furious. Nobody was allowed to talk about his father like that, especially not a fellow villain kid.
"You take that back right now or I'll…"
"Stop fighting!" Evie yelled to draw their attention. It worked – she had silenced both young men, who were staring at her now. She didn't spend time looking at the two, instead focused again on her mirror. They didn't say anything else, expect a well-meant "she's right" on both sides. She made them admit this argument was stupid and pointless. If it was that important to one of them, they'd continue that argument elsewhere. Jay went to stand next to Evie, while Carlos preferred to watch them from ten feet.
Carlos remained silent, but his mind went in overdrive. Oh, how he wished to go to the Evil Queen and tell her what her daughter has been doing! Of course she knew of the peasants, even approved of her method of persuasion, but she would freak out if she ever found out Evie has been having a serious relationship for longer than a year. She was supposed to go with Henry to the Southern Isles and stay there with him if he hadn't suddenly disappeared! Evie would've lived her villainous happily ever after with him, but those plans now are only postponed.
There were two reasons for him not having told the Evil Queen of her daughter's preferences yet. First of all, the Evil Queen scared him. The 'Evil' in her name wasn't there for nothing. Second of all, Evie would be mad at him for telling her mother the secret she's been keeping for so long.
"I don't know," Evie replied, "Mother told me it could get me any kind of information!"
"Anything else she said about it?" Jay wondered. Evie nodded.
"She mentioned it's impossible to find something that's concealed with dark magic." The friends looked at each other. Nobody needed to say what they were thinking right now. The only people who practiced dark magic (and succeeded) were villains or desperate peasants. But no villains or descendants they knew or heard from would be willing to place a spell on the only item able to cancel out dark magic.
"Then we'll have to find it another way," Mal said. "Ask the mirror where the resistance is hiding out." Evie did as she was told. Unfortunately, the mirror couldn't locate the current hide-out either. Then she asked the mirror to give them the faces of the people who were members. The mirror did know the answer to that question. Many faces flashed by in a second. They noticed many of them were their age. There were some older men and women present, but most of the resistance was made up out of young men and women who dedicated their life to fighting villains.
How pathetic. They knew they didn't stand a chance, right?
"I know that guy," Jay said, pointing at the mirror. Evie told the mirror to show them the guy Jay was talking about. It was still a young man, sitting on the ground in a dark cell. His clothes were dirty and he was looking at the ground. he looked like every imprisoned resistance member: no way out, no hope left, nothing left to do but wait for his execution to come. "He's right there. I already suspected he was the resistance guy they caught."
"So, what's the plan?" Carlos wondered, not looking at the resistance member. They would have to need a plan to find that wand. They couldn't just cross the country and go look for it in public.
"We," Mal began, a plan starting to form in her head, "need to find a resistance member, befriend him and find the resistance through him." Evie, Jay and Carlos looked at each other. Mal could already guess what they were thinking, what they didn't dare to say out loud.
"And you think it's going to work?" Jay eventually asked. Mal nodded with a sly grin on her face.
"Well, we already got our guy, now we just need a way in." The silence came back as Mal stared at them; waiting for any reaction. Carlos shook his head.
"Sounds great, but there's one minor problem," he said, "Everyone knows who we are, even if they've never met us. you, of all people, will definitely stand out there. We're all kids of the greatest villains to ever live! Do you really believe that guy is just going to trust you?" Mal nodded with a determined look on her face.
"He will," she said, "We just need a good story to begin with." Everyone believes a good story, especially when the best liars of the world would be the one telling it. They just had to make up the perfect story so the resistance would believe it. They sure wouldn't be gullible after everything they had been through.
"I'm all out of ideas." Jay said, "What about you guys?" Carlos just shrugged. It didn't look like he had an idea either.
"Mal can pretend her mother was the source of her evilness!" Evie said with a smile on her face. Carlos frowned, Jay looked up and Mal nodded in agreement with her. She liked that idea.
"Great idea!" Carlos said sarcastically, "Nobody will believe that. The daughter of Maleficent not evil? Yeah, right." He voiced Jay's exact thoughts which he liked to keep for his own. He didn't want to disappoint his girlfriend by telling her he thinks it's a stupid idea.
"My mother and I are good at making potions," Evie said, glaring at Carlos, who didn't flinch. "We could say Maleficent asked me and my mother to make them because her daughter just didn't want to be evil like her."
"I like that idea," Mal said with a big smile on her face, "Let's do it!"
"What? Like, right now?" Jay wondered. Mal's excitement had made him think they were going to start with this plan right away. Mal shook her head.
"No, not now," she said, "But if I were you, I'd be ready to act when this guy is about to be executed." She looked at the mirror again, who was still showing them the poor boy who would die within a couple of days. She couldn't get a clear shot of his face, but that wasn't important right now. When his time was there, she could see what he looked like.
"I just remembered something," Jay said, "What if he's going to be replaced? We have no control about that." Mal realized she had forgotten all about the replacement while figuring out this plan. She shook her head – there was a simple solution for that problem.
"Then he'll die and another resistance member can take me there. At least I'll have tried. If not… there are some very interesting spells in this spell book," She looked at it as she said that last phrase, "Either way, I can't show up here until I've found the wand. One of you will have to tell my mother what I am doing with the resistance. She'll understand. If they can't or won't lead me to the wand immediately… you should try to find it yourselves. You're more than capable of doing so. If you found it, contact me and hand it over, or else…" She didn't have to finish her sentence. They could clearly hear the creatures at the other end of the hallway, which reinforced her statement.
"Okay, we get it," Carlos then said, "Play along, find the wand, give it to you if you haven't found it yet. What do we do now?"
"Now we are going to rehearse," Mal responded, "Let's go." She led the way out of the dungeon, closely followed by Evie, Jay and Carlos.