Saving Mal (Part 3)

[Isle of the Lost. 11:33 am]

Evie's POV

Totally unaware of what was happening back at the school, I entered Mal's old house. Since no one was living in it anymore, it was in disrepair. So much, I had the feeling that it was structurally unstable, and parts of it could collapse at any moment. I walked through the main hallway. The feeling was a little eerie, but yet exciting. I've been to Mal's house many times during our time on the Isle. Well, mostly snuck in. Mal's mother didn't always like me coming over. Something about me being a bad example or something.

As I walked into the living room, dust and cobwebs were everywhere. Way more there was in the hallway. I looked around and saw cracks in the wall, indicating that there is a structural problem. This place will never be fixed up and it kind of saddens me to know that one day, this house will be a pile of rubble. I looked through the bookshelves to find any book that Maleficent might have used. You might be thinking, "Why don't you search the spell book Maleficent gave Mal for the cure?". Well, I've read through that book many times before, and I don't recall a spell and a cure for whatever Mal has in it.

After searching the bookshelves, I found nothing. I leaned up against a couch and sighed. Thinking where else I should look. But then I looked to my left and saw a dusty book sitting on a dusty end table. I picked up the book blew the dust off. The book had a picture of a dragon on it and a bookmark was sticking out of one of the pages. I flipped the book to the marked page and gasped as I saw the rock spell.

"Oh my gosh, this is it!" I said.

I read the page and gasped again after I read the section about the cure.

"Of course! How could I have not seen this?" I asked aloud.

[Tourney Field. 12:05 pm]

Lonnie's POV

Since Mal is now armed, Carlos, Jay and I grabbed some swords from the gym. I hated having to do this, but we have no choice but to defend ourselves. As we left the gym building, we noticed in the distance large black cloud shot up into the sky.

"Don't tell me that's from Mal." said Jay.

"I think so." said Carlos.

We ran to the direction, but saw Audrey and Jane along the way. I begged Audrey to help us, and she finally said yes after me asking so much. We arrived at the tourney field and glanced around, but didn't see Mal.

"So where is the witch?" Audrey asked.

Her question was about to be answered. We saw a green fireball heading towards us, but it stopped not far ahead of us. The fire disappeared and Mal was seen in its place.

"Mal." Carlos said quietly.

Mal rested her sword on her right shoulder and glared at us. She then started walking towards us.

"Are you going to fight her with that?" Audrey asked me, referring to my sword.

"I don't want to hurt her." I said.

Audrey scoffed and grabbed the sword out of my hand.

"Audrey, no. You're no match for Mal." I said.

"Watch me." Audrey said.

Audrey ran to Mal as Mal ran to us. The boys, Jane and I watched as Audrey was engaged in a duel. Jane told Audrey to be careful a couple times.

"Boys?" I said.

"Yeah?" Jay and Carlos said.

"We're going to have to fight Mal." I said.

"What?" Jay asked.

"No. I don't want to." Carlos said.

"We have to. To save Mal."

"Right." Carlos said.

After Mal knocked Audrey to the ground, Mal turned and saw the boys and I running to Mal.

"Mal!" I exclaimed.

After we got up to her, Carlos and Jay restrained Mal by her arms. Making Mal drop her sword.

"Mal, please! You have to stop this! This isn't who you are!" I said.

"I am who I am." Mal said.

"No. This is not you. Remember me? I'm your best friend. And I know you don't want to hurt me." I said

"Lies!" Mal exclaimed.

She made the boys lose their grip on her by manifesting a black mist around her which somehow made the boys fall backwards. Mal made me fall as she flew past me and stopped in front of Jane. Jane was terrified as Mal grabbed the collar of her dress.

"Mal, no!" Carlos yelled.

He ran to them and had Jane hide behind him.

"Cute." Mal said, unamused.

Somehow using her magic, Mal made Carlos and Jane fly backwards to me, Jay and Audrey.

"Jane!" Audrey exclaimed.

"Are you alright, Carlos?" Jay asked.

"I am." Carlos said.

"Me too." Jane said

"No one does that to anyone!" Audrey said.

She held and pointed the sword I had at Mal.

"I'll end this!" Audrey said.

"No!" I said.

"No? There is no other way. I know you don't want to see your bestfriend fall, but-"

"It's not that. Evie will surely come back with the cure. So we have to stay strong until she arrives." I said.

Audrey sighed.

"I guess you're right." she said.

I grabbed my sword out of Audrey's hand and looked at Jay and Carlos. Carlos got up and grabbed his sword.

"Let's go!" I said.

Jay and Carlos nodded in agreement. My mother's training in combat has really helped me. But I don't know if even she would be prepared for the attack Mal had planned for us. With both hands, Mal shot many spheres of green fire at each of us. And they hurt very badly. But we stayed strong and stood back on our feet. But Mal had one last attack as she grabbed her sword.

"Dragon flames!" Mal said.

After swinging her sword towards us, a green fireball hit all of us at the same time. A few green explosions went off around us as we fell to the ground. After we all fell to the ground in pain, Mal walked up to Audrey and pointed her sword at her.

"Audrey!" Jane cried.

Mal raised her sword up in the air.

"Mal, no!" I yelled.

Right when Mal was about to stab Audrey, a small explosion of sparks went off right next to Mal, causing Mal to fall and roll on the ground. Mal quickly got up and Evie kicked the sword out of Mal's hand. We were all happy to see her again.

"Evie!" Carlos, Jay and I said.

"Nice entrance." Audrey said.

"I'm sorry for the wait. Please, leave the rest to me." Evie said.

The rest of us got up and moved out of the way.

Evie's POV

I looked back at Mal, who had the sword back in her hand, but resting it on her right shoulder.

"Looks like the worst has been saved for last." Mal said.

"Oh, baby. What has happened to you? This is all my fault." I said quietly.

Mal began to run towards me. I quickly grabbed a sword that was lying on the ground just as Mal swung her sword at me. My sword blocked hers from striking me and our duel began. I got up and our swords clashed a few times before we looked at each other and moved a little farther away from the others. However as our swords clashed, I realized I may have underestimated Mal. It has been a long time since I'd been in a sword fight. On the Isle, Mal has been involved in many more battles than I have. And I know I'm going to get hurt. But whatever it takes.

As Mal swung her sword at me, I dodged it by doing a cartwheel. But Mal was persistent. I knew she wanted to hurt me. She charged at me with a fast speed and got me before I could block. I looked at my left arm and winced as I saw a tear in my sleeve as well as a cut and blood in the same area. Mal smirked in victory. But she wasn't done yet. I tried to shake the pain off the best I could and swung my sword at Mal. Mal dodged it as she rolled on the ground. She got back up and shot small spheres of green fire at me. I ran in half a circle, trying to avoid each one of them as they exploded behind me. Mal shot one more at me. As it flew towards me, I did a front flip in the air, barely missing it. I then landed right in front of Mal.

Our swords clashed once again. As we were trying to keep ours from striking each other, Mal punched me in the face, causing me to lose concentration. Mal glared at me as she shot another green sphere of fire at me. I tried to dodge it, but it hit me on my right side. Mal smiled as I was enduring the pain. It felt like my insides were burning up. I kneeled to the ground, with my hand over my side. I lifted my hand and saw part of my shirt burned away and part of my skin had a first degree burn mark. I quickly looked up and saw Mal grab me by my shirt, kicked me in the stomach and somehow made me fly backwards a little to the ground. I laid on my stomach in a lot of pain.

"I mustn't give up. I got to keep going." I said.

"Evie!" Carlos said.

I saw him running towards me.

"Stay back!" I said, holding my hand up.

Carlos stopped and stayed back. I got up and looked at Mal.

"Mal, you're my true love. And I won't give up on you." I whispered quietly.

"You're going to die, Evie." Mal said.

"That will one day happen. But not on this day." I said.

Mal scoffed and charged at me. Our swords clashed many more times. The next time our swords clashed, Mal's blocking of mine was so strong, when she countered, it sent me flying back again. I was able to keep myself up, but I hurt my left ankle at the same time. I tried to ignore the pain and continued to defend myself from Mal's countless attempted attacks. However, my body told me I was not meant for this. After I deflected another one of Mal's sword swings, a sharp pain was felt where I was burned and cut. I winced, and Mal saw this as an opening.

She took her sword and cut me from the bottom of my right shoulder down to the center of my chest. The others watched in horror as I screamed in pain as the cut was deeper than the other and the pain was almost unbearable. Mal grabbed me by the hair and smacked me to the ground. I tried to get her with my sword, but she kicked it out of my hand and jumped backwards. As I was lying on the ground in pain, Mal saw this as an opportunity to finish me off. And inside, I was hoping for it. I had failed. The Mal I knew and loved is gone forever. And I might as well go too.

"Profusion of flames!" Mal said, with her eyes glowing bright green.

I braced myself as I saw Mal manifest the biggest amount of green fire from her hands. The green fire flashed a brighter color of green for a second. I guess indicating she was all charged up. Mal then sent the biggest sphere of green fire right at me. I looked around it and looked at Mal. I wanted her to be the last thing I see before I die.

But then a light blue square appeared right in front of me. It blocked Mal's fireball and sent it right back to her. It exploded on Mal, causing her to fall to the ground. I looked to my left and saw Jane. Standing up with her hands reaching out. She sighed and lowered her arms.

"Jane." I said, acknowledging that she had used her magic to save my life.

Jane smiled and nodded. I slowly got up and walked over to Mal. She was hurt badly by her own power, and layed on the ground with some burn marks on her clothes.

"Mal?" I said.

Mal got up and grabbed me by my shirt.

"You...you're such an easy girl! You know that?! Dating a bunch of boys?! Flirting with them?! All because you think you're pretty?! You're such a slu-"

"Mal, listen to me! You can say all the meanest things in the world to me. But it won't affect me." I said.

"Why? Trying to stay strong? You'll break at some point." Mal said.

"No, I won't. Because I know you're not the girl I fell in love with. You're worse than the girl I first met. You're not being Mal! You're being like your mother! And that is not who you are!" I said.

"I am who I want to be! And I'll be better than my mother! I will rule Auradon! And kill anyone who refuses to bow to me. Starting with you." Mal said.

Mal grabbed my throat and began to squeeze it. I grabbed Mal's arms and was able to make her lose her grip. Mal tried to make a grab for her sword, but I kicked it out of her reach and then kicked her in the face to make her stay on the ground. It hurt my feelings to do that, but I saw this as an opportunity for me to finish her off.

"Mal Bertha. You are the love of my life. You are what I live for. You are who I live for. We have so much together. Remember who you are. Remember me. I know you always listen to me. I'm the only one you really listen to. So, Mal, baby. My sweet baby girl, if you're in there somewhere, I want you to know that I love you. I will always love you. We have a wonderful future ahead of us, and I will not allow this girl to stand in the way." I said.

"Nonsense!" Mal exclaimed.

Mal got up and grabbed my left arm as her right hand manifested one last green fire. My right hand grabbed Mal's right arm. We both struggled as Mal was trying to burn me, as I tried to keep Mal from burning me. However, Mal overpowered my strength and began to burn me in the same area she got me before. The burn mark instantly went from a first degree to a third degree. The pain was excruciating. If not more than that. I screamed as this was worse than any pain my mother ever gave to me. But I stayed strong. I stared at Mal as she was destroying my skin.

"It doesn't matter what you do to me! My love for you is greater than your firepower!" I said.

"Prove it!" Mal said.

I made Mal lose her grip on my left arm which causes Mal to not only continue to burn me, but also herself. We both screamed as the pain was going through both of us. But I still stayed strong and moved past the pain to give Mal the final blow. I put my hands on her cheeks.

"What are you doing?" Mal asked.

"Bringing my baby back." I replied.

I gave Mal the most passionate kiss ever. Afterwards, Mal looked at me with shock which caused her to lose control of her firepower. A green explosion went off right between us, causing me to fly backwards and land on the ground. Lonnie, Carlos, Jay, Jane, Audrey and I watched Mal flew in the air. As Mal was in the air, she screamed as a purple cloud of energy came rushing out of her and dissipated into the air.

Mal was finally freed from the spell and she landed hard on the ground. The others rushed over to me asking me if I'm alright. I told them I was and then a white colored sparkle was seen over my third degree burns and then, astonishingly, they disappeared. We all looked surprised as the burn marks were completely gone and it was just bare fair skin was seen. The pain from the burns were gone as well. The only pain I had were the cuts from the sword and the pain from moving my ankle wrong.

"Are you okay, Evie?" Lonnie asked.

"I am." I replied.

"But what about Mal?" Jane asked.

The six of us ran over to Mal. Mal laid on the ground, on her stomach. I carefully turned Mal to her back and saw her eyes were closed. Her new clothes were gone and replaced with what she was wearing the last time I saw her. The black highlights and her burn marks were also gone as well. Like they never happened.

"Mal?" I said, gently shaking her.

Mal didn't respond.

"Mal! Mal, can you hear me? Can you open your eyes?" I asked.

Still no response.

"Mal, respond to me, baby!" I said.

With two fingers, I felt Mal's neck.

"Is she…?" Carlos began.

"Dead?" Audrey finished.

I sighed when I felt movement in Mal's neck.

"No. She's still alive." I said.

The five sighed in relief. Even Audrey.

"Well, I guess even she doesn't deserve to die." Audrey said.

I smiled and patted her on the back.

"How did you break her spell?" Lonnie asked.

"A kiss." I replied.

"A kiss?" Jane asked.

"Yep. Haven't you heard? True love's kiss works every time. Only Mal's mother thought that would be the perfect cure. Because at the time, Mal didn't believe in true love therefore the spell really didn't have a cure." I said.

"Until you two became a thing." Carlos said.

I smiled.

"Yes. We're Mevie forever." I said.

Jay and Carlos helped me carry Mal back to our dorm room.

"Thank you, all of you, for your help. And thank you, Jane, for saving my life." I said.

"Of course, Evie. I'm glad you're okay."

I smiled and nodded. I then looked at Audrey.

"I appreciate your help, Audrey. You know you didn't have to." I said.

"Well, honestly, I really didn't or was trying to help. I just got caught in the middle of all of this. But I meant it when I said Mal doesn't deserve to die. I'm actually glad she's okay. And definitely glad this craziness is over." she said.

"You have a good heart, Audrey. There's still hope for you and Mal." I said.

"Well, I wouldn't go that far. She still has to face what she's done." Audrey said.

"Of course."

We hugged and Audrey left. Jane and I hugged as well and she left. I looked at the boys.

"I'd thank you both as well, but I don't think I need to." I said.

"We'd do anything for you and Mal." Carlos said.

Jay didn't say anything.

"Jay?" I said.

"Right, anything." Jay said.

We hugged and they soon left as well. It was just Lonnie now. We both looked at Mal, who was unconscious in her bed.

"So what now?" Lonnie asked.

"Well...I really don't know. I know this isn't going to go over well with Ben and the council. After today, there's no doubt that they'll want to expel her." I said.

"If that's what they'll decide, what will you do?" Lonnie asked.

"I have a plan in place. In case that does happen."

"What's that?" Lonnie asked.

I walked over to the door and quickly opened it to make sure no one was trying to eavesdrop. Essentially Audrey. But no one was around. Not even in the hallway. I closed the door and then walked Lonnie over to the window on the farthest wall from the door.

"What I'm about to tell you has to stay between us. No one can know." I said.

"I promise. I won't tell anyone. You can trust me." Lonnie said.

"I know. I just wanted to tell you." I said.

I held Lonnie's hands and looked at her.

"A few months ago, Mal had a dream about her and I living in an expensive contemporary home in Canada. It's her dream to one day live there." I said.

"I remember you telling me a little bit about that. But Canada? That's so far." Lonnie said.

"I know. But I'm perfectly happy with that if that's where Mal wants to be. The thing is, well, my plan is, if the council does decide to expel Mal, I will make preparations to take us to Canada." I said.

"You mean...you're going to run away?" Lonnie asked.

"I never thought of it as that, but yes." I replied.

Lonnie looked sad.

"Why?" she asked.

"I'll have to. I don't want Mal to be sent back to the Isle. Or be locked up somewhere. If it comes to the point where she's not allowed around here anymore, then why not go to some place where she'll be very happy?"

"I'll certainly miss you guys." Lonnie said.

"Let's not think about that right now. We'll deal with it if the time comes, okay?" I asked.

"Okay." Lonnie said, nodding happily.

Lonnie and I hugged tightly and gave each other a small kiss on the cheek. Afterwards, Lonnie walked over to Mal and gave her a kiss on the cheek. She then covered Mal with her blanket and straighten her hair a little.

"You're my best friend, Mal. You always will be." she said.

Lonnie and I hugged one more time before she left.

After Lonnie left, I locked the door and went into the bathroom. I took my shirt off and looked at the large cut wound that started from the bottom of my right shoulder to the center of my chest. Just missing my breasts. The cut wasn't very deep. But a little more than a scratch. I didn't feel I needed medical attention and believed that it'll be okay. I opened a vanity drawer and took out a bottle of antibiotic cream. I cleaned the blood away and put some antibiotic cream over the cut. I cried a little as it stung really bad. But the pain soon started to go away. I cleaned and put the cream over the other cut as well and put the bottle of cream away. I looked at myself in the mirror and sighed as I looked at the red cut clashing against my fair skin.

"How am I going to explain this to Mal?" I asked myself.

I'll deal with it when the time arrives. I took my shoes off and walked over to Mal's bed. I sat on the bed next to Mal. I looked at her and rubbed her legs. I got up and took Mal's shoes off her.

"Oh, baby. My sweet baby girl. Look at you, sleeping like an angel. The demon inside you is gone. Curse you, Maleficent. Thank god you're a lizard now. If Mal didn't come out of this, I would've squashed you." I said.

I kinda wanted to kill the lizard anyway. But as crazy as this sounds, I have to be grateful to her. If it wasn't for her, we wouldn't have Mal today. I uncovered Mal with the blanket and moved her over as carefully as I could and laid next to her. I covered us with the blanket and held Mal as close as I could, partially laying on her. I kissed her on the lips and closed my eyes and fell asleep from the big day I had.