Disclaimer: I do not own Descendants.

Heroes and Villains

Chapter 1: The Second Set

"Once upon a time… well, I don't really need to say that, do I? I mean, come on: if you're reading this, you already know how our story began. Basically, all the old stories you're familiar with ended in pretty much the same way: the heroes won, and then started the kingdom of Auradon, while the villains all got carted off to the Isle of the Lost, a prison colony bounded by a magical barrier. Life here sucks, but I get by. Mainly because I don't have much to be afraid of, since my mother, Maleficent, is the worst of the lot. Or, should I say, she was. But we'll get to that.

"So, one day, the prince of Auradon – that's the kingdom of the heroes – decided that he wanted to try to make up for what his parents did by putting us all on the island. So, he issued a proclamation that the children of the Isle of the Lost, the kids of the most infamous villains, should be given a chance to live a 'normal life' in Auradon.

"Four kids were chosen for the first test run of the Prince's plan. There was Jay, the son of Jafar; Carlos, the son of Cruella de Vil; Evie, the daughter of the Evil Queen; and finally, Mal, the daughter of Maleficent and my little sister.

"As soon as she found out that the Auradonites were planning this little humanitarian mission, my mother, Maleficent, saw her chance. For the first time, someone was able to leave the island. Her plan was simple: all they needed to do was steal the Fairy Godmother's wand, and they would be able to use it to break the barrier around the Isle of the Lost, allowing all the villains to escape and get their revenge on the heroes.

"Now, if only I had been the one chosen, it would've worked. Unfortunately, my sister managed to ruin it, by making the mistake of falling in love with the do-gooder prince that she was supposed to be manipulating. She and the others all fell under the charm of Auradon and the heroes, and ended up choosing not to carry out the plan.

"When some idiot girl grabbed the wand and accidentally broke the barrier around the island anyway, it seemed like my mom might be able to salvage the situation: however, my sister actually turned against her, and used the Fairy Godmother's wand to turn her own mother into a lizard. I've got to give Sis a little credit: she has to have at least some evil in her to betray her own mother like that.

"On the other hand, my little sister always was pretty naïve. She still doesn't know what those so-called heroes did to our family in the past; my mom never did tell her. But that doesn't matter. She still betrayed her own family for the sake of those goody-two-shoes from Auradon, turned against everything she once believed in for the sake of 'true love'.

"Well, sorry, Mal, but you're not going to get to enjoy your new life with your little Prince. Now it's my turn, and I'm not going to screw it up like you did.

"This isn't over yet, little sister. I promise you that."

Auradon Prep…

Mal, daughter of Maleficent, was up with the sun. She sighed, flexing her arms over her head as she watched the sunlight filtering in through the windows.

Sitting up, she glanced over to see that Evie, her roommate, was still sound asleep, her dark blue hair fanned out over her pillow. Mal grinned, remembering how exhausted her friend had been after the party they'd attended the night before. Ever since Prince Ben's coronation and the defeat of Maleficent several weeks earlier, the kingdom of Auradon had been filled with celebrations. It had been almost a month since the coronation, and Mal had been to more parties than she could count.

Normally, she would've slept in on a peaceful morning like this: however, Ben had told her the previous day that he had a surprise for her and her friends, and asked her to meet him in the main plaza in front of the school.

"Come on, Evie!" Mal called to her roommate after checking the clock on her bedside table, hopping over and bouncing onto her bed. "Time to get up: Ben's expecting us in half an hour."

"Mmmm," Evie mumbled into her pillow.

Mal laughed, dodging Evie's retaliatory swing of a pillow as she hurried over to her closet, picking out a red blouse and white pants. For some reason, she also put on the purple leather jacket that she'd brought from the Isle of the Lost: it matched her deep purple hair, and it went well with the red of her shirt.

By the time she was finished showering and dressing, Evie was also up and ready. She chose to don an outfit that was rapidly becoming her signature: a light blue skirt to match her hair, along with a golden tiara and a white shirt with red-and-blue sleeves and the word Fairest emblazoned on it in golden letters. She also wore the same necklace she always did, golden with a ruby in the shape of a heart. She'd never actually told Mal where she'd gotten it from, although Mal had always assumed that it had been a gift from her mother, the Evil Queen.

"So?" Mal inquired, turning to show off her outfit. "How do I look?"

Evie grinned. "Fabulous," she replied. "As usual."

Ben, the newly-appointed king of Auradon, was waiting in the plaza, as promised. He turned to greet the four kids as they exited the school, with a smile on his face.

"Good morning, everyone," he greeted them in his usual friendly manner. "Hope you guys aren't still tired after the party last night."

"Well, Carlos here slept through his alarm," Jay shrugged, "but I was up on time." He chuckled as Carlos smacked him on the arm. He was wearing a red-and-black jacket over a white, button-up shirt, with black dress pants and black shoes, and looked surprisingly normal compared to his usual brightly-colored leather ensemble.

"Oh, shut up," Carlos de Vil muttered irritably, brushing at his spiked-up white hair. He had clearly gotten dressed in a hurry, as his hair was partially flattened on one side and his eyes were still bleary; apparently, he wasn't quite recovered from all the dancing he'd done the night before. He wore an outfit similar to Jay's, with a white shirt, a black jacket over the top, and black shorts.

"So, I'm pretty sure you're all wondering why I got you up so early," Ben stated, smiling. "It's pretty simple, actually: I've been planning something pretty important, and I wanted you guys to know about it."

"And what is it, exactly?" Jay asked.

"Well, the reason why I brought you guys here to begin with was because I wanted to give all the children of the Isle of the Lost a chance to live a normal life here in Auradon." Ben waved a hand. "So, since it seems to have worked out pretty well with you all, and it's been almost a month since the coronation with no problems, I figured it was time for a new set of kids to join you here."

The four descendants exchanged glances. Jay was the first to speak up. "So, you're saying... you want to bring some more kids from the Island over here?"

"Exactly," Ben replied with a smile. "And actually, I've already made the selections for the next group: I just wanted your opinion on them, to make sure they'll fit in well here."

"Awesome!" Carlos grinned. "So, ah… who are they?"

"Well, there are four of them: that seems like a reasonable number, since it worked the first time." Ben chuckled. "Let's see: their names are…" He pulled a small clipboard out of his jacket pocket and checked the list of names he'd written on it. "Mariana, daughter of Morgana the Sea Witch."

Evie groaned audibly. "Oh, come on! Really? Only four kids coming here, and it has to be her?"

"Oh, come on, she's not that bad," Mal replied with a roll of her eyes. "Not compared to her cousin, anyway."

Ben raised an eyebrow. "You know her?"

"You could say that, yeah," Jay replied with a chuckle. "See, Mariana's part of the Pirate Crew, the gang that controls the dock area back home; her cousin Uma is their boss. And, well... let's just say our gangs weren't exactly the best of friends back on the Isle. Although Mariana's one of the less-dangerous ones in that group, from what I remember. Unlike Uma, she never really liked getting her hands dirty if she could help it."

"Luckily it's Mariana, not Uma," Mal added. "If we brought Uma across, she could cause some serious problems." She shook her head, getting back on subject. "Okay, so who're the other ones?"

"Oh, right!" Ben checked the next name on his clipboard. "Ah… Harriet, daughter of Captain James Hook."

"Oh, great," Mal sighed. "Another one of the pirates."

"I mean, at least it's her and not one of her siblings," Evie pointed out. "Harry and CJ are much bigger troublemakers: Harriet's way more laid-back."

"Plus, Harriet and Mariana are dating," Carlos spoke up with a shrug. "At least, they were the last time I saw them. So it's probably a good thing that they're both coming."

"Okay, then. Next…" Ben checked the clipboard again. "Tenebria, daughter of Dr. Facilier and Tia Dalma."

"Oh, god," Mal muttered. "Not her."

Ben frowned. "Why? What's wrong with her?"

"Well, nothing's wrong with her," Evie replied. "I actually liked her sometimes, but…" She trailed off, grasping for a word.

"She's weird," Carlos supplied helpfully.

Evie shrugged. "Yeah, that pretty much covers it."

"She's got a little too much of her parents in her," Jay explained. "She's really into voodoo stuff: curses, potions, talking to spirits, shadowbending, things like that. That stuff is some seriously dark magic. Of course, she couldn't really do anything serious on the Island, thanks to the barrier, but…" He grimaced. "She could be really creepy sometimes."

"Okay, so that's three." Mal turned to Ben, raising an eyebrow expectantly. "Who's the fourth?"

Ben swallowed. "Ah… well, Mal, I'm glad you asked. I actually picked this one because of you, so I hope you approve."

All of the kids turned to face him at that, momentarily confused. Mal arched one eyebrow questioningly, wondering who he could be talking about. All of her closest friends were already with her in Auradon; her friend-group back on the Isle hadn't really been any bigger than this.

Her eyes widened a little, as a very unpleasant thought occurred to her. Unless...

Ben blinked, seeming a little nervous. "Well… um…" He looked down at the clipboard again. "His name's Damon." He looked up at Mal. "Son of Maleficent."

For a moment, it was so quiet that you could have heard a pin drop. And then Mal, Jay and Carlos simultaneously exclaimed, "What?!"

Evie didn't say anything, but her eyes snapped open wide, and her face instantly paled.

They had good reason. All four of them knew from experience that Damon, Mal's older brother, was nothing like his sister. He was everything Maleficent had wanted her children to be: cold, cruel, ruthless, and evil to the bone. Even on the island, he had been terrifying, feared almost as much as Maleficent.

"You want to bring him here?!" Mal demanded. "Have you lost your mind?"

"Mal, I…" Ben seemed taken aback. "I thought you'd be happy about this. He's your brother, isn't he?"

"Yes, he is," Mal spat. "And I have about as much in common with him as I did with my mother. Trust me, Damon isn't a good person, and he never will be. He's exactly like my mom was, and there's no way you can bring him around to the good side like you did with us."

"I have to admit: she's right, man," Jay seconded. Even he looked nervous. "I used to hang out with Damon sometimes when we were on the island. That guy is scary: everyone was terrified of him, ever the other villains. The only person who wasn't afraid of him was his mom."

"Mal's right," Carlos agreed. "Damon's evil, pure evil. I've seen what he does to people who just irritate him: trust me, you don't want him in Auradon."

Ben frowned, apparently considering that, and then found himself looking over at Evie. "Evie, what's wrong?" he asked.

The Evil Queen's daughter was still pale, holding her necklace with one hand and staring wide-eyed towards the distant form of the Island, barely visible on the horizon.

"Evie?" Mal said gently, placing a hand on her best friend's shoulder and turning Evie to face her. "Are you okay?"

Evie looked up at her, that one look conveying what she was struggling with. Mal could sympathize: the two of them had been the only people on the island, apart from Maleficent, who Damon had been somewhat close with. Evie and Damon had actually gotten along pretty well… although Mal had never really been sure what their relationship was, only that it seemed to work for both of them. Or, it had when they were on the Isle and were both evil, anyway.

"…Yeah," the Evil Queen's daughter whispered after a few seconds, some of her color returning. "I'm okay."

"Okay, good." Mal smiled reassuringly to her, but the smile vanished as she turned back to Ben. "Look, Ben," she said, in a more measured tone this time. "I know we were able to change, but Damon… he's different. And not just because he's a lot more evil than we ever were – which he is." She shivered, almost without noticing. "Damon is… powerful. He's the only one who was able to really use magic while we were on the Island, except for me and my mom. And even I couldn't do much more than make my eyes glow. The only other people who could use magic were Tenebria's family, and they used a different kind of magic. The barrier didn't work completely on voodoo, for some reason."

"Well… what kinds of stuff could he do?" Ben asked.

"Not too much," Mal replied. "Just simple stuff, like lighting candles and torches without touching them, levitating a book or a rock, making a gust of wind… little things like that. But that was on the Island, where almost all magic was blocked by the barrier. Not even our mom could do much more than that." She shivered. "I don't even want to think about what Damon could do out here, with all of his magic released. He'd be as dangerous and powerful as Maleficent ever was, and he's just as evil."

Ben seemed thoroughly unnerved, and Mal was inwardly relieved that she'd managed to show him just how dangerous his idea was. However, he was clearly still thinking it over. "Okay, let's think. We have the Fairy Godmother here: maybe she can put some kind of spell on him that'll prevent him from using his magic out here. She was the one who designed the barrier around the Isle of the Lost in the first place, after all; she should be able to think of something." He took one of Mal's hands, looking earnestly at her. "Mal, I brought you guys to Auradon because I believe that everyone deserves a chance to live a normal life and decide their own future, no matter who their parents were. Don't you think your brother deserves a chance, just like you did?"

Mal seriously considered the idea for a long moment, comparing what she knew of Damon's reputation to what she'd experienced so far during her time in Auradon.

In the end, there was really only one answer, since she already knew that Ben, always so noble and trusting, wasn't going to change his mind.

"I guess…" she said hesitantly. "If we can make sure that he won't have his magic when he leaves the Island, so he can't hurt anyone… then I guess it might work."

"Mal?" Carlos asked, his eyes wide. "You sure about this?"

Slowly, she nodded. "Yeah, I am. Ben's right: we should at least give him a chance, as long as we make sure he can't hurt anyone. Without his powers, I think we can handle him."

Ben smiled. "Okay, great! We can talk to the Fairy Godmother today: I'm hoping to get them here as soon as possible, so we'll need to see if we can figure out how to restrict or seal his magic."

The young king smiled, putting an arm around Mal as the five of them walked back into the school. "Besides, he's your brother, and you turned out just fine. How bad could he really be?"

On the Isle of the Lost…

In the filthy warren of the Isle, filled with grime and twenty years' worth of refuse, the haunting tune of a familiar melody echoed through the streets. Faster and faster, the rhythmic beat grew.

"They say I'm trouble, they say I'm bad…" a sensual female voice purred, as a pale girl with flowing black-and-green hair sauntered down the street, the passersby stumbling out of her way as she passed. "They say I'm evil, and that makes me glad."

"A dirty no-good, down to the bone," a young woman with tanned skin and shoulder-length dark hair, clad in loose-fitting pirate-style garb, sang as she slid down a ladder with casual ease. "Your worst nightmare; can't take me home."

"So I've got some darkness… in my blood," an olive-skinned girl with long brown curls murmured as she walked down an alleyway, shuffling a deck of cards. "Can you blame me? I never got no love."

Finally, a tall young man, dressed entirely in black, strode out of the home that had formerly belonged to Maleficent, lighting a row of torches with a wave of his hand. "They think I'm callous, a low-life hood," he sang with a cruel, mocking smirk. "I think they fear us…"

"As well they should!" he and his three compatriots chorused in unison.

From all the dark places of the city, the song built, rising in pitch and volume.

"Mirror, mirror, on the wall… who's the baddest of them all?"

Damon Darkfyre, the son of Maleficent, chuckled to himself as he heard the music rising all around him. "Welcome to my wicked world…"

"Wicked world…" Mariana, Harriet and Tenebria echoed him, before they took off running through the city, their voices singing out in unison.

"We're rotten to the core, core, rotten to the core. We're rotten to the core, core: who could ask for more? We're nothing like the others, like what you've seen before. We're rotten to the… we're rotten to the…"

Damon laughed, his eyes flashing with emerald light as the song came to a close.

"…Core."

Notes: Hello, everyone! So, this isn't my usual genre, but I had a pretty fun idea for a story, so I figured I'd give it a try and see how it turns out. Advance warning to everyone: this is going to be significantly more mature than the movie itself was in some parts, so heads-up.

So, I'm sure everyone's going to be curious regarding these new characters I've introduced, but I plan to develop each of them in their own way and hopefully make them into likable characters with compelling, believable backstories. And yes, I will explain why Damon is supposedly so much worse than Mal and go into more detail regarding his backstory with Evie; all of that will be addressed in later chapters.

Now, you're probably also wondering: what do these four new VKs look like? Well, I did describe each of them, albeit briefly, in this chapter, but I figured I'd come up with an actor or actress who I think would play each of them if this was actually a movie.

- Damon Darkfyre, son of Maleficent and older brother of Mal: Zac Efron
- Mariana, daughter of Morgana and cousin of Uma: Elizabeth Gillies
- Harriet Hook, daughter of Captain James Hook and older sister of Harry & CJ Hook: Demi Lovato
- Tenebria Facilier, daughter of Dr. Facilier & Tia Dalma and older sister of Freddie & Celia Facilier: Zendaya

Regarding how I decided on these characters as my new set of VKs: first off, Harriet Hook is canonically one of Captain Hook's children in Descendants, the older sister to Harry & CJ, but unlike her younger siblings, she hasn't really gotten any focus in the canon material. So I figured I'd include her here, to give her an opportunity for some development that she hasn't gotten in canon.

Now, just a quick bit to explain how I came up with the names for the three OCs:

- Damon's name felt like it fit well into the naming scheme for Mal, Maleficent, Diaval/Diablo, etc. "Darkfyre" isn't really part of his name: it's just a title that he came up with for himself.
- Next, I named Mariana, a daughter of Morgana, after the Mariana Trench, the deepest area of the world's oceans.
- And lastly, Tenebria is a play on "tenebris", the Latin word for "darkness", which seemed like a good name for a dark sorceress with voodoo powers.

And yes, for those of you who might be wondering given the ending of this chapter, there will be some songs in this story, but not all that many, and I'll only be including them when it feels appropriate and fits well with what's going on in the story.

If anybody has any questions or comments regarding this chapter, the characters, or the story as a whole, please review! (No hate or flame reviews, please: that's not fun for me or anyone else).

Next chapter, the new batch of villain kids arrive in Auradon, and we get some insights into Damon's history with Mal, Evie, and the other VKs. Stay tuned!