Chapter 5
The band played as Mal, Evie and Drac made their way into the stands to watch the game. Drac turned his hat so the brim covered his face and helped shade his eyes from the bright sun. Jay and Carlos were in their jerseys among the team as the game against the Sherwood Falcons got underway. Honestly, Drac paid more attention to the band then the game, watching how each member played their instrument, how the music made the crowd cheer and perked up the team when they were getting stressed from being behind in the score until they were able to tie up the game. The tune they were playing was much more upbeat and a lot better then what had been playing when he and the other VK's arrived in the limo. It was so different that Drac couldn't believe the same instruments played both tunes. He thought back to the other day when he'd had some fun with that keyboard he'd found and didn't notice he'd subconsciously started tapping his foot to the band's rhythm.
"This is a nail biter folks." The announcer said over the speakers, "There's forty seven seconds left on the clock. We're all tied up. The Sherwood Falcons, two. The Fighting Knights, two. What a game between Auradon's fiercest rivals. As the teams get into their huddles and take up positions along the Kill Zone. The dragoneers have been laying down a withering hail of fire. And now a substitution by Coach Jenkins. He's bringing that hothead Jay from the Isle of the Lost and that little guy Carlos who can barely hold a shield."
"Come on Carlos! Man you got this!" Drac shouted as Evie and Mal cheered.
"When they break from their huddles this is going to be a big moment here. And the tipoff is ready." The whistle blew and the two teams went for the ball.
"Here we go. Long pass goes to Jay. Jay dishes off to Prince Ben. Nice little block by Carlos. He does a little dancing jig in the opponent's face. And now Jay gets the ball back. Here comes Jay! Jay, hurdling maneuver at mid field. Jay makes a nice pass to Prince Ben through the Kill Zone. Big block by Chad! Prince Ben move over wide, gives it back to Jay. He's in the clear shot – oh what a save by Philip the Falcon's goalkeeper!
Twenty three seconds left, you could cut the tension with a sword. The long ball is playing into Jay. Jay great jump, great leap and a great move by Jay. Big block from Chad. Jay dishes off to Prince Ben. And then Carlos with a big block goes down. Jay through the Kill Zone picks up Carlos. He's being hammered by dragon fire. Still going on. Jay, hurdling maneuver at mid field. He's in the clear! The ball goes back to Jay. He passes to Prince Ben – he scores! Prince Ben has won it! What an unselfish play by Jay!"
The crowd cheered as Mal covered her ears and Drac tapped her shoulder while he laughed at her discomfort.
"What a team! Incredible! And it's the new guys, Jay and Carlos, who set up the prince for the win! What a victory! An absolutely wonderful end to one of the best games ever! Here they come folks the winners of the first –"
"Excuse me." Ben said taking the mic, "Excuse me can I have your attention please? There's something I'd like to say. Give me an M!"
"M!"
"Give me an A!"
"A!"
"Give me an L!"
"L!"
"What does that spell?"
"Mal!" the crowd shouted as Mal's mouth fell open and Drac took off his hat and covered his face with it laughing into the cap thinking they may have put a little too much love potion into that cookie. And grateful he wasn't on the receiving end of the spotlight. VK's lurked in shadows, the spotlight was reserved for their parents.
"Come on I can't hear you!" Ben shouted.
"MAL!"
"I love you Mal, did I mention that?" Ben said into the mic, "Give me a beat!"
"Oh my. . . cookie." Evie said, "What was in that?" she asked as the band started up and the crowd jammed to the beat as Ben sang.
"Did I mention that I'm in love with you? And did I mention, there's nothing I can do? And did I happen to say I dream of you every day? Well let me shout it out loud! If that's okay, ay, ay. If that's okay. I met this girl who rocked my world like it's never been rocked. And now I'm living just for her and I won't ever stop. I never thought that it could happen to a guy like me, but look at what you've done you've got me down on my knees. Because my love for you is ridiculous. I never knew –"
"Who knew?"
"- that it could be like this. My love for you is ridiculous. My love is R-I-D-I-C-U-L-O-U-S."
"R-I-D-I-C-U-L-O-U-S."
"It's."
"Ridiculous!"
"Just."
"Ridiculous!"
"And I would give my kingdom for just one kiss. Well did I mention that I'm in love with you? And did I mention there's nothing I can do? And did I happen to say I dream of you every day? Well let me shout it out loud! If that's okay, ay, ay. Yeah! If that's okay."
The crowd was getting so worked up Drac had to head out of the bleachers he was getting jostled around so much. When he reached the bottom he was pushed once more into one of the band members. The guy turned and Drac saw it was that son of Aladdin he'd seen the other day. The guy smiled at him and offered him his trumpet thinking Drac had tapped him wanting to join in. Remembering the fun he'd had with the keyboard he shrugged and took the instrument. He turned his hat back around so the brim was out of his face and the son of Aladdin quickly showed him where to hold the trumpet and he started to play, blowing along in time with the beat the rest were playing. He figured it out quickly and was jamming with the others in no time.
"I gotta know which way to go come on give me a sign. You gotta show me that you're only ever gonna be mine. Don't wanna go another minute livin without you, cause if your heart just isn't in it I don't know what I'd do. Because my love for you is ridiculous. I never knew –"
"Who knew?"
"- that it could be like this. My love for you is ridiculous. My love is R-I-D-I-C-U-L-O-U-S."
"R-I-D-I-C-U-L-O-U-S."
"It's."
"Ridiculous!"
"Just."
"Ridiculous!"
"And I would give my kingdom for just one kiss. Come on now! Oh yeah. Yeow! Alright."
"Hey!" When Ben threw his jersey to Mal in the bleachers all the girls around her swooned.
"Alright."
"Hey!"
"Because my love for you is ridiculous. I never knew –"
"Who knew?"
"- that it could be like this. My love for you is ridiculous. My love is R-I-D-I-C-U-L-O-U-S."
"R-I-D-I-C-U-L-O-U-S."
"It's."
"Ridiculous!"
"Just."
"Ridiculous!"
"And I would give my kingdom for just one kiss. Come on now!"
They finished playing as Ben crowd surfed to Mal and stood next to her.
"I love you Mal, did I mention that?" Ben asked her and even from how far away he was Drac swore he saw her blush.
"Chad's my boyfriend now." Audrey said stealing the mic. "And I'm going to the coronation with him. So I don't need your pity date." Then she leaned I and kissed him but it only lasted a second as Ben stole the mic back.
"Mal will you go to the coronation with me?"
"Yes!"
"She said yes!" he exclaimed and the crowd cheered forgetting all about Audrey. Then they passed Jay the trophy and the team picked him up as he celebrated with them. Then the band member who'd given Drac his trumpet held his hand out for it back and Drac returned it.
"I'm Aziz, son of Aladdin." He introduced himself, "You should stop by the band room sometime. You've got talent." He offered.
"Ah, no thanks I just –"
"No really I think you'd like it, it's more than just marching band stuff, there's choir and the DJ equipment in there too."
Drac's brow quirked, "What's DJ?" he asked. Aziz just smiled before taking Drac to the band room.
- - LONG LIVE EVIL - -
Turns out Drac hadn't looked through the band room nearly as well as he originally thought. Aziz opened a closet and started pulling out high tech gear telling Drac all about what a DJ was and going into all the different styles of music. Drac couldn't believe there were so many. Aziz also introduced him to some of the other band members who had come in to put their instruments away after the game. The red head he'd seen introduced herself as Arabella the niece of Ariel and Eric. While the lanky boy with dark hair turned out to be Pin the son of Pinocchio while the short boy in the green hoodie was Bobby Hood. The girl with the chocolate skin was Opal, the granddaughter of Mama Odie. Drac smiled and shook her hand, he didn't want to be too friendly. There was someone on the Isle who would kill him if they found that out. Drac didn't hang out with just his sister and their gang after all.
"You should come the next time there's a party in Sherwood Forest." Bobby told him as Aziz and Opal plugged in the DJ stuff. "They let us play all night with no curfew. And Maid Marian has some really pretty nieces!"
Drac nodded along with a smile, not actually accepting the invitation, since he and his gang wouldn't be in Auradon that long. Something about that thought brought a touch of sadness to him. Quickly he batted it away. He could throw all the parties he wanted once his mother took over. . . maybe. If she let him.
He cleared his throat and turned to Pin, 'So how did you get interested in music?" he asked to distract himself.
"Oh, my Papa used to perform on stage. I guess it's in the blood." He shrugged smiling.
"Now that you're a real boy that has blood." Arabella poked fun at him jokingly.
Pin rolled his eyes, "Says the girl who spends half her time with fins." He laughed.
"Drac come check this out." Aziz called over to him. The DJ equipment was all lit up now, two big circles for records were backlit and the colors changed fading from one to another. Opal pushed some buttons up and down on scales with a pair of headphones on her head. Once she got bumping to the beat she passed them to him and let him listen. He clasped his hands over his ears watching as she moved levers and buttons and hearing how it affected the music.
He didn't realize he was smiling until after about an hour in the band room when Evie found him and told him Fairy Godmother wanted to see all of them for an important surprise.
"Here." Aziz said passing him a laptop. "It's uploaded with the same stuff and Opal's soundboard. You can take it and have some fun. Band meets every day at five, if you want to want to share anything."
"Thanks." Drac replied, his first thank you in his life. Then, begrudgingly, he left them and once in the hall Evie asked what was up with the grin.
"Good acting." He played it off as they entered Remedial Goodness 101.
"Children, excuse me." The Fairy Godmother said once they had all gathered in the classroom and settled down. "As you know, tomorrow is Family Day here at Auradon Prep. And because your parents can't be here due to . . . distance, we've arranged for a special treat." She said leading them to a large screen at the front of the room. She pressed a button and it lit up with Maleficent's face which made Fairy Godmother jump slightly. Though very quickly they figured out she wasn't trying to be scary, she just couldn't figure out how the video chat worked.
"I don't see anything, nor do I hear." She complained leaning back and revealing the Evil Queen, Cruella and Jafar. "Is it. . is it. . is. . ?"
"Press enter?" Jafar suggested.
"Can I please see a remote?" Mother demanded, "Is this thing on? It's broken! I hate electronical. . . "she trailed off as they finally got it to work.
"Oh Evie! Its Mommy!" the Evil Queen waved, "Look how beautiful. You know what they say, the poison apple doesn't fall far from the tree."
"Don't you mean the weeds?" Maleficent mocked.
"Who's the old bat?" Cruella shrieked.
"This is Fairy Godmother." Mal said sweetly trying to undo the damage Cruella had just done. Though their parents didn't seem to care, in fact his own mother started to make things even worse.
"Still doing tricks with eggplants?" she asked.
"I turned a pumpkin into a beautiful carriage!" Fairy Godmother said proudly.
"You really couldn't give Cinderella til one a.m.? I mean really? What, the hamsters had to get back on their little wheels?" Maleficent continued mocking as the other villains joined in laughing. Meanwhile Drac and Mal did what they'd learned to do best when their mother was speaking – shut up. If you interrupted, even to add an insult, mother became furious that you stepped on her moment, then you found yourself cleaning up after the goblins who ran the Slop Shop. Drac shuddered at the memory.
"They were mice!" Fairy Godmother said sounding very offended. "They were not. . . they were mice." She whispered into the camera before letting the kids take over.
"Hi, Mom."
"Mal!" Maleficent gasped, "I m-m-miss you."
"You children are never far from our thoughts!" Jafar added and Maleficent waved him off.
"How long must Mommy wait to see you?" Maleficent asked with fake concern, Drac knew the real question was 'how long until you bring me that wand?'
"There's a big coronation coming up. I think probably sometime after that." Mal replied not wanting to give too much away in front of Fairy Godmother, who was off screen but standing nearby.
"When?" Maleficent demanded.
"Friday. Ten a.m." Drac said from beside his sister.
"You sure I can't see you before that? I don't know what I'll do if I don't get my hands on that magic. . . " Evil Queen tapped her horns, "You, you little nuggets, that I love so much."
"Yes we completely understand, mother." Mal said crossing her arms but not in a defiant way, more like she was closing herself off.
"Carlos! Is that a dog!?" Cruella shrieked jumping as close to the camera as possible. Oh, no. Drac thought. She squeaked her stuffed dog and spoke to it like it was real, "Oh, yes, yes baby I do understand it would make the perfect size for earmuffs." She laughed maniacally.
"He's the perfect size for a pet!" Carlos yelled at her and her eyes widened. Carlos had never been brave enough to stand up for himself, especially in front of his mother. "This dog loves me and I love him. And FYI your dog is stuffed! So give it a rest!"
"Ohh, burn!" Jafar exclaimed.
"Oh, why don't you go sell a toaster, you two-bit salesman!"
"People who talk to stuffed animals shouldn't throw stones!"
"Oh well people who sell toasters shouldn't use mixed metaphors!"
"Enough!" The Evil Queen called as Jay ended the call and the screen went black. Fairy Godmother looked at them all with pity.
"I'm so sorry."
"Thanks for the special treat." Jay said and she nodded.
"Of course."
Then they collected their things and headed for the door.
"M?" Evie called getting Mal's attention. "What do you think our parents are gonna do to us if we don't pull this off?"
Mal paused and took a deep breath, "I think they will be quietly disappointed in us, but ultimately proud of us for doing our best."
"Really?" Carlos asked.
"No, I think we are definitely goners." Mal said as they left the classroom and Drac thought about the desperation on his mother's face when they'd been talking. She wanted that wand more and more each day and if they failed he didn't know what kind of wrath they'd suffer. But he'd survived fifteen years with the worst villain of them all, he knew the key to staying alive – do what she said and never ask questions. That's what he'd done all along and that's what he'd keep doing. It was all he knew. . until coming to Auradon anyway.
- - LONG LIVE EVIL - -
"Okay, we all know what this looks like." Mal said showing them her drawing of the wand as they plotted in the boy's dorm. They were working out every last detail in their plan, making sure nothing could go wrong.
"So it'll be up on the dais under the Beast's spell jar, and we'll be coming in from here, I will be in the very front. You all will be up in the balcony. Carlos?"
"Okay, so I'll find our limo so we can break the barrier and get back on the island with the wand."
"Perfect. Evie, you will use this to take out the driver. Two sprays and he'll be out like a light."
"Okay." She said taking the bottle.
"Mal and I were up late last night perfecting the potion. You give him more than two sprays and he might be taking a decade long nap." Drac piped up and Evie looked at the bottle with the new realization of how powerful the concoction was that she held. She carefully put it into her purse for safekeeping.
They all looked around at each other with various looks of nervousness. This would be what either made them the greatest in history or it would be the blunder that doomed them all. Drac let out a long breath moving back to his bed and putting a pair of headphones around his neck while he opened the laptop Aziz had given him as he played around with some music and melodies on the DJ software. Diaval flew onto the bed and nestled himself in the crevice where the bed dipped along Drac's side. He pet the bird with his free hand trying to relax.
"M?" Drac heard Evie say as his sister was looking over their mom's spell book. "You want to break Ben's love spell?"
He looked over at them curiously but they didn't see he was eavesdropping.
"Yeah. You know for after. I've just been thinking you know when the villains finally do invade Auradon and begin to loot and kick everyone out of their castles, and imprison their leaders and destroy all that is good and beautiful. . . Ben still being in love with me just seems a little extra. . . cruel."
Drac thought over what his sister said before he pulled the headphones over his ears and paid attention to the music letting it distract him from the weight of everything else. His thoughts didn't matter, his opinions didn't matter, they had to do this. They didn't have the choice.