So sorry for the long wait between updates. I went back to chapter 1 and reread everything, there were some tweaks that were needed and a paragraph here and there that I added. I think I combed through and got everything that contradicted itself and corrected it. If anyone spots any inconsistencies let me know!
Chapter 16
"At least we know that's where they are." Mal said trying to keep everyone hopeful, "Underground, in the Catacombs, looking for the power that they lost."
"Yes and I'm afraid you four are the only ones who will be able to outsmart your parents. And you won't be working alone." Yen Sid told them pulling out some maps, "We think we are close to getting an accurate map of the underground tunnels. With the help of a little research, according to the books from Dragon Hall's Athenaeum of Evil each talisman will be in it's ideal habitat. But there is still one problem, we haven't been able to locate the entrance to the tunnels and we don't' have much time now."
"We can help!" the members of the Anti-Heroes club said eagerly, "We can scour the Isle." "Cover more ground that way!"
Yen Sid smiled and nodded at his students as everyone got to work. The Anti-Heroes divided up the Isle and picked which groups would go where. Carlos and Jay helped too collecting the pieces of the map they had and started putting them together like a puzzle. Evie turned to Mal but did a double take when she noticed the purple haired girl was gone. She headed to the door and peeked into the hall, deep down in the shadows it looked like Mal was leaving with. . Maddy?
- - LONG LIVE EVIL - -
Mal was following Maddy at a distance, something in her gut told her to go with the younger VK and her gut was never wrong. As they made their way down Bitter Boulevard Maddy suddenly stopped and looked around, Mal ducked behind a tree not too sure what was going on but fully intended to find out.
When Maddy left the meeting Mal first thought the girl wanted to get a head start on walking to Troll Town where her group was going to search. Maddy kept looking over her shoulder, checking her watch and picking up her pace, all suspicious behavior that Mal's nerves screamed about in her head making more and more red flags. But when Maddy turned left at Hell Hall instead of right it was clear she wasn't going where she had been assigned after all.
As Mal followed, Maddy stopped when she saw a goblin and whispered something to him, Mal overheard 'Catacombs' and 'Doom Cove'
What was going on? She decided to keep following Maddy as she and the goblin parted and Maddy carried on her way.
They continued on through the maze of streets and alleys and Mal's mind began to wander. She knew she'd seemed calm and confident back at the Anti-Heroes meeting and while she wasn't too nervous about stopping Jafar, Evil Queen and Cruella there was something weighing on her mind – her brother.
At first she'd been dreading the idea of him being part of the Anti-Heroes, that her brother could hate her so much that he'd start a club against her and their friends. But when it became clear that the club actually loved them and the heroic things they did she was then saddened and felt her heart drop into her stomach when she didn't see him at the meeting.
Her mind was pulled away from thoughts of her brother as Maddy ended up on Rickety Bridge right on the end of the Isle. On either side were taller sharp pointed mountains with spiky crags that looked like the Chernabog's wings. Once Maddy was in the middle of the bridge she turned and called, "Mal you can come out now. I know you're following me."
Mal wasn't one for hiding when she was busted so she walked out of the shadows with her typical swagger, "You got me." She smirked, "Why'd you leave the meeting so fast?"
Maddy pointed over the bridge, Mal walked to the center where she was and looked over the side, but she didn't see anything out of the ordinary. The waters were black and there was a slight grey fog lingering along where the water met the shore.
"That's Doom Cove." Mal recognized, "But what does that have to do with anything?"
"I think it could be the entrance to the Catacombs."
"What! What didn't you say anything at the meeting?"
"You heard what Yen Sid said about bad eggs, and I think there may be one in the club."
"If Evil Queen, Jafar and Cruella did go in there then we need backup. I'll go back." Mal said but only one step away and Maddy shouted.
"No! We need to stay here in case they come back out. They might not go straight for Auradon, I'd bet they'd rally an army first! And we don't want them to slip away once we find them."
Mal thought about that, Maddy did have a point, their parents could come back with their talismans and use Drac's goblins to start an army. Maleficent had certainly trained her minions in all forms of weaponry – not that any of it helped her in that battle with Philip – but if Drac was trying to fill their mother's shoes then working with Cruella, Jafar and Evil Queen would be a good start. . . or a bad one, in VK terms.
Mal took a deep breath and stayed put with Maddy. They looked into the water waiting for something to happen but Mal thought it was as boring a watching paint dry. As noticed some movement but quickly realized it was just crocodiles, the descendants of Tick Tock to be exact. There were other crocs like Madame Medusa's pets Brutus and Nero but they and their children lived in the bog on the opposite side of the Isle.
"Mal! She heard and turned to see Jay, Carlos and Evie running over to her. "Why'd you run off?"
"We were worried."
"Give us some warning next time."
"Sorry guys, but Maddy has a hunch we just have to follow." Mal explained, "Right Maddy?"
But Mad Maddy only grinned and looked like she'd just been told some deliciously wicked news.
"Maddy?" Mal urged but she still didn't say anything. Then they heard a low chuckle and saw some figures step out of the shadows behind Maddy. They turned and more where surrounding them from the other side of the bridge too. It was a motely group and when they got close enough they could see Anthony Tremaine, Ginny Gothel, Gaston's eldest twin boys, Rick Ratcliffe and Claudine Frollo.
"Look what we have here, the heroes of the story." Anthony mocked.
"Remember what I said about bad eggs Mal?" Maddy asked, "Well looks like you just cracked one." She cackled.
Mal's eyebrows rose as she put it together, "You were telling that goblin to fetch the rest of your crew so they could ambush us."
"We're true villains." Rick boasted, "Unlike you turncoats!"
"Evil lives!" Ginny cried.
"And when the rest of the Isle discovers their anti-heroes were fed to the crocs everyone will realize that evil triumphs." Claudine sneered.
"You don't have to do this. It won't prove anything." Evie tried to reason as they stepped further pushing the four closer to the rail.
"Of course we don't have to do this." Anthony said, "We want to."
"Guys." Carlos gulped, "Looks like the crocs know dinner is served." They looked over their shoulders and saw that the predators had gathered right where they'd end up falling. They looked back to the others and knew they couldn't fight all of them off. The Gaston twins and Rick could restrain three of them and whoever was left would still be outnumbered.
Then there was a caw and a shadow leapt from a high point on one crag and landed perfectly on their feet on the bridge. When they stood up the cawing bird landed on their shoulder and the villains surrounding Mal and her gang backpedaled a few steps in fright. Drac stood tall and confident with a smirk on his face as he looked at the others and paid his sister and old crew no mind at all. His blue eyes weren't glowing but Mal could see the fury in them.
"Maddy." He sneered clearly enraged and Maddy's group took a few more steps back leaving her exposed to Drac's anger. But Maddy only scowled at him not backing down.
"You're biting off more than you can chew Drac." She said pointing a finger at him, "You can't be a big bad leader and a savior." She said thinking he was there to save his sister and old friends. However, Mal was still uncertain about where her brother's loyalties lied and couldn't say with certainly that he wasn't there to destroy Maddy's crew and her own.
"I think the question of good or bad isn't the problem here." Drac drawled, "Your real choice is: fire or water?"
He lifted his hand as he spoke and his palm ignited with a green flame that seemed to hover just over his glove. It illuminated his face in an eerie way making everyone – Mal's gang included – open their mouths in shock. He looked down over the bridge where the crocodiles were waiting then he looked back to Maddy and her group but none of them looked like they were going to jump.
He shrugged, "Fire then." And he threw the fireball. It hit the Rickety Bridge and ignited, burning hotter than any other fire in the world. Maddy's group bolted before the flames could reach them.
Drac laughed as Maddy shouted, "All of Auradon will burn just like Camelot!"
Evie, Mal, Jay and Carlos ran to the other side of the bridge. Drac walked at a slow pace with Diaval still on his shoulder cawing in a way that sounded like laughter.
Drac stuffed his hands into his pockets and fished out a pen and an old crinkled piece of paper. On it he wrote down the names of Maddy and her crew and wrote Banned across the top before giving the paper to Diaval.
"Bring it to the goblin running the Slop Shop." He instructed and the raven flew off with the message. With less supply boats and fewer places to get food let's see how long it takes Maddy to come crawling to him apologizing and begging to buy another stale bread pudding from him. When he reached the end of the bridge he saw the others still looked amazed and he turned to the green flames engulfing the bridge. He held up his open palm and closed it into a fist making the fire die down into nothing. Then he turned back to the others.
"Hey guys." He said smiling.
Jay was the first one to speak, "Dude. . . just, dude."
Drac laughed and held out one hand that Jay slowly fist bumped as a grin spread on his face.
"When did you learn to do that?" Carlos asked.
Drac shrugged, "Just practice." He replied looking at his hand like it was nothing special. Evie was next to recover from the shock and hugged their old friend while Mal looked on. Her little brother wasn't so little anymore, he had grown so now he was the same height as she was. His outfit was a bit different, this jacket he had now did not have their mother's dragon on the back, it had no logo at all. It was the same deep purple as his old coat was but there was no zipper or chest pockets. Instead there were five buttons on leather straps that kept the jacket shut. Mal realized not only physical things had changed about him, Drac seemed confident, in a way Mal had never witnessed before. Sure he had run amuck on the Isle with them before they'd been whisked away to Auradon but something about her brother now radiated off him in waves. Independence, Drac had become his own person and while his hair, his clothes and his personality had stayed relatively the same he had grown into a young man with a mind clever enough to have taken back half of the Isle on his own.
Drac turned to her after the reunion with the others and the two siblings stared at each other for a bit, sizing the other one up. Then, simultaneously, they opened their arms and stepped forward into a hug. It lasted longer than the hug Evie had given him and Mal held on tight not expecting to feel so whole with her brother with her again.
"There's probably a lot we need to fill each other in on." Drac said as he pulled away, "Can we start with what Maddy meant by 'Auradon will burn like Camelot?'"
"Isn't that what villains do?" Evie asked, "Threaten?"
"It sounded a little more specific than that." Carlos added crossing his arms. "How would she know about the fires in Camelot?"
"Maybe Ben put it on the news?" Jay suggested.
Mal shook her head, "No, he wouldn't tell the world about the purple dragon yet, people would panic, there'd be mass chaos."
"Whoa whoa." Drac stopped them raising his hands, "Purple dragon?"
Mal took a deep breath and nodded as they started to fill him in on everything that had been happening. The purple dragon, the attacks, the weird weather, what Yen Sid had told them about their parents and the talismans, the Endless Catacombs of Doom, and a possible escape route to Auradon. Drac listened patiently though his eyes bugged out a glowed a bit each time he was shocked by what he heard. He'd only been to a handful of the anti-heroes meetings so he hadn't known everything they'd been up to – but hey running half the Isle took a lot of time, he was a busy kid.
"And you think its mom?" he asked when the story was done.
Mal shook her head in disbelief, "I know she's still a lizard but who else could it be?" she looked at him sheepishly, "Ben even had a theory it might be you."
"Me?" Drac asked then laughed, "I'm flattered but all I've got is this parlor trick." He held up his pinky and a small green flame appeared on top of it like a candle then he put his finger down and the green fire vanished.
"It's enough to keep me on the top of the food chain. Someone who can use magic in a magicless land is an asset after all."
"You've done well for yourself." Mal pointed out.
Evie rested her hand on his shoulder, "I'm glad you're okay. We were worried about you."
Drac smiled as her but knew it wasn't the time to get into apologies and tearful reunions. If what Yen Sid had told them was true and Evil Queen, Jafar and Cruella were looking for their talismans then they had to get busy quick.
"There is one thing I don't understand." He said walking toward the bridge again but he didn't step on it, not after he'd nearly burned the whole thing to embers. "Why are there so many crocs here? Aren't they usually at Hook's Inlet?"
He would know, especially from his relationship with CJ, he knew more about what happened on the other side of the Isle then Uma would ever be comfortable with him knowing.
"I was thinking the same thing." Mal said joining him and the others following behind, "It's like. . . they're guarding something."
"The entrance to the Catacombs?" Carlos guessed.
"What else could it be?" Jay said.
"There must be a land entrance too." Evie suggested, "I can't imagine my mother risking ruining her makeup by swimming into a cavern underwater."
"We should tell the Anti-Heroes group so they can help us find it." Mal suggested.
"Actually." Drac piped up looking at the sky, "I know a quicker way." He smiled as he watched Diaval circling from above.