"How did you guys manage to get past the school's security?" Lonnie asked as the screen showed the four making their way to the museum. "On your first day too!"

Jay snorted and quickly coughed to cover it. "It's not exactly the greatest system." He said when he composed himself. "Between the four of us, we were able to slip out in a matter of minutes."

Mulan and Shang looked at each other and back at the boy. They worked on that security, and personally thought it was good. Apparently, they needed to revisit it. Perhaps the Vk's would be up to help them.

At the museum, the VK's were shown peeking through the doors. There on full display was Maleficent's spinning wheel.

"That's your mother's spinning wheel?" Aksel asked in disbelief, just as Jay said it on the screen. Maleficent's spinning wheel was hardly ever on display, so he hadn't actually seen it yet, but from what the stories said he assumed it to look more... threatening.

A few rows behind him, Pierre and Audrey were thinking similar things. "It looked more intimidating with a green glow around it!" Aurora defended, before quietly adding to Phillip, "At least I think it did."

Mal told the boys that magic doesn't have to look scary. Then she looked down at a page in her book and read out the first part of the spell.

The most it did was cause the guard to get closer, and the boys mocked Mal.

"Okay, you know what? 'Prick the finger, prick it deep. Send my enemy off to sleep.'"

The guard got closer and touched the needle. He immediately got drowsy and drifted off.

"I would just like to say that that spell was a light sleeping spell." Mal told everyone. "Too many loud noises would have woken him up."

Mal tried to open the door, only for it to be locked.

"I wasn't expecting it to be locked," Mal admitted sheepishly while some of the audience chuckled. "Locks aren't very effective on the Isle, so we have to use different methods to defend our homes."

Jay told them all to stand back, but Mal beat him to it with a spell. The doors opened and he crashed to the floor.

Several people winced as the past Jay hit the floor, including the present Jay. Others fought from laughing. His friends made no such attempt to hide their chuckles.

The other Vk's laughed, and walked past Jay. Carlos went to help him up, but Jay brushed him off. The VK's made their way up the stairs, not noticing the sign they were passing.

"Oh no," Belle gasped, bringing her hands up to cover her mouth as she saw the sign the kids were passing. "The villains display!" She looked over to the VK's, who's eyes weren't on the screen anymore. "You all saw the exhibit, didn't you?" She asked softly.

Mal nodded.

The four came into a room of statues of their parents in all their glory. The dark room made them appear even more intimidating, almost freezing the kids in their tracks.

The looks on the VK's faces broke Belle's heart. Each of them had a mix of awe and fear as they stared at their parent's statues. She wondered how they forgot to have the museum staff pull the exhibit, who was in charge of contacting that director, and if they mentioned just how urgent it was. Well, it was too late to change the past, but perhaps she could get it taken down before they visited the museum again.

"Mommy?" Evie whispered at the sight of her mother's statue.

While Jay whispered "Killer," Carlos said that he'd never forget Mother's Day again. Mal was the only one not saying anything, just slowly getting closer to her mother's statue.

"No child should ever be afraid of their parents." Ella whispered shakily to Kit. Growing up with Anastasia and Drizella, she wasn't a stranger to the fear of a parental figure, and it wasn't just her who had dealt with it. There were plenty of days where Anastasia and Drizella carried looks of fear as well. Once she escaped and married Kit, she vowed to try her best to make sure she never saw that look on another child's face. And now, here were four children she was directly involved in failing.

Kit wrapped an arm around her and kissed her forehead. "We can help them now," he told her. "I don't think that Ben will send them back, but if it comes down to that, we'll fight to keep them here."

"We can't fail them again."

"We won't."

Jay told the others that the wand wasn't there and they needed to go. While Evie, Jay and Carlos left, Mal stayed. Faintly, she recalled the words her mother had told her before she left.

"The future of the free world rests on your shoulders. Don't blow it."

There was faint music playing, and Mal began to sing. "Look at you, look at me. I don't know who to be. Mother.

Is it wrong? Is it right? Be a thief in the night? Mother. Tell me what to do."

"She doesn't want to do it," Belle whispered to Beast.

Beast responded, "But she still is."

"Because she feels like she doesn't have a choice!" Belle defended. "She's a child, Adam."

Beast didn't respond, instead keeping his eyes on the screen and the girl in turmoil.

Evie appeared, calling Mal to follow, but once she left again there was a flash of light, and Maleficent's statue came to life.

Shouts sounded throughout the theater at the sight of the woman cackling.

"How was she there!" Someone cried out, while another shouted, "How did she get off the Isle!"

Fairy Godmother was trying to get everyone's attention, but she couldn't be heard over all the cries.

Finally, Persephone cried out, "EVERYONE QUIET!"

The noise in the room stopped, and the goddess stepped forward. "She wasn't really there. It was an illusion, similar to a dream."

"Similar?" Merida echoed, "But not?"

Persephone winter, looking over towards Mal. "No," She said, her eyes never leaving the girl. "Mal, have you ever handled your mother's scepter?"

Mal tensed, but nodded. "Once," She stated.

"Was there an outburst of magic?" Persephone asked, switching to Greek so the only other ones who would understand were Hercules and his family. (And Jay, though the goddess wasn't aware of this.)

"Yes." Mal responded. "There's a curse on it, but I'm protected by being her daughter."

Persephone turned back to the crowd, addressing them as well. "Most likely what happened was that Maleficent's scepter absorbed some of Mal's magic the first time she touched it, almost like a magical fingerprint. Not enough to hurt her, thankfully, but enough to connect to her even through the barrier." She turned back to Mal, "If your mother went to sleep with the scepter, she could have used that bit of magic in order to communicate to you."

"So it wasn't just a dream?" Mal asked, her eyes going wide. For the first time since they had been in that room, she sounded scared. Enough that it made Persephone want to reach out and hug her.

"No," She said gently, "Your mother was speaking to you. But Mal, she wouldn't have been able to hurt you, I promise."

Mal reached out and grabbed Jay's hand, before nervously asking. "Would she be able to do it again?"

"From what you told me? No. Not unless you purposefully tied yourself to the scepter."

While Mal visibly relaxed, her face was still paler than usual, and she hadn't let go of Jay's hand. Beast, however, ignored the girl's obvious fear and latched onto the magic detail. "How could Maleficent perform magic on the Isle? Magic isn't allowed."

"My guess is that there was a surge at some point," Persephone responded easily. "Likely from the ships getting in over the years, and what she was performing wasn't evil or strenuous. It was a simple dream connection between mother and daughter."

Beast was frowning, but Fairy Godmother nodded. "Since the scepter was already tied to Mal, it barely needed any more magic," she explained to the king. "It wasn't enough magic to do anything else, and Maleficent won't be able to recreate it."

The king let it drop, and after a smile of reassurance to Mal, Persephone had the Fates start the show once again.

Maleficent told her daughter not to be so serious before launching into song. She explained that she was once a child who also argued with her mother, thinking she was mature.

"Maleficent was an orphan." Phillip said, "Flora, Fauna, and Merriweather confirmed it. She lived in the Moors, alone, since she was only a toddler. The other creatures there raised her."

But then again, considering that she was now evil, she'd probably say anything to manipulate her daughter.

Maleficent continued, saying she started to use her head instead of her heart and listened to her mother's words.

The music suddenly took a show toon twist, and Maleficent burst out with, "Don't you want to be evil like me? Don't you want to be mean?"

Everyone in the audience was just as caught off guard as the past Mal was.

"She's singing... show tunes." Aksel said slowly. "Or that's what it sounds like."

"And she's good at it," Elsie said even slower. Of all the things she thought she'd see today, the Mistress of Evil singing wasn't one of them.

Maleficent continued on, making fun of those who took care of the poor, and that when you're evil doing less is doing more.

"Don't you wanna be ruthless, and rotten, and mad? Don't you wanna be very, very good at being bad!?"

"No thank you!" Amir called out. "We're fine!"

Mal couldn't help but laugh at his words.

Maleficent continued to say that she'd tried her whole life to be as bad as she could, then told Mal that it was time for her to take over.

Rapunzel watched in horror as the past Mal flinched whenever the scepter was slightly near her, or when her mother's hands came close to her. The present Mal wasn't doing much better. Rapunzel decided right then and there that there was no way she could ever let the young fae back on Isle soil, in her mother's grasp.

"Promise me you'll try to be an absolute disgrace!"

"Wouldn't that mean going good, then?" Elsie asked, "Since that would make you a disgrace?"

"Huh," Mal said, never having thought of that. "That would definitely make me a disgrace."

Maleficent continued on, eventually tossing her scepter to Mal for just a moment, and told her that no one wants an evil queen without a sack of sin.

"She just… licked the scepter." Aziz said, his face slightly green. "Why? Just why?"

Mal simply shrugged. "As I said earlier, it's better not to question my mother."

Eventually, the music grew more dramatic and Maleficent rose into the air as she sang about her and Mal taking over and ruling together. As she came back down, she called for Mal to joining her.

Megara's eyes narrowed as blue flames sprung up on screen. Throughout the showing, she'd been keeping her eyes on Persephone, who had a habit of looking at Mal. Now, there were blue flames when Maleficent's magic was green.

And there was Mal's wave. She'd only ever seen one other person wave like that.

Thankfully, her husband and children seemed oblivious to her train of thought, and for now she'd like to keep it that way. At least until she had confirmation.

Together they sang, with Mal saying, "And we're gonna be spiteful," and in a 'nice voice', Maleficent said. "Yes, spiteful. That's nice."

"I never want to hear your mother's 'nice voice' again." Carlos stated, shaking his head.

"Agreed." The other three said in unison.

Maleficent danced around while talking about how soon they'd be together. Then she rose back up, saying that Mal should thank her stars for being born to an evilicious Queen like herself.

After that, she cackled, lightning lighting up the room.

"Evillicious?" Amir questioned. "That's not a word."

"Forget that!" Naomi, Tiana and Naveen's youngest child, called out. "I'm more focused on that belt. That belt! Mal! How long has your mother been singing?"

"Uh," Mal looked at the girl in confusion, "I don't know. Does it matter?"

Naomi looked shocked at her words, and Teresa sighed out a faint "Here we go,"

"Does it matter? Of course it matters! Did you hear that! She sounded like a professional! If she wasn't evil I would be asking for lessons!"

"But she is evil," Teresa cut in before Naomi could start a rant and eventually pull their mother into it as well, "And we don't have time to analyze her voice. Isn't that right, Queen Persephone?"

For her part, Persephone looked amused, but she agreed which had Naomi settling down. Although she started to furiously whisper to her siblings, which led to Tyrone shaking his head and repeating, "She's evil, Omi, let it go."

Evie entered the room again, and all the lights were gone while Maleficent was once again a statue. She told Mal that she found the wand, and together the girls left.

The wand was in a display, floating in the air above in all its glory. Jay whooped, and Mal warned him not to touch it.

Fairy Godmother quickly realized what was going to happen and yelled for everyone to cover their ears just as the alarm sounded. While it wasn't as loud as it was for the past VK's, it was still jarring.

Carlos complained about a force field and a siren, while Jay said it was a little excessive.

"But it worked." Lonnie laughed.

Quickly, the four raced down the stairs, barely missing the guard. As they were making their way out, the phone rang and Carlos answered it.

"That was you?" King Beast said in shock. He was the first to get the alarm notification, second being Fairy Godmother, due to all the magical items in the museum.

"That was you?" Carlos echoed, his eyes going wide. "Oh."

Carlos stopped the alarm, and explained that it was just a malfunction, before politely ending the call.

"How did you know all that?" Antonio asked him. "I've spent the majority of the past two years here in Auradon City, and I still have trouble with technology." While the Encanto had the option to add in more advanced technology, they had really only implemented it for the essentials, such as Mirabel's diplomatic work, or for the store owners. But for the most part people just didn't use it. He couldn't imagine that the Isle was much better.

To his surprise, Carlos just shrugged. "I've always liked to tinker," He admitted. "And while the Isle doesn't have the internet, we get a lot of Auradon's old electronics and manuals. The biggest issue is a power source, but we've managed."

Mal yelled at Carlos, who gave an annoyed, "You're welcome." But he picked up his pace.

As the four VK's ran off, Mal hissed "Way to go, Jay. Now we have to go to school tomorrow!"

With that, the screen darkened and Persephone stepped forward. "Now, we may take a break."

A/N:

blizzard: I'll likely be keeping their father up to reader's choice/imagination. In my story, Elsa is single for various reasons (some of which will be touched on), but she is good friends with Honeymaren and the girls refer to Honeymaren as their "aunt."

Flurry: I saw this comment after I'd already written the chapter! But I can keep that suggestion in mind for the love spell scene.