Two Weeks Later

Mal's Perspective

Of course the museum heist was a bust. Mal should've known she couldn't count on the three stooges to help her. Mom was right. Jafar, Cruella, and Evil Queen weren't useful for anything that mattered. And neither were their kids, apparently. It was all up to Mal and there's no way she was gonna make the same mistake twice. She stopped walking, noting she'd found a spectacularly foreboding and empty part of the woods. No tracks of human footprints or anything else to indicate anyone was likely to disturb her.

She sat down on a tree stump and pulled out her spellbook. Nothing worked. Not a single spell worked for her and she hated it. Her mother made all these grand proclamations about how she'd be able to curse someone with a thought and summon lightning without the slightest effort. But the hag curse didn't work on that snob Audrey and the mending spell didn't work on the rip in her favorite leather pants. She flipped through her spellbook. Nothing told her how to change the ridiculously upsetting failures into successes. Her mother, apparently, wasn't big on the whole Magic 101 thing.

Time was ticking and she couldn't handle another day of Remedial Goodness. It was fun watching everyone else flounder at first, but it got boring. Mal noticed movement near her foot and focused on it. A flower grew and that wouldn't be startling if it weren't growing from a sprout to a fully open rose within a few seconds. As the petals unfurled, it revealed itself to be red with a dull, pulsing glow. Mal picked it and it was like it shocked her.

One second she was frustrated and the next she was...angry. Angrier than she'd ever been. Her heart raced as she considered how annoying and unfair it was that she was here trying to break down the barrier and failing. She was never big on failing. She checked her spellbook before she threw it and came up with something on the spot. She had to let the anger out somehow.

"Beware foreswear, thunder blares," she began, green lightning beginning to crackle in one of her plans as she felt a feeling of power flow through her. She felt lightheaded as thunder rang through the air. She imagined what she wanted, focusing on the feeling of anger, "lightning strikes from my hand to there." And it did. Green lightning flew from her hand straight for a tree as a deafening clap of thunder joined it. The lightning struck and the tree split in two.

Mal approached it, her hand smoking and still tingling with a feeling of electricity. She smiled as she looked at the scorchmarks from the tree she'd turned to splinters.

"Anger," Mal realized, she focused on the feelings of anger that were flowing away from her mind. The rose no longer glowed, but she couldn't think about it too much. "I can do anger."

Carlos's Perspective

Carlos was in his programming class, sitting next to Jane. She wasn't the worst person in the world, she even seemed nice. But Carlos knew she couldn't be trusted. No one could really be trusted. If they weren't making fun of him behind his back or trying to find a way to bully him, it was probably his mom. Which meant they wanted him to do chores and favors every single day of his life or he'd be yelled at.

"You're doing pretty awesome," Jane whispered to him. They were the first two to complete their current assignment. Mr. Sid was going around to help a few of their classmates.

"Thanks," Carlos said cooly. Jane's eyes went to the desk and Carlos almost felt bad. But it was probably a trick. But...just in case. "Thanks, I really like anything tech. What about you? You finished up pretty fast."

"Thank you," she smiled brightly. And Carlos liked her smile. "Do you wanna do something related to programming when we graduate?"

"I don't know," Carlos said, "never considered it."

"Well, you should," Jane whispered warmly. "I think it'll be fun if you're into programming."

"What do programmers do?"

"A lot. Software development, coding, systems analysis, you might even be a good mystech," Jane said.

"Great," Carlos muttered. He rolled his eyes and looked away from Jane. "Of course."

"What?" Jane asked. She even had the nerve to act like she was concerned. Everyone really was the same. Those stupid, pretty baby deer eyes almost made it convincing. "Did I do something wrong?"

"I dunno," Carlos whispered cuttingly, "I always love being called a mistake."

Jane's eyes turned the size of saucers. "No, no, no, no, nonononononono," she whispered. "I didn't say that."

"I'm not that dumb, Jane," Carlos said. "Unless you think me trying to have a career is the mistake here."

"No," Jane said. "I said mys...tech. Mystical technology. Magic that's used alongside technology."

"Do you think I'm an idiot," Carlos asked. "That doesn't even make sense."

"No, I swear," Jane said. She raised her hand and Yen Sid came to the two of them. Of course she was gonna tattle. "Mr. Sid, I was telling Carlos about mystechs. Can you please tell him that magic and technology mix? Like you and mom found out."

Mr. Sid beamed. "Yes, young man," he said to Carlos. "Me and Fairy Godmother pioneered the art. It's extremely interesting since most would think that it was impossible," as he continued, Carlos looked at Jane who seemed to be listening raptly. "The radiation emitted by a good deal of electronics is similar to the radiation emitted by magic. So, over time, we found ways to combine the two..."

"Um," Carlos began.

"I was especially proud of the way we could integrate magic into electronic security systems," he continued, not hearing Carlos, "The barrier on the Isle and the ones in the museums all over Auradon..."

That was interesting. It explained the alarm not too long ago. "There's technology around stuff in the museum? That's where the magic is from?"

"Yes," Mr. Sid said. "I had the idea to connect the magic to technology. It would be inconvenient to have Fairy Godmother or my presence be a necessity to transfer artifacts during routine rearrangements and renovations. It made a lot..."

"So you don't have to take down those barriers?" Carlos asked. "Anyone can?"

"Not anyone," Mr. Sid said. "Only authorized personnel. But what's really interesting is how..."

"Wait, how does that work?" Carlos asked. "How does the magic know what the tech is saying?"

"Well, they had to be programmed to recognize each other's signals, so to speak," Mr. Sid said. "So, say, we have two people who speak different languages. We need an interpreter between them who understands both parties to do translations. That third party is the software that we've created to-" Mercifully, the bell rang at that very moment. As his classmates got up, Carlos grabbed his bag and stood.

"Thank you, sir," Carlos said. He turned to Jane, "sorry I thought you called me a mistake."

"No, I'm sorry," Jane said. "I should've spoken clearly, I'm always messing-"

"Later," Carlos said, leaving the classroom as an idea came to him.

Evie's Perspective

It was way past curfew when Chad texted Evie to meet him in the library. But he had given her this super cool tiny magic mirror. It was called a phone and she was the only one from the Isle who had one. Chad had said he always wanted to be able to see her face. FaceChat was amazing. Like a magic mirror except it spoke back to her. But the voice was Chad's. And the screen showed his handsome face. They were most definitely going to have the most amazingly gorgeous babies.

Evie crept into the library and sat near the door. Evie decided to check on Chad's progress. "Mirror mirror in my hand," she said, pulling out her mirror, "show me where the love of my life stands." It fogged before revealing..."ew." Doug appeared in her mirror, sleeping in bed. That was so not her prince. He wasn't even a prince! "Bad mirror!"

"What?" Evie heard. She turned and saw Chad, the light of the flashlight on his phone illuminating that perfectly princely visage.

"Just asking my mirror a question," Evie said with a giddy smile. She approached Chad and draped her arms around his shoulders, stepping closer. She could feel the air leave his perfectly chiseled nose. "I missed you, Chad."

"I know," he said, smiling winningly. He ducked under her arms and stepped away. "Did you bring my homework? Geometry, Classics, Chemistry, Woodland Critter Languages, Dragonslaying History, Phys Ed?"

Evie handed Chad his backpack. "Everything but P.E., we don't get homework for that, silly."

Chad grabbed the backpack and threw it over his shoulder. "Thanks, Eve." He considered something. He was gonna say it. That he wanted them to date exclusively. Her boyfriend was gonna be a-"So," Chad began, "we have a chemistry quiz tomorrow and I just realized..."

Evie nodded politely, wondering how this was relevant.

"I had you do all my homework so now I have no idea how to do anything on it," Chad grabbed one of her hands and her heart fluttered. She wondered where this was going...his skin was so smooth and warm. "So I was thinking you can tell Mr. Roscoe that you can't see the board and need to sit in the front next to me. Then you can take your quiz with your little mirror, then switch papers with me and knock out mine too. You were gonna do your own anyway, so..."

Evie's heart was decidedly not fluttering anymore. But his hand was so warm. "Um," she began unsurely. "I just don't wanna get caught, I could get in so much trouble if he caught us."

Chad let her go and stepped away from her, turning around. "It's fine," he said. "I'll find someone else who cares enough about me to do it. Thanks for the homework, but I don't think I'll need you to do it anymore."

Every step he took away from her, Evie saw other things leaving her too. Mommy-daughter spa days. Shopping sprees. A ride in the orange towncar Chad had named Pumpkin, with a chauffer on retainer. Servants, jewelry, summer and winter vacation castles-"wait!"

Chad stopped and turned around. "Yeah?"

"I still care about you," Evie said frantically, stepping forward. When she tried to grab his hand, he pulled it away. "I wanna do your homework, I just don't wanna get caught."

"You won't," Chad grabbed both her hands. "I promise. And, after that, we can go for a ride in Pumpkin. We can turn on the LEDs and everything."

"Really?" Evie asked. "You promise?"

"I prince promise," Chad said charmingly.

"Well," Evie considered it. "It can't hurt. And it's not fair for me to do all your homework and then not take your tests for you."

"No, it isn't, really." Chad smiled. He leaned in closer and Evie closed her eyes. But all she felt was his lips barely graze her cheek. "Later, Eve."

He turned to leave and Evie just sat there in the dark. Alone. Why didn't he kiss her lips? But...Evie pulled out her mirror. If he wouldn't kiss her...she held it up close to her face. "Mirror mirror in my hand, where does Chad Charming stand?"

It fogged up before it revealed Chad walking through the halls. Oh, those eyes. As she leaned in, she noticed Chad take a call. His lips moving while he spoke did not make the kissing thing easy. But when she listened...

"Sorry, Tina," Chad said. "No, you're my favorite girl in the world. I'm on my way. Called my driver, Pumpkin's all ready to take us to the movies." He passed his dorm and headed for the exit. "No, I'm not seeing anyone...of course not, I don't even like that VK girl, her name is basically evil...sorry, I'll make it up to-"

"Stop, mirror," Evie said sadly. She started to tear up and got a tissue out of her purse. No ruined eyeliner, no ruined eyeliner, no ruined eyeliner, she thought like a mantra as she returned to her dorm. She cried herself to sleep.

Wes's Perspective

"Look, Reggie," Wes said, observing Evie through the flames in his firepit. "Chad was just as awful as you are."

Reggie's eyes were cast down.

"Don't be like that," Wes got up and grabbed a sheet of parchment and quill. He dipped the quill as he began writing. "Using someone because he's too lazy to do anything of note on his own." The quill scratched against the paper as he wrote. "Revealing how idiotic he was to do it and hurting someone else."

"Are you sure you put his soul in the right place?" Vivianne asked, laying a high shelf. "Maybe you accidentally swapped him and Chad."

"Hey, I don't mess up spells often," Wes said, pouring weird dust over the page and blowing it away. "But let's make sure we help our little princess friend. How far do you bet she'll fall, Viv?"

Vivianne knocked a crystal ball from the shelf. "I think she'll be the second most boring."

"Mendis." The fractured crystal ball repaired itself, flying back up to the shelf, only for Vivianne to knock it over again. He began to fold the parchment. "I don't know, scorn is a powerful motivator. Especially when you've got someone in your corner making sure you wind up hating yourself."

When he finished, it was folded into the shape of a flower.

"What are you going to make her do?" Reggie asked.

"He speaks," Vivianne said.

"Don't worry, Reggie," Wes took the page to his firepit. When he let it go, the fire flared as it glowed a brighter shade of green. "I won't spoil it for you. Wait and see, beloved."