Sorry for the long break, but fear not! I fully intend to finish the story so keep your eyes peeled.
A big thank you to everyone who's been keeping up with the story and those that have only recently found out.
A review would mean a lot, I appreciate all feedback.
Don't be afraid to ask any questions, I always try to reply.
Enjoy!
Chapter 6: War
"How long before we get there!?" Mal shrieked, sitting restlessly in the back of the car that was currently speeding through the Auradon roads.
"Hours…" Ben murmured, his head bowed complete distress. "Hours…"
"We can get there! We must!" Archer said, fingers tapping impatiently on the hilt of Excalibur.
"Where are we going exactly?" CJ asked. She seemed scared, but less stressed than the others who were present.
"My mom's- ehm, Belle's harbor… The kingdom's largest port. That's where they must be going…" Ben answered.
"We still have men stationed there. They can hold them." Archer stated with confidence.
"How many? How many men?" Mal asked, biting her cheek to the point of actual pain.
"Ehm, a couple of hundred, give or take. Plus the ones actually on water. I'm not sure with how many the villains are, but we must be able to throw them back." Archer replied.
"Ugh, can't this thing go any faster!?" Mal called out in urgency.
"I'm already going twice the speed limit!" Jay yelled from the driver's seat.
Mal groaned as she leaned back and began thumping her head against the seat.
"Hey! None of that!" Ben immediately intervened as he grabbed her tightly by the shoulders.
"Ben, why are we so stupid!?" Mal wailed. "Why did we even bother to listen to him? Now we're out in the middle of nowhere, the attack has started and Fairy Godmother is injured…"
"Don't lose hope! We can fix this! We must!" Ben urged.
Mal just rested her head against the seat again and closed her eyes. She just felt such an extreme mix of annoyance and fear. Really, if Ben wasn't there, she would have just kept smacking herself on the head until all this had blown over.
This level of stress, which even overshadowed her first breakdown during cotillion, could really not be healthy for any living person. As the car continued to drive along the road at an alarming speed, and the others just kept on trying to make reassuring plans on how to throw back the villains, Mal was simply too lost in her own thoughts to pay attention to anything that was happening around her.
They had been fooled, again! They had been too stupid, too trusting, again! They had had too much faith in the possible good side of every villain, again! And they had again allowed themselves to hope… To hope that a violent outcome wasn't somehow inevitable.
Mal had known this from the start, she realized this now… She knew Solomon and Uma, and knew that neither of them was to be reasoned with, especially regarding anything related to her or a possible invasion of Auradon. Ben, Evie, Archer and all those others had their nice talks and hopes of a peaceful resolution, and they had somehow even managed to make her believe in them as well.
Now the shit had finally really hit the fan. They'd had plenty of warnings. Freddie's kidnapping, the attack on the school, the battle in the woods… All signs that these new opponents were not messing around. CJ had even warned them about the plans of the villains, and still Mal had always felt as though Auradon did not take the threat as serious as they should have. Perhaps this had something to do with the arrogance that Mal still saw way too often in Auradonian society. Even after Mal and the VK's had proven themselves, after they had successfully brought dozens of children from the isle and after Ben had proposed to her, they still doubted them.
Mal quickly smacked herself in the head when Ben wasn't watching, trying to distance herself from all these useless thoughts. It didn't matter how or why everything was happening, what mattered was what was happening!
The ride seemed endless, even with Jay nearly crashing the car several times in his attempt to reach Belle's harbor as fast as possible. Ben kept receiving updates about the battle, which did absolutely nothing to relief anyone any stress.
While Mal was busy trying not to burst into tears, she saw Ben constantly tapping away on his phone, doing his best to answer everyone's frightened questions. Archer and CJ were holding hands on the seats behind Ben and Mal, but they didn't talk or even exchange a look as far as Mal could see. Lonnie was seated next to Jay in the front, keeping a feverish grip on her sword.
Behind them, two more cars were racing across the Auradon roads. Evie, Carlos, Freddie, Jordan, Chad, the righteous sons, and a few extra soldiers were seated in those, but Mal had no idea what was going through their minds.
"Look…" Lonnie eventually spoke up, pointing out the car's front window.
Everyone looked, and they didn't need to ask what she was referring to. In the far distance, along the Auradon shoreline, a bright light illuminated both the mainland and the shallow waters.
Fire… A lot of it…
"Damn…" Ben groaned, his eyes wide with shock.
"That must be Belle's Harbor…" Archer mumbled, squeezing himself in between Ben and Mal to get a better look.
"They're still fighting…" Mal said, still seeing the occasional small explosion appear in the sea of flames, which could only indicate that the attacking villains hadn't yet achieved victory.
"The town was evacuated, that was already confirmed." Archer stated.
"The Auradon soldiers must be holding out… They must be…" Ben stammered, still not taking his eyes off the faraway devastation for one second.
"We have to help… We have to push them back…" CJ spoke up from the back.
"We will!" Mal confidently said, since Ben was staying alarmingly silent.
"We can't let them establish a base on the mainland!" CJ went on. "They cannot stay!"
"They won't!" Mal replied, both confident and a little agitated.
After that, no one in the car really spoke again for some time, until the blazing fires of Belle's Harbor started getting disturbingly close.
"We're getting close." Jay confirmed from the front seat, still stepping on the gas.
"Everyone, get your weapons ready." Archer suggested. "We don't want to simply hang about when we get there…"
It was somewhat lucky that they were already armored up, Mal thought to herself as everyone clutched their swords. Back on History Island they had already been prepared for a fight, and now they were actually heading towards one.
As they neared the outskirts of the town, they were awaited by a crowd of panicky people. Most of them were Auradon soldiers, but there were some ordinary civilians there as well.
"King Ben! King Ben!" They immediately shouted once Ben exited the car.
"King Ben! They've swarmed the harbor, burning everything down in their path!" One man dressed in a night shirt and overcoat yelled.
"They crushed our fleet and costal defenses, but we've managed to hold them up in the town…" One soldier began explaining.
"What do we do!? What do we do!?" An hysterical woman cried.
"Everyone! Quiet down!" Ben roared, and the crowd's noise immediately died down. Now, only the sounds of destruction from Belle's Harbor were still audible. "You!" Ben then said, directing himself to the soldier who apparently held the highest rank. "Why are these people not evacuated yet?"
"We lack for transportation, sir." The soldier explained. "Flaming projectiles from the town destroyed some of our busses."
"You can take these cars…" Ben said, tossing the keys to the soldier. "And more will come. Get all these people out before rejoining the fight. Is there anyone I can talk to about the battle's current standings?"
"That would be general Knight… He's held up in the middle of the town with his company…" The soldier explained.
"Okay…" Ben nodded before turning to Mal and the others. Jay, Lonnie, Archer and CJ stood at the front, with the other righteous sons, Evie, Carlos and Chad just behind them. Freddie, Jordan and a few other Auradon soldiers stood even further back. "No time to lose, let's head in!" He told them.
Everyone nodded solemnly, with Jay and Alex both shouting a war cry as they started running for the town.
Before Mal could join them, Ben had grabbed her by the arm and stopped her in her tracks. "Are you sure you want to join?" He asked.
"Ben, don't even start!" Mal warned her.
"I just wanted to make sure…" Ben mumbled as he also joined the others. "You made a pretty nasty fall back on History Island."
"And I plan on repaying Solomon with a far nastier injury." Mal spat.
"Don't do anything rash, though…" Ben warned. "And at least try not to get hurt…"
Mal nodded, but still felt far too tense to conjure up anything resembling a smile.
The group hurried down towards the center of Belle's Harbor, where the sounds of battle were the loudest. Even in the outskirts of the town, the streets were already covered in rubble, with some pieces still smoldering. There were no civilians left in this area, and Mal couldn't be more thankful for that, but they did run into several soldiers. Some of these were running towards the violence, while others were dragging themselves, or others, away from the fighting. Mal saw several Auradon soldiers with nasty injuries, but neither she or anyone from the group stopped to inspect them.
After turning one corner, they suddenly found themselves in a square full of soldiers, who were all carrying, swords, shields, spears or crossbows. These soldiers were being directed by one man in the middle of the square, who shouted instructions at the top of his lungs.
Ben and Archer hurried towards this man, who bowed when he noticed the two. What followed was a quick conversation with a lot of pointing and gesturing before Ben and Archer returned.
"What's the sitch?" Aden asked.
"They've taken the coast and the harbor." Archer started explaining. "Some of Triton's ships have shown up, so they're still busy on sea, but they're running rampant in the town… They're attacking from the main road, and slowly advancing as well…"
"Let's get them then!" Jay shouted, much to the approval of the righteous sons.
"We're going to split up." Ben spoke up.
"What?" Mal exclaimed in alarm.
"We need to aid the soldiers from all angles." Ben explained, not calming Mal's nerves at all, before he turned to the others. "Archer will lead a group of soldiers straight down from the north, this will be our main force. I will lead a smaller party from the east, and Jay, I hoped that you would lead one from the west."
"Of course." Jay nodded.
"Hold on, he gets to lead?" Lonnie questioned.
"You can both lead if that makes it more acceptable!" Ben replied with a hint of annoyance. "For now, you can split up however you'd like. Mal, you're coming with me."
Mal nodded, and followed Ben when he then immediately walked off.
"Ben, what are we gonna do?" Mal asked.
"Join up with some other soldiers and try to push the villains back." Ben explained. "Archer, Jay and Lonnie will do the same from the other side, and hopefully that will be enough."
"What did the, ehm, general say?" Mal went on.
"That the villains are far more intense and reckless than anything they've faced before…" Ben began. "That they're laying waste to the town, without caring who or what they might find in any of the buildings… That they're complete savages… That they're using magic, and burning everything in sight… In any case, they're winning at the moment…"
"Let's put a stop to that." Mal confidently replied, causing Ben to sport a small grin.
They waited at the edge of the square, where they were soon joined by a horde of soldiers. Evie, Freddie, Jordan and Aden joined them as well.
"Alright…" Ben loudly spoke, addressing his soldiers. "Our job is to keep a tight formation, engage the enemy and push them back. We should expect no mercy from our enemies, but we must show it. Use deadly force only when absolutely necessary! Keep an eye on each other and don't make any rash decisions! I will see you all when this is over!"
The soldiers all cheered, raising their weapons in support of their king. Mal didn't join them, but simply stood back in admiration of Ben's leadership skills for a second.
Ben himself led the group of soldiers, with Aden at his side. Just as Mal wanted to follow him, Evie pulled her aside for a second.
"M, I'm scared…" She said her eyes wide and serious.
"Me too…" Mal replied, though not entirely truthfully.
"Promise me that you'll make it out alive…" Evie told her, holding up her pinkie.
"I promise…" Mal complied, threading her own pinkie through Evie's. She knew it was an empty promise, but what else could she do. "But you need to make it out alive too!" Mal retorted. "We all do…"
"Then we will…" Evie graciously replied. "Right after we show everyone that Auradon is our home now!"
"Couldn't agree more…" Mal smirked.
Evie then grabbed Mal's hand and they ran after the soldiers. The sounds of battle grew ever louder. People were screaming, buildings were collapsing and fire was raging. Every once in a while, a giant ball of fire would fly over their heads and crash somewhere further back. Mal even saw several brightly colored sparks which were definitely magical in origin. They hadn't encountered any adversaries yet, but were constantly confronted by other Auradon soldiers.
Some of these were running to and from the battle, delivering orders and tactical advise. Others joined up with Ben's squad, which grew larger and larger. Some were trying to clear some of the rubble, carrying tools and shouting for assistance. Most were moving away from the battle though, pressing cloth to still bleeding injuries or carrying wounded comrades on their shoulders. Mal, to her horror, saw how some soldiers had grotesquely contorted limbs, horrific burns, or large head wounds. She wanted to stay behind and help people, but also knew that the best way she'd be able to help would be by aiding in the fighting.
Ben ran through the streets with a determined expression on his face, and his sword gripped tightly in his hand. Aden had already conjured up his machetes, and kept close to Ben. Mal and Evie were at the back, along with Freddie and Jordan.
It took a few more minutes before they reached the actual battle, but when they did, things immediately went mental.
They turned one corner, and suddenly found themselves right in between two fighting parties. There was a large crossroads with a now abandoned market place in the middle. The villains apparently held the numerical advantage for now, and were seemingly steadily pushing back the Auradon forces. From a quick glance at the battlefield, Mal could see how the villains had gathered an arsenal of improvised weaponry and hand-made shields in numerous colors, meaning they were easily distinguishable from the grey, blue and yellow of the Auradon soldiers.
"Shields!" Ben suddenly yelled, after which the Auradon soldiers raised their shields and locked them together in a tight formation. Not one second later, the sound of a dozen or so arrows hitting the front of the shields was heard.
Mal cursed herself. She had been so busy with looking at the battlefield, that she hadn't noticed an entire company of archers firing at them. Thankfully though, Ben had.
"You okay?" Ben asked as he joined up with her for a second.
"I'm fine." Mal reassured him. "Don't worry about me, you focus on your soldiers."
Ben nodded, leaned in to kiss her one more time, and then ran back to the center of his army, next to Aden, where they began to think of a strategy.
"What are we going to do?" Freddie asked, tightly grasping her sword.
"Jordan, can you give magical assistance?" Mal asked.
"I can try." Jordan replied. "What do you want me to do?"
"See if you can stop those fireballs." Mal proposed, gesturing at the flaming projectiles that were still flying over their heads.
"Done." Jordan nodded before immediately stepping back, out of view from the rest of the fight.
"What about us?" Evie asked, pointing to her and Freddie.
"You…" Mal began, looking back momentarily to see Ben and his men breaking formation and storming at the enemy with their swords raised. "Follow Ben, but don't get yourself killed!" She added, grabbing her own sword and running after Ben.
Evie and Freddie followed her, both with swords as well, and they soon found themselves in the middle of the chaos.
Mal had already lost track of Ben, who had moved further towards the middle of the crossroads, seemingly trying to break through the enemy lines. With Evie by her side, Mal also began hacking into whatever enemy she could find.
It was extremely disorientating, and soon Mal had no idea where they had actually come from or where she was supposed to be heading. All she was doing was trying to stay alive and incapacitate as many enemies as she could find. It was weird, because she knew and hated most of them… These people recognized her as well, and this seemingly only increased the ferocity with which they tried to chop her head off.
Mal didn't hold back, and proved to both herself and her opponents that she was a much better fighter. Evie naturally helped, always looking out primarily for Mal before watching her own back. Together, they managed to disarm most of their foes, while others just plain fled.
Every once in a while, a salvo of arrows would fly over their heads, but they had no way of knowing if these were friendly fire or not. Around them, Auradon soldiers were constantly dragging their wounded comrades away from the battlefield, whereas the villains simply jumped over their downed companions to throw themselves into battle again.
Ben was still nowhere to be found, even though Mal kept keeping an eye out for him. She started panicking a little as she moved past dozens of people, none of which had Ben's brown hair or richly adorned sword.
Where was he? What if something happened to him? What if he was hurt?
Around them, more buildings started catching fire, basking the struggle in a constant flickering orange glow. Mal thought that she, Evie and Freddie were moving closer to shore, dodging dueling duos and piles of rubble in their search of more opponents.
All of the sudden, cannonballs were flying around everywhere, destroying every building in the nearby vicinity.
"Look out!" Evie screamed as she pulled Mal back behind a solid wall.
Not a second later, a cannonball smashed into the ground in front of them, making debris fly around like grenade shards. Mal, Evie and Freddie stayed hidden for a few seconds, just to make sure there wasn't anything threatening to fly into them and cause permanent damage.
"Where do we go, M?" Evie asked, looking around feverishly for oncoming enemies.
"We need to find Ben…" Mal replied, a little panicky. "I need to find Ben…"
"He went to the right there somewhere…" Freddie said, still staying low.
Mal took the risk and raised herself up a little, looking across the market which was still filled with fighting soldiers. The fires still illuminated the battlefield, which made It difficult to distinguish one person from the other. Still, Mal hoped against better knowledge that her connection to Ben would mean that she would easily be able to find him…
"There's Jay!" Evie suddenly hissed, pointing to the middle of the marketplace, where a long-haired fighter was taking on two assailants at once.
"Let's help him!" Mal resolutely replied, staying crouched down as she left her hiding place and rejoined the fighting.
On their way to Jay, she, Evie and Freddie took out multiple villains, who were then immediately jumped by Auradon soldiers.
"Hey guys!" Jay enthusiastically shouted once he noticed them. He didn't sound like he was either dazed or tired at all. "What brings you here?"
"Jay, what's happening?" Mal asked, taking advantage of their momentary respite.
"We pushed them back from the west, now we're aiding in the middle…" Jay explained, wiping his brow.
"Where's Lonnie?" Freddie asked.
"Fighting somewhere…" Jay answered, beaming with pride.
"Have you seen Ben?" Mal inquired, unable to not sound panicky.
"I, ehm…" Jay stammered, noticing Mal's distress. "We can find him together…"
Mal nodded, and then followed Jay into the fray in search of Ben. Together, they moved further and further towards the coast, where the fighting was even more intense. There was no building left untouched here, but at least the villains weren't bombarding this area with cannonballs. More and more fighters kept showing up from both sides, but the fight appeared to be a stalemate at this point. The villains were still as aggressive as ever, but the Auradonians now held superior numbers and were thus able to hold them back.
Behind Mal, near the town's center, the villains were spread out and apparently on the retreat. Ahead of her, near the harbor, more and more villains kept pouring from the sea and joining the fight.
Mal kept looking out for Ben, but was still unsuccessful. In the flickering light of the fires, every Auradon soldier looked alike. A few times, Mal was certain she saw Ben, only for it to be someone else…
"Alex!" Freddie suddenly yelled before running off.
Looking to her side, Mal saw Alex's enormous shape drive back a handful of enemies with his war hammer. Freddie hurried towards him, her sword raised.
"No!" Jay called out, grabbing Mal's arm just as she was planning on chasing after Freddie. "She can handle herself!"
Behind Mal, Evie was also visibly not happy to leave Freddie behind, but she didn't object.
Mal panicked again, as more and more bodies started dropping around her. She was worried about everyone… Where was Carlos? Where were Lonnie, Chad or the righteous sons? Where were Archer and CJ? But of course she was mainly worried about Ben.
She just kept following Jay, who occasionally raised his shield to cover both him and Mal from flying arrows. Every once in a while, a villain would emerge out of nowhere and try to fight her, but these weren't that much trouble with both Jay and Evie at her side.
"There!" Evie then abruptly shrieked, pointing a trembling finger.
A little further down the main road… In a somewhat open space… There he was…
Ben was still fighting! He had a large cut on the side of his face, and his hair was sweaty and matted down his forehead, but he was still fighting! Aden was beside him, a machete in either hand, and he was taking on a very aggressive Ginny Gothel!
Not paying attention to Jay's warnings, Mal immediately sprinted towards Ben, ignoring every villain in her path as well. She kept focusing on Ben, worried that he'd again disappear if she'd take her eyes off him.
"Ben!" She screamed, right as she got within earshot.
Ben looked up, and had to pay for that momentary lapse of judgement when his attacker grazed his elbow with a well-aimed sword strike.
"No!" Mal yelled, sprinting even faster to basically bash Ben's attacker away from him.
Ben had regained his senses, and together they managed to disarm and knock down their opponent within a minute.
"Mal!" Ben exclaimed, his eyes beaming with happiness when he saw her.
"Ben!" Mal repeated, throwing herself into his arms, all the destruction around them momentarily forgotten. For about one glorious second, they forgot about the battle as they hugged each other fiercely, but a loud yell alerted them.
Ginny Gothel had managed to cut one of Aden's hands with her dagger. Ben and Mal turned towards him, but Aden already managed to kick one of Ginny's legs out from under her and then disarmed her with a few quick slashes of his machetes.
Before Ben and Mal could do anything else, a large man from the isle, wielding an axe, suddenly stormed at them, but was pushed aside by Jay and then knocked down by Evie.
"Ben! There you are…" Jay said, joining up with him and Mal.
"How'd it go on your side?" Ben asked, surveying the battlefield.
"We managed to push them back to the main road. I'm guessing Lonnie and Chad are still looking for stragglers." Jay recounted.
"Good… Good…" Ben mumbled, reaching up with his hand to feel the deep gash in his cheek.
"Are you alright?" Mal asked in a worried tone, leaning in to examine the injury as well.
"It's nothing… What about you?" Ben responded.
"Totally unharmed, mostly thanks to Evie…" Mal answered.
"Then I should thank you as well." Ben told Evie.
"It's nice to be acknowledged…" Evie shrugged, brushing a little dust off her shoulder.
"What's happening, Ben? Are we winning?" Mal inquired, looking back at the still fighting mob behind her.
"I'm not sure…" Ben answered truthfully. "We don't know how many there are… We don't know what their exact goal is… There's also been no sign of Solomon or his party…"
"That's good, right?" Evie questioned.
"No, we need to capture him and the cauldron as fast as possible!" Ben answered. "The war will not end until that happens…"
"Let's find him then…" Mal told Ben, just as another cannonball flew over their heads. "Together…"
"First we push this invasion force back…" Ben replied, though his eyes did sparkle a little. "Then we'll see…"
"Speaking of which…" Jay mumbled, looking beyond where Ben and Mal stood.
Mal immediately turned around, and didn't need to ask what Jay was looking at. There were dozens of small boats heading straight for the shore, all filled to the brim with people… These were definitely not friendly people, but a whole new legion of villains waving their weapons and torches around.
Now, the battle was mostly even at this point, but reinforcements of this magnitude could definitely turn the tide. Mal got scared again. Sure, she had found Ben, but the battle was far from over…
"Damn…" Jay groaned. "Just when I thought things were going to be easy…"
"Do we have enough men to hold them back?" Mal asked.
"I don't know…" Ben muttered, looking back at the still fighting parties in the town.
There were still a lot of people locked in combat behind them, but the Auradon forces were definitely on the winning hand. Mal was sure, however, that the battle could take a drastic turn when their new adversaries would arrive.
"We have to move back… We're totally exposed out here…" Aden said, walking up next to them. Behind him, Ginny Gothel was squirming on the ground, her arms cuffed behind her back.
"Where's Archer?" Mal asked, looking back towards the town. "He led the largest force, didn't he?"
"We'll regroup…" Ben stated. "Team up with Archer, form a line, and push these maniacs back into the sea."
"Yes!" Jay shouted, running back into the fray to gather his troops.
"Aden, find someone with a flare. We need to signal our troops that they should retreat. Don't stay out too long, and come find us when we've taken position again!" Ben ordered.
Aden just nodded before running off, with Ginny Gothel screaming some obscenities when he passed her.
"What do we do?" Mal asked, pointing to her and Evie.
"You're staying with me." Ben resolutely said. "I'm never letting you out of my sight again!"
"Fine with me." Mal smiled.
"That's real sweet, guys, but we should go…" Evie said in a bit of a hesitant tone, just as a blue flare suddenly shot up into the sky behind them.
"That's the signal, let's head back." Ben acknowledged, leading the girls back into the town.
Around them, more Auradon soldiers reacted to the flare by running back. The villains apparently didn't know what to make of it and stayed back, shouting loudly. Mal just followed Ben, who looked over his shoulder every few seconds to make sure she was still there. Evie had grabbed her hand, and Mal wasn't planning on letting go.
Seemingly out of nowhere, a wall of Auradon shields rose up in the middle of the main street.
"Ben!?" A familiar voice spoke.
The wall of shields opened up, and out stepped Archer, CJ, Carlos and Royce.
"Archer!" Ben exhaled as he walked up to the latter and shook his hand. "We missed you on the battlefield…"
"Some of those fireballs had crashed further up into the street…" Archer started explaining. "We had to clear them in order to get past… When we finally got here, the flare had already been lit… What's wrong? Are we retreating?"
"No, right?" Royce jumped in, scanning the space behind Mal.
"No." Ben answered. "There was a whole bunch of boats about to reach the shore… Reinforcements… Hundreds… I thought it'd be best to regroup with your party…"
"Good plan…" Archer muttered. "Boats only? Nothing from the flanks?"
"Nothing as far as we could see…" Ben shrugged.
"Have you seen Solomon?" CJ asked.
"No. Wherever he is, it's not on the battlefield." Mal answered.
"Typical…" CJ sneered.
"Let's get a move on, guys." Archer then spoke up. "Get behind the shield wall, and I'll have them advance to the shore. We're bound to run into the villains at some point that way…"
Ben nodded, and then gestured to the others to move through the opening in the shield wall.
Behind the first row, there were a lot more Auradon soldiers, including some of the ones Mal had hoped to see.
"Freddie!" She called out when she spotted her friend.
"Mal!" Freddie replied, grinning broadly. "Evie! You guys are alright…"
"You are as well… Thank god…" Mal breathed a sigh of relief. "Where's everyone else?"
"Ehm, Aden just came by… He and Alex are off to the front lines. I saw Jay and Lonnie on the other side of the street, Chad was with them too… Jordan is still further in town, literally putting out fires…" Freddie explained rapidly. "And Carlos is…"
"Right here…" Carlos spoke up as walked up behind Mal and Evie. "I'm happy to see you're all unharmed."
"Same here." Mal smirked as she ruffled up Carlos's hair. "How'd you do?"
"I stayed close to Archer and CJ most of the time… I have to say it's really reassuring being behind those two during a battle…" Carlos said in a joking manner.
"Coward…" Evie snapped, though she did smile.
"So, what's happening now? Are we falling back?" Freddie asked.
"We're regrouping…" Mal started explaining. "Look at the shield wall… We're going to push the villains right back into the sea…"
"Good." Freddie nodded. "So, are we needed?"
Before she even opened her mouth, a loud voice from behind Mal already answered that question.
"Everyone to the front lines! Come on!" A large Auradon officer shouted at all the lounging troops. "You too, get out th-" He had started yelling at Mal before he realized who she was. "Ooh… Milady, I didn't mean to-" He stammered.
"It's fine." Mal replied. "Come on guys, you heard the man." She then told her friends.
They all passed the somewhat disgruntled officer and headed back to the front of the shield wall. Mal found Ben again, who had been discussing tactics with Archer and Royce, but immediately perked up when he saw her.
"Hey, are you ready?" He asked.
"Born ready." Mal resolutely responded. "Just lead, and we'll follow…"
"Archer has the command." Ben told her. "We try to keep our formation for as long as we can, but you can be damned sure they've got some aces up their sleeves…"
"I can help." Mal offered. "Let me transform, and I'll help from above…"
"No!" Ben said, so confidently that Mal pulled up her eyebrows in surprise.
"Why not?" She inquired.
"I don't want you to become their main target. No, we're going with standard military tactics first." Ben explained.
"Fine." Mal murmured.
"I'm serious." Ben insisted. "Now's not the time for transforming."
"Fine!" Mal repeated, though she had the nagging feeling that she was kept on the sidelines.
Ben looked at her for one more second, and then turned his back to her to again discuss a few things with Archer. CJ was now standing right next to Mal, and examined her with narrowed eyes.
"Don't get cocky." CJ suddenly said, without even looking directly at her.
"Excuse me?" Mal responded, staring icily at CJ.
"I'm just saying…" CJ began, still not looking at Mal. "Today is not about you, it's about saving Auradon and making sure it doesn't get invaded by murderous maniacs. Now, I'm not saying you're stupid, but Ben and Archer definitely know more about this type of combat than either of us… I'd let them make the big decisions…"
Mal's mouth had dropped. One, because what CJ was saying made at least a bit of sense. Two, because what 'CJ' was saying made a bit of sense.
"We're still here…" CJ went on. "Let's make the most of it! Let's kick some villain ass!"
Now Mal actually smiled. "I'd like that."
"Good." CJ nodded. "Do you need a partner?"
"She already has one." Evie spoke up, squeezing herself between Mal and CJ. "And I'm not letting her out of my sight."
"Fine." CJ responded, a little grumpily.
For about a minute, they just stood there, waiting for Ben, Archer or someone else to give the sign that they should start moving forward. Mal was still standing right behind Ben, with Evie right beside her. Mal tried to calm herself, taking deep breaths and telling herself that everything was going to be okay.