I keep saying I don't know how many more fanfics I'm going to do, and I don't. My goal this year is to submit my first real book to be published. So soak it in while it lasts.

You've never read a "Watch the Movie" fic like this before. Because this movie doesn't exist. We'll see if I have the skills to pull this off.

Time Trekkers and Emotional Wreckers

Chapter 1/11 - Everyone Speaks German

With all the chaos of the Family Day picnic, the Family Day movie night was set to be a somber event. The yellow flyers reminding students to bring blankets for the grassy hill seemed soggy despite the brilliant weather.

Ben convinced the VK's to go, but they sat in the back. Ben and his parents were for once out of the spotlight and the centre of attention. Also, they remained distant. Mal sat on the corner of the blanket Evie had procured farthest from Ben. None of the four interacted with him.

Ben was feeling… a lot. Angry… exhausted… slightly hopeless. He didn't know how to fix the student body's interactions with the VK's… bring them back in… give them hope… and prepare everyone to do this again as soon as possible. The task seemed… impossible. But he set his jaw and kept his back straight and thought, "One day at a time." He had the same twenty-four hours as every other person sitting on the lawn, looking up at the projector set up facing the school, waiting for the movie to start.

While they waited, student videos were playing. Picture slideshows set to music, films of dance classes. Most Auradon students were musical, and so short music videos played here and there.

The sun sank lower.

"What movie are we watching?" Belle asked Ben as the last stragglers finished heading down from the school.

Ben tried to remember what the poster had advertised. "I don't know," he said. "Probably an old classic or something." Hopefully nothing to do with Dalmatians, magic carpets, poisoned apples, or spindles. Nothing that would draw more attention to the VK's.

A music video Audrey had made was playing. Ben cringed and put a hand to his forehead.

At the end of Audrey's video, the screen went dark for a moment. Then, the speakers jumped to life. "Hi, I'm Princess Morgan."

Another voice. "Hi, this is Queen Bethany."

"Hello, I am Queen Amelia."

"I'm King Zachary."

And then, his own voice, making him jump. "This is King Benjamin."

And finally, his dad's voice. "I'm King Adam, and thank you for watching Palace Productions."

The six voices mashed together into a medley. "Running now for twenty – fifty – one hundred – one hundred and fifty years. We're excited you could join us – thank you for all you do – and please know we are happy to serve you – we hope you enjoy this movie."

There were no pictures on the screen yet. A few people were murmuring. Ben furrowed his brow. Palace Productions usually ran the broadcasts from the castle. His dad had organised it at the beginning of his reign.

The screen suddenly lit with colour and music began playing. For a moment, they were staring at a beach. Waves washed up white sand and through long grass and cattails. It was high definition – he could see foam gathering on the crest of each blue wave as it kicked up the sand beneath it. The picture panned up and out and Ben saw Beast's Castle. It looked brand new. Nothing crumbling. Everything pristine. Auradon flags flew from the pillars. And people bustled in and out of cars circling around in the u-shaped driveway. The song had words. And as those words were sung, subtitles appeared underneath the word. A brilliant title appeared. "Descendants 4."

The camera flew through the front doors and Ben caught a glimpse of the restored interior of the castle, with updated furniture. His brow creased.

"Slam dunk," the song sang as the scene changed and a hand put an empty container into a trash can. "Ready or not. Yeah, show me what you've got."

As the person straightened up, Ben was sent reeling. Because on the screen at the front of the lawn was his face. But… not his face. He was older. He was taller. He had filled out more at the shoulders. He had a light beard and moustache.

People shouted in surprise. "It's Ben!" someone shouted. His mom's hand jumped to his arm. She said nothing, and Ben didn't turn to look at her. He watched as the older him picked up a comb and began fixing his hair. Words appeared in the picture, almost offscreen. "Mitchell Hope."

Just as fast as zooming into the castle, they were zooming out and peering at a phone screen. Ben had a split second to recognise an older Mal waving inside the screen before he was catching the words, "Princess Morgan," beside her inside the picture.

The phone screen belonged to two identical twin boys in the backseat of a car. An arm appeared out of the front seat and snatched the phone away. "Boys, time for school," the driver said, and the two grabbed their backpacks and jumped to the side of the car. "Be good! No fights!" the driver said. And as the boys slammed the door behind them and left the picture, Ben saw Jay in the front seat. Same long hair, but a longer, rounder face as well.

Someone grabbed keys off an unrecognisable counter. "Bye Doug, I'm off to work!"

"Be safe!"

The music was still playing, but the subtitles prioritised what was being spoken. Which was great because as the chorus started, "you, the other half of me," the words, "Bye Jane. Love you!" appeared.

For a second – only a second – Ben saw two figures exchange a fast kiss. One had long dark hair. The other walked towards the camera, which panned out. It was Carlos. A long-haired Carlos with a bold red jacket and black pants. People whistled. He looked so… grown. He walked out of a house that seemed to have moving walls and down to a car whose doors opened up above it, as if it were about to take flight.

From the VK blanket, Ben heard Carlos choke.

Evie appeared onscreen. Her hair was completely blue – no black at all. Her eyeshadow was shimmery, not smokey. She looked calmer. Happier. And she was flipping on lights to a very large department store filled with well-dressed mannequins and racks of stylish clothes. "Let's get going," she said underneath her breath.

An eye appeared magnified through a looking glass. Then that eye moved and a young boy's round face appeared. He was working very diligently on something. Taking notes and… it looked as if he were doing math. Three sharp thuds blew through the speaker system. Someone spoke in German.

Ben spoke French, having grown up with it in his family, but only knew the backbones of German. Without the subtitles, he wouldn't have ever known what was said. As it was, the subtitles only said, "[German] Zachary, are you up?"

He watched someone pound on a door before the little boy could reply. "Tyler, you need to get moving!"

Behind the door, a second little boy groaned and rolled over in his bed, pulling the pillow over his head.

Older Jay was walking up a sidewalk with a sports coat on. It didn't seem devoted towards any team… though the bag of equipment bore a familiar insignia on it. At the end of the sidewalk was a field and an older Lonnie was finishing jogging laps around it. "About time," she said, and kissed him. Shrieks and shouts erupted from the student body.

"What the hell is this?" Jay muttered from the VK blanket. Ben didn't think it was possible to rip his eyes off the screen.

Older Evie was behind a counter, handing out special orders to customers. "Thank you for visiting Evie's Four Hearts!" she said. She seemed extremely pleased with herself.

The hand hammering on the sleepy kid's door appeared again. "Tyler! Get up now!" And a hand reached around the corner and flipped the light switch on. With a feral, defeated growl, the little boy sat up in bed. He had a shock of bright purple hair. His hair was smoking from his frustration.

Then the music got loud. The speaking faded away. And they were looking at the back of someone's head. This someone was not a mystery. They had long, dark, purple hair. The song sang, "You say it's wrong, I say it's right. You say it's black, I say it's white."

They followed the purple haired person into a kitchen, where she summoned toast from the toaster with a snap of her fingers, adjusted the volume of the radio – apparently the in-movie source of music – without touching it, and then finally turned towards the camera with two plates in hand. As expected, it was an older Mal. Her hair was brighter and more lush than it was now. It was long, reaching her lower back, and her face had matured. Her cheeks were less girlish. She looked to be in her thirties. And she was beautiful to Ben. He felt lighter, looking at her.

Mal was beautiful now. He wasn't oblivious to the fact he was dating a very beautiful person. But here, she was smiling, which was odd to him for a moment. She was curvier – like all women aging out of teenagerdom. He could see traces of her personality – she stomped as she walked, instead of floating like most Auradon girls did. Her focus still spoke of someone from the Isle of the Lost.

Older Mal set the plates down on the counter and disappeared into a hallway as the song ended. Older Ben was sitting on the corner of a bed and they could see over his shoulder that he was texting about "meeting at three pm is for that".

Older Mal knocked on the doorframe. Ben was pleasantly surprised when she began to speak, but not in English. The subtitle read, "[French] Doesn't anyone in your family get up on time?"

Older Ben looked up with a smile. "[French] Of course not. We have people like you to do that for us."

Older Mal rolled her eyes and reverted to English. "Right. I'm on my way out. You're good for the day?"

Older Ben's smile disappeared as he listened, but there was no concern. "Of course. Go have fun. Oh, and, uh, Mal?"

She paused with her hand still on the doorframe. "Yeah?"

Older Ben smiled. "Happy Anniversary. Sixteen years is a big accomplishment."

Older Mal also smiled – odd because he'd never seen younger Mal smile like that. She nodded and shifted her weight from side to side. "Yeah… it's crazy. Congratulations to you, too! I mean, this is kind of a big day for you, too."

Older Ben shrugged. "It's the anniversary of a proclamation going through for me. For you… this was the start of a new life."

Sixteen years. Mal was sixteen now. And was this… crazy to think about… was this their sixteen-year anniversary off the isle of the lost?

After today, it would be a miracle if they made it to their one-month anniversary off the Isle. Sixteen years… that felt like a dream.

He would be thirty-two. Actually… Almost thirty-three.

Older Mal left. Older Ben stood, hovered beside his bed to text for a moment, and then left. In the hall, the boy who had been furiously taking notes appeared with a very heavy backpack slung on his back. The two wandered to the kitchen and the young boy – Zachary- took a seat at the bar in front of one of the plates Older Mal had put down. "Dad," the kid began, and every student in Auradon Prep did one of two things simultaneously. Either they took a massive gasp, or they let out a yelp so high pitched it sounded like a chirp. Ben's mouth collided with his knee as it dropped open. Then, in German of all languages, the child continued. "Can I order some more carbon fiber to work with?"

"How much do you need?" Older Ben replied, not looking away from his phone, and also speaking in German.

"Not much. Like… twenty dollars maybe?"

"Take out the trash and clean the kitchen when you get home and we can make that happen."

The purple-haired boy – Tyler – appeared in the kitchen as well. He looked very angry. He sat down with a huff in front of plate number two and snarled at the toast on it. Then, he began to push at Zachary's chair with little grunts and whines, saying nothing.

"Stop it, Tyler!" Zachary complained, back to English. But Tyler whined harder and kicked Zachary's chair to shoot further away from him.

Older Ben put the phone away and put his hand down in front of Tyler. Tyler froze, making eye contact, and shrunk. Ben didn't blame him. Older Ben's gaze was steely and no-nonsense. The little kid's chin dipped towards his collarbone.

So, this was his son. And Mal's son. And it seemed there was at least some sort of sleepover happening, because Older Mal had said, "your family". Older Ben must be babysitting while Older Mal was celebrating being off the Isle… if he was interpreting this situation right.

Zachary – or Zach, for short – took the trash out and then climbed into the middle row of a car. Older Ben soon appeared to start the car – this was exciting to Ben, because he didn't have his driver's license yet. No sooner had Older Ben sat down than Zachary leaned up from the middle row. "Vater?" he asked, though the translation read "[German] Dad?"

Ben found himself switching back and forth between deciphering the conversation with the limited German he possessed and looking at the subtitles.

"Ja, Zach?" [German] Yes, Zach?

"[German] Can I sit in the front seat?"

"Nein." [German] No.

Zachary deflated – the perfect image of a disappointed child. "Warum nicht?" he whined, pouting.

"Du bist zu klein," Older Ben replied.

"Aber Vater…"

"Zachary," Older Ben made eye contact with his son in the rear-view mirror. "Nein. Ich sage nein."

Zachary sulked and shrunk into the back passenger seat, frowning deeply. His lower lip was set firmly as he buckled his seat belt. Then, he huffed and spoke in a fourth – this one completely unfamiliar – language. "[Italian] Mom would have let me sit in the front seat."

Older Ben didn't budge. "Ich weiß es nicht, was du sagst, aber die Antwort ist auch nein!" [German] I don't know what you said, but the answer is also no!

The Auradon Prep students burst into laughter and Ben found a smile also tugging at his mouth. Zachary had a similar smile as he pulled a book out in the backseat and began to read. On the other side of the car, Tyler appeared. Dressed but in no better a mood. He sat on the opposite side and huffed dramatically.

Zach began to speak in French. "Dad, could we-"

Tyler immediately hollered. "No!" he shouted. "No! No German! I don't speak German! You can't speak German around me!"

"Tyler, this is French! You speak French!"

"No! No!"

Older Ben whirled around and seized Tyler's leg. The kid once again quieted at the firm look. "Buckle up," Older Ben told him, and with a huff, he did.

Ben was mystified by this. He couldn't honestly tell if the two were siblings – another crazy concept – or if they had simply hung out often enough to be aware of each other on this level. What a combination, though. Zach was clearly an overachiever… Tyler had shown nothing but a foul mood so far. What a pair. What a duo.

In a sunny somewhere else, a silver car pulled into a parking space. Older Mal got out. She was dressed very casually – ripped black jeans and a purple shirt with shoulder-length sleeves. No patterns. No grunge. No makeup, though she was beautiful anyway. She shut her car door, then opened the door behind the driver's. Ben wasn't sure what he expected, but it wasn't for her to remove a baby carrier. That wasn't what anyone expected. He heard murmurs all around him.

He finally managed to rip his eyes off the screen and glanced to the people viewing the movie with him. Mal had pulled her legs up to her chest and her mouth was hidden behind her crossed arms. Jay was in a similar position, but leaning back with his mouth swinging ajar. Evie leaned forward, head tilted, and Carlos hunched towards the screen, squinting a little.

Older Mal on the screen wandered in through a door, pulling on a hat as she did. Ben recognised the door – it was the same one Older Evie had entered through earlier. Older Evie was still behind the counter, but now she was measuring someone for an order.

When Older Evie caught sight of Older Mal, she removed the pins from her mouth and called, "Break room! I'll be back in a moment!" Mal nodded gratefully and disappeared, keeping the carrier under one arm the entire time.

A customer leaned over the desk. "Was that Mal?" they asked excitedly.

Evie hid a little smile. "Who?" she asked.

In the break room, dozens of pictures were hung on a corkboard. Beautiful moments and bits of inspiration. Some were simply glamour shots, but others… there were Carlos and Jane on a wedding day. Jay and Lonnie in traditional wear. Mal in front of a mirror, the picture taken from the back, and she was wearing a white gown with a long train behind it. It had to be a wedding dress as well. Casual shots. Ben saw himself clean shaven in one. A group of kids with blue, purple, and brown hair together. The twin boys from the beginning of the film… a little girl who looked like Jane. And the two boys who had just been fighting in the car. Dozens of moments.

"Crazy how time flies, right?"

The camera panned left to reveal Older Evie peering at the pictures as well. Evidently, some time had passed. Older Mal smiled. "Yeah. Good times."

The two walked out to the parking lot. "Your car or mine?" Mal asked.

"Mine," Evie replied. "We'll be stopped enough on our way to meet the boys without yours."

"Right."

Evie's car was a bright blue convertible with white seats. It looked retro except for the touchscreen console in the centre. Mal set the carrier in the backseat and buckled it in with the seatbelt in the middle, taking a moment to tuck down a blanket inside of it.

"Ten bucks says the next song on the radio is written by you or Ben," Older Evie said, and Ben's ears perked up.

"Not every song is written by Ben or I," Mal replied, opening the passenger side door and sitting down. Once sat, she reached behind her to rest a hand on the carrier handle.

Evie turned the key in the ignition and a song began. She turned with some obvious triumph towards Mal. "Ben and Jay," she said. "Close enough."

Mal rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

The song that began playing was good. And when he heard his voice in the opening chords, Ben became excited. The song appeared to be talking about the difficulties of people knowing you and hoping that the pressures of fame wouldn't destroy your family and turn you into "Beautiful People." As the song played, the pictures on the screen went through a vivid montage. Evie and Mal rode through Auradon City. Banners and flags depicting the anniversary of the Isle opening were displayed. People crowded the streets and waved. They met Jay and Carlos and exchanged hugs and took pictures.

Then they took pictures together in front of a giant white bridge with a white arch spiraling around the road. Behind them was the Isle of the Lost, but it was only recognisable because it was an island. The buildings were tan and grey and even a splash of white here and there. A ferris wheel's outline could be seen. And most shocking of all, there was no barrier.

Behind Ben, King Adam's breaths were heavy. "What happened?" he whispered, not near enough for Ben to presume he was speaking to him. He was either talking to Ben's mom, or muttering to himself.

Clips from a television broadcast were shown. Carlos was speaking into a microphone. While inaudible, a teleprompter on the bottom of the screen rolled a headline. "Original VK's Speak Out About The Terrors Of The Isle Sixteen Years After Leaving / Auradon's Biggest Mistake Was Locking Up The Children With Their Parents / Sixteen Years of King Benjamin's Isle Reunification Proclamation."

"Dear, this is a good thing," Belle whispered. "Look at how beautiful it is."

"Where are the villains?"

This was a question Ben wanted answers to as well. He'd thought for ages about taking the kids off the Isle of the Lost, but the barrier? Wow. Just… wow.

As the song ended, the Isle came back into view. There was the sound of aluminum cans being clinked. "Here's to another year of being alive," Older Jay said from the movie.

They had Evie's blue car and Carlos's fancy one parked side by side, though each of the four VK's was sitting in Evie's as they shared sodas and looked out towards the Isle. Mal's feet were up on Evie's pristine dash. Carlos and Jay sat on opposite sides of the baby carrier in the back.

While the other two murmured agreements, Evie sighed. "Sometimes it feels like another life. So much has happened."

No kidding, Ben thought.

Older Jay took a long drink thoughtfully. "We ought to go visit," he said, and tapped Evie's headrest.

Older Mal immediately shook her head. "No," she declined firmly.

"Why not?" Jay asked. "All the villains are in Auradon Prison now. It's perfectly safe."

"Because I don't want to," Mal replied.

"Mal, you can't keep running from the Isle," Carlos said. It seemed, at his words, that the entire student body watching the film tensed at once.

"No, that's not it," Mal refuted. "Look, I'm over the Isle. I'm over everything that happened there. I don't feel the need to run back just to prove it's in the past." She took a drink, still examining the horizon thoughtfully. "Maybe I'll take my kids there when they're older. But I've moved on. I'm not going to go back just to chase shadows."

The camera hovered on her face and Ben felt, as he was sure was the point of the camera focus, that Mal's words rang true, but there was some lingering sadness there. What for? Why?

A cell phone rang. Ben's hand snapped instinctively to his side. But so did the characters on the screen. "Someone's phone is ringing," Older Carlos said, declaring the obvious. His voice was so deep….

"Mine," Older Mal said, pulling out of a deep front pocket a phone encased in people with a darker purpose and bright green dragon on the back of her case. Upon seeing the screen, she furrowed her brow and frowned.

"Who is it?" Older Evie asked.

"Lumiere," Mal replied, still frowning. Ben's brow knit further. "But he knows it's our anniversary. Why's he bothering me with work?"

Work? What work?

Older Mal declined the call, turned her phone on silent, and then leaned into the backseat and put the phone into the carrier, on the blanket.

"Should you answer?" Jay asked. The camera remained frozen on the black screen of Mal's phone in the back seat.

"What if it's important?" Carlos asked.

The camera panned in just slightly, still focusing on the phone.

"Nah," Older Mal replied. "If it's important, he'll just call me right back."

And at her words, the screen lit with an incoming call. "Lumiere," the screen read. The phone vibrated against the blanket uselessly as the conversation between the four VK's turned into background noise. They laughed about something.

Everyone in the audience gasped. A few went "Ooh!", obviously thinking she was in trouble. "Pick up!" Someone yelled.

But she didn't. And everyone watched as Lumiere went to voicemail.

While this story is completely written, I can easily add details if they are requested. Leave a comment letting me know what you want to see.