Mal reached into the birdbath and frantically pulled out the ember. Its spark was gone. Desperate, Mal waved her fingers and attempted to relight it with a spell. She incanted: “Regain your might and ignite.” Nothing happened. The ember sat still and dark.
Mal looked to Uma for help, but Uma was no longer interested in a dragon-octopus collab. The double-crossing villain would be walking the plank if she were on Uma’s ship. But here, the best Uma could do was simply walk away.
“Bummer,” Uma said to Mal, twirling her shell necklace in her hand. She turned to Harry. “Let’s go find Gil and leave them all to rot.” She snapped her fingers, then strode down the path away from Mal and everything she represented. Harry waved his hook with a flourish, pivoted on his heel, and followed Uma. The pirates were out of there.
“Uma,” Mal cried after her.
Mal’s friends looked at her in dismay. Jay’s handsome face turned down as he tried to process the news. Carlos’s puppy dog eyes were filled with pure disappointment. Evie just shook her head at Mal, crushed by her friend’s deceit. The four of them were a team. How could Mal do this? How could she abandon their dream?
Evie’s scorching look of condemnation hit Mal hard. “Evie, I’m so sorry. I’m sorry, I just…I was afraid to tell you. I thought I was going to lose my best friend. But I had to do something. I had to protect Auradon.”
Evie drew her hands to her hips. “Closing the barrier was your idea?” Evie couldn’t comprehend how Mal, of all people, could shut down the very program that had brought the four of them to Auradon. She’d forsaken everything they stood for.
Mal was desperate for her friends to understand. “I did it for us. I did it for our life that we have here now,” she explained.
“For our life here? What about the kids we left behind on that island?” asked Evie, in tears. “The kids we promised. We were their only hope. I thought you were going to stand up for all the VKs. But instead you lied to them. And you lied to Jay. And you lied to Carlos. And you lied to me. We’re your family.”
“Evie, c’mon. I had no choice,” pleaded Mal. If they could all just see it from her perspective…
In that moment, there was a flash of lightning; then Ben, Evie, Jay, Carlos, and Dude had all been turned to stone. Audrey’s telltale fog swirled and billowed at their feet.
“Oh, no,” Mal cried, her voice trembling with despair.
Mal’s friends couldn’t reply. They just stared at her with frozen expressions of hurt, disappointment, and betrayal. Mal gazed at the cold dark ember in her hand and realized all was lost. She was wrought with unbearable guilt.
Audrey’s voice boomed overhead. “Now you’re all alone, just like I was….”
Despondent, Mal wondered how this all had happened. And deep inside, she knew the answer. She had to face herself and the lies she had chosen to tell and make it right. Yes, sometimes being a leader meant making unpopular decisions. But a true leader didn’t deceive others about those decisions. Mal headed off through the forest, toward Auradon Prep, hoping to right the wrongs she’d set in motion.
A short while later, Mal bolted onto campus and saw Uma and Harry crossing the rear quad. Mal scrambled to catch up with them. “Uma, stop. Please stop. I need your help. We have a chance if we do this together.”
“Your friends kick you to the curb?” Uma glowered at her. “Good.” She let out a hmph and kept walking.
Mal reached out to Uma again. “Ben saw something in you. And today, Uma, I saw it, too. You care, Uma. You care about everybody. Auradon is still worth saving. Help me, please,” Mal implored her.
Uma paused and for a moment seemed to consider Mal’s words. Then Harry stepped in. “You talk pretty, but she’s made up her mind.”
Uma’s face set in a hardened expression. “You brought this on yourself, Mal. You figure out how to fix it.”
The two pirates pushed past Mal, who was left standing alone, the consequence of her own bad choices. Under the bright moonlight, Mal dug deep, reflected, and realized the only happily ever after she’d see would be the one she wrote herself. Mal would have to fly higher—literally.
A hair-raising lightning bolt ripped through the sky over Auradon Prep. “Help me, Mal,” cried a voice from above. Wait a second, Mal thought. That was Celia’s voice.
Mal raised her eyes and saw Audrey’s commanding silhouette atop the school’s parapet. How had Audrey gotten Celia? When? She must have nabbed the girl from the forest, knowing Mal would come after her.
Mal’s eyes flashed green and she disappeared in a cloud of purple smoke. Dragon Mal rose ferociously out of the smoke. It was time to put an end to Audrey’s reign of terror.
Mal flew above the school and spotted Audrey perched on the parapet below, cackling at her. Now wearing a villainous black cape, Audrey looked even more diabolical than before, as if the scepter’s evil venom had spread to her soul. Dragon Mal dove toward her and blasted the sorceress with her flaming breath.
Audrey blocked and deflected the flame easily with her scepter. Her sinister laugh pierced the night as she returned a flurry of savage lightning bolts to Mal.
Dragon Mal ducked and swerved, narrowly avoiding the crackling bolts. Wings pumping, she reared back and prepared to release fiery havoc on Audrey once again but jerked to a sudden stop at the sight below. Audrey had pulled Celia tight to her chest and was using the poor girl as a human shield.
“Be careful not to fry your little VK buddy,” Audrey cackled vilely. Sensing victory at last, she crowed triumphantly. So this was what sweet revenge felt like. Audrey liked it.
Mal pulled back; she couldn’t rout Audrey without burning Celia. Well played, Audrey, well played, she thought. Mal would have to find another way. If only the ember worked…Dragon Mal held Hades’s unlit ember in her claw and breathed a fiery breath toward it, frantically trying to relight it. But the extinguished ember refused to spark.
On the ground, Uma and Harry saw the sky illuminate and watched as Dragon Mal flew in circles around the parapet, narrowly escaping the crippling jolts of Audrey’s scepter. “She doesn’t stand a chance without the ember,” mumbled Uma. Harry had to agree—advantage: Audrey all the way.
On top of the parapet, Celia decided to take matters into her own hands. Using all her might, she wrenched violently and threw Audrey’s aim off-kilter. “Hold still, you little brat,” yelled Audrey. Celia’s jerking had caused her to miss.
Audrey tightened her grip on Celia and forced Dr. Facilier’s willful daughter into submission, then searched the sky, took sharp aim again, and released another round of unrelenting jolts at the soaring dragon. This time she didn’t miss.
Dragon Mal’s right wing took a direct hit. She reeled back, then faltered, her balance and flying skills both compromised by injury. Hope shriveled inside her. Dragon Mal dropped rapidly from the sky.
“Help me, Mal,” shrieked Celia. But Mal was too riddled with injury to come to her aid. She watched helplessly as Audrey chased Celia around the parapet.
Uma pulled out her glowing shell necklace and began to shout. “Stronger together!” she screamed.
Mal looked down in total surprise and saw the pirate leader standing below with Harry Hook by her side. Mal wasn’t alone. Uma, standing strong and proud, held her glowing shell necklace aloft.
“We’re stronger together,” Uma bellowed. “I’m right here, Mal. Regain your might and ignite.” Mal had been right. Uma did care, and she wasn’t going anywhere. She was standing in solidarity with her friend. “I’m right here, girl, I’m right here.”
With reenergized resolve, Mal held out the unlit ember in her talon, flapped her one good wing with all her strength, and stared down intensely at Uma.
Uma looked into Mal’s eyes and incanted: “Regain your might and ignite.”
The ember in Mal’s talon glowed briefly, then dimmed quickly. Mal’s determination didn’t waver. The doughty dragon flared her damaged wing with difficulty, and repositioned herself directly
above Uma and Harry this time. Below her, Uma held out her enchanted shell necklace and locked eyes with Mal again. “Regain your might and ignite,” repeated Uma. Her words were charged with even more passion and conviction this time.
In a magical moment, the ember in Mal’s talon flared to life. The wing she’d injured in the firefight healed. With renewed vigor, Dragon Mal spread her wings and returned to her fiery showdown against Audrey.
As Dragon Mal darted toward the parapet, she saw Celia cowering in fear as Audrey stalked toward her. Fueled by rage, Audrey blasted Celia with a wild display of sparks that sent the young girl flying against the stone wall. “You want a piece of this?” threatened Audrey, tossing the scepter back and forth between her hands with wicked ease.
Celia crouched, cringed, and trembled. “No, no, I’m good.”
Mal had seen enough. With courage and grit, Dragon Mal thrust the newly lit ember toward Audrey. Not to be outdone, Audrey thrust her scepter toward Mal. Mal’s blinding blue laser and Audrey’s pink lightning bolt met in the middle of the sky. The two magics locked in a power struggle.
“C’mon, Mal,” cheered Celia.
“Go on, Mal,” howled Harry.
“You got this, girl,” Uma shouted encouragingly.
Dragon Mal’s blue laser locked on to Audrey, flashed bright, then drained the sorceress of her power. Audrey felt herself weakening under the ember’s crippling glow. She panicked and wailed, but it was too late. Maleficent’s scepter fell from her hand to the ground with a clank. Audrey crumpled beside it, unconscious, the queen’s crown no longer on her head.
Dragon Mal disappeared in a cloud of purple smoke as she landed on the stone tower. She emerged, back to human form, with her bluish-purple hair still sizzling a touch. The ember glowed in her hand.
“Mal!” Celia jumped up in joy, ran hard to Mal, and hugged her tightly.
Mal put her arm around Celia protectively. “It’s okay, Celia, I got you.”
Mal looked over Celia’s shoulder, noticed Audrey’s lifeless body, and rushed to her side, distraught. “Audrey? Audrey?” She held out the lit ember, hoping its all-powerful magic would stir Audrey awake, but nothing happened. That didn’t make sense; the ember was potent enough to help. Heartsick, Mal remembered her father’s grave warning: You’re only half Hades. The ember won’t do everything for you that it does for me.
Mal was crushed.
Below, Uma and Harry cheered and whooped. They’d done it…together. And all across Auradon, Audrey’s spelled lifted. Dizzy, Squeaky, and Squirmy came to in Evie’s living room and looked around in confusion. The bewildered villain offspring didn’t know what had happened, but they did know one thing: “I’m hungry,” said the twins in unison. It was the first time Dizzy had heard them speak aloud to anyone other than each other.
“Same,” she said. The three kids sprinted to the kitchen, poured themselves tall glasses of milk, and began devouring the final remnants of Jane’s cake. They smiled happily, all three of them wearing milk mustaches.
The kids weren’t the only ones unspelled. Fairy Godmother opened her eyes, surprised to find Doug, Gil, and a very relieved Jane sitting in front of her on the museum steps. “Oooh. Bibbidi-bobbidi what happened?” she asked, slightly befuddled.
Jane jumped up and embraced her mom. “The spell’s been broken. It’s okay,” Jane told her. She had so much to tell her mom.
Outside Fairy Cottage, Evie, Jay, Carlos, Ben, and Dude were transformed back from stone. “Mal must have defeated Audrey,” said Evie. She was relieved about that but still felt tinges of hurt.
“C’mon, let’s go,” said a clean-shaven and fangless Ben. They raced off toward Auradon Prep, eager to find Mal and hear the details of how she’d brought down Audrey.
A short time later, everyone gathered in Audrey’s dorm room. Anguish and despair hovered in the air. Mal and Evie kept constant vigil by Audrey’s bedside, where she lay motionless. “She’s slipping away,” Evie said.
Mal bit her lip in thought. “There’s only one person in the world who might be able to do something about this. And that’s Hades.”
“Hades!” exclaimed Ben, thinking back to the horrifying battle on the bridge. That was not a scene the king wished to repeat. “He wouldn’t do it, and I wouldn’t risk it.”
“Actually, he might do it for me,” said Mal. She took a deep breath. It was time to share her deepest secret with her fiancé and friends. “He’s my father.”
Jay and Carlos exchanged shocked looks. Neither of them had had any idea. Although that did explain Mal’s temper.
Ben was hit with a sudden bolt of understanding, but even with this new information, he wasn’t completely comfortable with the idea. Ben looked into Mal’s eyes. Her face was set with certainty; saving Audrey was worth the risk. “I’ll have to send guards to get him,” Ben said.
Uma stepped forward, the seashells on her shirt clattering. “Maybe I can hitch a ride.”
Mal looked at her questioningly.
“The Isle is my home. And someone needs to take care of it,” Uma said bravely.
“Well then, you’ll need a first mate.” Harry placed both of his hands on her shoulders, ever loyal.
Mal nodded, moved by their selfless sacrifice. True leaders made tough choices. “Well then, the Isle will be in very good hands,” Mal said, realizing she was sad to lose her new friends.
Celia asked Mal, “Can I go, too?” Celia said she liked Auradon—it was just that she missed her dad too much. “Wish I could be in both places,” she added wistfully.
Mal wished that, too. She turned to Uma and Harry, her voice filled with sincerity. “I really think Evie was right. I do think that we could have been friends. I’m really sorry I lied to all of you guys. You deserve so much better than that.”
Jay jumped in. “You were just trying to do the right thing.”
Mal looked at Jay, ever grateful for his friendship. One by one, each of the kids, even Uma and Harry, nodded at Mal with forgiveness.
“Yeah,” agreed Uma with a small smile.
Evie was the last holdout. Mal turned to her BFF, her eyes brimming with hope. Finally, Evie nodded. “I get it,” she said.
They really were all stronger together.
A villain has arrived in Auradon to save the day! Who would have thought? Crazy, right?
A looming black SUV pulled into the Auradon Prep circular drive. Four commanding officers of the Auradon Royal Guard stepped out. One opened the rear door while flanked by the other three, who stood ready to surround the obviously dangerous passenger. Hades’s feet, which were locked together in chains, hit the pavement with a clank.
Upstairs, Audrey lay stiff and lifeless in her dorm room bed, looking every bit a princess once more with her pink gown and long brushed hair. Queen Leah, grief-stricken, sat beside her motionless granddaughter and held her hand. Fairy Godmother and Belle stood attentively on Audrey’s other side. Beast paced the rug a few feet away.
There was a knock at the door. Mal, wearing a subdued lavender shirt and a tasteful gold skirt, jumped to open it. But Beast beat her to it.
Hades stood towering in the doorway, legs shackled, hands cuffed, and guards on all sides. The officers escorted him into the room. The god of the Underworld’s menacing presence sent an uncomfortable ripple through the air. Everyone was clearly on edge.
“Thank you for coming,” said Mal with an efficient nod. A dragon barrette pulled her bluish-purple hair back neatly into a low ponytail. As she stood close to Hades, the family resemblance was unmistakable.
“Didn’t have much choice,” said Hades, his shackles clanging. He looked about the opulent dorm room, with its gold brocade chairs and rose wallpaper. He had to hand it to the good guys: they were sure living the sweet life in Auradon.
“Can you wake her?” asked Ben.
“Since when do heroes care about villains?” hissed Hades, danger clear in his voice.
“She’s…” Ben stopped and realized the
re was no good answer for that.
“One of your own. Right. When you guys try to destroy the world, it’s an error in judgment. But when it’s one of us, lock ’em up and throw away the key.” Hades leveled a look at Beast. There was no love lost for the man who had permanently banished him and every other villain to the Isle. “Right, Beast?” he said with a snicker.
Mal registered the troubling double standard and furrowed her brow. Hades had a point. It did seem terribly unfair.
Suddenly, Hades jerked his arms in the air. Everyone startled in fear.
“I’m going to need my hands,” Hades said.
With apprehension, Mal signaled for his release. She’d learned from Uma to trust that sometimes help came from the most unexpected places.
The tension in the room rose as Hades rubbed his wrists together, then held out his hand, ready to reclaim his unrivaled object of power. Mal gave Hades the glowing ember. His hair burst into blue flames, and the ember burned even brighter.
“I haven’t lost my touch,” remarked Hades, relishing the feeling of the magic as it ran through his veins. For the first time in a long while, he felt whole. Hades moseyed right up to Beast, stared into his eyes, and growled. With his peerless powers restored, Hades could defeat Beast in one quick blast. Beast didn’t flinch. He, too, unleashed an intimidating guttural roar. The two men stood nose to nose, both ready to pounce at a moment’s notice.
“Dad,” Mal said quietly.
Hades studied the pleading expression on his daughter’s face, then reluctantly acceded. He pulled himself away from Beast and moved to Audrey’s bedside. Queen Leah, clearly terror-stricken in Hades’s presence, stayed by Audrey’s side and clutched her granddaughter’s hand protectively.
Hades held the glowing ember above Audrey and swirled it through the air. Under Hades’s command, the ember emitted a dark whirlpool of colors, which grew progressively lighter and brighter. As Hades worked his magic, pulsating shafts of colored light moved through the room. With a flash of brilliant blue light, Audrey awakened with a stretch, as if she’d just woken from the most peaceful nap.
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