“You are good,” said Ben.
“How do you know that?” said Mal.
“Because…because I’m listening to my heart,” Ben said.
Mal lowered the wand ever so slightly. “I want to listen to my heart, too,” she said. “And my heart is telling me that we are not our parents.” Mal lowered the wand more and faced her friends. She looked at Jay. “I mean, stealing things doesn’t make you happy. Tourney and victory pizza with the team makes you happy.”
Jay smiled.
She looked at Carlos. “And you, scratching Dude’s belly makes you happy. Who would’ve thought?” She giggled. She looked at Evie. “And, Evie, you do not have to play dumb to get a guy. You are so smart.”
Evie laughed, nodding, and shed happy tears.
Mal said, “And I don’t want to take over the world with evil. I want to go to school. And be with Ben.” She turned to look at him. “Because Ben makes me really happy.” She held up her hand with his ring on her finger and smiled. She turned back to her friends. “Us being friends makes me really happy. Not destroying things....”
Evie, Jay, and Carlos nodded at her.
“I choose good, you guys.” She put her hand out.
“I choose good, too,” said Jay, joining her fist with his.
Evie put her fist next to Jay’s. “I choose good,” she said, smiling.
Carlos took a deep breath. “So, just to be clear: we don’t have to be worried about how really mad our parents will be? Because they’re gonna be really, really mad.”
Mal, Evie, and Jay laughed.
“Your parents can’t reach you here,” said Ben.
“Okay, then…Good.” Carlos smiled and added his fist to the circle.
Mal laughed and nodded at Ben, beckoning him over to them.
Ben put his hand in the mix, too. Mal leaned against him and smiled.
Then the sound of a window shattering caused everyone to gasp. A green glowing orb floated down from the broken window and landed beside Mal and her friends.
In a flash of lightning and a roll of thunder, Maleficent appeared.
OF COURSE. MOM ALWAYS HAS TO RUIN EVERYTHING.
The audience froze as Maleficent threw back her head.
“I’m baaaaaaaaack!” Maleficent said.
“Go away, Mother,” said Mal.
Maleficent chuckled. “You’re very funny,” she said. In one hand, she held her scepter. She extended her other hand. “Here—wand me,” she said. When Mal didn’t move, she snapped her fingers. “Chop-chop!”
Mal made as if to give the wand to Maleficent.
“No!” said Ben.
Instead, Mal threw the wand to Fairy Godmother, who caught it.
“Bibbidi-Bobbidi—” started Fairy Godmother.
“Boo!” said Maleficent. With a fearsome wave of her scepter, she froze everyone except for Mal, Evie, Carlos, and Jay. “Psych!” Maleficent chuckled darkly.
Maleficent took her time crossing over to Beast. She took off his glasses and put them back on his head. She hummed an evil ditty and walked over to Fairy Godmother. She plucked the wand from Fairy Godmother’s hand. The wand sparked in protest. “Where shall we begin?” she said. She pointed the wand at Mal. “I know. Why don’t we start by getting rid of this....” She aimed the wand at Ben’s ring on Mal’s finger. The ring flew into Maleficent’s hand. “Perfect fit!” She walked over to Ben and knocked his crown askance. “Falling in love is weak…and ridiculous,” she said. She looked at her daughter. “It’s not what you want.”
“You don’t know what I want!” said Mal. “Mom, have you ever once asked me what I want?” Tears streamed down Mal’s cheeks. “I’m not you!” she said.
“Well, obviously!” said Maleficent. “I’ve had years and years and years and years of practice being evil. You’ll get there.”
“No, I will not!” said Mal. “And I really wish that you had never gotten there yourself.” She looked at her mom and felt sorry for her. “Love is not weak or ridiculous. It’s actually really amazing.” She smiled through her tears.
“I know one thing, young lady. You have no room for love in your life!” said Maleficent. She pointed the wand at Mal.
Mal extended her hand. “And now I command, wand to my hand!” she yelled. The wand flew into her hand. “It worked!” Mal said.
Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos exchanged looks.
“I hardly think so,” Maleficent told Mal. “Frankly, this is tedious and very immature. Give me the wand! Give me the wand!”
“Hold on, Mal!” said Carlos. “Maybe good really is more powerful than evil.”
Maleficent laughed. “Oh, please. You’re killing me!” She barked like a dog.
Dude ran up and jumped into her arms.
“Off! Off! Breath! The breath! Get off me!” She threw Dude off her.
Jay, seizing the moment, dove in to grab the scepter.
Maleficent held it tightly. She leaned in close to him and stroked his bicep. “Gaston should be jealous,” she said. With a flick, she sent Jay flying backward.
Maleficent cackled, then faced Mal and her friends. “Enough!” she boomed. “You all will regret this!” She began to expand and change shape into a huge dragon. Maleficent the dragon soared above them. They gasped as she roared and swiveled her scaly head, getting Jay in her sights. She hovered, ready to strike.
“Jay!” cried Mal.
He ran down the aisle. The dragon flew and followed him.
“She’s right behind you!” shouted Carlos.
“Jay!” shouted Mal.
Jay sprinted away from the dragon.
“Jay, run!” called Evie.
Mal watched in horror as the dragon flew the length of the aisle, overtaking Jay quickly. As Maleficent swooped down on him, talons gleaming, Evie stepped between them and reflected a beam of sunlight with her mirror. It blinded the dragon, who came skidding to a sudden stop.
Mal leaped between them and her mother, holding out the wand. “Leave my friends alone!” she said. “This is between you and me, Mother!”
The dragon slowly bent her head down until it was level with Mal. Mal was dwarfed by the monster. The dragon cackled—an echoing reminder that Maleficent was still in there. The dragon met Mal’s eyes, assured of victory.
Mal didn’t blink. Her eyes flashed green. In the reflection of the dragon’s eyes, Mal stood fearless, beautiful, and strong. She incanted confidently, “The strength of evil is good as none, when stands before four hearts as one.” Mal said it again, louder: “The strength of evil is good as none, when stands before four hearts as one.” Mal repeated the words a final time, with even more force: “The strength of evil is good as none, when stands before four hearts as one!” Before, Mal had always lost the stare-downs she’d had with her mother. But in that moment, the dragon blinked.
There was a flash of smoke, and the dragon was gone.
Mal gasped. She, Evie, Jay, and Carlos looked at one another and smiled.
“What just happened?” asked Carlos.
“I have no idea,” said Mal, racing down the aisle.
Her friends followed her.
“Did you do it?” asked Evie.
“I don’t know!” said Mal, stopping short.
Fairy Godmother unfroze and ran to meet them in the aisle.
“No, no, no,” said Fairy Godmother, who stood looking at them with warmth and pride. “Your mother did,” she said gently to Mal. “She shrank to the size of the love in her heart. That’s why it’s so…itty-bitty.” She looked down at their feet.
Where there had once been a dragon, there now was a tiny lizard.
Mal asked, “Is she going to be like that forever?”
“Forever is a long time,” said Fairy Godmother warmly. “You learned how to love. So can she.”
Mal smiled. She held the wand out to Fairy Godmother. “I believe this belongs to you.”
Fairy Godmother took the wand and picked up Ben’s ring from the ground. “And I
believe this belongs to you.” She held it out to Mal.
Mal grinned and put on the ring.
Fairy Godmother looked at Mal’s friends. “You all have earned yourselves an A in Goodness class.”
Mal and her friends laughed. Evie gave Mal a high five.
Fairy Godmother aimed her wand at Ben, Beast, and Belle. “Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo!” she said.
Ben roared a battle cry.
Mal stopped him. “Okay, okay, okay! We kind of all got this wrapped up here,” she said.
Fairy Godmother unfroze the other Auradonians.
Ben looked around, confused, and then swept Mal into a hug.
Mal squealed.
“Next time, I rescue you, okay?” he said.
“Yeah. Let’s not have there be a next time, okay?” said Mal. She gave him a hug, then straightened his crown on his head. She giggled and said, “I will be right back.”
Mal walked over to Fairy Godmother, who was lecturing Jane.
“I love you, but you are on a major time-out,” said Fairy Godmother, pointing the wand at Jane.
“Don’t be too hard on Jane,” Mal said, putting a hand on Fairy Godmother’s shoulder. “I was the one who put all that crazy stuff in her head.” She locked eyes with a humiliated Jane. “You are beautiful, inside and out. Your mom got that right.”
“I guess I did get pretty lucky in the mother department,” Jane said.
Mal smiled. “Yeah! I guess so,” she said.
Fairy Godmother took Jane’s hand and led her away.
Mal locked eyes with Audrey. Mal smiled and curtsied. Audrey did the same. Their not getting along was water under the bridge, for real that time.
An attendant clamped the bell jar over the lizard in the aisle.
Mal leaped toward them. “Hey! Careful!” she said. “That’s my mom!”
The audience laughed, and the attendant bowed and walked away.
Mal, Ben, Evie, Jay, and Carlos with Dude huddled together.
“Let’s get this party started!” said Jay.
The friends all whooped and cheered. They were ready for the coronation celebration.
THIS “HAPPILY EVER AFTER” THING ISN’T AS LAME AS IT SOUNDS.
WE PARTIED INTO THE NIGHT.
That evening, outside the school, the whole student body set it off and partied.
Ben twirled Mal. Evie danced fiercely with Doug. Jay and Carlos danced with Jane. Then Jay danced with Audrey. Fireworks exploded in the sky above the school. Chad jived. Lonnie boogied. It was a hip-hop fairy-tale rave.
The lights flashed. The music blasted.
Mal looked into Ben’s eyes. The sky was lit up with sparklers behind him. She touched her nose to his. In that moment, Mal couldn’t help smiling. She never would have thought, in her wildest dreams, that her story would have a happy ending.
Descendants Junior Novel Page 8
