Madder than a Hatter (Descendants)

Night of the Living Cecaelia (Edited)

Uma, being the badass pirate queen I remembered, didn't take this lying down. In fact, she did exactly what I expected her to do, which was fight back.

She ran for Fairy Godmother's wand, arm outstretched, and shrieked, "Give it to me!"

A bunch of people got between them as FG shouted, "Guards! Seize her!"

Uma, not particularly wanting to be seized, ran for the railing, prompting all of us to go after her.

Mal threw out her arms, shouting, "No, no! Stop!" Uma whirled around as she shouted, "No, wait, stop!"

Lonnie, having run as well and dragging me behind her as she did so, came to a halt right by Mal, and allowed me a front-row seat to whatever was about to go down.

"Uma, I know you," Mal said desperately, even though she clearly did not know Uma, and put out her hand. "You are so much more than just a villain. And you have to believe me because I've been there. Do not let your pride get in the way of something that you really want."

Uma glanced nervously from face to face, conflicted. Then her shell necklace began to glow yellow, and she looked up at Mal, who smiled in relief and began to move towards her. Uma turned, climbed up the railing, ignoring Mal's cries, and jumped, disappearing under the waves.

We all rushed to the railing, and I searched the waters frantically for any sign of the pirate captain. I couldn't see any. I looked over at Lonnie, unsure of what to do. Then I looked back at the water, just in time to see a yellow light glowing from underwater. The same yellow light of Uma's necklace.

The water began to churn, rising up higher and higher until it exploded. A wave of salty water descended upon us and drenched us instantly, sending us all running away from the rail.

Uma cackled like the sea witch she was, spinning around and coming to a stop, a giant, tentacled monstrosity. A cecaelia, if you will.

"True love's kiss won't defeat this," she yelled, spreading her arms. "The world will know my name!" She screamed and snapped a tentacle over our heads, forcing us to duck. Then she snapped another one, and those who were already ducking launched themselves away and fell over.

I caught Lonnie as she fell and set her upright again. "You okay?" I asked.

She gave me a disbelieving look. "No!" I had to admit, I walked right into that one.

Mal marched away from the crowd, staring at Uma in barely disguised fear and hyperventilating wildly.

"Oh, no, girlie," I murmured, knowing exactly what was going to happen next.

Mal's eyes began to glow green. Uma placed her hands on her hips and cackled again, itching for a fight. She spread her arms out again, this time in a 'come on' gesture.

"Mal?" Ben said worriedly.

She looked over at him, but there was nothing she or anyone else could do. Purple smoke, reminiscent of her mother's, billowed up from underneath her and swallowed her in a magical tornado. It swallowed her completely, and from the smoke, a dragon's roar could be heard.

"Wuh-oh," I said.

The smoke was blown away as Mal, now a giant dragon, spread her wings and took flight, roaring as she did. She flew up, directly over Uma, and spat an orange fireball at her. It went out, of course, as it hit the water.

"Come on, Mal," I said. "I would love me some fried octopus." I caught Lonnie giving me a look, and I scoffed. "Oh, come on, you know I have issues."

Uma snapped one of her enormous tentacles at Mal and missed as the dragon dodged. "Come on, Mal!" she shouted. "Let's finish this once and for all!"

Mal roared again and dove at her, blasting a continuous stream of fire at her. She circled around, dodged another tentacle, and spat another fireball at her, forcing Uma under the waves.

Ben ran to the railing as Uma resurfaced, sending a wave of water at the boat. "Watch out!" he shouted, but there really wasn't much we could do about it.

The force threw us all backwards, and Lonnie and I linked arms with each other and the people around to help keep us all upright. Ben ran back to the railing.

"He's going to jump over, isn't he," I said tonelessly.

He let out a really strange yell-roar, walked back towards Jay, made him pull his coat off and take his crown, and then threw himself over the railing.

"I was right," I said.

"Maddie, shut up," Lonnie said. I shut up.

We all ran back to the railing and shouted his name. All of us were ignored, which was a very un-kinglike thing to do. He swam between the battling beasts, with no regard whatsoever for his own life.

"Mal! Uma!" he yelled. "Stop! Back down!"

Uma laughed at him. To be fair, I would've, too. "What're you gonna do, Ben? Splash me?"

"That's enough! This has got to stop, this isn't the answer!" Ben continued. "The fighting has got to stop! Nobody wins this way! We have to listen and respect each other!"

It didn't seem to occur to him that if Uma went back to the Isle without being victorious, she would've been shunned, lost her captain's title, or much, much worse.

"It won't be easy, but let's be brave enough to try! Uma, I know you want what is best for the Isle!" Uh, since when? "Help me make a difference!"

Mal let out a low roar, and then another one, baring her claws.

Uma reached out with a singular tentacle towards Ben's outstretched hand and dropped something shiny into it. I knew at once that it was his ring. She smiled weakly, let out a sigh, and sank beneath the waves once more.

There was nothing more that could really be done. Ben was helped back onto the boat, and only then did Dragon-Mal land, neatly and without rocking us anymore. She tucked her wings close to her body and was once again enveloped in the purple smoke, swallowing her up almost instantaneously.

It vanished just as quickly, revealing Mal in a completely different dress- one identical to the dress she was wearing in the stained-glass picture. She realized she was smoking slightly and frantically patted herself out.

Ben laughed a little and smiled widely. She looked at him and smiled back, taking hold of her skirts and dropping down in a low curtsy. He copied her gesture, bowing deeply, and they both straightened up.

Still gripping her skirts and with the aid of two footmen, she was helped down the staircase and to Evie, who waited for her at the foot of the stairs.

"So," Mal said cheerfully, "I did not know that I could do that."

"Tell me about it, that makes two of us," Evie said.

"Why wouldn't you be able to do that?" I asked. "Your mom's a dragon, why wouldn't you be? Well, I guess you are only half her, it's fifty-fifty. That was so awesome, by the way. I want your autograph."

Mal started smoking again and Evie quickly blew it out. "Shall we?" she asked, and Mal took her hand.

"We shall," she said dramatically. She was led over to Ben, who was looking at her in pure adoration. "Hi," she said, and immediately tripped. He caught her and kissed her, so that was the end of that conversation.

There was some other stuff, but the buffet hadn't been too badly damaged, so I sneakily shoved a fistful of cake into my mouth. Then Ben started singing, and I realized that a dance number was likely on its way- and I had no idea what to do.

"I don't know what I'm doing," I whispered to Lonnie.

She smiled. "Don't worry. Just follow my lead. Everything will be fine."

She was right. She was always right.

I even got to splash around in the water that was left on the deck.

And if I got to kiss Lonnie on the mouth at the end of the night? Well, that's none of your business. (I did, oh my God, she's an even better kisser than Uma, my brain almost melted.)

Oh, and by the way, dear reader, this story still isn't over yet. It should be, but it isn't. So stay tuned.

Ugh.