A Dog Boy's Heart (Carlos X Oc) (Editing)

Mal's gone

Hours later, Ben sits in his office working on paperwork, seemingly unaffected by the fight he just had with Mal and oblivious to the fact that she had just gone back to the Isle.

"Deborah?" Ben presses a button on his phone to speak to his secretary.

"Yes, Your Majesty?" Deborah responds professionally, waiting for the King's orders.

"Can you ask Lumiere to call me regarding Cotillion?" Ben asks the older woman.

"Yes, sir." Deborah responds with a thank you from Ben and a click of disconnect from the phone.

"Ben?" Evie opens the door to his office with a small knock, holding a solemn look on her face.

"Evie! Come on in," Ben smiles, pushing his paperwork to the side so he could focus on his friend.

"Mal's gone back to the Isle. Ben..." Evie whispers, placing a note from Mal and Ben's ring onto his desk, making Ben's eyes widen.

"This is my fault. This is my fault. I-I blew it. She'd been under so much pressure lately, and instead of being understanding, I just went all Beast on her. I have to go there and apologize. I have to go there and--and beg her to come back." Ben stands in a panic and moves to leave the office to go to the Isle immediately.

"Ben, you'll never find her." Evie sighs, knowing that when Mal doesn't want to be found, then she won't be. "You need to know how the Isle and how it works, and...you have to take me with you"

"Yes! Uh, are you sure?" Ben cheers before questioning the girl's idea, remembering what the VKs have told him about what it's like over there.

"Yeah. She is my best friend and we'll bring the boys and Alex too, because there's safety in numbers, and none of us is too popular over there right now." Evie says thoughtfully, ignoring the thank you pleas coming from a desperate Ben. "But let's get two things straight. You have to promise me that I won't get stuck there again."

"I promise," Ben assures, making the blue-haired girl smile just slightly.

"And there's no way you're going to look like that." Evie frowns, gesturing to the suit and tie Ben was currently wearing.

Over on the Isle, Mal was lying low, avoiding familiar faces. She snuck into a building called Lady Tremaine's Hair Salon. Inside was a young girl about 13 years old with radish-brown hair, and large red glasses. She was currently sweeping up hair and listening to music when she caught sight of Mal's face. She jumped before recognizing Mal and smiling.

"Mal! Is Evie back too? What about Alex?" Dizzy Tremaine, Daughter of Drizella, hugged the other girl, asking about the other two girls she was friends with.

"As if. I, um, forgot that you guys don't open till midnight. The place looks good. So what is your deal? Has your grandmother given you any customers yet?" Mal smiles, looking around the building, noting the colors splashed all over the walls.

"Ah, just a witch here and there. Mostly, it's a lot of scrubbing and scouring and sweeping. Lots and lots of sweeping." Dizzy shrugs, remembering her grandmother, Lady Tremaine, with whom she was currently living.

"Sounds like the old Cinderella treatment, eh?" Mal laughs slightly, remembering how most of the villains treat their kids as a surrogate for their enemies back on Auradon.

"Yeah, she's gone from Wicked Stepmother to Wicked Grandmother." Dizzy rolls her eyes, leaning on her broom.

"That's not really much of a switch. Hey, Dizzy, you used to do Evie, right?" Mal asked thoughtfully, gesturing to her hair.

"Yeah. I thought of the little braids." Dizzy points to her hair, gesturing to wear Evie would have small braids in her hair.

"Do you have any ideas for me?" Mal asks, tilting her head and gesturing to the shop around them.

"Mm. The washed-out blonde with purple tips? The best of no worlds. You can't see where your face ends and your hair begins! Oh, what is this, "Bored to Death Pink"? Hmm. How far can I go?" Dizzy examines Mal's hair and nails, commenting on how Auradon they were.

"The works? I mean, whatever makes me feel like me, but, you know... way worse." Mal shrugs, sitting down in a squeaky salon chair.

"Yay!" Dizzy cheers, rushing around the room to gather supplies. Dizzy works her magic by dying and cutting Mal's hair into a long, straight, dark purple bob. She paints her nails the same shade of purple and adds a slight touch of makeup to Mal's face, turning her into who she used to be before she left the Isle, but more mature. Mal looked like someone who was in control and held the power.

"Hey! There I am." Mal smiles, looking at seven copies of herself in a shattered mirror.

"Voila!" Dizzy cheers, proud of her work, but gasps when she sees Mal pull money out of her pocket.  "For me?"

"Yeah. You earned it." Mal shrugs, smiling as the girl prances over to the register to put the money in it.

"Fork it over, you runt. Now the rest of it. Hmm. Thank you. Mm-hmm." Harry Hook enters the building, gesturing to the register with his hook.

"Still running errands for Uma, or do you actually get to keep what you steal?" Mal saunters up to the pirate with gum in her mouth, trying to intimidate Harry.

"Well, well, well. What a nice surprise." Harry smirks, seeing the source of his and his Captain's hatred back on the Isle.

"Hi, Harry." Mal waves mockingly.

"Just wait until Uma hears you're back. She's never gonna give you back your old territory." Harry teases, trying to scare off Mal, thinking that she would ever be afraid of Uma.

"Oh, well, that's okay. Because I will be taking it." Mal smirks, shifting her weight to her other foot.

"I could hurt you," Harry growls in anger at the girl's defiance.

"Not without her permission, I bet," Mal smirks, taking her gum out of her mouth and onto the point of Harry's hook. Harry takes the gum in his mouth before walking out of the salon, but not before swiping the counter and sending everything on it onto the floor.

"Great. More sweeping." Dizzy sighs, moving to pick everything up.