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Elodie King stood picking at her nails in the clearing between two alleys, waiting for her friends. They were doing their weekly routine of reminding the citizens of the Isle that they owned it. Terrorizing them was efficient, and to be honest, the most enjoyable way.
The black nail polish that she had convinced little Dizzy Tremaine to apply was chipping. Granted it had been done a week ago, and she liked to pick at it, so that was bound to happen.
A loud clanging sound interrupted her picking and when she looked up, she saw a crowd of people beginning the weekly formation.
A few more seconds of the feet shuffling, stomping and metal clanging, and Mal, Evie, Carlos, and Jay all sung their famous phrase.
"We're rotten to the core!"
Pushing herself off of the brick building she had come to find herself leaning on, Elodie started to slowly clap - unintentionally making way for a mother and child to make their way through the crowd.
"Mal that was okay, a little pitchy but okay. Jay, maybe try not to get burned while sliding down a burning hot tin roof? Carlos that flip thing was too close to the ground, maybe practice more? And Evie, your hair's frizzy."
A person from the corner of Elodie's eye stifled a laugh with their hand, and that made her smirk. "Okay miss know-it-all, since you're suddenly the singing expert, you try, will ya?" Mal responded, a little too defensive knowing what her friend was saying was a joke, but hey, gotta play the part, right?
Elodie rolled her eyes, but her smirk turned into a small smile, letting Mal know she didn't take it to heart. She started to make her way over to her friends.
When the red-head joined her friends, Mal leaned down and stole a lollipop from a baby. The mother of the child glared slightly as she walked away, pulling her child in the cart behind her. Turning back around, Mal held the candy up in victory and chuckled, the crowd laughing with her.
But the crowds laughter soon turned into screams and Mal instantly knew that Maleficent - plus her knuckleheads - were behind her.
Spinning on her heal, Mal faced the two knuckleheads that were standing in front of her mother protectively. "Hi, mom."
"Stealing candy, Mal?" Maleficent said, clearly observing the situation. "I'm so disappointed."
Mal pursed her lips, "It was from a baby."
"That's my nasty little girl." The horned woman said with delight. Then she spit on the lollipop and held it under her armpit. Handing it to one of her knuckleheads, she said, "Give it back to the dreadful creature."
"Mom," Mal whined.
"It's the deets mal," Maleficent started, "That make the difference between mean and truly evil. When I was your age, I was cursing entire kingdoms." Having heard the same spiel for years, Mal knew it by heart and was mouthing the words, which her mother caught. "You.." she clicked her tongue, "Walk with me. See, I'm just, just trying to teach you the thing that really counts.. to be me."
