So Many Ways to be Wicked

Chapter 5

The kids walked the dark streets of Auradon, sticking to shadows and rooftops like they were used to back on the Isle. It took a good hour but they finally made it to the museum.

"Okay, everyone remember the plan? We get in, we get out. Then, we rule!" Mal whispered through the dark, her green eyes gleaming. Evie took her hand and squeezed slightly before dropping it.

"Okay, let's get those pesky doors open," Evie murmured. As they neared the doors, they all almost had a collective heart attack at seeing a guard posted. They all fell into a crouch, panic flitting across their features.

"What do we do?" Jay asked quietly, slowly peeking through the glass windows of the door. Mal frantically pulled out her spellbook, rummaging through the pages.

"Where is it, where is it?" She muttered to herself. "Yes!" Mal stood up, backing away from the door slightly.

"Mal, what are you doing?" Carlos asked.

"See that spinning wheel? That was my mother's and I'm going to use it. Pungit autem te digitus, ad somnum." The guard's eyes glazed over and he looked towards the spinning wheel. Slowly, like a zombie, he shuffled towards it, lifting his finger to prick it on the sharp needle. Immediately, the man dropped to the floor, out like a light. The kids were appalled.

"That's all it does? Maleficent used to go on and on about this spell and it didn't even kill him!" Jay sputtered.

"Of course it didn't, Jay. somnum means sleep. Maleficent put Aurora to sleep. She didn't have the balls to actually kill anyone," Mal scoffed. "Pretty sure the only parent who has killed something was Cruella and that was before the dalmation heist."

"Not as evil as they'd like to make us think," Evie remarked before turning to Mal, waiting for her to open the doors.

"At least we don't have to deal with a dead body," Carlos muttered to himself.

"Reserare ianuam." They all heard the lock click. "Aperi ianuam." The doors swung open, banging loudly against the walls. They all stood in shock for a moment.

"I guess you don't know your magical strength, huh?" Evie giggled. Mal blushed, thankful it was dark out so the other girl wouldn't see it.

"Whatever, let's go. I know enough to say that the security guard won't be asleep forever," Mal murmured before stalking into the building. Carlos grabbed her arm before she could get in too far.

"If they have a guard and a forcefield, they probably have cameras too," he explained, pointing out the camera that was looking away from them, thank evil.

"I have a cloaking spell but it's not strong enough to get all four of us all the way to the wand," Mal said, her eyebrows furrowed in frustration.

"Just get me to the control panel and I can disable the cameras from there," Carlos replied. Mal nodded.

"Invisibilia pallio zelli," Mal uttered. Carlos waited for the group to tell him he couldn't be seen before dashing to the control system. He was so eager to get his hands on some Auradon equipment, thinking it would be advanced compared to the Isle. However, all the buttons were easily labelled and Carlos, with a disappointed huff, pressed the button labelled 'Cameras On/Off'. Were the people in Auradon actual idiots or did they want someone to break in and steal something? Carlos felt a tingling sensation across his body and he knew the spell must've worn off. Since he wasn't making a mad dash out the door, the others assumed he had done his task and crept inside. Mal muttered a quiet prope ianuam and the doors slammed shut.

"Let's get to the wand," Evie said, pulling out the folded map she had drawn. Scanning it over, the brilliant girl began to walk, her heels clicking against the floor. The walked upstairs, passing through exhibits before getting to one that caught their eye. The exhibit of their parents. The description of each was full of Auradon propaganda and the kids easily walked through, having seen their parents look far scarier than they did as statues. Mal lingered behind, imagining her mother asking "Don't you want to be evil like me, Mal?" Mal bared her teeth at Maleficent's statue and spit at the base.

"I'll be more evil. I'll surpass you. I've already done what you didn't have the guts to do, kill people. I needed to survive on that fucking Isle! I'll watch them suffer, just as I'll watch you suffer on that damn Isle for the rest of your life!" By the end, Mal was heaving, her breath heavy and unsteady.

"Mal?" Evie asked, stepping out of the shadows. "Are you okay?" Mal didn't say anything, instead turning and burying her face in Evie's shoulder. Evie had the decency not to comment about the wetness on her neck and instead decided to comfort the girl.

"You, the boys and I will do this Mal. We will get the wand and make everyone who ever hurt us pay. Everyone who ever hurt a VK will come to regret what they've done. But we need you. You're our leader Mal. I need you." Evie tipped Mal's face up so their eyes met. For a brief moment, everything was still. Slowly, Mal dragged her eyes away, taking a step back.

"You're the best, E." Mal gestured towards the door. "Shall we go?" Evie nodded, a bit put out that Mal moved away but knowing there was something far more important at stake than her love life. The boys were waiting silently outside the exhibit doors. They wisely chose not to say anything about Mal's blotchy face and began trailing after Evie once again. Finally, they reached an open space, the wand floating in the middle, encased in blue light.

"There it is," Mal whispered in awe. "That will change the tide, I know it." Carlos bent to inspect the control box, making sure not to get any fingerprints on it.

"Maybe Mal should try with magic first, so I don't have to risk getting my fingerprints on it," Carlos suggested. Mal nodded.

"Good idea," she said. "detrahere arma." As soon as the spell left her lips, an alarm began blaring.

"Fuck! What the fuck?" Jay said, already grabbing Evie and Carlos, dragging them behind ashe ran. Mal was close behind, anger evident in her features. Carlos quickly overtook everyone as he was the fastest, skidding into the front lobby first. He frantically searched the buttons for the alarm switch, flicking it off when he did. The phone on the desk started ringing and he picked it up.

"Hello?"

"What's the situation, John? Why'd the alarm go off?"

"Ah, it's nothing. Kind of embarrassing. I hit the button when I was dozing. Please don't tell anyone," Carlos mimicked a deeper voice. The other three ran into the room, coming to a halt at seeing Carlos talking on the phone. "I think I also switched off the cameras. My bad!"

"Always so clumsy, John," the man on the other side of the phone sighed. "I won't tell the superiors, just make sure it doesn't happen again."

"You got it." He hung up the phone, gesturing for the others to get out. "Mal, cloak me!"

"Invisibilia pallio zelli," she said immediately before going and opening the door a crack for the three to squeeze out. Carlos turned on the cameras before squeezing through the door. Mal quickly uttered the spell to close it, forcing as little magic as possible into the spell so the door would shut quietly. She locked it with a quick locking spell and the VKs took off into the night, cursing themselves and the fact that they were nowhere as close to conquering Auradon as they would've liked to be.