Descendants: the Wicked Ones

Chapter VII: Tourney and cookies (made with love)

Mal, Carlos, Skye and Evie were hanging out in the girls' room when Ace and Jay walked in.
"Yohayohay!" they shouted, laughing before Jay turned to Mal.
"So, did your plan with Jane work? Are you going to see the wand?"
"Do you think I would be going through every single spell in this book if I hadn't completely struck out?" she replied in annoyance.
"Someone's in a bad mood." Carlos commented.
"My mom's counting on me. I can't fail."
"Hey, we can do this. Together." Ace said.
"Yeah, Mal. And we ain't going back till we do." Skye added with a smile.
"Because we're rotten..." Mal started.
"To the core." the others finished.
"By the way, I found out that Ben gets blessed with the wand at his coronation and we all get to go." Evie said.
"What! And you only tell us now?" Skye exclaimed exasperated.
"Well, yeah. It slipped my mind. And now I'm screwed because I don't have anything to wear."
Mal and Skye stared at Evie in disbelief.
"What?"
Mal was about to explain the situation when someone knocked on the door.
"Hold that thought."
She got up to answer the door. When she opened it, she saw Ben on the other side.
"Hey, Mal. I didn't see you guys today and I was wondering if you needed something or... you know, if everything was, uh, alright." Ben said.
He mentally cursed himself for not being able to talk with the purple haired girl without getting lost in her green eyes. How was he supposed to get to know her better if he couldn't talk with her normally?
"Nah, we're good."
She was about to close the door when she remembered Evie's words.
"Oh, by the way, is it true that we all get to go to your coronation?"
"Of course. The whole kingdom's invited."
"Wow! That sounds beyond exciting. Is there any chance we could sit up front next to you and the Fairy Godmother. You know, just to soak up all of that goodness?"
Ben's heart soared. Not only was she interested in going to the coronation but she also wanted to be next to him for his big moment. His high spirits fell at terminal velocity, however, when he remembered that the only person who could be close to him during the coronation, with exception of his family, was his girlfriend, a title that was still ,unfortunately, owned by Audrey.
"I'm sorry. I wish you could, but on the front row it's just me, my folks and my girlfriend." he answered apologetically.
"Oh, okay. Thanks anyway. Bye!"
"Wait! But if there's anything else..."
Mal closed the door before he could finish.
Ben nearly smashed the wall in frustration. 'Nice job, you idiot! You ruined it! You could have arranged for her to sit with you, but no! Let's shoot down her only request! It sounds like an amazing idea!' he thought to himself. But as he thought about it, he noticed it wasn't all lost. He just needed to get Audrey out of the picture. And the next day he would have the perfect chance.
"Desperate times call for desperate measures." he said to himself.
On the other side of the door, Mal smiled deviously.
"I think it's time Bennyboo got a new girlfriend. And I need a love spell."
Skye returned Mal's smile before tossing her the book.

*

Later at night, the VKs had sneaked off to the kitchen to prepare the love potion.
"Okay. It says we still need a tear, and I never cry." Mal told them.
"Let's just chop some onions then." Carlos suggested.
"No. It says we need a tear of human sadness. And this potion gets the best reviews so we need to follow all the instructions."
"A tear's a tear." Jay pointed out.
"Not true. Both of them have antibodies and enzymes, but an emotional tear has more protein-based hormones than a reflex tear." Evie explained.
"Yeah. And you don't want to mess up a potion. It can have nasty side effects. Especially when it affects emotions." Ace added.
"Look at you go!" Mal commented.
"Yeah. And where did you learn that, Ace?" Skye asked.
"I developed an interest for Wonderland when I was younger. Wonderland has a lot of magic so I read about all I could on the subject. Most of it wasn't Wonderland specific, but it's useful knowledge nonetheless." he told them.
"I knew that." Jay said.
"No you didn't." Carlos shot back.
"Yes I did!"
"Hey Mal! I'm sorry to bother you with this but I've apparently become your ambassador or something and all the girls decided to ask me to ask you about doing their hair." Sophie said as she came in.
She noticed the batter of the cookies Mal was going to spell.
"Huh? Midnight snack?" she asked before reaching for it.
"No, don't!" the VKs shouted.
Too late, Sophie had already taken the batter to her lips.
"What? I'm not gonna double-dip. I swear."
"Do you feel anything? Like, as if something's missing?" Mal asked wearily.
Jay shoved Ace forward to test if the spell worked, having noticed his friend's interest in the brunette.
Ace put on his most charming smirk and leaned against the wall.
"Hey."
While, Sophie's heart did start beating faster, she showed nothing of it. She definitely wasn't under the effects of any love spell.
"Could use some chips." she commented.
"Chips?" Ace mumbled in confusion.
"Yeah. Chocolate chips. The most important food group right after pizza and ice-cream." she answered, taking a bag of chocolate chips from the fridge.
They all stared at her.
"Wait, have you never had chocolate chip cookies? Like, did your parents never make them?"
They all looked at down.
"It's just different where we're from." Mal answered.
"So Ellie was right. Villains don't love their children. I swear, when I see one of them I'm going to bury an axe in their face! That's no way to raise a child!" Sophie mumbled to herself before looking back at the VKs.
"I'm sorry I brought it up guys."
"It's okay." Mal assured.
"No it's not. I just rubbed the fact that you didn't have the privileged life I had in your face. It's not right! You don't deserve any of it. You deserve happiness and being treated like equals and here I am rubbing salt in the wound. Ugh, I'm such rubbish at talking to people!"
The VKs looked at each other, unsure of how to approach her.
"Guys, promise me you'll tell me if you ever need help, okay? I mean it." she told them, a single tear running down her cheek.
"Sure. But, umm, we have to finish these cookies so, see you tomorrow." Mal said as she quickly snatched up the tear and threw it in the bowl before pushing Sophie out the door.
"Evil dreams!"
Once Sophie was out the door, Mal turned to the others.
"Boys, oven. Evie, Skye, cookie sheet."