Work Text:
Mal had succeeded. She held Fairy Godmothers wand in her hand. She should feel elated at the victory but that was not what she felt as she ordered Ben, King Ben now.
"Stand back!"
"I told you so!" Audrey cried out in the mass of people.
Mal clutched the wand tightly in both hands as far from her body as she could. Ben was still in front of her, hand outstretched towards her. He had not moved back or done anything but plead with her to give him the wand. Behind her the doors burst open and Evie, Jay and Carlos ran towards her.
"C'mon Mal, let's go!" Carlos called.
"Revenge time." Jay snarled, but Mal did not move.
"You don't really wanna do this." Ben said. And Mal lost control of her emotions.
"We have no choice, Ben. Our parents ordered us to do this." she cried.
"Your parents made their choices and now you make your own choices." He nearly interrupted her but Mal did not let herself be stopped.
"It's not about choices, Ben. It's not this easy. You can say this, you've grown up in riches and loved by everyone, including your parents. Our parents don't love us. Our only worth is what we can gain for our parents. And living on the Isle that's not a lot and we constantly diappoint our parents. What do yours do if you ever disappoint them, huh? Can you even disappoint your parents?" She took a breath while Ben sputtered.
"I can tell you what ours do. Half our scars are from disappointing our parents, not being evil enough, wicked enough, obedient enough, feared enough.... If we do not do this we are dead once we return to the Isle. We are already traitors enough for even standing here for so long. So don't tell me about choices."
"Your parents cannot harm you here." Ben had finally found his voice.
"Oh don't be so naive, Ben. They have seached for a way off the Isle for twenty years and one day they will succeed. And even if they don't, you invited us to school Ben, schools close over the holidays. And even if you find a way to keep us here, we aren't little princes and princesses with their own little castles. We will have to work for our food and you saw how the adults and so many in school treat us. The good man scorns the wicked, Ben. No one will hire us. Or we will screw up and be send back to the Isle and you can all forget about us again. No one mournes the wicked." Nothing grows for the wicked, the wicked die alone, the wicked cry alone, was what she left unsaid.
"You will never have to return and you will not screw up." Ben emplored on her. "How do you know that?" Mal cried, desperately grasping at straws to convince herself to go through with this.
"I listen to my heart." That took the wind right out of her sails.
"I think I wanna be good." she sighed and finally lowered the wand.
"You guys, I don't wanna be like our parents, that doesn't make me happy. Jay, stealing things doesn't make you happy. Tourney and victory pizza with the team makes you happy. Carlos, scratching Dude's belly makes you happy. Who would have thought?" she huffed a laugh turning from one boy to the other who smiled at her before moving on to Evie who was sniffeling.
"Evie, you do not have to make yourself stupid to find a prince. You are so much more intelligent and beautiful just the way you are." Both girls shared a smile.
"And taking over the world with evil doesn't make me happy. I wanna go to school", she turned to Ben, "and I wanna be with Ben. Because Ben makes me really happy." She raised her hand with Ben's ring. She turned back to her friends.
"Being friends with you guys makes me happy. Being able to call us friends out loud makes me happy," she grinned.
"I choose good." She finally said and held out her fist.
For a few terrifying seconds nothing happened. Then Jay grinned and bumped his fist to hers. "I choose good."
Evie grinned. "I choose good, too."
Carlos, the one most traumatised by his mother and the most shy one hesitated.
"Do we really ignore how absolutely mad our parents are gonna be? I mean really mad, we're dead, guys."
"Your parents can't reach you here", Ben reassured him.
"Okay then." He bumped his fist to the other three.
They grinned at each other.
Mal then called Ben over who added his fist, making the group of four a group of five.
And then green smoke and a really evil laughter interrupted the happy atmosphere....
"Are people born wicked? Or do they have wickedness thrust upon them? After all [they have parents], woe to those who spurn what goodness is."