The knights shuffled in their seats and glanced at each other nervously. “Well…sort of,” said the knight on Ben’s left.
“It’s dark….” was one excuse. “It’s fast….” was another.
“But if we don’t know what we’re fighting, how can we prepare to fight against it?” Ben said. “We can’t chase after shadows and smoke. We have to know exactly what it is that’s attacking your lands. You have my deepest sympathies and every resource I can offer from Auradon, but before I can allow Merlin to use magic, I need to know exactly what we’re up against.”
Heads nodded around the table as the knights digested Ben’s words. Merlin had Archimedes perched on his shoulder and the owl trained its bright eyes on Ben as it whispered in the wizard’s ear. “The king makes a fair point,” said Merlin, at last. “We must lay eyes on this creature before we can conceive of how to stop it.”
Artie, who had been quietly listening in the corner until now, spoke up. “Dad said he saw a bunch of tracks in the forest by the river’s edge near Eden,” he said. “Maybe we should set up camp there tonight and see if we can spot it.”
“Excellent idea,” said Ben, who admired the boy’s pluck. “We will camp tonight.”
The royal entourage, along with Ben, Merlin, Artie, and a handful of knights, established temporary barracks in a clearing by the shore. Every night they waited for any sign of the creature, but two days passed and they didn’t see smoke or fire, let alone any sort of mysterious beast emerging from the woods.
On the third evening, Ben scoured the river’s shoreline, hoping that the creature would finally make an appearance. He was still unsure about allowing Merlin to use magic, and he knew the old wizard was growing impatient. King Arthur was still abroad, warning his people to find shelter, although he couldn’t be too pleased to have his castle overrun by his subjects.
But Camelot’s monster wasn’t Ben’s only problem. It was Castlecoming on Saturday at Auradon Prep and he really wanted to play the tourney game and take Mal to the dance, and he was disappointed that it looked like he wouldn’t make it back in time. But that was the boy in him speaking. The king’s place was here in Camelot, at the edge of the forest, waiting for a creature to appear from the shadows.
In the wee hours of the morning, Ben was asleep in his tent when he heard a boy scream.
“It’s here! It’s here!” cried Artie. “It’s a dragon!”
Ben dashed out of his tent and looked up at the sky, where, sure enough, a huge purple dragon was roaring, sending massive fireballs down to their camp and setting trees ablaze.
He felt his heart stop in his chest, for his worst fears had been realized. He had seen such a dragon only once before….
On Thursday, a few days after he’d first discovered the Dark Net’s existence, Carlos was running across campus as fast as he could, almost as if he were still scared of dogs and had a pack of them chasing him. His teammates on the tourney field watched him run and cheered him on. “Go, Carlos!” they yelled, thinking he was practicing for Saturday’s game.
When he finally arrived at the girls’ dormitory and made it up to Mal and Evie’s room, he threw himself at their door only to find it open already. He tripped and fell, crashing hard on the floor, just barely able to save his laptop from hitting the ground.
“Carlos!” Evie said as she and Mal helped him up. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m okay,” he said, getting to his feet. “I found something!”
“On the Dark Net?” asked Evie.
“Yes! Where else?” He sat on Mal’s bed—which now had a purple coverlet over the white frills, and opened up his laptop to show them. “It’s not good.”
“Well, if it’s on the Dark Net, we didn’t think it would be,” said Mal, reasonably enough.
Once again he brought up the black screen filled with green letters and began to move through the open windows, scrolling through the threads until he found what he was looking for. “Got it,” he said. “Here!”
“What am I looking at exactly?” asked Evie, squinting.
“It’s a forum. People go online and post things anonymously, mostly, um, complaining about things, being mean. You know what a troll is, right?”
“Yes, but I didn’t think they could type,” said Evie doubtfully.
“No, not a big goblin, like a person on the Internet who only says nasty things about people,” Carlos explained.
“Nasty things?” Evie blanched. “Who would do that?” She had lived in Auradon too long now; she wasn’t used to malice anymore.
“It’s the Dark Net. The villain online underground, what do you think they’d post?” he pointed out.
“Puppies?” Mal said sarcastically.
Carlos looked ill. “I was digging around and I found this forum about something called the Anti-Heroes movement,” he said.
Mal curled her lip. “Anti-Heroes? I don’t like the sound of that.”
“You shouldn’t,” said Carlos. “Because look at this.” He typed in a few keystrokes and a colorful picture filled the screen.
“That’s us!” cried Evie.
It was a photo of the four of them, and there was a huge red X on all of their faces along with the words Join the Anti-Heroes Club Today! scrawled in spiky red letters.
“Anti-Heroes. So they’re anti-us? Are we the heroes?” asked Evie. “And the club is organized against us?”
“Looks like it,” said Carlos grimly. “My guess is that the Anti-Heroes movement is a revolutionary group founded on the Isle of the Lost for the single goal of eradicating Auradon’s heroes. They’re using the Dark Net to draw members and posting incendiary pictures of us to fire up hostile sentiment. To the villains on the island, we’re basically traitors. They’re using what happened at the Coronation to gather numbers on their side, and when they’re ready, they’ll come for Auradon.”
The room went silent at Carlos’s words.
“But, um, it’s just a theory,” said Carlos, to try to lighten up the vibe.
“What’s that?” asked Mal, pointing to the small type underneath each picture: #AntiHeroesUnite #IRL #CAW #Yadrutas #2359 #BeThere.
“I was about to get to that,” said Carlos. “I cracked the code. I think it’s a meeting invitation. ‘IRL’ is short for ‘in real life,’ which means it’s taking place in the real world, not the online world. ‘CAW’ was harder, but I think it’s the location.”
“C-A-W?” asked Evie. “But that’s—”
“The Castle Across the Way, your house, yep,” said Carlos. “It looks like that’s where it’s being held.”
“But what’s…Yadrutas?” said Mal, frowning as she tried to pronounce the strange word.
“That one took me a while, but after staring at the word for an hour, I realized there was something familiar about it. It’s Saturday, spelled backward! And two-three-five-nine is 23:59 in knight time, or 11:59 at night in royal time. So just before midnight this Saturday, there will be an Anti-Heroes meeting at the Castle Across the Way. ‘Be there’ is obvious. They’re telling their members to be there.”
“You think?” teased Evie.
“Saturday night, right before midnight. Hold on,” said Mal. She grabbed a book from behind her desk. “It’s a moon calendar; I was using it to try to figure out what the notes were saying about the moon. Look at this—the end of the old moon, or moonset, is on Friday before midnight, and the new moon rises on Saturday at 11:59. The young moon is Sunday, which is too late. I think the notes are connected to this Anti-Heroes club. Someone wants us to go to this meeting.”
“So we were right,” said Evie. “Evil Queen, Jafar, Cruella, and Maleficent are behind it somehow. Mal said her mom goes by moon dates.”
“You guys really think it’s them?” asked Carlos quietly. He had gone a bit pale again, thinking of having to face his mother. He wouldn’t be able to hide behind a computer or an invention this time, and he truly wasn’t looking forward to going back to being her much-malign
ed personal servant. He was just starting to enjoy a life that didn’t revolve around fluffing furs and fixing wigs.
“Yeah, they must have sent those messages to tell us to go back to the island so they can humiliate us at this Anti-Heroes thing, don’t you think?” said Evie.
“I love how they’re using our ‘bad example’ to recruit members while also telling us to go back and join them,” said Mal.
“That sounds exactly like something they would do,” said Carlos. “They probably have something awful planned for our homecoming.” He shivered at the thought.
“Plus, who else would be planning a meeting in Evil Queen’s castle?” said Mal. “It has to be them.”
“True. And Evil Queen probably took Maleficent’s spot the second she swooped off the Isle,” said Carlos thoughtfully. “You know they fought over who would get to lead the Isle of the Lost when they were first banished there.”
“They sure did,” said Evie. “And that’s why we were exiled to the Castle Across the Way!”
“Actually, you didn’t invite me to your birthday party, and that’s why you guys had to move,” reminded Mal. “I was only six years old.”
“That wasn’t my fault,” Evie protested. “And you almost let me fall asleep for a thousand years!”
“What’s past is past, let bygones be bygones,” said Jay, entering the room. “What else did I miss?”
Mal nodded. “Jay’s right; sorry, Evie.”
“I’m sorry too,” said Evie. She stared at the screen again, at the giant red Xs written across their faces. Ugh, red did not look good on her complexion.
Carlos brought Jay up to speed on what they’d discovered so far about the Anti-Heroes group on the Dark Net. They looked at the picture again.
“We need to be at that meeting so we can find out what they’re planning, and that way we can stop it like we did last time,” Mal said, a serious look on her face.
“Fine, let’s go, I’ll start packing,” said Carlos, who was dreading it but wanted to get it over as quickly as possible. Like ripping off a Band-Aid. It would be easier to confront his mother sooner rather than later, before he had a change of heart.
“Hold on,” said Jay. “Not so fast. Let’s think it through. You know what Fairy Godmother always says.”
“Don’t run in glass slippers?” joked Evie.
“Look before you leap, the slow turtle always wins the race,” said Jay. “Oh, and it’s always best to be home before midnight.”
Jay smiled at his friends and rubbed his palms. He loved when a plan started to come together. It reminded him of his life back on the Isle, when he would figure out the best way to nab the least rotten banana from the fruit stands. “We can’t leave just yet,” he repeated.
“Why not?” Carlos wanted to know, even though he looked relieved to hear they didn’t have to sneak out of town right then.
“For one, you and I have a tourney game on Saturday, and we can’t let the team down,” he said. “If Ben doesn’t make it back from wherever he is, and we leave, they’re down three starters; there’s no way they have a chance against the Lost Boys. They need us.” He looked meaningfully at Carlos. “I know you weren’t at practice today, but we’re counting on you to be ready by game time.”
Carlos sighed. “Right.”
Jay turned to Mal and Evie, who both looked skeptical. “You guys understand, we’re part of something bigger here than just us. We’re part of Auradon now,” he told them. “You know we are.”
“Yes, but—” Mal tried to argue.
“Besides,” he interrupted with an apologetic smile. “We don’t want this Anti-Heroes group to think we’re onto them. What do you think will happen if news gets out that the four of us are suddenly missing from school? We need to go back, but on our own terms. We can’t let them know we know.”
Mal considered it for a moment, thinking. Finally she nodded. “Okay. Jay’s right. We need to lie low,” she said. “We’ll leave Saturday after the game since everyone gets off-campus privileges on the weekend. Come back Sunday night like everyone else, be back here in time for class on Monday.”
“Now you’re talking.” Jay smiled.
“Wait, hold on,” said Evie. “If Jay and Carlos get to play tourney, what about the dance? I’m part of the royal committee, and I have to make sure everything’s set up correctly. Otherwise, what if it looks like Wonderland threw up on everything? Plus, it’s right after the game, and people will notice if we’re not there, especially you, Mal. Even if Ben’s not there, people will be expecting you.”
“So we go to the dance too,” agreed Jay. “Why not?”
Carlos made a few calculations in his head. “The game ends by five, and the dance starts at six, we stay for an hour, maybe, to make sure everyone notices that we were there. That doesn’t leave us a whole lot of time to get out of here and to the Isle by midnight, but it’s doable.”
“And this way you guys won’t let down your team,” said Evie.
“And Evie gets to set up with her committee,” added Jay.
“And Mal gets to…dance?” said Carlos.
“We all get to dance,” said Evie, whose eyes were sparkling now.
Mal threw up her hands. “Okay,” she said. “We won’t leave till after the game and the dance so we don’t arouse suspicion, and I guess it’s good to live up to our responsibilities.”
They discussed the logistics of their plan for sneaking out of Auradon: Evie would come up with disguises while Jay would figure out transportation.
“Did we miss anything?” Mal asked.
“Yes, I think so,” said Carlos after a moment. “So far the plan can get us out of here, but wouldn’t people notice that we’re gone on Sunday? That would raise some alarms, don’t you think? Even though we’re allowed to be off campus for the weekend, people might think it’s strange since we never go anywhere.”
“Oh, right,” said Jay with a sheepish smile. “What are we going to do about that?”
Mal grimaced, thinking hard. “We’re going to be gone for less than twenty-four hours. How about we all pretend to catch some sort of bug that keeps us in our rooms, and we can post things online about how sick we are, when in reality we’re actually running around the island. Isn’t that what our online feeds are for? To convince people you’re doing something that you’re not?”
“I don’t think that’s what they’re for, actually,” said Carlos.
“No, it’s perfect,” said Jay. “We all get the flu. No one will want to be near us, then. Everyone will leave us alone.”
“Evie, can you set up our accounts so that the posts show up automatically? We won’t be able to update them ourselves from the Isle,” Mal pointed out.
“Of course,” said Evie. “I feel like I’ve been training my whole life for this.” She batted her eyelashes jokingly before looking serious again. “So we’re taking off on Saturday night for sure?”
“For sure,” said Carlos, who had turned a bit green. “What are you smiling about?” he snapped at Jay, who was leaning back, arms behind his head, looking like he hadn’t a care in the world. “Aren’t you scared?”
“Totally, but I sort of expected something like this would happen,” Jay replied.
“What do you mean you expected something like this to happen?” demanded Carlos, who was practically pulling out his black-and-white hair at the roots at the thought of returning home so soon.
“I just did,” Jay said, and stopped to consider why he felt that way. He had grown up on the Isle of the Lost, scrounged for food in the garbage, survived goblin-made coffee, and his favorite snack was still stale popcorn. Even after living in Auradon, he would always be a bit skeptical of happily-ever-after. And honestly, he’d been waiting for the other shoe to drop ever since the Coronation.
“I don’t know, because it can’t be this easy, right? We win one battle against Maleficent and it’s over?” he told them. “No way; haven’t we learned by now that there are always mons
ters hiding under beds, or in the closet, or, um, escaping from island prisons? Monsters who are related to us even.”
“You think our parents are monsters?” Evie asked, her voice faint.
“Well, we all know mine certainly is,” said Mal. “Fire-breathing dragon and everything.”
They all laughed. But Jay was still thinking of what he’d said about their parents. Was Jafar a monster? Jafar might take things to the extreme, but he was also just Jay’s slightly overweight, pajama-wearing dad, who dreamt of gold and riches beyond his wildest imagination. A man driven by greed who thought only of himself wasn’t much of a monster on an island without magic. But what would happen if Jafar was able to get his magic back? Like Maleficent, Jafar had a powerful magical staff, a cobra that could hypnotize and manipulate those who came under its thrall. Who knew what he would be capable of doing then? But Jay already knew that answer. It’s what had landed his father in the Isle of the Lost in the first place.
So no, Jay wasn’t surprised that their parents were up to something new, and while he was frightened, he also knew that it didn’t matter if all of them were scared. If it was true that this Anti-Heroes movement was growing on the Isle of the Lost, and that their errant parents—Jafar, Evil Queen, and Cruella de Vil—were behind it, he and his friends were the only ones who could stop them. “As Mal said herself, Maleficent is definitely a monster, but we took care of Maleficent, didn’t we?” he said. “So we can handle this, whatever it is.”
“But what if Maleficent is part of it too?” said Evie worriedly. “What if she’s not completely harmless like we think she is?”
“Maleficent almost roasted us all alive,” Carlos reminded them.
“And who knows what my mom, Jafar, and Cruella have in store for us,” said Evie. “I’m not sure I really want to find out.”
“Come on, guys. We can handle anything. We can handle Maleficent,” Jay said staunchly. “Right, Mal?” He elbowed their fearless leader.
Mal elbowed Jay back, almost a shove. She was clearly just as terrified as the rest of them, but she had decided, like Jay, to keep it under control. “Yes, of course, Jay’s right. We can handle this. We will handle this.” She took a deep breath and stuck out her hand, motioning to the others to do the same. One by one they each put a hand on top of hers.