Over two years have passed since Carlos became a part of Mal's gang. The two had a rocky start, but began to get along. The three often went on raids together and while Evie flirted with the boys in the back Carlos and Mal would steal as much as they could carry. They'd run off. Leaving the shopkeepers to run after them, but they never were caught. Carlos would always distract them and lead them away from their hideout, while Mal would take all the food and other things they stole and store them in the hideout. The plan had some flaws. It never worked on the same person twice, unless they were Harry, who was so desperate to see Evie he would voluntarily let them rob the place. It always ended the same for him, but he never learned; that or her just didn't care.
A few times Carlos would get caught, but all the children, even those older than him, were too scared of Mal to dare harm him. Mal was easily the most feared kid on the Isle, so anyone having allegiance with her was instantly feared as well, even a coward like Carlos.
Carlos scrambled out of the alley he was trapped in and ran over to the hideout. He threw a rock at a sign and the gate began to open up, Mal walking out of it.
"Took you long enough." She jokes.
"I got caught by a few boys." Carlos replies.
"Aww, did they hurt you?" She mocks
Carlos glared at her. Would you actually care if they did?" Carlos questions.
Mal rolls her eyes. "You think so little of me." She jokes as she fakes a frown.
"Excuse me if I still have trouble trusting someone who carved a scar into my shoulder."
Mal chuckles. "No one hurts you anymore do they?"
Carlos smiles. "I guess not."
"Besides, I haven't even hurt you since then. What do I do to get you to trust me?"
Carlos' eyes widen. "N-N-Nothing. Just give me some time."
"It's been two years." Mal complains. "Why can't you just trust me?"
"The first thing I learned here was don't trust anyone."
Mal scoffs. "You immediately trusted Evie."
"She didn't previously torture me." Carlos retorts.
"I wouldn't call it torture." Mal argues, to which Carlos rolls his eyes.
"Whatever you say." He scoffs.
He and Mal glare at each other but begin to laugh quietly.
"Lasted longer than usual Carlos." Mal remarks.
Carlos nods. "Same to you."
The two continued to laugh together. In a dark place like the Isle laughter was rare, yet amongst Carlos, Mal, and Evie it was a rather common thing. They were a family, they brought joy to each other, despite how little.
"You two love birds done?" Evie mocked as she walked up behind them.
Mal glared at Evie angrily and Carlos turned away from Mal, hiding his face.
"I swear I'm gonna skin you alive." Mal threatened, her eyes glowing a bright green.
Evie giggled to herself. "What's wrong?" She joked.
Ever since Evie found out about Mal's crush on Carlos she constantly teased her for it. Mal always rejected her feelings and tried to hide them, but it was pretty obvious to her that they still existed in her. Her teasing was always harmless, but it always made Mal angry. Love was weakness, her mom drilled that into her head from birth. Mal wasn't allowed to be weak, she was supposed to be the strongest kid on the Isle, never held back by anything. Never caring for anyone. No matter what she thought though her feelings were evident. She cared for Evie and she cared for Carlos. Despite all the threats she made, they were a family.
"Just shut up." She grumbled.
Evie laughed to herself before frowning. "Fine."
Mal groaned and walked towards the staircase leading to their base, slamming the gates shut behind her, leaving Evie and Carlos alone.
"What did you mean by-"
"Nothing!" Evie exclaimed. "You know, just teasing her. I need at least some fun after flirting with all those lame boys."
"But why with me or-"
"Cause I knew how you and M would react." She laughed. "Her reaction was priceless. You however-"
"It was nothing." Carlos interrupted, turning around.
Evie sighs. "I was just gonna say you were calmer than her."
Carlos nods and runs in, climbing up the staircase to the hideout. He opens the door and he and Evie walk in. The room is dark with only a bit of light illuminating the room and full of spray paintings of Long Live Evil logo's, along with images of Mal, Evie, and Carlos, saying "Forever Rotten." In a dark corner of the room Mal sat on the floor, a small pool of blood around her.
"Mal!" Carlos shouted, running over to her. She turned around at the sound of his voice, her eyes were on the verge of glowing and she had an angry expression on her face. At the sight of him she calmed down and her expression turned into a frown.
"Mal, what happened?" Carlos inquired.
Mal ran into her hideout. She dropped all the stolen knives and small blades on the floor and grabbed a knife from her boot. She quickly made a clean scratch on her left arm.
"You idiot!" She screams, her eyes flashing green. "How could you ever care for him. How could you ever care for anyone!" She makes another scratch on her arm. "All you are is a weak pathetic human! You'll never be like mom, you'll never be a feared villain like her. A ruthless, rotten, villain. You call yourself evil, but you're nothing!" She digs the knife deep into her skin. She winces in pain, but continues to drag the knife through her skin.
"Mal!" A voice shouts from behind her. She instantly recognizes the voice and throws the knife to the side, trying to keep it out of his view. She turns to face him, her eyes flashing green.
Mal, what happened?" Carlos repeats, his voice a little more stern than before.
Mal looks at the cuts on her arm. "Must've gotten them during one of the fights at school." She lies.
Carlos nods. "Bet the marks on the other kid are way worse though. I didn't know he landed a hit."
"You saw him, Anthony had blood running down his entire body yesterday." Mal laughed.
Carlos nods. "I'll go get some of the bandages we have lying around." He says, running outside to the lower area.
As soon as he left Evie walked up to Mal. "I thought you were done with this." She says.
Mal glares at her. "I don't know what you're talking about."
Evie rolls her eyes. "Cut the bullshit, Mal!"
Mal glares at Evie. "It's nothing." She lies.
"Mal just shut up!" Evie shouts. 'You can't keep doing this! You're destroying yourself!"
Mal glares at Evie. "It's just a few scratches." She says.
"That's not the problem, the problem is that you are cutting yourself. Mal, you have to stop this. What do you think Carlos would think of you?"
"Why should I care?" Mal snaps. "It's not like I-"
"Yes, you do, but that's not a bad thing." Evie assures her.
"Love is weak."
"According to your mother who tortures and abuses you." Evie retorts.
"I don't care about him." Mal argues.
"Then why are you still cutting yourself?" Evie asks with a frown.
Carlos' heart drops. He was about to walk in to give Mal the bandages for her fight with Anthony Tremaine, but stopped in his tracks, his hand on the door frame as he heard those words.
"I don't care about him." Mal argues, clearly arguing with Evie.
"Care about who?" Carlos wondered quietly to himself.
"Then why are you still cutting yourself?" Evie asks.
Carlos' heart drops. Mal, his fearless leader, his best friend, was cutting herself.
"So she lied to me." Carlos mutterred. "I thought that was against the rules of the gang. 'Never lie to each other. Lie to everybody else, but not each other."
Tears began to drip down his cheeks. The person he looked up to, the person who was like a sister he never had, had lied to him. She was hurting herself because of someone. Not only that, but Evie lied to him too. She knew about this and never told him. "Why?" He muttered.
"M, it's okay to care about him." Evie assures Mal. "Even if he doesn't feel the same it won't change your friendship."
"I can't. Just let me-" Mal starts, but she's interrupted by Evie.
No." Evie refuses, quickly grabbing the knife Mal was reaching for. " If you want to deny your feelings for him, fine, but you can't keep doing this to yourself."
Mal glares at her. "I'll do whatever the hell I want." She hisses as she rises to her feet and runs out, almost bumping into Carlos who was hiding behind the door.
"Mal…" He starts, but is stopped by Mal.
"Just shut up C." Mal cried, running out.
Carlos walked in as Mal ran off, facing the blue haired girl. Small tears were forming in her eyes and she had a frown on her face.
"Why'd you never tell me?" Carlos asks her. "We said we'd never lie to each other."
Evie looks at him. "It was her secret to tell, not mine."
"That she still was cutting herself." Carlos snaps.
"C. I'm sorry."
"Eve, she's my friend. If you had told me I could have helped her, this never would've happened."
Evie frowns. "That wouldn't help her at all. After all, you're the reason she did it." Evie thought to herself, quickly returning to reality as Carlos fixed his gaze on her.
"I understand Eve. She's your friend, but I am too. I could have helped."
Evie nods. "I know, and I'm sorry C."
"It's okay." He assures her. "I'm gonna go after her before she does anything too crazy." Carlos says, running after Mal, leaving Evie alone.
"What did I do?" She mutters. "Is this all because of what I said?"
Mal ran far away, as far as her legs could carry her. She just needed to get away from it, to be alone, to think everything over.
For all her life Mal was taught to be a villain. She was taught how to be evil, to never be nice, and most of all, to never love. Mal's life on the Isle was always dictated by her mother. She never was allowed to choose what clothes to wear, although she didn't have much so she generally wore the same jacket everyday. Her mother dictated what she did, what she felt, and her feelings. If Mal ever disobeyed her mother she was hurt, hurt beyond belief.
Her friends were right though, the only thing keeping her alive here was her friends. Her real family.
Mal began to slow down as she neared a wooded area behind Hell Hall. The woods weren't as beautiful as she would've thought though. Due to there not being much sunlight on the Isle, because of the giant dark cloud over the barrier, all the trees and plants were completely dead and withered. It didn't seem to bother Mal, she was used to things like this. She was about to walk in when something caught her eye. Near the center of the woods was a huge tree that actually wasn't dead. Mal walked over to it, noticing a small treehouse near the top. It was spray painted black and there were small indents in the tree leading up to it.
Mal started to climb up the tree, using the indents as holds for her feet. As she made her way up the idents got smaller and smaller. Finally, she reached the top of the tree and walked into the treehouse. She immediately realized whose it was. There was a spray painted symbol of crossbones, one half black, the other half white.
"So this is Carlos' hideout." She sighs. She grabs a can of spray paint before spray painting the wall next to the symbol. Carlos was her friend he wouldn't mind, right.
As she spray painted her symbol next to Carlos' she heard a familiar voice. "So you found it." Carlos says from behind her.
Mal turns around to face him. "I just wanted to be alone, then I found this place." She explains.
"Mal, why didn't you tell me?" Carlos asks. "Why did you lie to me?"
Mal rolled her eyes. "So she told you." Mal realizes.
Carlos shakes his head. "No, I heard for myself."
Mal's eyes widen. "You were listening to that?"
Carlos nods. "Some of it."
"How much did you hear?" Mal asks, a tremor in her voice.
"Not much. Just that you still were cutting yourself."
Mal silently sighs in relief. "So why'd you come here? To yell at me for lying to you, for breaking the rules of our gang."
Carlos shakes his head. "No, to see if you were okay? Mal, why were you cutting yourself?"
Mal sighs. "My mom told me that love was weak, that caring for people was weak. If I'm supposed to be as evil as her how can I do that if I care about you two?"
Carlos' eyes widen at her words. "Mal, have you been happier in or outside of the gang." Carlos asks her.
Mal smiles lightly "With you guys." She answers quietly.
Carlos nods. "And have you been more villainous with us or on your own."
Mal begins to chuckle quietly. "Thank you Carlos."
"Anytime." He says hugging her. "Just next time talk to me instead of cutting yourself."
Mal nods, a smile crawling onto her face. "I l-"
"What?" Carlos asks her. "What did you say?"
Mal's cheeks turn red. "Nothing." She lies. "Just saying thank you."
Carlos smiles. "You're welcome." He says turning around, confused by what just happened.
"You idiot Mal!" She thought to herself. "You almost told him. You can't ever tell him, your friendship would end. That can't ever happen."
"Hey Mal, we should probably head back to the hideout soon, Evie's probably worried." Carlos tells her.
Mal shakes her head. "Not yet. I need some time here."
"Alone?" Carlos asks her.
"You can stay." Mal sighs. "I could use someone to talk to."
"Isn't Evie usually that person?" Carlos wonders.
Mal nods. "Usually, but she's not here right now, you are."
Carlos smiles. "Okay, what do you want to talk about?"
Mal shrugs. She lays down and takes a deep breath. "Do you ever wish you had a normal life? One where your parents actually treated you decently, a life similar to the other Isle kids?"
Carlos sits down next to her and contemplates the thought before answering, "Sometimes, but if I had a different life than this one then I might not have ever met you or Evie."
Mal narrows her eyes. "Even after that." She says pointing to his shoulder, referencing the scar she made."
Carlos shrugs. "I wouldn't be against that changing, but my life wouldn't be the same without you two in it. Even if I had caring parents, or as far as caring could go on the Isle, I would rather have my friends."
"You sound like one of those Auradon kids." Mal scoffs.
Carlos chuckles. "What about you?"
Mal sighs as she sits up and looks at Carlos. "As much as I wish mom treated me decently and Dad didn't leave, I agree. You two have made me into a pretty badass villain, but you also taught me it's okay to care for people. Whether or not I had a good family by blood I have a real family in you two."
"A family that had the worst meetings ever." Carlos jokes.
Mal nods. "Yeah, Evie only joined when I broke into her house to try and hurt her, and you and I met when I carved that scar into your shoulder."
Carlos shuddered at the thought.
"I'm sorry." Mal admitted. "I mean it."
Carlos smiles. "I know. And I forgive you."
Mal's eyes widen. "You do?" She asks.
"While we may not have met on the best term, what came out of it, what we have now, the gang, it was worth every second."
Mal smiles. "Maybe someday if we ever get out of this hell hole I'll use my magic to heal that scar."
Carlos smiles. "I don't think you've ever said something as heartfelt as that before."
"Don't get used to it." She snaps.
Carlos grins. "I won't, it's just…nice."
Mal groans. "Well, you just ruined it. Let's go back to the hideout."
Carlos narrows his eyes. "You promise you won't cut youself again and will talk to me or Evie."
Mal nods slowly and she leaves the treehouse. Carlos was about to follow her, but as he did something caught his eye. Spray painted over his crossbones symbol, was two dragons forming a heart, Mal's symbol. He smiles as he looks at the image.
"You coming?" Mal asks, getting impatient.
Carlos snaps back to reality and starts climbing down the tree. As he reaches to bottom he sees Mal, who is twirling her hair around her finger. She turns around and begins to walk away, back towards the hideout. "You coming, De Vil?"
Carlos nods and runs after her, a smile on his face.
As Mal and Carlos neared the hideout they were alarmed when they saw Evie laying on the ground unconscious.
"Eve!" Mal and Carlos yelled as they ran over to her. Evie began to cough up blood and her eyes opened to see the two leaning over her.
"Mal? Carlos?"
Carlos nods. "We're here?"
"What happened?" Mal asks.
"I don't know, I heard a loud noise coming from the hideout, but when I went to see what was going on someone knocked me out." She answered.
"Mal." Carlos stammered.
""Do you know who did it?" Mal asks.
Evie shakes her head. "No, I don't remember anything?"
"Mal!" Carlos repeats, with a bit more urgency.
"What?" Mal asks.
Carlos walks over to the hideout. The entire room was trashed. All the food and supplies they stole and had stored there was gone.
"Where are my knives?" Mal shouts.
Evie smirks. "Maybe it's not such a bad thing." She says, earning her an elbow to the stomach from Mal.
Carlos continues to look around. "Someone must've come by after me and Mal left. Once they knocked you out they took everything."
"Yeah, and I know who." Mal hisses, glaring angrily at the wall. Spray painted next to one of the Long Live Evil logos was a badly drawn picture of Gaston wearing a red shirt that also said Long Live Evil.
Carlos looked at the image, but didn't recognize it. "Who?" He asks her.
"Gil Legume; son of Gaston." Evie says walking over to him. "He's part of Uma's crew, the one Harry Hook is in."
Carlos tensed at the mention of Harry Hook, him and the pirate had a complicated relationship. They hated each other, but there was that one time when Carlos helped Harry rescue one of his crew mates, and from Mal no less, although that was before he joined. After Carlos joined up with Mal their relationship turned into pure hatred for the other, but on vague occasions they'd help each other. It was all just a game to them, a game where they loved to try to kill each other.
"We're gonna have a hard time getting our stuff back without our weapons." Evie groans.
Mal smirks. "I might have an idea."
Mal, Evie, and Carlos arrived at their destination, Jafar's Junk Shop. Mal walked in and was greeted by a scowl from Jafar, but decided to ignore it and walked into the back room. In the back room was a fourteen year old boy with dark skin, dark brown eyes, and was wearing a leather jacket and red hat.
"I need your help." Mal sighs.
"And why would I help you after what you did?" He retorts.
"I'll let you in the gang." Mal answers simply.
Jay's eyes widen. It was a rare occasion for Mal to invite people into her gang. She'd only invited two other people in before. Dozens of other kids had begged her to let them in, but she always turned them down. Her gang was made up of people who seemingly had nothing in common with her. None of them acted like villains before they joined, but they all had one thing in common. They were hurt by their parents and needed a family. And honestly, Jay needed it too.
"Why would I want to join your gang?" Jay scoffs, trying to hide his true feelings.
"Cause if you do we can provide you with food, weapons, and a place to stay when your dad kicks you out again."
"How'd you know that?" Jay asks.
"I've seen it happen multiple times." She says with a smirk.
Jay sighs. "What do you need."
"Weapons." She answers.
"Just temporarily. Someone decided to break into our hideout and steal ours, we need to get them back." Carlos adds.
"And who are you?" Jay scoffs.
"Carlos De Vil." He answers, anger evident in his voice.
"The crazy lady's kid?" He taunts.
Carlos nods. "Are you gonna help us or not?" Evie snaps.
Jay chuckles. "Woah, calm down princess."
Evie glares at him angrily. 'You might not want to call her that." Carlos advises. "Last time someone did she broke their arm."
Jay narrows his eyes at Evie. "You're the one Mal stole my knife from me to kill." He realizes,
"Things didn't go as planned." Evie growls.
Jay laughs. "Fine, I'll give you a few knives, but I'm going with you."
Mal's eyes widen. "No." She laughs.
"If I don't come you don't get any knives." Jay argues.
Mal rolls her eyes. "Fine." She groans.
Jay grabs a few knives off the shelves and hands one to each of them. "So where exactly are we going?"
"To pay Harry Hook a visit." Evie answers.
So you promise you're not gonna make out with him this time?" Mal asks as they walk through "the street to the docks.
"I didn't make out with him." Evie corrects. "I kissed him."
"Still disturbing." Carlos mutters.
Mal nods, agreeing with him. "I could definitely go without seeing it again."
Evie groans. "I'm not gonna make out with him."
Mal rolls her eyes.
"Or kiss him!" Evie complains.
Mal smiles.
"Are you three done arguing?" Jay asks.
Mal and Evie glare at him.
"Um, guys." Carlos stutters.
"What?" Mal asks, turning around.
"We're here." Carlos says pointing to the huge pirate ship by the docs. The ship is run down and has three torn sails with a black shadow of an octopus. At the front of the ship was a fourth sail with a shadow of Ursala saying, Long Live Evil. There's ropes and nets everywhere and pirates all with swords resting on the deck.
Mal and her gang walk up to the doc, catching the eyes of the group of pirates.
Harry walks forward and onto the dock. "Hello love. You come for round two?"
Evie smiles. "Actually, I lost count after round four" She says as she locks her arms around his neck.
"Evie!" Mal snaps, but Evie continues to lean in for the kiss. Mal and Carlos shield their eyes and Harry leans in to kiss her. Evie smiles and they lock lips, but Evie's arms slowly move down his body as she reaches for his sword.
"Moving onto second base, are we Love?" Harry grins.
Evie smiles and leans in closer, deepening the kiss, while subtly grabbing onto his sword. His arms moved down her body as she pulled out of the kiss. "Aye. Give me more." He says as he leans in for another kiss.
Evie nods and puts the sword behind her and leans in to kiss him, but hands the sword to Mal.
Harry goes in to kiss her again, but is stopped by Mal.
"Back away from her Harry." Mal threatens, pointing the sword towards him.
Harry scowls at her and holds a knife to Evie's throat; her knife, you know the one they just got from Jay. "Give me my sword." He growls. He turns back towards Evie, who is now blocking his knife with her own.
"You think that I only brought one knife, Hook?" She laughed.
He reluctantly pulled the knife away, glaring straight at Carlos who was standing behind Mal.
"Where's Uma?" Evie growls.
"The boss?" Harry asks.
"Which other Uma is there!" Evie snaps.
"I'm right here princess!" A voice shouts from the ship.
Evie and Mal turn towards the source of the voice. A woman with dark skin, probably around thirteen years old, with long braided light blue hair. She wore a black pirate hat and had a blue vest.
"Hey Shrimpy." Mal scowls.
Uma growls and walks over to her. "Nice to see you Mally." She mocks. "What are you doing here?"
"One of your crew members left a little something for us." She laughs.
Uma growls angrily. "Gil!" She realizes.
"I told you he'd be useless." Mal replies.
"Shut up, he can be useful sometimes."
Mal scoffs.
"What do you want Mal?" She hisses.
"Our stuff."
"Never." She says pointing her sword towards Mal.
Mal smirks. "You know you can't beat us."
Uma laughs, "Oh, I don't need to beat you." Uma explains. "I need to distract you."
Mal growls at her. "I'm gonna finish what I started."
Uma smiles. "Oh Mally, you know you can't hurt me."
Mal smiles. "You sure about that?" She says, pulling out a knife.
"Oh Mally, you know that thing won't hurt me."
"You want to test that out?" Mal threatens.
"Mal."
Uma laughs. "Try me."
Mal brings the knife to Uma's throat. "I can kill you right now, it's so tantalizing.
"Mal!" Evie shouts.
Mal turns around. Harry has Carlos in a headlock and is holding a knife to his throat, while grinning with a wicked grin. Meanwhile, Jay has Evie and is holding a knife to her throat.
Uma laughs from behind her. "Your choice Mal," Uma says. You can steal back all your precious supplies, or you save your friends."
Mal growls at Uma and turns to face Evie. "What the hell Jay!" She shouts angrily.
Jay smirks.
"So here's how this is gonna go." Uma explains. "You're gonna go, you're gonna back off and leave all your stolen supplies to us, or your friends die."
Mal turns to face Evie and Carlos. She glares at Jay. "Never trust a thief Mal," He smirks.
Mal looks at Evie, but amongst it all she sees a small smile on her face.
"Your choice Mal." Uma taunts her. "Do you want all your supplies, or do you want to save your friends.
Mal glares at Uma. "Go to hell." Mal slides her knife backwards to Carlos and points the sword she took from Harry towards Uma. Carlos grabs the knife and slams the hilt into Harry's stomach. Harry loses his focus and loosens his grip on Carlos, allowing him to slide out. He grabs the other knife that Harry was holding and slides it over to Evie while he holds his knife to Harry's throat.
Evie grabs the knife and Jay releases her from his grip moving next to her.
"Wow, outsmarted again Shrimpy." Mal laughs.
Uma glares at Jay. "We had a deal!"
Jay smirked, "They offered a better one."
"Now Uma. It's time for you to make a decision. Would you rather we hurt you, or Harry first.
"Kill him for all I care..." Uma growls.
Mal smirks, "Still upset that Harry chose someone else over you? Oh well, Carlos, slit his fucking throat!"
Carlos glared at Harry, but made no move to do so.
"Carlos! Just fucking do it!" Jay yelled, confused as to why he was hesitating.
Still he made no move.
Uma smirked, "Looks like your little pet is too weak. Now, tell him to back off."
Mal didn't budge. "Not until you return what belongs to us. Then I'll tell him to back off."
Uma groans. "And what does that entail?"
"Our food, weapons…" She answers. "And my freaking Dragon Pendant!" Mal shouts.
Uma laughs quietly to herself. "You mean this?" She asks, revealing a necklace around her neck.
Mal glares at her. "Give it back."
"How about I propose a deal." Uma replies. "Your crew versus mine. If you win, I'll give you back all the stuff I stole, including this." She offers, motioning to the pendant around her neck. But if I win… you give me your territory."
"No way in hell!" Evie shouts.
"That's twenty on four." Carlos mumbles under his breath. He knew Mal would be upset with him about not killing Harry when he had the chance, but he couldn't bring himself to do that.
"You don't seem to be in a position to make deals with me." Mal scoffs.
"You seem to forget I have an entire crew on my ship that could easily overpower you."
"We'll see about that." Mal smirks.
"So is that a deal?" Uma asks.
"Deal." Mal answers.
Uma smirks, "You're on Mally."
The band of pirates run towards the four of them. Evie has two men on each side of her each with swords out. The man on right swings their sword as Evie, which she easily blocks with her knife. The one to the left goes in for a jab, but is kicked in the stomach by Evie. Evie puts both of her hands on the knife and pushes with all her might and throws the sword off. The sword flies back, so Evie takes the opportunity to kick the guy on the left backwards, sending them into the water. The kid on the right swings at her again, but she repels it with her knife before stabbing them in the stomach. The kid groans in pain and Evie pushes them into the water. Another kid runs at her and pulls out her sword swinging it at Evie's leg. The sword slices through her skin, but Evie manages to shove the kid backwards off the dock before falling to the floor in pain. She rolls her sleeve up to reveal a giant slash in her leg. Blood spews from her leg, sinking down her leg. She pulls her sleeve back up, doing her best to hide the blood.
Meanwhile, Carlos was fending off two kids while trying to keep Harry from escaping. The kid on the right of him swings his sword, which Carlos easily dodges by moving backwards a bit. He swings his knife through the air, but is stopped as the one on the left blocks it with his sword. Carlos retreats back to holding Harry in a headlock while the kid on the left charges towards him. Carlos slides to the side and holds his leg out, tripping the kid sending them headfirst into the water. The one on the left runs towards him in anger and swings his sword, but is stopped by Carlos who ducks underneath him and swings his knife at the kids legs. He barely misses and the kid swings at him again, but Carlos counters by thrusting his knife forward and stabbing the kid in the chest. The kid screams in pain and falls backwards into the water.
Meanwhile, Jay is fighting off three guys with his knife. He swings it forward and blocks the first kids swing, while the other two swing it and Jay ducks down to dodge. He then grabs the knife and swings it towards the one on the right, slashing their arm. They cry out in pain and Jay shoves them off the dock. The next kid charges at him in anger and thrusts his sword forwards. Jay jumps over it and swings his knife. He misses the kid and falls on his stomach. The two kids walk over to him and are about to slam their swords down, but they're knocked to the floor by Jay who kicks them in the shins. He stands up triumphantly and stabs one of them with the knife. The kid cries out in pain and Jay kicks them off the dock. The other kid stands up and swings at Jay, but Jay easily dodges and kicks them off the dock into the waters.
Meanwhile, Mal is glaring angrily at Uma. "So much for your little plan." She laughs, noticing Evie, Carlos, and Jay all fighting off the pirates easily.
Uma pulls out her sword and swings at Mal, who easily dodges. "I guess I win."
Uma glares at her. "Fine, you win. Just don't hurt them."
Mal smiles. "So you'll back off my territory?"
Uma shakes her head. "Never!" She swings her sword at Mal, who blocks it with her sword.
"Stand down Shrimpy." She smirks, her eyes glowing green.
Uma glares at her, but flinches back from Mal's glare. Mal smirks. "Give it back." She says, reaching her hand out.
Uma groans and takes off the necklace, but instead of handing it to Mal she holds it over the water. "Lower your sword." She says.
Mal glares angrily at Uma, but drops her sword onto the ground. "Give it back." She growls.
Uma retracts her hand and begins to reach it towards Mal's but stops when she notices something. She slowly opens a small latch on the pendant, causing Mal's eyes to widen. On the inside was a picture of her and Carlos, along with a carving of a crossbone, Carlos' symbol, and a double dragon symbol, Mal's symbol, over it.
Uma laughs. "I can't believe I didn't notice."
"Give it back." She hisses.
Uma laughs and throws the pendant to Mal. "Big bad Mally has feelings for the D-"
Mal's eyes glow green and she runs towards Uma, shoving her off the dock before she can finish. She hears a splash and turns around, closing the pendant. "See ya Shrimpy." She hisses before turning towards the rest of her gang.
Carlos turns around to face Harry and swings his knife, but Harry swings a sword to block it. Carlos tries to stab him in the stomach, a wound that possibly wouldn't kill him, but Harry thrusts his sword downward and pierces a nerve in Carlos' hand. Carlos drops the knife and Harry holds it to his throat.
"Never talk that way about her!" Harry growls. "It's your fault she's gone!"
"Harry put the knife down!" Evie threatens, Mal on her side, helping her stand.
"Get back Evelyn! This is gonna get ugly." Harry growls, his attention never leaving Carlos.
Carlos groans in pain, but reaches into his jacket and grabs another knife.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you. You might get hurt." He mocks.
Carlos groans. "That's the point." He says as he thrusts the knife into his stomach and through Harry.
"No!" Mal shouts, tears streaming down her face.
"Carlos!" Evie shouts.
Carlos and Harry cry out in pain and fall to the floor. Carlos reaches for the knife and pulls it out, causing both of them to pass out, the bloody knife falling into the ocean.
Mal and Evie run over.
"No, no, no, Carlos, wake up." Mal begs. "Please, I need you Puppy."
"C, wake up." Evie cries.
"Carlos!" Mal shouts. "Please!" She cries.
"Oh quit your worrying." Jay scoffs. "He's not gonna die. Just might be out of commision for a little while."
Evie nods, wiping away her tears. "M, he's right." She says helping Mal up.
"Evie nods. "So we won?"
"Yeah," Mal answers. "She won't be bothering us for a while." Mal turns towards Jay, "Jay, can you grab Carlos?"
Jay groans.
"Hey being part of the gang includes caring for each other." Mal says as she wraps her arm around Evie to help her stand.
Jay grins and grabs Carlos, holding him bridal style as he begins to follow Mal.
"Thank you." Mal says.
Jay smiles. "No problem."
"You okay C?" Evie asks as she leans over Carlos who's now awake.
"Yeah, I think so." He says. "Thanks Evie."
Evie nods. "What are big sisters for?"
Mal walks over. "You okay Carlos?"
Carlos nods. "Being stabbed in the stomach, not even as bad as what my mom's done before."
Evie and Mal grimace at the thoughts and memories. "Same." They both agree.
"So, where's Jay? Did he actually join the gang?" Carlos asks.
Mal nods. "Yeah, he's just out getting some more med kits. Kind of ran out patching up your wound."
Carlos nods understandingly. "Okay." He says. "And by getting you mean stealing?"
Mal nods. "He is pretty evil."
"Not evil." Evie says. "More like rotten."
Mal nods. "Yep. We're rotten to the core."
Evie laughs. "So C, are you ready for a lot more of these moments?" She asks.
Carlos smiles. "Hopefully it won't be me next time."
Mal flinches before glaring at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Carlos laughs. "Nothing."
"I'm back!" Jay announces.
Jay takes med kits he stole and brings them into the back room.
"It means it should be Jay next time." Carlos whispers to Evie.
Evie laughs. "Agreed."
"E, come on!" Mal says, grabbing her arm. "We still got to stitch up that wound."
Evie nods. "Fine M."
The two get up and walk over to the back room, but Mal elbows Evie in the side.
"Ow." Evie groans. "What was that for?"
Mal smirks. "You promised you wouldn't make out with Harry."
Evie groans. "I didn't make out with him."
"You also promised not to kiss him." Mal adds.
Evie laughs. "You got me there."