Roman stared into Virgil's' large, reptilian eyes, crouching low on the snout with fear. His heartbeat was pummelling in his ears and he couldn't move. The purple eyes were almost hypnotic, gazing into his own, like spikes. Every second dragged on. The clock ticked by. Nothing happened. Roman felt like the eyes turned green every now and then.

"Hi, Virgil," Roman said softly. "How are you?"

The dragon's' snout crinkled with a snarl, and Roman lost his footing, stumbling a little onto his hands and knees. With feigned calmness, he sat back.

"I forgive you, y'know," He whispered. "For trying to kill me. I don't think that you were in control. I don't think you've been in control for a long time." The prince tapped his hand onto one of the dragon's' large scales. "Whenever you're ready, you can come back," He promised quietly. "We don't have to fight. I know you don't want to fight."

Unblinking, purple eyes fazed briefly to a green but nothing happened. The dragon kept watching him thoughtfully.

Roman swallowed, growing desperate as he watched Janus vanish. "People are getting hurt, Virgil. I know you don't want that. For a villain's' son, you're caring, gentle and you can turn into a cat. A cat, Virgil." Roman made a terror-provoked laugh. "Cats are cooler than dragons. They're fluffier and, let's be honest, are far more house-trained. What if you turned into a cat? That'd be cool. You can be a cat and we don't have to burn the school to the ground, no matter how much I hate getting homework. You don't have to listen to her, Virgil. You don't have to listen to your mother, she's not the boss of you."

Despite his soft pleading, Virgil's' eyes just grew more purple by the second. Roman broke eye contact to glance down to Maleficent, but she was occupied, fighting Remus. Where was Logan? In that brief moment, Roman suddenly found himself being hurled into the air viciously, hurtling over the dragon.

Well, this is interesting, he thought, as he began to fly up rapidly, knowing that the unforgiving ground would be the last thing he was going to feel.

.:*:.

Remus blocked one swipe and then the next, retreating and retreating as Maleficent pushed on. Since Logan had been poisoned, Remus had been losing severely, only just keeping up with the fight's' pace. He was playing purely defensively and any dirty tricks were tricks that could risk his life.

The heat of the burning school behind him was hot on his neck and brought his sweat on faster. It felt only a foot away.

Maleficent was grinning maniacally, slashing madly. She knew she'd win. The boy was slowing, getting tired, just like the other one. All it would take to get rid of him is one strike to land or to back him up into the fire. The fire seemed more fun at the moment. She was not happy and wanted to listen to someone's' dying shrieks. But Ursula's' brat was resilient. Of course, he was. He side-stepped and jumped around in infuriatingly unpredictable ways. With the Auradon child, he had been trained in fencing and his form was easier to break. Remus had no form. He had raw instincts and they rivalled Maleficent's'. It was time to start cheating.

"You know, I always preferred you," She panted, keeping her voice light. "The other two were too uptight. But you? You had enough guts to be something."

"Cool," Remus breathed heavily. "I don't really care."

Maleficent glared. "I'm going to kill you, Remus. You can't escape it. But you can make it easier."

"So?"

The fairy vanished in a small puff of fire, reappearing behind him but Remus was prepared to block her strike. "So, lay down your weapon and I'll make it quick."

Remus nodded but didn't stop fighting. "Actually, I don't think I will. Now, here's my idea. You fuck off and take your friends with you."

"Actually," Maleficent's' sweet smile vanished, turning to one of hate. "I don't think I will. I would say it's nice knowing you but I never really cared."

"Of course you didn't," Remus replied, jumping over her foot as she tried to sweep his feet from beneath him. "I would say, I've enjoyed my life, but I never stopped long enough to savour any of it."

The fairy sneered. "You always had something to say, you little, cheating rat."

"I'm not much of a rat or a cheater," Remus panted, and he began to smile. "But I sure as hell am a surprising octopus!" And he finally tested out the only magic he knew for the first time in his life.

.:*:.

Janus left Patton with the dying Logan. He had to be fast. He couldn't save Logan if the bastard died. Scouring everywhere desperately, Janus appeared everywhere he could, looking for the lamp. He had it, only minutes ago, and, now, it was nowhere to be seen.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" He shrieked, stamping his feet impatiently. His lamp was no where to be seen and it drove him mad.

That's when gold glinted out of the corner of his eye, somewhere in the wreck of the burning forest. Gold, reflecting liquid-like flames, resting in the curled finger of his father.

"Looking for this?" Jafar called across to him.

Janus bristled instantly and warped over to his father. "I thought you were out of the fight," He growled, making a grab for the lamp but Jafar held it high above his head with a wicked grin.

"Only for a while, boy. You should know by now, Janus, that I don't like going down without a fight."

His son glared. "Give me my lamp."

"Why?"

"Because, otherwise, someone's going to die."

Jafar raised an eyebrow. "Someone's going to die? Look around, Janus! Everyone is going to die! With the lamp or not, you can't revive them! Not even I could" Just give up, come with me! We don't even need to be here anymore. We don't have any more parts to play."

Janus glanced over his shoulder briefly, staring for a second at the carnage. Through the wafting smoke of the burning forest surrounding him, he could see Auradon Prep crumbling to the ground as the flames flickered faster and further, crawling out onto the fields and surrounding life.

Maleficent was firing projectiles anywhere she could, when she was able to break away from her fight with Remus, in which she was winning. Roman was defenceless, crouched on Virgil's' snout, the dragon rearing his head down as if it were going to fling him away, and students were falling to the ground, choking and gagging in the suffocating air.

"Maybe people will die, whether I have the lamp or not," Janus said softly. He turned to look at his father, who stood amongst the flames victoriously. "Maybe I should just give up. Maybe... I just join you..."

"That's the spirit," Jafar smiled twistedly. "Come, boy, I can make sure you live. Join me, Janus, and we can go far away from everyone else. Maleficent, Ursula, the Isle of The Lost. We can be father and son and forget about all of this." He extended a dark hand.

Time seemed to slow, yet Janus's' heartbeat was racing in his ears, getting louder and louder. Hesitantly, his own hand began to move, fingers stretching out, and he shut his eyes tightly as he grabbed his father's hand.

"You see, child?" Jafar began. "You don't need them. We can be the most powerful genies in the world, we can be free and we can take Auradon with or without Maleficent. Don't you understand?"

"I do understand," Replied the half-genie quietly. Then his head snapped up, he fixed his father with a cold glare and tightened his grip rapidly on his hand, making the other genie screech in surprise. He wrenched Jafar to the ground, slamming his knee down on his back to keep him there, and wrestled desperately to snatch his lamp from his father's' hand. After agonisingly slow seconds, Janus pulled it free, stumbling off of his father with the force. 

Jafar began to sit up brokenly, a hateful snarl coming from him, but Janus smacked him hard on the head with his newly retrieved lamp. The hot metal collided loudly with the genie's' skull and he fell to the ground, unmoving.

Janus stood up. "Maybe people will die, whether I have the lamp or not," He repeated breathlessly. "But I sure as hell can save a lot more if I have it."

And he fled, leaving his father either unconscious or dead in the flames. He wished to be by Logan's' side and, in a puff of yellow smoke, stumbled next to Patton, nearly tripping in his desperation.

The scene was heart-shattering.

Logan's' spasms were even worse, his breathing was now rattling and the foam had grown bloody and bubbly. All the students were kneeling beside him, crying softly. All except Patton, who spun around to face him.

The prince's' face was coated with still running tears and his eyes were desperately pleading. "Have you got it?"

Janus could only nod, glancing at Patton before looking back to Logan, horrified. "Fuck... He's not dead, is he?"

"He will be soon," One student, the daughter of Mulan whispered, fingers on Logan's' neck. "I can barely feel his heartbeat-"

The lamp was yanked from Janus's' fingers by Patton, who rubbed it vigorously. Janus's' surroundings glitched - in one brief second he was inside the lamp, before appearing out of it - and he focused on Patton.

"What is your wish?" He asked rapidly.

"Get the poison out of Logan, now," Patton commanded, quickly giving back the lamp. Janus nodded and shoved several people out of the way so he could kneel down next to the dying prince. He felt the magic surging through his veins and he began to push it into the prince.

He felt the magic leave him and watched Logan light up with a golden haze and, for a moment, he thought it might work, that he might save Logan's' life, the bastard prince, but  Mulan's' daughter still cried out, "I can't feel his heartbeat," even after the golden haze and flitted away.

.:*:.

There are supposed to be many things one can think of when falling to their death.

Roman couldn't think of much, himself. He thought of his mother and father first. Then Patton and Logan. He hoped the four of them were all okay. Then he thought of Virgil. Maybe someone would get him out of it, even if he had failed.

But then he thought of Ali.

He didn't want to. He didn't want his last thoughts to be about Aladdin's' son. In those tiny milliseconds, as he rose higher and higher, he had come to terms that he didn't care about what Ali had to say anymore. Or what Ali wanted to do, or what Ali wanted him to think, or what Ali did. Maybe Ali was dead. Maybe Ali was alive. Whatever he was, Roman didn't care. He could let go of him now.

Wow, he was still flying up it had been about a minute, maybe. It had certainly felt like it. The wind rushed painfully into his face, moving so fast that ash and dust were beginning to scratch deeper and deeper into his skin.

The breeze was madly strong yet it wasn't blowing him off course. Roman flew through a cloud and brackish water entered his cuts, making him yelp loudly in pain. He moved weakly to touch a stinging scar by his eye, whimpering quietly at the agonising pain. But the moment he moved, he lost momentum and he slowly tipped backwards.

In one heartbeat, he was paused in mid-air, amongst the clouds, soaked to the skin, freezing, and lacerated with small scratches. The next, the wind began to buffet him madly across the sky and he plummeted diagonally towards the ground, suddenly finding the air to scream.

He screamed and wailed and cried and shouted, flailing madly like a ragdoll in the winds. His screeching echoed loudly as he was flung around limply. It was almost like the gusts were battling over him, pulling him all over the place and letting his tears drip down like rain.

Maybe, just maybe, someone had seen Roman. He was below the clouds now, tossed about like a ball, and his screams were growing hoarser yet louder. The further he fell, the faster he got and he soon found himself rushing to greet the ground. He wasn't going to survive this one. There was no way.

.:*:.

Although Maleficent and Jafar were almost overpowered with magic, Ursula still possessed some. She was a sea witch after all.

And magic is something in ones' blood. Remus had her blood in his blood. And he too had had magic flock to him when he left the Isle. But his magic was different. Instead of having a lamp or cool fairy tattoos, he got a unique little quirk. Tentacles. A lot and a lot of tentacles.

All of a sudden, Maleficent was losing. This brat had suddenly gained an unforeseen strength as large tentacles burst from his back and easily battered away her attacks. Every time she went to hit one, another would come out of nowhere and swipe at her, forcing her to play defensively.

No longer was she going to force him into the fire, no, because he was making her retreat desperately, stumbling over her own feet. In a fit, she lost her long, poisoned nails and reverted to magical means of destruction but Remus was too quick.

He propelled himself through the air, ducking expertly low and leaping freakishly high, his tentacles always ready to catch him and keep him safe.

Maleficent threw all she had at him, from murderous bats, crushed by his morning star, to shadowy dragons, choked by his tentacles. Eventually, she even hurled elemental magic at him, sending gales of wind from her palm, mini geysers from her fingertips, jets of flame from her fists and boulders tore up from the ground to lunge at the villain's' son. But the bastard still wouldn't die.

She screamed in rage, her attacks less tactical and now random, savagely attempting to bring Remus down but she just couldn't do it.

Meanwhile, Remus was finding this hilarious. He laughed and cackled, dancing around the furious fairy delightedly. She was going to exhaust herself sooner or later and they both knew it.

"You can't just fire magic out of your ass, twenty-four, seven!" Remus crowed, ducking lightly under a stream of squawking crows.

"Neither can you!" Screamed Maleficent, losing logic and reason slowly. "You can't have those tentacles forever!"

Remus shrugged, swiftly moving to the side as she lashed out. "I know. But I've never done this before. I've got a lot more magic than you to spare right now."

Maleficent snarled, vanishing briefly before reappearing a good distance away. Remus chased after her but they both froze when they heard the same thing. Screaming. Loud, clear screaming, getting closer and closer, yet the two were standing alone. They slowly looked up, to see someone begin to plummet towards the ground.

"Roman!" Gasped Remus, more surprised than anything else.

Now Maleficent smiled again. She sent a gust up, lifting up the prince and tossing him a little higher as if to give him more time to live.

"Now, Remus," Maleficent grinned as Roman began to fall again. "Kill me or save Roman. There's no way you'll have time to do both."

.:*:.

"There's got to be a mistake!" Patton cried. "Janus, Janus, help him!"

"I'm trying, Patton!" Shouted the half-genie furiously. "Back off, everyone get away from us!"

Obediently and fearfully, the students rain away, leaving Janus to struggle. Logan's' spasming were slowing, and he seemed to be taking in one deep, possibly final breath. He was going to die.

"No, no, no!" Screamed Janus, hating the feeling of uselessness washing over him. Everyone was watching him. Everyone was relying on him. "No, no, no, I just need more time! I need more time!" He threw as much magic as he could into the prince but nothing seemed to work. Then his mind cleared. He knew it.

Snatching his lamp furiously, he rubbed at it madly, thinking his wish over and over in his head. Logan's' breathing paused as he began to sigh out his final breath when it happened.

The noise was muted, everything and everyone was frozen. Janus looked around and saw, in the sky, lightning very slowly beginning to etch itself out into the sky.

"I did it," He whispered. The half-genie had succeeded. He had given himself a lot more time.

With a freakish calmness, he breathed out and began to work on the poison. He sat up a little and sent a silver, golden sliver down Logan's' mouth. He watched it enter his body and watched the golden haze light up, just like it had earlier.

Standing up, Janus began to pull at it, dragging it back out. He stared as the yellow strand began to emerge from his mouth and, clinging to it in a writhing fashion, were beads of ugly poison. And there was a lot of poison. Janus kept working away at it, forcing it out slowly. If he went to fast, he might yank out the prince's' spine. Eventually, the yellow thread ended and he let it drop to the ground with a very, very slow descent.

He crouched back down next to Logan, weaving a small ball of air amongst his fingers and gently carried it to his mouth and tipped it in. For a moment, nothing seemed to work. Maybe he had died. But then he saw Logan's' chest begin to softly rise and time kickstarted again.

High in the sky, lightning flashed and Logan sat up with a loud gasp, sweating and panting. Behind him, Maleficent's' poison dropped to the ground and Janus fell back too, feeling drained.

Patton rushed forwards to Logan, hugging him tightly. "You're alive! You're alive!"

"I-It seems so," Logan whispered quietly. "What... What happened?"

"Maleficent poisoned you," Patton explained breathlessly. "Janus just saved your life."

Logan turned his head slowly, eyes wide. "You... Saved me? I-"

"Yeah, you're welcome, specs," Huffed the half-genie, feeling his eyes droop tiredly. "Now I'm going to take a nap."

.:*:.

Remus jumped up instantly, his tentacles giving him the strength needed to catch up to Roman. He wrapped his arms around the prince, who looked at him in surprise and disbelief, before pulling them both back to the ground alive. Maleficent had fled the scene.

"Saved ya," Remus panted with a grin.

Roman blinked. "Thank you," He whispered brokenly. "Thank you so much."

"Don't sweat it, prince dude. Patton is over there, if you need him," He pointed lazily. "Need help over there?"

Roman nodded slowly and then yelped as Remus grabbed him again and used his tentacles to cross the distance to the huddle of students in no time.

Patton and Logan were tightly embraced, the students were celebrating and Janus was lying spreadeagled on the ground, taking in deep breaths. Remus dumped Roman with his two best friends and landed next to Janus.

"Hi, sweetheart!" He chirped brightly.

Janus blinked open an eye and looked at him. "Did you just unironically call me sweetheart?"

"I did."

"Have you changed your hair or something?"

"No, but I got tentacles!" Remus made a coy face. "I'm thinking they'll come in a lot of use for us if we get out of here alive and can find a bed, y'know..."

Janus went red and hid his face in his hands. "Remind me why I love you..."

Remus gasped dramatically. "You love me? Oh, but Janus! How can that be? We barely know each other, it's-! It's so soon!"

"Bitch," Huffed the half-genie. "I've known you from the moment I was born."

Despite himself, Remus smiled softly and offered a hand. "C'mon, hot guy I like a lot, get up. We've gotta stop our best friends' mum before she kills us all!"

Janus looked at the hand, then sighed, sitting up. He took Remus's' hand without hesitation, letting himself get pulled up. Patton was filling Roman in on what happened to Logan and the rest of the students were calming down. For a moment, it was like the fight was over. But it wasn't.

"Oh, dammit," Growled Janus and he walked over to the three princes. They looked up at him quickly. "Look," He said. "There's no way we can beat Maleficent with Virgil as a dragon under her control. Vee's already a powerful fairy and Maleficent's' mind games are deadly. We've got to break him out of it."

"And how do we do that?" Roman challenged. "I've tried twice and nearly died twice."

Logan stood up, gaining attention. "Maybe we're thinking about this all wrong. We've got to forget about Virgil and cut the head of the snake. Metaphorically."

"What do you mean?" Patton asked.

"We need to go straight for Maleficent. When she's down, Virgil's' hypnosis will break and then we can sort the rest of the things out."

Remus arched an eyebrow. "Yeah, good idea, but how are we gonna kill Maleficent? It's not like we've got the Fairy Godmother or something."

"Yes, it's a shame, isn't it?" The Fairy Godmother said.

"What the-?! How the-?! Where did-?! What-?!" Remus spluttered, shocked.

The Fairy Godmother was bruised, covered in soot and dust. She was bleeding and her outfit was ripped and torn. She shrugged calmly, twirling her silver wand in her hand. "I got stuck under a rock while trying to save students in the hall. When I got free, I had to get my wand before anything else and, Roman, you left that place like a tip, you'll have to clean it up if we live."

Roman stared.

"Fairy Godmother," Logan said calmly. "We need your help."

The sorceress shrugged. "I'll try. I've used a lot of magical reserves, helping as many students as I can and assisting my fellow teachers, but I've got some things I can try do, if it'd help."

Patton nodded sternly, finally standing up with everyone else. "Then we've got to move quickly. What's the plan?"

.:*:.

Maleficent had fled the moment the opportunity had struck. She had seen Jafar, struggling in the inferno of a forest, trying to save himself. He had cried out for her desperately but she had ignored him, heading straight to her son.

The dragon had stopped setting things on fire. It was lying on it's' belly, snout resting in its' talons. When Maleficent approached, it fixed her with a purple glare and snarled lowly. She roared back and the purple eyes fixed themselves back to the serpent-like green they were supposed to be.

"There we go," She hissed. "You forget yourself. Now, get up!" The fairy barked and the great beast got to it's' feet obediently. There was an exhausted air to it's' movements, sloppily and lazily dragging it's' paws underneath it. Virgil's' wings drooped down his scaled sides, the smoke from his nostrils a lazy trickle, yet the beast was still horrific to behold.

Maleficent was going to retreat. She was going to run far, far away and lick her wounds and come back stronger. The dragon bowed it's' head, letting her climb on when a silvery whip suddenly curled around her waist.

"What?" She whispered quietly, but her surprise couldn't last as she was yanked away from her son, dragged through the muddy ground before reaching a halt.

"Hello, Maleficent," The Fairy Godmother smiled. "Forget about me?"

The sorceress snarled furiously at her. "Fairy Godmother. Where've you been hiding?"

The Fairy Godmother smiled at her and rolled up her sleeves calmly. That was when Maleficent noticed the silver, glistening wand, delicately resting in the fairy's' fingers.

"No," She gasped.

"Bibbidy, bobbidy, boo, bitch," The headmistress grinned.

Instantly, the two sorceress's' lunged at each other. The Fairy Godmother ducked under one of Maleficent's' swipes as the villain dived desperately to take her head. She jabbed an elbow into the darkly-dressed woman's' ribs ferociously, causing her to gasp loudly. Maleficent sent a shock of black energy down at the teacher but she evaded it easily. The brawl was vicious and both landed their fair share of bruises and more.

In the span of a minute, Maleficent's' face was swollen and her lip was busted, while the Fairy Godmother nursed a broken wrist and rested all her weight on one leg, for the villain had sprained her ankle in a shadow attack.

"I won't let you win," The Fairy Godmother growled lowly.

"And I won't let you live," Roared Maleficent madly, charging once more.

An elbow to the jaw from Maleficent, a flock of silver, mutated birds to the stomach from the Fairy Godmother, and they stumbled away again, nursing their wounds once more, breathing heavily.

Out of nowhere, a katana whipped by and pierced Maleficent's' gut. She screeched yet still didn't die, instead vanishing away to look at her new attacker.

"You?!" She cried hoarsely, staring at the determined Prince Logan White. "But-! But I killed you!"

Logan smiled coldly. "Yes, you nearly did. Thank god for genies, right?"

The fairy realised her mistake and turned back to where Jafar was last. He had dragged himself out of the forest, barely, holding the back of his head that seemed to be bleeding badly. The two made eye contact but Jafar didn't make any move to help. He just smiled cruelly and vanished in yellow smoke.

For a moment, Maleficent felt alone. She had lost Ursula and now Jafar was turning his back on her. But the loss soon turned to mad, unfathomable rage. With an animalistic shriek, she lunged for Logan but he evaded lightly, now calmer and more alert. Something lashed at her back and she caught the Fairy Godmother out of the corner of her eye, pointing her wand and firing calculated shots with her silvery whip.

Meanwhile, Virgil stood, slightly bewildered. Its' eyes were torn between two colours as it watched the battle, unaware of anything else, so it startled when a hand was placed on its' paw. The dragon looked down to see Janus.

"Hi, Virgil," Janus smiled. "How are you?"

The dragon froze and, briefly, his eyes were purple, before it looked at Janus indifferently.

"You don't have to listen to her, Virge," The half-genie kept the soft smile on his face and Virgil saw Remus approach Janus from behind. "You never had to listen to anyone."

"Virgilious!" Shrieked Maleficent from the middle of the battle she was losing. "Kill them!"

Remus grinned gently and waved with one of his octopus tentacles. "Check it out, Virge! I'm an octopus! My catchphrase has meaning!"

"Burn them, Virgilious!" Cried Maleficent.

Roman and Patton turned up behind the two villains. Patton gave him a thumbs up and Roman bowed.

"Hey, kiddo!" Patton called. "I love your scales! They're so pretty!"

The dragon instinctively looked to Roman, expecting some form of a comment. The Prince just smiled gently and blew a kiss.

"Virgilious!" Maleficent roared, turning the dragon's' head. "Burn them, now! Kill them where they stand!"

Virgil looked at her, almost debatingly. The green in his eyes were weakening slowly. Maleficent balled her fists and glared up at her son, making the colours fix back to the glowing purple. Virgil sucked in a breath obediently. He glanced back to Janus, Remus, Patton and Roman briefly and then let out a jet of flame, burning his mother to a crisp.

Maleficent died, screaming in fury, pain and anguish.

Suddenly, everything collapsed. The flames quenched, the lightening disappeared and a gentle rain began to fall. People emerged from tiny hiding places, staring around in shock. It was silent.

The Fairy Godmother walked over to a burnt, crisp, black skeleton. She knelt down, brushing it softly and it crumpled under her fingertips. "She's really gone," The fairy whispered.

"I can't believe it," Logan said quietly.

There was a tiny whimper of pain and terrifying cracking noises could be heard as Virgil's' bones began to snap and reform. Large scales dropped to the ground with loud echoes and the beast began to roar in agony. The cries turned to human yells and screams as the dragon shrank and reverted back to its' own self.

Janus and Remus rushed forwards instantly, both screaming their friend's' name as an unconscious, human Virgil fell to the ground. His ivory body was covered only by a drape of scales that hung around his skin loosely, and he lay limply in Janus's' arms.

Patton also rushed forwards, to check if he was okay and Roman sat down.

"We won," He mumbled tiredly. "We won..."