▌𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐢𝐱𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧 ━︎━︎ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐞 ▌

━︎━︎━︎━︎𝐌𝐀𝐋, 𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐄, 𝐀𝐍𝐃 Ilaria made their way to the meeting spot. As they arrived, the limo was there patiently waiting with Jay, Carlos, and Lonnie. Ilaria raised her brows in surprise when she saw Lonnie. Mal let out a laugh of surprise. "Oh, Lonnie!"

     Lonnie ran towards them, giving Mal a hug. "I made them bring me."

     Mal pulled away. "Oh, I'm so glad." Lonnie gave Evie a hug and then moved to Ilaria who was surprised but hugged her back nonetheless.

     "Welcome to the Isle. It's good to see you." Evie said with a firm nod.

     Lonnie smiled. "Thanks."

     The four girls turned their head when Jay and Carlos opened the trunk. Jay pulled out a case of swords and Carlos let out a loud sigh. "I told you to stay!"

     "I flunked obedience class," Dude replied.

     "Great. And he can still talk." Jay muttered.

     Ilaria's eyes widened. "Dude can talk?!"

     Carlos looked at her. "It's a long story." He looked back at the dog. "You're lucky I love you." He got the dog out of the trunk and walked towards Mal with the fake wand in his hand.

     "Ooh. Let me see it." Mal said, motioning to it with her fingers. Carlos handed it over and Mal examined it. "Wow, what a beauty."

     "It's noon." Jay informed.

     Mal nodded. "Alright. Are we ready?"

     Evie held up the bag filled with smoke bombs. "Yeah."

     Mal gave a firm nod before glancing at all of them. "Let's do this." Ilaria took a deep breath and Evie grabbed her hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze  before they all walked into the pirate's den. They walked on to the wooden platform and Ilaria had to admit, she wasn't expecting so many people. Her eyes immediately spotted Uma with her blue hair standing on the pirate ship that was connected to the wooden dock.

     "Hey, guys!" Gil yells with a wide smile. "They're here!" The pirates all cheered as the group approached. Ilaria searched the area before she spotted Ben. His hands were tied behind his back and his ankles were tied with rope too to keep him from running.

     Harry Hook pushes Ben away from him, looking at the group and holding his arms out wide, a large crazy smile decorating his face. "Welcome!"

     "Finally!" Uma calls, a laugh leaving her lips. She and Mal had a stare off. "You know the deal." Uma hummed. "The wand for your precious king."

     Ilaria shook her head. "This is not a good idea."

     Evie, who was standing beside her, squeezed her shoulder. "Mal's got this."

     Mal stared at Uma for a long moment before holding out her hand. Carlos handed it to her and she began walking towards Uma only to stop when Ben called out to her. "Mal, don't do this." Mal paused, turning her head to look at him. "Whatever you do it's going to be a lose-lose situation. There has to be another way."

     Mal stared at him for a long moment before giving the shake of her head. "I have to do this. There is no other way."

     Ilaria watched the panic form on Ben's face as Mal started growing closer to Uma. He turned his head to look at the sea witch. "Uma, I promise I'll give you your chance."

     Uma gave him an incredulous look. "You're going to give me a chance? Now?" She laughed. "It's too late for that." She snapped her head towards Mal. "The wand. Or your precious boyfriend walks the plank." Mal clenched her jaw and walked closer to her before beginning to hold the wand out for her to take. Uma stopped her. "Hold up. Too easy. Why don't you give it a test drive? We want to see it work."

     Mal let a false laugh leave her lips before her smile fell. "You always were quite the drama queen."

     "Oh, and nothing too big, or else Ben is fish bait." The pirates all laughed and Ilaria swallowed nervously, glancing at her best friend who was now being leaned over the edge of the plank, Harry's grip on his jacket being the only thing that was keeping him from falling. This wasn't going to work. Ilaria should've just done this herself.

     Mal turned her head, looking at Carlos who subtly nodded his head to the right. Mal's eyes darted towards the entrance where she saw Dude sitting before turning to face Uma again. "Okay." She walked to the edge of the walkway, pointing the wand at Dude. "Although it seems absurd, turn your bark into a word." She waved the wand and for a moment nothing happened. Nervously she glanced towards Uma before looking back at Dude. "Talk, dog!" She hissed.

     "Does this vest make me look fat?" Dude whispered. The pirates all began laughing as Mal closed her eyes in relief. "Hey, does anyone have some bacon? Cookies?"

     Uma laughed before she held out her hand. "Give me the wand!"

     "Give me Ben!" Mal snapped.

     Uma stared at her for a moment before forcing a smile. "Harry, bring him over." Harry drags the king over, shoving him forwards. He fell on his knees. In sync, Uma and Mal both held out a hand. "Cut him loose, Harry."

     Harry let out a groan. "I never get to have any fun." He cut the ropes around Ben's ankles and wrists. Ben grabbed Mal's hand and Uma grabbed the wand. They shared a look before quickly doing the exchange.

     "Ben, go!" Mal pushed him towards the rest of them.

     Uma held the wand up towards the sky. "by the power of the sea, tear it down and set us free!" However, nothing happened. Instantly, an enraged cry fell from Uma's lips when she realized she had been tricked. "No!" She snapped the wand in half. "You do not get to win every time!"

Quickly, Jay handed them all swords as Mal continued to push Ben away. Carlos began shooting the smoke bombs, blue, red, and yellow coloring the air. Slowly, they all started making their way towards the exit but before they could the pirates charged and the fight had begun. Ilaria quickly brought up her sword as one of the pirates went for her, she shoved him back and began fighting him. The sound of swords clashing was the only noise that filled the air. Silently, Ilaria was thanking her aunt for teaching her how to properly use one. Quickly she kicked the pirate back, knocking the sword from his hands. She kicked him again, sending him over the wooden railing, watching as fell to the level beneath. Before she had time to celebrate, another was on her.

She ducked under one blow and jumped over another, quickly spinning out the way as the pirate slashed his sword at her. She blocked it with her own before pulling back and stabbing at him. The pirate jumped backwards and they started hitting swords once more until Ilaria shoved him out of the way, sending him to the ground. She continued to run, sliding underneath a sword that had come right at her head. She glanced over and spotted Mal and Uma fighting, in the distance she could see Jay and Harry having it out as well. She couldn't find Evie and began panicking, looking around for her. Instead she found Ben who was fighting Gil.

In the process, she ducked under another hit, hitting the sword away from her. The pirate kept coming at her and a frustrated groan let her lips. She hooked her arm with the pirates, using her sword to push against his before kicking him, making his knees buckle before throwing him over her shoulder where he landed in the water below. She quickly ran towards Ben, jumping over the wooden railing and landing on level below her and right behind Gil.

     "Back the hell off." Ilaria snarled, grabbing the back of his shirt and pulling him back, quickly maneuvering herself to stand in front of Ben.

     Gil stared at her for a moment. "Hey, don't I know you?"

     Ilaria readied her sword. "You're gonna wish you didn't." She glanced over her shoulder to look at Ben. "Go!" Ben quickly listened and ran away as Ilaria began fighting Gil.

     Their swords clashed against the others, but Gil kept up the conversation. "I do know you!"

     Ilaria grunted as she hit his sword again, holding it there for a moment. "Good for you." She sent a kick to his chest before knocking the sword out of her hand. "Nice talk." She quickly ran away, running up a set of stairs and kicking away the pirate that was taking Evie.

     "I had that!" Evie frowned.

     Ilaria smiled. "Trust me, I know." Evie smiled and the couple stood back to back as they began fighting off two more pirates, switching places and attacking each others opponents. Uma and Mal were right next to them fighting, and Ben was fighting Harry.

     The couple knocked both of the pirates away and Evie climbed up a ladder. "Carlos, smoke bomb!" Carlos tossed her one and Evie waited for the right moment before throwing the makeshift bomb onto the ground, purple exploding everywhere. Evie went running and Ilaria grabbed Ben's hand, dragging him with her. Mal shortly followed, kicking away the small bridge that connected the ship dock to the exit. She smirked in triumph when Uma was forced to stop before she turned and walked through the tunnel.

     As they ran out, they all threw their swords in the trunk before getting in the car. Evie, Carlos, and Ilaria all climbed into the back of the car with Jay in the drivers seat and Lonnie in the passengers. Not too long after, Ben and Mal joined and Jay started the car before quickly driving away. Dude climbed over to Ilaria and sat in her lap. "Hey buddy."

     The dog smiled at her. "You're way better at giving scratches than Carlos."

     Carlos feigned offense. "Hey!" Ilaria let out a chuckle before gently putting Dude in Carlos lap.

     When the adrenaline faded, rage took over her. She glared dangerously at Ben. "What the hell were you thinking, Benjamin!" The car grew silent. No one ever talked to Ben the way Ilaria did, and she was the only exception. "That was a completely idiotic thing for you to do! Good God, I can't even deal with you right now. What was the thought process going through your head? Was there one? Because I don't think there was."

     "Ria," Ben tried.

     "No." She snarled. "I'm not done." Ben swallowed and nodded. "You could have gotten yourself killed, Ben. If it weren't for Mal and the others, you would have been! I can't believe you right now!"

     "I was trying―︎"

     She cut him off. "To get Mal back, yeah, I've heard the story. Don't ever, and I mean ever, pull some stunt like that again. Do you hear me? You are my best friend, and I won't lose you to your stupidity. I won't."

     A small frown pulled at his lips. "I'm sorry."

     Ilaria clenched her jaw. "I know." She looked away from him, telling him it was the end of the conversation. Dude crawled back into her lap and Ilaria scratched his head and rubbed his fur, forcing herself to calm down. Evie placed a gentle hand on her leg, rubbing her thumb back and forth.

     Ben turned to look at Mal. "I'm really sorry that things didn't go the way you wanted them to."

     Mal, who was still trying to catch her breath, looked at him. "I mean. . . as long as you're safe, that's. . ." She didn't finish her sentence.

     "Well, I mean, at least I got to see the Isle." He looked away from her. "They're my people, too. Uma helped me see that."

     Mal looked at him in disbelief. "Ben, Uma captured you."

     Ben shrugged. "She's an angry girl with a bad plan. That's not so different from you when you came to Auradon, Mal." Mal looked at him in disbelief, even Ilaria was staring at him in shock.

     From her lap, Dude said, "Awkward."

     Instantly, Evie, Carlos, and Ilaria looked at the dog, trying to shush him. "Dude, I know you can talk, but it doesn't always mean you should." Carlos mumbled.

     "Here we go," Jay called from the front. The golden bridge appeared and before they knew it, they were back in Auradon.