The group drove onto the Isle and over to the crowd that was saying goodbye to the new group of V.K.'s. Malinda, Ben, and Mal went over to Celia who was saying goodbye to her dad. Evie went over to Dizzy who was saying goodbye to her grandmother. Carlos and Jay went over to Squeaky and Squirmy who were saying goodbye to their dad.
"Here, let me get this off you." Mal said as she started to help Ceila with her bag, causing Celia to give her a weird look before tossing her bag into the trunk. "Oh. Okay."
"Okay." Ben said as he closed the trunk. "Let's go and do..." Celia walked away as Ben was in the middle of talking. "This." Ben finished awkwardly causing Malinda and Mal to laugh at him as the others got into the limo before Mal followed them as Malinda and Ben paused and waved to the crowd before following the group into the limo.
As Jay started to drive away, Evie turned to Dizzy with an excited smile.
"So, as soon as we get to Auradon, you have to try ice cream." Evie told Dizzy with a soft smile, remembering how excited Dizzy was last year when they first talked about it.
"And go swimming?!" Dizzy asked excitedly.
"I can take you to the Enchanted Lake." Evie told Dizzy and they both squealed.
"I can't believe I get to live with you in your very own castle!" Dizzy gushed excitedly.
"It's just a little starter castle." Evie said as if it were no big deal.
"Here." Carlos said as he reached across Squeaky to grab a large Reese's Peanut Butter Cup and handed it to Squeaky, causing Squeaky to look at him hesitantly. "Go on. Trust me on this." Carlos gave Squeaky a soft smile, causing Squeaky to hesitantly take a bite causing his eyes to go wide. "I know. Dig in, dig in."
Celia turned to Ben and showed him her deck of tarot cards while looking at him with a smirk. Ben took a card with a smile before handing it to Celia as Malinda watched over Ben's shoulder, resting her chin on Ben's shoulder. Celia put her hands over the card while closing her eyes and nodding with a smile.
"You're going to be a wise and brave king." Celia told Ben as she showed him his card.
"He already is." Malinda told Celia with a soft smile as she gently grabbed Ben's arm.
"See? The cards never lie." Celia said with a grin as she held out her hand,expectantly as she gestured with her eyes to her hand.
"Ah." Ben muttered as he grabbed his wallet from his pants and pulled out some cash and placed it in Celia's hand causing her to get excited.
As they drove closer to the barrier, Jay pressed the button to open it as a crowd of people watched them leave. Evie looked back at them with a grin when all of a sudden she saw Hades shove his way through the crowd and ran towards the barrier. Just before the barrier closed, Hades shoved his hand, the one that was holding his ember, through the opening causing the ember to light up as it got its power back.
"It's Hades." Evie exclaimed, causing the group to turn in shock as Hades started to force the barrier open even more. "Stop the car, he's trying to escape!" Jay quickly stopped the limo and everyone quickly rushed out of it.
"I am a god! I don't belong here!" Hades shouted angrily as he tried to force his way through the barrier. Malinda, Evie, and Mal quickly pushed the kids back in the car and closed the doors behind them as the boys tried to rush at Hades, causing him to shoot them with his magic and they fell down to the ground.
Malinda looked at Hades in shock, not having seen him in years, as they locked eyes when all of a sudden she felt her eyes turn green as purple smoke started to surround her. Everyone watched in shock as the smoke cleared to reveal that Malinda had turned herself into a dragon. Malinda screeched at Hades as he looked at her with wide eyes, never having seen her do that before. Malinda flew towards Hades causing him to point his ember's magic at her, causing her to screech in pain. Her friends, fiance, and sister watched in shock and horror as Hades' magic affected her.
"Come on, Malinda! Blast him!" Jay called out to Malinda, not knowing why she wasn't doing anything as Hades blasted her.
Malinda roared at Hades strongly until he couldn't take it anymore and was shoved away from the barrier, rolling on the ground as he was forced back. Malinda screeched in pain as she slowly descended while Evie and Mal helped the boys up and the kids opened the doors of the limo. Smoke surrounded Malinda again as she landed harshly on the back of the limo and she turned back into her human form. Malinda grunted in pain as Evie and Ben quickly helped her down from the limo.
"Are you okay?" Evie asked Malinda, concerned, as she and Ben helped Malinda stay standing.
"No. He was draining all of my magic with the ember and I felt... all of my power slipping away." Malinda partially lied as she clutched her chest in pain, knowing that while she did feel some of her power draining, she also knew that Hades would never hurt her like that without a reason.
"You're safe." Evie assured Malinda softly as she looked over at Hades in confusion, wondering why he just did that to Malinda. "He's back where he belongs."
"Yeah, for now." Malinda said as she leaned against Ben while they watched Hades walk away causing the crowd behind the barrier to scatter. Jay then walked over to Malinda and placed his hand on her arm.
"We should go." Jay told Malinda softly as he gave her a concerned look.
"Okay." Malinda breathed out and they all walked over to the limo before climbing in and driving back to Auradon.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next morning, Malinda and Ben met up with Belle, Adam, and Fairy Godmother. Malinda and Ben stood next to each other while the adults stood across from them.
"I think we all know why we're here." Adam said to the group, causing Ben to look at him in confusion. "The people are in a panic about Hades." Adam told his son, causing Ben to scoff and roll his eyes a little, while Malinda just stood there in silence as she looked down at the ground. "He almost got out."
"Who knows what he would've done if he had escaped." Fairy Godmother reminded Ben gently.
"We can't risk having another villain on the loose." Adam snapped as he shook his head.
"I really feel like this is my fault." Malinda spoke up sadly, feeling like she could have done more against Hades. "I'm supposed to protect Auradon."
"You did." Ben told Malinda softly as he turned to look at her. "You do protect Auradon."
"Every time we open the barrier, we're exposed to danger." Adam reminded his son. "Maleficent, Uma, Hades."
All of a sudden Ben's phone went off. Ben opened the text he just got, reading it before sighing and turning to face the group.
"Maleficent's scepter and the queen's crown have been stolen." Ben said softly as he put his phone away and faced the others.
"Uma." Adam exclaimed as he pointed a finger at Ben.
"We don't know that, Dad." Ben quickly told his dad as Malinda stepped away from Ben as she tried to think of a plan, knowing what Adam, Belle, and Fairy Godmother would say.
"When the people hear this, they will never wanna leave their houses." Belle said in horror as she looked at her son. "What do we tell them?" Belle asked before looking over at Malinda for suggestions. "Malinda... what do we do? How do we keep evil out of Auradon?"
Malinda looked down at the ground when she noticed that everyone had turned to look at her. "I think that you guys think that there's only... one way to guarantee their safety. I know that you guys are thinking that we should close down the barrier forever." Malinda spoke up hesitantly, not giving away what she really thought yet. "I personally think that we shouldn't do that. Not forever, at least. For now, we should close down the barrier, until we know who did this and until we get a better plan made up. We can revisit bringing more kids in the future, when we know what happened and we stop whoever has done this."
Ben shook his head in disbelief as he looked at the adults who shared a look before they nodded hesitantly in agreement with Malinda. However, they still personally believed that they should close the barrier forever.
"No." Ben shook his head in disbelief as he started to walk away.
"Son." Adam sighed as he watched Ben.
"No." Ben muttered as he walked towards the door.
"Ben." Malinda called out sadly as she started to follow Ben.
"No, no, no." Ben muttered as he continued to pace.
"Ben. Hey." Malinda said as she stopped Ben's pace and grabbed his hands. "I do not want to take away your dream, because it was so beautiful, and it is why I fell in love with you. But as king and as queen, what's our duty?"
"To protect Auradon." Ben sighed as he looked down at Malinda. "But you know what this would mean? All those kids. Are you prepared for that?"
"I know what it means. And, no, I'm not prepared for it." Malinda said sadly as tears streamed down her face. "I just think that we have no other choice. But it's not like this is going to last forever. For now, let's focus on catching who did this and still help the people of the Isle with the barrier closed temporarily."
"Son." Adam said softly as he walked towards the couple causing Malinda to look at him. "Malinda's right. And even though, like you said, I do believe that we should close the barrier forever, we will support the decision that you decide to make."
"I just don't think that we would forgive ourselves if something terrible happened." Malinda said as she took a step away from Ben and looked over at the others who were watching her sadly.