“It’s okay, let’s just get there,” said Evie as they ran down the cobblestone streets, their heels kicking up dust as they garnered curious looks from a few townspeople. “Hurry!”

At last they made it past the Bargain Castle and had a clear shot all the way to Rickety Bridge. “Wait!” said Evie. “We don’t want to give ourselves away.”

“But where are they?” asked Carlos, scanning the bridge. “I don’t see them.”

“I distinctly heard Maddy say they were going to wait right here; maybe whatever they’re waiting for has already happened?” Evie said, with a sinking feeling in her chest. “I should have stayed here! Curse these shoes, they slowed me down too much.”

Jay focused on the bridge. It looked deserted and lonely in the moonlight, but at the very edge of it, he spotted two brightly colored heads—one blue-green and one violet. “There! I see them!”

Evie swirled to where he was pointing. “Let’s move closer,” she said, and they inched their way to the edge of the shore, as close to the bridge as they dared without giving away their presence.

“What are they doing?” asked Carlos. “They’re just looking out into the water. What are they waiting for?”

“A goblin barge maybe?” guessed Evie. “Don’t they work the graveyard shift?”

Jay scratched his forehead under his beanie. “Explain to me again why we’re sneaking around? Why don’t we just tell Mal we’re here?”

“No!” said Evie. “Not just yet.”

“Why not?” asked Carlos, who looked like he thought Evie was being a little paranoid.

“Because I don’t trust Maddy, and if we tell them we’re here, we’ll never find out what she’s up to,” she told them.

“You just don’t like witches,” said Jay.

“No way!” said Evie, annoyed that she wasn’t being taken seriously. “You guys seem to have forgotten I’m a witch too! Just like my mom. And I like myself just fine.”

“You’re a witch?” Carlos said. “Oh, right, you are a witch. I did forget.”

Evie nodded. “It’s okay, people tend to forget. Everyone just thinks I’m an evil princess.”

They watched Maddy and Mal looking intently at the dark water, and after a few minutes, the boys started to get bored. “Come on, Evie, let’s just tell Mal we’re here. We need to start looking for the entrance to the Catacombs,” Jay said.

“Just a little longer,” Evie begged.

“I just don’t see what the point of this is,” said Jay. The two of them were still arguing over it when Carlos nudged both of them in a panic.

“What?” said Jay, annoyed.

Carlos couldn’t speak, he just pointed—and they all turned their attention back down to the Rickety Bridge, where a group of villain kids had emerged from the shadows and quickly surrounded Mal and Maddy. It was a motley group, including Anthony Tremaine, Ginny Gothel, and the burly twin brothers Gaston and Gaston.

“Evie was right, this doesn’t look good,” Carlos whispered.

“Shhh!” said Jay, listening intently to the group’s conversation.

Anthony Tremaine’s rich baritone boomed through the air. “Look what we have here, the little heroine of the story,” he said.

“What story would that be?” said Mal.

“Oh, just a little fairy tale they’re spinning in Auradon about how wonderful it is that villains can change.” He smirked. “What a shame we don’t believe in fairy tales here.”

“That’s not true, there are people right on the Isle of the Lost that believe it too,” said Mal. “Maddy, what’s going on? Why are they here?” she demanded.

“Tell her, Maddy,” cackled Ginny Gothel. “Tell her why you brought her here.”

Back where they were hiding, Carlos stood on his tiptoes since the large silhouettes of the Gastons blocked his view. “What’s going on?” he asked. “Maybe we should go down there now.”

“Not yet!” said Evie. “I want to hear what Maddy says.”

Maddy crossed her arms and looked Mal up and down. “Remember how I told you there were bad eggs in the group? Looks like you just cracked one, Mal.” She laughed. “Except I’m not the one who’s going to get scrambled tonight. Especially now that we know you don’t have any powers after all.”

Evie winced.

“What?” cried Carlos. “Are they hurting her?”

“Only with bad puns.”

“I knew it! That message was fake! You were just pretending to be good all along.” Mal’s voice was clear and calm in the dark.

“Good guess, but then why are you here?” sneered Maddy.

“I had to find out for sure,” said Mal. “I thought that maybe I still had a friend on the island.”

“Friend? Is that what you thought I was? You cut off the heads of my dolls! You put lye in my hair so I had to change its color! You didn’t like that everyone called us twins! Some friend you are! You’re more delusional than your mother!” shrieked Maddy.

“Ouch,” said Evie. “Did Mal really do all those things?”

“Um, yeah,” said Carlos. “I mean, she is Maleficent’s kid. She was pretty mean growing up.”

“And you were telling that goblin back there to fetch the rest of your crew down here so they could ambush me,” said Mal.

“Exactly,” said Maddy.

The villains crowded around Mal, so that she was pressed against the railing at the edge of the bridge.

“Okay, okay, let’s go get her now,” said Evie, and they ran out of their hiding place and headed toward the bridge, Jay in the lead.

“Okay, fine! I was a little brat! I’m sorry, okay?”

“Only suckers are sorry,” said Maddy. “And Anti-Heroes are the biggest suckers of all!”

“Don’t you get it?” Ginny Gothel asked. “The professor’s wrong! There’s no hope for us and we don’t want any! We’re villains at heart! True villains! Not like you!” She raised her fist to the sky. “Evil lives!”

“Evil lives,” echoed the Gastons, slapping their fists to their palms.