“When the rest of this pathetic little island discovers their hero was fed to the crocodiles, what do you think will happen to that silly little club?” asked Maddy with a crazed smile. “Everyone will realize that there’s no hope in trying to be good! Evil always triumphs! Anti-hero is just another name for villain, and we’ll be villains forever!”

“You don’t have to do this,” said Mal. She’d had to climb on the railing to get away from them, and Ginny was still blocking her way. “It won’t prove anything. Maddy, you’re not going to get your old hair back, but maybe I can help you fix it. I’m pretty good at spells now.”

“Shut up,” said Maddy. “And I don’t have to do this. I want to!” she shrieked, and the rest of the group joined in her laughter. “Ginny, why don’t you do the honors,” she offered.

“Let’s do it together,” said Ginny.

With matching grins, the two of them pushed Mal off the railing and into the bay.

Maddy leaned over the edge. “Say hi to the crocodiles! Tell them dinner’s served!”

“Jay! Carlos! Hurry!” cried Evie. “Mal can’t swim!”

How about that, high heels were finally useful for something, Evie discovered after hitting Ginny Gothel in the back with one. The dark-haired girl screamed and clawed at her, almost scratching her across the cheek.

“Not the face!” cried Evie, furious. “Anywhere but the face!” Ginny lunged for her and the two of them fell to the ground, pulling each other’s hair.

Jay took care of the Gastons by running between them at just the right moment so they ended up bumping heads and falling to the ground, moaning. But Mad Maddy and Anthony Tremaine kept from the fray. Carlos knew the Stepmother’s grandson would shy away from a fair fight, preferring to have the deck stacked on his side, and it would be easy enough to send Anthony running if he played it right.

“What are you waiting for!” Carlos said, throwing down some judo moves he’d seen in his video games.

Anthony rolled his eyes and took off.

“Well?” Carlos said to Mad Maddy as the Gastons slunk away and Ginny ran off whimpering. “It’s only you against the three of us now.”

Maddy tossed her bright blue-green hair and sneered, her eyes wide with maniacal fury. “You think you’ve won here, but I promise you, all of Auradon will burn, just like Camelot!” she said, cackling like a hag as she disappeared into the night.

Evie picked herself off the ground and ran to the railing, scanning the dark water. “Where’s Mal?” she asked. “I don’t see her!”

“There!” said Jay, pointing to a dark purple head and arms flailing in the waves.

“Dive! What are you waiting for?” Evie asked as Jay hesitated by the rail.

“I can’t swim!” he confessed. “It’s not like there were lessons on the Isle of the Lost, you know!”

Carlos ran up and began to remove his heavy jacket. “I can dog-paddle! I’ll go!”

“Wait!” said Jay. “Crocodiles!”

Mal was surrounded by several of the large scaly beasts snapping their jaws. She was bobbing up and down in the water and screaming for help.

“We’re coming!” said Evie. “Carlos is coming to save you!”

Carlos climbed up on the rail and stared down at the hungry crocodiles. “Um, I am?”

“Go!” said Evie. “Don’t worry about the crocs, Jay and I will draw them away!” She gave him a little push and he dropped into the water. She saw his black-and-white head above the waves as he inched his way toward Mal.

“Great! How are we going to do that?” asked Jay.

“With bait!”

“Awesome!” he said. “Wow, you really travel with everything you need, huh?”

Evie gave him a look.

“Hang on, are we the bait?” asked Jay with a groan.

“Yes! Hurry!” Evie threw her other heel so it bounced on the nearest crocodile’s head. Then she whistled while dangling a leg over the side of the bridge. “Over here! Yoo-hoo!”

Jay stretched his torso from the edge of the dock and began to wave his arms. “Come on! Over here! Come and get me!” Then, seized by a sudden flash of brilliance, he began to chant. “Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock!” It was common knowledge in the Isle of the Lost that the crocodiles in its waters were no ordinary crocodiles, as they were descended from the one and only Tick-Tock himself. The sound of a ticking clock was almost a lullaby for them, and the crocodiles were hypnotized by Jay’s chanting, swimming toward him and Evie.

Mal screamed one last time before disappearing under the water, but in a burst of speed, Carlos was by her side. He dove beneath the waves and hooked his arms underneath hers.

“I’ve got her! I’ve got her!” he yelled, keeping Mal’s head above the water as he kicked his way back to shore, dodging the crocodiles, which were now circling Jay eagerly, entranced by his rhythmic chanting.

“Tick-tock, tick-tock…yeah, that’s right, come on over here. Tick-tock, tick-tock,” said Jay. “Tick-tock, tick-tock!”

Evie pulled her leg back from the edge and ran to help Carlos, and together they hauled Mal back safely on land.

It was late on Sunday when a fairy tapped Ben on the shoulder and told him that Faylinn had asked that he meet her with her team of archivists in the oak tree’s library. Ben had passed the time while waiting by looking over the latest weather reports for the entire kingdom to see if anything had gotten worse. There hadn’t been any new sightings of the purple dragon or snake in the last few hours, but who knew when it would strike next.

He followed the fairy up the winding staircase to a massive library housed in one of the topmost branches of the oak tree. Faylinn was flying in front of a huge projection screen, buzzing quietly with her team. The room was cozy and warm, with a crackling fireplace behind a grate, and long tables with pretty intertwined leaves and branches where the fairies worked.

“Ben, you’re here, good,” she said, flying over to him. “I think we’ve found something.”

She motioned to the images projected on the wall, which showed two blown-up photos of purple scales. Faylinn flew over and motioned to sharp ridges on one of the scales. “Look at this,” she said. “The ridges on your scale are almost identical to the one on the right, even though the one on the right is almost ten times its size. The one on the left is your serpent scale, and the other one is about the size of a dragon scale.”