“We don’t know what’s really behind it yet, but I’ve sent letters to all the great minds of Auradon, telling them our concerns. And according to our fairy calculations, whatever this is, it started in the Isle of the Lost,” said Faylinn.

“I’ve already sent a team over to investigate there,” Ben said, thinking of Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos. “I have confidence they’ll get to the bottom of whatever is happening there.”

“Glad to hear that,” said Faylinn. “Why don’t you wait here; it shouldn’t take too long to discover the origins of that scale you found. We’ll get you something to eat and drink. You must be tired from driving around all day.”

“Thanks, Fay.”

He stood and she bowed to him. She began to fly away then called over her shoulder, “By the way, when you get home, please tell Chad Charming we hope he’s enjoying his bear rug.” She winked. “And if he ever pulls something like that again, I’ll fetch Captain Hook from the Isle of the Lost to teach him a lesson.”

“Will do,” Ben promised.

When she had been a student at Dragon Hall, Mal had never been lucky enough to take one of Yen Sid’s classes, and so while she knew about his mysteriously “good” reputation, she wasn’t as prepared as the others for his lighthearted demeanor. “First of all, how did you know we would be here?” she asked.

“Well, once you received our messages, of course we began to prepare for your arrival,” said Yen Sid.

“That was you!” exclaimed Carlos.

“Of course it was. We couldn’t sign them without giving ourselves away—too many bad eggs around, you know, one can never be too careful—but we hoped you would figure it out, and you did,” said the professor. “I’m very proud of you.”

“But how were you able to reach us?” asked Jay.

“Freddie!” said Mal. “She was the messenger, wasn’t she? Because she just transferred over from the island, and so she knew how to use the Dark Net, and how best to get in touch with us.”

“You are correct,” said Yen Sid.

“What do you mean?” asked Carlos.

“I saw her at the library one night, I had a feeling she was following me. Plus, she’s the only villain kid in Auradon who didn’t get a message to return home,” Mal explained. “And she must have known I’d only take it seriously if it sounded as if mine was from my mother, which is why she wrote ‘M.’”

“But you still haven’t told us what this group is all about?” asked Evie.

The old sorcerer removed his hat and scratched his bald pate. “Before I explain further, let’s clean up,” he said. “The club knows there are different rules here, about keeping things orderly and neat. Slovenliness is a hard habit to break, but they’re trying.”

“Here, let me,” said Mal, gathering the plates while Evie grabbed the cups and the boys wiped their table down with napkins.

Mal tossed the plates into the trash, and looked up to see a group of younger kids staring at her with a worshipful look on their faces.

“What you did in Auradon, we think it was awesome,” Hadie, Hades’s blue-haired son, whispered.

“It really was,” agreed Big Murph.

“So cool,” piped in Eddie, with a snaggletoothed smile just like the one his father used when he was intent on drowning Duchess and her kittens.

Soon an admiring crowd had gathered around her, and Mal noticed similar groups were forming around Evie, Carlos, and Jay as well. “You guys really think so?” she asked them. “That what we did at the Coronation was awesome?”

“Of course!” Hermie Bing squealed, sounding just like an elephant in her father’s old circus.

For a moment, Mal believed they were all excited and impressed because she was the baddest in the land, but it soon became clear that it was just the opposite. All they wanted to talk about was how good she’d become. Mal couldn’t get over how wrong she and the other villain kids had been about the club.

“Wait a minute—I thought everyone was scared of me because you guys think I’m worse than my mother,” she said, holding up her hands.

“Oh, we are scared,” said Harry. “Totally scared to find out that the power of good is stronger than the power of evil!”

“Wait, so you guys aren’t angry at me? You don’t hate us?” she said, though she felt kind of silly even asking at this point, considering the cake and everything else.

The babble of excited voices rose in indignation. “No!” “Not at all!” “We love you guys!” “What is she talking about?” “She’s been gone, remember? She doesn’t know things have changed.”

“We want to be you, we want to learn how to do what you did,” said Big Murph earnestly. “We want to learn how to be good too.”

“See, when we saw what the four of you accomplished, we realized that we don’t have to do what our parents want us to do either,” said Hadie. “Though, admittedly, it might be a little harder for me, considering. But I want to be different.”

“We choose to be good,” said Yzla forcefully, as if this statement was a rebellious act somehow, which, considering they were in the Isle of the Lost, it truly was.

They explained that the club was formed right after Mal defeated Maleficent. The island’s misfits, many of whom had already failed Lady Tremaine’s Evil Schemes class and sometimes surreptitiously helped hobbled goblins cross the street rather than kicking them to the curb, realized that they were drawn to goodness rather than evil.

In a way, Carlos had been right, the Anti-Heroes movement was a radical group, especially since it was devoted to unraveling every tenet of the island’s dearly held wicked values. Mal’s actions on Auradon had sparked a revolution, one in which the new generation of villains on the Isle of the Lost were eager to follow in her footsteps. Mal had expected to find a group devoted to hating heroes, not to be the center of hero worship. It took a while to believe that they were sincere, but eventually Mal was convinced.

Of course, the members of the club told Mal and her friends they had to practice this new inclination in secret, which is why even the villains who were at the meeting had been rude to Mal and her friends out in public. No one could know that the members of the club were trying to be good, especially not on the Isle of the Lost. But thanks to Yen Sid, they had a place to be themselves now. Yzla explained that Yen Sid suggested the Castle Across the Way because it was far from town and had been deserted for a while. Plus, no one would suspect that anything but the plotting of evil schemes or cosmetics lessons was under way in the home of Evil Queen.