Malefison

by Braxton Husk

  “Oh, yes, I placed a spell on it so that no one could tell if they happened to find it. Clearly, it seemed to work because you had no clue that it belonged to me.”

  “Well, may I ask this? How are you even real? How is any of this even real? I thought you and everyone else were just stories on a page.”

  “That is just it. Walt Disney had more power than you and me combined. He made his stories come to life when he made Disneyland. But not all characters had a body to possess,” the Queen said.

  Exton had a confused look on his face.

  “You see, Maleficent is not here, because she did not have an animatronic to control. But luckily, Walt Disney and the Disney Imagineers created one for me, much like the others.” The Queen took a step back.

  “Ah, I understand,” Exton said.

  “Yes. Now, if you don’t have any more questions, let’s continue what we were doing, shall we?” The Queen placed her hand over the box.

  A purple mist began to swirl around the mystical box, as she spun her hand around it. When the purple mist began to dissipate, it revealed a red box with a sword through a gold heart.

  “What you are going to do is open the box and stare deep inside.”

  “Are you sure that’s it?” Exton asked.

  “Oh, one more thing! Stand in front of the mirror while you are doing this.”

  Exton nodded and walked towards the Magic Mirror. He felt a strange, yet familiar allurement drawing him towards the mirror.

  He got into position and opened the box. The box was filled with green fog, and it began to snake its way out of the box. As he stared into the green fog, it began to swirl, then quickly faded away. Suddenly, he saw his mother lying in a bed. All he could hear was beeping. He suddenly realized that this was his mother in the hospital. He felt something inside that he had never felt before.

  The green fog began to rise up again, only to fade into Luke bullying him over the years, shown to him in a series of images that only flashed for a second. The feeling inside him began to grow stronger and even angrier.

  The fog began to swirl once more to reveal a fire-breathing dragon that resembled Maleficent. The dragon was fighting an unknown creature, with buildings burning behind it. At that moment, Exton knew he had become that dragon. It was a symbol of his anger and hatred towards the world. He closed the box, afraid of what was next.

  “Look up,” the Queen said in an amused tone.

  Exton raised his head up and stared into the mirror. He witnessed his eyes glowing a bright neon green, even greener than they already were.

  He perceived that he was becoming a darker, angrier person. Just what the son of Maleficent would be expected to be like. He dropped the box onto the floor. It landed perfectly right-side up and opened.

  The green fog was released and began to rise and swirl around him, until it finally consumed Exton’s entire body.

  When the fog began to clear, he stared back sharply into the mirror.

  Exton was now dressed in a black shirt, a black vest, and a pair of black skinny jeans. He was also wearing black shoes with a thorn pattern on the side. To top it all off, a long black flowing cape was attached to his vest.

  “I can get used to this,” Exton said, looking in the mirror, grinning.

  “Now, Exton …” the Queen began, as Exton cut her off.

  “No …Call me Malefison.”

  “Well, then, Malefison, I still need your help, now that you have unlocked your true, inner power.”

  “What do you need help with?”

  “I need you to hold my box in front of me,” the Queen instructed.

  Exton picked up the box and held it in front of her. The Queen carefully opened the box and stood back.

  “I am also going to need you to fill the box with all your anger.”

  “And how do I do that?” Exton asked.

  “Just hold the box on both sides and think of what you saw in the box. Your power will do the rest.”

  The Queen steadied herself and opened the box, as the green fog began to flow out again. Exton squeezed the box tight, as he felt the anger and hate rushing through his hands and into the box.

  The green fog began to seep out and consume the Evil Queen, much like it did Exton. It swirled around the Queen’s body, wrapping it in an eerie light. The green fog then faded into more of a dark purple, then a light green. The fog began to contain little flashes of light, much like a lightning storm. It began to dissipate from the top to the bottom, revealing two large, black horns. At that moment, Exton knew exactly what the Evil Queen’s true form was, for the fog finally dissipated completely to reveal this.

  “Well, well! I’ve been waiting way too long to meet you, Malefison!” Maleficent said. “And I’m pretty sure you know who I am, due to our previous conversation.”

  “Yes, even without our conversation, I would definitely know you,” Exton said.

  “Hmm, I thought so,” Maleficent said, as she gave an evil smile.

  Chapter 10

  “Now, I think you should be on your way,” Maleficent said.

  “Aren’t you coming with me?”

  “No, I have already fought my battles and failed. But that doesn’t mean that I can’t help you fight yours,” Maleficent replied.

  “How are you gonna help me fight, if you can’t come with me?”

  “That box didn’t just change your wardrobe, Exton. It gave you what you needed. You needed to find your inner power and it seems you have. But to keep it, you are going to have to stay away from that Alana. Here, you’re going to need this.” Maleficent tossed the box to Exton.

  “But why stay away from Alana?”

  “Because, if you want to keep your true power, you cannot be with her.”

  “Okay!” Exton took a step back.

  However, in the back of his mind, he was questioning if he had made the right decision.

  A cart entered the room and stopped in front of Exton and Maleficent.

  As Exton was getting into the cart, he asked, “One more thing, if you were Maleficent all along, then why were you in the Evil Queen’s animatronic and acting like the Evil Queen?”

  “Well, there are two reasons. The reason why I was in the Queen’s animatronic is because Walt did not give me a ride with my own animatronic. So, I had to improvise and possess the Queen’s animatronic. The reason I was pretending to be the Evil Queen is because I was making sure it was really you. Now, you must be on your way.”

  As she raised her hand up to the cart, it began to move. Exton left feeling satisfied, yet confused at the same time. As he approached the end of the ride, Alana was waiting for him at the exit.

  “Exton!” Alana frantically called out.

  “I’ve been waiting for you here!

  What happened?”

  Alana noticed his new look.

  “She changed you, didn’t she?”

  He stepped out of the cart speechless.

  “Just as I expected. I told you not to listen to her, yet you did!” Alana exploded in anger.

  “No! She showed me who I could be and what I need to be!”

  “I thought you would have come out of there good and true, but yet she changed you. She always does!”

  “What do you mean, ‘she always does’?” Exton asked.

  “Forget it. I thought you would have believed in me,” Alana said.

  “No, it’s just that I …”

  Alana cut him off. “Save it, Exton. GO DEFEAT your enemies or something!”

  “How did you know that?” Exton asked.

  “Did you forget that I have a crystal ball?”

  “Oh, that’s right, you’re a seer, psychic, clairvoyant, a fortune teller, or whatever,” Exton said, rolling his eyes. “Yeah, you know what? Maybe I will go defeat my enemies!” With that, Exton ran through the castle and out onto the street.

  “Exton, what are you doing?” Alana said, racing after him.

  Chapter 11

  Exton ran to the
front of the Walt Disney statue. He placed the box in front of it and pulled out his wand. He then stepped back and pointed his wand at the box.

  “Exton!” Alana shouted.

  Exton shot a fluorescent green beam at the box and levitated it into the air. He raised his left hand and pointed at the statue. Walt Disney’s right hand began to twist and face upwards. Exton levitated the box over to Walt’s hand.

  Walt Disney’s fingers began to grip the box.

  “Exton, don’t open that box!” Alana shouted.

  Exton waved the wand, as the box began to open.

  “No!” Alana screamed.

  The box shot a green lightning bolt into the sky. Two dark clouds began to appear on opposite sides of the bolt. They started to swirl and eventually combine into one cloud.

  “Exton, what have you done?”

  Everything seemed to slow down in the park, including Exton and Alana. Everything quickly returned to normal speed, as a circle of green energy burst in the middle of the bolt, much like a nuclear explosion. This resulted in a massive boom that shook the entire park. A green dome began to form around the park.

  “Exton, what is this?”

  Meanwhile, Scarlet and her goons had made their way into Adventureland. Scarlet looked into the sky and noticed the dome beginning to form.

  “Well, he’s finally done it,” Scarlet proclaimed.

  She pulled out her phone.

  “Meet me in the Central Plaza. We found him!”

  The beam let out another big boom.

  “Exton, we have to stop it!”

  Something suddenly switched inside Exton, and his intuition told him this wasn’t right. He started walking towards the statue. The beam released yet another thundering boom, sending Exton flying a few feet back. When he landed, he switched again.

  I’ve come too far to let my good side defeat me, Exton thought to himself.

  He stood back up and walked back towards the statue. As he was walking back, he heard someone shout his name. He stopped in his tracks and looked towards the direction of the voice. Out walked Scarlet and her two goons from Adventureland.

  “I’ve beaten you twice and I will beat you again, Scarlet!”

  “You really think that we came to fight again?” Scarlet said sarcastically.

  “Yes, I do Scarlet,” Exton replied sneeringly.

  “No, you didn’t let me finish. I was going to say, did you really think that we came to fight again and not bring backup?”

  Chapter 12

  The sound of rustling leaves could be heard on the trees between Adventureland and Frontierland. The park rumbled with the roar of a very large creature.

  “What is that?” Alana said in a petrified tone.

  “I think I may have an idea,” Exton answered.

  As the trees came crashing down, they revealed the massive animatronic Maleficent dragon from Fantasmic. Its mechanical mouth opened up, as it let out another ground-shaking roar. It then began to breathe fire, and as the wind caught it, it was carried onto the trees around it, engulfing them in flames.

  “Exton, if you’re attempting to defeat Scarlet and this dragon, we’re gonna have to work together!”

  “No, Maleficent told me to stay away from you, Alana. You’re lucky I’m even talking to you right now.”

  Alana stared at him with a furious expression frozen on her face.

  “Exton, you’re lucky I didn’t just punch you.”

  “If we’re gonna do this, we’re gonna have to do this together. Please just trust me!” Alana pleaded.

  “Alana, let me …”

  Alana cut him off in mid-sentence. She pulled him towards her and gave him a passionate kiss. It lasted for a few seconds before they unlocked their lips. Exton stepped back speechless, gazing into Alana’s eyes.

  The sky generated a flashing green light. The beam began to flash as well, until it let out a green blast, then another beam, but a lighter green.

  Finally, it let out a humongous bright yellow circle blast that lit up the entire Disneyland Park. It was so bright, it even caught the dragon’s attention, causing it to look up.

  Exton took in a deep breath.

  “Alana!” Exton hugged Alana.

  “I don’t know what just happened, but I’m back,” Exton exclaimed.

  “I guess true love’s kiss can break any spell,” Alana said with a smirk.

  The dragon once again let out another ground-shaking roar. It caught Exton and Alana off guard, as they turned and gazed at it. Scarlet had seemingly disappeared.

  “Where did Scarlet go?” Exton turned to look around in all directions.

  They stopped and looked down Main Street.

  “This is sweet and all, but I think it’s time we finish this,” Scarlet interrupted.

  Exton and Alana turned away from Main Street and looked towards the statue. There was Scarlet standing in front of the Partners statue with her goons.

  “You know what, Scarlet?”

  “What’s that, Alana?”

  “Never mess with a GYPSY!”

  Alana pulled out her crystal ball and threw it at Scarlet. It shattered on her chest, and she began to shake before collapsing on the floor. She continued to shake until she fell over on her side, and her eyes began to dim. Scarlet’s goons ran towards the exit of the park in fear.

  Alana looked over at Exton. He was staring at Scarlet, his jaw dropped to the floor, and then he looked at Alana.

  “What did you just do? You murdered Scarlet!”

  “Okay, first of all, she was evil, and second of all, she’s an animatronic. So, technically, I didn’t murder anyone,” Alana said defensively.

  “Well, at least I know not to mess with you.”

  When they looked back at Scarlet, a purple energy was emanating from her body and darting towards the dragon. It then entered the dragon, who let out another horrendous scream, as now it was breathing green fire.

  “I told you to stay away from that Alana!” the dragon roared, as its mechanical mouth moved up and down. “What the … Maleficent?!” Exton shouted across the plaza.

  “Hahahahaha! That’s right, Exton. To make sure you don’t talk to that girl anymore, I am just going to have to kill her!” the Maleficent dragon snarled.

  The dragon ran towards Exton and Alana with its green fire shooting out of its mouth.

  “Alana, grab the box!”

  Alana darted towards the statue, jumped on one of the benches, and then onto the base of the Partners statue. She reached for the box, but it was tightly secured with Walt’s hand holding onto it. She tried to use her sorcery but failed.

  “Exton, you distract the dragon while I get the box! Toss me the wand!”

  “Catch!” Exton threw the wand to Alana.

  “Hey, Maleficent! You gotta go through me first!” Exton yelled at the dragon.

  “Well, if that is what you want!” Maleficent began to chase Exton.

  Alana took the crystal out of the wand, and placed it in her back pocket. She reached in her other pocket for her crystal ball, but she couldn’t find it.

  “Oh right, duh.”

  Alana stuck her hand out, retrieved the shards of the crystal, and formed it back into her crystal ball. She then placed the ball into the wand. She shoved the wand between the box and Walt’s hand. Alana then pulled the wand down, popped the box out, and quickly closed the box.

  “Exton! Here!” Alana tossed the box to him.

  He caught the box and opened it.

  “Come on, come on!” he said, as the green fog began to seep out.

  He ran over to the front of the castle in the middle of the compass. He threw the box onto the ground, as a dark cloud began to move towards his body. Alana raced to the back of the statue and watched Exton, as the dragon ran towards him. The dark cloud consumed Exton and began to swirl around him.

  Chapter 13

  As the cloud grew taller and wider, Alana looked up, following its height. The cloud stopped growing whe
n it was almost as tall as the castle. It began to dissipate, revealing that Exton had transformed into a 60-foot fire-breathing dragon that resembled the Maleficent dragon.

  The only difference was that Exton’s dragon was more masculine and darker, with a dark green and purple belly, black scaly skin, and sizable horns on the top of his head.

  He also had his signature glowing green eyes. His tale was about twenty feet long, and up his back were dark purple spikes that ran down his tail as well.

  Alana stared at Exton in amazement. He also caught Maleficent’s eye as well. Exton looked up and glowered at Maleficent from across the plaza.

  To top it all off, Exton opened his gigantic wings. They were black with a dark purple outline.

  “Well, well,” Maleficent said.

  Exton flapped his wings as he darted through the air over Alana and the plaza. He landed on Maleficent, crushing a bit of her mechanical endoskeleton, and causing barrels to roll into Main Street.

  Maleficent stood back up and breathed her green fire at Exton. He got himself back up and took his stance. Exton then opened his mouth wide, exposing his razor-sharp teeth. He just sat there like that, but nothing was happening.

  “Hahaha! You don’t even know how to fire breathe!” Maleficent said in a mocking tone.

  Exton knew exactly what he was doing. He was filling the air with gas, waiting to ignite it. He shot one green and purple fireball out of his mouth, as the gas in the air ignited with the fire and launched Maleficent back multiple feet.

  The Main Street buildings began to burn. She got back on her feet, and she began scratching at Exton. He did the same, biting her metal exoskeleton just below her neck, and ripping out a few of her wires. She let out a scream as she bit Exton on the back, causing him to bleed. Exton let out a deep roar. As he turned around, his long muscular tale crashed into the buildings, shattering the glass, and knocking scores of bricks loose. Malefison ran into Maleficent, biting her neck below her jaw and slamming her into the burning buildings. She fell onto the pavement screaming, the buildings crumbling down upon her, making it impossible for her to get back up.