Return to the Isle of the Lost - Melissa de la Cruz Page 0,45
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.
“Wait! So she’s definitely not here? Evil Queen isn’t part of this group? What about Cruella or Jafar?” Mal asked.
Before anyone could answer her question, Yen Sid stepped up to the blackboard. “Welcome to the weekly meeting of the Anti-Heroes,” he said. “We are now formally in session.”
“Can I ask why you’re called Anti-Heroes?” asked Carlos, raising his hand.
“Don’t you know? Think about it,” said the professor, his eyes twinkling.
Mal scrunched her forehead, and reflected on what she had just learned from the excited group of so-called villains. “It’s called Anti-Heroes because you’re hiding in plain sight,” she said.
Yen Sid smiled broadly. “It is the only way to hide.”
To anyone who stumbled on the Anti-Heroes thread on the Dark Net, it looked as if the club despised the foursome, but of course the photos of the four of them were simply recruitment tools, subtly telling members-in-the-know that this was the place to be if they wanted to be like Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos. Mal shared her epiphany with the group, and heads happily nodded around the class.
“That is part of it, of course, but there is another reason we are called Anti-Heroes,” said Yen Sid. “What most people don’t know is that anti-hero is another word for villain—or let me put it this way, an anti-hero is the villain that you root for in the story. An anti-hero is a hero who isn’t perfect. An anti-hero doesn’t ride up in a white horse, or have shining golden hair and wonderful manners. In fact, an anti-hero doesn’t look like the typical hero of a story at all. Anti-heroes can be crude and ugly and selfish, but they are heroes nonetheless. As flawed as an anti-hero is, they’re still trying to do the right thing. You are all anti-heroes, and I’m proud of you.” He beamed at them, and the group clapped and cheered.
“So just to confirm, this is a secret club to teach villains—sorry, anti-heroes—how to be good?” asked Carlos. Mal remembered how Ginny Gothel had said “they” were right about Mal, and “there was no hope for anyone”—she must have meant there was little hope for evil anymore, if even Maleficent’s daughter had chosen to be good.
Mal frowned. “Hold on, Professor. If this club is devoted to learning how to be good, am I right in assuming Evil Queen, Cruella de Vil, and Jafar have nothing to do with it either?”
“With the Anti-Heroes? No, of course not, they’re villains through and through, I’m afraid,” said the professor. “But speaking of the villains, it is