While we waited for news on how the castle escapade was going, I wanted to make sure my sister was okay. At that point, nobody felt that splitting up was smart, so Zeke and Marcus came with me.

The whole way to VillaVillains, we didn't encounter a single security guard. It actually made me more nervous than if we did. Why weren't there any around? I felt like prey standing in an open field. Somewhere, a hunter could be watching and waiting, gun loaded and aimed.

I'd only been to VillaVillains a few times but I really did enjoy the atmosphere. Halloween was my favorite holiday and I always got that vibe walking through the gateway. I had never been there at night though. The black lamp posts were glowing, the light casting over the spray painted faces of villains on the pathway. There was no villain music playing because the park was closed, leaving us in a heavy silence.

Yeah. I didn't like being there at night. Daytime, sure. Nighttime was a no-no.

I searched for Mary-Ann, taking care to avoid eye contact with all of the villains who moved to stand right beside their glass cases and stare. Ursula was the only character not paying us any attention. She knew we were trying to help so I was certain that she would be one of the few villains to agree to our plan.

We walked past so many glaring villains - Maleficent, Gaston, Dr. Facilier, Governor Ratcliffe, Shan Yu, even Shere Khan was there - and I started to feel uncomfortable under the gazes. Working every day with them had to be hard. No wonder when I had asked Zeke at the beginning of my time here who his favorite villain was, he said he couldn't answer because they were all menaces.

"Mary-Ann?" I half-called, half-whispered.

"Here!" a voice piped up from around a corner.

I picked up my pace and found her standing in front of an exhibit marked Hades.

It was so surreal seeing a god standing there behind the glass, hair blazing with bright blue flames. He was scowling at my sister, but his hair wasn't red, so that was a good sign.

"...so will you?" Mary-Ann was asking.

Hades' eyes moved to Zeke, Marcus, and I as we approached. Mary-Ann turned to look too. She smiled a little when she saw us.

"How's it going over here?" Zeke asked.

"It's been interesting," she said. "I've been threatened more times than I can count. Usually I'm the one doing the threatening."

"Who's agreed to help?"

She pulled out her cellphone and opened up a note app. "I made a list. It's pretty short but we've got Ursula, Maleficent, Captain Hook, Cruella de Vil, Jafar, Mother Gothel, Hans, Gaston, and Scar. The rest kind of want us dead for this happening in the first place. There were a couple who said they would help if they could. Lady Tremaine said she would if she weren't so "old and fragile" and than the Evil Queen said she doesn't want to mess up her appearance. But they at least are more on our side. The rest...I don't know. They'll be a pain to get to the portal if they try attacking anybody and anything."

"Yeah..." I glanced around. "We'll cross that bridge when we get there."

"And you?" Zeke asked Hades. "What's your answer?"

"I don't necessarily miss the underworld right now," he said, arms crossed, "but a god does not belong in a cage. I have things I need to do."

"And souls you need to damn," Marcus muttered behind me.

"So...is that a yes?"

Hades narrowed his eyes and looked between the four of us for a minute before straightening his stance. He was intimidating, that was for sure. "Yes. I suppose I'll help, but only as long as word about this doesn't get to Zeus and those other insufferable immortals."

"Deal," Zeke said. Mary-Ann was smiling as she typed out Hades name on her list.

"You have anybody else you need to talk to?" I asked her.

"Nope."

"We're going to unlock the door," Zeke told Hades, "but you are not to leave until you're told. It'll be over the speakers. Got it?"

Hades rolled his eyes. "Blah, blah, blah, yes."

Part of me was concerned that the villains were tricking us and, once we were out of sight, would leave their exhibits and wreak more havoc. Before I could think too deeply about it, a loud voice in my walkie-talkie made me jump, heart pounding. "GUYS!" It was Ben, sounding a little panicked. "We know what Ro means! Are you there?"

My eyes widened. I immediately fumbled to get it off the belt so I could speak. I nearly shouted as I said, "What does it mean, Ben?"

There was a pause. My hands were trembling. We'd spent so long agonizing over the Ro situation and now we were about to have an answer. By the tone of Ben's voice, it was something important.

"What does it mean?" I said again.

"It means robot!" he replied. "Robots! Two types, it looks like. Humanoid ones and than the exact same type from that superhero movie!"

Superhero movie?

My stomach twisted when it dawned on me. My voice was shaky as I asked, "The Incredibles?"

"Yeah, that one!"

I heard somebody in the group inhale sharply. I looked up. The three of them were pale-faced. I probably looked the same way. Those robots were huge. How did one get around the parks without being seen? Even at night, there were at least security guards.

"You there?" Ben's voice asked.

"Oh, y-yeah," I said. "Yeah. Wow. Okay, um, thanks. Are Seth and Sara looking for the little girl?"

"Yeah, they got Sukie and I up here to the office and then took off. We don't know if they've found her yet."

"Alright. Um, get back down here as soon as possible so we can talk this out."

"Aye-yay."

I lowered the walkie-talkie. There was silence for a long time as we all processed what was just revealed.

"So Peter Pan..." I trailed off for a moment, gathering my thoughts. "Peter got hurt by a robot coming through to our world. That means these robots have been around this whole time. But...they're from The Incredibles. Not whatever humanoid ones Ben's talking about, but the big ones. Did they come through the portal toward the beginning and the Founders were able to hack and control them? Yzma works with potions, but does she know more high tech stuff too?"

"But, remember, Sara said that a white gloved hand had shoved her through the portal," Zeke reminded me. "So it isn't just robots doing this."

"Yzma doesn't wear white gloves though."

"What about Mickey Mouse?" Mary-Ann asked. "That would be so twisted if he was the mastermind behind all of this."

I stared at her. "Yeah, I don't think a sweet mouse is suddenly turning evil."

She shrugged. "You never know. We're talking about Disney here. Remember Hans?"

"Well, who else wears white gloves?"

"Who cares right now?" she said. "There are robots from The Incredibles here at the park right now as well as a Disney character running the show with...whoever Stermin is. She could've picked him up off of the streets and offered him the world if he helped her. Maybe he's great with hacking and computers and stuff, I don't know. But now we know that robots are playing a part."

"Ursula did say that she saw something huge, round, and with long legs carrying an unconscious child on top through the parks one night," Zeke said.

"Yeah, but how did no guards see that?" I asked incredulously.

"Because," a sudden voice boomed over the speakers. I gasped, nearly dropping to the ground in fright. Yzma. Her voice even sounded exactly like Yzma's. It was no longer concealed with the identity of Ykell. "We run this park, stupid girl. We control everything. Guards can be patrolling when and where we please. There were none the night our robot was on the move, and there are none tonight."

They knew we'd be here.

Before any of us could do anything, forms moved out from within bushes and shadows. Mary-Ann released a frightened yelp, pressing against me. We stumbled away as the things approached. They were human shaped but they weren't human. They were made from a sleek, dark metal. No faces, no details...they almost looked like shiny shadows.

The humanoid robots Ben mentioned.

Another voice chuckled over the speakers now, sending a chill down my spine. When he spoke, my legs almost buckled beneath me. It wasn't Stermin's voice...but I knew it was him. No longer concealed either, his voice rang true to the character it belonged to.

Because both characters had voices more on the unique side, it wasn't hard placing his voice to the character immediately. Especially after having robots from The Incredibles ingrained in my head.

He was Syndrome.

"Well, well, well," he said, voice almost gleeful. "What do we have here?"

•~•~•~•

Holy cow.

I had it planned immediately from the beginning that it would be Yzma and Syndrome running the show. You'll be getting more details as to why and how in the next chapter. :D

The book is almost done. Are you feeling at least a little satisfied with things? Are you slowly getting your internal questions answered? 🙈