Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

[Robinson Industries]

[Rebooting…]

[Good Morning, C34L R0B1NS0N]

Buildings. That was the first thing Carl saw when his vision came back to him. Tall dark buildings looming over him. A golden metallic hand came up and rested on the robot’s head. He really couldn’t catch a break, could he? Where the hell even was he? Where did today’s ‘grand adventure’ lead him? He looked around.
Bags of garbage, flies, and a large metal bin. …A dumpster. He was in a dumpster. You know what? He could deal with that. After all, one man’s trash was another man’s- is that a rat?

With a yell, Carl leapt from the dumpster and stumbled, his long thin legs flailing in the air. An alley cat yowled and scurried off into the night. He looked up behind him at the large red brick building. That looked familiar…

What had even happened? The last thing he remembered was Wilbur messing with the Time Machine, there was some shouting, Cornelius and Franny were there, there was a bright flash of light, and… now he’s here. Wait… what year is it?

“Wilbur? Little buddy? Where’d you go?” 

There was no reply. Just when he thought the night couldn’t get worse, a gust of wind blew a newspaper right into the robot’s face. He groaned and pulled the thing away, ready to toss it aside when the headline caught his attention;

‘12 YEAR OLD BOY WINS SCIENCE FAIR WITH BRILLIANT MEMORY DEVICE’

His gaze moved to the date.

May 10th, 2007

“Wilbur Robinson, you’ve really gone and done it this time…” Carl muttered.

Chapter Text

“Son?”

“Mmn?”

“You’re falling asleep at breakfast again,” Bud chuckled over his newspaper.

Lewis sat up and shook his head. Dang it. He had been up late working on projects again and now he was dozing off while eating his toast. Again. Not his best habit.

“Oh goodness, the poor dear…” Lucille shook her head sadly as she walked into the kitchen, carrying a vase of flowers. “What’s wrong?” Bud turned to her.

“Some poor elderly woman fell into the Midtown Canal last night… They said she was treading water like nothing they’ve seen before, though. She must stay in shape.”

“Wow, how about that. Did they say if she was alright?”

“They took her to the hospital and will update the story later,” Lucille spoke as she adjusted the flowers.

Lewis thought about it as he went back to his breakfast.

There was a commotion at recess that day.

Lewis usually spent his recess brainstorming new ideas for inventions and taking notes in his journal. Today was no different… not at first, anyway. 

Kids had begun to gather by the side of the school. Group after group they gathered, until finally the teachers came to see what all the excitement was about. 

It was only when his new friend Franny came to see him, did he realize that the playground was completely empty. “Lewis! What are you doing over here? Did you see what happened?” “No?” Lewis shut his notebook, suddenly noticing how quiet it was.

“C’mon! Quick! You gotta see it!”

Lewis dropped his pencil and scrabbled to grab it when Franny began to drag him away, but gave up when he got out of reach. However, his attention shifted completely when they turned the corner and found a crowd of kids gathered, alongside some stumped adults. Murmurs and rumors drifted amongst the children as they observed the scene in front of them. Lewis gasped.

There was a large mural of Starry Night painted across the side of the building…

In the office, a raven haired boy sat angrily at the principal's desk.

He hadn’t been compliant at all, and finally the principal had been called to deal with him.

“You don’t have permission to leave the campus without being signed out. I’m going to ask you this again. What are your parents’ phone numbers?”

“How many times do I have to say it? I-don’t-go-to-this-school!”

Chapter Text

“Wilbur! Little buddy! Oh man-”

Carl was running up the street like a chicken with its head cut off. He was getting quite a few looks from people he passed, but he didn’t care. All he cared about was finding Wilbur before he got himself into trouble again.

He ran across the street when he saw an electronic store with a window full of old television displays.

“Ladies! Have you seen a dark haired kid? About yey high, probably has a stupid smug look on his face?”

They… just sat there. They were TVs. What, did you think they were gonna say something back?

Frustrated and no closer to finding Wilbur, Carl stormed off to keep calling for him. Had he stayed any longer, he would’ve seen the news story on a woman stealing a train and taking it for a joyride…

A dark haired woman stormed up the steps of Joyce Williams Elementary School. She was already having a shit day if she was being honest, and now she gets a call that her son is in the principal’s office. Getting in trouble at school 17 years before he’s even born. Only Wilbur Robinson.

Stopping in front of the doors to the office, Franny took a deep breath and smoothed back her hair. At least she knew her son was safe. At least there’s that.

As she stepped in, she saw that familiar pointed hair and smug look on his face. Franny had never been more relieved, and yet furious to see it.

The principal seemed to do a slight double take at her hair, but nothing more.

“Good afternoon. Mrs.Robinson, was it? I’m afraid your son has been trying to ditch class during school hours-”

“Ditch class? Ma’am, my son doesn’t even go to this school.”

That paused the principal in her tracks. She glanced at Wilbur, who was still sporting that stupid look. “Then… what was he doing on the campus?”

Wilbur faltered slightly, but Franny didn’t miss a beat. “Visiting a friend, no doubt. What kind of reckless school lets some kid in without identification or an adult? Couldn't you just check the student records to see if he attends? He kept telling you he isn’t a student.”

Franny was never one to start a fight over her son’s behavior.

But she has had quite enough of him goofing around with time.

Little Franny was on her way to be picked up from school. A woman had passed by moments before, and she did not look happy. Jeez. She was interrupted by her thoughts  when she heard barking. Outside of the fence, there was a dog… wearing glasses? And a saddle? The girl stopped and stared for a moment. “Hey friend. What’s your name?” The dog looked back at her. He sniffed the air and took off suddenly, leaving Franny confused. She was gonna tell her brothers about it when she got to the car. No time to wait, she was gonna be late for karate practice.

The moment they left the building, Wilbur’s expression dropped. Franny’s, however, did not. Wilbur chuckled nervously. “Man, heh. Who knew schools in the past were so harsh, amirite?” 

Franny scowled at him, not even cracking a little smile. “Wilbur Robinson, I have had it up to here with you!” She hissed. “You may have Carl wrapped around your finger, but not me,” she glanced around to make sure nobody was nearby to overhear. “You just wait until we get home, mister. There’s no telling where anyone is, and you’d better pray they’re alright. Because if they’re not, you’re never going to hear the end of it, do you understand me?” Wilbur couldn’t get himself to meet her eyes. He had really gone and made a mess of things this time.

Franny sighed, all out of steam. “It’s getting late. We should find a motel or somewhere to sleep, but we don’t want to mess anything up.”

“Wait. Mom. I know someone who can help us.”

Chapter Text

“Are you sure we can’t go in the front door?” Franny asked as she gave Wilbur a boost to the fire escape of the 6th Street Orphanage. “We can’t. What if some kid doesn’t get adopted or something because we change time?” Franny thought about it, but didn’t question it further. 

“Lewis!” Wilbur climbed onto the roof. It was empty. He’s probably in his room. Wilbur hurried down the steps and glanced around the few rooms. Empty. There were some other kids, but no Lewis. 

“Hey,” he approached one boy playing with a toy car on the ground. “Do you know where Lewis is?” The boy looked up from his car. “Lewis got adopted! He left a few days ago!”

“What?” Wilbur was taken aback. “He was adopted?” 

Gaston watched from the rafters of the garage as the last repairman shut off the lights and shut the door. 

A mischievous grin spread across his face. Finally. Time for some fun.

With a great leap, the stuntman sprang from the rafters and swung on a few chains. If they’re trapped somewhere, they’re going to need to be prepared. He slung a bag off his shoulder and onto the working table. Out of it spilled things he found from the dumpster and collected around town. One firecracker fell off the table, but Gaston caught it and stored it again. He grabbed a few tools and got to work. This was going to be awesome. 

When Lewis got home, he found his parents watching the TV intently. It was a breaking news story about a stolen train. Lewis dropped his backpack in disbelief when he saw it. 

“Billie?!”

“Поймай меня, если сможешь!” A brunette woman cackled and pulled on the major cord as she watched the red and blue lights chase after her. Many of them stopped, unable to follow on the tracks, and sped off to find an alternative route. It was a beautiful antique locomotive. And by god she was going to ride like the wind!

She cackled again when a bullet grazed the window just inches from her face. 

She was unstoppable!

Chapter Text

Lewis found that he couldn’t sleep that night. After seeing Billie on the news, he had rushed upstairs with some excuse about studying for an important test. And now he lay in bed, staring at the ceiling and thinking over what could be going on. “The mural… Laszlo?” That shouldn’t be possible. Laszlo hasn’t been born yet. Not until somewhere around the late 2010s. And he hasn’t met Bud and Lucille’s full family yet. Well, technically he has, but not in the present. He didn’t get a clear look at Billie up close, but shouldn’t she be y-

Coo!

Lewis sat up.

Coo coo!

Lewis rushed to the nearest window and opened it, only to find Wilbur and adult Franny outside. Okay yeah now he sees where Wilbur learned his pigeon impression. It was almost funny if it wasn’t so confusing.

“Wilbur? Mrs. Robinson? What are you doing here?”

“That, is an excellent question. Can we come in?”

The nurse had no idea what the officers wanted to do with one elderly Jane Doe, especially this late at night, but she wasn’t permitted to ask questions. It was just one of those nights she wanted to finish her shift and get home.

They had taken the resting old woman and left after talking to the head doctor. She probably had a warrant or something and they didn’t want busy hospital halls getting in the way of their arrest. Anyways, it was time for some of the patients to have their medicine…

It took an officer jumping from a moving vehicle to get onto the train.

Few had gone before him and he had no word from them. He pulled out his gun and stumbled to get his balance. He rushed up from car to car, leaping over car connectors and holding his gun up by his side. Finally he shoved open the door to the train. He held up his gun immediately.

“Freeze!”

To his shock, the other officers were on the ground - clearly injured- with a large wrench by their side. He looked up to see the woman sporting a grin. She pulled up a bandana over her nose and mouth and a pair of working goggles over her eyes.

“До свидания!”

And with that, she leapt from the train.

Chapter Text

Lewis and Wilbur sat on the roof of the observatory, watching the city lights of what would one day become Todayland.

“Do… you think they’re okay? You’re family?”

“I’m sure they’re fine… I really hope so…”

Lewis turned to Wilbur. “We’ll find them, I promise. You guys will get home in no time.” Wilbur chuckled, but Lewis could tell he was worried.

“Yeah…”

“I got Captain Time Travel. Wanna watch? Maybe it’ll cheer you up. Bud got me a DVD player.”

“Woah, that’s a classic. I’ll be right down.”

Wilbur took one last glance at the city before he headed back inside.

Tallulah shrieked when a car skidded to a stop inches from hitting her. She held her arm up to shield her eyes from the blinding headlights. 

Despite her attire and the studying she had done to achieve it, she had never seen a whole city use ground travel. Not in a long time, anyways. Where she’s from, they had moved travel to the skies years ago. Her brother Laszlo says he vaguely remembers roads being on the ground when they were little. Their mother prefers ‘old fashioned’ cars that drive on the ground, but Tallulah has never seen so many in one place. It was mind boggling to go from studying a time period to experiencing it first hand.

She wishes her brother was here. He’d know what to do.

Tallulah put up an apologetic hand and hurried out of the street. When she was finally safe, she stopped to catch her breath for a moment. All day she had kept her eyes up, following stripes and spots and splatters of paint on the walls. She had been ecstatic when she had found it, but they were hard to keep up with. The last sign she saw of him was a purple arrow on the side of an office building a few blocks back.

Ready to continue, Tallulah stood back up and continued on.

Chapter Text

Delivering pizza was his calling, and he’d do it no matter where or when he was.

He didn’t have his UFO, but he could make do with what he had. In fact, someone left a delivery vehicle running with nobody inside! It was perfect! There was work to do! There were civilians who needed pizza!

The new delivery boy walked down the driveway. He had just delivered a pizza to a band practicing in the garage. Nice guys. The delivery boy paused. Where’s his car? It was right here, wasn’t it? A loud revving got his attention suddenly. He stared in disbelief when he spotted a burly man crouched in the tiny vehicle, speeding off. He sighed. His boss was going to love this…

The recliner moved smoothly over the sidewalk, hovering just above the ground as it went. It definitely caught some curious looks, but its rider cared not. He was taking in the sights with a relaxed smile. He had found a map at a touristy shop, and was now making his way to the nearest train station.

“We found it.”

The scientist kept his head down as he moved through the crowds, not wanting to attract any attention. He glanced at where everyone was gathering and swallowed a lump in his throat, watching the bright red time machine being towed in. 

He adjusted his hat and excused himself from the room. He needed to make a plan.

Chapter Text

Buster was following a scent.

The Wire Fox Terrier had woken up in a box when he first appeared in the present. A box in the same alleyway he would later be found in by his humans come 2032. When that fateful day does come, he’ll be found by Franny and Cornelius. It’s an instant decision that didn’t need convincing. The two will look him over for identification, and when they find none, they’ll scoop him up and take him home, where he'll be instantly showered with love by the rest of the Robinsons. Buster has, is, and always will be a beloved member of the family.

He would not fail them now.

Buster had gone from scent trail to scent trail all day and into the night, but he kept losing them among the endless other scents of the city.

It was in the early hours of the morning when he had finally caught up to somebody.

Buster’s nose had lead him through the city, through two different grocery stores, past a bowling alley, up tp the roof of one building, across a clothing line, down a parking garage, into an ice cream parlor, past at least three different street musicians, up a playground slide and down a rockwall, around the same oaktree about eighteen times (but Buster’s a dog and can’t count so maybe it was more like nine), into the city park and finally to a park bench, tucked comfortably under some apple trees.

Buster hopped up onto the wooden park bench and snuffled the snoring figure. The man twitched and giggled. “Lucille… not at the park, honey.” 

Buster barked and the man opened his eyes. “Heaven’s to Betsy! Buster! You found me, old boy!”

Exhausted from a seemingly endless search, Buster flopped down in Bud’s lap with a satisfied huff.

One down, a dozen more to go.

Chapter Text

Wilbur twitched in his sleep.

Voices cried out in his head, beating him down with guilt.

“What have you done? How could you bring him, here?”

Wilbur writhed, trying to wake up.

“I can’t believe I was stupid enough to believe you were my friend!”

He thought of the disapproving and disappointed expressions of his family as they left him there on the lawn.

He thought of the moment he completely spiraled out of the realm of existence.

“Lewis…? Lewis!”

Wilbur shot upright, shouting his father’s old name. Breathing hard, Wilbur glanced around. He’s here... He’s alive... He exists. He repeated it in his head like a mantra as he brought his knees up to his chest and tried to calm down. 

It took him a moment of looking around to remember he was in 2007, in a sleeping bag in what would soon become his father’s science lab. Right now it looked so… empty. No big colorful machines that whirred or zapped or bubbled. Just a big open sunroom with fresh morning sunlight shining down.

There was the internal urge to run around and do cartwheels in the open space, like when walking in a long hotel hallway. Maybe later. He and Lewis had chased each other around the big room last night, laughing and playing and goofing around. It really had helped cheer him up. Lewis even showed him his notebook and some of the machines he had been working on. It was pretty surreal to look at the very first concepts of inventions that go on to make such an impact in Wilbur’s time. 

Franny, meanwhile, had gone to bed early, settling in one of the many empty rooms in the observatory. Wilbur could tell she had been worrying and wanted to sleep it off. 

Guilt settled down in Wilbur’s chest. At least he was able to see his best friend again… The guilt worsened. Was he doing the right thing? 

He needed to find his family today. Before someone got hurt. Or worse.

Chapter Text

Billie was never one to let the world get her down. 

Even as the entire city searched for her, she sang her heart out as she waded through the storm drain tunnel. She listened with glee as her merry tune carried down the tunnels and into the dark.

Who knew running from the law could be so much fun!

Billie hadn’t had time to look at the map before she dove for the tunnels, so she was going in blind, but hey! Surprises were half the adventure! 

She paused when she thought she heard another voice join in. A male voice. She sang her lyric again, but it didn’t return. Huh.

It was early in the morning when Billie finally saw light. She picked up her pace instantly, a grin spreading across her face. The engineer held up an arm to shield her eyes when she reached the end of the tunnel. It didn’t make sense for it to be so bright so early.

Suddenly, she understood why.

A bright light was fixed on the tunnel entrance, with about five different vehicles parked around to keep her from escaping. A barrage of weapons were aimed at her, but she wasn’t afraid. Surprised no doubt, but not afraid. Billie was an unwavering spirit… even if it got her into trouble sometimes.

“Put your hands up!” One officer barked.

Billie sighed and did as she was told.

They had to help her down from the storm drain before they handcuffed her and had her step into one of the cruisers.

Cornelius stood just outside the meeting room, straining to listen to what the scientists were saying. He pretended to be fixing himself a coffee, so he didn’t seem too suspicious. He adjusted his glasses, a small nervous tick of his.

 “On Wednesday night, we picked up some burst of an unknown energy  just outside the city. And now we’re picking up ‘anomalies’ connected to the event. As in… people that weren’t there initially.”

“How many are there?”

“Initially we thought there were four or five, but we quickly began seeing more. As of right now we counted nine.”

“And how many do we have in custody?”

“Two. And another on the way. We got word a few minutes ago that they caught one of them in a storm drain. Female, about mid to late 40s.”

Cornelius nearly dropped his coffee. 

“The police had another man in custody, but he was released. He was caught stealing a puppet from a toy store.”

“They let him go? Why?”

“We didn’t realize he was one of the anomalies until it was too late.”

There was a low cuss. “Send officers out there. Get him back. We cannot let any of them get away.”

“Yes, sir.”

Cornelius hurried off just as the scientists left the meeting room. Maybe he could find a way to warn them? This was getting bad. His stomach twisted when he thought of his wife. 

He could only pray she was safe.

Chapter Text

Lewis lied and told his parents he was carpooling to school with a friend today. 

He hate, hate, hates lying- especially to his new parents. But this was serious. He never would’ve done so if his family wasn’t in danger.

Lewis walked with Wilbur and Mrs. Robinson through the city, looking for any traces of the others. It would almost be fun if they weren’t so worried. Well… why does it have to be bad? Maybe it can be fun!

“Okay… I have an idea,” Lewis began.

“How about we make a little game out of it? First person to find a clue wins?”

At first he worried he was being insensitive… until the others’ faces brightened. Morale was up!

“Alright…” Franny nodded. “Let’s think for a minute… If they could go anywhere… where would they go?”

Downtown was first, and It didn’t take long for things to begin popping up.

Wilbur pointed up at a blue stripe painted on the side of a building. 

“That’s one point for Wilbur Robinson!”

“Nicely done!” Franny ruffled his hair. Lewis took a good look at the wall. He suddenly noticed another stripe - purple this time- on the ground, leading down the same path. 

“I think he’s trying to lead us somewhere.”

Franny and Wilbur looked at the purple arrow. Wilbur glanced over and saw another yellow arrow painted on a fence. It also pointed in the same direction.

“Laszlo, you’re a genius…” Wilbur mumbled and began to follow, Lewis and Franny in tow. 

Suddenly, Franny froze. “Are you-”

Franny put up a hand.

“Wait. Did you hear that?”

“Hear what-”

Ribbit!

Franny spun around and practically dove into the pile of trash. She threw things aside, digging up the source of the little sound. There he is! A little frog in a suit. His leg was stuck under a garbage bag. The moment Franny moved it, he sprang up into Franny’s arms and clambered to her shoulder.

“Frankie! I’m so glad you’re okay! Are you hurt?”

“Not at all, just a little sore. Dodged a mean lookin’ cat and got my leg stuck. Boy am I glad you’re here.”

Lewis realized no matter how many times he sees them, he may never get used to seeing talking frogs.

Franny gave Frankie a light pet on the head and despite the tough demeanor, Frankie couldn’t help a happy croak.

Tallulah felt like she was going in circles.

When the paint on the wall began to take her to a darker part of town, the alleys stretched longer, the people were meaner, and the air reeked of all kinds of disgusting things. She had climbed a fire escape and slept there, but got no rest. Every minute that passed, she grew more worried about her brother. 

And now she was back to navigating the alleyways.

Tallulah was so focused on looking up at the paint that she almost walked into the chain link fence in front of her. She frowned at it. Maybe she’d find another way- around…

A low growling froze her in place.

She turned around to find two big stray dogs. They looked mean… and hungry.

Tallulah made a small sound and backed into the fence. “Hey… gentle…”

She knew it did nothing, but it was better than not trying at all, right… right?

A shriek escaped her throat when the dogs charged. 

Another dog squeezed under the fence and bit at one of the dogs. 

“Buster?!”

The two began to scrap. Buster was small but he fought with everything he had.

The other dog began to close in on her and was suddenly hit with- a meatball?

“Incoming!”

Tallulah looked up just in time to see Gaston jump the fence and get between her and the dogs. Buster let out a loud pained cry and Gaston turned his canon on the stray attacking him. Tallulah gasped when the other dog snuck up behind Gaston and latched onto his leg, earning a yell from the stuntman.

Tallulah looked around frantically and grabbed the first thing she saw - a sledgehammer. “Get back!” She swung at the ground, hitting the concrete and sending the dog away from her uncle. Gaston shot at the other dog and it let go of Buster, scampering away.
“Bad dog!” Tallulah shouted, narrowly missing the stray and hitting the ground again. “Leave my dog alone, asshole!” Finally the strays retreated, tails between their legs. Good. Tallulah nodded with a huff. 

Don’t fuck with the Robinsons.

Chapter Text

Following the paint trail on the buildings was like following a marked out path through a maze. At least Frankie sang some snazzy tunes as they searched!

They were just rounding a corner when the sound of screaming cut through the bustling noise of the city. The four shared a look and took off in the direction of the sound, Franny taking the lead. Frankie held onto her hair ribbon and flopped around in the air.

They looked on in shock as Lefty happily splashed around in a fountain, completely unbothered by the terrified onlookers. Most people ran away screaming, while others watched in shock. One mother grabbed her child and pulled him away in terror. A driver was sidetracked by the sight and rear-ended another car. The entire area seemed to be unfolding into chaos.

Franny lept into action. “Lefty! Come on, let’s get you somewhere safer! We can’t be attracting so much attention!”

Wilbur dodged when one of Lefty’s many arms swung around. When he stood back up, he noticed another man trying to get Lefty’s attention. Wilbur did a double take when he saw him.

“Uncle Fritz!”

His skittish uncle looked just as shocked to see him.

“Wilbur! Where have you been?”

The two ducked as another arm swung over their heads.

“Everywhere. I found Lewis and he’s-”

Another duck.

“He’s gonna help us get home!”

“It’s about damn time we get home!” Ah, and there was Aunt Petunia!

Lefty seemed to want to listen and climbed out of the fountain. Lewis paused when he heard sirens in the distance. There’s no telling if it was for them, but they weren’t about to stick around and find out. “Let’s go!” He yelled. Franny and the group picked up the pace, ushering Lefty quickly through the stunned crowd and back in the direction of home.

Tallulah helped a limping Gaston out of the trenches of the city. 

He insisted he was fine, but when she knew it was a lie the moment he began limping. That damn dog bit him pretty good. She had him lean on her while he showed her where to go. Buster was alright, save for a couple scratches here and there. He noticed Gaston limping and played a little limp of his own, hopping alongside the two.

“There she is,” Gaston grinned and nodded towards a modified 1955 Teal Ford Thunderbird. It looked like it had been thrown out, cleaned up, and modified with some clunky bits here and there. It was still bright, but could use some polishing.

“Gaston… what is that thing?”

“That’s Clemintine.”

“Wh- never mind.”

She helped him get inside and they headed to a better part of town, leaving the dangers behind them.

Neither of them saw the man watching them.

Cornelius rummaged through one of the logs while some of the employees were out for lunch. 

“Subject is quiet and disinterested. Wouldn’t respond much to questions other than some hums and clicks. He seemed more interested in watching TV. Will try again later.”

Cornelius folded the paper and tucked it in his lab coat. He needed to know who else the lab had custody of.

Chapter Text

The stoplight had just turned green when Buster suddenly leapt from the car window, taking off and disappearing into the midday crowds. 

Gaston slammed down on the break, getting a loud honk from the cars behind him. “Buster!” Tallulah almost ran out into the road after him, but Gaston grabbed her arm before she could. 

“Don’t!”

By the time they pulled the car around to search, Buster was nowhere to be found.

Carl was starting to get worried. Well for one, he’d shut down if he didn’t charge soon, and charging tends to be quite difficult when the device that charges you hasn’t been invented yet. There was also the tiny little detail that Wilbur - the boy he’d been instructed to protect since the day he was born - was completely missing.

Carl froze when a thought dawned on him. 

...What if he’s the only one who was sent here? What if Wilbur was still in 2037?

Robots shouldn’t physically be able to feel anxious, and yet somehow he did.

No, no. That’s just stupid. Why would he be sent here and not Wilbur? And besides! If somehow he was the only one here, he could just go find Lewis and get him to build him a charging port! Right…? That shouldn’t break any rules, right?

Carl paused again. The more he tried to think of how they got there, the more he realized he couldn’t remember traveling over at all. How did they even get here? He didn’t climb in the time machine, that’s for sure. Dad instructed him to never touch it. And unlike Wilbur, Carl actually listened to instruction.

A warning beep sounded off, reminding him of his limited power.

Carl picked up his pace and headed towards the school. 

If he couldn’t find Wilbur, at least he could find Lewis.

The dark figure sat atop the building, brooding eyes watching over the city below. It was bustling with nightlife, car horns and sirens and laughter and cheering sounding from below. He shook his head and muttered to himself. How could he go on after the mistake he made? 

Dropping a fresh pizza face DOWN on the pavement? What kind of barbarian does that?

Art stood off the crate and noticed all the tallies on it. There was a heart on the most recent tally. Huh. Wonder what that was all about.

He made his way down the fire escape. He had failed the public once, he will not do it again.

Art headed down the sidewalk when he heard barking. Round the corner flew Buster, looking frazzled. Art kneeled down to check the tag, but the little dog had no time for that. He was in a tizzy, barking and yapping and tugging at the pizza man’s boot. Suddenly, it clicked.

“What’ve you got, boy? Lead the way!”

The first thing Art heard was yelling. 

As the pair came rushing around the corner, they saw a commotion at the back of the dark alleyway. Without a moment to lose, Art charged in at full speed. Buster ran ahead and stood between the assailants and their victim, his hackles raised and teeth bared. 

Art grabbed the first man and slammed him into the metal dumpster and to the floor, his head making a painful thud against the ground when he fell. The second man pulled out a handgun, but wasn’t quick enough to stop the spaceman from grabbing his wrists and pointing them upwards. A gunshot rang out, a spark briefly lighting where the bullet ricocheted off one of the fire escapes above. The gunman could only drop his weapon when Art hoisted him up in the air by his wrists, only to yank him back down and crack his back painfully over Art’s knee. To the floor he fell in a bruised heap.

For good measure, Art scooped up both men and dropped them in the dumpster, closing the lid overtop. He patted his hands together at a job well done and turned to assess the victim caught up in all this.

When the spaceman looked over, he could see Buster licking at someone ensnared in a net. He was trying to get himself out, but without something sharp, there was little he could do. 

“Rest easy, civilian,” Art kneeled down to help. “Rescue has arrived. You’re in good hands.”

Through the net, the man stopped struggling and glanced up at him in shock.

“...Uncle Art?”

Art’s eyes widened and he quickly ripped open the netting.

“Laszlo!”

Chapter Text

It had all happened so fast.

Laszlo hardly had a moment to react before Art pulled him into a tight hug. Had he not been entangled in netting, he would’ve eagerly returned it. “You have no idea how happy I am to see you. Thank you, Art.” Art set him down and began to work on untangling him. Even Buster did what he could to tear the netting. Once his arms were free, Lasz worked on getting the rest off. “Don’t thank me, it was old Buster here that led me right to you. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t have been able to find you.”

Buster yipped happily as Laszlo showered the dog with affection and kisses. “Good boy, Buster! Very good boy!” Art laughed and joined in when something got his attention.

There was a quiet beeping coming from the pile of torn netting on the ground. Slowly, Art approached and sifted through to find the source. The moment he saw the blinking light, he instantly knew what it was.

“Laszlo, what happened when you got caught?” Art asked over his shoulder. The artist looked up from petting the dog. “I was painting more arrows when those guys came along. I tried to ignore them, but then they started coming towards me and… well, I tried to fly off and next thing I knew, you were there.”

“Do you have any idea what their motives could’ve been?”

“I assumed they saw me alone back here and were going to mug me or steal my equipment.”

“Normal thieves don’t carry throwing nets on them. Whoever those guys were, they knew you could fly and were using the net to stop you from getting away.”

Laszlo looked worried. “I… don’t understand.”

Art turned around and showed him the net.

“There’s a tracking device on this net. That wasn’t a robbery. That was a premeditated kidnapping attempt. Someone’s after you.”

Laszlo paled, and promptly moved to stand closer to Art. The spaceman noticed the artist had begun trembling with fear. “We should probably get out of here then…” Despite the casual tone, Art didn’t miss the slight tremble in his voice.

 Art dropped the tracker and stomped on it under his heel. Buster growled at the broken bits on the floor. Art turned back to Laszlo, who kept looking around warily, like he was waiting for something to pounce. 

Art put his hand on Laszlo’s shoulder, frowning when the other jumped.

“Come on, let’s go somewhere safe. Maybe we can hide in the observatory. I remember it was abandoned before Bud and Lucille bought it. Maybe they haven’t moved in yet.”

Laszlo smiled. Home sounded wonderful right about now.

There was a brief static and a low voice over the walkie talkie.

“I'm not seeing the tracker on the map, what happened? Where are you?”

The scientist growled. He felt like his back was broken, and his partner was still out cold. He shifted around in the dark and filthy dumpster and grabbed his walkie talkie off his belt.

“The target escaped.”

A loud cuss. “Are you kidding me?!”

“There’s two of them.”

The anger over the speaker quickly changed to silent curiosity.

“Are you sure…?”

“Of course I am! The other one nearly broke my back!”

There was a long pause over the device. Almost like the listener was in awe at such a find.

“I want them both.” The voice was almost giddy. “The more the merrier!”

Chapter Text

The woman screeched as electricity pulsed through her veins.

Her nails clawed at the glass window and her legs buckled. She collapsed and convulsed on the floor of the testing pod.

“And… cut power.”

Billie slumped down the rest of the way when the electricity stopped entirely. Leftover effects shook her body as she laid otherwise motionless on the cold ground. She coughed and retched, desperately trying to catch her breath. What about this was science? 

“That’s more electricity than the average human can handle," spoke an awestruck scientist to Cornelius’s left. He quickly jotted down the results.

Cornelius, meanwhile, was horrified.  

All these monsters gathered around, gawking at his poor Aunt Billie like she was some circus animal. He wanted to vomit.

This is not science. This is torture.

And these people were after the rest of his family too…

Just earlier today, he overheard them closing in on another member of his beloved family.

‘Young male, looks to be late teens to early twenties. Bright red hair. This one can fly.’ They had said. Laszlo -  Cornelius had realized almost instantly.

Now, Cornelius wasn’t religious, but by what he could only describe as the grace of God, they lost him. He heard them mention that there was another, but not who it was.

Cornelius had kept his head down the last few days, using any moment he wasn’t being watched to form up a plan to get everyone back home.

Billie slowly looked up at the scientists, and for a moment, she and Cornelius locked eyes.

Hurt. That was the only way he could describe the look she gave him. He blinked away a couple tears. ‘I’m going to get you out of this.’ He spoke silently. 

The last of Billie’s energy gone, she slumped down, and passed out.

As some of the scientists began discussing, Cornelius slunk past them, subtly snatching a key card from someone’s lanyard. He tucked it into his pocket and crept out of the room, repeating his promise like a mantra in his mind.

‘I’ll get you out of this. I promise.’

Chapter Text

One of the biggest challenges working in a laboratory was the fact that it was active at all hours, day or night. There were no off hours. No holidays. No closing shift. 

And no chance of not being seen.

Well, Cornelius preferred to look at the bright side of things. A bigger facility with more employees means more to keep track of. He only wondered how long it would take the chief scientific officers to notice he borrowed some supplies to make a few “toys.”

Cornelius kept his hands in the pockets of his lab coat as he hurried through the corridor and to one of the deeper sections of this building that felt more like a labyrinth than a laboratory. He may never be alone in the building, but he sure as hell can take advantage of the slower hours.

He softened his footsteps as he reached the main security office. Cornelius put his ear to the door… He could hear a mouse clicking. A man coughed and cleared his throat. It’s most likely the same person, considering it was almost four in the morning.

‘Can never be too cautious, though,’ the inventor muttered to himself as he pulled a small device from his coat sleeve. It had legs, a flat, round body, and a little head, like that of a ladybug. It blinked up at him with tiny blue eyes and raised its antennae awaiting orders. Carefully, he slid the little thing under the crack of the door, and just like that, it went to work.

Up the wall it crawled, settling itself above the wall speaker. Its wings opened up to reveal a speaker underneath. Just as programmed, it mimicked the familiar chime of the intercom.

Bwip Bwip!

“All personnel on floor 6B are required in the auditorium on ground 2C for an emergency announcement. Attendance is mandatory. Repeat. All personnel…”

Cornelius rounded a corner and watched three employees leave the room, chatting amongst themselves about some topic he didn’t quite catch. 

As soon as he heard the ding of the elevator door shut, he left his hiding spot and went to the security office door. He swiped the stolen lanyard and strolled into the dark room, holding his hand up to catch the ladyb0t. “Well done,” he whispered, rewarding it with a smile and a pet (with only one finger due to the ladyb0t’s itty bitty size). It gave a happy whirr and tucked its legs and head away until its next use.

Cornelius tucked the little thing in his pocket and locked the door.

The single computer screen provided the only light in the room. Cornelius got to work on the computer. If he could find out where the others were, or better yet, find out how the facility is finding them so fast, he could lead their eyes away while his family escapes.

The screen showed only surveillance of the laboratory, as well as the surrounding property and parking garage. Cornelius was confused. Surely there’s a way they could see some other spots around the city if they were catching the others so quickly. There must be. 

With sweaty hands he typed, trying to get it before the other employees got to the auditorium and realized something was amiss. An option at the bottom of the screen caught his eye. 

VIEW ALL SURVEILLANCE 

Cornelius’s mouse hovered… then he clicked on it.

One by one, screens around the room began to light up in the darkness, displaying security footage from cameras around the entire city. The Father of the Future stood to his feet in disbelief as screen after screen after screen lit up, showing him the city he grew up in. The grocery stores, the parks, the banks, the hotels, every business chain or small mom and pop restaurant. The orphanage. The observatory. It was all there. All of it.

Chapter Text

Lewis lay awake in his sleeping bag. 

He wasn’t sure how he was going to keep everyone hidden if their group kept growing. On one hand, the observatory is a large building, and they had only just moved in, so most of it was still dark and cluttered or empty rooms. On the other hand… the Robinsons weren’t exactly subtle. They already found a few of them in a largely populated city. Finding a normal person would be damn near impossible. A Robinson? Easy. Mostly. Hopefully. How many were there again?

As of right now, the makeshift camp of sleeping bags, pillows, and blankets in the observatory has grown, and everyone was asleep. Well, almost everyone. He wasn’t.

There was the sound of glass breaking downstairs. Lewis sat up. 

What was that?

It was the dead of night when they finally made it to the observatory.

“What do you think? Abandoned?” Art prompted, gesturing to the tall building. It looked very different, and yet still the same old home they knew and loved. Although it seemed quiet without Spike or Dimitri around.

“Can’t tell. It’s too dark,” Laszlo yawned. Wandering the city for several days straight was starting to catch up to him. 

To the surprise of both men, the door was unlocked.

“Only one thing left to do then,” Art declared. “I will sweep the house for trespassers!”

If he’d been more awake, Laszlo would’ve asked if they technically were the trespassers, but he instead kept quiet and let his Uncle go search. Muscle memory took Laszlo back to what would normally be his room, although at the moment it was just an old cluttered storage room. That’s okay. Laszlo didn’t mind. He was just happy to be home. Whenever it was, wherever it was.

Franny wandered the empty halls of the observatory.

Strange how you could be at home and still feel homesick…

She couldn’t shake the bad thoughts in her head. Where was her husband? Her brothers? Were they okay? What if they were hurt? What about Bud and Lucille? Or the older kids? 

Call it her caring nature. She’s in charge of the family when Cornelius is away. It’s up to her to watch over everyone and make sure they don't get into too much trouble. But now she doesn’t even know where half of them are. She’s never encountered a situation like this before. They’ve gotten separated before, but there’s a difference between losing your family at an amusement park and losing them 30 years in the past.

The sound of shuffling froze her in her tracks.

Franny knew past Bud and Lucille lived here, but they had gone to bed hours ago. Their room was the same as it was in 2037, all the way on the other side of the house.

She took a defensive stance and nudged open the door.

Laszlo stirred when he heard the door swing open.

A silhouette stood tall in the doorway, in a position ready to attack. The faces of his captors flashed in Laszlo’s mind, and suddenly he was wide awake. Taking advantage of the darkness, he slid off the couch and ducked behind a tall cabinet.

Fight or flight took over, and he reached for his paint gun.

Franny’s attention snapped to where someone ducked behind a cabinet. Her son was upstairs. She would protect him or die trying. Gaze not leaving the cabinet, she reached behind her and picked up the first thing she found - a glass paperweight.

She began to circle the room, ready to attack.

The paint gun rattled in Laszlo’s hands as he crept around the cabinet, trying to stay parallel with the figure. What did they want with him? Where were they going to take him? He fought to keep his breathing quiet and calm as he aimed with shaking hands. A paint gun wouldn’t do much, but if he could get the figure away from the door or momentarily blind them, he could get by and escape. 

Franny’s blood went ice cold when she noticed the outline of a gun in the intruder’s hands. No way in hell was she going to let someone hurt her family. She launched the ornament right at the intruder’s head. It narrowly missed when he ducked, causing the ornament to shatter against the wall, sending shards of broken glass scattering across the floor. In the blink of an eye, Franny was across the cabinet, attacking the intruder. All in one quick motion, she grabbed his wrist, yanked the gun away and turned it on him, pinning him to the wall.

“Wait! Please!” A voice cried out that was all too familiar.

Chapter Text

Franny dropped him without a second thought.

In a fraction of a second, Franny’s anger changed to confusion. She took a step back, trying to understand what was going on. With nowhere to run, the stranger slumped to the floor and seemed to curl in on himself. Only then did Franny notice the cord and guard attached to the gun she was holding.

“Mom?” 

Franny jolted when the door opened and Wilbur began to walk in. 

“Mom, are you okay? I heard something break.” Franny frantically motioned him out. “Stay in the hall! Don’t come in!” Despite looking startled and confused, Wilbur obeyed.

“What’s happening?” He called.

“I don’t know yet, just stay there! And shut the door!”

Wilbur did so. He waited in the hall for a minute. 

Suddenly there was the sound of something getting knocked over in another room. Who’s there…? 

Wilbur headed towards the noise in the darkness of the house.

Back in the storage room, Franny blindly felt around the walls until she found a light switch. 

The light came on, and even without the helmet and goggles, Franny recognized him in a heartbeat. He may be her nephew, but from the moment his mother abandoned him and his sister, Franny and Cornelius stepped up, and he became like another child to her. She didn’t know whether to be relieved to find him or upset that she had attacked him.

“Laszlo! I’m so sorry, I had no idea it was you!”

He didn’t look up at her. Instead he stayed with his face buried in his knees, breathing heavily. She suddenly realized he was having a panic attack. 

For the third time in two minutes, she went into mother bear mode.

Franny kneeled by him. “Honey, look at me.”

A choked sob escaped his throat, and he hugged himself tightly. “Shoot,” she muttered. This is a bad one. He doesn’t have his medicine, that's still in the future. She looked around. His goggles. That might be why he wouldn’t look up. It was discovered a few years ago that when Laszlo was anxious, his goggles always helped.

Franny retrieved them and tried again. “Lasz, look at me. It’s okay, I have your goggles.” Slowly, Laszlo glanced up at her with tearful eyes. He looked at the goggles in her hand and gently reached out to take them. Franny rubbed his shoulder lovingly. He was shaking like a leaf. “It’s okay...”

Laszlo slipped the goggles over his eyes, and Franny could tell almost immediately that they were calming him down. His breathing began to slow, and his shivering lessened.

He sniffed and wiped away a couple stray tears that slipped from his eyes. He struggled with anxiety almost all his life, so Franny always knew what to look out for.

She also always knew what helped. 

Gently as a mother could, she pulled him into a warm embrace.

“I-I’m sorry, I didn’t.. I just… I… I thought…” His voice cracked and broke.

“Shh... just take a second and breathe.”

Franny began to sing quietly, the same way she did when he was little. 

When Petunia first abandoned him. 

As she sang, he closed his eyes and listened, calming down enough to understand that he was safe, and that nobody was going to hurt him. Not here. By the time the song had finished, he was doing much better. Franny’s music could help anyone in times of need. 

“I’m sorry, I thought you were somebody else. There were some men that tried to kidnap me. If it wasn't for Buster and Uncle Art, I don't know where I'd be right now. Usually I can bounce right back from situations, but for whatever reason this one just really got to me. I just… yeah.”

Franny’s eyes widened. “Wait, hang on. Someone tried to kidnap you?! Who?!”

“I don’t know who they were. Some men creeping through an alleyway. Their faces were just… so creepy. I can’t stop thinking about them.”

Franny felt like her heart fell through the floor. Her brothers. Her family. Cornelius.

Someone’s trying to hunt them down.

Chapter Text

The days had flown by and she had made a quick recovery. Which now meant she was ready for testing like the others!

A gentleman adjusted his tie and prepared to enter the interrogation room.

“This is the one found in the canal, yes?” 

“Correct, sir.” 

“And what is her name?”

“That’s the thing. We don’t know. She won’t say a word to us.”

“I’ll see about that. Let me in.”
“Yes, sir.”

The old woman sat at the table, hands folded politely in front of her and a sweet smile on her face.

The gentleman sat at the table and placed down a clipboard and pen in front of him.

“Good evening, I hope you’re well. Mrs…?”

He held a hand out for a shake and waited for her to introduce herself. Instead, she just sat politely and watched. Not shaking his hand, not speaking a word.

The old woman may be known for her sense of humor, but she was no fool. She knew when something wasn’t right.

The man awkwardly coughed and brought his hand back in. “I like your hair. It’s not everyday you meet someone with pink hair.”

She blinked but still said nothing. Her smile did brighten slightly, as though accepting the compliment.

“So, you’re the one who keeps stealing coffee. I’ve heard about you,” the man chuckled. The woman raised her eyes, amused, but again, she said nothing.

The man looked down at his pad and pen and seemed to get an idea. “Ah, are you mute? Here, try talking with this.”

He slid the pen and pad across the table towards her.

She simply glanced down at it, then back to the man again. She still did not respond.

This time, the gentleman seemed to be getting annoyed.

“I understand this must all be very confusing for you, but I guarantee we have nothing but your best interests at heart.”

Lucille knew that was all rubbish, but she did not say so.

Slowly, the woman leaned forward and tore out a piece of paper from the pad. She’d humor him. She began to fold the paper this way and that. The man stopped talking and leaned forward, giving her his full attention.

What… was she doing?

She motioned the man to lean in, as if she were to tell him a secret. He leaned in and she… placed an origami bird on the desk. The man was completely stumped. 

“Is this just a game to you? Or are you just thick in the head?”

The old woman smiled and gave him an exaggerated shrug. 

Grumbling, the man gathered his belongings and headed for the door.

“I will say…” she began, and the man froze.

“Don’t smoke. It’s bad for you.”

They stared at each other for a moment. The man finally huffed and rolled his eyes. All this recovery time and resources toward this woman just for her to be a nutcase.

Chapter Text

Wilbur followed the sound into the projection room - which would someday become Franny’s music room. 

Right now, however, it bore blue curtains rather than red. There were star patterned carpets on the floor. There was no little stage, no little instruments, and of course, no frogs playing their snazzy frog jams. The center of the room held a long abandoned projector, pointed up at the ceiling, but turned off.

Wilbur glanced behind the curtain, but found nothing.

“Hello?”

The boy probably jumped a foot in the air when the projector suddenly powered up with a long worn motor.

Suddenly, the curtains were bathed in the sparkling lights of stars. Shooting stars dashed and constellations danced. A distant universe swirled slowly. Over crackling old speakers around the room, a narrator spoke broken tapes.

“Space. Little is known about s-s-s-such a pl- but what astronauts f- nothing short of astronomical..” 

Wilbur was shaken from his awed gaze when something was knocked over backstage.

“In the v-vastness of never ending space, some often speculate that-t we aren’t alone…”

He grabbed a wrench off the bottom of the cart, holding it up and scanning the room.

“Some fear something more…”

The door slammed shut behind Wilbur. He whirled around and bit down a shout.

“Invaders of earth. Enslavers of mankind… Ali-”

Wilbur backed into the projector. With a screech, he whirled around and slammed the wrench into the projector, sending it scattering to the floor and plunging the room into total darkness.

“Nephew!”

Wilbur screamed and began swinging blindly, but someone caught the wrench. He continued to yell until the light of a small device revealed his uncle there standing over him. “Woah, woah! Great moxie, but I’m afraid you’ve got the wrong target!”

Wilbur stopped fighting. “Uncle Art? How long have you been here?”

His uncle laughed and put away his phone. “Not long.”

“About your attack methods. Would you like some techniques? I’d be happy to teach you.”

“Wh… Yes please.”

They’d been driving for 45 minutes, but had very little to show for it.

“Buster!” Tallulah called out the window again. She was beginning to lose hope. They’d driven down every which way, but couldn’t see the little dog anywhere. It was as if he fell off the face of the earth.

“Let’s head home. He’s clearly nowhere around here, and we can start fresh tomorrow,” Gaston spoke, uncharacteristically quiet. Tallulah nodded solemnly.

The stuntman turned to Grandpa Bud, who had been providing another set of eyes from the backseat.

Like the others, he was unusually quiet, although given the circumstances, it was understandable. 

“Wait,” Tallulah sat up. “What about the arrows?”

“What arrows?”

“There are arrows on buildings all around town. I think it’s Laszlo trying to show us something. Maybe he’s telling us where he is. Look there, see?” She pointed out the front window at a red arrow pointing down another path.

“Please. I’m worried about my brother. I haven’t been away from him this long before.”

Gaston stared at it a long moment.

Tallulah waited, starting to look worried.

He put the car in drive and turned on the headlights. “Let's go find that gremlin,” Gaston smiled. Tallulah cheered and hugged him, chuckling at Gaston’s nickname for her brother. Gaston laughed when Bud joined in on the hug as well.

Down the street, a car turned off its headlights and prepared to continue following them.

Chapter Text

They had taken a few turns already, and more arrows were beginning to show themselves. They didn’t look like normal graffiti, each arrow had a bit of thought put into it. Some were several colors, some looked like they were twisted around, some ran from the floors to the walls or vice versa, a few were even painted in such a way they could only be seen at certain angles.

Like Laszlo wanted to let his family know it was him.

The sound of moving machines and gentle waves hinted that they weren’t far from the Midtown Canal. Gaston followed a red and blue striped arrow a corner into the next street. It was a more narrow street, only enough for one way traffic. 

“Ah, lookie there!” Grandpa Bud pointed to an arrow on an archway over a tunnel. Tallulah cheered and they began to follow until…

A pair of headlights lit up in the tunnel.

Gaston stopped the car. “Am I going the wrong way?” He looked around for street signs, thinking he had missed something.

Tallulah was looking out the side mirror when she noticed another large black car pull up the other side of the alleyway and stop.

Blocking their exits.

“Gaston…?” Tallulah glanced at her uncle. He stayed facing forward, but gave a subtle glance to her. A warning glance. 

Two men donning all black climbed out of the vehicle in the tunnel. Grandpa Bud noticed two more get out of the other vehicle. “Mmm… That’s a bit odd,” Bud hummed, squinting. 

The men all began heading towards their car.

Gaston didn’t budge an inch. He kept his eyes focused on the men in front of them. 

“Put your seatbelt on…” he whispered to Tallulah. Wide eyed, she obeyed, and made certain Bud did the same.

All three of them were frozen. None said a word. The only sounds were the soft early 2000s music over the radio and the rumble of the car motor. Tallulah was shaking.

Gaston’s hand tightened on the steering wheel, the other resting on the stick shift.

Two of the men stopped and stood behind the car. One of the men approaching from the tunnel stopped and stood in front of the car. The fourth man came up to the driver’s side and knocked on the window.

There was a pause, before Gaston put it in reverse and slammed on the acceleration.

Tallulah screamed as one of the men was hit and the two in front pulled out guns and began shooting at the car. “Incoming! Get down!” Gaston shouted. Tallulah and Bud ducked down and the car picked up speed, slamming into the vehicle blocking them. It broke the driver and passenger side windows except for the one on Bud’s left.

Despite the Thunderbird being smaller, it managed to bump the SUV out of the way enough to get through. “Like the modifications? Truck bumpers!” Gaston teased.

He put it in drive and the tires screeched as they sped out of that street, leaving the men scrambling to get back into their vehicles.

Tallulah’s fiery red hair whipped around as she watched the speedometer needle climb up into the 80s. Gaston was weaving through traffic with the precision of a man who lived for the rush of adrenaline. Tallulah could see on his face that he loved the wind in his face, especially with the little bits of glass that grazed his skin. Gaston was an adrenaline junkie, through and through.

“Oi!” One of the SUVs swerved in from the side and was keeping level with them. The other began closing in on their other side. The passenger to their left pulled out his gun and aimed it at the stuntman.

Gaston hit the brakes and they fell back just in time to hear gunshots. The car to their right began to lose control and slammed into the concrete median.

Gaston laughed like a madman and switched gears, ready to pick up speed again. 

“Lookout!” Tallulah shrieked.

The other vehicle crossed in front of them. The Thunderbird slammed into the side corner of the SUV and spun out of control. They broke through the iron barrier and went flying backwards into the canal.

The backend of the Thunderbird was sinking faster, the hood and headlights tilting upwards and sinking a moment later.

The car was filling with water fast.

Bud and Tallulah undid their seatbelts. Tallulah pushed Bud out the passenger side window and turned to address Gaston. The impact had knocked the stuntman completely unconscious.

Cold water reached their waists as Tallulah wrestled with his seatbelt. The damn thing was stuck! The music on the radio began to muffle when the speakers became submerged. She shouted out in frustration when the water was reaching their chests. Finally, she got it and the seatbelt clicked open. The water climbed up to their necks as she wrestled him from the seat and pulled him through the window, fighting against the rapidly rushing water. Some of the leftover broken glass from the window cut her shoulder, but she was in no place to worry about that now.

Tallulah kicked off her skates and pulled her uncle from under his arms. 

She sucked in a loud gasp when they reached the surface of the pitch black canal. Tallulah’s lungs burned and ached as she caught her breath, nearly panicking until she was sure Gaston’s face was out of the water as well. She dragged him by the back of his jumpsuit and swam to the wall of the canal, where Bud was waiting anxiously.

“Here!” She lifted him as best as she could. “Take him!” Bud took the unconscious stuntman under the shoulders and hauled him up onto the shore. Bud reached back down to help his niece up. When they were all three safely on the shore, Tallulah half-collapsed next to them and rolled onto her back, panting and exhausted. 

Gaston choked and sat up suddenly. He coughed out some water and glanced around. He saw the car’s headlights at the bottom of the canal, and looked over at Tallulah and Bud. Everyone was accounted for. He laid back down to catch his breath. “Woo.” He gave a little fist pump with the little energy he had. The three laid there for a moment.

“Is this a bad time to mention I left my teeth in the car?”

Gaston paused… and started to laugh. Tallulah joined in, and Bud followed. The three of them couldn’t help but laugh at the silliness after everything. 

What an adventure.

Chapter Text

Billie opened her eyes, and the pain swiftly followed.

Her whole body ached. A dull throbbing beat at her skull as she groaned and rolled over to sit up. It took but only a single glance to realize she was back in her cell yet again. 

The concrete walls and iron bars of the cell reminded Billie of something out of a movie. This cold and filthy place had been her home for the last couple of days. 

So badly she longed just to lay in the grass, or feel the warm summer breeze, or look up at the blue sky again. She was beyond sick and tired of the sterile white walls and buzzing bright lights.

Her conductor’s hat sat on the ground next to her, a beautiful splash of color against the dull world. She dusted it off and looked at it for a moment, admiring the patterns of the stitching and it’s every little detail. It had been much beloved by her since she was a girl, when she had gotten it for her birthday. It had been too big at the time and slipped down over her eyes, but as she grew up and became a woman, the hat became a perfect fit.

She pawed away a tear before it could slip from her eye, and plopped her hat back on her head.

“Be careful, dear. They hurt you pretty bad.”

Billie jumped at the other voice and looked around frantically. 

“Who is that? Who’s there?”

“I’m down here.”

A hand waved from behind the iron bars next to the wall. “I’m in the cell next to yours.”

“Wait, Grandma?” The moment Billie recognized her voice, she hurried over to the hand, dropping painfully to the floor when she tried to bend and kneel down. Her muscles were weak and shook with effort.

“Here..” The hand retracted, then returned with some medicine. “These are painkillers. I’ve been recovering for a few days, but I saved some of these. They’ll help you with the pain.” 

The engineer began to reach for them but paused. 

“What about you? Don’t you need them?”

Lucille chuckled. “No, I’m doing much better now. They can’t keep this old bird down.”

Billie took the offered medicine and downed it with what little water she was given. She sighed and leaned back against the wall as she waited for them to kick in. 

“Thank you, big girl. You’re the best of the best.”

She and Lucille took each other's hands and gave them an affectionate squeeze.

“Anytime, dear.”

Chapter Text

Franny’s mind was fuzzy. She felt like she was in a haze as she watched the city lights off in the distance. When was the last time she just stopped to admire them like this? 

They weren’t anything like the ones from her time, but that didn’t mean they weren’t still gorgeous to look at. It felt… nostalgic. She remembered seeing those old lights in the distance when she’d hop around the creek by her home, searching for frogs.

It was about half an hour since she and Laszlo had initially found each other. It was still the middle of the night and Laszlo was understandably exhausted, so she had brought him up to their little makeshift camp in the equatorial room.

He found a spot to curl up and practically passed out. A small part of Franny wanted to wake him up and ask for more information on who might be after them, but she knew he was just as much in the dark about it as she was. Besides, the poor kid needed to rest.

Franny needed some time alone to assess everything and plan out their next course of action. Her mind was abuzz with new information and she needed to calm down. 

Walking down the street calling people’s names wasn’t going to cut it at this point. They needed a plan. A real plan.

Franny looked over when she heard a jingling collar and the little clicks of claws on the tile flooring. Her eyes widened when she saw a familiar looking terrier climb up the steps. “...Buster?”

The little dog approached her for a moment and gave her hand a sniff and a lick. It… strangely helped. She felt a little better and less hazy. She gave him a good rub behind the ears and sent him off to join the group. 

Buster looked around at the sleeping figures. He sniffed at Laszlo and laid down on his chest. Laszlo sleepily mumbled something and reached up to pet him. Franny smiled softly. Buster was always there when people neededed him.

Franny turned to look back at the city again, but jumped when she heard the heavy doors down the stairs open, and loud footsteps approaching. She went still, fearing past Bud or Lucille was coming and she’d have to somehow explain to them why there was a camp full of strange people in their house.

Instead, she was greeted by the sight of her astronaut brother carrying her sleeping son to bed. Franny jumped up, having to remember not to shout and wake everyone up.

“Art!” She whisper shouted.

The spaceman looked around before spotting her.

“Franny! I didn’t even see you over there! How are you!” He responded in a similar eager whisper-shout. He set Wilbur down gently and laid a blanket over him before hurrying over to his sister and scooping her up into a big hug. Franny chuckled softly as he twirled her around. 

Even when he stopped spinning, they didn’t let go. The two of them just held each other for a moment. They wanted to savor this peaceful little moment. When they weren’t fighting for their lives or running from something. 

Finally he set her down.

“Have you seen Gaston, yet?” Art asked. Franny responded with a sad smile. “No, but I know he’s around here somewhere. Hopefully not causing too much trouble. But knowing him…” 

Art chuckled, but knew there was truth to her words.

“Don’t worry. We’ll find him. Let’s get some rest. We need to be ready for anything. I have reasons to believe we are being pursued.”

Franny knew he was right. Clearing her mind was good, but if she didn’t get some sleep, she wouldn’t have a mind to work with at all.

“Let’s discuss it first thing tomorrow. That way we can have all our information and everyone on the same page.”

“A good plan. Goodnight, sister.”

“Goodnight.”

Franny found a spot of her own and quickly settled into a dreamless sleep.

Chapter Text

“Frankie!”

The raven haired girl hurried through the school halls.

“Frankie! Where are you? You’re gonna get me in trouble,” she huffed and put her hands on her hips. School had only just started for the day and he had already hopped off somewhere.

She spun around when a croak got her attention. All she saw were his little green legs as he hopped into the janitor’s closet. “Frankie! There you are!” She opened the door and snatched him up. “You silly old frog.”

Her foot bumped into something metallic. 

“Huh?” Franny looked down at what looked like… well she didn’t know what it looked like. She had never seen anything like it before. It was a golden… leg? In unison, both frog and girl followed with their eyes where the golden leg led to a pile of coats and tools, typical janitor closet junk. Something was buried underneath. It looked like one of the shelves had tipped.

Franny reached out to move the mop. Slowly, carefully, she moved it aside. Underneath… a robot? He was sleeping. But how did he get here? Franny moved one of the coats laying on him to reveal an ‘R’ on his chest in a futuristically decorated logo.

“Wow…” She traced the logo with her hands on the metal. He was cold. 

R? What does R stand for? Oh! Robot! It must be!  

“R stands for robot,” she whispered to Frankie matter-of-factly. The frog only looked up at her, not a single thought behind those eyes. 

“Aww, you’re so stupid. I love you.” She gave Frankie a tiny kiss on his little froggy head. Then turned and spit. Probably shouldn’t kiss frogs, actually. Something about disease or something. Who cares.

She’s got to tell Lewis about this! If he comes to school today, that is. He’s been absent for a few days now…

Chapter Text

He was having that stupid dream again.

“I can’t believe I was dumb enough to think you were my friend!”

Why did this keep happening?

“I am your friend!”

The winds began to pick up and thunder rumbled above.

He looked down at his hands, watching in terror as they began to dissolve. That never happened this early! Was his dream changing? Why was it changing?  

“Mom! Help!”

Wilbur turned back to his family and the dark expressions they all gave him. He felt his heart drop. A small part of him knew it wasn’t real, but logic was being ignored in favor of survival.

He lunged towards Grandma Lucille, trying to grab her hand, but she only shook her head in disapproval and walked away. “Please! I’m sorry!”

He tried to grab at Uncle Fritz’s sleeve, but his hand had already dissolved. Panic choked the boy, and he tried to reach towards someone, anyone for help.

They all ignored him and walked away.

Tears spilled down Wilbur’s face. He looked to his mother one last time. She only watched him with a glare that could freeze hell over.

“Goodbye, Wilbur.”

Wilbur could only take a step back. He collapsed to his knees as the clouds spiraled above. 

This was his fault. 

This was all his fault.

Wilbur cried out in anguish, his voice echoing as he was ripped away from reality.

“Wilbur!”

Someone had him by the shoulders.

“Wilbur! Wake up!”

Wilbur opened his eyes and screamed out.

“It’s okay! It’s just a dream!”

“Laszlo…?”

His cousin was shaking him.

“It’s just a dream, Wilbur.”

Before Wilbur even knew what was going on, he lunged forward and hugged Laszlo, clinging to his cousin like he was the only thing stopping him from disappearing.

Laszlo understood immediately and held Wilbur close.

“It’s okay. Whatever it was, it’s gone.”

His hands held onto his cousin’s coat, focusing on the texture to distract him. 

“When did you get here?” 

“Late last night. Aunt Franny and I accidentally scared the hell out of each other,” he chuckled. 

“Is that what that was? I just remember she was freaking out about something.” 

“Yeah,” Laszlo chuckled, sheepish. “That something was me. Sorry for causing such a fuss.”

“Dude, you’re fine. We’re all getting our bearings.”

A bit more calm, Wilbur took a deep breath and let go. He yawned and wiped at his face, glancing around the room. The sun had come up, but the day was still very fresh. The pillows and blankets from the family’s makeshift camp were still scattered around, but it was only him and Laszlo in the room.

“Where’s everybody else?”

“Downstairs. You were out cold, so we thought we’d let you sleep a little bit longer. I was just coming up to get my helmet and you were freaking out. What was that about, anyway? Are you okay?”

“Yeah… yeah I’m good. Is someone making bacon?” Wilbur dodged the question. 

“Oh yeah! Past Uncle Bud and Aunt Lucille left for work earlier, so Uncle Art’s making breakfast for everybody! We’re downstairs coming up with a plan!”

“Oh hell yeah!”

Perhaps it was because he jumped up so fast, or because he had only just had a nightmare moments before, but a painful shock of electricity shot through Wilbur, and he very nearly collapsed back down. Laszlo caught him, but like a conducted electric current, it spread to the artist as well. They both glitched, both boys crying out and lighting up a bright blue. There was a half a second Wilbur thought he saw something on his cousin, but it was too quick to tell what. But there was something covering part of his face, and a bright red glow.

As quick as it came, it was gone, and both boys were left clambering to their feet.

“What happened?! What the hell was that?! Wilbur, are you okay?!” Laszlo grabbed at his goggles.

Wilbur took a deep breath and turned to face the artist. There was no hiding this one.

“...I’ll explain at breakfast.”

Chapter Text

Tallulah blinked the sunlight out of her eyes and sat up.

Their trio had fallen asleep not far from their crash site. She woke up to the sound of workers gathering to tow the car out of the water. Some police and firefighters were dotted around, police asking questions and trying to get the story. Tallulah winced at that. Well, that and the slight sunburn she had gotten from falling asleep outside. She’s always burned easily. 

She turned to… yep. Uncle Bud was gone. She sighed, then turned to her other side to shake Uncle Gaston awake, the stuntman having rolled over at some point in the night. Thankfully, Tallulah didn’t see too many cuts on him.

“Mm?” Gaston grunted, not opening his eyes. Tallulah shook his shoulder again. “We have to get up. We can’t stay here.” 

“Mmn…” Again, nothing. 

Tallulah sighed and rolled her eyes. Boys could be so difficult sometimes. 

She winced and rubbed at her aching shoulder. At least she had to find Uncle Bud before they left. The designer stood to her feet and smoothed her skirt. She began to fix her hair a bit when she paused. Her skates were sitting in the grass next to where they had slept. There were Uncle Bud’s teeth and Gaston’s helmet as well. All of which had been lost in the water last night. How did they get here…?

“Did you see the ice cream stand?” Tallulah turned around to see her uncle enjoying an ice cream on a nearby bench. “They got cake batter ice cream! How about that?” 

Ah, there’s Bud. 

“Ah, there he is!”

Wilbur was greeted by some of his family’s smiling faces when he and Laszlo came back downstairs. He plopped down in an empty seat and Uncle Art slid a hot plate of bacon and eggs his way. Half of his family was missing and he had a glitching problem, but at least there was bacon. If you asked Wilbur, it was very difficult to be upset when eating bacon. He pushed guilt to the back of his mind while he ate.

Franny closed the fridge and smiled. “Well since everyone’s here, I think it’s a perfect time to get everything on the table and make a plan.”

Wilbur flinched.

Did they know…?

He kept his head down and kept eating, not making eye contact with anyone. Franny sat down and placed a few blank sheets of paper in the center of the table. She pulled out a sharpie and slid two of the sheets to Laszlo. “Think you can make us a map of both Midtown and Todayland?” “Sure thing!” Laszlo grinned and got to work, sketching a bird’s eye view of both. Lewis pulled up a picture on an iBook for Lasz to use as a reference for Midtown.

“When does Midtown get renamed, anyway?” Lewis asked.

“It’ll be a few years yet, but it’s a very special day when it does,” Franny said with a bright smile. She decided not to spoil the part about his inventions being the reason for the city’s rebrand to Todayland. Best to let him discover that wonderful day for himself when it comes.

“Okay,” Franny began, now serious. She got a sheet of paper and a pen. “Let’s get on the same level here. Art?” Both Framaguccis wore similar stern looks.

Art, ever a good leader, stepped in. “There is a great cause of concern for the family that must be addressed.”

Wilbur nearly choked on his food, but didn’t look up.

“Something occurred last night. Some strange men in an alleyway attempted to kidnap Laszlo.”

Wilbur and Lewis both looked up from their food, then at each other. Even Lefty looked at the artist with a concerned eye. Fritz and Petunia looked the worst, however. 

Fritz almost forgot he had Petunia. Wilbur saw the arm holding her dip, just a bit, just for a second. The puppeteer looked at his son with worried eyes. For once, Petunia had no snarky remarks. She just stayed silent. Laszlo was a bit uncomfortable feeling all gazes in the room on him, but pretended not to notice and continued drawing with an awkward cough.

Fritz looked between Art and Laszlo. His eyes asked a billion questions, but his mouth could only ask two. 

“What happened? Who tried to take him?”

The conversation began to fade out to Wilbur after that. At first, he was almost happy the conversation didn’t go the way he feared it would, but he never anticipated this.  

Another pang of guilt hit him in the chest. He never wanted his family getting hurt.

He just missed his friend. And now his family had to suffer for it.

A little muzzle nudged Wilbur’s elbow. He paused, then reached down to pet Buster. 

“I’m okay. Good boy.”

Chapter Text

“Again, Franny?”

A teenage Art scolded the girl as he drove the battered pizza delivery car. It smelled like pizza inside. He only just got it back from the police station after it was stolen. It nearly cost him his job, so he wasn’t exactly in the best mood. “We’ve been over this! You can’t kiss the frogs!”

Franny crossed her arms with a pout. Her brother wasn’t thrilled about having to pick her up early because she was ill. Only a bit! She was doing better now!

“If they weren’t meant to be kissed, why do they look so cute and dumb and kissable!” She exclaimed, holding Frankie up to emphasize her point. “See him? Look at him. Look at him, Art… Art, you’re not looking-” “I see him, Fran. You know he’s supposed to stay at home-”

“STOP!” 

Art slammed down on the breaks and held his arm in front of his sister. The car skidded to an abrupt halt, the poor frog flying from the girl’s hands and plopping into the windshield with a ‘slap!’

“What!? What is it?!”

“Lewis lives that way!” She pointed. “He hasn’t come to school in a few days and I want to make sure he’s okay!”

“Fran, I’m certain he’s fine-”

“Please!”
“It would be rude to stop by unannounced-”

“Please! We’ll just knock and ask!”

She gave her brother the biggest puppy dog eyes she could. “Please? For me?”

Art only looked unimpressed. “That’s not going to work this time.”

She leaned in and gave him a big hug, somehow making her eyes even bigger.

“For your favorite baby sister?” Art scowled and looked away. She responded by holding Frankie up next to his face. Even as he tried to look away, she moved Frankie to follow. “Pwease? Fow Fwankie?”

Art threw up his arms in defeat. “Fine! Just leave the frog at home tomorrow.”

Franny leaned into Frankie and chuckled. “Not gonna happen.”

“What?”

She held Frankie up again. “Frankie was just telling me that you’re the best brother ever!”

Art breathed a heavy sigh and put on his turn signal. 

“What am I going to do with you?”

While Wilbur tuned everything out, Lewis did all he could to listen in.

“My biggest concern is that these people know who we are and are trying to get ahold of us,” rather than his usual expressive and broad tone, Art spoke low and quiet, as if they weren’t the only people in the house.

“That’s ridiculous. This bozo here and I were arrested and they let us go!”

“Please calm down, honey. The important thing is that you’re with us. We don’t know these people or their motives just yet. We may have just gotten lucky.”

Franny put a hand on Laszlo’s shoulder, making a mental note to ask about getting arrested later. “How are the maps coming along?” Laszlo brightened a bit, seemingly eager to change the topic and escape being the center of attention. “Good. Here, they’re all done.” He handed them to Franny.

“Alright!” Franny spoke up, quieting the rest of the room. She placed the maps on the center of the table. “Role call. What are some points of interest? Where did everyone start out?”

Everyone pointed to different spots around the Midtown map. Wilbur pointed to Joyce Williams Elementary. “There. They wouldn’t let me leave.”

Fritz pointed to downtown. Petunia pointed to an alleyway behind a toy store. Laszlo pointed to a church. Art to a bowling alley. Lefty to a bookstore. Finally, Franny to a car demolition site. Lewis took a pen and marked where each person pointed.

“Who are we missing?” Fritz put on a pair of reading glasses and got another piece of paper. Lefty meanwhile decided to clean up the kitchen.

“Our damn daughter for starters?” Petunia squawked. Fritz nervously wrote down names as the others suggested. 

“Alright, so that’s Tallulah, Billie, Gaston, Joe, Bud, and Lucille.. God, I hope they’re okay…” he put his head in his hand. 

Laszlo suddenly went still and took on a worried expression.

“What if… Those people who went after me… What if they have Tallulah?”

They all looked up, nobody having the heart to confirm the likelihood of the possibility.

A knock at the door suddenly brought them into the abrupt present.

Lewis turned to his family in a panic. “Hide! Now!” He whispered as loud as he could without being heard outside.

“Hello! It’s Franny! Are you home? Can I come in? Your door’s unlocked!”

Suddenly the kitchen became a mad scramble for everyone to hide. 

Franny slowly pushed the front door open. She turned and gave a grin and thumbs up to her brother sitting in the car. He looked puzzled. They let her in? Huh.

“Lewis!” Franny called out as she stepped into the empty home. “It’s just me! I’m here to make sure you’re not dead!” She stepped into the kitchen, not noticing the rapid shuffling by the figures hidden just out of sight. The house smelled like bacon and eggs, so someone was just here. Franny didn’t see the two pairs of eyes (one of which were fake) watching from the pantry. Petunia opened her mouth but Fritz quickly covered it and shook his head.

“Lewis! Are you having a breakfast party?” Franny turned to look at the table while a camouflaged Lefty slowly moved from his spot on the wall up to the ceiling, changing his color to match his surroundings. There was an open iBook on the table. Cool! She and Lewis would play games on it sometimes when she’d visit. To her confusion, there were no games, just pictures of the city. Just out of her sight, Wilbur stood balanced on a door, holding Buster under an arm. He silently shushed the dog. Suddenly, his foot slipped but he was snatched up by a long tentacle arm.

Some drawn maps with crosses on them caught her eye, next to it a list of names. “‘Tallulah, Billie, Gaston…’” she read aloud. “Hey, I know a Gaston,” Franny spoke to nobody in particular.

The girl jumped up when she thought she saw the curtains move slightly. She didn’t see the figure flinch and huddle back behind the curtain. “Hey! Who’s there? I know karate!”  

Franny snuck up to the curtain, her arms raised. She yanked the curtain back and jumped into position. “Hiya!” 

…There was nobody there.

Franny stood for a moment. Huh… She went back to the pictures on the table, failing to notice Laszlo, now on top of the curtain rail, breathing a sigh of relief. That was close.

She looked over the papers again, trying to figure them out. A pen fell and rolled under the table, stopping right next to the girl’s older counterpart, who had been using the table as a hiding place. “Dang it.” She felt the ground with her arm, but couldn’t seem to find the pen. Mrs.Robinson held her breath when the girl moved to look underneath the table-

“WAIT!” Lewis ran in and Franny jumped up. Mrs.Robinson took the time to crawl away.

“There you are, Lewis! Where have you been? Are you okay?” Lewis hurried over and ushered Franny another way so that she wouldn’t see Uncle Art huddled behind one of the counters. “Yeah, I’m good! Just some… family in town! Been spending some time catching up.” 

“Neat! Oh my gosh I totally forgot! I found a robot! At school!” Lewis froze. “What?”
“Yeah! He’s in the janitor’s closet and he’s made of gold! And he’s got an ‘R’ for robot on his chest!”

Lewis grabbed Franny’s shoulders. “You have to show me! ASAP!”

A bright grin spread across Franny’s face. “Way ahead of ya!”

The two went running out the front door, Franny unaware of her friend’s panic, mistaking it for curiosity. “You should fix him up so he can be our friend!” “That’s the plan!”

The moment the door shut, the entire family fell from their hiding spots, breathing a collective sigh of relief.

Way. Too. Close.

Chapter Text

A mug flew across the room and shattered against the wall, leaving a mark upon impact and sending scalding hot coffee all into the carpet.

“How did this happen?!” The Boss roared.

The large screen on the wall displayed a news story about a catastrophic car accident and an old car that had gone flying into the canal. When officers and firefighters arrived in the early hours of the morning, there was nobody in the car. On the same street, another car had smashed into a median, killing both the driver and the passenger inside.

“They should not have been able to escape! They were blocked in!” He bellowed, gesturing furiously at the screen.

The room of employees stayed quiet, faces downcast and hands fiddling with keyboards and mice to appear busy. Nobody had an answer for him.

“What kind of morons do I have working here?! Twice in one night you lost the targets! You had one of them in a goddamn trap for crying out loud! And now we’re under the public eye! Did I not tell you to keep this quiet?! Now the damn world is watching!” 

A chair was thrown across the room in a fit of rage.

One employee wore a back brace and sported a broken wrist. His colleague was in critical condition for a cracked skull. He muttered something under his breath.

“What did you say?” The Boss marched up and snatched the injured employee by the front of his suit. He yanked him closer until they were nose to nose, ignoring when the other winced in pain from his healing back.

“I… I said that I didn’t sign up for this,” he stuttered quietly. He had to stand on the tips of his shoes just to reach the bigger man’s face. “I didn’t come here to have my back broken and for what? Scraps?” His voice gained a bit more courage as he spoke. “If I’m going through this shit, I want to be paid decent money.”

The Boss paused. “Like I already told you…” He spoke in an eerily calm voice. “We don’t have the necessary funds to pay everyone right now… If we don’t get these targets, we go bankrupt… Is that what you want?!” He roared. 

“A group of time bending humans fall right in our laps overnight! Strong, intelligent, resilient human beings! And we have the chance to get ahold of them before anybody else in the entire world! We have the chance to figure out what the future is made of and get ahead of the game! We could build the future before anyone else! What the hell do you think we do this for?!”

When the employee was dropped, his back gave out and he crumbled the rest of the way to the floor.

“If we lose those targets, we lose millions! They are the key to the future!” The Boss grabbed a computer off the desk and approached the injured employee, raising the computer over his head as if to slam it down on him.

“If we lose them, we lose the future!”

“Sir!”

He froze, computer in the air, and turned to the source of the voice. A smaller businesswoman stood over her computer. “We got something!”

He shot the frightened worker one last dark scowl before glancing around the room. Every employee took this as their cue and quickly went back to work, not wanting to be the next one sent to the medical ward or have a computer smashed down on their head.

The Boss adjusted his tie and dusted himself off as he made his way to the businesswoman.

He leaned in and squinted to the dot she pointed to on the radar. “We have another chance. Something’s just entered the city…”

The car just crossed over the county line and into the city. It was a tight fit getting everyone in the family car, but they managed. 

They still had this car in the future. It was old but very well kept. Bud and Lucille still went for drives every Sunday afternoon, so the last thing Franny wanted to do was damage it. 

After Lewis and Franny left, it was a mad rush to follow them and track down Carl.

“Looks like I am officially no longer the only Robinson to steal a vehicle,” Wilbur grinned.

“Oh, honey, you never were,” Franny teased and tapped on the breaks, causing Wilbur to lightly bump into the seat in front of him.

“Y’all are cute,” Petunia chimed in from the front seat.

They followed the pizza car for a few minutes, but at some point they fell behind. “Shoot…” Franny muttered to herself. “Anyone see them?”

Wilbur shook his head. The buildings here all looked the same! How could anyone find their way around if they couldn’t see where they were going from above? He didn’t get it. God, this place was depressing.

“Wait, didn’t Franny say something about a school?” Fritz asked. Adult Franny’s face lit up. “That’s right! Lewis and I went to the same school! Hang on!”

She sped up and began to weave around traffic.

The woman’s pointer finger followed the blip. “It’s speeding up…”

The Boss stood up abruptly. “Well what are we waiting for? We need men dispatched there now! Follow it!”

The woman contacted agents while the Boss continued to follow the blip. It took a sharp turn and began to cut down another road. How fast was this thing going?

“It’s approaching the baseball field!”

“Do you think we should slow down a bit?” Fritz asked over the car’s engine.

“We’re almost there!” Franny’s focus didn’t break.

They pulled around the corner just as Lewis and Franny ran into the building. 

“STOP!” Art suddenly cried out. Franny’s stiletto slammed down on the brakes, bringing the car to a screeching halt.

The group stared wide-eyed out the front window.

“I need visuals! Contact security footage on that street! Send it to the big screen!”

The moment the security footage was displayed, gasps and hushed whispers of disbelief were heard around the room.

“Holy shit…” Wilbur muttered.

The Robinsons watched in horror as Tiny stepped foot on the school baseball field.

Chapter Text

Frankie watched from his perch on an upside down bucket as Lewis and Franny lifted the fallen shelf off Carl, clearing away the junk that covered him. Thankfully he only seemed to have a couple tiny scratches and dents, but nothing that couldn’t be fixed.

Lewis wasted no time opening Carl’s chestplate and working on the dead battery inside. Normally Carl would charge on a port, but he didn’t have one on hand. “Keep an eye out while I fix Carl,” Lewis spoke as he dug around in the toolbox. Franny scooped up Frankie and plopped him down on her head. “Roger that, captain!” She gave a salute and spun around. 

She paused a second. “Wait… Carl?” Franny’s question was cut short when a loud thud  shook the entire building. The electricity flickered and bits of dust fell from the ceiling.

The two stood frozen in silence for a few seconds. Franny was the first to speak up.

“...I think a bird just flew into a window.” 

Lewis would’ve turned to give her a bewildered look, had he not been interrupted by the Joyce Williams Elementary sign crashing into a nearby classroom. That was enough to send the children into a panic, running from their room and into the hallways, trying to find their way out of the building. A chestnut haired man in a button down shirt and tie stumbled out after them.

“Lewis?” Mr.Willerstein did a double take when he saw his most hardworking student. What was he doing here, though? Why was there a robot?

Lewis could tell he had questions, but he needed to handle the fleeing students first. 

He glanced towards the kids running off and back to Lewis. Concern written all over, he gestured for the two to stay where they were. “Stay put, Lewis,” he called as he turned to run after the other children. 

Franny clasped her hands over her ears when the fire alarms went off suddenly. More children came running from their rooms and through the halls, sensing the rising panic all around.

“What do we do?” Franny shouted over the chaos. Lewis looked down at Carl and his gaze hardened with determination. 

“We keep moving forward.”

Windows rattled as a shrill roar pierced the air. 

The ground shook with every thundering footstep the monster took. A couple in their car froze up in fear when a massive reptilian snout leaned in to sniff at them. It huffed, fogging the windshield. He was only curious, but he didn’t always know his own size. 

Even if he was just a baby, he was still the King of the Beasts. 

Tiny took a leap onto the school building, his massive tail slamming into the J oyce Williams Elementary sign and sending it smashing into the side of the building. The entire structure shook a moment - somehow triggering the fire alarms - and another window shattered when his tail rammed into it whilst gaining his balance, but thankfully, it stayed standing.

Adult Franny rushed forward and whistled sharply. “Tiny!”

The beast looked around before spotting her, his mouth breaking into a large smile at seeing one of his people. He jumped up off the building and came crashing down in front of the woman, shaking the ground and the trees, even causing a few people to lose their balance and stumble. Tiny leaned down, closing his eyes and making a happy sound when Franny reached forward and petted his snout. 

Crisis averted…

Without warning, the front doors to the school flew open, screaming children and panicking adults rushing from the building. Tiny stood up sharply and spun around at the commotion, failing to notice the powerline strung above.

The beast let out a pained screech as a shower of sparks came down, stumbling backwards (nearly stepping on Franny) and knocking over a few vehicles with his tail. Many of the children froze at the sight, but most kept running in all directions. Tiny let out a furious roar at the pain.

Art’s face hardened. This was no time to watch. He had to take action!

“Everyone!” He called with his most assertive voice. “Teachers and students, this way! The building is unsafe! Go to the baseball field!” He hurried ahead to help the children and lead the way to the baseball field. Uncle Fritz followed suit, helping guide kids that strayed away or got lost back to the group.

Wilbur made a mad dash for the school doors. “Wilbur! Don’t!” Franny cried. She managed to catch the back of his shirt, stopping him in his tracks. 

“You and Lasz get Tiny out of here! I have to find Lewis!” He pulled back his shirt and kept running. Franny wanted to argue, but her attention went back to Tiny when she heard a car accident somewhere behind her. 

While most people ran away screaming, crowds of awestruck onlookers began to form. 

They had to do something, and they had to do it now.

“Need some extra help?”

Franny felt her heart swell with joy at the sound of her brother’s voice.

Inside the building, Franny and Lewis looked around in surprise when the power cut out completely. Emergency lights came on and alarms rang, signaling anyone left in the building to leave. 

Thinking fast, Franny grabbed Frankie and gave him a shake, causing the frog’s belly to glow. Lewis raised an eyebrow. “I caught him eating some glow sticks earlier,” she shrugged. He hummed and nodded before going back to work. Carl sparked and twitched, but fell limp again. Try again. Keep moving forward.

Sounds of panic came from outside the building. Everything had erupted into chaos. 

Without warning, someone came crashing through the window, sliding across the floor and bumping into the wall of lockers with a hearty laugh. The moment Lewis recognized him, he jumped up.

“Uncle Gaston?!” 

The stuntman looked at them upside down from where he laid on his back. He laughed again and jumped up, shaking off the broken glass and giving them a thumbs up. 

“Didn’t think you could have all the fun without me, did you?” He teased.

“Everyone’s been looking all over for you!”

“Really! What a surprise! I’ve been looking all over for them, too!”

In the darkness, Carl’s blue eyes lit up a moment. His head twitched. “Will…burrr..?”

He sparked and fell quiet. Again. Try again. Keep moving forward. Another roar outside shook the windows. Gaston looked up. “Sounds like they need me! You got this Lewis!” In the flashing exit lights, Gaston suddenly caught sight of a young girl looking up at him with curious brown eyes. He knew those eyes anywhere. He smiled warmly, adjusted his helmet, and ran off into the danger again.

A police cruiser skidded to a stop just before hitting Tiny’s legs. The furious beast was on a rampage, leaning down and bumping the cruiser onto its side with his head. Laszlo wasted no time landing on the upturned side, pulling the door open and reaching for the men.

“Grab hold! Hurry!”

Tiny tried to use his nose to nudge the artist out of the way, but Laszlo stood firm. 

“Tiny! No!” The officer holding onto Laszlo looked incredulous. “That thing’s yours?!” Laszlo went back to helping him up. “Family pet, actually! He’s usually much better behaved than this, I apologize.” The officer was only half paying attention, staring wide eyed at where the artist’s feet hovered over the ground. Was he flying?!

A chuckle came from on Tiny’s back. Grandpa Bud climbed up to Tiny’s head, giving it a pat. “That’s quite enough now! Yer causing quite the fuss today, aren’t you?”

“Uncle Bud! You’re back! Where have you been?”

“A lot of places! The park, in the canal, the ice cream parlor, the park, the grocery store, the bowling alley, the park, the movie theater…”

Bud continued listing places off as the officer turned to Laszlo. “Are all you people like this…?” 

The artist suddenly seemed distracted, feeling around his coat for something. After a moment of searching, he pulled something out of his pocket. Was that… an ear? Was it real…? “Oh good, I still have it! I thought for a moment I must’ve lost it. Sorry, what was your question?”

Franny desperately looked around for something she could use to stop the dinosaur. If she didn’t do something, someone would be hurt! On her shoulder, Frankie searched with her.

“Boss! There!” Frankie tugged on her ribbon to get her attention before he pointed a green finger up at the school’s flagpole. A rope! Franny caught on instantly. “Perfect!” 

Her red stilettos clicked on the sidewalk as she rushed over to the flagpole. 

“Help me untie it!” 

Frankie hopped onto the pole, working together with Franny to get the rope undone. It was far too stable. “Damn it!” Franny punched the pole in her anger, making a sharp metallic ‘ ding!’ She instantly regretted it when her hand stung, leaving her briefly doubling over in pain and shaking her knuckle. 

“That’s not gonna work, we need to cut it-”

Suddenly, she heard her brother’s voice among the crowds, crying out for her.

“Franny! Franny, where are you?! Franny!”

“Art! Help me cut this rope!”

“How do you know my name? Where’s my sister?” 

Only when Franny whipped around to look at him, did it dawn on her that it was the past version of Art. Shit.

Before she could give him an answer, he noticed the genetically modified Frankie perched on her shoulder and froze. The frog. There’s no way she would have left the building if she didn’t have her frog. She had to still be in there. 

Faster than he’s ever run for football, for fun, for anything, Art took off towards the building. He yanked off his letterman jacket, wearing his pizza uniform underneath.

While Franny watched her brother run, a broken piece of glass from one of the toppled cars caught Frankie’s eye. With a flick of his tongue, he pulled it over, grabbed it, and began to slice through the rope.

Carl gave a shout as his entire body locked up. After a couple sparks, he slowly stood to his feet. He took a (nonexistent) breath in, stood up straight… and lost power.

Still in pose, he fell stiff as a board, his face hitting the ground with a metallic thud.

Lewis and Franny watched in a wide eyed silence.

“He had a good second-and-a-half of life,” Franny spoke as she petted her frog. Lewis hummed and kneeled down next to Carl to try again. 

“Lewis!” Wilbur came sprinting around the corner and down the dark hall. “We can’t stay here! The dinosaur is… back… What happened to Carl?” He pointed down at the robot.

“Carl, bro, we’re in a crisis! Get up!”

Lewis grabbed a wrench and reopened the chest plate. “He’s still out of power! I’m trying to fix him. Since you’re here, hold this cable for me?”

“Turns out Frankie makes a good light source!”

Wilbur meant to look up at Franny at that moment, but his gaze caught the classroom door instead. In the mad rush to leave the school, it was left slightly ajar. Something about the darkness of the room behind it really freaked him out.

Slowly, the world seemed to be going quiet. 

The fire alarms, the roars and shouts outside, and Lewis’s instructions began to drift away from Wilbur’s thoughts, the imaginary sounds of rain and thunder taking its place.

Chapter Text

Counting a classroom full of students was already challenging enough on its own.

Counting a class of students while evacuating the school due to a dinosaur attack was damn near impossible. 

Between getting to safety, half the kids running for their lives and the other half trying to get a look at the beast, and the fact they they were only one of many classes standing out in the baseball field, it was understandable that Mr. Willerstein was in over his head. Besides, it’s not like there was a protocol for such an emergency!

To make matters worse, in the mad rush to get out of the building, he had forgotten his clipboard on his desk! Counting the kids by memory was his only option.

“Emma, Hannah, Logan, Matthew…” He squinted and pointed at each kid as he counted them. “18 kids, two absent, so 16… we’re missing someone, who are we missing?” Willerstein froze as the memory came back to him all of a sudden-

“‘Stay put, Lewis.’”

He paled. Lewis was still in the building!

Art seemed to notice his distress. The teacher blurted out the issue before he even had to ask. “Two students are still in there!”

“What are their names?”

“One is Lewis, he’s one of mine, but I don’t know the girl’s name. She’s not in my class but she has black pigtails!”

That was all he needed to hear. 

Without another word, the hero took off full speed in the direction of the school. 

“Laszlo!”

Frankie held the end of the rope in his mouth as he hopped from Franny’s shoulder, to a sign, to a car, onto Tiny’s back, to Bud’s (who was still listing locations’) head, and up to the artist. “Take the rope, kid!”

Laszlo grabbed it, locking eyes with Franny who held the other end of the rope. Instantly, he understood what to do. “Fantastic!”

Frankie held onto the artist’s bowtie as he took a nosedive around Tiny’s neck, swinging in front of him to get the rope in his mouth, then swinging back around before finally landing on his back. Laszlo pulled hard on the rope, the dinosaur rearing his head up and letting out a ground shaking roar. 

“This is the coolest thing I have ever done!” Laszlo whooped loudly. “Where’s Gaston?! He needs to get in on this!” Bud called out. Laszlo looked around. “I don’t see him! Do you?”

Franny cupped her hands around her mouth. “Guys! See if you can guide him away from the city!”

Laszlo nodded and directed the beast away from the school and down the street, dodging cars and picking up speed.

Franny caught sight of some black SUVs speeding around the corner. One stopped at the school, but another followed the dinosaur.

Her eyes widened when she remembered her family’s words.

“There were some men that tried to kidnap me.”

“I have reasons to believe we are being pursued…”

Franny felt her heart in her throat. 

Where’s Wilbur?

The Son of the Future watched as the time machine rose from its port. This was his fault. He turned to look at the City of Progress. It was difficult to see through the pouring rain, but in the darkness, he could see its colorful lights. Those lights that meant hope for a better tomorrow. 

One by one, the lights disappeared.

And it was all because of him.

Wilbur shrieked when something grabbed his shoulder.

He scrambled backwards in a blind panic, slamming his back into the row of lockers. He glitched again, feeling his body twist and pull in different directions for a moment. Hands tried to grab at him, but he screamed and swiped at them. 

“I got it!”

“Wilbur? Wilbur!”

“We have to go!”

Something wrapped itself around him tightly, pinning his arms to his sides and lifting him off the ground. His panic only grew worse, kicking his legs and flailing in a desperate attempt to get free. Voices called out, but he didn’t understand what they were saying.

“Little buddy! It’s me!”

“Carry him, we have to get out of this building!”

Time seemed to be fleeting by and yet at a complete standstill at the same time. Wilbur could feel his feet off the ground, he could hear alarms and voices, but he couldn’t register any of it.

Suddenly, he felt himself be planted down on the ground. He felt the grass underneath him. Hands were on his shoulders and his back, petting him to bring him back. Someone- no- a few people were trying to help him.

“Wilbur… You’re okay buddy, I got you. Can you hear me?”

He fought to open his eyes, blinking at the impossibly bright daylight outside. When he looked up, he saw his familiar golden best friend. The other’s eyebrows were furrowed with concern, but he brightened considerably when he realized Wilbur opened his eyes. He flickered a second, but seemed to be coming out of his haze.

“Carl?”

“Hey, little buddy. Keep breathing, okay? You’re doing great.”

Wilbur huffed and looked around while Carl got a rag out of his chest plate, using his third arm to wipe away the sweat on Wilbur’s face.

“Wh… what happened? Where am I?”

“You were staring at the classroom for a really long time…You were like a zombie,” Young Franny spoke up, holding Frankie in her arms. Lewis elbowed her lightly, glaring slightly before following up in a worried voice. “You were helping me fix Carl and you just… froze. I fixed Carl and Uncle Art showed up to get us out.”

Wilbur looked up. Uncle Art had been the one patting his back. He smiled, despite the deep concern in his eyes. Wilbur looked around again.

“Where’s my mom?”

Chapter Text

Very few times in Franny’s life had she ever run so fast. 

When it came to her son, she’d run around the entire world for him and never look back. She knew she had to get to her boy before those monsters did. She ran so fast, her stilettos flew off and she ran on without them. In the blink of an eye, she sprinted through the front doors of the school and through the halls. 

“Franny?!”

A younger Art was searching the classrooms when he saw someone speeding down the hall. He opened the door, but she was already gone. “Franny!”

He took off after her. Although it technically was Franny, it wasn’t the one he was looking for.

Franny followed the path of most destruction, eventually finding the classroom where the school sign had crashed through the wall. There!

Franny rushed outside to her family, ignoring when her dress slightly snagged on a piece of rubble or when she felt a piece of glass cut her foot. She didn’t care. She was barely a few steps out the door when Wilbur dove into her arms. He held onto her tight, his face in her side. She held him close and looked over to Art.

“You said someone tried to get Laszlo, who was it?” Her words were so rushed, she nearly jumbled them. “Were they wearing all black and carrying tools on them?” 

“Yes!”

“They’re here. We have to get everyone out. Laszlo and Bud have Tiny, where are Gaston and Fritz?”

“I’ll get them.”
“Fast. I’ve got the kids.”

Art ran around the back of the school to find his brother, while Franny turned to assess her son. “Wilbur, honey, what’s going on? Are you hurt?”

He didn’t respond, he just held onto her. 

“Something freaked him out,” Carl explained. “When Lewis fixed me-” He was cut off when Franny grabbed him into the hug. 

“Carl! You’re okay!”

Somehow despite being a robot, Carl felt his chest become soft at the idea of being missed. I mean, he knew he was loved, of course he was! But to know his family rallied around to get him back made him all happy and warm.

“Franny!”

The younger Art finally found his way out of the building, looking frazzled. “Oh Franny!”

He pulled the younger Franny into a big hug. She beamed with excitement. “Art! You never told me you were a superhero!”

He looked stumped.

“Huh?”

“It’s okay, I know it was you! You were just here a minute ago! Dressed as a superhero! You don’t have to hide it!”

Art shook his head… then laughed and hugged her again. She must’ve bumped her head or something. They’ll worry about that later. He’s just glad his baby sister is okay!

“Come on, we’re going home!”

“What?! No! I want to be with Lewis and Carl!”

“Another time, Fran. Something weird’s going on and I want you close to me until things settle.” Before the girl could protest, her big brother picked her and Frankie up. “Let’s go get Gaston from school. We’ll have a fun day, just the three of us.”

The girl looked toward her friends again. Lewis smiled back. “We’ll be okay. I’ll see you later, okay?”

“...Okay.”

A young woman sat outside the coffee shop, her computer set up and opened to an empty word document. The prompt for her college assignment was to write about encounters with unusual circumstances, but she had never had such an occurrence. She had been sitting there for nearly half an hour now, and came up with nothing. She was beginning to become disheartened. 

She reached for her coffee, but her hand stopped when the drink rippled.

The woman furrowed her eyebrows. 

It did it again. 

A third time it happened, only she felt a small shake in the ground that time. 

The woman jumped up with a gasp when she heard screaming, and a massive dinosaur rushed down the street next to her.

There were two people on its back, and the beast had a long rope in its mouth like a pair of reins, American and State of Massachusetts flags hanging from the rope.

It took a sharp left turn and disappeared down another street, leaving a crowd of stunned onlookers in its wake. A few black SUVs sped on the sidewalk after it.

The woman hurried to sit back down, hit with the perfect idea on what to write about.

Laszlo looked around, completely lost. Where even were they? The buildings and streets all looked alike! They kept getting turned around and running back into damaged places they’d already been.

“Ehh, those guys again,” Grandpa Bud muttered and adjusted his glasses. He was sitting backwards on Tiny’s back. 

Hearing his uncle, Laszlo did a double take, suddenly spotting at least five SUVs speeding after them. 

His blood went ice cold.

Muttering a cuss, he flicked the reins. “Go!”

A police cruiser swerved in front of them, lights and sirens blaring. Tiny reached down and grabbed it up as if it were nothing but a toy. 

“Tiny! Don’t! We have to keep moving!”

A sharp whistle caught both Laszlo and Tiny’s attention. Laszlo squinted. Was that…?

“...Tallulah?” Hope blossomed in his chest. His sister was okay! 

“C’mere boy!” She called to Tiny. “This way, boy! Let’s go!” 

A loud happy sound came from Tiny’s throat and he tossed the police car aside, crashing into one of the SUVs.

“Yes! Follow me!” Tallulah continued to call up to him as she began to skate backwards a moment, before spinning around and speeding ahead. She turned down a busy street to shake off their pursuers.

Tallulah dodged and weaved around cars and crowds of onlookers, jumping and ducking, and spinning around. It more or less turned into a game for the dinosaur, his snarl replaced by a large panting smile. 

Laszlo glanced back at the SUVs, beaming when he saw they were falling behind. They were honking trying to get through the traffic and crowds, but they were having trouble. As he watched them, Frankie suddenly grabbed Laszlo’s face. 

“Kid! Look out!”

Laszlo spun around and pulled on the reins hard, stopping Tiny just in time before he could run straight into a downed power line. 

Tiny ducked his head down, sending the others flying over the hanging lines and to the other side. Laszlo scrambled to his feet and ran back to help Tiny, but Tallulah and Bud grabbed him. Tallulah screamed for him to stop.

The group stood frozen as the agents caught up to the cornered beast. He looked at the alleys, but knew he wouldn’t fit. The agents rushed out of the vehicles, hitting him with quite a few hefty tranquilizers. Tiny began to attack them, but it only took a moment before he went crashing to the floor, his roars quieting.

The agents rushed ahead, using the reins as a makeshift muzzle.

Tiny’s head landed only a few feet from his family. His wild, fearful eyes met theirs. He opened his mouth, only letting out a small whimper before succumbing to sleep.

Laszlo stood in complete shock. 

He moved forward to help, but Tallulah grabbed at him again, shouting something about the powerlines. 

“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry.”

Laszlo didn’t know if he was saying it to Tallulah because of the power lines, to Bud for crashing and risking his life, to Frankie for not paying attention, or to Tiny for causing him to get caught. He was saying it to all of them, he realized.

Laszlo barely felt it when Tallulah grabbed him in a hug. He knew she was there, but everything just felt numb. Like everything was dulled or underwater.

He finally snapped out of it when a large spotlight shone down from above, bringing a strong wind with it. The group looked up in shock as a chinook helicopter positioned itself above the buildings, lowering a strap harness. The agents rushed to hook Tiny up to the helicopter and send him up. 

Tallulah looked over to the agents again. They were watching her and her family. They loomed like vultures. The power lines were the only things standing between them.

Tallulah grabbed at Laszlo’s shoulders. “We have to go! Right now!”

The siblings got on either side of their uncle and hurried off to find the rest of the family.

Chapter Text

With every passing moment, Art and Fritz grew more frantic in their search of Gaston. 

They had found his meatball cannon where it had tumbled in the bushes. He carried that little cannon on him everywhere he went so… why was it here? Where was Gaston?

More agents were beginning to pull up to the school and tape it off for searching. They couldn’t stay here or they’d risk being caught. “He’s not here. Is it possible he ran off?” Fritz looked over at Art. The spaceman was watching the agents out the window, the meatball cannon in his hands. 

“No. He never goes anywhere without this cannon. If he’s not here… He’s with them.” Art’s gaze narrowed at the men. The events from last night flashed through his mind. These people thought they could stroll in and take his family away?

Art’s fist clenched at his side, the other one tightening on the cannon almost enough to damage it. Fritz looked up at him fearfully and took a couple steps back. Art was such a gentle giant… he had never been known to get violent. Not before this, anyway. He was the peacemaker of the family, always stepping in and calming everyone down if there were ever squabbles. But nobody had ever taken his sister or brother from him before.

Art’s entire body shook with anger. Fritz’s eyes widened. Suddenly, Art seemed to snap himself out of it. He stopped and took a deep breath, breathing in through his nose and out through his mouth. He closed his eyes and relaxed his shoulders. Art looked down at the cannon in his hands. Fritz exchanged a glance with Petunia and slowly approached Art again.

The bigger man held the cannon to his chest and closed his eyes, as if whispering a silent prayer. He stayed there for a moment before he opened his eyes and looked at Fritz.

“Let’s go.”

Franny tapped her thumbs on the steering wheel anxiously as she waited for the others. Initially she was going to go look with them while Carl stayed with the boys, but every time she tried to leave, Wilbur would beg her not to. 

She also hated the idea of being away from him while the agents were here. She wanted to be where she could keep an eye on him. She had the A/C in the car way up to help him feel better. They were parked around the side of the school so as to stay close enough the family could find them, but not so the agents would see them right away.

It was about ten minutes into her wait when Bud, Laszlo, and Tallulah crashed next to the car. Laszlo’s helmet was built only to carry one person at a time, so what was so urgent that they all had to fly here? Franny leapt from her seat and stepped out of the car, instantly sensing that something was wrong. Where was Tiny? Wilbur instantly perked up and moved to unbuckle his seatbelt, but Franny stopped him. “I’m just stepping outside of the car, bud. I’m not going anywhere.” He seemed to settle a bit, but stayed aware.

“Tallulah! Bud!” Franny sounded relieved, but waited expectantly for the bad news.

“They got Tiny,” Laszlo huffed, trying to catch his breath. “I hit a dead end and… they caught up to us…” he coughed. “I’m sorry, I went the wrong way…”

Tallulah, also doubled over to catch her breath, tapped at his shoulder to get his attention. She was wheezing pretty hard. Her brother quickly felt through his pockets and pulled out a backup inhaler, shaking it and handing it to her. She took a puff and kneeled down in the grass, letting it kick in. Laszlo had his hand on her back. She flinched slightly in pain. “Breathe, Lu. Do you have your inhaler?” She shook her head. “No… Lost it,” she wheezed between words. “When the car flooded… in the canal..” 

Tallulah tried to hand the inhaler back but her brother shook his head. “Hang onto it.” He made a mental note to ask her about the canal later. 

Franny kneeled down on Tallulah’s other side, making sure she was breathing alright. “This is worse than we thought. When Gaston gets back, we need to-.”

“Gaston’s not coming back…”
Franny looked up in shock. Art stood next to the car, looking grim and holding the meatball cannon in his hands. Franny felt like the air was stolen from her lungs. “What do you mean…?”

“Those people got him,” Art spat. 

Franny felt her limbs go numb and her body go cold. She felt like she couldn’t breathe. For a moment she wondered if she should use Tallulah’s inhaler on herself.

She had never heard her brother use such a bitter tone before. Something about his expression gave her chills down her spine and made her stomach turn. She hadn’t seen it since her brothers had gotten into a terrible fight many years ago. It was before Wilbur was born. Hell, it was back before she and Neil got married. 

Fritz hurried over to his daughter and wrapped a gentle arm around her. “Honey…”

He moved to grab his spare inhaler from his pocket, but Tallulah stopped him. “I already took a puff. It’s working, I can feel it.” Tallulah was still breathing rough, but much better than before. She wrapped her arms around her father and brother, fully appreciating the fact that they were all four together for the first time since they were all separated.

Franny didn’t realize she was crying until Art set a gentle hand on her back. He took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. Frankie hopped on her shoulder and put a comforting hand on top of her head. “Let’s go home and regroup. The family took a big hit, and we need to get out of here before the agents find us.”

Franny looked around. Her brother was right… Carl was still not caught up, Wilbur was shaken up, Art was close to losing his temper, Tallulah overdid it already and needed to recover, half the family was missing, Gaston was gone. 

The family was in rough shape.

Gaston tried to shout, but his voice was muffled behind cloth.

“Damn, he’s awake already?”

“Seriously, what are these people made of? They’re tough as hell.”

He was in a vehicle, his arms zip-tied behind his back and a cloth over his head. It must’ve been a sweater or a bag or something. It was small, but thick. Last thing he remembered, he was thrown off of Tiny and went crashing into the bushes. As he was getting up, a bag was thrown over his head and something stuck into his shoulder.

He woke up here.

There was no telling how long they’d been driving, or where they were going. All Gaston knew was that he didn’t want to be here. Gaston writhed around and tried to get loose until he was stuck with something again.

In the blink of an eye, he dropped like the dead.

Chapter Text

Lucille froze dead in her tracks at the sight in front of her. 

The radio played as a large purple octopus was cleaning the kitchen spotless, happily moving in rhythm of the music as he did so. A dog with glasses merrily munched away at some leftover bacon and eggs, his tail wagging happily. 

The coffee mug slipped from Lucille’s hand and shattered on the ground, earning the attention of the other two.

They both froze and looked back at her. The dog’s tail paused, a bit of eggs falling off his muzzle.

Lucille pulled her sleeve back and slowly began to remove the coffee patches. Now that she thinks about it, sleep isn’t such a bad idea…

Billie’s arms still burned and itched. 

Todays ‘experiment’ (medieval torture method if you asked her ) involved seeing how her body reacted to different natural venoms. They had done harsh skin prick tests on her arms, testing the reactions to mildly venomous plants. Not enough to cause serious damage, but it certainly didn’t feel good. Tests were much different in her time! For one, they were humane.

They had to bring the tests to a close for the day when Billie wrestled away from the nurses and began to destroy the equipment. She forced herself out the door of the testing unit and actually made it pretty far before she was electrocuted and dragged back to her cell.

If Billie Robinson were to be taken down, she’d go down fighting with everything she had.

That night, Billie stirred awake when the door to the hallway opened up. She quickly let go of Lucille’s hand, not wanting to risk the scientists finding out they knew each other and try to use that against them.

A lean figure was marched in, his head covered by a hood. Billie knew it was to keep him disoriented; for preventing him from memorizing a way out. To keep him, quite literally, in the dark. 

Billie squinted to get a better look at him. The room was pretty dark, so he was difficult to identify. He was tall and thin, with a slim but healthy build. Workers in heavy gear accompanied him, guiding him by his shoulders while his arms stayed zip-tied behind his back. 

They approached a cell across from Billie’s and stopped. One of the guards scanned a key card and opened up the door, while the other moved to stand behind the figure, holding his arms behind him. The first guard took out a metallic device.

Billie gasped softly when the guard moved to latch it around the man’s ankle. She looked down at the identical one she also wore. She wondered if Lucille had one as well.

The moment it touched him, the prisoner kicked the guard in the head, sending him to the ground. The guard grabbed at his head for a moment while the figure wrestled in the other guard’s grasp. He shook his head to try and get the hood off, but wasn’t quick enough. The first guard lunged forward and latched the device around his ankle, tightening it so that it couldn’t be pulled off. He pulled the hood off the man’s head just in time to deliver a painful blow to the side of his head. The other guard swiftly cut the zip-tie and shoved him in the cell, slamming the door shut behind him.

The guards hurried off as the man jumped back to his feet and slammed himself against the bars of the cell with a furious shout. Billie gasped in shock when she heard his voice and got a look at his face. 

“Gaston!”

The stuntman didn’t hear her, instead slamming into the bars again with another shout. He looked completely feral, snarling and yelling as he rammed his shoulder into the lock, but it didn’t budge. “Gaston,” she tried again.

Again, her call went unnoticed. Gaston continued to ram into the walls of the cell, over and over and over again.

“Gaston!” Billie shouted as he slammed himself into the bars one last time before running out of steam. He held onto the bars and slowly sank to the floor, panting hard. His eyes were shut tight. He spit blood on the concrete floor. Everything ached. 

Only this time, his pain didn’t come with the satisfaction of adventure or pulling off an incredible death-defying stunt.

This time, it came with rage, terror, and a feeling of complete helplessness.

Chapter Text

Cornelius nervously gave himself one last look over before stepping into the Boss’s office. “Yes, sir. You asked to see me?”

The large gentleman looked up from his work, dark eyes settling on Cornelius. He squinted thoughtfully and stood up, desk chair creaking.

Cornelius silently tensed up when the Boss approached him. He had forgotten just how tall he was. The man loomed over him and held out a massive paw to shake.”

“I’m sorry, are you a new hire? I don’t believe we’ve met. Mister…”

“Morrow.”

“Morrow…?”

“Mister Tom Morrow.”

He put on his best entrepreneur smile, took the gentleman’s hand and gave it a firm shake. Years in business had taught Cornelius much.

“Please pardon me, I had been recently hired, but in all the chaos I hadn’t found the time to properly introduce myself. Is it always this busy?”

The Boss was slightly taken aback, but seemed pleasantly surprised at the ‘new hire.’ He chuckled. “Well I shall hope so! With such a breakthrough I shall hope for more exciting things to come! You should see we just had another one brought in a few minutes ago. I was about to go take a look at him, why don’t you come with?”

“I’d love to! Lead the way,” Cornelius responded with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. He hoped the Boss didn’t notice his face go pale. They caught someone? Who?

Cornelius didn’t catch anything the Boss was saying, loosely letting himself be guided to the elevator. He noticed the larger man scan a key card on the elevator. It made sense the ‘subjects’ were kept under special access. Didn’t make it any less upsetting, though.

Gaston gasped as he was pulled from the frigid water, coughing and sputtering and trying to get precious air back in his lungs.

The stopwatch ticked in the scientist’s hand.

“Three minutes and seven seconds. He held for nearly six and a half minutes in lukewarm water. Remarkable times for each test.”

Gaston was pulled from the icy pool. As soon as he was on solid ground, he collapsed on his side, still coughing and hacking to clear his lungs. His wide eyes darted around and his fingers twitched, trying to get feeling back in them.

Cornelius couldn’t believe what he was seeing. The sight of his brother-in-law on the ground, half drowned and clawing at the air made him sick. 

“Quite an incredible specimen, isn’t he? The strongest and most resilient we’ve had,” the Boss chuckled. His eyes carried an awe to them. It reminded Cornelius of the way he himself looked whenever one of his inventions was successful. Only here it looked… wrong. Everything was all wrong. This was wrong.

A wave of shivers wracked Gaston’s body and he curled into himself. Now that he was beginning to breathe alright, he was trying to warm himself. Glooming hatred burned from his eyes as he looked up at the scientist with the stopwatch. She was jotting down results on a clipboard and discussing it with another scientist. 

Cornelius felt anger unlike anything he had ever felt before.

This was his family. His brother-in-law. This man who had played with him and teased him and watched him grow up. He had gone to every one of Cornelius’s talks and presentations, just like the rest of his family. And these people saw him as nothing more than a science experiment.  

His hand twitched. Anger told him to give the Boss a good clock in the face. 

But…

Self control told him otherwise.

You can’t. You’ll give  yourself away. You’d be trapped and nobody would be able to get them out. Besides… That man is twice your size. He’d have you down in the blink of an eye.

Cornelius took a deep breath and calmed himself, unclenching his fist. He forced himself to look away from Gaston, and up at the Boss instead.

“I’m sorry, I’ve lost track of the time and must head back to my station. I was doing some work and don’t want to leave it unattended.”

“Of course. You’re dismissed, Mr. Morrow,” the Boss sent him on his way. “Thank you, sir.” Cornelius nodded and hurried out as quickly as he could without running.

“Mister Tom Morrow…” The Boss puffed his cigarette in thought and went back to watching over the experiments.

Chapter Text

Gaston twitched when he heard metallic creaking.

He was still curled up on the concrete floor of his cell where they had left him not long ago. He was still soaked to the bone, but at least they were kind enough to throw a heavy blanket over him. He carried matches and a lighter on him at all times, but those were ruined in the water.

The cold had drained every bit of strength he had, and now all he could do was lay here and get it back. Gaston was a spitfire, and they had doused him with frigid water.

His flame may have been weak, but it did not go out.

Billie and Grandma Lucille crawled in through the vent and stood over the shivering stuntman. “Gaston. Can you hear me?” Billie shook his shoulder. He grunted quietly and slightly opened his eyes. It wasn’t much, but it was all he could do.

“Do not worry, Gaston. We’re here to help you,” Billie assured with a smile. The Framagucci responded with a small sound and a weak smile back. He shuddered and curled up even tighter.

“I know what to do. Billie, throw that sheet over him. I’ll be right back.” With that, Lucille disappeared back into the vent. 

Some of the cells had mattresses while others didn’t. Some just had single sheets on the ground to be used as blankets. Gaston’s cell, however, had a mattress. Billie rushed over and pulled the sheet off of it, moving to instead carefully drape it over Gaston. It was hardly anything, but hardly anything was better than nothing at all.

“How’d… you get in here…?” Gaston asked weakly.

Billie shrugged. “I don’t know! The vent just… popped open! I had tried to get them open  before but wasn’t able to. Lucille said the same thing.”

Slowly, Grandma Lucille reemerged from the vent, dragging behind her the sheet from her own cell, along with the hospital blankets she had been brought in with. 

“You are a genius!” Billie quietly cheered as she moved to help the woman lay the blankets over Gaston.

“When I hiked in the Himalayas…” Lucille draped the first blanket over him. 

“They had warned us about the biting cold. It practically drains the life outta you…” she continued, grabbing another. “One of the hikers fell through ice… and ended up like him. Well worse, obviously, but still…” 

With Billie’s help, she laid the last blanket over him. “And we all gathered together to warm her…”

Billie and Lucille gathered around Gaston to help him get warm.

“This family… we need each other. We’re no good left alone,” Lucille smiled.

Gaston already seemed to be getting some color back in his face, and he seemed more relaxed. He was still shivering, but it would take a while for that to stop. That’s okay.

His family is here, and that’s what matters.

“How’s it looking?”

“Good. They’re helping him. Thank God. I thought he was a goner for a minute there.”

“Well let me see!”

“There’s not enough room to back up. Let’s just get out of here before the scientists find us too. We gotta check in on the others, anyway.”

“Yeah, they weren’t looking good earlier. You know the way to the observatory?”

“Sure do. Follow me.”

Chapter Text

A soft knock sounded on the door before it clicked open. Bud stepped in, a plate of apple slices and honey in hand.

“Franny? I brought your favorite. How are you feeling?” He paused upon hearing the gentle sound of laughter.

Across the room Franny stood silently, her back towards the old man. In front of her sat the Memory Scanner, softly playing a memory from only a few weeks prior…

It had been a long day, and she was feeling pretty drained. A good song had come on the radio, and Cornelius began to dance playfully. He was being goofy and singing off key, and Franny couldn’t help but laugh at his antics. Upon seeing her smile, he wore a big grin. 

“There’s my beautiful wife,” he teased and gently took her hands. They began to dance around the kitchen, laughing and swinging and playing and forgetting about everything else in the world. Nothing else mattered.

The scanner's screen faded out as the memory came to an end, and a tear slipped down Franny’s face. Then another. And another. Her shoulders hitched and she began to sob quietly to herself.

“Oh dear,” Bud sat the plate aside and set a comforting hand on her shoulder. 

“I’m so worried about him,” Franny sobbed. “And now my brother’s gone, and I don’t know what to do-” 

“Woah, easy, easy… Sometimes my brother’s worries get the better of him. And when that happens, he takes a deep breath and tells himself ‘One thing at a time.’”

Franny sniffled and wiped away a tear. “I… don’t understand.”

Bud handed her a box of tissues. “In other words, if you take on all your thoughts at once, you’ll end up overwhelmed. Focus on right now. You’ve got your son safe. We’ve already gathered a great deal of the family. And we at least know what to look for. I mean, where are they going to hide a dinosaur? Underground?” He chuckled.

“Now, I may be an old man, and my brain’s long since become scrambled, but I’ve never lost my good judgment of character. Gaston, I’ve seen that man take on more explosions than a fireworks show on a minefield. He’s as tough as nails. And Cornelius… from the moment I first met him at that science fair, I knew he had a spark in him. He was smart as they come and clever as a whip! They don’t call him ‘The Father of the Future’ for nothing… He can handle himself. They both can. I know it.”

Franny cleaned away her tears and blew her nose, feeling a bit better. She mulled over the words and thought for a moment. She took on another look of concern suddenly. 

“What about Lucille? Will she be okay?”

Bud’s face fell a bit, but he seemed to pick back up. “Oh, she’s the strongest person in the entire world. She’ll pull through…”

Franny didn’t miss the worry behind his smile.

“How could this happen?!”

Carl flinched away when the chair was thrown against the wall, smashing it to bits.

The spaceman ran a gloved hand through his hair, huffing with anger. He growled and threw another piece of furniture across the room. Carl always knew Art as one of the kindest and patient people he’s ever met. He’s never seen him so angry.

Buster whined and ducked out of the room with his tail between his legs. Lefty meanwhile continued dusting, seemingly unbothered. Even after Art picked up and threw a stool he was dusting, the octopus just blinked and moved to dust the next item.

“I need to go for a walk. Please excuse me,” Art growled, storming out and slamming the door shut behind him.

Wilbur sat silently in the hall, just out of sight.

His hands trembled as he listened to his uncle tear that room apart. He hiccuped slightly, trying to keep himself from crying.`

‘No! Wilbur Robinson doesn’t cry!’ he scolded himself internally.

He knew he was already crying. There was no point.

He’d really gone and done it this time.

Chapter Text

His heart was in his throat.

“Get him, get him, get him!”

The first shot missed, the second one hit.

Almost ten feet he plummeted, crying out when he landed painfully on the asphalt, completely entangled in netting and unable to fly.

He scrambled to get to his feet but would only end up getting tangled up further and pulled back down to the floor like an animal caught in a trap.

He began to hyperventilate, and yet it felt like he was getting no air at all. There were shouts from people standing over him.

“Alright, we got the target in the net, over.”
“Get him in the car!”

There was the sound of a car trunk being opened.

He began to yell for help, but there was nobody else around. His heart slammed against his ribs as he clawed and kicked at the netting. He didn’t have anything sharp on him! He dropped his paint gun when he was shot with the net and fell.

This isn’t happening.

This isn’t happening.

Suddenly, there was the sound of barking, and whoever was dragging him let go. There was some cursing and the sounds of a scuffle nearby.

Then a gunshot.

Laszlo jolted awake.

The artist looked around wildly, but stopped upon noticing Buster laying on his chest. 

He had woken him up. It was a dream. Buster had noticed him twitching in his sleep and woke him up. 

Laszlo’s heart was still racing, he needed to calm down. He reached over and pulled on his goggles, slipping them down over his eyes.

“Thanks, buddy…” Laszlo whispered and pet the terrier with trembling hands. “I don’t know where I’d be without you…” That wasn’t completely true. He knew he’d be in the back of one of those SUVs that had been chasing him and Tiny.

“Hey Lulu…?”

Laszlo rolled over, only to find the spot she was sleeping in empty.

“Tallulah?” He sat up and looked around the room. She was nowhere to be found. 

Dread began to pool in his stomach. 

What if she got taken…? 

What if she was in the back of one of those SUVs right this moment?

Being taken who-knows-where?

Logic told him he was being paranoid, but experience told him to find his sister before it was too late.

Without thinking, Laszlo rushed out of the camp, down the lab stairs, and into the hall.

“Tallulah?!”

He heard a pained groan from one of the rooms to his left. The door was cracked open.  

“Lulu…?” He nudged the door open. 

“...Lasz..?” 

The artist froze when he saw his sister collapsed on the floor, kneeled over a trash can. She looked terrible. She was pale and had a blanket haphazardly wrapped around her, like she couldn’t decide if she was too hot or too cold.

With that, older brother mode kicked in instantly and he was on the floor by her side.

“What happened? Are you sick?” He felt her forehead with the back of his hand.

“Jesus, Lu. You’re burning up. What’s going on?”

His sister shivered and put her head down on the edge of the trashcan.

“Everything feels terrible…”

“Terrible how?” He ran a washcloth under some cold water and wrung it out before kneeling back next to her and wiping her face clean.

“Gaston, Uncle Bud, and I were being chased by those security guys, and our car went into the canal…” she began, her eyes still shut. Lasz listened patiently while he washed the cloth clean and wrung it out a second time. 

She began to take deeper breaths like she was going to be sick again, but it seemed to just be a false alarm. She sighed. “I hate this…”

“What happened when you went into the canal?” Laszlo gently prompted.

“We broke the window to get out. And while I pulled Gaston out, I cut my back pretty badly on the window…” she murmured tiredly. “It’s been hurting bad since…”

“Hang on…” Laszlo shifted the blanket to see the wound. His eyes widened when he saw it.

“Tallulah… this is really infected. Like that canal is filthy,” her brother’s voice was serious. She didn’t respond. Laszlo flinched when she began to slump to the floor. “Lulu…? Tallulah?”

Laszlo felt like his heart stopped when he realized she was completely unconscious. This was bad.

“Help… Help! I need help!” He laid her on her side and jumped up to get somebody. Laszlo ran out of the room and froze like a deer in headlights.

A younger Bud and Lucille stared back at him.

Chapter Text

When Billie woke up, everything was silent. 

It had to have been the middle of the night (not that there was a way to tell time down here). There were no business shoes clacking on tile floors or low voices speaking over radios, phones, or intercoms. Everything was still… she couldn’t tell if it made her feel peaceful or anxious.

She sat up and blinked the sleep out of her eyes. Gaston and Lucille were still fast asleep. Speaking of Gaston, he was looking much better already. He had his color back, and he had finally stopped shaking. Billie turned around to glance outside the cell.

She nearly screamed.

In the darkness, the large silhouette of the Boss stood outside the cell. He observed the trio silently.

Cornelius was adding the last few features to the ladyb0t. 

He used a magnifying glass to look closely as he used a screwdriver to put the teeny panels back into place. If all went according to plan, it would be able to climb into computers and monitors to hack or destroy them.

“All done,” he spoke quietly after ensuring everything was as it should be.

The little bug struggled to flip off its back for a moment, until Cornelius carefully used the screwdriver to flip it onto its belly. It looked up at him with raised antennae. The little bug had been his only companion ever since he ended up here.

Strange how this one little thing helped him not feel so alone. He blinked away a tear. 

He missed his family.

In a flash, Bud pulled his wife to stand behind him and held out a cautious hand.

“Hey now, we don’t want any trouble with you!” 

Laszlo stumbled backward but caught himself.

“I-it’s okay!” He stuttered. “I don’t want any either! I swear! My sister has an infected wound and she’s really sick-”

“Shouldn’t you take her to a doctor?”

“We can’t! They’ll find us!”
“Who?!”

“These people- okay, okay let’s just start over-” Laszlo put his hands up to calm everyone, but spoke quickly.

“Okay. My family and I are hiding in your home-”

“Family? How many are there?!”

“Don’t worry I’ll get there-”

“You didn’t answer the question, son. Who are you hiding from?”

“Some kind of officers? They might be spies, I’m not sure. They’re hunting down my family and I because we’re from the future. I promise, we don’t want any trouble! We’re just trying to hide until we can get home! ”

The two just stared at him with wide eyes. 

Slowly, Bud leaned over to Lucille. “Honey, you might want to call someone… I think he’s sick in the head…”

Lucille picked up the house phone from its stand, looking at Laszlo sympathetically. 

“Don’t you worry, sweetheart. You stay right there, we’re gonna have someone come get you and they’ll take good care of you and your sister…”

“No!” Laszlo nearly panicked. “Please! They’re after us! I don’t know who they are, but they’re terrible people who want to hurt my family! I’m not sick!”

There was no way to explain this without sounding crazy. He didn’t care if the rest of the world saw him as crazy. He just needed them to listen…

“Look, you don’t have to believe me. We can go somewhere else, but please don’t tell them we’re here. Please. My sister won’t survive… not in the state she’s in…”

Bud looked confused, but Lucille looked concerned. She put the phone down, slowly reaching over her husband’s shoulder to lower his arm as well. “Honey… he’s just a kid. He needs help.”

Bud thought for a moment. He hummed and whispered something back to her. The two seemed to talk quietly amongst themselves, debating their next course of action.

Laszlo watched them nervously, his eyes warily shifting between the two of them behind his goggles. He fidgeted with his shirt or with his hands, anxiously awaiting to hear what they had to say. He still needed to get Tallulah help, but if he bolted, he knew they’d alert authorities. Not that he can blame them…

Lucille noticed the way the strange boy couldn’t seem to hold still, very much like the way her husband or his brother Fritz did. Lewis, meanwhile, was more relaxed. Until he had an idea, that is. Once he had a project, there was no stopping him. 

She got an idea.

“You said you were from the future. Is there any way you can prove it?”

Laszlo glanced at the door to the lab and back to her.

“I can. Just… wait here. I’m coming right back.”

They didn’t have time to protest before he disappeared into the lab. Bud and Lucille exchanged a confused glance. Suddenly, they could hear distant hushed voices from upstairs. 

“You told them?! Why would you tell them?!”
“They spotted me! I didn’t have a choice.”

“I forot to ut mh teef in-”

The double doors pushed back open and the young man stood silently. He stepped aside, and the married couple gasped at seeing an elderly, toothless Bud Robinson standing in the doorway without a care in the world. Laszlo glanced at Bud, did a double take, and realized the other figure was hiding behind him. “Dad-” He moved the other man - one older middle aged Fritz Robinson - to stand next to his brother.

Bud - the younger one - and Lucille stood speechless. The red haired boy really was telling the truth.

“Ah, and who’s this handsome devil?” Grandpa Bud teased, admiring his younger self. Younger Bud shook his head and disbelief. “I don’t understand... How is this possible?

“Our son is a real special kid,” Grandpa Bud replied with a wink.

Lucille was over the moon, ecstatically going from person to person to look them over (much to Fritz’s unease). “Your family…” Lucille murmured, remembering Laszlo's words. “If your family is our family… who are you? ”

“I’m your nephew. Fritz’s son.” Laszlo beamed, relieved they were reacting positively to such a bizarre situation.

“Fritz’s son…” She looked wide eyed at Fritz, who only chuckled timidly. She turned and smiled at Laszlo again. “And you said you had a sister, too?”

Laszlo froze. Tallulah. 

Lucille saw his expression change. 

“Where’s your sister, hun?”

Chapter Text

You've probably noticed the slow down in updates for There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow. While many chapters and scenes were preplanned, I've been winging it for most of the story, and it seems I've finally run into the dreaded writer's block.

The more I've looked at the story, the more I noticed flaws and things I wasn't entirely happy with (ex. Wilbur's glitching problem seems to appear completely out of nowhere). There were quite a few chapters and scenes I had planned on adding in that for some reason or another, got missed or forgotten. There's plenty of angst, but it needs some more Robinson fun!

In conclusion, I'm going to be rewriting There’s a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow. This old version of it will no longer be canon, but I will leave it up to see the improvement between it and the new rewrite. The new version is going to be more neatly planned and have a consistent update schedule. It's definitely going to get a decent amount of rebuilding and adjusting! I even plan on creating a Spotify playlist to go alongside it!

I am absolutely not giving up on this story. I love it way too much to do that, and I'm actually quite excited to be remaking it!

It'll take a while to fully prepare, I hope you guys are okay with that.

Until then, may my failure lead to a better story in the future! Cheers!

Thank you all so much for the amount of patience, love, and support you've shown me! It means more than you realize. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a story to rewrite!

-Zipzapzopzoop