A/N- Forgot to mention, this is heavily inspired by HSM, especially Ana who is purposely similar to Sharpay. Of course I own neither HSM or MTR...if I did...do you think I'd be on here writing this??

"What in the name of the chargeball champ is going on?" Wilbur had finished parking the time machine. He got out and noticed that everything was now decorated in a musical theme. He could hear music playing from somewhere. "Did mom redecorate while I was gone?"

"Psst…" came Carl's voice from a dark corner.

"Carl?" What's going on?"

"Shh! Don't let anyone hear you talking during dance hour," the robot warned.

"Dance hour?"

"Yes, dance hour. A little something that's mandatory ever since your little trip back in time."

"What? Did I turn mom into an egotistical drama queen?"

"I'd choose my words more carefully if I were you, Wilbur."

"Would you just tell me what's going on?"

"Todayland is now governed by someone named Queen Drama. She rules ruthlessly. There are set dance hours and she even forces everyone to watch her perform via live satellite feed every evening."

"What are you talking about!?"

"Follow me," Carl quietly led Wilbur about the house. Wilbur quickly saw what Carl meant. "Now, listen to me. You were never gone. You never went back to the past. If Queen Drama ever found out that there are working time machines, and what's more, ones created by your father, it could be disastrous. She keeps a very close eye on this place. She hates that your father is resourceful, and that the Robinsons are all a bit…individualistic. That's the very thing she likes to keep suppressed. None of your family has ever challenged Queen Drama, and so you must go along with everything until you can come up with a plan…which I know you will."

"So, let's see if I got this…Queen Drama, no questioning, figure out a scheme. This is just like with Emperor Stanley right? Where we were the only ones to realize that the timeline had been altered?"

"Exactly. Only Queen Drama is much more dominating than Stanley ever could have hoped to be. So just lie low for awhile, and get to know who you're dealing with, understood?"

"Yeah, I get it. Just one thing, I've never understood why the alteration in the timeline never effects you. I mean, I know why I'm not effected, being back in the past when it happens and all, but you're here every time something happens."

"You mean every time you mess something up?" Carl challenged. "It's because I'm a machine. I was programmed before Queen Drama took power, so I know that this isn't right. My artificial intelligence can't be manipulated by time and space the same way as a mere mortal's."

"Mere mortal?" Wilbur raised an eyebrow.

"You know what I mean!" They heard a bell ring. "Dinner time! We have to eat fast! Anyone caught not watching the queen's daily performance…well, I'd tell you but I don't want to give you nightmares. There's just one more weird thing about this alternate future you should know…for some reason, people sometimes break out into spontaneous song. It's bizarre, annoying and just downright creepy."

"So the future's one big musical…great. This should be fun."

"So, Wilbur, how was your pilgrimage to the statue of Queen Drama?" Cornelius asked his son at dinner time.

Wilbur looked at Carl slightly before answering, "It was uh, it was beautiful. The likeness of our queen was amazing, yet couldn't compare."

"What I wouldn't give to see that statue or the queen herself in person," Art revealed a bit of infatuation.

"She has the greatest fashion," Tallulah commented.

"If only I could paint her portrait, my art collection would be complete," Laszlo added.

"Alright, that's enough," Carl interjected. "We'd better eat or we'll miss another wonderful performance by the queen."

The family heeded the robot and finished their meals. As he cleared the dishes, Wilbur remained behind to help. "I don't understand. Everyone loves the queen. You said…" Wilbur was stopped as Carl put his metal hand over the boy's mouth.

"Every house in Todayland is ostacolato. (a/n-"bugged" in Italian) They all know what they should say…except Art. He really does have a crush on Queen Drama."

"It's a good thing I know how to talk in Italiano. Man, this is going to take a lot of getting used to."

"Yeah, well maybe we should start by not missing the performance," Carl suggested quickly.

"I can understand why Art has a crush on the queen. That was absolutely…wow. And, boy, is she easy on the eyes," Wilbur said aside to Carl after the performance was done.

"Well, I assure you that her beauty is only skin deep," Carl whispered. "I can think of someone with all of her talent and then some because she cares about what's on the inside."

"Mom!!" Wilbur cried out, noticing for the fist time that he had not seen sight of his mom even once since returning.

"Wilbur!" it was too late for Carl to fix things. The rest of the family had heard him. They all let out worried gasps.

"Wilbur, don't you know better than to even…" Laszlo didn't finish.

"What if someone heard him," Tallulah tried to finish her brother's worried statement.

"Wilbur?" Cornelius seemed lost in a miserable daze. He quickly snapped out of it. "Family, you know what to do. This isn't the first time he's wondered so we'll just do what we did last time, understood. It's only natural and we can just pray the good queen understands and grants us pardon."

"What's going on?" Wilbur was more than at a loss for what his family was talking about.

"Come on, little buddy, come with me," Carl grabbed Wilbur's arm and dragged him away quickly.

"Carl, where are we going?"

"It'll be okay, son," Cornelius called. "Alright, everyone else to your stations."

Wilbur looked back over his shoulder to see his family scurrying several different directions.

"What's going on?" Wilbur finally asked when he and Carl had come to a stop in front of a wall where the door to the lab used to be.

"Shh, it's not safe here. I'll tell you in a minute." Carl touched a very specific spot on the wall, and suddenly it moved them around into the lab.

"Wait? The lab is hidden now?"

"I told you earlier that she can't stand resourcefulness, or greatness of any sort for that matter. It challenges her position. So your dad has kept this hidden. But that's not a big deal right now. The big deal is you may have just compromised your safety and the safety of the family."

"Why? All I did was ask where mom is."

Carl sighed, "I was going to tell you, but I didn't expect you to make any observation so soon so I decided to wait. This way," Carl motioned as he led to a very low scale invention. It was clear that Cornelius's resources for inventions were not as good in this altered future. Carl toggled a switch which was labeled "Satellite F" and suddenly a picture came on to a small monitor.

"Mom?" Wilbur recognized the small dark figure on the screen as his mother's. It was clear that she was in a very dark, dirty dungeon of sorts. "I don't understand! Why is she there? Who did this to her?"

"I've been trying to tell you. Queen Drama is ruthless. She put your mother there 10 years ago. And the punishment for questioning the queen's doing so or even speaking of your mother is the same."

"Why? It doesn't make sense. Was mom a rebel? Cause if so, that's kinda cool."

"No, from what I can gather, Queen Drama specifically hates your mother with a passion. She always wanted to ruin her life, and then one day she found a way to have her locked away without turning all of her subjects against her. I'm not really sure what she used against your mother, but it doesn't matter. We should just be happy that Queen Drama has never gone so far as to sentence a death penalty to anyone. But if she ever would, I can assure you your mother would be the first to go."

"So you're telling me that my mom has been rotting away somewhere for ten years now and no one has done anything for her?? "

"No that's not what I'm telling you…well not entirely. Art sneaks food to her since he's the official pizza man for the palace. And your dad has been working on a way nonstop for the past ten years to get her out. But he just doesn't want to take a chance before it's fail proof. He still has you to think about, ya know," Carl tried to explain.

"This is ridiculous. We're ROBINSONS! Nothing can stop us once we put our minds to something. I need to go talk to dad. Where is he?"

Carl sighed. He went outside to see if the coast was clear. Thankfully, the queen had not heard Wilbur's outcry via any of the bugs and had not sent her guards. "Come on, but we've got to be careful," Carl said as he came back into the lab. "We'll take the passage just to be safe." Wilbur followed, looking back once more to his mother on the screen.

(Very slow, ballad music begins as the camera pans closer to the screen until it fades into Franny standing alone in a dark room, a shaft of moonlight spilling in on her through a barred window.)

Franny: Trying to remember the image of your face in my mind.

Because it's been forever since the last time that I looked into your eyes.

And I can't wait for the day if when,

I can hear your voice again.

The way it used to be,

Led by destiny…

When there was us; you and me

And everything that we could dream

Of how the world could be

The future was no mystery

If I could go back and rewrite history, I'd keep…

The part with you and me.

(Cornelius is holding a picture of Franny, staring at it with a gleam of tears in his eyes)

Cornelius: Photographic memories are useless if you're not here to share them.

Because I could search for centuries and never find someone who loves like you can.

And I can't wait for the day…

Franny: If when

Cornelius: I can hear your voice again.

The way it used to be.

Franny: Used to be.

Both: Led by destiny.

When there was us; you and me

And everything that we could dream

Of how the world could be

The future was no mystery

If I could go back and rewrite history, I'd keep…

The part with you and me.

Cornelius: And I miss your smile.

Franny: (more drawn out) Oh, I miss your smile.

Cornelius: And I miss your heart song.

Franny: The way that you would sing along.

Both: (music builds to climax) And how I knew that you and only you were mine and mine alone…

When there was us; you and me

And everything that we could dream

Of how the world could be

The future was no mystery

If I could go back and rewrite history, I'd keep…

The part with you and me.

(The music lessens as the camera spins slowly to reveal that Carl and Wilbur have been watching all along silently from a doorway)

Both: I'd keep… the part with you and me.

(the music fades)

Cornelius set the picture back in its place and took a seat. He removed his glasses and wiped the tears from his eyes. When he finally put them back on, Wilbur was standing in front of him. "I miss her more than you could ever know, son."

"She shouldn't be there, dad. It's not right."

"I know she shouldn't…" Cornelius stopped and looked at his son. "You mean you know where she really is? Carl, did you tell him?"