The next few days of our stay in Animatown were rough, especially with the delivery of my first assignment. Robert and I had managed to meet in my room the second day of our stay and were talking about a means of escape when someone - or something - knocked on the balcony window. I sat my glasses on the nightstand and rose off my bed. "Stay here, Robert. I'll check it out."

"Be careful, Mia. Who knows who - or what - made that sound," he told me. "Also, you're supposed to be undercover here. No one is supposed to know Mia Démone is still alive."

I was nearly at the window when someone knocked again. "I know. No one is going to recognize me unless they see the birthmark or the Mark of the Tiger, both of which I'm not going to show off in public. I'll just use Angelina Leets as my cover."

"What about your voice? Surely someone will recognize it."

I paused for a moment. "I'll just talk like I'm from Jersey with a higher, more annoying voice." I pronounced 'Jersey' as 'Joisie" as proof. A third knock on the window reminded me to see who was trying to talk to me. I opened the doors to find no one standing on the balcony. "What the . . . ?" I looked down in front of me to find three smooth stones laying a couple feet in front of me.

I stepped out onto the balcony and picked them up. "Who's out there? Why are you throwing rocks at my window?" I listened for any hint of a reply. The wind rustled through the dying leaves of the cartoon trees in front of me and the dulling waters of the ocean once a magnificent blue had turned a sickly grey and splashed against the rocks below, but no one attempted to reply.

I tried again. "Who is out here? Who - or what - is trying to obtain my attention?"

"That's more like it." A voice boomed menacingly somewhere in the landscape. It sounded metallic, as if someone with a high-pitched voice was whining or complaining through a megaphone, only this was much louder. "I'm not exactly a who. I'm more of a what, human."

I swallowed hard as I searched frantically for the source of the voice hurting my ears. "What are you, evil creature?"

"I'm not exactly a creature, human. I'm an alien being from a far away planet, one that you'll be lucky to even view during your lifetime." The voice grew louder and I almost had to cover my ears.

"What are you?" I shouted, running to the edge of the balcony. His laughter rang in my ears and I felt my eyes welling up with tears of pain. "Where are you?" I screamed to the world, to the unseen voice taunting and teasing my common sense and harassing my logic. "What do you want from me?" I collapsed onto my knees and held my head in my hands as I tried to control my sobbing.

A large thudding sound echoed throughout the otherwise quiet afternoon and the voice was quiet now. "I don't want anything from you, human."

I looked up through my red and slightly swollen eyes. I had to look up until it seemed I would be blinded by what little sunlight peered weakly through the grey clouds and I had to choke back a scream. It was the one enemy I had made as Mia Démone I had hoped I would never see again. It was Starscream. "I want you."

I rose quickly and shakily to my feet and made a desperate attempt to flee back into the prison of a house. Starscream merely chuckled and grasped me by the collar or my shirt. I swung wildly, madly, hoping futilely I could knock myself out of Starscream's fingers. He turned me around to face him and the cruelty was obvious on his robotic face as he said, "You are Angelina Leets, correct?"

I swallowed hard again as I looked up at my captor and long-time nemesis. "Yes, I am Angelina Leets."

His dark and cruel smile of absolute evil grew wider and more sinister. "You are Le Frog's girlfriend and Steelbeak's heir." He laughed maniacally and set me down in the palm of his other hand. "This is all too perfect!" He wrapped his fingers around me and I struggled frantically to breathe. "For over ten years, I have waited to avenge myself for the embarrassment Steelbeak caused me in front of Megatron. Now, I can use you to seek revenge on Steelbeak."

I tried to find a simple non-violent way to convey the message. "Would you like me to tell him you stopped by and would like to meet with him?"

He made a face resembling a human eating a very ripe, sour lemon. "No. I'm going to kill you, and, since humans are ten percent energon, I'm going to digest you."

I tried to pull free from his iron grasp, frantically hitting him and shouting for him to put me down, but to no avail. Starscream slowly held me up until I was right above his mouth. His mouth opened wide and I could not see the bottom of the enormous crater-like hole. As I felt myself being lowered, I closed my eyes and hoped to Heaven I would not feel any pain as I died.

Suddenly, a deeper, controlling, metallic voice bellowed. "Starscream, enough!"

Starscream was so startled by the sound of Megatron's voice he nearly dropped me into his mouth anyway. "Why, hello, mighty Megatron. I'm afraid you caught me in the middle of one of my ideas of torturing humans. As you can see, it has an excellent affect on the human."

"Put Angelina Leets down before I decide to talk to the Great One about your disobedience." Megatron's smile was not pleasant. "And you know how well he deals with disobedience."

At that comment, Starscream immediately put me down on the balcony. "Now, we don't need to involve the Great One in this matter, Megatron."

I made sure nothing was broken before I rose to my feet. Robert rushed out onto the balcony. "Angelina, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Robert," I told him. "Please go back inside before one of them decides you'll be a decent replacement."

He paused for a moment to double-check and make sure I was alright before he turned and walked into the building. I turned back to the two Decepticons, who were still discussing on whether or not to bring the Great One into the matter.

"Excuse me, gentlemen," I said loudly, drawing their attention back to me. "If we're done here, then I better get back inside before my boyfriend begins to worry."

"We're not done here, human," growled Megatron. "F.O.W.L. sent Starscream to give you your assignment. They sent me to make sure Starscream didn't kill you in the process." He grabbed the manila folder out of Starscream's hand and handed it to me. "They want it done by the end of the week."

I glanced over the materials. "No problem. Thank you, Mister Megatron."

Megatron glared at Starscream. "Come one, Starscream. We have a lot to talk about when we get back to the base." The two Decepticons transformed and flew away.

As calmly as I possibly could, I walked through the balcony doors . . . and straight into the waiting arms of Le Frog, who embraced me. "Oh, Mon Dieu! I cannot believe you did that, cherie! You stood up to Starscream and Megatron like a professional. No one in Animatown has been able to stand up to those two for years."

"Yeah, almost eleven years," I muttered under my breath, pulling away from Le Frog. "I'm the only one who's had the guts to stand against evil. You all live normal lives, right?"

Le Frog appeared to be slightly confused. "Oui, cherie. That's correct."

"Then why don't you all take a stand? Stand against the Great One and fight for the rights and freedoms you deserve as Animatown citizens." I looked him in the eyes for the first time. "Do you really want to be controlled for the rest of your life? Have you ever even seen this 'Great One'?"

Le Frog stepped back from me and tried to avoid my penetrating stare. "We have all seen him, cherie, in one form or another. You see, the Great One is a shape-shifter, changing from one appearance to another in the blink of an eye. That's one of his many number of powers."

He sighed and looked up at me. "Have you ever heard of the Autobots?" When I nodded, he led me out of the room and continued. "They realised the Great One was a powerful threat and attempted to overthrow him from his rule. They were never seen again. The Great One knew others would soon attempt to do likewise, so he ordered all good cartoons be thrown out of Animatown. They still live out there in little camps and I can only wonder how they survive. No one is allowed out of the gates and no one is allowed back in. I just hope you never have to meet the Great One, cherie. I have no doubt in my mind the Great One would take someone as kind and gentle as you and, without hesitation, would eat you alive. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I ever let something happen to you."

He gently wrapped an arm around my shoulders and coaxed me back into our room. "Why don't you lay down and rest for a while? You've had a busy day, and I know you have quite a bit of work to do." He gently helped me lay down on the mattress and covered me with the blankets. "Good night, mon petit chou." He placed a sweet, quick kiss on my forehead before he left, silently closing the door behind him. As soon as I was sure he had left the hallway, I sat up, wiped his kiss off my forehead, and walked over to the computer screen. I had to finish my assignment as soon as possible so I could research everything I could on Animatown history. If everyone believed I was the Chosen One, then I had to find out what all the prophecies said about the Chosen One.

I had just pulled up an internet browser when someone knocked on the door. "Who is it?" I called out.

"It's Robert, Mia. Please let me in."

I opened the door and led him to a chair sitting next to my bed. "Hi, Robert. Is something wrong?" I had just noticed how pale he appeared.

"Mia, you were nearly eaten by a giant humanoid robot a few minutes ago. Now, you are sitting on your bed, typing on the computer as if nothing had happened. How can you act so calm about it?" He slowly sat in the chair as I returned to my spot on the bed.

I shrugged. "After living here for over five years, I became used to it.. However, I can tell that isn't why you came to talk to me."

"It's just . . . I miss my family so much and who knows if we'll ever make it back to Earth?" He sighed and put his head in his hands. "For all I know, I could end up in your situation. The only difference would be I'm not the Chosen One. I would end up dead within twenty-four hours." He silent for a few moments and for the first time since I met him four years before, I heard him sob.

Not knowing what else to do, I put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, Robert. I'll make sure you make it back home."

"You can't promise that," he whispered.

I smiled and patted his shoulder. "Trust me, Robert. I have friends in both high and low places in this dimension. I'm sure we can find a way to break you out of here and return you to the human world."

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Not expecting anyone, I walked over to the door and listened. "Who is it?" I called out to the stranger.

"Angelina, let me in. It's David."

Surprised and astonished, I opened the door and hurried my friend through the door. "Oh, my gosh, David! Is it really you?"

"It's me, Angelina," he replied. "I was keeping an eye out for an opening in a brick wall, just like you said. As soon as some cartoon rooster opened it and walked away, I jumped in and found my way here. I came to take you guys back home."

Robert instantly brightened at the thought. "We're really going home?"

I turned to him and grinned. "I told you I would make sure you would go back home."

We left immediately, knowing we only had a limited amount of time before Steelbeak returned from the real world. We snuck effortlessly to the brick wall where the Tear in Time and Space lay open. "Okay, Robert," I said to him. "You go first. It's more important for you to go home than me."

He merely nodded."What if it closes while you guys are still over here?"

"Just go straight home once you leave this place," I replied. "We'll keep in touch with you through the chat room through which we contacted David."

He took one last look at us before he jumped through the Tear. Suddenly and without warning, the Tear closed up, blocking my and David's escape. "NO!!" screamed David, clawing at the wall as if the Tear was hidden somewhere underneath the bricks.

Within a few seconds, we were surrounded by Bezu and the rest of Le Frog's henchfrogs. "MademoiselleDémone," said Bezu, posing in a way that was all too familiar. "You are coming with us." The other frogs followed his lead, posing in different kung-fu stances.

I glanced over at David. "Do you think we can take them?"

He was looking back at he wall at something which seemed to be quite horrifying. "I think not."

I followed his gaze to the .9 mm gun Steelbeak was pointing at us. I recognized it as the gun the police officer had pointed at me the same night I was sentenced to life in prison. "Do you always collect things from the people you kill and the lives you've ruined?" I asked him spitefully.

He slapped me across the face. "I show you all sorts of hospitality and give you all kinds of freedom and dis is how you repay me, by trying to escape?"

"I wasn't planning on leaving, Metal Mouth!" I spat angrily. "I was just trying to get my friends out of here. They don't belong here any more than my mother did."

"Well," he chuckled, looking over at David. "You weren't very successful, now were you, Angelina?" He pointed the gun at David. "From now on, dis guy is gonna stay in de prison while you do your work. You will do what I say when I say it, understood?"

I looked from him, to David, back to Steelbeak. I knew I was defeated. "I understand, sir." In my heart, though, I knew I was just going to have to find a way to keep David safe until I could return him to his own world.