Thank you so much for following along in this story! Diana had some developments going on in this story, the main one being where she will spend her future at, and I am happy to say Diana has decided where she wants to go. Enjoy this last chapter, and I'll see you in the next story! DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything related to "Meet the Robinsons" or "Criminal Case." I only own Diana, Wesley, and Karena.
PACIFIC BAY, CALIFORNIA, USA
My family and I, as well as Russell and Amy Crane, got off the plane at Pacific Bay Airport, and we took the monorail to our hotel, which was a Best Western in the Ocean Shore district. Russell and Amy had decided to join us since they had also scheduled their vacation, and they both agreed to give me a tour of both the college and the city. We ate dinner together at the Cheesecake Factory, and my dad revealed that he had accepted his job at a Cheesecake Factory back in Todayland when I was just a baby. We returned to the hotel, and while Amy and Russell had their own room, me and my family went to sleep… at nine o'clock.
When I woke up the next day, I was so shocked to see that I had woken up at five o'clock in the morning. I tried to go back to sleep, but then I heard the television turn on. I glanced over on the other bed to see Wesley, sitting up in bed next to our sleeping father. Next to me was our mom, who was also still asleep.
"Wesley, why are you awake at five in the morning?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. "I'm trying to get some sleep."
"Diana, you already slept for eight hours," Wesley answered. "Might as well enjoy ourselves."
"Wesley Wilbur, our parents are still sleeping!" I whispered angrily. "Turn the TV off!"
"Fine, then we'll go downstairs and get breakfast," Wesley replied, turning off the TV and then turning on the flashlight on his phone.
"Wesley, we can't do that! The dining area isn't open yet!"
"No, but we can get dressed, brush our teeth, do all that stuff before we head down."
I rolled my eyes as I stared into the darkness until Wesley turned on the bathroom light. I decided to glance at my phone while waiting, and I scrolled through my Facebook, seeing pictures from my friends' graduation ceremony, and reading the notifications that I was tagged in some of the photos. Yes, I had attended their graduation ceremony, as I have the two years before that. Even though Caleb and I had agreed to take a break, I still got him roses, and I still wished him congratulations. I had also attended Caleb's and Emma's graduation parties before travelling to Pacific Bay.
"Bathroom's yours," Wesley announced.
I went into the bathroom with my clothes for the day. Since we were touring Pacific Bay University and taking pictures, I had decided to wear my dad's Captain Time Travel shirt and blue jeans. I had taken advice from Russell and Amy's daughter Jessi to wear the outfit that best describes who I am, and it was my dad's shirt. I also wore a red bandana on my head like I was wearing a headband. I brushed my teeth and washed my face, and I also put on some makeup: red lipstick and black mascara.
I took one of the keys that was on the dresser, and Wesley and I made our way to the dining area for breakfast. The dining room was very fancy, but it was a comfortable place to have breakfast in. We both grabbed pancakes, biscuits and gravy, and yogurt, and to drink, I grabbed apple juice while Wesley grabbed orange juice.
"These biscuits and gravy are to die for," Wesley said, giving me a thumbs up, and I felt intrigued to give them a try.
"Oh my gosh, you're right!" I replied enthusiastically, immediately eating the rest of them.
"What syrup are you going to add to your pancakes?" Wesley asked.
"What is this, IHOP?" I replied with a question. "The only kind of syrup that's on the table: maple."
"They have other kind of syrups on the counter," Wesley replied. "I'm going to go get the strawberry one."
I watched Wesley get up and go to the counter while I spread the butter on my pancakes, and then I poured maple syrup over them.
"Diana, what are you doing down here alone?"
I turned to see my parents walking up toward me. Dad was wearing a brown t-shirt with blue jeans while my mom was wearing a deep-blue dress.
"Oh, hey guys! I'm not alone."
"Hi, Mom! Hi, Dad!" Wesley greeted them as he sat down again. "We woke up at five and didn't want to just sit there and watch TV. So we went down to breakfast. I hope you don't mind."
"While we were worried about you two, it does make me happy that you're already ready to tackle the day," Dad answered with a grin.
"I hope the breakfast is good," Mom said with a smile on her face.
"Totally get the biscuits and gravy!" Wesley recommended with enthusiasm, and our parents went to the counter to get their breakfast. We gave each other a high-five before our parents joined us at the table.
"Wesley, you're right," Dad said, his eyes wide open. "This is the best biscuits and gravy I've ever had!"
We enjoyed our breakfast as a family, and then we met up with the Cranes to start our tour of Pacific Bay. We first went to Pacific Bay University, and Russell and Amy both guided us all around the campus. They took different classes when they went there, so both of them were very insightful. I was so intrigued with all the palm trees as well as a clock tower in the middle of campus. Dad had taken pictures of me from every angle that was possible while we were touring. I had enjoyed touring this campus more than Todayland University.
Then, Amy and Russell guided us through Ocean Shore on bicycle, giving us a tour of all the beaches and parks. Then, we boarded a monorail, and we went north to Ivywood Hills. We saw the Ivywood sign, which was very similar to the Hollywood sign, and we saw a few movies being made here as we toured the studios as well as some dining areas. Russell had shown me his childhood home, his first home before he ran away from the Utopian Cult and pursued his own path.
After Ivywood was Bayou Bleu, which was absolutely gorgeous and made me feel like I was in the south, and we had Cajun food for lunch. After Bayou Bleu was White Peaks, which was also gorgeous. Pacific Bay was right in the middle of the California coastline, and White Peaks bordered the next town to the north. We explored the slopes and some sporting arenas, and there was even an ice skating rink.
After Russell explained that the Wastes were to the north of White Peaks and was still a forbidden area, we ventured on south to Jazz Town, which bordered the bayou. We were immediately greeted with music, and I fell in love with this part of town. I instantly thought of Caleb, since he loved jazz music, thinking he would live here in a heartbeat. We explored the homes of many famous musicians who had started their lives in Jazz Town and moved out to Nashville, New York, and other cities to pursue their music dreams. We also discovered the home of a Union general who fought in the Civil War two centuries ago.
South of Jazz Town was the Inner City district, which was full of diversity. Amy explained that her former teammate, Hannah Choi, was raised in Inner City as an American citizen. Her parents were Korean and became citizens after a number of years. We learned about the feud between the Russian and the Chinese cultures back in the 2010s, and we also explored the Siberian, Irish, and Italian cultures. My mom and I agreed that Inner City reminded us of Epcot, though Inner City was larger and more diverse.
To the east was Paradise City, which was the Pacific Bay version of Las Vegas, and all we saw were casinos, banks, and wedding chapels. North of that and east of Jazz Town was Innovation Valley, which was full of technology, either equaling to or ahead of my grandpa's technology in Todayland, though the two technologies were very different. Grandpa Cornelius' technology was made to look simple and optimistic while Innovation Valley's technology was more complex and more modern.
The last district in Pacific Bay we explored was Rhine Canyon, which was part of the desert. I remembered correctly that Russell started his criminal justice career in Rhine Canyon before being promoted to profiling. Then I understood what the Pacific Bay Police consisted of: the best cops from all the districts in Pacific Bay. Amy had a different story to tell: she had attended the academy after she graduated from Pacific Bay University, but she was a fast and determined learner, and she graduated top of her class from the academy and was immediately promoted to the Pacific Bay Police instead of working locally in White Peaks.
"Our tenure in White Peaks was the hardest I had ever gone through," Amy explained further as we ate dinner in Paradise City. "At first, it felt like home because I was raised there. I had met up with my ex-boyfriend, whom I eventually had to treat as a suspect… twice."
"Amy, you don't have to tell the story if you don't want to," Russell told her with comfort.
"Russell, it's alright. It's been fifty years since it happened. Anyway, my ex-boyfriend had committed cannibalism against the pilot on a plane he recklessly flew and crashed in the mountains, and I felt like my heart was torn in two. It helped that I had my teammates to get through this with me. But things did not get easier. I thought I could find solitude at my childhood home, where my brother and mother were living. All my mother did was belittle me, though I didn't know until later. I finally solved the case of the Nightwalker, and I had to treat Russell as a suspect, and that alone was almost motivation for me to leave the force."
"What did you do?" I asked, realizing Amy loved her husband long before their first kiss.
"My boss encouraged me to pull it together, and I… arrested my brother for committing all of those crimes under the guise of the Nightwalker. I had no idea he had learned to walk after suffering his paralyzing accident, but he hid that from everyone and was capable of being a serial killer. It was when I found his journal that I realized that my mother did not provide comfort for me and my brother when we needed it. I… disowned my mother, and the counseling we went to together to improve our relationship did not work. Thankfully, Russell giving me a tour of his hometown helped me take my mind off of things, and hearing how he took my place as the detective to take down the Utopian Cult…"
Amy paused, putting a smile on her face and kissing her husband on the cheek.
"I healed, slowly but surely, thanks to everyone in the force, but mostly him."
"That must have been a hard story to tell, Amy," Dad said with concern on his face. "I remember you telling me that your ex-boyfriend and your brother were murderers, but you never really told me the story. I bet it wasn't easy telling your children the story."
"Actually… I didn't. The only family member they needed to know about was Russell's father."
"Amy eventually had to tell the story of her first love to Jessi, who was suffering heartbreak during high school," Russell chimed in. "But she never mentioned Duncan at all."
"Russell, now I have to know: how did you take down the Utopian Cult?" I asked eagerly.
"Now this story is one I love telling. I was raised as a member of the Utopian Cult. My dad had insisted on it, that I would make a lot of friends, but my mom had doubts. While my dad raised me to be part of the cult, my mom had shown me a mother's love for her child. She fed me, read stories to me, and she was always a source of comfort when I wanted to cry, which was a lot. I did have one friend growing up, and his name was Brett, but despite that, I absolutely hated being in the cult."
"I know that all cults have their… reasons to be skeptical, but what did they make you do?" Dad asked.
"Long story short, if they tell you to do something, you do it," Russell explained. "You were not to question them, you were not to spy on them, and you were not to doubt them. And, because my mom taught me how to think, I doubted the Utopians every time. When I ran away after I turned sixteen, I found a note outside my door: All alone, nowhere to run. You can't escape! I went in the house to find my mother dead."
"Oh no!" Wesley exclaimed. "Was she murdered?"
"No, the doctor had said she had died of heartbreak, which I didn't know was possible. I had always blamed myself for her death, but all I could do was move forward. I went to college, graduated with a doctorate degree, and started working for the Pacific Bay Police. I was so happy I left Ivywood behind. When we returned, I got cocky and messed up a theft investigation. But then I found someone brainwashed, which fascinated me because I didn't think it was possible. But then, I realized—"
"The past returned," I finished his sentence.
"Yes. I tried looking for evidence that the Utopians were behind the brainwashing. It didn't help that my dad tried to have Amy's partner do his job for them, which angered me so much. I eventually found evidence that the Utopians had indeed used brainwashing on their subjects to do their evil deeds, thanks to a psychiatrist whom I thought I trusted. After Amy was found brainwashed during an investigation on the night of the Oscars, I stepped in, arrested the murderer, and then arrested the Utopian leader once and for all, finding the tape used to brainwash the whole world to become Utopian members, and having our tech expert Hannah cure everyone. My dad and I made amends after I discovered that he really loved me all along through letters he had written but were never sent."
"How come?" I asked with confusion.
"The Utopians discouraged cult members from communicating with their families. Thankfully, my dad and I had a much better relationship since then, and he treated Amy like his own daughter."
"And he absolutely loved his grandchildren," Amy chimed in.
"Well, we've talked about our stories," Russell said with a smile on his face. "What was the hardest mission you've had, Wilbur?"
"Diana will know what I'm talking about," Dad explained. "But we had a profiler who started working for TIME after Marina retired."
"Ashley Faris?" I asked, knowing exactly who Dad was talking about.
"Yep."
"I remember her vaguely," Russell replied, putting his chin in his right hand. "But go on."
"Well, she was tough, but she had a passion for her job," Dad explained. "But no one predicted that after a few months, five of us on the team would be suspected of theft, myself included. Well, Ashley was one of those suspects, and the five of us were unsure of what to do to prove ourselves innocent."
"I remember you coming home and telling me that you had wanted to do something in the investigation to prove your innocence," Mom chimed in. "You were so stressed."
"So I ended up sneaking into TIME headquarters through their ventilation shafts and into Kai's office. He was skeptical that I had these…" Dad hesitated, trying to find the best way not to reveal he was a Jedi to Russell and Amy. "Powers. We planted cameras on everyone's badges to see who would go to the time machine since the real thief had used the time machine to their advantage."
"And you manipulated the cameras so that I wouldn't know you snuck in!" Amy exclaimed. "Do you have telekinesis or something?"
"Yes! That!" Dad exclaimed in response, happy to not use the word Jedi.
"But whatever Wilbur and Kai did worked," Amy chimed in. "Thanks to their help, I discovered Ashley was the one behind the thefts. I had to suspend Wilbur from the force for two weeks afterwards because he disobeyed my orders. But Ashley resigned immediately and disappeared, leaving TIME without a profiler."
"So that would explain that rant about working with profilers!" Russell exclaimed.
"Hold on, Russell, there's more," I said, holding my right hand up.
"Flash forward to five years later," Dad continued. "It all started with my getting a phone call from someone named Amanda Isa saying that Diana had broken into Staples High School and stolen their spirit stick. Amanda Isa was Diana's principal the winter of that year. Of course, I disciplined her and gave her a punishment. Never did I know that Isa was turning Westport High School into a police state and stealing money from the students until Diana did an investigation at the high school with her friends."
"Diana found a file on her, and her principal had threatened to expel her from the school because Diana was the leader and could not be manipulated by her," Mom explained angrily.
"Oh my," Russell said, putting his right hand over his mouth in horror.
"Diana and her boyfriend, along with Wesley and their mom, came to TIME headquarters and showed me the files," Amy chimed in. "And I told Wilbur that Ashley was a threat."
"I teamed up with the head detective of the Westport Police," Dad finished the story. "And with his help, as well as the entire student body, we finally captured Ashley and her brother."
"To this day, Ashley is still in prison," Amy explained. "We recovered the funds Ashley stole, and we also went back to every single timeline she traveled to and prevented her from stealing money. The timelines were finally correct after five long years."
"Diana, you have had more action than Jasper and Jessi combined," Russell said with surprise in his voice. "Their high school careers were pretty quiet and normal."
"Are you thinking of going into criminal justice, Diana?" Amy asked with a smile. "The world sure could use someone like you."
"I am, actually," I answered with a smile. "I've decided to follow Russell's footsteps. You've really inspired me over the past year, Russell. I want to thank you for that."
"It means a lot to hear that coming from you," Russell replied, putting his left hand over his heart and putting on a big smile. "You are going to be an amazing profiler. I can sense it. In fact, I have something for you."
I watched as Russell dug into his brown bag, and he gave me an orange book that had the words Typical Profiles on the front.
"Russell, what is this?" I asked, opening the book to find a whole bunch of notes in the neatest handwriting possible.
"That is my very first notebook," Russell explained. "I've filled it up with the different kinds of profiles a criminal could have, and I've made notes about every single suspect that Amy, Frank, and I had encountered here in Pacific Bay. I think this will be more useful to you now than it would be to me. I've relied on that book so many times to help Amy and Frank solve their cases, and now it's yours. Please, take very good care of it for me."
"Of course I will!" I replied, tears forming in my eyes. I couldn't help but get up from my chair, sitting next to Russell, and giving him a big hug. Russell seemed to be startled at first, but I felt him hugging me back.
"Russell, you've always been like a second father to me," I told him, gazing into his green eyes and silver hair after we pulled away. "I will treasure you and this book. Always."
I spent the rest of the night studying Russell's book in fascination at the table, studying the different kinds of profiles that Russell had studied over the years from his time in college and during his tenure with the Pacific Bay Police. It was then I knew for sure that my heart was calling me to Pacific Bay. Then, I opened my phone to find the photos my dad tagged me in on Facebook, and they were the most amazing photos anyone had ever taken of me. I took one close look at the photo of me with the palm trees and the clock tower at Pacific Bay University in the background. I had a look of hope in my face, looking up at the sky with a smile on my face.
I immediately called Pacific Bay home with the biggest smile on my face, even though my next year will be spent in Westport, my hometown. I prayed that I would enjoy my senior year of high school to the fullest and that I would have a smooth transition. I went to bed with my sleeping mother, and I closed my eyes, so happy that I finally know where I want to be.