"Mom?"
"Yes?"
"I was wondering if...um...maybe, after work tomorrow... I could go over to Ryan's,"
"When do you get off work?"
"Well, I start at six and then get off around eleven,"
"And how long were you planning on staying at Ryan's?"
"Until eight. He lives right next to the grocery store so once I take the bus to the store, then I can just walk over to his place-"
"And when did you think you were getting back exactly?"
"Umm...nine, maybe?"
"Do you have any homework?"
"Nnnoo,"
"Are you sure?"
"Yes,"
"Will you call me when you're done? I'm not comfortable with you getting back on the bus,"
"Um, yeah, sure,"
Gwen had never so blatantly lied to her parents before. She had never blatantly lied to anyone, really. Except for that RCMP officer. And Ethan Hunt, but he had seen directly through her lies. Still, she wasn't sure she was ready for her parents to know exactly what she was doing on Saturday.
Working with an international spy agency against a group of serial killers wasn't exactly activities meant for a teenager who still didn't have a full license.
And she planned on visiting someone a tad more stubborn than Ryan. She already had a plan formulated.
When she arrived at school the day before she would return to Charactia, she asked Ryan if she could borrow his book "101 Horror Movies To See Before You Die".
"YOU want to borrow it?"
"It's for my mom,"
Another blatant lie.
"Oh yeah, sure. I'll go home at lunch and get it,"
Ryan stayed true to his word and returned to the last two periods of school with the book. It was small- about the size of a journal- with a photo of Jack Torrance stalking next to a hedge, ax in hands.
"Careful," Ryan nodded. "There's some graphic stuff in there."
Gwen had a flashback to herself cowering behind the Subway counter and her heart rate quickened.
"Yeah, thanks,"
That evening, Gwen's family decided to go out for Boston Pizza, which sat next to the Chapters- a large bookstore with just about everything Gwen could want in the world.
She was allowed to buy herself a nice plush journal with an imprint of Hogwarts castle on it and spent a while, crosslegged, in the film section.
She browsed through behind the scenes art of "Harry Potter", catching herself thinking about seeing Snape rather than looking at him on the page.
"Hey, check this out,"
Giselle, about two years younger than her older sister, with her curly brown hair dyed pink at the ends, had come from the comic book section and sat down with an art compendium of "The Dark Knight".
"Man, I wanna live in Gotham so bad."
"You just wanna date Bruce Wayne,"
"You're the one swooning over Snape,"
Gwen gave a pink-faced grin at her and then looked through the new illustrated editions of "The Philosopher's Stone and "The Prisoner of Azkaban". And snapped a photos of the paintings that involved Snape. A part of her felt he might find them interesting.
That night, Gwen hardly slept. Half from anxiety, half from excitement. She still didn't know if returning to Charactia was really a good idea for her. But when Ethan Hunt asks for a favour, it's a miracle what you can do.
She woke up at four o clock Saturday morning and moved so stealthily, she felt like Jim Halpert in 'A Quiet Place'. She took out her Spider-Gwen backpack and began to pack.
She packed Ryan's book, a large and heavy hardcover character encyclopedia for 'Harry Potter', her new journal and a pen, a copy of 'Philosopher's Stone', and her Holy Bible (just in case).
Dressed in jeans, a black t-shirt with with the 10th Doctor on it, and a button up dark blue sweater, she pulled her hair reddish brown hair into a tight ponytail, and packed her red and black and red head scarf.
She also packed some extra underwear, a pair of high Ms Marvel socks, an extra shirt (a green one with a black doe on it and the word 'Always', she couldn't resist), an extra sweater and other tiny necessities.
Then, she packed her toothbrush, for good measure, and snuck downstairs to the dark kitchen.
Now the real work started.
She stocked up on granola bars, clementines, and filled two water bottles. She put on a pair of tough winter boots, her yellow raincoat, and made her way to the back laundry room. She found her dad's water-proof flashlight, her bulky swimming goggles, and a pair of yellow gloves for handling chemicals.
She put them all on, shoved the flashlight into the last remaining space in her bag.
Slowly, she crept into the garage that connected through the laundry room. She grasped her sister's baseball bat. And she froze. What if she lost these things? What if something terrible happened back home and they needed these?
Overwhelmed by this thought, she took off the yellow bulky gloves and replaced them with knitted mittens her grandmother had made that were the colour of moon mist ice cream.
She wrote a note for her parents and left in on her bed. They never entered her room and so if they did in emergency, they would know exactly where she was.
She couldn't lie if she disappeared for three days. So she explained everything in about three pages and left them there.
When she looked at herself in the mirror with her baseball bat, goggles on the top of her head, and backpack heavy with supplies, she felt that- personally- she looked a little like Steve Harrington.
Why not? She'd seen a...part of the Demogorgon.
She stuffed her black and gold Tri-Force wallet into her pocket, took another bathroom break, and took one last look around the kitchen before heading out the door.
The morning was dark at four thirty in the morning, the street
lamps were still on, but the air was cool. Gwen plugged in her earphones and put her "Hamilton" playlist on shuffle.
She had had so many weird dreams where she had been forced to leave her home for some strange reason and now, it was legitimately coming true. Gwen held onto Ethan's card, which sat next to her phone in the rain jacket pocket.
Something had been telling her that she'd be in Charactia for more than a day, and her anxiety was driving her insane, knowing that her family would be going crazy with worry.
Swinging her baseball bat around for a few seconds gave her arms something to do, half-pretending to beat Hannibal right in his stupid, smirking, arrogant face.
There was a bus-stop just around the corner of her street. She pulled out the IMF pass (with some difficulty due to her mittens) and reached the end of her street. Turning left, she walked another few meters before arriving at the small, sheltered bus stop.
She sat down. She waited.
She decided that now was a good time to start crying. She hadn't even said goodbye to her little sister OR her parents. Should she go back just to do so?
No, she couldn't risk missing the bus.
Half-crying, half-praying, she looked up and down the street nervously. What if the bus didn't actually arrive at this stop? What if she had to walk the extra hour to get to the bus stop she had been at before?
There were some runners out early in the morning and they certainly passed with inquisitive expressions at the girl who sat with a baseball bat, resembling a cross between Steve Harrington, Georgie from "It", and that guy from "American Psycho" (only she was wielding a bat instead of an ax).
Ten minutes passed. Fifteen minutes passed. The sky was no longer a dark indigo, rather a lighter ocean colour. Charles Lee was screaming "Retreat!" in one ear, while Washington called "Attack!" in the other. Frankly, Gwen was starting to think Lee may have been onto something.
There was a loud crack like a whip that caused her to shriek and nearly jump off the bench. The smooth, white transit bus with the "Jurassic World" ad on the side was slowly pulling up to the bus-stop in perfect Knight Bus fashion.
It slowed to a stop before her and the doors opened. But rather than a Vulcan, a red bleary-eyed Nautolan with tentacles for hair sat at the wheel.
"You goin' to laser tag or something?" he asked as Gwen mounted the steps to the bus, her knees shaking. She showed the card to the driver, who whistled and nodded to the seating area.
Gwen sat on the bench she had sat the last time, on the right next to the window. Alone. The bus was stark empty this morning. Rorschach was not sitting in the corner and that made Gwen feel a bit empty inside.
She watched her street pull away and wiped her eyes. She kept looking at the Nautolan (she had never seen one before and they were so fascinating to watch) and she finally said-
"Hey, could you drop me off at the Bronx?"
"The Bronx? Any particular area?"
"Um, do you know who Wario is?"
"Describe 'im,"
"Plump. Black moustache. Always wears purple and yellow. He owns an apartment building,"
"Sorry. I don't know 'im,"
"Okay,"
"Hey, random question,"
"Shoot,"
"Why do you stop by the All-Knower universe? I though everyone in Charactia thought it was fictional,"
"This is New York," the Nautolan said. He frowned at her. "You tired or sumthin'?"
"Um...yeah,"
Gwen looked at her reflection in the glass ahead of her. Her blue eyes were mirrored with tears.
She removed her backpack and lay it on the seat next to her. It looked just about ready to burst from the sheer amount of supplies inside it. And when she lay her head down on it, it wasn't very comfortable. But she stretched across the bench and did her best to sleep.
Hamilton roasting Jefferson was the nicest lullaby she was going to get.
There was a low hissing noise of the bus slowing to a stop and Gwen's eyes popped open.
"Okay, we're here!"
She sat up and noticed the sour taste in her mouth that she usually had when she took a nap. She swung her backpack on and grasped her bat. Yawning, she made her way to the front of the bus.
The Nautolan nodded to her, grinning pearly white teeth, as Gwen descended out of the bus and onto the sidewalk.
She had to stand on the sidewalk for a moment and take in her surroundings.
In just two days, just like that, she was back in New York City. Back in Charactia. The streets were already bustling and the sun was rising, but the tall buildings with vibrant lights and graffitied walls were back.
She was standing on the sidewalk where some trains were going through a tunnel above. When the bus pulled away, she was staring across the street at the exact same pizzeria she had witnessed Severus Snape own a gang of thugs and change a frog back into a man.
She couldn't help but let a goofy grin come onto her face. She was back in the world where that sort of event was possible.
But she was also back in the world where she was fair game for Michael Myers, so she shut off "Hamilton" and took out her earphones, deciding to tread carefully.
Racking her brains for the exact route Snape had taken to his apartment wasn't easy. It was a tad stressful how difficult it actually was. It was lighter now in the city and when she had followed him, the sky had matched both his robes and his hair. The surroundings looked much different.
Gwen forced herself to ask directions from three different people (two were humans, while one was Bajoran) until she had reached a familiar sidewalk along the park.
Clutching her bat, she peered through the bushes of the park just in case she spotted Jason Vorhees. But she was, in a way, surprised at how relaxed she felt. She was comfortable being back in Charactia.
She was still terrified but Snape had paralyzed Freddy Krueger to save her just two days ago, so that image helped keep her calm. She felt even more secure when she saw the run down, vandalized apartment complex.
After crossing the road the way she had done the first time (with much dodging of cars and shrieking), she hit the sidewalk before the complex.
She took in a deep breath, and pushed in on the dirty doors, entering the brick building.
It was the same tiny, dusty, stained, and putrid-smelling lobby she had been in before. The rickety stairs on the left filled half of the room and the reception desk (which was basically a table with some papers and a lamp on it) sat on the right. Only this time, it was empty.
Gwen approached the desk slowly, looking around for a sign of...anyone. She didn't want to just intrude on the people upstairs. It was still quite early. But the old woman who had been at the desk the last time wasn't there.
She noticed the bell on the desk and rang it. It's small ding was the loudest thing in the entire lobby. About a minute passed before the woman, cigarette in one hand and curlers still in her hair, skidded around the corner.
"Alright, I'm comin'...I'm comin'. Geez, what is-"
The old woman stopped in her tracks the very second she saw Gwen. She squinted and had a long draw on her cigarette.
"Oh. You again. I s'pose your lookin' for that Snape man again,"
Gwen smiled shyly and nodded.
"Well, sorry. But he left about five minutes ago,"
"He's gone?"
"Honey, are you deaf? That's what I just said!"
Gwen groaned at the ceiling and rolled her eyes. "Do you know where he went?"
"Well, I assume he went out for some breakfast. I highly doubt it, he can barely pay his rent-"
"Breakfast where?"
"There's a Starbucks around the corner but-"
"Okay, perfect! Thanks!"
The woman held up a finger to stop her but Gwen had already turned on her heel and raced out the door.
The streets were busier now and the sun was slowly ascending into the sky. Gwen looked down the sidewalk both ways, her heart pumping, bouncing on her toes. She jogged to the left of the sidewalk and rounded a corner.
The street was also mainly filled with apartments but with the occasional big-name brand store as well including a Party City across the road, a McDonalds, and a Starbucks just down the sidewalk from where Gwen stood.
She reached into her pocket and rummaged around for a bit, holding her baseball bat underneath an arm. God was clearly on her side because inside of her wallet was her unused Starbucks fifteen dollar gift card. She double checked the date.
It didn't expire until next week. Perfect. She squealed excitedly through her teeth and began to bound along the sidewalk, towards the green mermaid symbol, drawing the attention of a group of burly Klingons she passed.
As she slowed to a walk, she had to do a double take in through the long window along the Starbucks' side. She felt her heart nearly leap out of her chest with joy.
There he was, in line for the counter- desperately counting coins in the palm of his hand. Severus Snape stood out like a greasy, sore thumb in the Starbucks.
For starters, he was much taller than anyone in line (all of which were humans) and he was dressed in his usual black robes and buttoned Victorian coat with his cravat. His eyes looked extra bagged this morning and his hair was tangled at one side. His hooked nose pointed down at the coins he was counting, and Gwen couldn't help but notice one of his hands was trembling slightly.
When white fog appeared before her, she jumped and took a step back, realizing that she had been staring at him with her nose pressed against the glass.
"Okay," She straightened her jacket, stuck her baseball bat into her backpack, pocketed her mittens, and made her way into the Starbucks. "Okay, alright, relax,"
She had to have been the youngest person there. The Starbucks looked similar to every other one she had been in. Dark panelled floors, chalkboards for ordering menus, a glass case to show off the pastries and sandwiches, and a case on the far right where there sat purchasable coffee mugs.
Gwen anxiously got in line about one man behind Snape, who was muttering under his breath. Her eyes were fixed on him.
She had forgotten how real he was. His appearance was so very much Alan Rickman but it was also very much his book description. He was somehow perfectly both. He was perfectly himself.
When the line moved forward and Snape approached the counter, he took a long look at the pastries in the display case. Then at the coins in his hand. Then the display case.
The young woman at the cash register frowned, almost with a concerned expression, before Snape mumbled something to her. She pointed to the rack behind the line where there were newspapers and Snape nodded, dropping the coins on the counter.
Gwen hid her face when he passed as he went to retrieve a newspaper. He made his way over to the window and sat himself up on one of the high chairs and table. When he had passed, Gwen had heard his stomach moan loudly.
Upon arriving at the counter, Gwen ordered a grande Vanilla Bean Frappuccino, a tall warm milk, and two bacon breakfast sandwiches. She held her breath as her Canadian-bought card was analyzed and exhaled loudly when her purchases were permitted.
She glanced over at Snape, whose face was buried in his newspaper, but he occasionally looked out the window to across the street where you could see other apartments, small pubs, and the large Party City.
Gwen put her name down as 'Ripley' for her order so Snape wouldn't recognize her, on the odd chance he had learned her name when he had read her mind during their first meeting.
She waited patiently until they called her fake name, then she collected her drinks on a tray and her sandwiches in their bags.
Her heart was going so fast, she worried it may cause her to trip as she walked up to Snape's table, knees shaking. His face was still buried in the newspaper but she had a suspicion he could probably see her.
Still, she made her way up to the other chair across from him and allowing the goofy grin onto her face, she slid the food in front of the newspaper.
Slowly, Snape lowered the newspaper to reveal his sallow, thin face. Gwen grinned up at him from the floor.
"I'm back," she said happily.
Snape's black, fathomless, slightly bloodshot eyes narrowed at her, as if he were sizing her up.
"What the hell is on your head?" Alan Rickman's voice cut through Gwen like a knife that turned her insides into happy ice.
"I came back even though you told me not to, I buy you breakfast, and that's what you ask?" Gwen laughed slightly.
"They're swimming goggles. I brought them to be prepared."
Snape cocked a perfect eyebrow and looked at the food on the table.
"You should not have come back," he whispered.
Gwen shrugged and climbed onto the chair across from Snape. His eyes followed her and his confused face morphed into a nasty scowl.
"Probably not, but here I am,"
"I suppose you want a chance to...be friends again,"
"Listen," Gwen's voice was jittering and she had to look away from Snape eyes every once in a while. "I'm here on a special mission. And besides, I don't want us to be friends- I just want-"
"Liar," Snape snapped.
Gwen blushed a dark red so she began to take her green straw out of its wrapper. She poked it into the soft whipping cream of her Frappuccino. Snape watched her every move.
"I'm being honest. I am on a special mission. You can read my mind and everything!"
"I'm not wasting my talents on you," Snape said. He covered his face with the paper again. Gwen sighed and shrugged.
"Alright then,"
She then looked at the floor and squealed silently and excitedly to herself. Snape lowered the paper again, and she made her face as unemotional as possible.
"Are you here in Manhattan alone?" Snape asked.
"Yes, Professor,"
"Do your parents happen to know where you are?"
"I left a note..."
"How very stupid of you, All-Knower,"
"My name is Gwendolyn MacMillan,"
"Well, MacMillan. You are wasting your time being here. I don't want to talk to you, I don't want to look at you, so why don't you collect your things and walk out that door right now?" Snape sneered.
"You're starting to sound a bit like Norman Bates,"
"Who?"
"No one,"
"If your mission is so special, and I highly doubt it is as you yourself are not-" Snape started.
"Thanks," Gwen mumbled under her breath.
"- then you should go and attend to it, end it quicker so that you can leave Charactia sooner."
"Why do you want me to leave Charactia so soon?" Gwen asked.
She removed her breakfast sandwich from its bag and took a bite of it. She triumphantly noticed Snape swallow and watch the sandwich hungrily.
"Because frankly, MacMillan, you're a pain,"
"Why? Because I know about your life?"
"Finally, you've said something right." Snape rolled his eyes and returned to his paper.
"Look, Professor. There's a boatload of people in my dimension who know everything about you and-"
"Then you're all pains,"
"Some of them are," Gwen admitted.
Snape and Gwen locked eyes for a second and she smiled bashfully. She gestured to the food on the table.
"Go on. I bought these for you. Steamed milk and a sandwich,"
"I'm not hungry,"
"Are you still...um..." Gwen hesitated and pushed herself forwards. "...coughing up blood?"
At this, Snape slapped the newspaper onto the table and Gwen flinched violently. The cold tunnels in Snape's eyes were alight with malice.
"I asked you to leave, MacMillan, so leave,"
"No," Gwen ripped off some bacon from her sandwich, emphasizing her position. "I'm gonna eat my food and you know what, I just bought that so you're gonna eat it too."
Snape's shoulder's seemed to hunch with anger when she said this and Gwen shrunk a little. Her heart raced with nerves now when she realized she had just fought back against the Potions Master only Ron Weasley and Harry Potter had been able to fight against.
"I don't need your pity food,"
"It's not pity food," Gwen's voice was small now. "I would buy food for anyone I liked who might be starving! I've done it for friends back home!"
"Oh you LIKE me, do you?" Snape snarled.
Gwen said nothing. She stared out the window and sipped at her Frappuccino, shaking. Snape was silent too. She figured out why when she saw him retrieving his own sandwich from the bag, analyzing it.
Then, in the corner of her eye, Gwen watched him slowly take a bite of it. He paused his chewing and from the corner of his mouth, said-
"You're lucky I even touched this, you miserable girl,"
"You're lucky I care about your well-being," Gwen muttered angrily. She was remembering why her eleven-year-old self wanted to give Snape such a hard slap.
"Stop caring about me. I'm not worth your care and I don't need your sorry little compassion,"
"You've needed compassion your whole life, Snape. It's why you're like this,"
"Look at me,"
The three words took Gwen so off guard that she had to do as she said. She and Snape were making extreme eye-contact and Gwen knew what that meant. She knew he'd decided to read her mind, but for what she didn't know.
His mad eyes were lined with intense dislike and his lips were thin with a snarl.
"Listen to me, you insolent child. I don't want to hear any of your opinions of me, do you understand? I want you out of this Starbucks and back to your own dimension. I don't want your pity, I don't want your sympathy, and I certainly don't want your company! Don't you dare lecture me on what I need, because believe me- you know next to nothing! This is the last time you will come talk to me, do I make myself clear?"
Gwen scowled out the window, bit her tongue. Prevented herself from retaliating. She bit harshly into her sandwich and focused across the street. She knew he was pushing her away because she cared. Snape hated it when people cared about him, because then he had the threat of feeling raw emotions again.
She focused on big green and purple sign for the Party City across the road. The one back home in Halifax was like a TARDIS of cheap party stuff. Except for the cool Harley Quinn shirt they had from "Suicide Squad".
"MacMillan, do I make- myself- clear?"
Gwen slurped at her Frappuccino and watched the cars go buy. Out of all the cars on the road, only one stood out. The rest of the cars were mainly long with dark reds and blues except this one.
The one that she watched, was bright yellow.
"MacMillan!"
The bright yellow car had pulled up to the Party City and parked directly in front of the doors.
It was a Volkswagen Beetle and Gwen's immediate thought was that it looked like the Torrances' car from "The Shining" (her film class had studied opening scene a few days before so she recognized the car).
Her second thought was that it looked just like like Emma Swan's car from 'Once Upon a Time'.
It was a nice car. She looked back at Snape, who was sipping his steamed milk. Then, with a heavy heart and dark eyes, she said-
"I won't bother you again,"
"You are certainly right you won't," Snape hissed. "Now, the faster you finish, the faster you leave so hurry up.
The urge to purposefully eat slower to savour her time with Snape was strong but he was too busy reading the paper and had made it obvious that he didn't want to talk. Gwen looked at the clock on the wall and saw that it was already six twenty. She needed to get to the IMF.
She watched Snape sadly when he started coughing into his arm and wiped red blood from his mouth. She couldn't figure out why he was sick. She didn't know what starvation did, either than make you thin and kill you. Did it have something to do with Nagini's bite?
She didn't want to think about it and decided to watch the yellow bug while finishing up her sandwich.
The driver was no longer in the car and the front trunk of the beetle was open. Gwen was halfway done her sandwich when the driver came out of the Party City carrying what looked like a big plastic bag of white cream.
The sandwich in Gwen's hand fell onto the table as her body began to shake. She had seen the driver's face as he loaded the bag into the beetle.
"S-Snape-"
"Finish eating,"
"B-but- But Snape-"
The driver closed the trunk and leaned against it, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it up.
The driver wore a brown plaid jacket, a muddy coloured sweater with a white collar peeking out from it, and black pants. His hair was balding, his eyebrows were thick, dark, and triangular. He blew smoke into the air, bobbing his head back and forth.
"Snape, look- Look-"
"What do you want?"
"Th-There- The b-beetle-"
"I don't see a beetle anywhere. For goodness sake, you're a teenager. Kill it yourself,"
"The yellow car! Look!"
Snape finally looked up from his paper and across the street. Gwen's whole body was shaking and there were tears in her eyes as she stared at the driver.
She couldn't believe it. It didn't just look like the car from "The Shining". It was the car from "The Shining".
The second Snape had seen the car, Gwen panicked at the sound of intensity in his voice.
"MacMillan, stay here," he whispered.
"Wh-What? No-"
"Listen to me," There was no kindness in Snape's voice, but there was plain and utter seriousness. "You are not to leave this place, do you understand? Don't move. Whatever you do, don't move."
"But- But Snape-" Tears leaked out of Gwen's eyes and to her horror, Snape had drawn his wand and unseated himself. "Snape- no- don't- please- I can't- I can't stay here alone- what if-"
"I told you not to come back. The least you can do is obey my orders now," Snape said. "Stay. Here."
"No- Snape- No- No-"
But Snape had already turned on his heel and strode out the door. The man leaning on the beetle had exited back into Party City and Snape stood on the sidewalk, analyzing what to do.
Hands shaking, tears rolling down her face, Gwen hastily grabbed her phone Ethan's card from her pocket. She flipped it over and dialled the number on the back. She listened to the ringing on her phone, her eyes locked on Snape who paced the sidewalk.
The phone rang. And rang. Gwen started whispering- "Come on, come on, pick up, pick up, dear God let him pick up-"
A familiar voice came from the phone into Gwen's ear.
"A mosquito only drinks blood,"
"Ethan- Ethan it's me! It's Gwen!" she gasped out.
Ethan Hunt dropped the coded language. "Wait- what? Gwen? All-Knower?"
"Yes- yes- it's me- I need your help- right now-"
"Okay, alright, calm down. Take a deep breath. What's going on? Where are you?"
Gwen's wide eyes were locked on the yellow bug but as Snape crossed the road to the Party City, he Apparated halfway across the street. The driver had returned to loading his trunk, then sat inside of the car's front seat.
"Ethan- I- I'm at-" She was gulping air and tears. "I'm at the Starbucks in the Bronx- Just across from the Party City- There's- There's a h-horror villain ac-cross the street- and he's in his car and-"
"Okay. Stay there. I'm calling for backup. I'm going to see if Brandt can spare me a few men. Gwen, listen to me, you're sure it's one of Lecter's men?"
"P-positive- It's Jack Torrance- I thought he was dead but-"
"Okay, Gwen, listen. Here's what you have to do- you need to take a picture of the license plate,"
"Wha- What?" Gwen looked over her shoulder and people were staring. She quieted her voice as best she could. "No- I can't-"
"Gwen, if he drives away, we can't catch up him before he hits that point where he gets off our maps. You've got to get a picture of that license plate. Once you've done that, run straight back into the Starbucks and hide in the bathroom,"
"B-But Ethan- what if- what if- Ethan, I th-think he has an ax-"
"There's no time. See if you can get the staff on your side if the villain chases you in there but if you can help it, do not engage him. Do not enter the Party City or even look inside. I'll be there as soon as I can. I promise,"