"You must really care about Max so much if you're going through all of this trouble for him," Michaela said, as she and Roxanne continued to walk through the tunnel and checked there were no more booby traps.
"Oh, you have no idea, Michaela," Roxanne said. Then she explained what a great boyfriend Max was and how special and unique he was and how he made her life feel better since she met him. Before the day she met him, she was asked by many guys at Spoonerville High School who were very popular, handsome and rich who wanted to go out on a date, but she didn't think they were worth her time because they weren't very bright and they weren't very nice, with Chad being the very best example of that.
Before she met Max in person for the first time in her life, Roxanne did notice him from across the distance and felt sorry for him as he got unfairly bullied by almost everyone before he became the coolest kid in school after he dressed up and danced like Powerline on the last day of school in 1995. As if that wasn't awesome enough, a week later he danced with the Powerline at his concert in LA. But more importantly, she liked him for who he was because he was nice and caring, despite all he had been through like bullying and not having a mom around while he was growing up. She knew what it was like not to have a mom while she grew up.
Since their very first date in 1995 to when she had to leave in 1997, Max had been the perfect boyfriend. He always remembered her birthday and got her a card and present, always got her a Christmas card and present, took her on dates whenever he could, invited her to Goofy's barbecues (the food was mostly burnt, but she enjoyed always going there because he and Max were always great company) and their Thanksgiving dinners. She always attended because her own dad had never been one for celebrating Thanksgiving, let alone preparing a Thanksgiving dinner. He wasn't even grateful for anything in the world. And she always went to see him take part in his activities, whether it be sports, talent shows or star in musicals or straight plays, which she always enjoyed, and he always told her that it always meant to him that she came to see him, whether he won or lost. Whether he won or lost, she was always impressed by him. One night in 1996 after helping Spoonerville school to win the Ohio Ultimate High School Talent Show competition against all the other high schools in the state and winning the grand prize himself, he told her that she was the biggest cheerleader in his life and a better one than the entire cheerleading squad arm-locked together and she was the only one she needed in his life.
Then Roxanne went on to explain about the time he saved her life. She explained, when she became very ill with that sudden serious illness she had, she said that Max proved that he really loved her when he gave up his spring break trip in 1997 and raised as much money as he could for her to get the treatment she needed to fight her illness. Then her life changed for the worst when she had to leave Spoonerville and Max when she had move to Jamford to get the treatment she needed and start a whole new life there. As if she moving to a new town, living a few months in Jamford Hospital and being a year behind her grades and getting bullied for it weren't bad, she then had to marry Hugo, who she never really liked let alone loved but was arranged by both of their fathers. Not to mention that she was forced also to train to be a nurse so her stupid and cruel husband could get a free one.
"Yep, Max is one very cool dude," Michaela said. Then it was her turn to tell her story. She started off with not having any friends at all in her life ever because she was busy with school and having to look after her ill mother and she didn't have any siblings or cousins. Max was her very first friend she ever had and had been her very best friend since then. The only other friend she ever had was Clarry Cow, who she had to admit had a bit of a crush on her. Both always asked Michaela how her very ill mother was coping and would sometimes give her spare food that they didn't really want for her mother every day. Because of Max's kindness and warm personality, that was her own personal reason why she was risking the wrath of the Phantom to save Max.
"Quick! Get down!" Michaela ordered.
As she followed Michaela to hiding behind a giant rock, Roxanne expected she had found another booby trap or something like that, but she found something more shocking. They saw the Phantom dragging Max, who was in heavy chains, and forcing him to board the white yacht near the massive mansion. The AI robots were loading up sacks and crates on the yacht.
"You know anything about what she's going to do to Max, Michaela?" Roxanne asked.
"I know the mansion, but I don't know anything about the yacht," Michaela replied. "I never knew she had one at all, let alone as big as that."
Roxanne had seen plenty of yachts in Jamford and plenty of big luxury ones, but she had never seen a super luxury one like the one the Phantom was forcing Max to board. It was like a mini cruise. "So how do we get onboard the boat?" she asked.
"Follow me and continue to not make any noises," Michaela said.
They made their way quietly to the small wooden dock, but they continued to creep behind the giant rocks so no one would spot them. Then Michaela stopped Roxanne again.
"Look at the mansion," she said.
Roxanne looked at the big mansion and it was shaking. But the ground wasn't. She thought it was going to explode or crumble down, but instead it just… shrunk. That giant mansion became no bigger than a model that kindergartens could play with. "Is shrinking houses part of the Phantom's magic tricks, Michaela?" she asked.
"Well, I've never seen her do anything like that before," Michaela said. "So, yeah, I imagine it is one of her tricks. Now, it's time for a magic trick of our own: Disappearing into these sacks."
"What sacks?" Roxanne asked.
Michaela pointed and Roxanne saw two empty sacks leaning on the dock.
"Come on," Michaela ordered.
When she finished getting in the sack Michaela pointed to, that was when Roxanne finally learned it was a fish sack. There were even some dead fish at the bottom of the sack. As much as she hated fish and they made her gag, she was pleased that it wasn't a sack of manure. Then the sack she was in got picked up.
"Boy, does this sack weigh a ton!" cried the voice of Screwy. "I must have caught more fish than I thought.
Roxanne was a bit annoyed about how heavy she weighed. She knew she weighed more than some dead fish bodies, but she couldn't believe she was that heavy. Then the sack she was in got dropped down. She decided to wait for Michaela to come and get her when the coast was clear. And she learned that she made the correct decision when Michaela came and opened the sack and helped her out.
Roxanne learned that they were in a room completely full of sacks. It was like being in a storage room of sacks in a sack factory.
"What type of sack did you get into?" She asked Michaela.
"A sack of roses," she replied.
Roxanne could smell that Michaela smelt like a whole sack of roses. "Oh, lucky you."
"Hey, it wasn't all just rose pellets and scents," Michaela said. "There were sharp thorns." She showed Roxanne thorn cuts on her arms.
"Well, at least, you don't smell like rotten fish," Roxanne said.
"Never mind that," Michaela said. "Let's just find some clothes to wear as disguises. They must be some in these sacks here."
Roxanne and Michaela search through the trail of sacks and found only three of them full of clothes. They emptied the first two sacks, but they couldn't find any clothes that they thought were worth putting on. They were too colourful and bright and they would stand out instead of disguising. Then they tried the third sack and found nothing but two black robes and hoods, the type of clothes the Phantom wore.
"Put then on," Michaela ordered.
When they did, they clothes fitted them both like a glove.
"Now, we just need something to get Max out of those chains," Michaela said.
"Like keys?" Roxanne said.
"Or an axe. In case we must act quickly. Come on."
Then they left the room in their new disguises.