Chapter Thirty Five: Interrogation

Tortazo leapt into his defensive stance, batons blazing with expecticity as the Omega heros surrounded him.

"How could you?" He asked again, glaring at Margo and Edith.

"I did it for my family," Margo said. "Which you should understand,"

Tortazo shook, but didn't lower his batons.

"Antonio, please,"

Antonio let out a low sigh and deactivated his batons before handing them over to his former teammate. He and Yokai let the Omega's take their hands, but Violet stopped them from doing the same to Margo and Edith.

"Why?" Riley asked. "They betrayed us,"

"No," Violet said. "They didn't,"

Back at the jet, the Gru sisters were given their chance to explain.

"When I first tried to scry and find the Night, I did," Margo said, then told the rest of the story. How Pitch had found her instead and scared her, and that she'd seen the opportunity to get more information. How Edith had demanded to go with her and the two girls were able to join the Nights ranks.

"You just expect us to believe you?!" Dash asked. "Why didn't you tell us the plan at the beginning?!"

"It is true," Tooth said.

"They had to rely on our emotions…" Riley realized. "They needed them to be real,"

"So this entire plan hinged on us not being good actors?!"

"I heard them talk about it," Violet said. "And Riley can tell if they're lying,"

"Are they?" Tip asked quietly. Margo and Edith jumped at the sound of her voice, and the others realized that they'd missed that new development.

Riley closed her eyes and focused on the girls auras. Opening them again, she nodded at the others.

"They're telling the truth,"

"I still wish that you had told me," Dash muttered to his sister.

"Why'd you suddenly switch sides then?" Hiro snapped, addressing Yokai before going back over Tadashi's reports. His brother was alive, but his condition was still uncertain.

"We didn't tell you our mission," Margo added. "So you did this on your own, unless you're lying,"

"I'm not," Yokai said sadly, then removed his mask. "My name… is Robert Callaghan. I worked in the robotics fields for most of my life, and I even worked with my daughter Abigail when she joined the military and scientific testing units. I was so proud of her,"

"But something happened to her," Riley whispered, feeling the sadness and regret roll off the man. "Didn't it?"

"Yes," Callaghan nodded. "There was an experiment, some great new leap in transportation. But, they rushed the process, cut important testing time and cut corners. Abigail was picked to be the pilot for this shuttle, and the experiment fell through halfway. The portals… they collapsed, and the researchers forgot about Abigail in their hurry to clear everything up. They… forgot my daughter,"

"Oh my god," Penny whispered. "Dad told me about this. He was on the project at the beginning, but he got reassigned. He heard about it afterwards…"

"I was so angry. Then, Pitch approached me. He said he knew my pain… losing a daughter. He wanted me to join him, knew I'd created the microbots and thought they would be useful. I knew the men who'd killed my daughter were never going to pay, and he seemed like the only option. But I know now that I let myself be manipulated,"

"So you really want to stop him?" Wilbur asked. "And the rest of The Night?"

"Yes," Callaghan expressed. "I know what I did was wrong. I know I have not become a good person,"

The team shared a look. The older man was telling the truth, but it almost seems too good to be true. With everything that had gone wrong in the past few days, could they take the chance?

"I want to help you take down The Night," Yokai - Challaghan - said. "And I want to bring the men who hurt my Abigail to justice, but then, then I will face all of the consequences that come my way,"

"What do we do with Tortazo and Calico?" Penny asked the group after they'd moved away from Callaghan. "We can't just leave them here,"

"And Tadashi," Riley added. "Tooth and Babienne are hurt too,"

"We haven't even gotten a message from North and Sandy," Tip said. "They were supposed to be back by now,"

"We'll figure out what to do with the injured later. But Tortazo is still a threat, and we need to handle it," Violet said sternly.

"I can talk to him," Margo offered. "We… we were close when I was undercover,"

The team nodded and split up again. Margo headed over towards the back of the escape jet, where they'd locked the two villains in. Violet followed, invisible so Tortazo would think it was only Margo.

Inside his 'cell', Antonio sat slumped against the wall, tossing his mask up and down. He refused to make eye contact, instead glaring a hole into the wall ahead of him.

"I'm sorry it ended like this," Margo started. "But it was always going to-"

"You let me believe in something," Antonio hissed, turning towards her sharply.

"What?"

"You let me believe I wasn't alone. That is wasn't just my father talking,"

"You don't have to do what your dad says," Margo pointed out, and Antonio laughed hoarsely.

"That's rich!" He spat. "What do you propose I do? Join you? If you fail, my father will never trust me again, and if you don't, he will never forgive me,"

"We won't fail," Margo whispered. "We can't,"

"Why not?"

"They have my dad," Margo said, almost crying. "I can't let them win,"

There was a low rumble as a car entered the valley. The others recognized it as North's and they ran out to meet him and Sandy. When the older supers got out, they were burned and beat up as well.

Calico's attack hadn't been the only one.

"Vat happened to ze POLE!?" North cried, looking at the wreckage. "Is everyone okay?!"

"We're all breathing," Toothiana said, picking up Babi and resting her on her hip. "Any word from Bun- the others?"

"No," North shook his head. "Nothing,"

"We need to find a place to lie low," Hiro muttered. "A safe place the Night doesn't know about,"

While Margo talked to Antonio, nobody noticed Calico stirring and waking up. The mad scientist stayed low and pretended to be asleep, which gave him time to slip out of his bonds.

He struck as soon as Antiono verbally accepted the team's offer. He burst up and out of his cell, shoving aside Margo and rushing the door. As he passed Antonio's cell, he sneered at the teenager.

Violet tried to box Calico in with a force field, but she was still too exhausted. The field flickered for only a second before she went visible and sank to the ground. Calico shoved her aside and rushed out of the escape jet.

"Don't let him-" Margo shrieked, but it was too late. Calico reached the helicopter and took off, flying back in the direction she knew The Night's base was. "NO!"

Suddenly, there was a metal 'shink' as Callaghan commanded his microbots, slicing at the helicopter. Calico turned at the last second and barely avoided the shot, only taking little damage before disappearing over the mountains.

"We don't have much time," Callaghan said. "Pitch will know you survived soon,"

"We need to move fast then," Violet muttered, accepting Wilbur's arm to stand up. "But we need to held the others first,"

"We need a place they won't suspect," Hiro added.

"Well," Wilbur shrugged. "I might know somewhere…"

Authors note: ...any guesses where the team is headed?