Angel: I really can't answer the moonstone question because it's a spoiler. All I can say is wait until Lost and Found, which won't be released until Wednesday I believe.
Lance: Previously on Tangled...
The tree fell in front of the horses.
"We are stuck. Or maybe not..."
Up ahead was the House of Yesterday's Tomorrow. "Raps, I know what you're thinking. But that place creeps me out," Cass stated, but Rapunzel knocked anyway.
"Mr. Matthews, what is this place?" Rapunzel asked as they looked around.
"It's called the House of Yesterday's Tomorrow."
"Um, while all this is nice and all, I can still sense the evil in here..." Harmony stated while looking around.
"The good news is you are welcome to stay as long as you like."
"Something's not right," Cass said to Rapunzel. "Why is this huge place just sitting here in the middle of nowhere? And that guy, or innkeeper, or whatever he is, just takes us in, offers us food and a place to stay for the night without asking for a single coin? I think Harmi's right on this, Raps."
"Look, Cass, I know this is weird, but you gotta admit, this isn't the weirdest thing we've seen on the road."
In the middle of the road, the axe sat on the trunk of the tree that 'fell' in front of their caravans.
A rooster crows as it's finally stopped raining, and the skies are clear. The rooster eats a worm and sunlight shines down on everyone in the living room. Rapunzel sits up with a yawn, stretching her arms. "Good morning, Pascal!"
He opens up his eyes as he was invisible, turning green and throwing the blanket off him. He stretches his back, his arms, and then his tongue.
"You know, aside from the fact that we were nearly replaced by evil doppelgangers last night, the House of Yesterday's Tomorrow offers a pretty good night's sleep!" Rapunzel says to everyone as they're walking towards the door.
"Well, it's certainly the coziest seashell-shaped inn I've ever slept in," Eugene comments with a smile.
"I've stayed at a cozier one," Shorty adds in. "No, wait...that was a seashell shaped like an inn. Five stars."
"But now we can finally leave! This place is full of evil stuff," Harmony shudders a bit, but Rapunzel stops them from moving further.
"Uh, wait a minute...the door."
All they're looking at is a wall, with no door. "It was right here yesterday!" Cass gestures to the wall in confusion.
"Now, everyone relax! There's a solution to every problem," He stares at the wall, touching it and knocking for a secret trigger or something like that to open up a door. He laughs nervously when he doesn't find one. Then he starts crying and slamming on the door. "It's no use! We're trapped! It's all over!"
The two couples glance to each other nervously. "Okay...what's for breakfast?" Lance asks normally.
"Not funny, Lance. We need to get out of here and continue on our trip," Varian rolls his eyes.
"Oh wait! Use the black rocks to make an entrance," Cass suggests to Harmony.
"But that'd be breaking the wall...I don't wanna have to pay for damages!"
"Damages or not, we need to leave," Eugene points towards outside. Harmony reluctantly sighs, blowing a bang out of her face.
"Get behind me."
They do so and she slowly waves her hands, creating a black rock from the ground...but it breaks once it touches the wall. "What?"
"T-That's impossible!" Varian gestures to the black rock. "Aren't the black rocks powerful enough?"
"How could that not work...?"
"Try again," Cass tells her and she tries multiple rocks at the same time, only to end up with the same result. She tries again and again, but nothing. Harmony pants in exhaustion, falling onto her knees a couple minutes later as her arms are tired.
"These walls must be impenetrable..." Varian pinches his nose. "Even to the black rocks, apparently."
"No problem, we'll just find another door," Rapunzel smiles nervously. They walk down the hall. "Come on, guys! There's gotta be another way out of here." She opens a grey shell door...and ends up in the hall again somehow. "Except in this case."
"Somehow, all of the exits are either gone or nonexistent..." Harmony stares at the doors.
"That can't be," Cass steps up to the door in the middle, only to be slightly sucked inside. They all gasp, Rapunzel running up to her.
"Cass!"
She manages to get back into the hall, closing the door and panting. That was the last thing she expected. "That's not an exit."
Eugene walks up to a blue door, glancing back at the others. He mentally prepares himself as he opens the door. Inside are cages, food...and three wolves. They lift up their ears and see him, snarling.
"Dog, dog, dog, dog!" Rapunzel pulls the door closed with her hair. "A dog kennel. And why not, right?"
"Just how much danger is in this place?" Varian asks, looking around in disbelief.
"Thanks a lot for the warning, Brownie!"
"Sorry, but with all the stuff in here, it's getting hard to pinpoint what is what!" Harmony retorts back to Eugene, hands on her hips.
"Well, at least we can take that door off the list," Rapunzel grabs all of her hair.
"Hey! I found the way out!" Shorty calls out, waving a hand. Rapunzel ties up her hair as they look to each other skeptically. Shorty can be full of surprises at times, but other times, he's either not helpful or eating. They follow him, but none of them notice the blue door tilting slightly open...
Lance's mouth opens at the room. "Whoa!"
Inside is toys everywhere made for a kid: stuffed animals, kites, figurines, and more. Rapunzel smiles as she takes a look around.
"Shorty, this isn't a way out!" Cass stares at the man jumping on a trampoline.
"Well, not with that attitude, it's not," He replies while bouncing.
"Well, look, the adults would like to find a..." She then notices that everyone else is gone. She sighs to see them running off to explore. "Oh great..."
Eugene takes a ping pong paddle.
"Hello!" He turns to a pink teddy bear being held by Rapunzel doing a deep bear voice. "My name is Eugene Fitzher...bear...rawr."
"Wow, yeah, your teddy bear voice could use some work. Not to mention your pun skills, Blondie."
"Oh yeah?" She turns to Harmony and Varian examining the shelf. "Hello there!" The two turn around to her. "My name is Harbear...rawr!"
She lightly hits Harmony with it, causing her to laugh. "Wooow...so no Varbear, then? You gotta have the package deal."
"Heh..." Varian blushes a bit at the nickname, taking hold of a Rubik's cube.
"Okay, fine, fine," She drops the bear. "But isn't this crazy?! Whoever all this belongs to is one lucky kid."
"One lucky spoiled kid," Eugene eyes the bear.
"Kinda weird we haven't seen this kid, though..." Harmony glances around. She didn't see any other rooms around...
"Oh, guys, there's nothing wrong with indulging a kid every now and then. Maybe they're just shy!"
"Ah, ah, ah, now that's a slippery slope," Eugene places his hands on his hips. "Kids need boundaries. You gotta let 'em know who's boss."
"Ooh! Gotta let dem know who's boss," Rapunzel uses a bear arm to touch an indifferent Eugene's cheek. "Grr! And he's gone."
"He's just being a sourpuss," Harmony smirks a little as she joins her sister's side.
Lance and Shorty are playing with toy swords, Cass walking up to them.
"Okay, playtime's over."
"Aw, come on, Cass! Lighten up. When do we ever get the chance to play with amazing toy swords like this?" He grins, pointing the toy sword at her.
"You do realize we have actual swords, right?" She raises a brow.
"Yeah, but, uh, since these are just toys..." He uses the sword to spin around the tiny boat Shorty's sitting in from the pool. He gives a thumbs up once he's stopped spinning. "They don't hurt."
"Yee-aw!" In one swift motion, Cass kicks Lance onto the ground and now has the sword, chuckling. "Sure about that?"
"Okay, sword time's over..." He admits slowly. A small door slides open and a top is suddenly placed onto the top shelf...
"Now, come on, enough messing around," Cass tosses the sword away. "We've gotta find an exit-" She sees the top and gasps sharply. "No way!" For once there's excitement in her voice. "I used to have a top just like this! I love these things!" She climbs up the shelf to reach it.
"Uhh, Cassandra..." Lance chuckles a bit. He didn't think she'd like anything. "You like tops?"
"Got a problem with that?" She asks defensively.
"No, by all means. Spin away," He says quickly in fear of what she might do. She lands on the floor and the two join her. She presses the top and it spins around.
"Look at it go!" She laughs as it powers up.
"Does this seem weird to anybody else?" Shorty wonders as the top glows yellow. Varian, who was the closest, runs over to them.
"What's going on?"
They all shout as the light flashes.
"Well, we'd better keep looking for a way out of here," Rapunzel steps up to Eugene and Harmony.
Laughter is suddenly heard as they look up to see people running out of the room. Eugene and Rapunzel follow after them. A tug is felt at Harmony's pants, and she looks down, gasping sharply at the sight.
The couple run into the hall, where the sound is coming from the dining. They look up ahead to see eggs behind thrown, and they finally figure out what's going on...
"Are those...?" Eugene starts off, absolutely dumbfounded.
"Our friends?" Rapunzel finishes for him as Lance, Cass, and Shorty have all been turned into kids, but Shorty is a baby.
"You can't catch me!" Cass runs away from Lance and they crash onto the table, laughing. She throws an egg at him, Pascal blinking in shock. He rubs his eyes to make sure he's not dreaming. Cass throws flour at Lance.
"Ehh..." Eugene has no words as Rapunzel feels a tug on her dress. She looks down to see the baby Shorty, picking him up. An egg lands on Eugene's cheek.
"Tag! You're it, Fitzherjerk!" Cass points at them.
"Yep, definitely them," Eugene wipes off his cheek.
"And that's not all."
They turn around to Harmony, who gestures to a little boy walking inside. He has a head of dark hair, which is so big and puffy with a little strand of blue. His goggles are still over his head, and his clothes are smaller.
"Aww," Rapunzel coos at him. There's no mistake; this is definitely Varian. He seems to mind his own business as he simply walks up to a chair and takes a seat, kicking his legs back and forth. He has such an emo look that Harmony almost didn't recognize him when she laid eyes on his kid self at first hand. Rapunzel picks up the baby Shorty.
"Okay...so I'm confused," Harmony holds up one finger from each hand as she steps further into the room. "How did this happen?"
Cass simply jumps onto the top of a chair. "Best. Playtime. Ever!"
Lance makes a little statue out of kitchen utensils and silverware. Varian seems to be coloring something as Cass sits nearby in boredom. Ruddiger is looking over Varian's shoulder. He looks like a goth in a baby's body.
"Okay, okay. Something in this house has turned you all into children," Eugene paces around. "So if we're going to turn you back, we're gonna need answers."
"Na-na-na," Cass mocks him, walking off.
"Hey, you wanna play chase?" Lance asks the former thief.
"What?! Play chase? No! We need to know what happened! So...speak up," Eugene demands as Rapunzel steps up to him while holding Shorty.
"Uh, Eugene, maybe you'd better let me talk to them," She smiles gently. She hands Shorty to him and he burps in Eugene's face, to his disgust.
"Babies will be babies...or in this case, Shorty," Harmony pinches her nose.
"Hi Lance," Rapunzel sits in front of him. "So, I see you're making something very...tall. Doesn't that look fun?"
"Mm-mm," He shrugs with a small frown, wiping his nose and going back to what he's doing.
"So, Lance, sweetheart, uh, can you tell us how this happened?"
"How what happened?" He balances a cup on a plate.
"How...you were turned into kids," Rapunzel elaborates with a small smile.
"Who turned into kids?"
Pascal facepalms at this. "How you were turned into kids..."
He scratches the top of his head and then points to her head. "Why do you have a bird in your hair?"
"Oh, well, because I like birds-" She points to the decoration in her hair.
"What kind of birds are they?"
"Well, um, it's not really any kind of bird. It's more of a simple design."
"Why's your hair so long? I bet it's because you're really, really, old," Lance lays on his back, looking at her.
"Well, no, actually, it's-"
"Where do clouds go at night? What's your favorite song? What sound would zero make if it wasn't a number?" She hides her irritation at the ongoing questions. "What's for dinner?"
Cass squishes a whole cake with her ladle, throwing it into the air. Eugene steps up to her. "Cass, you need to come down from there right now, and tell me what's going on."
She glances around, shrugging. "Sure. I've been wanting to tell you something, anyway." She beckons him forward and he brings his ear over. She then flicks his ear. "Ear flick!" The girl laughs, running down the table.
"Well, it's nice to see that young Cassandra is even more pleasant than Cassandra Classic," Eugene retorts, Shorty burping into his face again. He looks over to Harmony, who calmly approaches Varian and sits next to him. He looks up at her and turns red, hiding his face with the paper. Despite the situation, he had to admit that the sight is pretty cute.
"What are you drawing, Varian?" She asks kindly and he holds it up for her to see.
"It's Ruddiger!"
"You drew Ruddiger, huh?" Harmony takes the picture into her hands. "...Wait, where'd you get this paper from?"
"I got it from an open book on the floor."
"What open book-" She turns to see her journal on the floor, opened up. "No, no, no, no, no!" She panics a little, seeing that some pages are already ripped out by Lance and Cass. A few pages she hadn't touched were also ripped away. "This is my journal!"
She eyes the pages in her hands, frowning deeply.
"I'm sorry," Varian says genuinely. "I didn't know it was your journal. You shouldn't have left it out..."
"I didn't, they must have taken it from the kid room," She pinches his nose and he looks away at her being distraught. "Didn't you read the cover?"
"I can't read yet. My dad says I won't learn until preschool."
She sighs, slouching her shoulders as she sits on the floor, hands on her knees. "Touche..."
"My favorite book is the Tales of Flynningan Rider! It has sword fights and cool pictures and stuff!" He suddenly frowns. "I'm sorry about your journal. I didn't know. But I can help you organize it!"
"That's okay," She pats the top of his head, causing him to giggle. He looks much different than he did before. It seems as if the teenage girl changed him in an instant. "Could you tell me how you got turned into kids, please?"
"Cassie pushed a button on something."
"Oh?" Harmony pulls him onto her lap, listening attentively. "Do you remember what it looked like?"
He bites his lip in thought, taking her book into his tiny little hands. He looks up at her, blinking. "Can I have a needle and thread?"
"Sure," Harmony digs into her bag to get some while he talks.
"It was green and had all sorts of colors on it," He speaks as she gives him the supplies. He slowly puts the thread through the hole.
"Okay, anything else?" Harmony stares at him while balancing him on her knee.
"It went whoosh!" He holds out his hands in exaggeration, the girl giggling. He starts organizing the pages in the journal. "So I went over to look, and it spun super fast, and then it glowed like Rapunzel's hair, and then suddenly you were bigger, and then I saw your pretty hair."
"Aww," She smiles down at him. In just seconds, he turned from goth into the sweetest little boy. He sews the pages back into the journal, holding out the closed book to her over his head.
"Here you go."
"Thank you, Varian. That's really helpful and sweet of you," She sets him down onto the floor standing up, getting onto her feet.
"Why don't crabs have eyebrows?" Rapunzel has her chin planted on the table as she listens to Lance.
"Because they have an exoskeleton," She answers for him.
"Do I have an exoskeleton?"
"No, you have an endoskeleton."
"Do fishes have a nose?"
"They do not have noses, but they do have nostrils. Now, can I ask you a few questions-"
"Woo-hoo!" Cass flies over their heads, knocking into Lance's statue.
"Hey!" Lance protests at her.
"Cassandra, that was not nice," Rapunzel places her hands on her hips. "What do you have to say for yourself?"
"I have to say I love the boom sound it made," She giggles, smiling. "Ten out of ten."
Both of them laugh as they run around her. "Hey!"
Both Eugene and Harmony cringe. "Kids, kids, kids, kids, kids!" Eugene hands the baby Shorty to Harmony. "The princess is not a maypole!"
Daisy chirps as she flies over to help and Harmony places Shorty down on the floor. He looks up at the cabinet to see a duckling toy. He coos at it.
Rapunzel is trying to get the two to calm down when Pascal and Daisy appear on her shoulders.
"Ooh, a lizard and a duck!" Cass points up at them.
"Oh! I wanna hold 'em! I wanna hold 'em!" Lance jumps up and down. Varian tugs at Harmony's pants and she looks down at him.
"Can I see Daisy?" He holds out his hands and she gladly flies onto his hair instead, causing him to giggle.
Pascal, however, isn't too keen on account of Lance's runny nose, and their dirty hands. He jumps onto Lance's head and lands on the floor, running off.
"Okay Lance! Be careful!" Rapunzel calls out, running after them. "He's not a squishy toy!"
"At least Varian is more mature!" Eugene gestures to the little boy. "And Lance always loved animals as a kid."
Pascal hides behind a table leg, and heavy footsteps approach him. He looks up in fear to see Lance reaching out his hand.
"A lizard..." He nuzzles Pascal's cheek and Daisy chirps at him in laughter, glad that she's not being tortured. "You're so cute, I wanna squish your face! I wanna squish your belly and your weird little lizard eyeballs! You're a little green baby, who's a little green baby? Who's a fancy little green baby? Yes you are, yes you are!"
"Little baby?" Rapunzel suddenly gasps as she remembers something. "Oh, wait, wait, where is baby Shorty?"
Harmony looks around to see him on top of the cabinet hugging the toy. He suddenly falls off, alarming them.
"No!"
He falls into the arms of Matthews, who chuckles. "Fancy this? I see someone has got into the nursery!"
"Varian told me that something that spins made them this way," Harmony gestures to the little boy, who's attempting to reach the top of the table for some reason. "Green with lots of colors."
"Ahh. The Ol' Top of Time," He says in realization. "Ohh, look at the baby! Zut alor, that is one ugly baby, oui? Now, now, now, now, would you look at this mess?"
"He did it!" Cass points at Lance.
"She did it!" He accuses back while pointing to her.
"He's lying!"
"She's lying!" They literally butt heads as they growl at each other.
"The older you are, the younger it makes you. Mm, this one must've been ancient," He holds up Shorty.
"Matthews, how do we turn our friends back, and get out of this place?!" Eugene demands him. "We want answers!"
"Well, is that what you want, or what you need?" Shorty pulls at his mustache. "Stop that. In many cases, they are two very separate things. Stop that. However, in this case, it's most likely the same thing. Will you stop that?! You have the mustache of your own!"
"Mr. Matthews, please," Rapunzel pleads with him. "Do you have any idea how to change our friends back?"
"Surely, it's a cinch. Simply find that top, and spin it in reverse."
"Okay, that seems...easy enough," She smiles a little.
"Of course, you only have one hour to do so, or they will remain kids forever."
"A whole hour?!" Harmony screeches at him. "Why didn't you tell us that earlier?"
"And why is that that there's only just one hour to reverse these things?!" Eugene holds up a finger.
"Or you could leave things as they are. You know what they say, you know, to be young again is...good." They watch Cass and Lance run around. "It's a poor saying, what do you want from me, oui? I'll leave you to it, then. Now, now, now, don't forget-"
"We know! One hour to corral these kids, well except for Varian, back into that nursery or they'll be like this forever."
"No, I was just going to say..." He hands Shorty to Eugene. "Somebody went poopsies." He walks off and Eugene groans in disgust.
"I'm not handling that one," Harmony waves a hand.
"You know, it kills me to agree with him, but you are an ugly baby," Eugene replies and the blonde suddenly gasps at her sister.
"I have the perfect idea! You can watch Varian!" Rapunzel suggests with a big smile.
"What?!" She exclaims in shock at her sister, recoiling back a bit. While he may be a little easier than the others, this was her boyfriend who's now a child...
"Think of this way, it'll give you practice for Angry and Red!"
"And he seems to like you anyway, so it's a win-win," Eugene shrugs a little. "Well, mostly because you're his girlfriend."
"What's a girlfriend?" Varian tilts his head and Harmony couldn't help but coo to herself a little. He looks so adorable.
"But this is an entirely different thing, you guys," Harmony gestures to the little boy.
"Please?" Rapunzel gives her a pleading look. "We're really counting on you."
"...Okay," She sighs in defeat. "Hopefully we can fix this sooner than later." She finally notices what he's doing and runs over to him. "Varian, what are you trying to do? You'll get yourself hurt."
Varian points to the flower centerpiece in the middle of the table. She raises a brow as she lifts him up to the flower and he takes it. He gets onto his feet and holds it out to her.
"I wanted to give you this flower."
She smiles softly, kissing his cheek as she takes it. The girl lifts him up and he places a hand on her shoulder. She starts dancing around with him, his legs swinging around. He giggles as they twirl around.
"Alright, let's get back to that nursery..." As Rapunzel is speaking, Lance and Cass sneak away. "Kids?" She narrows her eyes at them and undoes her hair, running after them.
"Ugh. No! Hey, get back here!" Eugene chases after her. Harmony looks up and holds Varian, running after the two.
Once they've caught up to the two, they have them in Rapunzel's hair. The blonde pants, holding a piece in her hands.
"Why do you have blue bangs?" Lance points at Harmony. "Are you a pirate? Do you have birds in your hair besides the duckling? Why is the sky blue? Why do you have that moon on your hand?"
Harmony sighs slowly at all the questions.
"Now, Lance, Cass, even though you're children, your voices matter," Rapunzel stands in front of them. "This is a discussion. So, whoever holds this gravy boat gets to talk, okay?" She holds up the gravy boat.
"Ugh! This is-"
"Oop, wait wait wait, wait wait-" Rapunzel interrupts Cass. "I have the gravy boat." Eugene just looks on in disbelief over the whole thing. Shorty is in his hands sleeping.
Harmony looks down at Varian, who's holding her hand and staying quiet. "Eugene, Harmony, and I only want to help turn you back to normal, but...we can't do that if you keep running off. So, I think from now on, we should stay together..."
Cass mocks Rapunzel from her spot. "Alone we are strong, together we are stronger."
Cass raises a hand and is given the gravy boat. She blows a raspberry at Rapunzel. Pascal jumps into the gravy boat and Lance takes it, blowing a raspberry at her. They wrestle for the gravy boat.
"Okay, okay. Ha ha ha, very funny. Now it's time to-" She cringes at the two yelling.
"My gravy boat! Can't talk without the gravy boat!" She crawls out of Rapunzel's hair. "Lance, over here!"
He tosses the gravy boat over Rapunzel's head with Pascal still in it. She catches it and throws it back to Lance.
"Okay, guys..." She tries to catch the gravy boat, but it whips over her head. "We've only got 30 minutes left-"
"Blondie, look, if we're gonna get this done, we should really think about being more firm. Trust me, kids respond to authority."
She fixes up her hair, glaring at him. "Uh, trust me, Eugene. Kids respond best when they feel like they're being heard. Give them the freedom to express themselves without talking down to them, and they might just surprise you. I mean, how do you think Harmony felt during the storm?"
"That was because I'm the princess who kept being treated like a kid, and not because I am one," She jerks a thumb to Cass and Lance still throwing around Pascal. The gravy boat breaks in front of Varian's feet, Pascal looking a bit dizzy. He's grabbed by Lance, the two adults glaring at them. Varian bends down and starts cleaning it up. Lance slowly points to Cass.
"Alright, you listen up!" Eugene hands Shorty over to Rapunzel. "Here's the plan, kids: we are all going to go into the nursery, find that top and turn you back to normal. We will not be running off. We will not be breaking things. And for the love of all things big and small, we will leave that poor frog alone."
Lance lets go of Pascal, Ruddiger and Daisy going over to check on him. "Is that clear? Are there any questions?"
"Can I go to the bathroom?" Lance raises a hand.
"Again?! Can't it wait?"
The boy shakes his head no.
"C'mon, Eugene, he's just a kid," Rapunzel smiles a bit.
Varian tugs at Harmony's pants, handing her a taped-up gravy boat. "Oh," She blinks in shock. For a kid, he's pretty handy and intelligent.
"Fine. I'll take Lance to the bathroom. Raps, Brownie, you take the others to the nursery. We'll be there in five. Let's go, Lancey!" He takes the boy's hand and they walk off. "You don't wanna be a kid forever. One-two, one-two."
"Do you have to go too?" Harmony bends down to Varian, who shakes his head.
"I don't need to go because I went all by myself."
"Aw," She claps for him. "How'd you get so mature, huh?"
"Because I'm very responsible," He grins, saying the last word by syllable, causing her to laugh.
"You know, Cass? Eugene shouldn't be so rigid with Lance. That's why I'm glad we approached our relationship with a...mutual respect, and built a solid rapport-" She pauses as Cass is no longer in the room. "And she's missing. Okay then, alright."
"Great," Harmony facepalms at this.
Eugene and Lance walk down the hall. "Now do you wanna play chase?"
"No, I don't want to play chase," He has an annoyed look on his face. "I thought you had to go to the bathroom."
"What's that?" Lance runs away from him.
"That's a sculpture," He explains as the boy joins his side and they start walking again.
"What's it do?"
"It doesn't do anything. It's art. It's for people to look at."
"What people?" Lance looks up at the man.
"Just people. Now, quit dillydallying."
He tugs at Eugene's arm. "Can I have a piggy back ride?"
"For the fourth time, no," Eugene facepalms, dragging the hand down his face.
"What's that?" He beams, pointing up ahead.
"That's another sculpture."
"What does it do?"
"It does the same—ugh!" Eugene clenches his fists. "Look, can we please stop with all these pointless questions?! Because you are killin' me here!" He looks to see that Lance is crying. "Oh, no, no, no, no. No, no, please don't cry! Please don't cry! I hate seeing kids cry. It's gonna make me cry, and I have a really ugly crying face. Hey, how about that piggyback ride?"
"Yay!" Lance bounces up and down happily. "Giddy up, giddy up!" He gets onto Eugene's back. "Giddy up, giddy up!"
Eugene reluctantly gets up and walks down the hall. "What's that?
"It's...another...sculpture."
"What's it do?"
Harmony, Varian, Rapunzel, and Shorty in her arms all walk down the pink hall. "Cass? Where are you?" She calls out, not noticing Shorty reaching for the duck toy. When he doesn't get it, he starts to cry. "Oh, shh, shh, shh, shh."
"Woo-hoo!" Cass skids past them on a piece of shell, landing on the table. The duck toy goes flying into Varian's hands.
"Okay, come on," Rapunzel walks off and Shorty starts crying again. "We're running out of time."
"He just wants this," Varian holds out the toy and Shorty takes it happily.
"Thank you," Rapunzel smiles at him gratefully.
"You can't touch the floor! It's made of lava!" Cass tells them. "You're burning!"
"Cassandra, we only have about 15 more-"
"You're burning!" She insists to them. Shorty cries out at the loud noise and Rapunzel shushes him. "Aww, I thought my voice mattered."
Rapunzel sighs in defeat as they walk past her, standing on a table. Harmony holds Varian into her arms.
"You wanna be an adult again, don't you, Cassie?" Varian turns to her. Shorty crawls out of Rapunzel's hands and onto the floor to play with his toy.
"Oh no, the baby's headed straight for the lava lake! Oh no!" Rapunzel is about to step down to go get him when Cass turns to her. "No, that's lava!" She glares at the girl as Harmony tries next. "Lava!"
"Ugh!" Harmony grunts at this and Rapunzel jumps on tables, grabbing Shorty.
"Not bad, huh Cass? ...Cass?" The girl is gone again, much to their dismay.
Cass looks around as she's further down the hall, and breaks a sculpture. She uses the ceiling as monkey bars, the others following after her.
"Hey, Cass. I think the lava's gone now."
"Lava is in the Earth's core," Varian points out.
"Yeah, you know what? You're right...it's acid!" She jumps away from a light fixture, the two sisters groaning. Rapunzel uses her hair to lift them all up above the ground.
"Why can't she be more like you?" Harmony turns to Varian.
"Because Cassie is Cassie and I'm Varian," He replies while patting Daisy. Ugh, it's illegal for him to be that cute.
"Yes," Matthews chuckles as he sweeps up the damage. "They are a handful, aren't they? Well, most of them," He looks to Varian. "But, uh, motherhood suits you, and so does being an aunt."
"What?!" They both turn to him in shock for even saying that.
"I'm just suggesting that should you fail to acquire the top in time, it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. N'est pas? After all, you make a darling family, and this place would make quite the home...for a family, don't you agree?"
Harmony stares at him weirdly as a strong sense of evil suddenly emerges from him...she had no idea what he gains from this, but he's hiding something...
"Lance! Show me some hustle!" Eugene calls out nearby.
"Mr. Matthews, we-" She looks to see that he's gone.
"Do not go jelly-legs on me!" Eugene drags Lance across the floor. "You stand up right now! Blondie, Brownie, why you just hanging there?"
"Oh, you know, the floor is acid," She says casually.
Lance lets out a scream, getting onto his feet. "Acid, acid, acid!"
"At least I have you!" Varian smiles up at Harmony, and she returns it weakly, thinking about what the man said. While she would ideally help Rapunzel when she does have kids, these were her friends and her boyfriend. There's no way she'd leave him like this...no matter how adorable he is.
"That's all I had to do?!" Eugene gestures to Lance, and wakes up Shorty.
Cass is chasing Lance on a toy car from the kids' room, which is where they find them. Lance runs past them as Shorty continues crying.
"Look, look, look!" Varian points up ahead. "That's the thing that went whoosh!"
"The top!" Rapunzel sees it nearby the shelf. Lance grabs it first and runs off with it. Cass comes to a stop in front of him, snatching the top.
"My turn!"
"No, you get to play with the wagon!" He runs after her.
"Okay, okay, guys, we only have, like, five minutes, so maybe we might-"
Eugene stomps a foot in front of them.
"Ugh," Harmony pinches her nose, getting a little headache now by the crying and the fighting.
"Give me that top right now, young lady!" She simply stares at him. "One...two...two and a half...two and three quarters...gimme that top!"
Harmony covers her ears.
"Eugene, yelling at them won't get the top back!" Rapunzel steps up to them.
"Oh, what should I do? Cuddle it out of them?" He crosses his arms.
"What's that supposed to mean?" She asks defensively.
"Guys, this is ridiculous," Harmony steps up to them while holding Varian in her arms. Daisy and Ruddiger seem to keep him focused instead of running around. "You two have different parenting styles, but there's a way to do both of those things."
"You let these kids besides Varian walk all over you."
Rapunzel opens her mouth in shock. "And bossing them around seems to have worked really well!"
While they're not looking, the kids walk over to the wagon. "Let's go someplace a little less...them."
"Oh, hey, Lance was doing just fine until he was back under Cass' influence!"
"Somehow I find that hard to believe! You know what? Let's just spin that top, and get out of this place!"
"Fine!"
"Fine!"
Varian looks away and tugs Rapunzel's sleeve. "What is it, Varian?"
He points to the wagon, where the other three kids are inside. "Tally-ho!"
Lance spins the lever and they take off into the hall. The others run into the hall, where the three, with the top, land on the ground. Shorty skids to a stop in front of a wolf, the duck toy flying into its mouth. He squeals at it.
Eugene and Rapunzel rush into the room, seeing the situation.
Harmony skids into the room, panicking when she sees the sleeping wolves. "No, no, no, stop, stop, stop, ahh..." She tells herself as she stomps her feet, sighing in relief when she comes to a safe stop just mere inches away from the sleeping wolf. Varian is in her arms.
Her mouth opens in shock to see Shorty trying to get his toy back from the wolf. He yawns and crawls onto its back. The top is on the right side of the mouth.
"And this is why I'm a cat person," Eugene states as Harmony backs away slowly, cringing.
"You get Lance and I'll get Cass!" Rapunzel tells him quietly. "We gotta get that top before the dogs wake up! Harmi, stay here with Varian."
"Good luck, princess and Flynn Rider," Varian waves slowly with his little hand.
"Daw," Rapunzel clasps her hands, patting his head.
"Now that's cute," Eugene smiles a little, not even bothering to correct him on the name this time.
"Hey, Cass," The blonde whispers to her. "Sweetie, I know you wanna get the top," Rapunzel steps over a wolf, holding her skirt in the air. "And I know you're very brave, but you're in an unsafe situation right now, so...I need you to please exit the kennel."
"Uh huh, you're not the boss of me," Cass retorts to her loudly, the wolf hearing it and not waking up thankfully.
"No, I-I-I'm not telling you what to do," Rapunzel stammers a bit. "But I am strongly suggesting you reconsider-"
"Wow, Eugene was right. You do let us walk all over you. You guys are going to be disasters as parents, and Harmi no better as an aunt."
Her eyes widen slowly as Harmony steps up to her.
"Don't be sad, princess," Varian whispers to the woman and she looks over to Eugene.
"Lancey-poo, come with me, right now," Eugene urges him, gesturing to the exit.
"Why this way?"
"Because that's the way to the door, and we have to go bye-bye."
"Why?" Lance asks again. Rapunzel looks back to Cass silently, deciding that she's had enough. Harmony drags Cass away to face Rapunzel.
"Hey, what are you-"
"Okay, listen up, young lady," Rapunzel says in a stern voice. "Playtime is over! You get your rear-end outta this kennel right now! And walk on those tiptoes!"
"But-"
"No buts! Out! Tiptoes! Now!" Rapunzel points to the door.
"Yes, ma'am," Cass actually listens and does what she says. Harmony smiles, Varian clapping silently for her. She smiles back at them, sighing in relief. Rapunzel takes Varian into her hands, placing him on the floor.
"Varian, do you think you can follow Cass to the door?"
He blinks and nods up at her. "Yes, princess!"
"You little cutie," She smiles, ruffling his hair. He turns around and tiptoes.
"Listen to me: we have got to go! Why can't you just do what you're told?" Eugene pleads with Lance.
"Because...I'm a kid."
Eugene feels a tug, looking to Varian. He points to Rapunzel and he finally realizes what she means. "And kids need to feel like they're being heard...Okay, Lance, what do you wanna do? Huh, buddy? I'm listening."
"I dunno...play chase?"
"I was hoping you'd say that," He pokes Lance. "Tag! You're it!"
Lance babbles happily, running in the other direction. "No, no, no, you're supposed to chase me!" He grabs Lance and barely turns around in time to get to the door.
"Can we be Team Awesome again later?" Varian looks up at Eugene, who smiles.
"Sure, buddy."
"Cass, Lance, Varian, wait outside for us. That is an order!" Rapunzel tells them and they nod, running towards the door. Ruddiger and Daisy run after them to keep watch. The three smile, turning towards Shorty.
"Easy...easy..." Eugene helps the two sisters step over a wolf. Shorty giggles as he snatches the toy, causing the wolf to wake up.
"Uh oh. 600 pounds of fur and slobber headed our way!" They get surrounded by the wolves, Shorty riding one. They run to a cage, running on the others as the top rolls on the floor. They look up ahead to see that there's nowhere else to go, Rapunzel quickly snatching baby Shorty. The wolves bark up at them, looking vicious.
"Here boys, here you want a treat? Huh? Yeah, yeah, yeah ya do! Go get it!" He tosses an imaginary ball, but they don't fall for it. "Alright, well, you're smarter than you look, and I apologize for underestimating you...Brownie, what do we do?!" He grips her shoulders.
"We need a distraction, something to get their minds off us! And we've gotta bring the top to us!" She explains to him. Pascal ties himself to a strand of Rapunzel's hair, giving her a thumbs up. He jumps and lands in front of the wolves, blowing a raspberry at them. He snatches the top and runs off in the other direction. He turns around to the wolves running up to him. Pascal tugs on the hair and Rapunzel pulls him away as they run to the door.
"Baby Lance! The door! The door!" Eugene exclaims and he panics, closing it. "Why would you—I meant go out the door!"
Lance tries to open it, but he can't. "It's locked!"
"Why would you-?!"
"I'm a kid," Lance shrugs at him. Rapunzel looks to the wolves and they all hug each other. Shorty giggles as he grabs the top, throwing it onto the floor. Pascal flicks his tongue and activates it. When the wolves run through the light, they turn into cute little wolf puppies.
"Aww."
"Come here, come here," Lance chases after one. Cass and Shorty follow as Varian looks up at the three.
"Can I play with one?"
"You sure can," Rapunzel smiles, pushing him forward gently. The three smile as they look on at the sight. They eye the top and Rapunzel takes it into her hands.
"Okay, it was fun babysitting for the day, but let's get you guys back to normal. Time to add about 16 years. Uh, well, in Shorty's case, about 60 years? How old is Shorty exactly?"
"Fourty fi—seventy fi—I have no idea," Eugene shakes his head. He bends down to Varian's level. "Varian, buddy, how are you?"
He holds up five fingers. Rapunzel puts the top into reverse and pushes the button, throwing it in front of the four. The light glows and they're all back to their current ages.
"Hey, I'm still missing a couple teeth," Shorty points to his mouth.
"You were always missing a couple teeth," Cass points out. They all hug each other in relief, the puppies barking.
"We can keep the puppies, right?" Lance asks, breaking the moment.
The three hold the barking puppies as they walk down the hall. "They are pretty cute," Harmony smiles a bit as Varian holds her hand.
"Being a kid was the last thing I expected from today," He holds up their interlocked hands, kissing the back of hers gently. "But you'll make a great mom someday."
Her eyes widen as she blushes, looking away. Eugene opens another door, where octopus tentacles wiggle out and he closes it.
"Still no way out. And it's gonna take us forever to check this whole place."
Rapunzel groans at their situation. "Ugh, well, I guess we'll just have to stay here another night. Today was really tough..." She takes a hold of Eugene's hands. "But you know, even though we didn't always agree on everything...I think our differing approaches ended up being complementary in a weird way."
He chuckles at her. "Blondie, I completely agree. And if we ever do decide to have kids, assertiveness, compassion..."
"And a whole lot of love," She finishes for him, smiling softly.
"Tag! You're it!" Lance runs away from Cass.
"You do not know who you are messing with!"
"Hey, hey, hey, no running in the house!" Rapunzel scolds them both. She winks at Eugene and they hold hands.
"Hey! Go easy on them."
Matthews watches them from a dark room. "The mirror failed. The top failed. But I promise you, Master, I will keep the sundrop and moonstone in this house...forever." He closes the door, revealing the symbol of Zhan Tiri on the door...
Angel: I wasn't going to have Varian turn into a kid at first, but then I thought to have this opportunity to do it. Thankfully I didn't write this episode before I had changed my mind. Thank you, animechefgirl, for indirectly giving me that idea back on March 5th XD I so wish that we could've heard his voice in No Time Like the Past, but oh well...
And yes, I know Harmony's not a kid in this either, but all hope is not lost on that. She's already been seen as a kid in flashbacks, but for her to be seen as one in person... *coughs* Season 3. *cough cough* Anyway, hope you guys all enjoyed this episode. I know I did! Now if you'll excuse me, it's my Mom's birthday today, and I got stuff to prepare!