Chapter 4

"I love you, you big dummy."

Back in the air Webby could practically feel her ears burning and knew that Soran was talking about her. She felt her heart pound as she sensed something was about to go down. She just didn't know what, or when.

"Land!" Launchpad shouted.

They all rushed to the window and Webby saw a small patch of land about the size of Duckberg, crowded with robots.

Ugh. Robots.

She didn't use to hate robots. Usually the security bots Uncle Scrooge had back when she was a kid were extremely adorable to her, but not these robots. She had faced them once before and barely escaped.

"Okay, here's what we came up with." Huey said, once they landed, far enough away from the patrolling robots and hopefully out of sight of any radar or alarms they might set off.

He looked at Dewey and Webby who had sheer determination on their faces.

"You two are staying on the plane, while we get Louie and the kids -." He began.

"Like Hell we are." Dewey growled at him.

"It's us Soran's wants anyway, Huey." Webby reminded.

"We need you two as back up." Huey finished.

They stared at him. Huey sighed heavily. He knew they wouldn't just sit on the plane, but it was worth a shot, good thing he had plan B.

"Fine." He said in defeat. "We're going to keep Soran busy, while Webby finds the kids, You, Dewey find Louie. I'm sure Soran wouldn't have them in the same room with each other." Dewey and Webby nodded in agreement. "Since you two won't listen to reason, Fenton you and Grandra stay here with Mom and Launchpad."

All four of them nodded as Della pushed the button and mouth of the plane slowly opened up.

"Right." Huey said. "Let's do this."

It took them awhile to navigate the island considering they had no map. It was a good thing Huey use to be a Junior Woodchuck or else everyone would have been completely lost, and possibly captured in less than a few seconds.

Dewey and Webby went on up ahead to scout for more robots while Huey studied the land that stretched out before them. Lena and Violet were on magical patrol duty to scout for anything mystical alarms and Della, Launchpad, Fenton, and Gandra stayed waiting intensively on the plane. Huey was about to walk on up ahead towards Dewey and Webby when something dropped in front of him from above the trees.

He jumped back in alarm and saw that it was a boy, no older than Garret, but he reminded Huey oddly of his other friend, Boyd. Not exactly human, but not exactly a robot.

"Who are you?" Huey asked, his eyes narrowed at him.

"I'm Luca." Luca replied. "I'm here to help. Garret and Hope. They need you right now." He said. He reached out to grab Huey's arm, but Huey took a step back.

"Why should I trust you?" He asked, his muscle's tensed.

He and Luca stared at each other for a long time before Luca said in a gloomy voice.

"Because, if you don't, she's going to kill them." He said in an urgent voice. "I, I can't let her, especially Hope..." Luca looked at him desperately.

Huey slowly relaxed. He sensed that Hope had befriended this boy for some reason he had not yet concluded. It was a good thing too, it'll come in handy for taking down Soran.

"Okay, you've convinced me. Where are they?" He asked.

"Follow me." Luca advised. He grabbed Huey's hand and they trudged away from where Dewey and Webby were heading towards the castle. "I, I had to leave Garret. He's in pretty bad shape." He explained.

"How bad?" Huey asked.

"On the scale from one to ten?" Luca asked. Huey nodded. "A hundred percent." He told him miserably. "We can't waste much more time."

"You realize we know all this is a trap, right?" Huey asked as Luca lead him to a more remote area, he spotted a tunnel up ahead and began to feel a little bit nervous.

"Yeah. Hope said you guys would bring some sort of back up if things got ugly." He lied. "She told me to fill you in on what the situation is before you got off the plane. But..." His voice trailed off.

He really wasn't good at lying either. He wondered if his father had that problem.

"We don't wait when our loved ones are in danger." Huey growled at him as they entered the tunnel. Luca sighed.

"She said, you'd say that too." He said.

"Where does this tunnel lead?" Huey asked.

"Our F.O.W.L communication headquarters. It's the last place she'd think we'd use. Hope was actually the one who found it on my computer. I didn't even know this was here and I've lived here my whole life." He explained.

"Hope's a smart kid." Huey said.

"Yeah. She is." Luca agreed.

" . S, she doesn't need to know -." Louie tried. Soran looked at him sharply, making his stop abruptly.

"Now then," Soran said, she grabbed Hope's hand and lead her over to the couch and sat her in between her with Louie on the other side of her and her knife in her lap.

Hope still wasn't looking at him, for fear she'd break down and cry.

But Louie felt that her avoiding him was because of what she had just witnessed and was angry, hurt, and confused. Louie wished she hadn't seen what she saw. Wished he could have just talked his way out of it like he normally would have, but with his kids in danger he felt he had no choice but to do what she wanted; again.

"It was before you were born." Soran began. "Your mother and I were sworn enemies. She is working for S.H.U.S.H and me working for F.O.W.L."

"Mom, is a spy?" Hope asked. She finally looked over at her Dad who pierced his beak together as Soran nodded.

"Doesn't surprise me that she hadn't mentioned it to you. She likes her secrets, Webbigail, runs in the family, I'm guessing."

"I was on a verge of a brilliant take over the world, using an army of men at my despoil. Your mother was assigned to stop me. She did, but that only fueled my anger of her and S.H.U.S.H in the end." She gazed off into the distance as if lost in her own world.

"My second attempt for world domination consisted of a sort of helpful little security measure. I kidnapped Louie, and well..." Soran continued, blushing a deep shade of red.

Hope stared at her.

Soran was embarrassed to talk about what happened long ago with her and Louie but hadn't been embarrassed about Hope watching them just now?

Soran really was insane.

"He ended up in a coma for a year after he was rescued by your mother and that loudmouth, arrogant Dewey." Soran told her. "I ended up pregnant with Luca and now, here we are."

"What does that have to do with your sick affections on my Dad? Or why you hate my Mom?" Hope asked, angerly. She was getting impatient with this stalling. It wasn't the best plan she had come up with up it was the only option she had until her mother came and got them. At least Soran wasn't doing whatever it was she was doing with Louie anymore.

"Well," Soran said, with a sigh, "I was in love once, believe it or not. He was a lot like Louie here." She looked over at him, took his hand and kissed it. Hope saw the blood rain from his face. "Sweet, Sensitive, handsome, weak..." She hissed the last one making Louie look away from her shamefully.

"But then," Soran continued, "your mother killed him, while saving Louie. So. I've taken liberty of taking returning the favor. It will be all the sweeter killing her from the inside once she finds out the truth." She finished and snickered at the look on Hope's face.

"Find out what?"

All three of them looked towards the doorway. Webby stood there, fire in her eyes, glaring at Soran with such hate that she couldn't even keep her keep the weapon she held behind her back steady.

"And here's the woman of the hour." Soran replied. "Nice to see you, again. Webbigail. I was just explaining to little Hope here our, relationship..."

"Mom!" Hope cried.

She jumped up and was about to rush to her when Soran blocked her by holding out her knife. Hope froze. She stared at the blade, then at her Mom. Webby could see in her eyes that she was already calculating up a plan of action now that she was there.

"Let my family go, Soran. This is between you and me." Webby said, she looked over at Louie who hadn't said a word. She studied him as he avoided her eyes. He was handcuffed in shackles by his wrists and ankles, and he smelled oddly of...

"Aw, hell no." Webby said. She turned her attention to Soran. "You bitch." She rushed at Soran, taking out her weapon that Gosalyn made. It was a vampire dagger (that with the help from Lena's magic) was made up of demon magic.

Soran merely laughed.

She grabbed hold of Hope and Louie as she dodged Webby's attack with incredible speed.

"Nice try." She snarled. Webby turned around and narrowed her eyes at Soran as Hope and Louie struggled against her. "It's gonna take more than a demon blade to kill me, girlie." Soran snickered. "I'm the Queen of the Vampires after all."

Webby's eyes darted from her, to Louie, and Hope then back at Soran's smug look on her pale face. She still didn't know this truth Soran was talking about. Louie looked like he was trying hard to tell her something with his eyes, but she couldn't stay focus long enough to decipher it.

"Oh, and before you try to kill me again, I'd like to mention that Louie is under my control." Soran told her. Soran's eyes twinkled at the look on her archrival's face. "So, if you happen to try and kill me. Well..."

Webby slowly lowered her weapon making it fall to the floor with a loud clanking sound.

"That's a good little Webby." Soran cooed. "Now, then. Which one should I kill first? Hope or finish off that little loudmouth Garret outside the door?"

Hope looked at her in alarm.

"What? Didn't think I could hear him outside, groveling?" She asked.

Webby stared at her, unable to move.

She's in shock. Louie realized.

He wanted so much to snap her out of it, but with the situation he was in at the moment, he was completely helpless. He peered over at Hope who seemed to be trying to hold it together, but he saw tears brimming her eyes.

"Neither, Mother."

Hope inhaled sharply when Luca emerged from the doorway. Soran; however, narrowed her eyes at her son. She was no longer the loving mother Hope had seen that morning. She now looked like a she-demon with an ax to grind.

"Luca. What do you think you're doing?" She snarled.

Luca looked over at Louie, then at Hope who stared back at him with tears in her eyes. He stared back at her as he felt his anger rise. He did not like the fact that she was crying.

"Finally taking control over my life." Luca told her. "Now!" Luca shouted.

Louie and Hope was suddenly flown out of Soran's grip as a clanking sound came from above them. Luca caught her before she hit the ground and shielded her from the rubble that came crashing down around them. Hope peered through his arms and as the smoke from the rubble cleared, she saw her Uncle Huey, Fenton, Gandra, and Uncle Dewey standing between Soran and Webby, all glaring at her with sheer determination.

"This ends now." Huey snarled.

Soran stared back at them, blankly, not understanding what had just happened.

"What took you guys so long?" Louie asked, he groaned as he struggled to feet.

"Dewey here wanted to make a grand entrance." Huey answered, glaring over at Dewey.

"Yeah. I had a cool line and everything, but Huey here just had to take the spotlight -." Dewey began.

"You promised, no show boating!" Huey shot back.

"That's enough." Soran snapped. Her eyes gleamed brightly. "I'm going to enjoy killing all of you, one by one." She looked over at Luca who was standing beside Hope. He slowly moved in front of her protectively. "I'll deal with you, my son, later." She growled.

Luca glared at her.

"Wait, son?" Huey asked, in dismay. Looking from Luca to Soran.

"Oh, he didn't tell you?" Soran asked and laughed. "Luca is my son," She told them. All ten pairs of eyes turned to stare at him. "and Louie's."

"L, Louie's?" They all said at the same time, except for Webby who hadn't said a word since they arrived.

Louie's face had gone completely white, and he looked over at his wife avoiding everyone else's shocked expressions. Soran took that moment to slowly stroll over to Louie and put her arms around his shoulders. She pressed her cheek to his face and grinned at everyone.

Webby blinked several times before she shook herself out of her condition.

"D, Did I just hear that right?" She asked. She looked back at Louie, then at Luca before turning her attention back to Soran. "That boy is -."

"Our son. Yes." Soran hissed.

Louie watched as Webby's face turned red, her eyes glazed over, as she slowly picked up the dagger. Soran watched her with satisfactory as Louie's heart pounded hard against his chest. He didn't know if she was going to kill him, or Soran.

"W, Webs. I, I can explain." Louie tried calming her down as she slowly took a step towards them.

"We'll talk about this later." Webby snapped at him. Louie blinked. "Right now, I'm gonna make sure this bitch doesn't harm anyone, ever again." She said.

Hope quickly tugged at Luca's sleeve. He glanced down at her. She motioned for him to get closer to her, and he knelt eye level to her.

"You were able to get my family here?" She asked, her eyes wide with gratitude.

"I couldn't just leave this unresolved," Luca explained, he blushed a deep shade of red when Hope beamed at him. "They aren't half bad, this family of yours." He added.

"You can be a part of it." She insisted. She took his hand and squeezed it tightly. They smiled at each other, until they heard Hope's mother yell out a battle cry. Hope looked over Luca's shoulder in alarm as Webby flung herself at Soran.

"Do you have any idea how to get my Dad out from under Soran's control?" She whispered, not taking her eyes off her mother and Soran as they struggled against each other. If she killed Soran right now...

"Not that I'm aware of," Luca whispered back. "Only she can lift the curse off him." He added. Hope thought for a moment then her eyes lit up as an idea flashed across her eyes.

"But you are part vampire, too right?" She asked.

"Yeah, but -." Luca began, not liking where this was going.

"Then, can't you -, you know -, cancel out Soran's bite with yours instead?" She asked.

"I, I don't know." Luca replied. "I, I never had the need to taste human blood, being half robot and all. Besides, I don't think he will take to kindly to me biting him..."

"I'm sure it'll be better then what's happening right now." Hope insisted. "Please, Sparky She begged when Luca opened his mouth to protest, "Try." She grabbed his hand and squeezed it tightly. "For me?"

Luca looked into her pleading eyes and his heart (what part wasn't a machine) melted.

"Okay, fine." He said, sighing deeply in defeat. "But we really need talk about this nickname you've came up with for me. It's not really working for me." He said.

Webby's suddenly battle cry shook them out of their conversation. They both looked over in alarm. Webby leaped up in the air and plunged the dagger towards Soran's chest where her heart should have been.

"Let's talk about nicknames later." Hope told him. She got up and pulled him towards Louie who was unguarded now as Soran and Webby fought up ahead. "Dad." Hope whispered as she got up close to him. Louie blinked and looked over at Hope.

"H, Hope? W, we need to get you and your brother out of here." He said.

"I know that," Hope said, "but we can't right now. If Mom kills Soran before the curse is lifted off you, then you die too. Remember?" She asked.

Louie groaned.

"Kind of hard to forget." He muttered.

"But I have a theory." Hope told him. She pulled Luca up a bit closer as he was still a bit nervous about all this. Louie glared at him. "We can have Luca bite you and it might cancel out the -."

"Absolutely not." Louie interrupted. He narrowed his eyes at Luca. "Was this your plan?" He asked. "Her trusting you, so you can get to me?" He growled, as he quickly walked up to Luca. Fire in his eyes. Hope pulled at her Dad's arm, to try and calm him down. But he jerked her away making her fall hard on the ground.

"N, No. That's not -." Luca tried.

"Dad. I'm the one -." Hope tried.

"You want control over me too now?" Louie shouted.

Hope slowly stood back up. She couldn't take it anymore and did something she never in a million years thought she'd do, not at her age, and not to her Dad.

She slapped him.

Louie staggered back and stared at his daughter in complete shock as his cheek stung.

"Hope," He said, "what the Hell has gotten into you, young lady?" He asked.

"If you would just listen to me for once," Hope shot back, "then you'd see that you are totally out of line, here. Luca's trying to help, and you can't see that because of your situation with him." She continued.

Louie gaped at his daughter not knowing if he should be angry or proud of her for finally coming out of her shell. She's changed since all this happened, and he didn't know if he liked it. Hope wasn't that shy little kid anymore. Louie also realized she hadn't had a panic attack since that morning, even after all this going down. He glanced over at Luca who stood staring at the ground, avoiding his stare.

Rather he liked it or not, Luca was his son. He wanted so much not to keep seeing him drag her away from the cell that morning, but, was all that just an act? Could Luca possibly be what Hope needed all along? Someone who could relate to her, and in return protect him?

He looked towards the others who were trying their best to help Webby. In the end Louie saw no way out for him. What Hope was saying made sense.

He sighed deeply and nodded.

"Fine." He grumbled. "Let's get this over with."

Luca stumbled up to Louie who frowned at him. Luca leaned forward close to Louie's neck to study his mother's bite marks as he tried to figure out the best incision. Hope noticed his lips trembling as he slowly opened his mouth. Her heart sank. Luca was so nervous that his vision started to get blurry.

She took his hand again and squeezed it, snapping him out of hit. Hope looked at Luca and nodded encouragingly at him. Luca was so nervous that his vision was starting to get blurry. Hope squeezed his hand again, snapping him out of it.

He closed his eyes and bit down on his father's neck, right on top of his mother's bite mark. Louie grunted and gasped loudly as his fangs sank into his flesh. Soran started to scream suddenly. Hope glanced over at them. Her Mom had Soran pinned to the ground. Her foot on her chest and her demon dagger at her throat.

"L,Luca?" Soran screeched, as her curse was lifted, "Why...?"

Webby took that moment to plunge the dagger into her chest, making Soran scream even louder. She suddenly gone cold silent and stopped thrashing before turning into a pile of ash at her feet. Webby stared at the pile and kicked the ash into the roaring fireplace making it burst into green flames, as she watched it die down, she heard Louie moan loudly. She whirled around and saw the boy, Luca, now drinking his blood.

"Louie!" Webby shouted.

Luca could hear both of them, but he couldn't move, couldn't speak as he continued to drink his father's blood. It tasted so...

Good.

He could see why his mother liked Louie so much.

It tasted to him like melted chocolate and caramel, and he wanted more.

"No, Mom. It's okay!" Luca heard Hope say making him snap out of it. He quickly let go of Louie and started coughing repeatedly.

Louie groaned loudly as Webby rushed at him as he fell to the floor and caught him in her arms just in time.

"Looks like the liquid is getting caught in your circuit breakers." Hope was saying to the boy as Webby stared into Louie tired, worn out, and beaten face. She touched his cheek softly with her cold, shaky hand.

Louie slowly opened his eyes and started up at her. He smiled sheepishly at her as tears swelled up in her eyes.

"Webs. I, I'm so, so sorry." He choked out. He lifted a shaky hand to her cheek and rubbed it slightly with his thumb. Webby leaned in close to his face. "I, I didn't -."

But he didn't get to finished as Webby kissed him firmly on the lips.

"Ewww." Hope whispered to Luca who couldn't help but smile. Even after all she witnessed with Louie and his mother, she was still able to keep her innocent's when it came to her own parent's love affections.

"I love you, you big dummy." Webby told him once they pulled apart. She helped him up and they smiled at each other.

"Can we go home, now?" Hope asked. "I'm really starting to miss Aunt Violet's homemade desert rolls." She added.

"Yes." Webby said, taking her daughter by the hand. "Let's go home."

"Um. Guys? A little help here?" Garret's voice called out from hallway.

"Garret!" Hope gasped.

She had completely forgotten about him. She and her mother rushed to his side to help him up. Hope was glad to see that his bleeding had slowed down, and that his heartbeat was functioning regularly again.

"Why do I feel like I've been forgotten?" Garret mumbled.

"I, I'm sorry." Hope said, she held onto him tightly as she and her Mom moved back into the room. Hope stopped short when she was Louie and Luca staring at each other.

"I," Louie began, "I guess I should thank you." He said. Hope slowly let her mother take over holding Garret and she moved towards Luca slowly. She took his hand and smiled warmly at him. "For looking after Hope, and, and..."

"Don't mention it." Luca muttered.

Hope beamed at the two of them. At least they were talking civilly to each other.

He looked at Webby who came up beside him with Garret.

"Let's go home." Louie said, taking his wife's hand. He looked back at Hope and Luca. Hope looking at him anxiously and Luca nervously. "All of us." He said, looking at Luca.

Luca stared back at him, as Hope tugged him along with the rest of the group filing out of the room.

None of them noticed as they left the room, a tiny green spark left over from when Webby kicked Soran's ashes into the fireplace. It spit itself out and landed in the middle of the room. It grew and grew until it slowly formed into a tall figure of Soran herself. She smiled gleefully and looked down at her stomach and cradled it fondly.

"Now, that." She whispered. "Was epic."

She looked up and squinted her eyes as the shadows of her enemies slowly grew into tiny dots as they headed towards a plane. She saw her son, holding onto the girl's hand. He was actually smiling.

Smiling!

The nerve of him!

After what he done to her? She wasn't going to let him leave this island, alive. She stood a stride and slowly walked out of the room, just as the fire to the fireplace abruptly died out.