"I think he's starting to come around."
"Fluey, can you hear us?"
Fluey stirred for a minute, and slowly opened his eyes. He was able to make out Coiley and Multi standing over him.
"Oh boy," he groaned, as he started to lean up. "What just happened?"
"Take it easy, Fluey," Multi said, pushing his friend back down for the moment. "You've been out of it for four hours now."
"Four hours?" Fluey repeated.
"Yeah, that must've been kind of a shock," Coiley said.
"You mean . . . . you mean it wasn't some kinda crazy dream?!" Fluey shouted, sitting up. "Oh brother, I don't know if I can take this! Come on, fellas, we've got to convince this sultan that I'm not his son!"
"Hold it a minute, Fluey," Coiley said. "How do we know you aren't?"
"Coiley has a point," Multi said. "After all, you were left on a doorstep when you were a baby."
"Who's side are you guys on, anyway?!" Fluey shouted.
"That's not what Multi meant," Coiley said. "Fluey, we're not saying you are the prince, but . . . ."
"Well, we're not saying you aren't, either," Multi finished.
"But I can't be, I just can't be!" Fluey shouted. He held his hand to his head, suddenly feeling dizzy again. "Oooh, I think I'm gonna faint!"
"Oh no you don't!" Coiley shouted, grabbing Fluey's shoulders. "Pull yourself together, Fluey! We've got to figure this out."
"Right, right, right," Fluey said. "But the question is how are we going to do it?"
The boys sat there thinking for a minute or so. As they pondered the situation, Sandrina came into the room.
"Awake, I see," she said. "How are you feeling? Father's been worried."
"I think my head's going to be spinning over this for awhile," Fluey said. Then he thought of something. "Hey, listen, you're the sultan's daughter, so you oughta know . . . . is there a way we can prove that I am the prince or not? I mean, does he have any type of birthmark or something?"
"No," Sandrina said. "Nothing at all. It's going to be hard to prove."
Skittles looked at Sandrina and growled. She didn't like her. Sandrina glared at Skittles, and gave her a small kick.
"Back, you savage brute!" she shouted. "How dare you growl at a princess!"
"Skittles only growls at people she doesn't like," Multi said, picking up his puppy. "And she knows when someone doesn't like her."
"I detest dogs," Sandrina said.
"Well, you're gonna have to get used to her," Fluey said, suddenly feeling uneasy around the princess. He had a feeling Skittles was on to something here.
"If I must," Sandrina sighed. Then, she gently pushed Fluey back down into the bed. "But we'll worry about that later. Right now, my dear little brother, you should rest. You've had a long day. You just let your big sister take care of you."
"Somehow, I don't like the sound of that," Fluey said.
"Now, now, don't be silly," Sandrina said. "Like I said, just let me take care of you."
And with that, Sandrina left the room, mumbling to herself, sneakily.
"I'll take care of you all right," she said. "Permanently!"
Sandrina laughed, and she went directly into the kitchen. Then, she took out a pot, filled it with water, and began cooking soup in it. Once it was ready, she pulled a small bottle out of her pocket, and, using an eye dropper, squeezed five drops of a strange black liquid into the soup. As soon as the fifth drop was in, black steam in the shape of a skull and crossbones appeared over the soup, and then it was gone. Sandrina laughed, picked up the bowl, and started walking back to Fluey's room.
"Here you are, little brother," she said. "I made you some soup."
"Do me a favor," Fluey said. "Don't call me 'little brother' until we find out for sure if I really am your brother, all right? Because for all we know, I might not even be your brother!"
"Yes, yes, I know," Sandrina said. "Anyway, you just eat your soup, and I'll come back later when you're finished."
Sandrina snickered a little, and left the room. Fluey didn't trust her one little bit, and neither did Multi and Coiley.
"I think she's up to something," Multi said.
"So do I," Fluey replied. "When I first got here, she was giving me this look . . . . you know the one, Multi, the same one your sister gave us when she caught us reading her diary."
"Oh yeah," Multi said, nodding. "Talk about if looks could kill!"
"Right," Fluey said. "And now she's being nice to me? That doesn't make sense."
"I don't think you should eat that soup, Fluey," Coiley said. "She might have put something in it."
"I know, but I'm starving," Fluey said. "Besides, I don't think one bite would kill me."
Skittles suddenly barked, and she dashed over to the boys. She grabbed the bowl in her front paws, and ran over to a nearby potted plant on her hind legs (she can do that, she's a cartoon puppy, folks!), and dumped the soup into the pot. The plant became rigid, and then flopped to the ground, dead.
"Scratchy soundtracks!" Coiley shouted. "That soup was poisoned!"
"Thanks, Skittles," Fluey said. "I guess one bite would have killed me!"
A little while later, Sandrina started back to Fluey's room. She was sure her little scheme had worked, but much to her complete surprise, and horror, Fluey was still alive. She saw the dead plant in the corner, and began to growl, but she curbed it.
"So . . . . ." she said. "How was the soup?"
"Poisonous," Fluey said. "You wouldn't happen to know how a poison got into it, would you? After all, you were the one who made it."
"Some scoundrel must have snuck into the kitchen while my back was turned," Sandrina lied. Then, she left the room. Skittles growled at her.
"I'm with you, Skits," Fluey said.
"We're going to have to keep our eyes open around her," Coiley said. Multi and Fluey agreed.
The next day, the boys were sitting around the palace, trying to think about what they were going to do about Sandrina, and how to find out for sure if Fluey was, or wasn't Ali.
"What about fingerprints?" Coiley asked.
"I don't know what the record is around here," Fluey said, shrugging. "We may or may not be able to find any fingerprints."
"We could try DNA testing," Multi suggested.
"But who knows how long that'll take?" Fluey said.
"Well, what about your records, Fluey?" Coiley asked.
"What records?" Fluey said. "The only records I have are my adoption papers. I don't even think I've seen my birth certificate!"
"Then how did you apply for your driver's license?" Multi asked.
"Don't ask," was all Fluey said in that regard.
"That's not going to help us much," Coiley said. "And it only ads to the suspicion that you are the sultan's son."
"I'm getting a headache," Fluey moaned, holding his hand to his head. Suddenly, something shot across the room, hit Fluey's headband, and bounced off of it (lucky for him, it was made out of metal). The Impossibles looked down at the floor, and saw a tiny dart laying there.
"What the heck is this?" Fluey asked, picking it up.
"Looks like another attempt on your life, Fluey," Multi said.
"Yeah, just like in the movies," Coiley said. "I saw something on the late, late, late, late, late show once. Somebody fired a poison dart at another guy."
"Gee, thanks, Coiley, I didn't need to hear that!" Fluey shouted, sarcastically.
"Maybe you should bring this up with the sultan," Multi said.
"Good idea," Fluey replied. Then he left to go find the sultan, and tell him his suspicions. The sultan just laughed.
"I think you're still a little shaken over the news," he said. "Sandrina would never try to kill you!"
"I'm telling you, she is!" Fluey shouted. "I mean, I've heard of sibling rivalry, but this is ridiculous!"
"My boy, you're imagining things. I can't imagine why she would want to kill you. Though she did seem a little upset at the thought of your return at first."
"How come?"
"Well, according to Khakistanian law, the first born son of the sultan inherits the throne, regardless if his first born child is a daughter. Sandrina was not very happy with your birth. If, Allah forbid, anything happened to you, then she would inherit the throne."
"I see."
That made a lot of sense. Sandrina wanted the throne, but as long as Fluey was there, she wouldn't be able to inherit it, unless something unfortunate should happen. And Sandrina was apparently speeding things along by trying to kill him. Plus, there was also the fact that Fluey was not convinced that he was Prince Ali. But everyone else seemed pretty sure. There was only one thing to do. Right after Fluey talked to the sultan, he, Multi, and Coiley drove into town to the nearest hospital. Fluey was determined to find out if he really was Prince Ali or not.
"It could take us awhile before we get the results," the doctor said, as he finished taking necessary samples from Fluey in order to perform the DNA test.
"Whatever it takes," Fluey said. "I've just got to know this, doc."
The boys left the hospital and went back to the palace. Fluey looked like he was going to have a nervous breakdown any second. This entire thing was stressing him out, big time.
"I really hope they can get the results soon," he said. "I don't know how much more of this I can stand! I'm second guessing myself here. Maybe I am, maybe I'm not . . . . I don't know anymore, and now we've got this whacked out princess trying to kill me because once the sultan goes, I get the thrown, even though my alleged 'sister' is older and . . . ."
"Fluey, Fluey, Fluey, get ahold of yourself!" Multi shouted, grabbing his friend by the shoulders for a moment.
"Sorry, Multi," Fluey sighed. "I'm just a nervous wreck over this whole mess."
"Why don't you call it a day, Fluey?" Coiley suggested. "Go get some sleep."
"Yeah, we can't have you falling apart on us," Multi said. Skittles barked in agreement.
"Okay," Fluey said. He walked down the hall to his room, and Skittles followed. She usually slept with Multi, but she had a feeling Fluey was going to need her more.
It was around midnight when Skittles suddenly woke up. Her doggie instincts were telling her something wasn't right. She saw someone dressed in black sneak into the room, holding a scarf in her hand. Skittles began growling, and then barking, but the woman in black picked her up by the scruff of the neck, and threw her out of the room and into the hallway. Skittles growled, and ran for Coiley and Multi's room, barking her head off.
The woman in black walked up to Fluey, and slowly wrapped the scarf around his neck. Just as she finished wrapping, Fluey woke up.
"Hey, what . . . ." he started, but was cut off when the woman yanked on the scarf. Fluey choked, and tried fighting his attacker off, but it was no use. Luckily, Skittles, Multi, and Coiley came running in. The woman in black saw them, and ran for the balcony. She climbed over the railing, and down the wall, and then ran off into the night. Multi and Coiley didn't go after her, though. Their first priority was to make sure Fluey was all right. Fluey was coughing and gasping for breath.
"Good thing Skittles decided to sleep in here," Coiley said.
"Yeah," Fluey managed to say. Just then, the sultan and Sandrina ran into the room.
"What's going on in here?" the sultan asked.
"Someone came in and tried to strangle Fluey," Coiley explained.
"And I have a pretty good idea who it was," Fluey said, glaring at Sandrina.
"What are you looking at me like that for?" Sandrina asked. "Surely you don't think that I would choke my baby brother to death, would you?"
"You might if it meant you'd become queen," Fluey said. "I'm onto you! I know you're trying to kill me!"
"All right, all right," the sultan said. "That's enough. Now I suggest we all get back to bed."
Fluey shot Sandrina a final glare, and went back to bed. Skittles growled at her as she left the room, jumped onto the bed, and made herself comfortable. But she wasn't going to go to sleep. She was going to stand guard. The night wore on without anymore incidents.
The next morning, Fluey got a tape recorder out from the Impossi-Mobile, and hid it in his pocket. He was going to get Sandrina to confess, but he had to make sure he got it on tape, or else the sultan wouldn't believe it. He found Sandrina in her room, primping.
"Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the biggest rat of all?" he taunted.
"What do you want?" Sandrina said, not bothering to look up from her mirror.
"Why don't you just admit it? I said it last night, and I'll say it again. You're trying to kill me. Don't deny it."
"Now what makes you think I'm trying to kill you?"
"The fact that you'll get the throne if anything happens to Prince Ali, which I am certain I'm not. I may look like your dad when he was my age, and I may have been left on a doorstep when I was a baby, but that doesn't automatically make me the missing prince. Fess up, toots, I know what you're up to."
"You think you've got me figured out, don't you? Well, maybe you do. Maybe I did have something to do with Ali's disappearance sixteen years ago. Maybe I paid someone to kidnap him, and take him far, far away . . . . so far away that he would never come back. Even if they had to kill him. And maybe I am trying to kill you, too. I know you tried to tell Father about it, but he didn't believe you. And he won't believe you. It'll be your word against mine."
Fluey just smiled sneakily, at least until his tape recorder went off. It had reached the end of the tape, and Sandrina happened to hear the tape recorder click.
"What was that?" she asked.
"What was what?" Fluey said, acting like he didn't hear anything, hoping it would make Sandrina think she was hearing things. It didn't work. She grabbed Fluey by the arm, and reached into his pocket.
"A tape recorder!" she shouted. "Ooooh, you little sneak! Well, nobody is going to hear this tape!"
Sandrina dropped the tape recorder to the floor, and stomped on it, crushing it, and the tape, to pieces. Then, she walked over to one of the walls, and pushed a button hidden behind a picture frame. A secret door opened.
"Time for Prince Ali to have another mysterious disappearance," Sandrina said. "And this time, I'll take care if it myself, and make sure you never return!"
Fluey tried running, but Sandrina grabbed him, and covered his mouth with her hand to prevent him from yelling for help. Then she dragged him through the secret door, and closed it behind her.