Whoa…I'm pretty quick with the updates, aren't I? Well, this is the second to the last chapter before Part 5, the last part, starts. This chapter had Franny and Cornelius, and I hope I got their character right. Well, anyways…

On to the reviews…

doodlegirll: I know…it is sad. But, I'll make up for it soon enough. I promise! Enjoy the chapter!

On with the show!

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Chapter 23

Guess Who's Back?

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Wilbur and Carl both arrived tot heir house. They opened the door with great caution, sneaking in so no one would hear them. But suddenly, the light flew off. Both Carl and Wilbur turned to see the whole family was up…waiting for them. All of them had very disappointing looks on their faces. The worst looks came from Franny and Cornelius.

"Um…hiya gang!" said Carl with a nervous laugh.

"Where were you two?" asked Franny, with her arms crossed.

"That…is an excellent question," began Wilbur, "one that I will have to think about while sleeping…good night!"

"Oh no you don't!" shouted Franny as she pulled Wilbur back as he tried to run.

"Wilbur…do you know how worried we were? Did you even consider the fact that your family would panic when they found out you were gone? And Carl…I didn't expect you'd approve of this…"

"Don't blame Carl! It was all me! I'm sorry mom, but we snuck over to old Goob's house…"

Cornelius looked surprised. "You WHAT?"

"Dad…I think he stole your time machine! He's done it before! Who knows if he'll do it again!"

"Wilbur, I told you," said Cornelius, "that Goob has changed! How many times do I have to repeat myself? It was the hat that I invented that made him evil."

"But dad…I don't trust him…he's up to something and I know it…"

"Okay…regardless of the fact if he's up to something or not…you snuck into someone's house! I never want you to do that again!" shouted Cornelius. Wilbur nodded reluctantly.

"You're both grounded," said Franny. Cornelius loked at Franny with a raised eyebrow.

"Uh…honey…"began Cornelius. "Didn't you say to me that Wilbur was already grounded? You know…until he dies?"

Franny laughed. "Oh no…he's not just grounded until he dies…but when he and I are both dead and gone, I'll make sure he's grounded for the rest of eternity!"

Cornelius gave a nervous chuckle. "Oh c'mon now Franny! That's a little too harsh on the boy!"

Franny gave her husband a cold stare. Cornelius looked away and cleared hi throat.

"Listen to your mother Wilbur," said Cornelius. Wilbur sighed.

"Now go to your room…both of you," said Franny, pointing to the stairs.

Carl and Wilbur looked at one another and climbed up the stairs. Wilbur stopped to say:

"At least Al believed me! She worked for him and thinks he's up to no good! At least someone doesn't think I'm crazy! Oh...and mom…she said thank you for everything…"

-

Later that night, Wilbur could not sleep. He couldn't help but think of Mike…he knew something was up, and his little whippy-dip head wouldn't allow him to rest until he figure it out. He jumped out of bed, and snuck on down to the garage. As he did, he didn't expect to see Carl coming up the stairs with a cup of hot oil. Carl gasped.

"Wilbur!" he said in a whisper. "Shouldn't you be in bed?"

"Shouldn't you? I mean, mom grounded you too you know."

"Oh…I was just getting a cup of oil…nothing bad…what are you doing?"

"Going down to the garage," he said. "Come with me!"

Wilbur grabbed Carl's arm and dragged him with him. Once they made it in, Wilbur turned on the lights and began to head for the 2nd untouched time machine. Carl raised an eyebrow.

"Wilbur…what do you think you are doing?"

"I need to know Carl," said Wilbur as he entered the time machine. "I need to know if Mike really is at fault for the stolen time machine!"

"But Wilbur!" said Carl as Wilbur dragged him inside as well, "your mom said…"

"Since when do I listen to what anyone tells me?"

Carl opened his mouth to protest, but close it and crossed his arms. "Good point…but this is still really wrong!"

"Relax my metal friend," said Wilbur with his usual cocky smile. "Wilbur Robinson never fails."

"Yeah, and the last adventure with the Time machine went without a hitch…" mumbled Carl sarcastically to himself.

Just a Wilbur was about to set in the coordinates; he heard a small scuttling sound.

"Oh no! Dad!" he thought. He and Carl ducked inside the time machine, peeking a little too see Cornelius.

Only problem was, it wasn't him.

Wilbur eyes widened in awe as he saw a little bowler hat scuttling around the lab. Both Carl and Wilbur gave a look of worry to one another, and continued to watch.

Doris finally came to a halt when she saw what she was looking for: Blue Robinson Cells. The fuel for the Time machine (A/N: In the book, The Art of Meet the Robinsons, they had tons of cool concept arts, one of them being an ad poster for a time machine, and the poster mentioned these blue cells. Supposedly, they're more environmentally friendly.). She grabbed a few and she even grabbed herself a few tools. Finally, she flew off and left with what she needed. Once the cost was clear, Wilbur and Carl opened the Time Machine; both were shocked.

The silence was broken when Carl punched Wilbur in the arm.

"Ow! What was that for?" Wilbur asked as he rubbed his arm.

"All that sneaking about for nothing and it wasn't even him!" shouted Carl.

"Well, sorry," said Wilbur. "But do you know what this means?"

"What?" asked Carl, "That you owe Mr. Yagoobian an apology?"

"Yeah…" he said reluctantly, "but it also means that the hat is probably going to sabotage the 'Scientist of the Year' award…which is tomorrow at 8!"

"So what's your plan genius?" asked Carl.

"We have to sneak out tomorrow and warn Mike and his robot. Hopefully, they won't be too mad about what happened tonight."

"Oh yeah!" laughed Carl. "I'm sure he's gotten over the fact that we snuck into his lab, beat him up and that Al didn't trust him anymore…"

"Al!" gasped Wilbur. "I should tell her about…"

But then he remembered what Al told him.

I just want to move on…

"No...never mind…she just wants to be left alone…but we're going to tell Goob tomorrow. Maybe he can help us stop this thing…"

"What I want to know is," said Carl, "Is how that thing came back…"

"I'm sure we'll find out," Wilbur responded, "But for now, let's get some rest. I can tell that we have a big day ahead of us."

-

Oh no! Doris is up to something! And uh oh…Wilbur has to apologize to Mike and Ted now...ha ha…poor Wilbur…I know that's going to be a challenge for him.

Thanks for reading!

-Kim