Flynn was falling.
He could see the ground coming closer and closer. Any second now and he'd be dead. He was already dying from the wound in his side. What was an extra bout of pain from slamming into the ground going to do to him? Other than ruin his handsome face. That was the thing he was more upset with. If he was going to die, he wanted to still look hot. But he knew he'd be flattened by the ground in a matter of seconds.
He doubted he'd look sexy as a pancake on the ground.
"Eugene!" Rapunzel shouted.
That would be the last thing he heard from her. He didn't even have time to be sad before he reached the ground. He squeezed his eyes shut.
But instead of blinding pain and instant death, there was no pain and he was alive.
Opening his eyes, Flynn looked around in confusion. He wasn't falling from the tower. He wasn't a pancake on the ground.
No. He was physically fine. Well, except for the ache in his side. He looked down at his stomach. A bandage was wrapped around the wound. He wasn't dying. He wasn't dead.
The room he was in was a hospital room except… it looked a lot more high-tech than what he was used to. There was just something advanced about everything from the heart monitor to the bed he was on. Everything felt sleek and compact and white.
What the hell was going on?
A nurse walked into the room. She was psychically stunning from head to toe. Soft brown hair. Large blue eyes. Unblemished skin. She looked more like she belonged on a film set than in a hospital.
"Eugene Fitzherbert?" she asked, reading his chart. He nodded slowly. "You're finally awake. I'm Nurse Emilia. How are you feeling?"
"Uh… how did I end up here?"
"You don't remember?"
He shook his head.
"You just walked into the hospital with an abdomen wound, then promptly passed out. We brought you into surgery. You've been asleep this entire time."
"Where's Rapunzel?"
Emilia frowned. "Who's Rapunzel? You don't mean… the Rapunzel, do you?"
"What?" He was already fucking confused. Now he was just getting even more fucking confused.
"Never mind. You haven't had any visitors. No Rapunzel has come by here. I'm going to get the doctor to come check on you." She flashed a smile, then left.
Flynn slumped back onto the bed. The clock on the wall wasn't a normal analog clock. It was digital but it didn't just give the time. It gave the temperature outside. The location – which was apparently Los Angeles, California. And the date.
Which was March 18… 2094.
His eyes practically bugged out of his head. He had traveled to the future somehow. Huh. No wonder everything looked so high-tech.
How the hell did he end up in Los Angeles in the year 2094?
He checked his own watch. The time was still set for 1882, Tombstone, Arizona. He had never plugged in a new destination when he decided to try traveling with Rapunzel in her tower. Then he fell over it and now he was here.
In 2094.
Shit. He should memorized some lottery numbers, then go back in time, so he could become rich.
No. That was the old him. The new him needed to find Rapunzel and figure out what the hell was going on.
And to make things weirder, his hand just flickered in and out, like a light going on and off. It only lasted a second but it was freaky.
Nothing like that had ever happened before so why was it happening now? Did it have something to do with trying to go against Time?
All he knew was he could not stay here.
He pushed the covers off him but before he could get far, Emilia came back with the doctor. Now, Flynn wasn't into men sexually but damn, the man before him had one of the most aesthetically beautiful faces he had ever seen.
Was this hospital Grey's Anatomy or something? Everyone was one drop dead gorgeous.
"Where do you think you're going?" the doctor asked. "You need to rest. I'm Doctor Wilson. I'm the one who performed the surgery on you. There was something interesting I noticed about you."
"What? I don't have cancer or something like that?"
Wilson and Emilia frowned. "Cancer was eradicated ten years ago." He grabbed a light from his pocket. "Let me check your eyes."
Flynn jerked away. "Are you serious? Cancer is no more?"
"Are you experiencing memory loss, Mr. Fitzherbert?"
"How do you know my name?"
Emilia cut in. "You were repeating it when you arrived at the hospital."
Flynn held still as Wilson checked his eyes. It was more out of shock and surprise than anything else. He knew he was in the future but he still wasn't fully prepared for the changes.
"Now," Wilson said, stepping back, "I don't see anything wrong with your pupils. Your response time is excellent. There was that one matter I wanted to discuss with you though."
"What?" Flynn was getting impatient. He wanted out of here so he could go find Rapunzel.
"Your face is your face, correct? You've never had surgery done on it."
He frowned. "No. Why would I have plastic surgery? I was blessed with good looks. Why change it?"
"You do remember that it's mandatory for everyone to get a new face?" Wilson asked. "The bill was passed a couple years ago now."
Flynn just stared at the doctor. "A new face."
"Yes. Everyone has one."
"What if I don't want it?" he asked slowly, feeling the tension in the room shift.
Wilson cleared his throat and turned to Emilia. "Would you call the police for me?" She nodded and left the room.
Flynn stood up. "Woah. Why call the police?"
"Because you're not acting in accordance to the law. Now, I'd be happy to provide you with a new face and I don't have to call the police. But if you refuse, you'll be taken to jail."
"For not wanting plastic surgery? Jeez. They always say the future is one hell-scape apocalypse but this is something else. I was expecting zombies, not forcing people to get an entirely new face."
Wilson opened his hands. "We can fix this. You just need the money to pay for the operation and I'll gladly perform it."
"And if I can't afford it?"
Wilson just looked at him.
"Right." Flynn scratched the back of his head. "I'll be thrown in jail, won't I?"
"It's the law, Mr. Fitzherbert."
"Well, good thing I'm used to breaking it then." He ripped the IV out of his hand and took off running out of the room.
"Mr. Fitzherbert, wait!" Wilson shouted. "Someone stop him!"
Flynn ran down the hallway with as much energy as he could muster. Which wasn't much since he was still healing from getting stabbed in the gut.
It also didn't help that he was only wearing a hospital gown and he knew his ass was hanging out of it. While he did have a very nice backside, he didn't want it out for the world to see while he partook in an escape from the hospital.
Nurse Emilia was coming back down the hall, a security guard with her. When she saw Flynn, she pointed at him and said, "That's him!"
The security guard – who was also incredibly good looking – whipped out a baton and came running for Flynn.
"Shit," Flynn muttered as the guard swung the baton at his head. He dodged out of the way and kept running. A doctor – this one a statuesque blonde woman – tried slamming a cart into him but Flynn jumped out of the way at the last moment.
He reached the stairwell and started his descent. The guard was right behind though. He slammed into Flynn, pushing him against the wall.
Flynn groaned. "Can't a man keep his already handsome face?"
"It's the law," the guard growled. "Now, come with me or I'll have to hurt you."
"Buddy, you've already hurt me." He kicked at the guard's leg before the guard could react. Flynn took off running again as the guard behind him fell to his knees.
He didn't stop until he reached the end of the stairwell. Coming out of it, he entered into the main lobby of the hospital. It was the definition of sleek. Everything looked so pristine and white.
Flynn tied the back of his hospital gown so as not to draw as much attention to himself. There were a lot of people in the waiting room and he didn't want to get caught.
"Have a nice day," a woman's voice said.
Flynn looked over but didn't see anyone.
"Damn AI," a man muttered in the seat near where Flynn was standing. "They got them playing receptionists now." He squinted up at Flynn. What was shocking about this man was that he was… average looking. Not drop-dead gorgeous. Just average. "You know I lost my job to AI? I used to work as a dentist. I never thought that dentistry would get taken over by goddam AI but they found a way to program computers to clean people's teeth. Go figure."
"…right." Flynn cleared his throat. "I'll be on my way now."
"I'm finally getting my new face," he said.
Flynn paused. "What?"
"Finally I can afford it."
"But you were a dentist. Dentists make good money."
"I've been out of a job for the past thirty years. I didn't have the money to afford a new face until now. I was held in jail for a couple of months until they let me out. They told me I better get a new face fast or I'd be thrown back in."
Flynn looked around, making sure no one was following him before he stepped closer to the man. "How do they know if someone has a new face or not?"
"If you ain't pretty, they can tell."
"But if you're naturally good looking?"
The man grunted. "Then only a doctor could tell. No one else."
Flynn knew he should really be running right now but he needed answers and this man was happy to give them. "How do they determine if someone isn't pretty enough?"
He squinted. "How old are you, boy? How do you not know this?"
"Uh… I've been in a coma for the past ten years."
The man stared at him for a good solid minute before grunting again. "They know someone isn't pretty enough by the messages in the media."
"Messages?"
"That's him!" shouted the familiar voice of the security guard. "Stop that man!"
Flynn looked across the lobby where the guard was coming right for him. "Right. Time to go." He didn't bother thanking the man who gave him some valuable information. He just ran.
Bursting outside, Flynn sprinted out into the hot LA heat. It was stifling and the pollution in the air wasn't helping. Guess some things never changed.
Except there was one thing.
Everything looked… greener. Like LA had a face-lift of it's own. That was one thing he always thought about the city back in his own time – it wasn't exactly a pretty place. But now, it really did look like it was out of the movies. No glamour of Hollywood. It was all real.
He didn't have much time to think on it as he darted down the sidewalk.
The hospital was near the Hollywood Walk of Fame and people swarmed around actors dressed as characters Flynn had never heard of, getting their pictures taken. Like… who the hell was… Hippo Man? Flynn had no freaking clue.
He just needed to find a place to hide and figure things out and hopefully find Rapunzel in the process.
As he turned a corner, he ran smackdab into the chest of another man. A man dressed like a freaking hippo. Seriously?
Flynn fell onto his ass, which really hurt since he had nothing protecting it.
"Sorry," the man muttered, hurrying past, not sounding sorry at all.
Flynn wanted to cuss the guy out but he was suddenly consumed by an intense pain throughout his entire body. His hands flickered again. Coming in and out like a light. What the hell was going on with him?
Then just like a snap of the fingers, the pain was gone and his hands stopped flickering.
As he lay there, catching his breath, his eyes wandered up to the billboards all along the buildings around him. There was one in particular that caught his eye.
Rapunzel.
Her face was on a billboard. For a movie adaptation of Romeo and Juliet. Of course it'd be that particular one.
But the question became: why the hell was Rapunzel's face on a billboard for a movie?
And another, more pressing, question: how was he going to get to her if she was a supposed celebrity now and he was on the run for wanting to keep his own pretty face?
He had no idea.
But he did know he needed to figure it out fast.
After asking people if they knew where Rapunzel lived and getting no replies since he was still in a hospital gown and probably looked deranged, Flynn knew he needed to fall back on his old thieving tricks. He knew how to case houses. It was just a matter of finding out where Rapunzel's tower was.
He couldn't just search the internet to find it, since the tower wasn't like a house. So, where would the next most logical place she'd be?
A film set.
If she's posing as an actress, then she must have needed to do it for a reason. Meaning, there was something going on in Tinseltown that she needed to get access to.
Thankfully for Flynn, he was good at sneaking into places.
But first, he needed a change of clothes. Walking around in a hospital gown with his ass hanging out would cause too much attention.
Finding the first men's clothing store he could see, he walked confidently inside and grabbed a blue shirt, brown pants, and shoes. Now it was just the matter of getting out undetected.
He slipped into the clothes in the changing room but still had the issue of security tags on them. Playing it cool, he walked over to where the checkout counter was. A woman was behind it, checking a customer out. He spent a few minutes studying some clothes when the woman stepped away from the counter to go help someone. During that time, Flynn grabbed the security tag remover, quickly got rid of the tags on his clothes, and left the store without anyone stopping him. Sure, whoever went to review the security footage would see that he stole but he hoped he'd be long gone by then. The minute he found Rapunzel and got out of here would be a good thing.
Now, he had no clue which film studio Rapunzel could be at, if she was even there at all, but it was a start.
Another problem arose – getting around LA with no money and no car would not be easy but Flynn was determined to find her and he wouldn't stop until he did.
There was one thing Flynn was great at – charming people into getting what he wanted.
At a different store, he asked for someone to call him an Uber.
"A what?" the woman behind the counter asked. She had a picture-perfect face but that didn't stop her from scowling.
"Do they not have Ubers anymore?" he muttered. "Uh, however I can get a ride from someone. I lost my phone."
"You mean Sashy?"
"What the fuck is Sashy?"
"It's a ride-sharing app. Everyone is using it."
He sighed. "Yep. That. Can you call a car for me?"
She rolled her eyes but did what he asked.
After waiting an ungodly long time – LA traffic was still bad it seemed – the car arrived. The person behind the wheel was a young guy. Not ideal. Flynn's charms tended to work on women better but he could still charm the pants off a man.
"The library," Flynn told the man.
"I'm Zack."
"Eugene," he said, the word coming out before he could even think about it. It was the first time he had called himself Eugene in a long time. It didn't sound bad. That was probably because Rapunzel had been using his real name ever since they met. It sounded nice coming off her tongue.
"Can you wait for me?" Flynn asked. "I'll just be a minute and then I need to head somewhere else."
"Sounds good."
Thank goodness they still had libraries. A free computer was all he needed.
On the way to the library, Flynn made Zack laugh through made up stories. Good start. Once they arrived, Flynn hurried inside.
After settling into a seat, he looked at the computer before him. Fuck. It wasn't like the computers back in 2023. No. This computer was a lot more high-tech, which only made it that more confusing.
He had to ask the librarian to help. She sighed and looked annoyed but she helped him get onto the internet.
Feeling weird doing this, Flynn typed Rapunzel's name into the search engine.
And up came a photo of Rapunzel's beautiful face. It said she was an actress, having got her big break in the upcoming film Romeo and Juliet. After doing a quick search, Flynn found out that they were doing re-shoots for the movie here in LA. Specifically at the Promagic Studios production lot. He had never heard of Promagic Studios. Just another change in the future.
Having a place to go, Flynn set back off with Zack driving him to the studio lot. Now, Flynn did not have an ID that would allow him to get into this place so he'd have to rely on his typical breaking and entering.
Which meant he'd have to ditch Zack.
"It was a pleasure to meet you," Flynn said.
"That will be three hundred dollars."
Flynn coughed. "What? Three hundred dollars for a car ride that only lasted an hour?"
Zack shrugged.
Damn inflation.
Well, Flynn did not have three hundred dollars so instead, he grabbed Zack's face and kissed him. Zack was so shocked that Flynn used that as his excuse to make a run for it. That was one perk of everyone having a hot new face. Flynn would never have kissed someone ugly.
He snuck past the security guard hut and headed into the backlot of Promagic Studios. He kept to the shadows and the walls to avoid being detected. People were everywhere. Some driving around on golf carts. Some walking around in groups. Flynn grabbed a hat that was just resting on a seat and placed it on his head. No one paid him any attention. That was the downfall of everyone having a pretty face – Flynn's own pretty face didn't stand out as much anymore. But in this instance, it came in handy.
He spent the next hour walking around and listening until he finally heard what he wanted to hear.
"Take this to Rapunzel in Stage 61," a young woman said, handing a purse to a middle-age man. "She'll be expecting it."
"Will do." The man headed off and Flynn followed.
They reached Stage 61. It was a fairly small soundstage which didn't bode well for Flynn. The smaller the soundstage, the less the people, the more he could get caught.
But Rapunzel was in there.
That's all that mattered.
Walking into the soundstage like he belonged, Flynn immediately noticed a decorated area that looked like something out of Italy. Cameras were pointed right at it.
Flynn held back, not making a sound. No one even looked at him.
And then… Rapunzel came into view.
She walked onto the decorated area, dressed in a gown reminiscent of the 1500s. She looked so beautiful, it hurt.
Flynn couldn't wait any longer.
"Rapunzel," he said, jogging towards her.
She froze, then looked over at him. "Eugene?"
Now everyone was looking at him.
"This is a closed set," some guy told him. Flynn wasn't listening. He only had ears and eyes for Rapunzel.
"It's me." He reached her. Without waiting another second, Flynn pulled her into a hug. "I don't know what the hell is going on here," he said into her ear.
She slowly hugged him back. "It's ok. I don't quite know either. But… you left. The last time I saw you. You said you had something important to go do. Why are you here?"
He pulled back and looked at her. Her eyes were wide with confusion. "Right. This is still new for you, isn't it?" It hit him in the gut. He was once in Rapunzel's shoes. Confused about what was going on between them but Rapunzel explained it all to him.
And now Rapunzel was in his shoes. This was a younger version of her – a version that knew him less than before. A version that was still learning.
"It is," she admitted. "I…" She stopped, looking out at the crowd of people watching them. "We can't talk here. Something is going on." She smiled at the other people. "Sorry about this. I'll just be a minute." The grumbles of the crew filled the room. She grabbed Flynn's hand and dragged him to a corner of the room where no one else was.
"I've missed you," he said, leaning down to kiss her…
…except, she pulled back before their lips could touch.
"Eugene, what are you doing?"
He paused. "Um… trying to kiss you?"
She blushed slightly and averted her eyes. "You've never kissed me before. I don't think this corner is the best place to have our first kiss, do you?"
Another punch to his gut. This Rapunzel had never kissed him.
He cleared his throat. "Yeah. You're right. I'm sorry."
An awkwardness settled between them.
"Sorry," she said, sighing. "I just wasn't sure if I'd run into you again. You explained everything to me last time. About how we're moving in opposite directions. I hoped we'd meet again. Now you're here."
"Now I'm here. And Rapunzel, this future is really freaking weird. What is up with everyone having a fake face?" He paused. "Wait. You don't have a fake face. And how are you an actress?"
She pulled her compact mirror out of her dress. "I have this, remember? It lets other people think what they want to think about me. I convinced everyone I was a famous actress and here we are."
"That's right. Damn. I really need to get myself one of those. Would have made my life a whole lot easier getting to you."
"I arrived here because the readings on my computer were going off the charts," she said, putting her mirror away. "Specifically here in Hollywood. I knew if I pretended to be an actress, I could get information more easily."
"You don't know what's going on? Why you're tower brought you here?"
"Not exactly. But I do know that the future shouldn't be like this. The whole fake face business should not be a thing. Someone changed history."
"How do you know?" he asked, stepping closer to her when a person walked by, eyeing them over.
"I know because there are certain time points in history that cannot be changed. 2094 is a year that was set in stone. There was never any mention of everyone having to get a new fake pretty face in the history books at the Academy. Which means, someone went through time and changed it. Which is not good. Someone is messing with Time for some reason. And I need to figure out who."
Her words sent a chill down his neck. "Who would want to change time into… this?" He waved his hands around, encompassing the room. "Why turn LA into something even more shallow and fake than it was before?"
"I have no idea. That's what I'm trying to figure out. I just know it's tied to Hollywood somehow. I need to keep investigating." Her eyes softened. "And now you're here with me. You helped me before. You'll do it again?"
"Rapunzel, I'll always help you. I've been helping you for the past… I don't even know how long. You know I'm here for you. Maybe that's not something you're sure about yet but trust me, you will be. I'll make sure you know you can always depend on me. I love you."
Her eyes widened and her breath hitched. "It's so strange getting to know someone who already knows all there is to know about me."
"Take it from me: I've been there. It never gets easier."
"Rapunzel," a woman called out. "We really need to shoot this next scene."
"I have work to do," she said, letting out a slow breath. "But stay around and see if you can learn anything. Anything that sounds out of place."
"Rapunzel, it's the future. Everything is out of place for me."
She offered him a kind smile. "I know you'll do good. You asked me to trust you just now. But the thing is – I already trust you. I trusted you the first moment I met you." With those words, she left him standing there as she walked in front of the cameras.
His heart felt achy again. He was getting closer and closer to the day Rapunzel wouldn't know who he was. He was running out of time.
And there was nothing he could do to stop it.
Rapunzel had to refocus her mind to film the scene. Eugene was here. He had found her like he said he would.
Now, she needed to find out who was messing with Time.
When she got the readings on her computer about weird things happening in 2094, she knew she needed to investigate. It was quite easy actually convincing people she was a famous actress. Thank goodness for her compact mirror.
The only thing was – she couldn't just go around investigating. To make other people accept her as an actress, she needed to actually play the part. And that meant staring in a movie.
With the help of her trusty mirror, she was able to get the role as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, a new film adaptation. But that meant she had to spend her time memorizing lines and acting in scenes with a fellow actor who's ego was so off the charts, he put Eugene to shame.
Nigel Percy – an actor from England who couldn't stop staring at himself in a mirror. Which was fine by Rapunzel since she didn't need to worry about trying to make a connection with him. She needed to find out who was messing with Time and why.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Eugene looking around, trying to blend in and gain any information. She wanted to laugh. He was so cute when trying to be stealthy. She knew she had a crush on him. It was inevitable after what they went through in Salem.
He tried to kiss her and it made her want to melt right then and there but she pulled back before he could. It's not that she didn't want him to kiss her. She did. She was just nervous. Her first kiss needed to be something truly spectacular.
Nigel began reciting his lines, not even looking at her. She had to suppress an annoyed sigh. They were supposed to be acting partners. She'd much prefer to be doing this with Eugene.
And speaking of Eugene, when she cast another glance in his direction, she saw something terrifying.
Eugene was bent over, a look of pain on his face. His entire body… flickered. Like a candle going in and out.
Rapunzel knew for a fact that he hadn't been experiencing something like that the last time they met. This was new.
And she knew it wasn't good.
Without waiting to finish the scene, she left Nigel to stand there, looking like an idiot, as she rushed to Eugene's side.
"Eugene?" She placed her hands on his back. He was solid.
Groaning, he stood back up. "That seems to keep happening. Probably not a good thing."
She slowly shook her head. "No. No, I don't think it's a good thing at all."
"Rapunzel!" shouted Rachel, the director of the movie. "Get back here. We need to finish this."
She took a moment to look around at the scene before her – the cameras, the production crew, the fancy set, her beautiful dress. It was all… fake. She wasn't supposed to be doing this. She had convinced herself that she needed to pretend to be an actress to get answers but where had that lead her?
No where.
She was left with nothing more than when she started a couple months ago.
And she knew she wasn't going to get answers by performing in a movie adaptation of Romeo and Juliet. If she wanted answers, she needed to start digging harder. Now with something happening to Eugene, there was no more time to waste.
"Come on," she said to Eugene, grabbing his hand. It felt sturdy within hers. "We're getting out of here."
"Where are we going?"
"We'll go to my tower and think things over. Acting hasn't gotten me anywhere. We need answers and we're not going to find it here."
Eugene's smile lit up his face. "Sounds perfect to me. Besides, I didn't like seeing you have to act with that douchebag." He pointed at Nigel, who was checking himself out in a handheld mirror.
Rapunzel laughed. "Let's get out of here." They headed for the exit.
"Rapunzel!" Rachel shouted.
"I quit," Rapunzel called back.
They left the soundstage and made their way through the production studio lot.
"So, what's the game plan?" Eugene asked, still holding her hand she noticed. "You said something was going on in Hollywood. Shouldn't you stay here?"
"It hasn't gotten me any answers in the past couple months I've been here. Something is going on in Hollywood. I feel it in my bones. I just don't know… what. I think we need to start at the beginning and the best way to do that is to go back to my tower. Figure out how the pretty face law was even passed. Who even came up with it. I think that's the key right there."
Rapunzel had a car they could use. She bought it the moment she realized she'd have to spend time in LA searching for answers.
"This is so much easier than what I had to do to get here," Eugene muttered, sliding into the car.
As they drove in the direction of her tower, Rapunzel couldn't stop sneaking glances at Eugene. He was just so handsome and kind and caring. He had swept her off her feet the first moment she met him. It made sense now that she knew Eugene knew her from her future. You don't look at someone like Eugene looked at her and not have it come from a place of love. From a place of knowing. He knew her without her even having to explain herself. That was a powerful feeling.
Eugene's groan drew her out of her thoughts.
"What?" she asked.
"Look." He pointed out the window at a large digital poster against a building. On the poster was Eugene's face and underneath it read: Wanted for Escape. "Can you believe that? I know I said I wanted my face on a wanted poster but this is getting to be too much."
"How do they know you don't have a fake face?" He looked over at her curiously and she explained more. "The government puts a person's image up when they're going against the pretty face law. If someone is on the run for it, then usually those people are slapped with a 'wanted for escape' under their image."
He leaned back in his seat. "Great." Letting out a sigh, he told her. "They found out because I was in the hospital for this." He lifted up his shirt – which she tried not to be flustered by – and showed her the bandage over the side of his abdomen. "I was stabbed."
She gasped. "Eugene, that's horrible. How did that happen?"
"Um… I don't know if I can really tell you. It's in your future."
His words sent a chill over her. She didn't like being reminded that they were going in opposite directions.
"Let me just say," he continued, "that you and I messed with Time and I had to fix it. I ended up here with you. And now I'm flickering, which is fairly concerning since, you know, I'm flickering. Like, who flickers anyway? It can't be good."
"No, it's not." She kept her eyes on the rode even though all she wanted to do was look at him. "It must be a side affect of you messing with Time. Maybe…"
"Maybe what?"
She didn't want to say it but had to. "Maybe that's why all of this is happening now. 2094 was supposed to be set in stone but if you and I messed with time, then… maybe that was an opening for whoever did this."
"Shit." His head thumped against the seat. "We really screwed things up, huh?"
She shrugged. "I don't know. Whatever way you and I messed with Time, that's in my future, so I can't say if I screwed up or not."
He slanted his eyes at her. "Well, lucky you then.
She managed to smile slightly despite everything. Learning this new information about her and Eugene changed things. Messing with Time was never a good idea. It's not something she ever thought she would do but… she also never felt this way for anyone before. Maybe her crush on Eugene made her do a crazy thing.
She was so distracted, she wasn't prepared for a person to run right into her car.
Gasping, she slammed on the breaks. Fortunately, she hadn't been going very fast since they were stuck in traffic but still.
"What the hell?" Eugene asked.
The person stood up, barely looking fazed. They wore a police officer's uniform.
"So, the police are even crazier in the future." Eugene paused. "Good to know."
The officer pounded on the window. "That man is wanted," he said, pointing at Eugene. "Get out of the car now."
"How did they find me in here?" he asked.
"It's 2094. They have cameras everywhere," she explained.
"Well that's just great."
Rapunzel put her car back into drive. "Eugene, hold on tight."
He grabbed the edge of his seat. "…Ok. Blondie, what are you doing?"
"I'm not going to let you get arrested." She revved the engine, which forced the officer to back up. Then she floored it…
…before having to slam on her breaks. Traffic. It wouldn't let her go fast at all. They were trapped in the car.
"That was anti-climactic," Eugene said.
"We're going on foot." She was already unbuckling her seatbelt.
"But they'll catch us."
She nodded towards an alleyway to the side of them. "Not if we find somewhere to hide."
"Ok. My kind of action."
They burst out of the car and took off running for the alleyway. The officer was so taken aback, he didn't immediately start chasing them. Well, until he did.
Rapunzel's dress was bogging her down but she couldn't take it off, so she just had to take in deep breaths and bear it. Eugene stayed right by her side even though he didn't have to. He could have run ahead, left her behind. He was the one they were chasing after all. Not her.
And yet, he never left.
The officer barreled right into Eugene, knocking him to the ground. "You are under arrest for going against the pretty face law."
"Wait," Eugene said. "That's what it's really called?"
The officer pushed him harder into the ground. "Yes. Why would it be called anything else?"
Eugene shrugged. "I just thought that's what people called it. Not it's actual legal name."
"Shut up," the officer growled.
While those two were bickering, Rapunzel used that time to grab the lid off a trashcan and smack it into the side of the officer, knocking him off Eugene.
The officer groaned. Eugene got back up but right as he did, the officer wrapped his hand around Eugene's ankle. Eugene kicked out, his foot landing squarely into the officer's face.
When Eugene removed his foot, the officer didn't look… exactly the same. His handsome face was half on/half off. Meaning Rapunzel and Eugene could see the blood and veins and muscle underneath the part of the officer's face that was hanging off.
"A fake face," Eugene commented. "That's disgusting." He rubbed a hand down his own face. "I don't want that happening to me."
"And we won't let it," she said, grabbing his hand. "Let's go."
They left the officer lying on the ground, groaning in pain, one side of his fake pretty face dangling off.
They kept running until they felt they were far enough away, in a different alley, to take a breath.
Eugene leaned over, his hands on his legs. "That was the craziest thing I've ever seen. Who thought it was a good idea to give someone a fake face?"
"The creator of this world," a small girl's voice said.
Eugene straightened up as Rapunzel moved closer to him.
A young girl had come out of a doorway, staring at them with curiosity.
"The creator?" Rapunzel asked.
The girl nodded. "She designed this future. She put messages into the tv and movies people of the past watched. She has a plan for everything. I can take you to her."
"Who is she?"
"I can take you to her," the girl repeated.
Rapunzel honestly thought this was one of the creepiest moments of her life but she had to stay strong. If this girl really knew who created this future, then that would be the first step in correcting everything.
"Ok," she said, stepping forward. "Take us to this woman."
"Woah there, Blondie," Eugene said, grabbing her arm. "This could be a trap. We could be walking to our deaths if we go with this girl."
"I doubt this little girl wants to kill us."
"I don't know about you, Rapunzel, but I grew up an orphan. Little kids that spend time in alleyways are always little creatures from hell. I saw it firsthand."
"You were an orphan?" she asked.
He stared at her. "That's what you got from that?"
"I'm still learning more about you."
"Fair enough." He turned to the little girl. "Do you promise you're not leading us to our deaths?"
"I promise," she said in her small voice.
Eugene snorted. "Because that's so reassuring."
Rapunzel leaned in closer to him. "We need answers. This might be our first step. We have to try."
"Fine," he muttered. "But if we get killed, Blondie, I'm blaming it on you."
She smiled and took his hand again. "At least we'll be together."
"Can't argue with that."
They continued to hold hands as they followed the little girl deeper into the alleyway.
Until Wednesday!