"Who are you?"

The question lingered between them.

Rapunzel stared down at one of the dead guards – if you could even call it dead. It was a freaking robot after all. Flynn waited for her reply.

When she finally gave it, it wasn't the answer he'd been expecting.

"I can't tell you that. Telling you too much about your future could cause chaos in the world. And not just on our planet either."

"You've been to other planets too?"

A faint smile passed her lips. "I have." With you. That's the implication of her pause. She was trying to tell him about their history together without telling him about their history together.

Damn, he really wanted to know.

"Huh," he said instead. "I really thought I was the only person who could do that."

"You're not the only special person in the world, Eugene," she said as she walked past him, giving him a pat on the chest.

"Ok. Fine. I'll grant you that. But I am pretty special. You can't deny." He threw her his most charming smile but Rapunzel only shook her head.

"You're not going to win me over with that."

"Ok, so how do I win you over?"

She tossed him a look over her shoulder. "You'll just have to wait and see."

"Wait. Does that mean I've won you over in the future for real or just that-,"

She walked over and put a finger to his lips, cutting him off. He stopped talking, impressed by her tenacity. He liked it. He liked it a lot. "Eugene, stop talking. You can keep asking questions but I'm not going to answer them. Now, we need to go save everyone in this palace from the automatons." She lowered her finger. "So, let's go."

"I prefer Flynn, you know," he grumbled, following her down the hall.

"Ok. Flynn."

"And I never promised to help save anyone. I'm still leaving. I'm here to find my diamond and get out."

She shook her head. "Nope. You're going to help me save everyone. The king and queen can't die here. They don't die here. So, we need to stop the automatons before they can do more damage."

He pursed his lips together, giving her a wide-eyed look.

"What?" she asked.

"Oh, nothing. You just told me that I couldn't ask you any more questions. And I had a question."

She rolled her eyes at him. "What's the question?"

They turned a corner, entering another desolate hallway. At least there weren't any scary-ass humanoid robots down there.

"What exactly are the automatons? You said they were an alien race."

"They are. And for the record, you can ask me about what's currently going on now. It's just questions about your future you need to avoid."

"I can do that." He could. Or at least, he hoped. He was probably going to fail. Flynn was a man on a mission but that mission had been completely screwed over by the presence of a very pretty blonde time traveler, which meant that he had questions. "So, do I eventually retire on my island I bought with all my money?"

"Your stolen money, you mean?" She slide her eyes over to him. "And you know I'm not going to tell you that."

He huffed. Flynn had to try at least. "So, about these automatons. What alien race is made out of robot parts?"

"The Scattal. Their a species from the planet Trillia."

"Never heard of it."

She stopped and faced him. "How long have you been time traveling for?"

"I thought we couldn't talk about ourselves," he pointed out with a smug grin.

Rapunzel looked like she wanted to take the sword at her waist and stab him with it. "You can answer my questions. It's ok." Her expression darkened for a moment before it faded. A part of him wanted to ask her about it and another part of him didn't care. Her problems were her problems. Not his problem? Flynn preferred it that way.

"Well," he said, crossing his arms, "maybe I don't want to answer your questions. You're not the only one who can be secretive."

That time, Rapunzel did grab her sword and swatted him with it, using the flat edge.

"Ow," he said, rubbing his arm.

"Flynn, we don't have time for this. The entirety of Paris is at stake."

"Fine. I've been time traveling for the past few months now. What about you?"

"Same."

He raised his eyebrows. "Oh, so you can tell me about yourself."

She shook her head. "Let's keep going."

After they walked for a few minutes, Rapunzel glanced over at him. "I know you're wondering about me. What I can tell you is that I was a part of an organization of people, hired to help save the world from interplanetary threats. I was given a lot of training before I came on the job. That's why I know about the Scattal and Trillia. I also have a device that tells me these things." She paused. "Oh. And a time machine too."

Flynn stopped dead in his tracks. "You have a time machine?" He marveled at this girl even though he would never have admitted it. "And here I thought I was bragging," he added under his breath.

Catching up with her, Flynn asked, "So, you seem kind of young to be an interplanetary assassin."

"I'm not an assassin. I'm here to help people. And I'm twenty, if you're wondering. The agency was looking for young people to join. It's good to have a mixture of all age groups. It makes it easier to get in certain places. Like here? I was able to get in close with the queen partly because of my age and gender. No one would think it was weird that the queen would have someone like me as her maid. And… partly because of this." She dug into a pocket of her dress and pulled out a small compact mirror. When Flynn looked into it, all he saw was his fine self. And he was fine.

"When I show this to people," Rapunzel continued, "they see what they want to see. What I convince them to see. So, when I showed this to the queen, she believed that I was her maid."

He grabbed it, making his iconic smolder look at the mirror. "I only see myself. Your little thingy is defective."

She snatched it back from him, sticking it back in her pocket. "That's because you already know who I am. You don't need to see me as anything other than who I am."

"Small problem." He held up a finger. "I don't know who you are. Not really."

All she did was give him a smile. Guess he wasn't gonna get an answer to that question any time soon.

They rounded another corner and stopped. The length of the entire hallway stood guard after guard. None of them were moving. Not yet anyway.

"The queen's chambers are down there," Rapunzel said, pointing at the farthest door on the right.

"I know."

She blushed slightly. "Right. That's right. You spent the night with her. Right." She wasn't looking at him.

He stared at her curiously. Was she… jealous? He knew he had that effect on women but he didn't expect it from Rapunzel. She seemed so assure of herself.

"Hey, Blondie, you ok?" He touched her arm, making her jump.

"Oh, I'm good. I'm good." She ran her hands down her skirt.

He wanted to ask more when the doors leading to Marie's room opened. And Marie herself walked out. She was still dressed in her nightgown and robe.

She saw Flynn and gave him a smile. "Ah, Lord Rider. You snuck off. I was wondering where you went."

He glanced down at Rapunzel, who looked like she was fuming.

Marie didn't even look at Rapunzel. Well, Rapunzel was just a servant after all. Or pretending to be.

"Why didn't you come back to my room?" Marie asked in a lower voice. "I am queen after all. Not many men would pass up this opportunity."

"Uh, slight technical difficulties," he said.

Marie frowned at his word choice. "Tech… what?"

As if on cue, the entire row of guards turned their heads in unison and looked right at them.

"You're in danger, Your Majesty," Rapunzel said. "Everyone is."

Marie turned to Rapunzel as if only now noticing her. "Oh, Rapunzel. I need my bath filled with water. Get on that."

The guards let out a groaning, clinking sound as they all stepped away from the walls. Marie frowned and looked behind her.

She gasped and clutched her hand to her chest. "Oh my. What is this? Guards, get back to your stations."

They didn't listen to her. Slowly, they began lumbering right in their direction.

"Your Majesty," Rapunzel said with more conviction, "we need to move now. We are in danger. All of us."

Marie scoffed. "I am not in danger. I am the queen."

Rapunzel looked like she wanted to smack the queen but Flynn intervened before that could happen. "Listen, uh, Marie. I can call you Marie, right? I mean, after everything we did together…" He trailed off when he saw Rapunzel glaring at him. He cleared his throat. "Right. So, uh, Rapunzel here is telling the truth. We're in danger. And we need to move now."

"I am most certainly not in danger," Marie said haughtily, taking a step away from them…

…and right into the clutches of one of the guards. He grabbed Marie's long hair and pulled her back against him. She cried out.

The guard began to drag her down the hallway.

"I take it that's not good," Flynn said to Rapunzel.

"Nope."

He nodded and together, they ran into the fray of automatons to save Marie Antoinette herself.


Marie kept crying as she was pulled along the floor.

"I mean, she dies anyway, right?" Flynn said, running around a guard that reached out for him. "Why try and save her?" He really just wanted out of this mess so he could escape with the diamond and go retire on a private island.

Rapunzel shot him a look while kicking one of the guards. "Flynn, are you serious?"

He shrugged.

"Because," Rapunzel said, huffing as she ran faster down the hallway, "Marie Antoinette doesn't die today. She's not supposed to and we need to prevent that from happening." She skidded to a stop as a guard swiped a fist towards her face. She did an impressive backbend, narrowly avoided getting hit, and straightened back up as she stabbed the guard with her sword. It crumpled to the floor.

"What happens if we don't?" Flynn sliced off the head of the nearest guard. Sparks erupted from its neck.

"Then it could cause serious damages to the future. To our planet."

Marie's cries faded as the guard dragging her walked around a corner. They were out of sight.

"How serious are we talking?" Flynn asked, ducking a hit from a guard.

"Serious."

"Ok, ok. Just asking. Because you know, if it wasn't that serious then…" He trailed off as Rapunzel shot him another look.

"You're so different from the man I know," she said before jumping back into the fray. She sliced and diced the guards apart.

Flynn felt a strange twinge of guilt in his chest. But why? He didn't owe Rapunzel anything. She may have known him but he didn't know her. So why then did he feel bad for disappointing her?

Flynn shook off his annoying feelings and went back to fighting the guards. He parried and blocked and swiped and kicked. "Ah-ha!" he said, brandishing his sword. "You're not going to win this one, my good sir." The guard in front of him frowned before lifting out his own sword.

Flynn soon found himself in a sword fight. A duel if you will.

"I'll have you know," Flynn said, blocking the guard's sword with his own, "that fighting 18th century robots is the strangest thing I've ever done!"

"Flynn, focus!" Rapunzel called out as she faced off with her own guard.

"I'm just pointing out the obvious, Blondie!" he called back.

Then he yelped as the guard pushed him back and swiped at him with its sword. He managed to block the strike at the last minute. With a burst of speed, Flynn ran forward and stabbed the guard in the chest. It immediately fell to the floor.

Flynn looked around the hallway. All the other guards were dead.

He and Rapunzel shared a look.

"Marie," they said in unison before running in the direction she was taken.

"So, uh, question?" Flynn asked. "How do these things die if they're made out of metal?"

"It's similar to our flesh. It's not really metal, it just looks like it. Their wires are like our veins. They can bleed and they can die. I didn't want to have to kill anyone but they left me with no choice. Now, we need to find the queen before they kill her. And the king too."

Great.

"You really know how to make a man feel special, Blondie. Fighting automatons. Chasing after queens and kings before they're murdered. You're giving me a first date I'll never forget."

She smiled faintly before her normal determined expression took over.

They paused when they reached the end of the hall. Marie wasn't in sight.

"Where is she?" Rapunzel asked.

"Just listen for her screams."

"Flynn," she said, clearly annoyed with him but Flynn held up a finger, determined to prove his point.

And if on cue, Marie's distinctive scream could be heard coming from down the hall.

"She's in one of these rooms," he said, giving her a smug grin.

"Ok, smarty pants." Rapunzel ran towards the first door in the hall and tried the handle. "It's locked. Flynn, help me with this."

"I get no thanks or anything," he muttered, running over to her. He tried the door. "Yep. It's locked all right. What am I supposed to do about it?"

"You're a thief. I know for a fact you know how to pick a lock. I've seen you do it before"

"Ah." He paused, trying not to wonder how she knew that. "True." He knelt by the doorknob. "But I don't have anything to use."

Rapunzel reached into her hair and pulled out a couple bobby pins. She shook her hair as it hung around her shoulders. He stared at her for a second, taking in her beauty, before he reminded himself of what he needed to do.

He grabbed a bobby pin from her outstretched hand and began picking the lock. "Let it be noted that I didn't even want to take part in this."

"No, you just wanted to steal a highly valuable diamond that doesn't belong to you."

"Touché, Blondie. Touché."

He picked the lock and the door swung open, revealing a creepy dark room inside, lit only by one candle. "Uh… do you think she's in there? Because if you're scared, Blondie, we can just turn around and leave and no one would blame us."

Rapunzel rolled her eyes and walked confidently into the room. He looked down the hallway, contemplating leaving, when Rapunzel grabbed his jacket and tugged him into the room with her.

"Ok, ok." He sighed, straightening his jacket. "No running. I got it."

They looked around the room. It was quiet. Judging by the furniture, it seemed to be a parlor of some sorts.

Marie's scream pierced the air.

They ran towards the sound into another room, this time a bedroom, and stopped. Marie was being held by the guard, a knife to her throat. She looked so disheveled that Flynn almost didn't recognize her at first.

"Help me," she whimpered when she saw Flynn and Rapunzel.

"Quiet," the guard said in a mechanical voice. Marie flinched and cried harder.

"Release her," Rapunzel demanded, holding out her sword. Flynn did the same. He wasn't going to look like a coward next to a very tiny woman.

"No," the guard said. "Not until she meets my master."

That made chills go down Flynn's back. "Who's your master?"

The guard didn't respond.

"So, what?" Flynn asked. "You're just going to keep her here until your master shows up?"

"Yes," was the guard's reply.

"Why do you need your master to meet her?" Rapunzel asked.

"Because she is the key," the guard intoned.

"The key?" Flynn scrunched up his face. "What key?"

"To save all of us. Our master is dying and Marie Antonette can save him."

Rapunzel and Flynn shared a look. Rapunzel turned back to the guard. "How can she save him?"

"By giving him her heart."

Ok. That definitely wasn't good.

Flynn opened his mouth to ask another question when the door behind him burst open. A man strode inside, decked out in ridiculous finery. He had a bulbous nose and a smug grin and of course, a powered wig on. Flynn was really starting to hate powdered wigs.

The man brandished a sword and pointed at the guard. "Unhand my wife!"

Wife?

Oh.

Flynn turned to the man. "You must be Louis."

Rapunzel sighed, giving Flynn another look. She liked to do that, didn't she?

King Louis frowned. "I am the King. Not Louis. And who are you?"

"We," Rapunzel said, stepping in front of Flynn before he could get himself stabbed by the king of France himself, "are here to save your wife."

Louis grunted and turned back to the guard. "Let her go."

"No," the guard said, tightening his hold on Marie.

Flynn was shocked when Louis rushed forward and stabbed the guard. Marie was able to break free and ran towards Flynn. He grabbed her arms, trying to steady her.

Louis stabbed the guard to death. When he straightened back up, he saw Marie in Flynn's arms. Flynn immediately let her go. Louis stalked over. "Why did you have your hands on my wife?"

"He was just trying to help her," Rapunzel said. "Your Majesty, please stop pointing your sword at him."

"Yes, husband," Marie cut in. "Lord Rider is a fine man. Don't kill him."

Louis glared at Flynn before putting his sword in its hilt. "All right then. I won't. But I refuse to be told what to do by peasants." He shot a disgusted look in Rapunzel's direction. Flynn tensed. How dare this fucker call Rapunzel a peasant.

"She is my maid," Marie explained. "Now, can someone please tell me what is going on?"

Louis grabbed Marie's arm. "We are leaving the palace. Now. I was attacked by my guards. I fended them off and went in search of you. What I wasn't expecting was to find you with… these two." Now, he not only gave Rapunzel a disgusted look but Flynn one as well. "A servant and a man I've never met. We are leaving now."

"Of course." Marie followed her husband obediently.

"Wait!" Rapunzel said, running in front of them and slamming the door to the parlor room shut. They both shot back as if she would hurt them by just being in their presence. "It's not safe to leave. Those guards are all over the entire palace. They could be anywhere. You two could get hurt. We need to stay here until we can figure out a plan."

Louis scoffed. "I know my own palace, servant. I will not be told what to do. My wife and I are leaving."

Rapunzel didn't move.

"I say let them go," Flynn said.

Rapunzel's head whipped around to stare at him. "Why aren't you on my side? You know they can't die here."

"I'm tired, Blondie." He sat in a chair and put his feet up on a cushion. "I've did more fighting within the past hour than I've ever had to do. If they want to go die, then so be it. I'll just wait here until the threat is over and…"

"And what? Go steal your diamond?"

Flynn chuckled nervously as Marie frowned and Louis looked suspicious. "Diamond? I don't know anything about diamonds. What are you talking about?" He drew his hand across his throat, silently telling Rapunzel to shut it.

She rolled her eyes but didn't say anything else about the diamond. "You're a part of this now, Flynn, whether you like it or not. I never thought things would come to this. The man I knew… he wouldn't hesitate to throw himself in danger to save people. What happened to you?"

There it was again – that tingle of guilt. "What happened to me? You're meeting me for the first time, Blondie. That's what. And this is me."

"No," she said softly. "I'm not meeting you for the first time. You're meeting me for the first time. Which means…" Her eyes widened and she fell silent.

"Which means what?" he asked.

Rapunzel stared at him with a bleakness in her eyes that he didn't understand. What wasn't she telling him?

"Enough with this," Louis said, breaking the tension between Flynn and Rapunzel. "I am leaving."

"If you go out there," Rapunzel said to him, "you could die. And I know you don't understand, but that could cause unimaginably bad consequences. It is safer here. Trust me."

The king snorted. "Trust you? You are a servant. Why should I trust you?"

"I trust her," Marie said. Louis stared at her in shock. "She's my own personal maid. She wouldn't cause me harm. If she says that it's safer in here, I believe her. I was just attacked out there. I don't want to go wandering the halls, waiting to be attacked again. We should wait until someone can come save us."

"You really want to do this?" Louis asked.

"No. I don't want any of this to happen. But I do think it's safer if we stay here." Marie turned to Rapunzel. "Help keep us save."

Rapunzel nodded. "Of course."

Flynn dropped his head back and groaned. "Great. So, now we're just one big happy family. What's the plan, Blondie? We just wait here until we die of starvation?"

"Of course not. We need to find out who this master is that wants Her Majesty. It's up to you and me to find out."

"Why me?" Flynn asked. "I planned on being retired already, living by myself on my private island surrounded by large piles of money. Why is that so hard to achieve?"

"Flynn." Rapunzel walked over and kneeled before him. "I know this is all knew for you. I've had… so much time with you. But you don't know me. Not yet anyway. But if you could see us in action together, saving the world together, then you'd know we can do this. We'll find out who the master is and stop him before he can kill the queen."

"Wait," the king said. "Someone wants to kill my wife?"

"It's a long story, buddy," Flynn muttered.

"We can do this." Rapunzel drew his attention back to her by grabbing his hand. A sudden tingling sensation went through his skin. He tried not to react but it was hard. He'd never had that feeling from a woman's touch before. "You just need to believe in me."

She looked at him like she… loved him.

He almost gasped at the realization. "What happened between us?" he whispered.

Rapunzel pulled back, leaving a cave of disappointment in his chest. "You know I can't give you details."

"How is any of this possible?"

She smiled, a sadness in her eyes. "Time travel. It's a fickle thing."

"What is this about time travel?" Marie asked.

"It's nothing," Rapunzel said, standing up. "I'm just a silly little servant." Both Marie and Louis nodded like that was normal. Rapunzel looked down at Flynn and held out her hand to him.

"What do you say?" she asked. "Let's do this together?"

"I'm not getting that diamond, am I?"

She winked. "Probably not."

With a sigh, Flynn grabbed her hand. That tingle sensation washed over him again. "Ok, Blondie. You have yourself a deal. We save the majesties over there as long as I make it out alive."

"I promise. I'll make sure you get your island someday. But right now, we have a master automaton to find. He's hiding somewhere in this palace."

Flynn stood up. "Too bad it's a tiny place," he said.

Louis huffed. "This palace has over two thousand rooms."

"Yeah, it's called sarcasm, buddy."

Louis frowned like he had never heard of such a thing. Flynn figured he hadn't.

"Now what?" Flynn asked Rapunzel, still holding her hand. He let go the moment he realized that.

She had a twinkle in her eye. "Now, we come up with a plan."


After explaining to Marie and Louis what the automatons were (they didn't believe them) and that their master wanted Marie's heart for himself (they believed them even less), Flynn and Rapunzel left the king and queen of France in the room with instructions to board up the door so none of the Scattal could get in. Louis was already getting started on moving the furniture around by the time they left. Even though the king and queen were doubtful of the truth, they also had experienced their own guards attacking them so they were willing to stay put until more help could arrive.

"So," Flynn said as they walked down the hall, keeping their footsteps light and their voices low, "this is your big plan? Walk around until we find the master?"

"No. My plan is to find one of the Scattal and question them about where their master is. Much more effective, Flynn."

"Why exactly does this master need Marie's heart?"

"I have no idea. That one guard said his master was dying." Rapunzel shrugged. "But why he needs Marie's heart specifically, I'm not sure. We need to prevent that from happening."

Flynn poked his head around the corner carefully before nodding. "All clear."

They walked in silence for a moment before Flynn couldn't help himself. He needed to talk. Running his mouth off was one of his favorite pastimes.

"So, Blondie, back there when you said we could do anything together-,"

"Nope," she cut him off. "You know the drill, Flynn. I can't answer your questions."

"It's just… it looked like you might have had… feelings for me." When Rapunzel tensed, Flynn held up his hands. "I'm not saying you do. But I wouldn't blame you." He gave her his iconic smolder look. "I do have a way with women."

Rapunzel took one look at his smolder and laughed. "That won't work on me." He frowned, trying to stop the disappointment in his chest. His smolder always worked on women. "You've used it before," she said.

"I thought you couldn't tell me anything about… anything."

"I can tell you some things. Vague things. Just not specifics."

He sighed. "How is that even possible? How is that you've known a different version of me and I've never met you before?"

"Time travel, remember?"

He flapped his hands at his sides. "Oh, come on! That's not fair. That's a cop-out answer. You know everything and I don't."

Her eyes darkened. "I don't know everything."

"Like what?"

"Like… when I'm going to die. If this is really the last time I'll see you."

"Why would this be the last time you see me?" he asked. "You can just time travel to my past or future and annoy me there." He nudged her with a smile.

She smiled back. "That's… not exactly how it works. At least, for us. It's not that simple. But I can't say more-,"

"Because then it could potentially destroy the planet," he finished. "Gotcha. Understood." A random question entered his mind. "So, do you know French? Because my device translates all languages for me."

"So does my time machine. Pretty handy, huh?"

"You could say that," he replied in a wry tone.

Before he could ask her any more questions, a female scream shot through the hallway.

"That can't be good," he muttered, running after Rapunzel since she already took off the second they heard the scream.

He rounded a corner and stopped at the scene. The hallway wasn't empty but there also weren't any automatons in sight. A group of people – two men and three men all dressed in nobility finery – were clustered together in the hallway.

No one looked hurt as far as Flynn could tell.

"What's going on?" he asked, catching up to Rapunzel, who looked just as confused as he felt.

One of the women, wearing a peach-colored dress with a grey wig, fluttered her hand in Flynn's direction. "My nail broke."

"So…" He scratched the back of his neck. "That's why you screamed?"

She huffed. "Yes. My nails take perfectly curating to look this nice. And now it just broke!" One of the men standing behind her rolled his eyes. The other two were looking at Flynn with suspicion. All three men looked ridiculous with their painted faces and powdered wigs. Flynn swore it was like something out of one of his nightmares.

The other woman in a teal-colored dress soothed the peach dress woman. "It's all right, Juliette. We will fix it once this chaos is over."

"Chaos?" Rapunzel asked.

The two women tittered.

"Look Amélie," Juliette said, "the servant is talking to us."

"I really should have pretended to be a noble," Rapunzel muttered so only Flynn could hear.

He chuckled. "Why do you think I'm dressed like this?" He waved his hands down to encompass his ridiculous long blue jacket and white stockings and buckled shoes. "It wasn't out of choice, trust me." Rapunzel gave him a soft smile. He found himself smiling back.

"I got this," Flynn told her, walking forward with complete and utter pomp and circumstance. These French nobles would only respect someone who was just like them. "I am Lord Flynnigan Rider. And you are?"

Both Juliette and Amélie introduced themselves, fanning their faces with a flirtatious smile. The men behind the women were Pierre, Antoine, Claude. They also said their last names as if Flynn was expected to know who all these people were. He didn't and he didn't care.

Pierre was the one who rolled his eyes.

"So, have you five seen anything strange?" Flynn asked.

"Oh yes," Juliette said, fanning her face frantically. Maybe that's how she broke a nail. "We were in the tea room when the guards just started attacking everyone. We all ran for our lives."

"It was very scary," Amélie said, batting her eyelashes at Flynn. Rapunzel glared at the woman, Flynn noted.

"It was I who got the women to safety," Claude said, taking a deep bow. He had a white powdered wig on and bushy eyebrows. In fact, all the men looked eerily similar with their wigs and clothes and painted skin. Freaky.

Once again, Pierre rolled his eyes. "It was actually I. Claude and Antoine were too busy being scared to be of much help." The other two men acted affronted by Pierre's words.

"No," Antoine said. "I saved the women."

"No, I did," Claude announced.

"I don't care," Flynn said over both of them. "What matters is getting out of here. The guards won't stop. They'll just keep attacking everyone. So I suggest you leave the palace."

"Leave the palace?" Juliette said. "Where would we go? We're not peasants living on the streets." She pointedly eyed Rapunzel when she said this. Rapunzel stifled a sigh.

"I don't care," Flynn repeated. "Just keep moving. You can't stay here in the middle of the hallway. You're just asking to be a target."

"We are not targets, I can assure you," Claude said.

"Yes," Antoine sniffed. "We don't need help from pretty boys like you."

Flynn thought it was ironic that they were the ones dressed in makeup and wigs and yet he was the pretty boy.

"Oh, for goodness sakes," Rapunzel said. "Just go somewhere to hide."

The five of them turned to Rapunzel, looking at her like she was a flea that needed to be swatted away.

"The peasant talks," Juliette said.

"You should learn your manners, girl," Claude said.

Flynn leaned in close to Rapunzel. "I vote that they get eaten by the automatons." He paused. "They can eat people, right?"

"The Scattal don't need to eat," Rapunzel whispered back.

Flynn whistled. "Lucky bastards." And also, damn. There went his plan.

"How do you," Amélie said, glaring at Rapunzel, "have the audacity to speak to us?"

Antoine snapped his fingers at Rapunzel. "I say, girl, if you're just going to stand there, then bring me a brandy."

"They might not eat people," Rapunzel said to Flynn, "but the Scattal can still kill people."

"Then I vote for that."

Rapunzel shook her head, smiling. "No. No matter how annoying these people are, they need to be saved."

Flynn sighed, shaking his head. "That's on you then."

"Fortunately, they don't need saving right this second."

As if on cue, three automatons rounded the corner and were heading their way.

"Be careful what you say, Blondie."

The five French people froze when they saw the guards before they all descended into chaos. Juliette immediately began crying. "We're all going to die!" Amélie joined her and the two women clung to each other. Pierre tried to be brave and ran at the first guard, who promptly backhanded Pierre and sent the Frenchman flying across the floor. Antoine and Claude were just standing there, looking scared shitless.

"You tried, Pierre," Claude said.

Pierre groaned as he sat up, rubbing his back. "I don't see you trying."

Claude huffed. "I don't have to try. I am a duke. Dukes do not fight their own battles."

"And neither do viscounts," Antoine said, pointing at himself.

Flynn and Rapunzel looked at each other.

"It's down to us again, isn't it?" Flynn asked.

"You know it is," Rapunzel replied.

Flynn brandished his sword which made the two Frenchwomen scream. "All right you cowards. Watch how it's done." He ran at the first guard and sliced its head clean off. The women gasped and the men stood there with their mouths gaping.

Rapunzel took on the two other guards, fighting between them with ease. She clearly had a lot of fight training. She sliced through the leg of one guard and it toppled backward. When she turned to the third guard, it moved out of her reach and kicked out, making her fall onto her back.

Juliette and Amélie snickered.

Rapunzel pushed herself up with a grim determination but instead of running towards the last guard, she ran for the wall instead. Flynn watched in confusion. Rapunzel ran so fast that she jumped slightly onto the wall, planting her feet and pushing off to give herself momentum to land on the shoulders of the guard. Flynn's eyes widened. Holy shit. She was a freaking superhero.

Everyone went silent as she brought her sword down through the guard's head, killing it instantly. As the guard fell, she gracefully slide off it and landed on her feet.

She threw a smug grin at the two other women. They stared at Rapunzel with wide eyes and open mouths Neither one said a word.

Pierre rushed over to Rapunzel. "That was incredible."

"Thanks."

Flynn didn't like the way Pierre was looking at Rapunzel – like he had a newfound crush on her.

He sauntered over and stood between Rapunzel and Pierre. "And you all made fun of her. You should really be ashamed of yourselves." He turned to Rapunzel, expecting to see appreciation in her eyes for him standing up for her, but she wasn't even looking at him at all.

No, she was hovering over the guard who's leg she cut off. It was on the ground, emitting a whining, mechanical sound but it was alive. Flynn joined her. "What do we do with this?" Flynn asked.

"This," Rapunzel said, nodding down at the automaton, "is our hostage." She kneeled beside the creature. "You're going to answer a few questions for us."

The guard looked worried as his eyes flicked back and forth between Flynn and Rapunzel. It saw what they had just done. It knew to be afraid.


Flynn slammed the guard against the wall. It made a clicking, almost whining sound. The group of them had found the nearest room that was empty to hide out in. Flynn didn't like that the five French people were still with them but he had no choice. Rapunzel had this annoying habit of not wanting to leave anyone behind.

"Where is your master?" Rapunzel asked the guard. Flynn tightened his hold on the automaton.

The guard let out a low groan but said nothing else.

"Your master," Flynn said, once again slamming the guard into the wall.

"Flynn, be careful," Rapunzel warned.

The guard still didn't say anything.

"This is pointless," Flynn said. "He won't give us any answers."

"What are you two doing?" Juliette asked, flopping down onto a chair. "What is this master you're talking about?"

Amélie shrugged. "Maybe they are insane. They should be locked up in an institution. I vote that the peasant gets locked up first."

Rapunzel shared an annoyed look with Flynn. "No one is locking anyone up," she said.

Amélie sniffed, giving Rapunzel a disdainful look. "You're just saying that because you don't want to be locked up."

"You saw what she did with a sword," Pierre cut in. "I wouldn't get on her bad side."

Flynn frowned. He hated how in awe Pierre sounded when it came to Rapunzel. He and Rapunzel were the one with the supposed connection. Not her and Pierre.

Woah. Where was all this jealousy coming from? Flynn was not a jealous man. Granted, he never cared enough about any woman to get jealous in the first place.

Flynn leaned in close to Rapunzel. "Why are they with us again? I was fine leaving them out in the hall to fend for themselves."

"Because it's the right thing to go," Rapunzel replied. "Now, we need to get answers." She nodded at the guard. "You saw what I did to your friend." The guard's eyes widened, knowing she was right. "If you don't give us answers, then…" She trailed off, leaving the guard to guess what she'd to do him.

"Fine," the guard said in his mechanical voice. "My master is everywhere and nowhere."

Flynn huffed. "How can someone be everywhere and nowhere?"

Rapunzel looked contemplative before her eyes widened. "Your master… he's a part of all of you."

"Yes. He created us. He made us the species we are today."

Flynn turned to Rapunzel. "You didn't know about that in your research?"

She shook her head. "No. Nothing about a master in the history books." She paused. "But now he's dying," Rapunzel said. "And for some reason he needs Marie Antoinette's heart. Why her heart? How is she the key?"

"She's a match," the guard explained. "And her fame will help our master live forever. He will always be remembered as the man who had Marie Antoinette's heart."

"So…" Flynn said slowly, "he only wants the queen's heart because it will give him eternal fame? Seriously?"

The guard shrugged. "It's what he wants."

"Huh." Flynn crossed his arms. "Not what I was expecting, gonna be honest."

"You have a problem with their plan not being more complicated?" Rapunzel asked.

"No. I just was expecting… more. It feels very…anti-climactic."

Rapunzel shook her head and looked back at the guard. "So, if all your master needs is Marie, then why attack the entire palace?"

"To cause a distraction," the guard said. "If everyone else is busy fighting or running for their lives, they won't notice the queen missing."

"Not a bad idea," Flynn admitted. "I've used the whole distraction thing before and it really does make it easy to steal something when no one is looking at you."

Rapunzel shot him another look. "Flynn, try not to act impressed by the Scattal's idea, please."

"Sorry."

"Ok, so you cause a distraction and take the queen," Rapunzel said. "But where is your master? Surely someone needs to perform the heart transplant somewhere?"

The guard hesitated. Flynn drew his sword and stabbed it into the wall, right next to the guard's head. "All right," the guard said, flinching. "Fine. He's in the secret tunnel that leads outside."

"That's how you got in." Rapunzel nodded. "Of course. And your master, you said he created you. So… he made you all look exactly like the guards so no one would notice anything different."

"But if they were made," Flynn said, "then how are they alive?"

"Scattal technology is incredibly advanced," Rapunzel explained. "That is one thing I did read in my research."

"Ok. Good enough for me." Flynn let go of the guard and it dropped right to the ground since it was still without one leg. "So, we get to this secret tunnel and find the master, kill him and… what?"

"Well, if the automatons were all made by their master, then they might all die if he dies."

The guard made a sound.

Rapunzel smiled down at him. "I'm right, aren't I? He dies and all of you die." The guard refused to meet her eyes.

"But are you all right with killing a group of people?" Flynn asked. "You seem like you're sort of anti-killing."

"I am. But this group of Scattal aren't the normal population. They were made to be assassins. They shouldn't exist."

"All right then." Flynn rubbed his hands together. "Let's go take down this master."

A thump made them look over at the group of five French people. They were looking at Rapunzel and Flynn as if they were truly certifiably insane. They were so distracted looking at Rapunzel and Flynn, they didn't notice the guard crawling over to the row of candles on the table.

The thump was him dropping one of the candles onto the ground.

The carpet lit on fire instantly.

"Shit," Flynn said, right as the group starting freaking out. The women began screaming and the men stood there like idiots.

Rapunzel started stomping on the fire to put it out but it was too late. The fire spread over to the curtains and they lit up in a blaze of glory. Soon, the fire reached the ceiling.

"Everybody out!" Rapunzel shouted, running for the door. But it wouldn't open. "Flynn? It's locked."

"How is it locked?" he asked, running over.

The guard let out a wheezy laugh. "We have trackers in us. My fellow companions must have tracked me here and locked you inside."

Rapunzel's eyes widened. "Do your trackers only work if you're alive?"

"No. They still work even after we're dead."

Flynn stared at Rapunzel in confusion. "What?"

"The king and queen," she whispered. "We left them in that room with a dead automaton."

Flynn knew what she meant. The Scattal, if they hadn't already grabbed Marie, they were definitely on their way to now.

"That… is not good," Flynn said.

"Definitely not good," she agreed.

They shared a look. They were in a burning room with a bunch of annoying French people while Marie Antoinette might already have been kidnapped and possibly been killed, her heart being given to an insane mad man who only wanted it so he could go down in history for having Marie's heart inside of him.

Yeah, that was most decidedly definitely not good.


See you next Saturday.