Fantastic S5 Episode 125(6/19/24)

It’s a new day in Fantastic City. In the kitchen of the Goo Castle, Brady is sitting at the table, eating breakfast, when Kristina walks in. “Knock knock!” Kristina exclaims. A smile crosses Brady’s face. “Kristina!” Brady says. “Expecting someone else?” Kristina wonders. “I wasn’t expecting to see you, no.” Brady admits. “You mind some company?” Kristina asks. “Not at all.” Brady says. Kristina sits across from him at the table. “So how’d you know I was back?” Brady wonders. “Your dad stopped by the boutique last night and filled me in on recent events. I would’ve come to visit last night but I figured it was probably too late.” Kristina says. “I hope you aren’t here ‘cause my dad guilted you into coming.” Brady says. “I’m here because I’m concerned. Victor told me about everything that Lawrence put you through.” Kristina says. “Including having my leg chopped off?” Brady wonders. “Yes, including that. How are you holding up?” Kristina asks. “I’m good.” Brady claims. “Are you?” Kristina questions. Brady smiles. “What are you, my therapist now?” Brady jokingly wonders. “Nah, just your ex wife who probably knows you better than you know yourself. I can’t imagine any of this is easy for you.” Kristina says. “No, it’s not. But you don’t have to worry about me anymore.” Brady says. “Just because we aren’t together anymore doesn’t mean I don’t still care.” Kristina says. “I’ve hurt you a lot.” Brady points out. “Yeah, and I forgave you! We made up before you left Fantastic, which means there’s nothing crazy about me wanting to make sure you’re okay. So maybe you could stop dodging my questions and tell me how you’re really doing.” Kristina says.

In the living room of the Goo Castle, Rebecca is sitting at the desk, on her computer, with a framed picture of Andy and Ava sitting right next to it. As Rebecca is focused on her laptop, someone places a hand on her shoulder. Rebecca looks up and sees Bethany standing there. “Hey, I thought maybe you could use a friendly face.” Bethany says. Rebecca stands up and hugs Bethany. “You have no idea.” Rebecca tells her. “I’ve gotta say, that was a warmer reception than I was expecting. It’s been a while since you and I talked last, I wasn’t sure how you felt about everything that happened between Dannie and Jenna, and my role in all that.” Bethany admits. “I’ve been meaning to reach out. Obviously I was disappointed when I heard about what you did, but I imagine you’re probably getting enough heat from Kaylie. I don’t want to pile onto that.” Rebecca says. Bethany smiles. “Thanks. I’m glad that I haven’t lost everyone I care about. So has there been any news?” Bethany wonders. “About what exactly?” Rebecca questions. “Anything! Andy, Ava, Lawrence…” Bethany answers. “Nothing new. Andy survived the surgery, but the doctors have him on a ventilator because he isn’t able to breathe on his own just yet. As for Lawrence and Ava, I still have no idea where they are. I’ve been up all night doing research into the three diamond jewels, seeing if there was anything I could use to figure out where Lawrence could be heading next.” Rebecca says. “Any luck?” Bethany asks. “Nothing. I can’t even find any information about why they were created, or by who! A few months ago when we ran into The Master in Switzerland, he had said something about Andy’s grandfather creating the three jewels, but he didn’t elaborate further on that. I don’t even know if he was telling the truth.” Rebecca admits. “Do you think it’s possible?” Bethany wonders. “I guess. Stan Goo was a complete lunatic, it wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility that he may have created these jewels capable of powering weapons of mass destruction. Unfortunately though, I have no way of finding out if it’s true or not. I tried to arrange a visit with The Master, but he’s being held in a supermax facility and isn’t currently being allowed visitors, so I’m back to square one.” Rebecca says. “I don’t even know how you’re doing any of this right now. I figured you’d be a total mess, unable to leave Andy’s side.” Bethany admits. Rebecca shakes her head. “I can’t let that happen. Andy wouldn’t want me sitting vigil by his bedside, he would want me out there, doing everything I can to find Ava and stop Lawrence.” Rebecca says. “Well you shouldn’t be carrying that weight alone. Have you talked to Ciara? She used to be with the WPA, right? I’m sure she could help you out.” Bethany says. “Ciara is the last person I would want helping me with this.” Rebecca says. “Ooooooookaaaaaaay, why do I get the feeling that there’s something you aren’t saying?” Bethany wonders. “Ciara is the reason that all of this happened. The last thing I want is for her to be involved with any of this.” Rebecca says.

At the food court in Goo Village, Ciara is sitting at a table on the phone. “So there’s absolutely no trail to be followed?...Yeah, that’s what I figured. Oh well, I thought it’d be worth a shot. Thanks anyway.” Ciara says, before hanging up. Daisy walks up to her table. “Who were you on the phone with?” Daisy wonders. “Not that it’s any of your business, but I was talking to an old colleague of mine at the WPA to see if they could see if Lawrence left any kind of trail.” Ciara says. Daisy sits across from Ciara. “Why would you need to do that? Shouldn’t Lawrence be safely tucked away in the tunnels underneath the Stanpatos mansion?” Daisy questions. “Obviously he isn’t.” Ciara says. “Yeah, obviously! I was expecting Dylan to come home last night and tell me that everything was a success! He never came home! Then I turn on the news this morning and I find out that Andy has been shot and that Lawrence now has Harper, Ava, AND Dylan! What the hell went wrong?!” Daisy questions. “We went wrong, Daisy! The entire plan was just one giant mistake! We never should’ve interfered with that meeting between Andy, Rebecca, and Lawrence.” Ciara says. “Of course we should have! That maniac has my daughter!” Daisy points out. “And our little stunt yesterday accomplished nothing, other than making everything worse! Now, we have no idea where the hell Lawrence is!” Ciara notes.

In an undisclosed location, Ava begins to open her eyes. Once she is fully awake, she looks around and sees that she is tied to a chair at a dining room table. “Where the hell am I?” Ava wonders. Ava turns and notices Dylan is tied to a chair right next to her. “Dylan?!” A shocked Ava asks. Dylan begins to stir awake. “What…what happened?” Dylan wonders. “I thought maybe you could tell me! What are you doing here?” Ava questions. “That is a good question…” Dylan mutters. Dylan looks down and sees that he’s tied up. “Oh boy…here we go again.” Dylan says. “Do you remember what happened?” Ava asks. “It’s coming back to me. Ciara and I were in the woods when your parents were about to give Lawrence the jewels in exchange for you.” Dylan recalls. “Didn’t he tell them to come alone?” Ava wonders. “He did, but Ciara and I weren’t too thrilled over the idea of Lawrence making off with both the jewels and Harper. So, we thought that after he returned you safely, we’d get the drop on him and hopefully find out where he was keeping Harper.” Dylan remembers. “Things didn’t turn out that way obviously.” Ava notes. “I think someone hit me from behind…” Dylan says. “That must’ve been when Uncle Lawrence heard that noise. That really set him off, he was going to shoot me.” Ava recalls. “What stopped him?” Dylan wonders. “My Dad did. Dad pulled out his gun, and Lawrence…he…he shot him.” Ava says. “Oh my god. Ava, I’m so sorry. This is all my fault.” Dylan says. “Stop, you were just trying to save your daughter.” Ava notes. “And look how that turned out! Do you have any idea how he is?” Dylan wonders. “No, but last time I saw him, it really didn’t look good. For all I know, he could be dead!” Ava points out. “He isn’t. I’ve known your dad for a long time, he’s not gonna let this be the end of him, especially not when you’re still in danger. He’s gonna hang on for your sake, for your mom’s sake.” Dylan says. Lawrence walks in, carrying Harper. “Good morning, you two! I hope you both slept well.” Lawrence says. “Oh yeah, whatever drugs you pumped into my system did wonders for my insomnia.” Ava sarcastically says. Lawrence smiles. “I’m glad I could help.” Lawrence says. “If you really want to help, you’ll tell me how my dad is.” Ava says. “He’s alive, that’s all I’m willing to say on the matter.” Lawrence says. “Seriously? You shot him! You owe me answers!” Ava snaps. “I don’t owe you anything! On the contrary, actually! After everything that I have done for you, you are the one who owes me!” Lawrence says. “There isn’t a single thing you’ve done for me that hasn’t been for your benefit! You’ve been buttering me up, trying to convince me that you’ve hung the moon so that one day I would MAYBE go along with your sick plans. Well it backfired!” Ava tells him. “On both counts. You tried the same crap with me and now my eyes are open too. You’re alone, Dad.” Dylan says. “That’s not entirely true. I have this little one right here to carry on the Stanpatos legacy.” Lawrence says. “I’m not gonna let you indoctrinate her.” Dylan says. “Indoctrinate? That is such an ugly word! No, I’m going to educate her. Harper was never going to be raised as a proper Stanpatos with you and Daisy as her parents. I, on the other hand, am going to make sure she has an appropriate upbringing.” Lawrence says. “If you think I’m going to let you brainwash my daughter, you’re even crazier than I thought.” Dylan says. “Tell me exactly how you intend to stop me from raising my granddaughter.” Lawrence says. “I’ll kill you.” Dylan warns. “No you won’t. Those restraints I have you both in are so tight, even Harry Houdini himself wouldn’t be able to find a way out of them! You’re trapped.” Lawrence says. Harper begins crying. “Oh, now look at what you’ve done! All of this unnecessary stress has upset my granddaughter! Oh nanny!” Lawrence calls out. Ella the nanny walks in. “Yes, Mr. Stanpatos?” Ella asks. “ELLA?!” Dylan asks. “Don’t sound so surprised, dear boy! How do you suppose I got my hands on Harper in the first place? Ella here was kind enough to hand her over to me.” Lawrence says. “I was under the impression that you had manipulated her.” Dylan admits. “That was the wrong impression.” Lawrence says. Lawrence hands Harper over to Ella. “There you go. Please try and get her comfortable, we’ll be departing soon and I’d prefer that she not be fussing the whole plane ride.” Lawrence says. Ella nods and carries Harper out of the room. “Did I hear you right? We’re leaving soon?” Ava wonders. “Well of course. This here is a safe house I own, we only stopped here for a bit of a break. But once we’re back in the air, it will be full steam ahead!” Lawrence exclaims. “Meaning?” Dylan questions. “Meaning I will finally be able to put my plan into motion.” Lawrence says. “Yeah, I figured that much. What I want to know, what I think we both want to know, is what that plan is!” Dylan says. “We’re both here, obviously we can’t tell anyone, you might as well just tell us what you’ve got planned.” Ava says. “I agree.” Lawrence says. “You-you what?” Dylan asks. “You sound surprised.” Lawrence observes. “I’ve been trying to get you to talk for months and you wouldn’t, and this was back when we were on decent terms!” Dylan points out. “I don’t see any reason to keep either of you in the dark. Soon, the entire world is going to know what I have in store. I may as well give you both a sneak peak by finally telling you what I have been working on for the past several years.” Lawrence says!

In the kitchen of the Goo castle, Brady hesitates for a moment before answering Kristina. “I’m messed up, Kristina. Being held hostage for months by Lawrence, losing my leg and having to adjust to not having it anymore.” Brady says. “I can’t imagine what that must be like for you.” Kristina admits. “And on top of all that, I’m still dealing with the loss of our baby and the part I played in that.” Brady says. “You didn’t mean for any of that to happen.” Kristina notes. “But it did, and it changed both of our lives forever because of it. I bet I know the next question that’s on the tip of your tongue. You’re probably wondering if I’ve had a drink since coming home.” Brady assumes. “I wouldn’t blame you if you did consider it.” Kristina tells him. “I have considered it. Last night after everybody had gone to bed, I rolled myself into the study and I went as far as pouring myself a glass. I got so close…the glass was literally touching my lips.” Brady recalls. “So then what stopped you?” Kristina wonders. “History did. When I was drinking after I thought I had lost you and after we lost our baby, it didn’t make me feel any better. I didn’t feel anything, and in a way, that’s worse than feeling heartbreak. When you don’t have any feeling, you aren’t ever able to heal. You’re just trapped in this endless cycle of pain and numbing that pain. Drinking doesn’t make the pain, it numbs it, and when you numb it, all you’re doing is prolonging it. I’m not gonna do that this time, I’m gonna get through this and I’m gonna do it without having a sip of booze.” Brady says. Kristina smiles. “I’m proud of you.” Kristina says. “Thanks.” Brady responds. “And if you ever find yourself struggling to get through this, just remember that you don’t have to do it alone. You’ve got your dad, your brother and two sisters…you’ve got me.” Kristina says, as she places her hand on top of Brady’s hand. Brady looks down at her hand and quickly pulls his hand away. “I-I can’t do this.” Brady mutters. “Do what?” Kristina wonders. “Let you get close to me. I appreciate that you’re offering your friendship to me after everything that’s gone down between us, but come on Kristina, we share a lot of history. I’m not sure going back to being just friends is an option for us.” Brady says. “You didn’t seem to have a problem with it before.” Kristina points out. “I was on my way outta town when we made up, I wasn’t expecting to be back anytime soon. I spent a lot of years loving you, that includes the years when I thought you were dead, and I know myself well enough to know that if I let you be my friend, I’m just gonna end up falling for you all over again. Hell, who am I kidding? I can’t fall in love with you again because I’ve never actually fallen out of love with you, I probably never will! I…I think you should probably go.” Brady tells her, without making eye contact. “Uh…yeah. Maybe…maybe I should leave. I’m sorry, I didn’t know you felt that way.” Kristina says. “Now you do. Trust me, it’s better for the both of us. We both know that nothing short of our baby being alive would be able to fix things between us, so I don’t want to put myself in a position where I give myself any kind of false hope. You get me?” Brady asks. “Absolutely. I’m sorry you feel that way.” Kristina says. “Sorry I feel like we can’t fix things between us?” Brady asks. “Sorry you feel like we can’t be friends.” Kristina corrects him. Kristina stands up. “For what it’s worth, I really do want the best for you. You were a huge part of my life, I won’t ever forget that.” Kristina says. “Neither will I.” Brady says. “I guess-I guess I’ll see you around then. Bye…” Kristina says, before rushing out. Once Kristina is gone, Brady sighs.

In the living room of the Goo Castle, Rebecca has just finished telling Bethany about what Dylan and Ciara did. “I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but I can sorta see where Dylan was coming from. He just wanted to rescue his daughter.” Bethany points out. “I understand where Dylan is coming from. Ciara is the one who had no business getting involved in any of this, jeopardizing countless lives! But she did, and now Andy could die and Ava, Dylan, and Harper are at even more risk than they were before Ciara intervened.” Rebecca says. “Do you think Lawrence would hurt them? They’re his family.” Bethany notes. “Dylan is Lawrence’s son and Lawrence had no problem locking him in a dungeon and leaving him to die from either hunger or thirst! If Lawrence was willing to do that to his own son, I don’t even want to think about what he would do to Ava! What scares me the most is that I know Ava is going to put up one hell of a fight, and that will only provoke Lawrence even more.” Rebecca says. “I know this probably won’t mean anything coming from a negative nancy like me, but you’ve gotta try and stay positive here! Don’t bother thinking about any of the what ifs, just try and focus on finding where Lawrence took Ava and bringing her home!” Bethany says. “That’s my plan. I need to stay focused, I can’t let anything distract me from my goal, rescuing the hostages and then taking Lawrence down once and for all.” Rebecca says. “Take him down how?” Bethany wonders. “There’s only one way to stop a man like Lawrence, and that is to put him down.” Rebecca answers. The door swings open and Daisy walks in. “Good, you’re home. I had called the hospital but they told me you left late last night and hadn’t been back since.” Daisy says. “Whatever you have to say, it’s going to have to wait. I’m very busy.” Rebecca says. “I can see that. Of course shooting the breeze with Bethany is more important than finding my daughter.” Daisy sarcastically says. “Will you kindly shut the hell up? Rebecca’s daughter is missing too, you know!” Bethany points out. “And maybe I would feel sympathy for her if she showed any interest in finding my little girl, but she hasn’t! Her only concern is bringing Ava home, to hell with Harper and Dylan!” Daisy claims. “Oh for the love of god, I have not missed dealing with you!” Bethany says. “What do you want, Daisy?” Rebecca questions. “I want an update on the search for Lawrence. Have you made any progress?” Daisy wonders. “If I did, I wouldn’t be at liberty to tell you.” Rebecca says. “Is that right? My daughter is one of his hostages.” Daisy points out. “You aren’t a cop, therefore I’m under no obligation to share with you any details involving an ongoing investigation.” Rebecca says. “Are you kidding me?! Your psychotic uncle has my daughter! Cop or not, you are going to tell me everything you know!” Daisy snaps. “Why, so you can go and make a big mess of everything again?” Rebecca questions. “Excuse me?” Daisy asks. “Don’t even try to deny it! Dylan and Ciara ruined everything last night and you cannot convince me that you weren’t a part of that!” Rebecca shouts. “So what if I was?” Daisy wonders. “So what? My husband was shot and my daughter is still Lawrence’s hostage, that’s so what!” Rebecca yells. “Well so isn’t MY daughter, so I guess that makes us even!” Daisy tells her. “Do you think that this is a joke? If we had just done things my way, all of the hostages could’ve been home by now and Lawrence might be in custody!” Rebecca states. “Your way involved rescuing YOUR daughter by giving Lawrence what he wanted! There was no plan to rescue MY daughter!” Daisy snaps. “Do you really think I was just going to let Lawrence run away with Harper?!” Rebecca questions. “Of course you were, because she’s mine!” Daisy states. “My god, your sense of self importance never fails to surprise me! Harper is Dylan’s daughter, I consider her my niece, of course I care about rescuing her! Even if she had no relation to me and was just your daughter, I’d still want to rescue her! She’s an innocent child, I’m not going to hold a grudge against her because her mother is a poor excuse for a human being!” Rebecca shouts. “That’s right, I forgot. You’re a perfect little angel while I’m Satan!” Daisy sarcastically says. “I’m no angel, but your description certainly fits.” Rebecca says. “Can we all take things down a notch? Please? Daisy, I’m sure you’ve got somewhere else to be that isn’t here.” Bethany says. “I’m not going anywhere until I hear the latest update on where my daughter is.” Daisy says. “There is no update!” Rebecca snaps. “You really have no clue where Lawrence could have taken them, do you? I could ask some random person on the street, and they’d probably know just as much as you do right about now!” Daisy realizes. “GET THE HELL OUT OF THIS HOUSE!” Rebecca screams. Colin walks in. “What’s with all of the yelling?” Colin questions. “Who are you?” Daisy wonders. “Colin Masters, who are you?” Colin wonders. “Daisy. I think I remember Dylan mentioning you to me before. You’re Ava’s boyfriend, aren’t you?” Daisy asks. “I’m not sure if I would refer to myself as her boyfriend just yet, but we are exploring our relationship.” Colin says. “Even so, you must be absolutely terrified for her.” Daisy says. “Why would I be?” Colin wonders. Daisy covers her mouth in surprise. “Oh my gosh, you don’t know? Ava’s been kidnapped!” Daisy reveals. “What?!” Colin asks. “Yeah! You didn’t see it on the news?” Daisy asks. “I don’t watch the news.” Colin tells her. “Okay, I get that. I’m surprised Rebecca hasn’t said anything to you though.” Daisy says. Daisy turns towards Rebecca. “Don’t you think this young man has the right to know that Ava has been kidnapped?” Daisy asks. “I’m sorry, Colin. I have a lot going on right now, it never occurred to me to tell you anything.” Rebecca admits. “Yeah, of course. Do you have any idea who took her?” Colin wonders. “It was her uncle Lawrence.” Rebecca reveals. “Son of a bitch…he’s the reason my family lost our business. He and Ava were close though, why on earth would he kidnap her?” Colin wonders. “To use as leverage over Andy and myself. We’ve been investigating Lawrence for months and he finally decided to make a move against us. We tried to make an exchange with Lawrence last night to get Ava back, but things…things went horribly wrong. He still took off with Ava and Andy got shot in the process.” Rebecca reveals. “Is Andy okay?” Colin wonders. “He’s stable. The doctors…they still don’t know whether or not he’s going to recover.” Rebecca admits. “I’m so sorry. I can’t imagine how difficult this must be for you.” Colin says. “I’m managing.” Rebecca says. “Well when you find out where Lawrence is keeping Ava, please let me know. I’ll do anything I can to help bring her home.” Colin says. “Wait a minute, I can’t have you getting involved in this.” Rebecca says. “Why not? I care about Ava.” Colin notes. “Because this is an incredibly dangerous situation! We don’t know what Lawrence is planning, going up against him unprepared could be suicide!” Rebecca points out. “I’m willing to accept the risk!” Colin tells her. “Well I’m not! If I do find out where Lawrence is, I won’t be sharing that information with you or any other civilian!” Rebecca says. “So you’re just going to shut me out?” Colin questions. “Trust me, it’s for the best.” Rebecca says. “Who are you to decide what’s best for anyone?” Daisy wonders. “I’m the police commissioner, any other ridiculous questions?!” Rebecca wonders. “The only thing ridiculous is you refusing to share important information with me!” Colin snaps. “I’m trying to protect you, it’s what Ava would have wanted!” Rebecca states. “What she would have wanted? You’re wording that as if she’s already dead!” Colin shouts. “That wasn’t my intent.” Rebecca tells him. “Then what was your intent?” Daisy wonders. “I ALREADY TOLD YOU TO GET OUT OF THIS HOUSE!” Rebecca screams. “In case you’re wondering what my involvement is in any of this, Colin. My daughter has been kidnapped as well and Rebecca here is refusing to keep me in the loop.” Daisy says. “There seems to be quite a bit of that going around.” Colin notes. “Mmhm. It’s nothing new for her, she has this complex where she thinks she knows what’s best for everyone. Spoiler alert: she doesn’t.” Daisy says. “Well I refuse to let you shut me out! One way or another, I will find answers!” Colin snaps, before storming out. Daisy smirks at Rebecca before following Colin out. “Wow, that was intense.” Bethany notes. “I hate having to keep Colin at an arm's length like that.” Rebecca says. “You’re right though, it’s for the best. You can’t have some kid showing up at Lawrence’s crib and breaking down the door. He’ll get himself shot!” Bethany notes. “Yeah…when the time comes to take Lawrence down, we need to do this right.” Rebecca says.

In the unknown dining room, Lawrence takes a seat at the dining room table as a tied up Dylan and Ava look on. “It all started back in mid 2020.” Lawrence begins. “Of course it was 2020…” Ava mutters. “I had heard from a reliable source that the three diamond jewels had not been destroyed in the explosion in Egypt, and that one of the jewels was being sold at an auction in LA. I sent Gizelle to the auction to purchase the bracelet on my behalf, but she was unsuccessful in her attempt courtesy of an unexpected foil.” Lawrence says. “Lydia.” Dylan realizes. “Lucas and Lydia had traveled to LA after Lucas’ father passed away, and I guess while Lucas was handling his father’s affairs, Lydia decided to pass the time by attending some local auctions. It’s my understanding that she wasn’t expecting to find one of the three jewels that her mother had tried collecting years prior. Anyways, after Lydia defeated Gizelle at the auction, I began trying to think of a way to get the bracelet away from her. When Lydia was arrested for assaulting Zoey Kellers, I sent someone to her home to search it to see if they could find the bracelet, but they couldn’t find anything. That’s when I realized it would be far more difficult than just sending someone into the mansion to find the bracelet and steal it. If I were to get any answers, I would need to get them from Lydia herself. When I heard that Mia Goo had been released from Colossal Heights, I knew I could weaponize her hatred towards Lydia and use that to get what I wanted. Unfortunately, before I could approach Mia and offer her a deal, she had been shot and killed by my dear Olivia.” Lawrence recalls. “Which is why you revived her.” Dylan notes. “Not me! Doctor Andropov! I arranged for the good doctor to sneak into the morgue and administer a life saving drug to Mia. Then I had her body transported to Andropov’s lab, where he was able to tuck her inside of that resurrection pod of his. Once Mia had been revived, I approached her with an offer to help me make Lydia disappear so that I would be able to properly interrogate her over the location of the diamond bracelet. When I pitched my plan to Mia, she had told me that she had a way to deliver Lydia to me where no one would even come looking for her.” Lawrence recalls. “You son of a bitch! You were working with Joe Fish when he planted that bomb at my parents’ wedding! My mother almost DIED!” Ava shouts. “I had nothing to do with Joe Fish’s exploits! Mia didn’t give me any details of what she had planned. It wasn’t until after your parents’ attempted wedding that I had learned she was still in league with Joe Fish, and that she took advantage of the explosion at the castle to fake Lydia’s death and then deliver her to me on Stanpatos Isle.” Lawrence says. “If you had known what Joe was planning to do, would you have tried to stop him?” Ava wonders. “Of course not. He didn’t give a damn about your mother or anyone else at that wedding. He wasn’t about to go out of his way to play the hero.” Dylan says. “We’re drifting off track.” Lawrence notes. “Sorry, please continue.” Dylan urges. “Fast forward a couple of months to the disaster that took place in San Francisco. Andropov briefly did work for Stefan Cat and ended up being shot by Ciara Goo.” Lawrence recalls. “He ended up dying, didn’t he?” Dylan asks. “Kitty Cat saved his life, which is quite lucky for me because Andropov was the only one capable of curing Lydia’s brain tumor and bringing her out of her coma. Anyways, at the end of that whole ordeal, Stefan shot Ciara and she decided to step down as the director of the WPA. With Ciara out of the way, I spoke to a friend of mine inside the government and they were able to get me appointed as the new head of the WPA.” Lawrence reveals. “YOU are the head of the WPA?” Ava asks. “Your mother didn’t tell you? I suspect she knows.” Lawrence says. “She left that part out. Why would you have any interest in being the head of a spy organization?” Ava wonders. “Because it was the only way he could give himself immunity. Not long after Ciara stepped down as director, Lawrence popped up, alive and well, and with a shiny immunity deal in hand courtesy of the WPA, who he was actually in charge of.” Dylan recalls. “The immunity deal was a lovely bonus, but it wasn’t the reason I was so insistent on taking over the WPA. The WPA director would have access to some heavily classified files, files that ONLY the WPA director would be able to view.” Lawrence reveals. “You were looking for information on the three diamond jewels.” Dylan realizes. “Exactly! I knew that if anyone had information on the location of the jewels, as well as the weapons that were designed to be compatible with them, it would be the WPA! Unfortunately the WPA had no information on the locations of the ring or the necklace like I was hoping, but they did have something much more valuable. A list of all of the weapons that were created to be powered by the three jewels.” Lawrence reveals. “So then there were more than just Madeline’s heat wave machine?” Dylan questions. “Madeline’s machine was one of many. Multiple weapons of destruction were created alongside the three diamond jewels, including the one we are currently heading towards.” Lawrence says. “So you plan on destroying the world?!” Ava questions. “Heavens no! Destroying the world would be pointless, my dear! No, my wish is to rule it, for our entire family to rule it! I had hoped that the two of you would be by my side when this day finally came, and though you technically are, you’re still a bit more defiant than I had hoped.” Lawrence says. “Just tell us what you’re planning to do!” Dylan snaps. “Very well. The weapon in question is a satellite dish orbiting the earth, capable of firing lasers so powerful, they could cut right through the earth. Fortunately, I don’t intend on firing them at full power.” Lawrence says. “So then what do you intend on doing with them?” Dylan wonders. “Using them as a bargaining chip. I am going to let the rest of this planet know the power I hold in my hands, and I am going to warn them that unless their leaders surrender control of their nations to me, I will wipe them all from existence.” Lawrence reveals. “You truly are insane…” Ava mutters. “I fail to see what is so insane about any of this.” Lawrence says. “Really? You can’t understand what’s crazy about freaking GENOCIDE?!” Ava questions. “Genocide?! Ava, you have the completely wrong idea! If all goes well, I’m not going to hurt anyone!” Lawrence says. “Just enslave them!” Dylan argues. “The people of this world will still have free will. Quite honestly, I’m not looking to change all that much about how people live their lives. If anything, life will be better once the world is all under one leadership! Think of all of these third world countries that would benefit from finally becoming a part of the rest of the world. Not only that, but by uniting the entire world under one leadership, it will effectively mark the end of any war! Please, tell me exactly how any of this is bad!” Lawrence urges. “It’s all bad, Lawrence! You’re just using those as excuses to justify your sick addiction to power, and in the end, that is what this is ALL about! You don’t give a damn about anyone on this planet, just yourself!” Dylan snaps. “Believe whatever you’d like, it makes no difference to me. I have been working towards this for years, and finally my endgame is within my grasp. I’m not going to let you or anyone else talk me out of this.” Lawrence says. “We aren’t going to talk you out of anything, we’re just going to stop you.” Ava says. Lawrence smirks. “You’ll die trying. I brought the two of you with me because even despite your betrayals, you have been by my side through the majority of this ride. It is an honor and a privilege for you both to witness the dawn of this incredible new age. But if you do anything to try and stop me and my plans…I’ll kill you both.” Lawrence says. “Really? You say you care about the Stanpatos legacy, well Ava and I are that legacy!” Dylan shouts. “Yes, that’s very true. Fortunately for me, if I were to dispose of the both of you, I’d still have one heir left in my darling granddaughter. Harper is young enough where she has yet to be corrupted by any of your many failings. I’ll be able to raise her however I’d like and there isn’t a thing you can do to stop me.” Lawrence says. Lawrence receives a text message and he looks at his phone. “Who’s that?” Ava wonders. “That was Gizelle, letting me know that the helicopter is ready for take off. I hope you’re both ready, we’re about to enter the final chapter.” Lawrence tells them…