Morb's gaze swept the crowd. The citizens were frightened and confused.
Good. That would make things easy.
"Settle down, people!" Laddno cried. "Listen to me! I'm the king!"
Morb rolled his eyes. He was growing weary of that fool.
Laddno had been useful, but Morb didn't need him anymore.
"Having trouble controlling your subjects, King Laddno?" Morb said mockingly.
"Perhaps it's time to let your associate take over."
"Huh?" Laddno blinked at him.
Magic energy sparked from Morb's fingertips. "To me!"
The crowd gasped as the ceremonial robe flew off Laddno.
"How dare you do that!" Laddno cried.
Morb ignored him, magically settling the robe over his own head.
Yes, that was better. Much, much better.
"We have to get out of here!" Zann whispered to his friends.
"We can't let Morb see us!"
When he turned to push through the crowd, he saw Mari with her mouth open in shock.
"No!" she whimpered. "He promised my uncle that they would rule together!"
"What did you say?" Perda asked.
"Laddno is your uncle?" Zann said in shock.
Mari's eyes filled with tears. "I didn't tell you before—I wasn't supposed to tell anyone."
A tear trickled down her cheek. "I'm sorry I lied to you, Zann.
Uncle Laddno didn't tell me that his secret partner was Morb.
Otherwise I never would have . . ." Her voice trailed off.
"You never would have what?" Perda demanded.
Zann's eyes widened as he guessed what Mari had been about to say.
"It was you, wasn't it? You stole the relics from the lab!"
"I'm sorry," Mari whimpered. "I thought I was helping my uncle, not Morb!
That's why I couldn't come to your party.
I was helping with Uncle Laddno's big rally."
She glanced over her shoulder at the stage, where Laddno was cowering behind Morb.
"I'd better go and try to help him now."
She rushed away. Zann took a step after her, but Darb stopped him with a hand on his arm.
"Forget about her," he said. "We have bigger problems."
Perda nodded. "Let's go to Teplo's house and see if Fala’s there.
Maybe she has some ideas for what to do next."
They zapped into the hatch.
The sniffer goose greeted them with an irritated honk and a peck at Zann's leg.
There was no sign of Fala.
Darb glanced at the animals' food dishes.
"I think Fala forgot to feed the goose this morning," he said.
"I'll take care of it." Gliss snapped her fingers, and food appeared in one of the bowls.
Darb watched the goose eagerly snap up the food.
"Maybe we should let her go. If things get bad and we can't make it back—"
"Don't say that!" Gliss said with a shiver.
But Perda nodded. "No, he's right.
We shouldn't leave her trapped here—just in case."
As soon as the goose finished eating, Perda opened the hatch.
Darb honked at the goose in her own language.
She cocked her head and flew out.
Zann felt strange as he watched her go.
Did Darb and Perda really think things were going to get that bad?
Then again, with Morb in power, things weren't looking good.
They decided to zap to Venna's campaign headquarters to see if Fala and the others had returned.
But when they arrived, the place was nearly deserted.
Maff was one of the few people there. He hurried over when he spotted the kids.
"Good, you're safe," he said.
"Fala sent me to look for you earlier. We have a plan."
"Great! What is it?" Zann asked.
"The only chance we have to stop my brother is for everyone to join their magic together to defeat him," Maff explained.
"I was about to send an invitation for the entire city to join us again at the palace square to confront him.
Maybe you kids can help me."
"Sure." Zann exchanged a worried look with his friends.
"But do you think that will work? Morb seems really strong."
Maff sighed. "It's our only chance."
He held out his hands. The kids joined him to form a circle and rubbed their palms together.
Zann could feel Maff's strong Red magic mingling with theirs.
Even so, they were all exhausted by the time the Invitation spell was finished.
"Whew!" Maff wiped his brow.
"All right, I think we reached everyone. Let's get back to the square."
When their group arrived outside the palace, the golden stage was gone, and Morb and Laddno were nowhere in sight.
But the square was still crowded. The mood in the air felt dangerous and uncertain.
"Maybe this will work," Zann said to his friends.
"Morb can't use his magic against all of us, right?"
Suddenly a murmur ran through the crowd.
Zann turned to see that Morb had just appeared, standing atop an even taller stage than before.
"Welcome, dear citizens!" he cried in a mocking tone.
Then he bowed. "I see my dear brother Maff has called you back to congratulate me."
"That's not why we're here, Morb!" Maff yelled. "You are not the true king!"
Morb snapped his fingers, and his brother suddenly froze in place.
Gasps and shouts rang out from all around.
"Who's next?" Morb rubbed his hands together.
"Oh wait, I know what you're looking for. What's a celebration without confetti?"
He snapped his fingers again, and confetti rained down over the square.
"Ow!" Perda cried. A piece had landed on her arm.
"It burns!" someone nearby yelled.
Zann ducked as a spark nearly ignited his hair.
The confetti was bursting into flames!
People were running around screaming. "Let's get out of here!" Gliss cried.
Zann grabbed Darb with one hand and Zing's tail with the other. "Zap!"