We all know what happened to Varian in the first season of "Tangled: The Series." He became the villain, was defeated by Rapunzel, and thrown into prison for a whole year. Yes, he redeemed himself and returned for the third season, but the lack of h...
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As Varian stares at her, wide-eyed and speechless, Eugene holds up his hands. "Come on, guys! As much as I'd love to see all of that, it isn't our decision." He adds, "Your call Sunshine," turning to Rapunzel, as Lance vigorously scratches his Poison Elm breakout against the rocks in the cave.
"Calliope has gotten us this far," Rapunzel says reluctantly.
"Shorty could've gotten us this far," Cassandra retorts.
Suddenly they hear a loud crashing sound, and Lance laughing triumphantly. They look around the corner to see that he has pushed over a rocky pillar, causing a hole to break in the ceiling of the cave. The fallen pillar seems to be a bridge they could climb to get out of the hole. "Lance, you've done it again!" He says aloud to himself.
"Good job, buddy!" Eugene says excitedly, putting his arm around Rapunzel and leading her to the hole in the ceiling. Even Calliope happily prances over to the pillar-bridge.
"Well, you know. I just put my back into it and it just magically appeared," Lance says with a smile.
"You did it by accident while scratching your back, didn't you?" Varian teases, folding his arms.
"Shh! You're not supposed to give away my secrets, little man!" Lance whispers.
Rapunzel begins climbing the pillar, but she stops when she hears Calliope.
"Oh-ho! Great! Looks like I found a way out of here," Calliope says.
Pascal squeaks angrily as Rapunzel sighs. But she chooses to ignore Calliope and continues crawling out of the cave. Once she is out, she glances around. "Wait a minute... We made it!" She says excitedly, yelling down into the cave to the others. "This is the top of the spire!"
"It is?!" Calliope shouts, popping up next to Rapunzel with wide eyes. "I mean, of course it is. And I got us here."
"Yeah, you sure did..." Rapunzel says through gritted teeth as she helps pull Varian out of the cave.
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As the others exit the cave, they stare in amazement at the architecture before them. The Spire Vault is a tall, spiraling, blue building that stretches up into the clouds. The large double doors have a beautiful, swirling pattern painted on them.
"Let me just find that key and we'll get that scroll," Calliope says, pulling out a ring with lots of different keys attached. She puts one into the keyhole and rattles it around, but it doesn't unlock the door. "Ugh, it's never the first one you try..." She tries another one, but it doesn't work either. "...Or the second... or the third..."
The others wait with frustration, and Varian begins to think he could have already picked the lock himself by now... or just blown the door open.
"Oh, these must've gotten rearranged when I was, uh, fending off Kirlok," Calliope says.
Varian rolls his eyes, but then glances down at the ground and sees a huge pawprint in the dirt. His hand begins to tremble as he points at it.
"Uh, speaking of the Kirlok..." Rapunzel says, noticing the pawprint. She walks in the direction the pawprint is facing, and the others follow.
Eugene pushes back some bushes, the expression on his face falling. "I don't like the looks of that," he says. The others follow his gaze and see dozens more pawprints all around a cave, the bones of other animals scattered everywhere.
"Oh, that's bad..." Lance says, hiding behind one of the bushes.
"Uh, guys? I think this is its home," Rapunzel says.
"Ya think?" Cassandra says as they hear the Kirlok roar again. They see it approaching in the distance, and they rush back to Calliope's side.
"Uh, Calliope! Now would be a great time to get that door open," Eugene shouts.
"Please!" Varian adds. "I would really prefer not dying. There are so many scientific feats I have yet to accomplish!"
"I'm trying!" Calliope panics as she continues to try different keys. "Oh, come on! Come on, key!"
The Kirlok rears back, and begins to charge at the gang. "Socky, I need you!" Lance screams.
Calliope whimpers as she flips through key after key. Cassandra grabs her shoulder and shouts, "Open the door! Now!"
"I don't know which is the right key!" Calliope says.
"Watch out!" Rapunzel warns, and they all jump out of the way just in time before the Kirlok barrels through. It slams into the door, and its horns get stuck.
Having fallen on top of Calliope, Rapunzel glares down at her. "What do you mean?! You're the Keeper of the Spire!" She shouts angrily, unable to hold back her irritation any longer. "How could you not know which is the right key?!"
"Because I... I'm not the real Keeper of the Spire," Calliope admits.
Everyone gasps, and Rapunzel shakes her head. "Are you kidding me?!" She yells, grabbing Calliope by the collar. "What do you mean you're not the Keeper?"
Varian has seen lots of different sides of Rapunzel on this trip, but this is one he never thought he'd see in her. He would expect something like this from Cassandra, but Rapunzel? She didn't even act this badly towards him when he was attacking her family. It honestly terrifies him a little bit.
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Having finally dislodged its horns from the Vault's doors, the Kirlok roars and turns back towards them. "Uh, Rapunzel, you might want to—" Eugene tries to say.
"Stay out of this, Eugene!" Rapunzel shouts. But Cassandra sees what Eugene is trying to warn them about.
"Guys, watch out!" Cassandra says, pushing Rapunzel and Calliope out of the way just before the Kirlok pounces on them.
