"Max, how long are we going to keep this up?"

Roxanne and Max stepped into their apartment. Max shrugged at Roxanne's question. "'Til the brainwash spell wears off."

"But what if it doesn't?" Roxanne threw her arms up. "Are we gonna keep our relationship secret?"

"Well..." Max thought about that and sighed. "We need to find out how to undo this." He pulled out his cell phone to call Mona. It rang. "Hello?...Mona, hey, I was just about to call you."

"Hey, Max." Mona greeted. "How's your stepmom?"

"She's fine other than being brainwashed." He answered.

Mona sighed. "I'm sorry. I found out too late to do anything."

"It's okay." Max said honestly. "Do you know how he did it?"

"No. But I'll find out."

"How?"

"By stooping to his level." Mona smirked. "Don't worry. I'll figure something out."

"Thanks, Mona."

"No problem. Bye." Mona hung up and put her phone in her pocket. She sighed and drove to Bradley's house.

XXX

"So, what can I do for you?" Bradley and Mona were sitting at his table drinking coffee. "Since you helped me break Max and Roxanne up, I owe you big."

Mona's heart leaped. This will be easier than she thought! "Well, actually...I want a raise, but no matter how hard I try, my boss won't give me one."

Bradley chuckled. "Mona, I'm powerful, but I'm not that powerful."

"Oh, I know." Mona nodded. "I was actually thinking of brainwashing him to give me a raise."

"Really?" He raised an eyebrow.

"You gave me the idea." Mona said. "So, how did you brainwash Max's stepmom?"

Bradley got up, walked over to a drawer, pulled it open, and pulled out a syringe with a clear liquid. He walked it over to Mona. "This is a liquid from what they made those hypnotizing helmets from the 1990s with. Someone engineered it to act almost instantly. You inject someone with it without them noticing, and tell them whatever it is you like. They'll believe you immediately."

"Will they remember being injected?" She asked.

Bradley shook his head. "No."

"How long will they remain brainwashed?" Mona asked.

"It's permanent." Bradley answered.

"So, there's no loophole or end to the brainwashing?" Mona asked.

"Nope. Unless he's brainwashed to do something else." Bradley replied.

"Okay, but what if he's hospitalized?" Mona wondered. "Wouldn't they find a trace of it in his system?"

"Oh. Yeah, but we can add records of drug addiction to his records." Bradley shrugged.

"Well, then, aren't you afraid that Sylvia's doctors will find the drug and trace it to you?" Mona asked.

"I already took care of that." Bradley smirked. "Goofy is also partially responsible for damaging my reputation. Framing him for illegal drug possession and spousal abuse will definitely put him away for life."

'Son of a bitch.' Mona thought angrily. "How would the police find out? Did you plant something?"

Bradley nodded. "I planted the syringe in his bedroom when they were at the hospital."

"Oh." Mona nodded slowly. "Okay, so, back to the brainwashing, if you inject someone twice soon after the first time, will it have side effects?"

"No. However, if you do it a third time, it might." He replied.

"Okay. Thanks." Mona smiled, grabbed the syringe, and got up. "Wish me luck."

XX

Mona rushed as fast as she could to Max's apartment. She hit some traffic, had trouble finding a parking space, waited awhile for the elevator, and when it finally came, it was full. So, she resorted to running up the stairs. By the time she reached Max's door, she was out of breath. She knocked hard.

"Mona! Hey, what's up?" Max asked.

"We have a problem." Mona announced. She relayed everything Bradley told her.

Max stared at her in shock. "So he filled her up with drugs to brainwash her, and in order to undo it, we fill her up with more?"

"It's the only way." Mona shrugged. "Unless you wanna see your father carried off to jail."

"Good point." Max grabbed his keys, and dragged Mona out of the apartment. "Come on. I'll need backup."

XX

Goofy hummed to himself as he cleaned the kitchen. It had been almost a week since Sylvia came back from the hospital. The phone rang.

"Hello?" Goofy answered.

"Hello, Mr. Goof, it's Dr. Hayes."

"Oh, hiya, Doctor!" Goofy smiled.

"I'm calling about the tests we ran for your wife, Sylvia." Dr. Hayes replied. "We found traces of an illegal brainwashing drug in her system."

Goofy gaped, then smiled. Finally, they have proof! "Gawrsh, that's..."

"I'm just curious, did you know about the illegal drug?" The doctor asked.

Goofy scratched his head. "I thought all drugs are illegal."

"You didn't answer my question."

"Oh. Sorry." Goofy said. "No, I didn't know."

The doctor was quiet for a minute. "Well, I guess I'll let the police handle the rest."

"What?" Goofy was confused.

"Good day, Mr. Goof." He hung up.

Goofy stared at the receiver in shock. What was going on? They were planning on pressing charges, but Max did say Brad'll deny everything. He jumped when the doorbell rang. 'That was fast...' Goofy knocked into the doorway of the kitchen and nearly tripped over a table to get to the door. He opened. It and sighed with relief. "Max."

"Hey, Dad." Max greeted. "You remember Mona."

"Hiya, Mona! A-yuck. It's been a while." Goofy hugged her.

"It has. It's good to see you again, Goofy." Mona smiled. "Where's Sylvia? I'd love to say hi to her."

"Oh, she's upstairs cleanin'." Goofy gestured up the stairs. "Max, may I speak with you for a minute."

"Sure." He turned to Mona. "I'll be up in a minute."

"Okay." Mona headed upstairs.

Max turned to Goofy. "What's up?"

"Sylvia's doctor called. He said he found traces of an illegal drug in Sylvia's system." Goofy explained. "I think the police are coming to investigate."

"How long ago did he call?" Max asked.

"Five minutes, actually."

Max bit his lip. They didn't have a lot of time. He sighed. "Okay. Don't tell them anything until you get a lawyer."

"Can't you...?"

"I'm not qualified yet." Max replied before Goofy finished. "Just stay calm, cool, and collected. If we play our cards right, this will be over quickly."

"Well...okay, if you're sure." Goofy said. "How...?"

"Dad, do you trust me?" Max asked.

"Of course."

"Good. Right now, I need you to trust me." Max looked out the window to make sure the cops haven't arrived yet. "Call a lawyer." He rushed upstairs and found Sylvia and Mona talking in the guest room. Sylvia's back was to the door. Max quietly walked in and gestured to Mona to keep her distracted.

"The diner's doing good. I'm getting lots of tips." Mona was saying.

Max slowly walked to Sylvia and injected her with the syringe. Sylvia stopped in mid-sentence and moaned slightly.

"You okay?" Mona asked, concerned.

"Yeah. I'm just feeling a little light-headed." Sylvia chuckled slightly.

Max walked in place a few paces. "Hey, Sylvia."

Sylvia turned to greet her son-in-law. "Max! It's good to see you!"

"Nice to see you, too." Max replied.

"I need to use the restroom." Mona announced.

"Okay. Do you remember where it is?" Max asked.

"Yeah." Mona left.

Max sighed and turned to Sylvia. "Sylvia, I need you to listen very carefully." Sylvia sat down and gave Max her attention. "Last Thursday, you ran into Bradley Uppercrust III at the supermarket. He injected you with a drug and brainwashed you to stab yourself in the stomach in order to get me to break up with my fiance Roxanne, who happens to be Bradley's ex-wife. Do you understand?"

Sylvia nodded. "Yes." She paused. "You and Roxanne didn't break up, did you?"

Max shook his head. "No, we didn't."

The doorbell rang downstairs. Max looked towards the door and turned back. "Another thing, Sylvia, we never had this conversation."

"Okay."

Mona met Max and Sylvia out in the hall. Sylvia went ahead and Max pulled Mona aside. "Did you find it?"

"Not yet. I need more time." Mona replied.

"Well, hurry, please. I think the cops are here." Max whispered. Mona ran back into Goofy's room. Max sighed and headed downstairs. Sure enough, two detectives were talking with Goofy and Sylvia. "Hey. What's going on?"

Goofy glanced at Max, then turned back to the detectives. "Detectives, this is my son Max."

"How do you do?" One detective asked. "We're here to talk to your parents about a trace of an illegal drug in your stepmothers' system."

"Oh. Will they need a lawyer?" Max did his best to look surprised.

"They will." One detective said.

Goofy addressed Max. "I wasn't able to find a lawyer so soon."

Max sighed and addressed the detectives. "I'm in my third year at Ohio Law School. If I can reach my supervisor and have him fax me a reference, can I represent my father?" The detective nodded. "Thanks. I'll be right back."

XX

Twenty minutes later, Max got his reference, and the group sat in the living room drinking coffee.

"All right, let's get started." A detective pulled out a folder. "Now, Mrs. Goof, why don't we start with that night you stabbed yourself. Do you remember anything from earlier that day?"

Max held his breath. Sylvia closed her eyes and opened them. "Well...I went to the supermarket. Um...I ran into someone...he used to go to the school where I work as a librarian. Bradley Uppercrust III. I don't remember much after that. Three hours later, I find myself on the floor with a knife in my stomach."

"I see. What about after you woke up in the hospital?" Asked the detective.

"I remember telling my husband that my stepson his fiance should break up for our safety." Sylvia said.

The detective raised his eyebrow, bemused. "May I ask why?"

Max sighed again and shook his head. "My fiance's ex-husband is Bradley Uppercrust III. I inadvertently ruined his reputation and his life. He never forgave me for that. So, he brainwashed my stepmother to scare me into breaking up with my fiance."

The detectives stared. "How could you not report it?"

"Because Bradley would've denied it." Max answered.

"Still, with intensive investigation, he would have been convicted." The detective noted with a raised eyebrow.

"Right..." Max said looking down. "Well, look, I'm reporting it now. And I promise to report incidents like this in the future."

"Very well." The detectives stood up. "We'll investigate Mr. Uppercrust and let you know of any developments."

"Thanks, detectives." Goofy said. The detectives left.

Sylvia sighed and turned to Max. "Well, I'm certainly glad that's over. Good thing you didn't really break up with Roxanne."

Max winced and looked nervously at Goofy, who looked shocked. "Sylvia, will you excuse me and my dad for a minute?"

"Sure." Sylvia headed to the kitchen.

Max rubbed the back of the head nervously. Goofy sighed and shook his head. He turned and folded his arms. "You lied to me."

"I thought it would break the brainwash spell." Max admitted. "I was going to tell you. I'm sorry."

"You should've told me."

"I don't tell you everything, remember?" Max replied. "I'm sure you lied to me before."

Goofy didn't say anything for a few minutes. "Thanks for your help tonight. I'll see you when I see you."

"Dad..." Max was shocked. Why was he so hurt by this? He's lied to him before! "Fine. See you."

He stormed out to his car, then remembered Mona. She came up behind him. "God!"

"Actually, my name's Mona." Mona quipped. "I found the syringe." She held it up to show Max, who looked upset. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." They got into the car. Max slumped a little. Goofy was mad because he thought Max didn't trust him. Was his war with Bradley damaging his relationship with his father?

He hoped not.