Remember the antis that first appeared back in book twenty? They were making a return in this book. If a Forlot character was in this very room, then his or her alternative counterpart was here as well. My anti was the first to hug me, and I hugged her back. I soon pulled away and let her know that it was great to see her again.

"Glad that you are delighted," Anti-Margie commented with a huge smile. "We honestly would not be here to assist you in your time of need if your Caleb had not gotten through our Caleb. Speaking of your Caleb, he is the person who contacted our overlord - I mean, leader. Told us that Forlot is in trouble."

"Is that so? Well, I will have to thank Caleb when I see him. And yes, Forlot is in danger."

She crossed her arms over her chest. "What did you do?"

I became surprised that she assumed that I did it. "What is that supposed to mean? Do you really think that I would do something to jeopardize Forlot?"

"Did I accuse you of dooming your town on purpose? No. The reason that I am asking if you had something to do with it is because back when my Caleb was evil, I had the tendency to do something that would displease him. I did those things on purpose without knowing the consequences of them until there was nothing that I could do to fix them." She lowered her voice to a whisper. "Anti-Caleb was always ticked whenever I messed up, but refused to get rid of me."

I rubbed my chin with a finger. "I wonder why he decided to not give you the axe."

"Probably because he does not own an axe." She laughed at her own joke and slapped her knee. "Get it?"

"I get it. So did Caleb explain to Anti-Caleb about what is happening?"

"Nope. He said that it would be best to hear it from you." Anti-Margie put a hand behind her back and pulled out a small bag of popcorn. She picked up one, tossed it into her mouth, and chewed. "I am all ears, Margie."

I let my eyes wander around the room. Alas, there were no other antis. "Where are the other antis? I prefer to tell my story once and not more than that."

"They will be here in three...two...one..."

Poof!

A white cloud appeared behind Anti-Margie and slowly faded. In place of the cloud were the missing antis. Anti-Cindy pumped her fists in the air and kept saying how her newest invention worked.

"Nice work, honey," Anti-Caleb remarked. "Remind me to give you a special reward when we return home."

Anti-Cal, who was being held in his father's arms, spotted me and pointed at me. "There she is, Daddy! There is Forlot's Margie!"

Anti-Caleb ordered all the antis except Anti-Cindy and Anti-Margie to snack and chat with the Forlot characters, and he and his wife came up to me. I shook hands with them and remarked how relieved I was that they were here.

"A pleasure to see you again, Margie Morgan," Caleb's anti said. "Hey. Did I ever apologize for kidnapping you?"

"Not to me, no."

"Well, let me be the first to say how sorry I am that some of the antis and I kidnapped you. We promise to never kidnap and torture another Forlot character again."

"I accept your apology. Thank you."

"Did your Caleb tell you that he called me?"

"No, but Anti-Margie did. She said that you came to help."

"That we are. Plus, we kind of owe Forlot and its people for almost destroying it." He massaged the back of his neck. "Our bad."

"Forget about what you guys did. That is in the past. What is going on is happening as we speak."

Anti-Caleb adjusted his glasses. "What did you do?"

I huffed. "Look, unless Caleb told you that I unleashed a large group of baddies from the spirit realm, what makes you think that I had something to do with it?"

"You just stated that you unleashed a large group of baddies from the spirit realm," Anti-Cindy pointed out the obvious. "Care to elaborate?"

I sighed and explained to the three antis about what led up to this. The Monster Protectors. The spirit who brought me to the lifeless bodies. The orb. The talking snake. How the Monster Protectors have always been evil instead of good and wanted to take over the town of Forlot.

"The only way that we can beat them is that whoever fights against them has to be a Monster Protector. A good Monster Protector," I said. "For example, if Anti-Cindy wanted to fight an evil Monster Protector, she needs to be a good Monster Protector. Good always triumphs over evil."

"Uh, Margie?" Anti-Caleb spoke up. "How can my wife and I be true Monster Protectors if we have no clue how to act like one?"

"That is where Margie and I come in," Anti-Margie stated as she wrapped an arm around my shoulder. "We will train you all."

I looked at her. "You are a Monster Protector?"

"Yep. I am a certified Monster Protector. Just because I am the opposite of you does not mean that I am not you."

Later, the good characters and the good antis were in the mansion's backyard and training. Even Margaret and Anti-Margaret were assisting me and my anti with all the training.

The older kids were not the only ones who wanted to be Monster Protectors. Tamara, Thumbelina, and Amy desired to help. The only problem was that they were babies. I did not want them to be hurt or killed, so I came up with the perfect solution. I gave each of them a baby instrument. They were going to be our Monster Protector band.