Episode Three – Bad Company

Disclaimer: I Own Nothing

We first open up the episode at a familiar place called 'Canal Street Electronics', where we then see that Jake, Trixie and Rose were all just standing around on the inside, while Spud was apparently searching for something very specific on the immediate premises. Now, Fu Dog was, essentially, running around ragged, trying to deal with the mess that the young teenager was making. But, finally, he looked upward towards Jake and the girls and just came right out and said-

"Uh, would somebody mind explaining to me what Potato Boy over there is trying to find in this stinkin' shop already? You know, before actually breaks some irreplaceable while he's doing all of this searching of his…?"

- All while throwing in his trademark "agoogoogoo"s in the right places while he was at it. But, in any event, this is where Jake responds to the semi-rhetorical question by saying-

"Well, to put it all in the shortest and simplest, summarized version possible for ya, Fu-Dog; Spud here feels that we should all have a little…extra protection for the rest of this week, if you know what I'm sayin', Dog…"

"Um-uh, what kind of protection are we…um-uh…talking about here, exactly, um-uh, kid…?" said a noticeably concerned Fu-Dog

"What do you think, Fu-Dog…?" said Rose, in a deadpan sort of way, after letting out a light sigh first

"I'll give you hint, Fu; it's a word that rhymes with what this is likely going to turn out to be; tragic" said Trixie in a similarly deadpan sort of way, right before she gives herself a face-palm

"Oh…oh…" said Fu Dog as he began to put the pieces together on what Spud was after "Oh, no-no, no way there, Potato boy, there is no way on this earth, or any other for that matter, that that sort of idea won't end in tears, I am being serious with you on that one, do you hear me…?"

"Yeah, Spud…" said Jake in an attempt to reason with his friend "…and besides, why do you still think that we even need this kind of level of protection in first place anyways, Bro? I mean seriously, Spud…"

"Seriously, nothing, Jacob Luke Long…!" said Spud in a very intense tone as a response "You of all people should know how important it is to have protection from the unknown on days as important as this and the rest of the week, seriously…!"

"Well, yeah, sure, Spud, maybe in the past, okay. But, come on dude, things have totally chilled down around here since then. What's the worst that could happen now, huh, bro…?" said Jake in a very confident tone, which only prompted Rose to retort with the following deadpan comment-

"You'd think you'd have learned by now, Jake"

It was at that very moment that the scene then transitioned to a very run-down looking building of some kind, where we see that a pair of mysterious-looking figures, wearing trench coats and hats, was carefully approaching it. One was considerably taller than the other one and when he started talking, it was quickly revealed that he was none other Professor Sigmund Brock himself again. Apparently, Brock was telling his associate (who, by a sheer glimpse of his red eyes alone, could easily be recognized as the mysterious figure that Brock had spent the last two episodes with) that, while the last few days had been rather trying for them both, they were about to see the results of all of their hard work and soon. This was when they both entered the run-down building together and when Brock began to call out to some unseen people, only to have his call quickly responded to by a fairly large group of people. However, this aforementioned large group remained completely hidden within the shadows, until Brock asked them all to come into what little light was available. And when they did, the group soon revealed themselves to be a large collection of past characters, consisting of: the Dark Wizard/Businessman, Eli Excelsior Panderus; The Gorgon Sister; Fury, Euryale and Medusa; A Kelpie, Tiburon the one-eyed, hook-handed Shark man terrorist from "Feeding Frenzy"; a Pooka, the Ghost of Shackles Jack from "A Ghost Story" and Vicki Fickling the Nerdy Siren from "Siren Says".

It was at that moment that Brock's next words were-

"Alright, boys and girls, shall we get started now…?"

(New Opening Sequence)

We then cut right back to the shop known as Canal Street Electronics, where we see that Jake was still trying to convince Spud not to go through with his plan to gain magical assistance for the rest of their day and the rest of their week. There was much talking and reasoning involved with their conversation, mostly with Jake pointing out the following points; why he understood why Spud was so paranoid, given the recent Kumo attacks; why he wants a peaceful last of week of summer too; why he's worried about Spud's paranoia, seeing as it's been occupying his mind for quite some time (the day of the combination Kumo incident, once it was dealt with, and the day afterwards), and why he'd rather not give his grandfather something else to be freaked out about in addition the recent Kumo problem. Trixie, Rose and Fu-Dog all also got involved into the conversation as it went on, with the latter backing up Jake on his fourth and final point. But in the end, it was all for naught, because Spud was determined to find some way to make sure that nothing ever interrupted his Last Week of Summer fun time schedule ever again. That was when the young teenager noticed what looked like a magical flier of some kind and it was advertising something called the "Pretty Pixie Priority Planning Palace" (Try saying that three times fast). This was, apparently, a company that specialized in hiring pixies that excelled in prioritizing and planning, which actually makes them excellent secretaries and business assistants.

Seeing this flier made Spud feel both very happy and relieved, and when he saw that he could afford a week's worth of pixie planning and prioritizing, he wanted to immediately request the company's services, if not sooner. However, Fu-Dog felt the need to point out that this was probably not be the best solution for Spud's little 'dilemma'. And that was because Pixies who live just regular lives can be very perfectionist in nature already, which makes the prospect of pixies who specialize specifically in being perfectionists somewhat unsuitable for a magically-inexperienced human like Spud. But, unfortunately, once again; Spud paid these warnings completely no mind and made it clear that he intended to call the "Pretty Pixie Priority Planning Palace" and request the aid of one of their pixies.

Meanwhile, back at the old, run-down looking building somewhere elsewhere, Professor Sigmund Brock and his mysterious, unnamed associate were both addressing their group of assembled lesser known magical villains and none of them were looking particularly happy at this time. That was only made all the more clear by the fact that when Brock attempted to sound congenial towards all of them, the next words to be spoken were a "skip the pleasantries" from Eli Panderus. Apparently, the group was anxious to get whatever job Brock had in mind for them over and done with. But Brock himself had a few other things that he had to go over with them first. For one thing; he had to formally introduce them all to his mysterious associate; the one whom he was placing in charge of this particular group of villains. And, after removing his trench coat disguise, this very same associate finally revealed his full appearance for everyone to see.

Apparently, he was a character that was about the same height and build as Jake Long himself. He wore a black body glove underneath a suit of armor that covered up his entire torso region and that very same suit of armor was a dark shade of gray and had upwards-facing shoulder-guards that each had three spikes on them of an even darker shade of gray. The figure also had a matching pair of armored gloves to go with this suit of armor of his and an insignia in the form of a stylized W right on his chest, it was colored a bright silver-esque shade of gray, the same color as the belt that he wore around his waist, and that very same belt also had various strawberry-pink colored bulges on it, solely for the sake of style. Now, as far as his legs went; those were both protected by a pair of bright silver-colored boots with dark silver-colored soles underneath that each had two pointed spikes, which protruded forwards and gave the appearance of Dragon's feet. The boots themselves went up all of the way towards the figure's kneecaps, which, they themselves, were both protected by a pair of blood-red colored kneecap-guards in the shape of two stylized Ws. And, finally, his head was completely covered up by a mask/helmet that had dark gray knobs on both sides and a W-shaped mouth dent and eye visor, which allowed only his blood red eyes to be perfectly visible. This was the person whom Professor Sigmund Brock was officially making the leader of this ragtag band of baddies; the one who has always been there as Sigmund Brock's associate for the past two episodes; the one known as Ekaj Gnol.

Then, once he was finally introduced to everyone, Professor Sigmund Brock then proceeded to tell the sinister looking group that he had even come up with an official name for their little alliance, an acronym of a name, to be precise and it was; the Devious Organization of Revenge Craving Sneaks. The problem was that acronym actually spelled an incorrectly spelled version of the word Dorks; D.O.R.C.S. This, admittedly, was not something that Professor Brock actually took the time to notice, but, now that he did notice it, he was somewhat embarrassed by it. Not that that really mattered to all Ekaj that much, since, right after Brock's little moment of embarrassment, the short armored figure simply came right out and said-

"What does it matter what we call ourselves? It seems to me that our main objective should be the true focus of all our attention…"

Now, this was first time we actually hear Ekaj speak and his voice was somewhat low and distorted, most likely due to his mask/helmet. However, that actually gave a rather menacing feel to his character, at least in the eyes of some of the other D.O.R.C.S. members. But, in any event, Ekaj then began to explain to his new teammates that they all have a common interest between them; they all desire revenge for all of the past discretions that they've had to endure. Or, more specifically; they all desired revenge against Jake and his 'entourage of helpers' for all of the discretions that they've caused, none more so than Ekaj Gnol himself, particularly towards the 'helpers', whom he dubbed the main factor in all of their past defeats and humiliation in some way or another. Anyways, his words soon began to hit a cord within most of the newly formed group and they all reluctantly agreed to work with him if vengeance was main goal at the end of the day. However, Tiburon, Shackles Jack and the Kelpie were not as sure about all of this, since their feud really was with Jake Long himself. But that all came to an end when the armored masked figure told them that, if they agreed to work with him, he'd put into action a plan that would put Jake out of commission for good, both as a dragon and as a human.

This is the thing that started to sway the last remaining members of the group and to really get them all off on the right foot; Ekaj made them this offer for a signing bonus; he'd give them all three chances to take down Jake and company, using their own plans and strategies, just so long as they did them all together as a group. And if they succeeded in one of those three attempts, then the mission of D.O.R.C.S. would be complete. But, if they all should fail, then, from that moment onwards, Ekaj would be calling all of the shots for the D.O.R.C.S., unconditionally, until they succeeded in their mission for revenge. Now, since these terms did seem reasonable enough, the rest of the group agreed to them and thus, they began to prepare to put one of these three free attempts into action. This was, actually, when Professor Brock decided to take his leave, and it was on the grounds of the fact that he had other projects to see to at this time. Thus, the D.O.R.C.S. group was finally left alone to their own devices and to their own plans for revenge.

Meanwhile, in an alley just a few feet away from a nearby bus-stop, we see that Jake and his 3 friends were all just standing around on the inside of it. This was, apparently, because this was the spot where Spud was supposed be delivered his new pixie. Now, of course, Jake and the girls were all still trying to sway Spud out of this extreme course of action, particularly Jake, who has had personal experience with this particular type of shortcut. But, their friend made it quite clear that his mind was made up on this particular matter. And it was around this very same time frame that the delivery pixie, Petite, soon made her appearance, with a box around the same size as her well in tow. She went over the usual type of protocol for this sort of delivery from the "Pretty Pixie Priority Planning Palace" and after Spud had finally signed for it and everything, Petite went along well on her merry way, leaving Spud to open up his recently received magical package.

He quickly opened up the box and then just barely avoided getting hit in the face by an explosion of colorful pixie dust used for one of the most grandiose entrances ever before seen by Arthur P. Spudinski. However, that was soon followed up by an unusually anticlimactic revelation of a pixie dressed up in a business suit, holding a clipboard in one hand, while the other hand was being held behind his back in a very professional manner. He was also wearing a pair of glasses and had his hair combed in a manner that was befitting of a business secretary. This was the very same pixie that Spud had just ordered for himself, and that very same pixie soon introduced himself as George Flutteringson; schedule master and priority planner extraordinaire. He, quickly, made himself familiar with Spud and the other three teenagers with him and even began to explain his full credentials and references, so as to prove that he was truly legitimate and fully qualified for his current assignment. That was when Spud proceeded to explain to his new pixie what their current arrangement was; George's job was to help Spud enforce the Last Week of Summer fun time schedule for the rest of the week and to make sure that the schedule never veered off course in any unfixable way. What's even more so; George was expected to begin carrying out this very specific assignment by accompanying Spud and the gang to the mall, where they were all pre-scheduled to wander around aimlessly, while having a good time in the process.

Now, George assured Spud that he would not fail to perform in any of these duties and that he would make sure, personally, that the schedule would never go off track again, even by a little bit. This, actually, made Jake and the girls feel a little bit curious, but, it also made Spud feel all the more confident that they were "back in business" so to speak. And once all of that was, more or less, settled; a public bus then began to approach the very same stop that was most closest to the group and their alley. A bus that was, as Jake himself pointed out, the exact same one that group was intending to take in order to get them all to the mall. So, without a hint of stalling from any one of them, the four teenagers all began to board the bus, with Spud 'subtly' hiding George underneath his green-colored skull cap, leaving only a pixie shaped indention underneath it that, for some strange reason, nobody else took notice of (go figure). However, what none of the four teenagers was able to take notice of at this point was the fact that they were all, once again, being followed and watched from afar by a small group of people. But, the only difference this time around was the fact that it wasn't a group of Brock's human associates that were doing all of the watching and following. No-no, this time around, it was Tiburon and the three Gorgon Sisters that were doing all of the stalking and observing of our little teenaged foursome. And they were all, no doubt, filled with plans of payback and revenge while they were all doing this, plans that were, no doubt directed at Jake and his friends.

(Commercial Break)

As the bus that was currently carrying our four teenaged protagonists continued to zoom right down the road at a legally acceptable pace, Tiburon and his three gorgon sibling associates were all following very closely behind via their jumping across the building rooftops. Although, it should probably be noted that it was only Tiburon who was doing the actual running and jumping, while the three gorgon sisters were all simply using their snake hair to do all of their movements for them (ala Dr. Octopus). Still though, they were all doing a very good job when it came to keeping up with the bus that held their selected prey. And, what's even more so, that very same aforementioned prey remained completely oblivious to their current pursuers. This was because they would soon have other things to have weighing on their minds.

For you see, on the inside of this moderately crowded, public bus, Jake and his three friends were all seated among two adjacent seats placed right near the very middle. And, in one of those very same seats, found right within the right hand-side aisle of the bus, Jake and Rose were both seated right next to one another (naturally), holding their hands together rather tenderly, no less. As for Trixie and Spud, well, they were both seated right next to one another on the left hand-side aisle of the bus, on the complete opposing seat as Jake and Rose. Now, Spud decided to try and check in on George while the latter was still hiding underneath the former's skull cap, and he was doing rather well, with the possible exception of his discomfort with the smell of Spud's chosen brand of shampoo. But, when George began to observe his surroundings via him swiveling underneath the brim of Spud's green skullcap, the professional pixie took notice of something that caused him to start worrying, even if by a little bit. For you see, when George took a look outside, via the window that came with Trixie and Spud's seat, he took notice of Tiburon and the three Gorgon sisters as they were all moving side-by-side with the bus from a distance via running across the building rooftops, just like they were doing before.

Now, George was greatly tempted to alert Spud and the others of what he just saw, but before he could, he not only remembered that they were all in public, but, he also thought another way to handle this type of situation. So, he ducked back underneath Spud's green-colored skullcap, without the brown-haired human's knowledge of it happening, I might add. And while he did so, Spud and the other three teenagers were all talking about what they were all going to do when they all got to the mall. However, in the midst of their little conversation, they all heard a voice from nearby saying something about how hard it was for one to do their makeup on a bus, especially when it came to making sure not to make smudges on your face. Rose almost immediately recognized the voice that she just heard and, when she looked in the direction from whence it came, she saw that it was, sure enough, none other than her twin sister, Marigold. She was currently applying her mascara at this particular moment, but, even so; she was still sitting close enough to her sister and her boyfriend that Rose was surprised that she hadn't noticed them yet.

Anyways, Rose immediately informed Jake of what she just found out and he was also somewhat surprised by the fact that his girlfriend's twin sister was currently on the same bus with them, since Rose already made it quite clear with him when she first told him that the two sisters do their very best to stay out of each other's way. Still though, the young couple decided that they really didn't consider this a real problem in long run, no matter how unexpected it might have been. However, while all of this was going on, George was using almost all of his time underneath Spud's Skullcap to go through one of his company issued spell books. Apparently, every Pixie that is found within George's company of employment is issued a pixie spell book in order to help them out with their jobs. Anyways, George soon finds just the spell that he was looking for; one that was both very effective in its initial purpose and yet, very simplistic in its very existence, which worked rather well with George's initial view of the situation regarding Tiburon and the Gorgon sisters, since he viewed that very same scenario as a rather simple inconvenience that could be easily dealt with. Anyhow, George then began to cast the very simplistic spell of his choosing, which resulted in the creation of a rather small orb made entirely of blue energy, and then, he sent that very same orb off, as it passed right through Spud's skullcap and one of the bus' tightly sealed up windows without anybody else so much as noticing a single thing.

The orb, almost immediately, began to grow out bigger and bigger as it floated off through the open air and towards Tiburon and the three Gorgon females. And, then, just when it started to like the aforementioned quartet was starting to feel rather confident about catching up with the very same bus that they had all tailing, something ended up hindering them. For you see, when the magical blue orb finally made its way to a few feet ahead of the villainous quartet, it, somehow, created a magical blue colored wall right in front of them and then, that very same wall, somehow, managed to specifically place all four of them on the inside of a nearby trash bin on the street level. This, of course, made George feel great deal proud about what he just did and when Spud took notice of this pride, he asked what he was so happy about, to which the Pixie gleefully responded with-

"Oh, nothing, sir, absolutely nothing…"

Meanwhile, back on Tiburon's end, with the three Gorgon sisters still by his side, so to speak; they were all still cleaning themselves off after they had all managed to pull themselves out of the trash bin that they had all landed on the inside of. Naturally, none of them was feeling very happy about any of this at this point, particularly the Gorgons, who were all now criticizing Tiburon's plan for a full-frontal assault against their enemies. But, Tiburon assured them all that he would find a way, personally, to make this plan of his work out, because this was what his intentions have been for the longest time; revenge.

It is there that we are given a sudden flashback sequence, which gives us a far more detailed view of what occurred during the very first episode. For you see, during that very same episode, when Squadron A apparently had the Spectris Squadron break out at least three of the prisoners being held within the Oceanus Maximum Security Prison complex, there were a few more unseen factors that were involved before that mission was officially completed. For one thing; those three prison cells that were apparently emptied out when the Merpeople guards swam right through that glittering, purple mist were actually not emptied out at all. They were still being occupied by the same old prisoners as before; the shark-man himself, angry old Tiburon, the nerdy teen Siren, Vicki Fickling, and the Kelpie that was, more or less, revealed to be the same one from "Something Fishy this way comes". Apparently, both Vicki and Tiburon were sent away to this prison complex after their respective defeats in their debut episodes, as was this Kelpie after his. But, when the Merpeople guards of the prison actually swam right through the purple mist in the first episode, they were, apparently, affected by a spell of some kind that made the three prisoners invisible and inaudible to them, even though they were nowhere near being able to escape from their cells on their own. This actually allowed the Spectris squadron to phase back into the prison and "deal" with the guards in their own way, so that they could steal their keys from them and release Tiburon and others from their cells, thus enabling their escape. And, needless to say, Tiburon had nothing but his lust for revenge weighing on his shark humanoid mind.

Anyways, we then cut right back to the present day, where we see that Tiburon is, once again, leading the Gorgon sisters on a rooftop run, only this time; he was using his nose and keen sense of smell as means to find Jake and the others. This, eventually, led them all to the nearest mall that they could find, a new mall that was built during the summer and that Jake and his friends were all meaning to check out, and the whole entire time; Tiburon was going on and on about how he wasn't going to waste any time when it came ripping apart his enemies with his own clawed hand, his hook and his own numerous rows of shark-esque teeth. Now, on this way of thinking, the gorgons all had to agree with Tiburon, since they too would prefer to handle their revenge in a direct manner. But, while all of that was going on, on the outside, Jake and his friends were all just entering the mall together. This was when Spud decided to remind everyone that they were all there to spend their time having non-stop fun, which the others all assured him that they would do, no questions asked about that one at all.

The group then began to go their separate ways for the time being, with Jake going off in one direction, while Trixie and Rose both went off into another. Eventually, Spud was left all alone, with only the small pixie that he was secretly keeping underneath skullcap to keep him company. Spud then decided to remind George that his job was to make sure that nothing interfered with this scheduled day at the mall under any circumstances, to which George responded with a statement about how he completely understood that job to a T. Anyways, Jake was still going about on his merry little way; wandering about, all aimlessly, in the hopes of finding a new store that, somehow, piqued his interests. That was when he found a new store that did just that; an indoor wax museum of famous pop singing-sensations, Rap and Hip-Hop singers, Skate-boarding athletes and funny people in Animal-themed costumes (what are the odds, am I right?). Jake didn't waste so much as a single second when it came to going inside that particular store, but, while he was doing that, he failed to notice that a person hidden within the shadows was following him from afar, and that very same person was quite large by comparison to our young dragon in disguise.

Meanwhile, somewhere, elsewhere; Rose and Trixie were both also just entering a nice store that piqued their respective interests, their shared interests to be exact. It was a retail clothing store by the name of "Club Banana" and that just made the two girls very, very, very happy. For you see, the two of them both agreed that even girls who are either Tomboys or Girls of Action, like themselves, deserve the chance to look fashionable, without becoming shallow, fashion drones in the process. And when you live in a big city like New York, of all places; another Club Banana opening up is always a welcomed change. Anyways, when the two of them finally made it into the interior of the Club Banana clothing store, they were both all set to go and find their respective desires for fashion; with Rose wanting to find a nice pair strong, sturdy combat boots, and Trixie wanting to buy a lovely pair of fingerless motorcycle gloves. However, just when the two of them were going to go rummage through the retail store, Rose felt herself bumping into someone who was also just entering Club Banana. Now, Rose, of course, being the polite girl that she was, was quick to apologize for the collision. But, instead of getting a similarly polite response from the other person, the latter simply replied by saying that the former should be sorry and that she should watch where she's going from now on.

It was at that very moment that Rose quickly identified the other mall-goer as none other than her twin sister, Marigold, having apparently chosen the exact same bus stop as her younger twin sister, as well as the exact same store to peruse for clothes. Now, it was that very moment that the two blonde-haired twin sisters began to converse with one another, mostly about what the other one was doing there; in both the Club Banana store in general and within the very mall itself. But, when Marigold simply responded by saying that she was doing a little bit of shopping, Rose replied by saying that she and Trixie were also planning on doing that, to which Marigold mocking responded to by saying that it was strange that Rose would want anything within the same vein as fashionable clothes, right before she continued to walk into Club Banana with a chuckle at Rose's expense. Now, this, of course, made Rose rather angry, and Trixie even commented that it was no wonder that Marigold didn't have any real friends, as Rose had once told her about in the past. But, in the end; the two of them both decided that they weren't going to let this ruin their shopping spree day in the very least. So, they both just brushed it all off and then, they both just kept on going on about their day with a pair of smiles on their respective faces. Unaware of the fact that Marigold had overheard the entirety of that "no real friends" crack from Trixie and responded to it by saying to herself-

"Hmph, "No real friends", huh; well, we'll, like, just have to wait and see, to find out who has the most friends, now, won't we Rosy dear? Real or otherwise; I mean, like, with my magnificent fashion sense and Club Banana's, like, vast variety of fashionable clothing, I'll soon be, like, needing a really large stick to keep away the many people who'll be, like, begging to be my friend and stuff. Now then, like, let me see here…"

It was from that exact moment on that our dear little Marigold quickly began to rummage through Club Banana's vast inventory of fashionable clothing. But, while she was doing all of that, she failed to notice that a mysterious trio of girls was quietly walking into the exact same retail store as her, in a very suspicious manner no less as well. And, if she had actually taken the time to get a better look at the aforementioned trio, she might have had the chance to notice that, despite their normal, casual attire; these three girls were green and they had glowing red eyes that they were partly trying to conceal, all while they were fast approaching Trixie and Rose at their current part of the store, I am also inclined to add. Meanwhile, Spud had also found his way towards the entrance of a store that was quite interesting in his eyes; it was a store that sold wacky caricatures of the customers who paid for them (again, what are the odds). That was when he checked up on George, who was still hiding underneath his hat, and when he took the opportunity to remind him (once again) that he was to make sure that nothing interfered with his schedule for the day, nothing in any possible way at all. George (once again) assured Spud that he intended to do his job in that regard and that he would allow no distractions to Spud's schedule, no matter what they were. Then, just as soon as Spud had officially entered the caricature store, we then cut right back to Jake, who was still marveling at all of the contents of the store he chose to enter. With all of the wax models of all of the famous singers, skateboarders and funny animal costume wearers, as well as all of the exhibits containing their priceless memorabilia, Jake couldn't help but feel that if any more of this type of stuff was revealed to him, then he might as well have 'been in heaven'. Especially when he found out that the store was actually selling exact miniature versions of the wax models that were shown, as well as exact replicas of the memorabilia on display. However, it was at that exact moment when the young teenager felt someone grab him by the shirt from behind and then pin him to the closest wall that they could find so that he could see who his assailant was. It was Tiburon, to be exact, and, with a fearsome, toothy smile, his next words to Jake were-

"Why wait until then, my dear old amigo? I can send you right up to the angels right now…"

-right before he started to chuckle wickedly and we are given a close-up of Jake's shocked and worried face

(Commercial Break)

Now, needless to say, Spud was truly enjoying all of the things that he was finding within the wacky caricature store. There were all sorts of different frames for the caricatures to be placed within, once they were purchased, and a variety of different types of paper for them all to be drawn/printed down upon. But, what really caught Spud's eye was the fact the store was actually putting up examples of their caricature styles on display for all to see in their various types of designs, paper and frames to go along with them. Spud definitely wanted to see if he had money to pay for one now. But, while he was doing just that, he failed to notice that two people were actually walking right up to him from behind, at least up until one of them actually forcefully pushed his hat over his eyes from behind.

Fortunately though, George's presence was never actually revealed to anyone, since Spud's hat never actually left his head, physically. But, even so, the very action of this move still left Spud feeling both very surprised and rather annoyed, which only increased when he found out who did it to him in the first place. For you see, when our dear Arthur P. Spudinski first heard the sound of a familiar type of laughter, he immediately turned around and saw that, as he initially suspected, it was none other than Brad Morton the bully jock, who was messing with him at this point. And then, as was per his usual shtick; Brad then began bully, as well as berate, Spud for his general interest in caricatures and drawings as a whole. Now, this was something that Spud had grown quite accustomed to by now, but, what really caught the young teenager by surprise was the fact that Brad was not alone at this particular moment. He was with yet another teenager who was wearing a pair of quite pronounced thick-framed glasses. In fact, the more that Spud looked over this new "associate" of Brad Morton's, the more he couldn't help but notice that this new young male face was the very spitting image of the stereotypical nerd archetype. Not that Spud was the type of person who would actually blurt out that fact verbally, mind you, but still.

Anyways, as Brad himself pointed out; this new "Nerd", who went by the name of Edgar by the way, was, in fact, Brad's new acting yes-man and gofer, having apparently, been 'hired' recently by Mr. Morton over the course of the summer months. And, as Spud could quite plainly see, Edgar was more than qualified for this new 'job' of his, as he pretty much agreed with practically everything that Brad had said so far. He didn't even disagree with the jock when he essentially insulted Edgar as he explained why he decided to hire a 'geek' to be his personal assistant, much to Spud's quiet annoyance and his even quieter sympathy. Anyways, Brad then proceeded to chastise poor Spud in the usual manner of his choosing and even mockingly asked him where the rest of his 'loser friends' were at this time. Now, Spud continued to try and ignore this bothersome bully, no matter how hard that was for him to do, but, George the pixie, on the other, was not as patient as the aforementioned teenaged-boy. For you see; not only was Brad's constant messing around with Spud's hat causing the pixie some minor discomfort, but, George could also not help but feel that all of this was also going to end up messing up the schedule that Spud had set in some way or another.

So, in an effort to deal with this situation right here and right now; George immediately turned towards his standard issue spell book again and then he secretly sent out a spell that set into motion a chain of events that led to Brad accidentally breaking and damaging some the expensive paper and stylized frames. This caused one of the employees of the store to catch wind of this little "accident" in a red hot minute and then he almost immediately implemented the standard "you break it, you buy it" policy on Brad, which the latter had no choice but to honor (it's a good thing that he had a sufficient amount of an allowance to cover for it, that's all that I can say). Now, this was when Spud decided to keep going on about his day as a patron of this store, but, he most definitely found something a little bit off about what he had just seen transpire to his previously bullying acquaintance. He decided to secretly confront George about what had just happened; since he couldn't help but feel like there was some form of magic involved within what had just befallen Brad. And, eventually, George did, reluctantly, come clean about what he had just done, but managed to talk his way out of trouble by pointing out that he was merely doing his assigned job; making sure nothing that ruined Spud's scheduled day of fun, as were the latter's initial orders when he first hired the pixie. So, faced with that type of sound reasoning, Spud decided to give George just a little of bit of leeway on this one, for now. Just so long as he didn't let Spud catch him using any more extreme methods when it came to keeping Spud on schedule, a condition that George agreed to follow, with a smile placed all across his tiny little pixie face. This prompted our Arthur P. Spudinski to essentially let the matter drop for now, especially since, as he himself would put it; "A bully like Brad is probably the most dangerous thing to his schedule that they're likely to find within a mall of all places".

And then, almost as if it were in a direct response to what Spud had just said about the dangers to his schedule, we then cut right back to where Jake Long was at this current time, while he was still being manhandled by Tiburon, no less, I should also be adding as well.

"Ah, señor Jacob Luke Long; the American Dragon, as well as mi querido viejo amigo reptil Del pasado (my dear old reptilian friend from the past), did you miss me, little ¿dragón?" is what Tiburon said as he took Jake and smashed him against another hard object found within the store and then another and another.

The only store employee that could have even remotely taken notice of any of this was the one who was at the cash register counter, and he was far too busy listening to his headphone music and reading a newspaper to be bothered by such things. Anyways, Tiburon, eventually, pinned Jake against another wall when he was finally done smacking him around. And since he wasn't being rough enough on the boy for him to lose consciousness or suffer anything more than a little soreness here and there, he proceeded to say to Jake-

"You did not really think that you had seen the last of Francisco Tiburon, did you? Have heard nothing about who I am? I am the Terror of terrors in all of Sharkdom; I am the Scourge of all creatures found on both land and sea; I am the Master of all the beasts that live within the marine world; I am the deliverer of lost souls to the locker of old señor Davy Jones himself! But, for right now, what's even more importante for me to say is that I shall also be the one who will finally take a huge bite out of the American Dragon himself…"

However, while Tiburon was essentially going on and on about himself at this point, Jake immediately took notice of something that was, currently, the closest thing to him at present; an organized line of colorful silly string spray-cans that were all currently on sale within the store (all of them based on the cans that were previously owned by a famous entertainer known for his hilarious purple mongoose costume). He immediately reached for one while the evil Shark-Man was too busy rattling off his entire resume to the young teenager, and then, when Tiburon was, at last, done with his little rant and proceeded to make that "bite" comment towards Jake, the latter then took this as an opportunity to spray Tiburon right in the face with his colorful silly string spray-can. This not only allowed him to have the chance to escape from the fish-man's powerful grip, but, it also allowed him the chance to take on his full American Dragon form so that he could be ready for battle against him. Jake then decided to take the next moments right afterwards as an opportunity to deliver a swift tail-whip move right towards Tiburon's exposed stomach, all while the humanoid Shark creature was still trying to get the silly string off of his face and out of his eye. But, even after delivering that exact same aggressive move to his opponent's abdomen, Jake still felt the need to say-

"You know, Tiburon, how 'bout, instead of you being the fish-guy to ever take a huge bite out of me, I be the first dragon to ever give you an Ogre sized beat-down?!"

Now, by this point, Tiburon had already managed to get most of the silly string off of him and, after hearing Jake's statement, he decided to be simply direct about all of this and then charged at the red and yellow dragon directly, after giving a brief, low-toned growl. Suffice it to say; the battle was most definitely on at that exact moment. Not that the cash register employee took notice of any of it, seeing as he was still lost in both his music and his newspaper. But, in any event, we then cut right back to the Club Banana store, where we see that both Trixie and Rose were both still trying to find something that was both pretty and fashionable, and yet still unique and within their own personal styles of dressing. Rose even felt the need to ask Trixie the following question—

"Tell me something, Trixie; do think that this dress looks better on me in bright emerald green or in dark amethyst purple? I mean, I-I-I do like to wear stuff that is on the bright and vibrantly colorful side every once in a while, but, not when it makes me look too…dainty or delicate, if you know what I mean, hehehe…"

But, before Ms. Trixie Carter could even respond to that question, let alone even answer it properly, the two of them were suddenly knocked right into the Club Banana store room in the back for some strange reason, after being assaulted by a mysterious and almost magical force that suddenly came over them, straight from nowhere. They both landed right into a pile of cardboard boxes, of all places, and, just when they were both starting to pick themselves back up from this apparent sudden turn of events, their apparent attackers quickly made themselves known to the two young teenagers in that very instant, by entering the store room themselves in a very dramatic manner. It was none other than the same group of mysterious strangers that previously entered the Club Banana store in the last act. And, after a little magic was applied to their otherwise regular-looking civilian clothing, they were all soon revealed to be none other than the three Gorgon Sisters themselves; Fury, Euryale and Medusa, much to Trixie's complete shock and horror. Why, even Rose herself was a tad bit surprised and frightened by the sight of these three evil sisters being together and out and about again, and this was the first time that she ever actually laid eyes upon any of them, after only hearing about them from Jake, Trixie and Spud.

But, in any event, the three Gorgon sisters then proceeded to launch their attack upon the two human teenagers, barely even bothering to question who the new blonde-haired human girl that they were currently attacking even was as an individual. Oh, sure, they might have taken the occasional moment or two to ask each other briefly about the subject. But, as far as Fury was concerned, it really didn't matter all that much, since "any friend of Trixie Carter's is an enemy of theirs". So, the three sisters all simply continued to press on with their attack, but, while they were doing so, Rose couldn't help but notice that all they were using to mount this assault were their basic energy beam powers and their living, sentient snake hair, nothing more, nothing less, and suffice it to say, that was starting to make Rose wonder just a little bit. However, while she was doing just that, the three Gorgon sisters were all starting to talk amongst themselves again, and, the gist of their conversation was about how Medusa and Euryale were both just so glad that something was finally going their way for a change.

This made Fury annoyed enough to snap at them both for a brief angsty moment and, right after she was finished doing just that and they all continued with their initial attack, we are given yet another flashback sequence to observe. This time, we are given a more in-depth look at what sort of "treasure" that Professor Sigmund Brock's employed Squadron B. recovered from the Hudson River in the first episode. Apparently, their "treasure" was Euryale and Medusa while they were both still in their petrified states (see the episode "Furious Jealously" to get more details) and, right after the two of them were recovered by Squadron B., we are then shown, in detail, who the mysterious figure that Professor Sigmund Brock and Ekaj Gnol found shopping in the Magus Bazaar during the second episode was; a disguised Fury, who was trying to lay low at that specific moment in time. What's even more so; when Ekaj and Professor Brock both found and approached Fury that day, they offered to help her out in regards to two of her biggest problems in recent days; her need to free her two imprisoned sisters and her need for a new Phoenician bracelet, the source of her magical powers. For you see, after Fury's defeat in the episode "Furious Jealously", she was shocked to discover that the Phoenician bracelet that she had tricked Spud into giving her was starting to run low on magical energy, due to it being among the specific types of bracelets out there that were made to only store a specific amount of magical juice within them. This was in stark contrast to the type of bracelet that Fury originally had, which are made to store a completely perpetual amount of magical energy within them.

But, in any event, when both Ekaj and Brock first offered Fury the chance to get her sisters free and receive a new Phoenician bracelet to go along with the deal, she couldn't say 'yes' fast enough. However, that was only because she intended to betray her would-be allies the second that her sisters were at last free and their magical stone powers were restored to all three of them in that very instant. But, when Fury was actually given her new perpetually energized Phoenician bracelet and used it to free her sisters, she and her siblings all made a very interesting discovery about the magical talisman. For you see; it was, apparently, hexed by some sort of extremely powerful virus-like curse of some kind, which not only spread throughout the lead Gorgon's body, without her knowledge, when she actually physically put on the Phoenician bracelet, but, also throughout her two sisters as well when she used its power to free them both. Basically, the virus-like spell, essentially, kept them all from using their ability to turn people into stone statues. In fact; that ability was essentially lost to the three of them and they were all reduced to having access to nothing but their basic energy beam powers and their control over their living snake hair. Now, it was probably a pretty safe assumption to say that this made the three Gorgon sisters very angry about what their new "allies" had just done to them (though, Euryale and Medusa placed some of the blame on Fury), but, it was at this very moment that Ekaj and Professor Brock both brought up their "offer" to the three Gorgon sisters. It was exactly here that flashback swiftly came to an end and the Gorgon sisters were all still trying to blow away Rose and Trixie in the present. However, while all of this was going on in the store room, Rose's sister was shopping within the store proper, acting as if nothing was wrong.

It is there that we then cut right back to where Jake was at this particular moment, and we see that he is still in heated battle with Tiburon, holding his own rather nicely, as I should probably be saying as well. But, when Jake started to boast about how Tiburon was still no match for him in a one-on-one fight, the Shark-man then retorted by saying that he didn't come alone. It was at that very moment that yet another one of Jake's old foes suddenly made an appearance, by grabbing onto Jake himself and holding him perfectly still from right behind him; Shackles Jack. Now, of course, Jake was surprised to see this ghostly character yet again after so long, but, before he could even begin to ask questions about this sudden turn of events, he noticed that Tiburon was about to take advantage of his sudden lack of mobility by trying to impale him with his left hand hook. Fortunately though, Jake was able dodge the attack just in the nick of time and then, he released himself from the ghostly Civil War prisoner's grip so that he could resume his battle with the two old adversaries of his.

.

However, while all of this was going on; Spud was just starting to exit the caricature store from before and he was, apparently, carrying a small bag of some kind, which indicated that he did indeed buy something from the aforementioned store. George was still hiding right underneath Spud's green cap at this point and when he finally poked his head out from underneath the hat once again, Spud took this as an opportunity to tell him that it was getting pretty close to the group's scheduled lunch time. This was when Spud decided to send his personal pixie out to go and tell the others about all of this and, just like that, George off to do just that for Spud, making sure not to be seen by anyone else while he was at it, of course. However, once was able to use his own pixie magic to locate where Jake was first and then go and find him still inside the wax museum from before, George was shocked to see that the young dragon was still in fearsome battle with both Tiburon and Shackles Jack. Now, George immediately flew right up to Jake's head, in order to talk to him about all of this, but, the main thing that was on the professional pixie's mind was the fact that this little development was most definitely going to interfere with Spud's initially planned out schedule.

Now, this, of course, was a minor aspect of the immediate problem from where Jake Long was currently standing. But, before he could actually say something to the Professional Pixie about it, George was already set to take matters into his own tiny little hands. He, immediately, flew right up towards the Shark-Man and the ghostly soldier that he was allied with, and then, just as nearly every other single pixie in this world has done already, George displayed feats of strength and power that were unnatural for someone of his size and stature. He, undoubtedly, "slaughtered" the two villains; by using a very powerful pixie spell or two against Shackles Jack and his ghostly body, and by using sheer brute strength against solid old Tiburon. Eventually, the two villains were forced to flee like scared little rabbits and, despite the fact that George was telling him, explicitly, that the matter was finally taken care of, Jake still felt the need go after the two retreating enemies, and so, that's exactly what he ended up doing.

However, once Tiburon and Shackles Jack were both able to finally put enough distance between themselves and their dragon pursuer, they both turned a corner within the store and then, when it appeared that Jake was finally able to catch up with them both, he took one look and saw that they were both just gone without a single trace, not unlike what happened with all of those strange Kumo monsters that appeared during the course of the previous episode. But, regardless, though; once the store was finally healed of all of the damages caused by the previous battle, courtesy of George and his pixie magic (and without the notice of the still-occupied employee, I might add as well), the aforementioned pixie then proceeded to tell Jake that they were about to be late for Spud's scheduled lunch time, which means they had to go find the girls immediately. He even placed one of the store's merchandise into Jake's hands and pushed into buying it, so that he would leave the store empty-handed. Fortunately though, it was something that Jake could afford and something that he could enjoy. What's even more so; this was precisely the thing that finally got the store employee to actually pay attention to his surroundings, seeing as this was exactly the type of thing that he was being paid to do every single day of job.

Meanwhile, back at the Mall's Club Banana store, all of the way in the back store room area, Rose and Trixie were both still trying to avoid getting hit by the Gorgon Sisters and their barrage of powerful energy beam attacks. Trixie even made a small snarky comment about how they were starting to run low on places to avoid and evade the deadly barrage. This was when Rose decided that she was through running and hiding and, instead, decided that she was going to go on the offensive with the three Gorgon siblings. She first began her attack by running directly towards Fury, Euryale and Medusa, who then all immediately responded to this action by firing more energy beam blasts at her. But, once the three of them all started to do that, Rose simply dodged every single blast with a relative amount of ease and then, she actually got in closer so that she could deliver a few punches right to the torsos of each and every single one of the three Gorgon sisters, which did not sit very well at all with any member of the latter trio. So, in response to this very bold move on Rose's part, Fury and her sisters all began to act her directly, which only led to a rather brief fight in which Rose was clearly the one holding the upper hand, due to her amazing combat prowess and her superior fighting skills.

In the end, it was now Fury, Euryale and Medusa who were all now desperately requiring cover from their current attacker. So, they all ran over towards a moderately large pile of stacked up boxes and then, hid behind it in a very desperate type of manner. Rose quickly gave pursuit to the three Gorgon villainesses, of course, but when she ran over to the side that she was certain that the Gorgon sisters would be, she was shocked to discover that they were all gone. There was not even a scale or even a piece of their clothing left behind and that just made Rose all the more curious about what had just happened. Now, Trixie was just a tad bit curious about what had just happened too, of course, but, to perfectly honest; she was mostly just glad that the three Gorgons sisters were finally gone.

Anyways, Jake was swiftly making his way towards the Club Banana store at this time, and he even had George hiding within his red and yellow jacket, directing him every single step of the way verbally. And, while Jake did find this to be considerably annoying and frustrating, he also decided that this was a necessary thorn in his foot to deal with. For, you see; after what had just happened between Jake himself and both Tiburon and Shackles Jack, the young dragon decided that he did not want to take any type of chance at all that either Trixie or Rose were attacked as well. Spud, was, apparently, off the hook in this regard; seeing as George could personally vouch for his current safety. But, the fact remained that Jake was in such a big hurry to check up on his two female companions, so much in a hurry that he failed to notice that a girl who looked almost exactly similar to Rose in appearance was just leaving Club Banana with her purchases in tow, right around the exact same time that Jake arrived at the store himself. It was Rose's twin sister, Marigold, who was the girl in question, of course, and since she was paying no real attention to Jake at this particular moment either, the fact that he was doing the same to her had no real consequence to it. But, what did, however, manage to capture Marigold's attention was the fact that, around this particular moment, Brad Morton and his new 'Nerd', Edgar, were both walking right passed her in a very nonchalant manner, and, suffice it to say; Marigold to an almost instant liking to Brad Morton.

Meanwhile, back on the inside of the Club Banana clothing store, George's tracking spells were starting to lead Jake right towards the direction of the back store room, which is when both Rose and Trixie were starting to emerge from of it, rather quietly. The three friends then quickly regrouped with one another at that exact moment and then, they started to inform each other about what had just transpired against them in their different stores respectively. The news that they all gave each other was stunning, to say the least, but, unfortunately, all that George appeared to be concerned with was simply getting them all back to Spud so that they could resume being apart of his schedule and meet up with him for lunch. Now, the three teenagers all, begrudgingly, obliged to George's desires, but, only because they felt that they had to warn Spud about what going on as well. Also, the three of them were all starting to get just a little bit hungry after everything that they've all been through. I mean; fighting an evil enemy that is bent on your total and complete destruction does tend work up quite an appetite, after all.

But, at any rate; it was here that we then transition to a completely different setting than before; the docks near the Hudson River, to be more exact. There, we are shown that both Tiburon and Shackles Jack, the two of them still considerably weary from their little encounter with George the pixie earlier, were just regrouping with the three Gorgon sisters at this time, and, suffice it to say; none of them were all too happy about how their little 'misadventure' at the new mall went and ended. The Gorgon sisters, in particular, were starting to blame Tiburon for this little debacle, seeing as a full-frontal assault against their enemies was his idea. Even Shackles Jack was starting to regret ever taking part in the Shark man's plan, and all he had to do was wait patiently until Tiburon and others found out where the 'brats' were, and then, quickly make his way there by using nothing but his ghostly abilities. Now, naturally, Tiburon was not too keen on the idea of being the one to take all of the blame for all of this and he was being very vocal about that point, but, before an even more aggressive fight could actually break out, Ekaj practically appeared from almost nowhere, and told them that there was no need for all of this bickering and blaming of one another. This was, after all, only the first out of their three free chances to deal with all of their young enemies on their own terms, which means that there were still two more opportunities for them all to dust themselves off and try again (and fail again too, possibly). However, in the meantime, Ekaj wanted to show them all a special 'new toy' that he and Professor Brock had built for their brand new crew, something that the rest of the 'D.O.R.C.S.' were already shown while the returning five were all busy at the Mall. Ekaj then swiftly summoned this 'new toy' of his by, apparently, pressing a button that was found on one of his wrist gauntlets. And, while we, the audience, are not actually shown what it is or what it looks like, we are, however, shown that it was, apparently, hidden beneath the Hudson River, and was thus made to emerge by Ekaj's actions. What's even more so; Tiburon, Shackles Jack and the Gorgon sisters were all left in both awe and joy at the sight of this new addition to their arsenal, and I use the word "joy" in a very sinister sense of the word.

Meanwhile, back at the new mall from before, we are shown that Jake, Rose, Trixie and Spud have all already begun to enjoy a nice and hardy lunch, right smack in the middle of the mall's food court. George the pixie was also enjoying a nice little meal as well, as he was currently sharing Spud's while he was making sure that he was not seen by anyone else outside of the main group. However, while they were all eating, they were also discussing the new scenario in which they were all suddenly involved in; some old foes from the past are not only coming back, but their also starting to team up. This whole situation struck the group as more than a little bit unnerving to be perfectly honest, especially when they began to consider how close the villains were able to get to them without any of them ever noticing anything. Now, naturally, when that last topic was actually brought up verbally within the conversation, George began to look a little bit nervous, seeing as he wasn't quite sure about how the group was going to react to the truth that he actually did see the villains before they began their attack and kept silent about it for the sake of staying on Spud's personal schedule. Fortunately for him though, the group never once put the pixie on the spot for that particular question and instead, just decided to remain on high alert for the time being. After all, there was still no way of knowing where or when the shark-man, ghost and Gorgon sister trio alliance was going to strike next.

However, before the group could even begin to take this discussion of theirs any further, they all saw something that struck them all as an even more unsettling turn of events; Brad Morton and his new nerd, Edgar, both walking side-by-side with Rose's twin sister, Marigold. Now, this new trio did not appear to notice that Jake, Rose and the others were all sitting nearby and, because of that, they were all feeling more than confident enough to say a few things that helped to establish that Brad Morton was now forming his very own posse, an idea that struck both Edgar and Marigold as a pretty good one. For you see, essentially; Edgar was going to serve as the group's yes-man and gofer, as well as its occasional tech man, while Marigold would be acting as the group's 'resident good-looking babe', as Brad so 'eloquently' put it. Now, when Rose heard what the new 'role' that her 'dear twin sister' was going to be playing while she was hanging around with Brad, she just face-palmed herself, while groaning rather loudly. This was mostly because of Marigold's superficial personality traits and how they would make her unbearable if she had a position like this. Anyways, Brad Morton then, of course, elected himself the leader of the posse and then, he proceeded to tell the group to help him 'get things started around here', as it were, which left Jake and his group somewhat worried about what was going to happen next as a result of this development.

(Episode Ends)

Author's Notes: I'll admit that these episodes have not been exactly what I was intending, but, I really am trying. I just hope that I'm, at least, still giving the story some consistency and the feel that "something wicked this way comes".