Episode Five – With the Proper Planning
Disclaimer: I Own Nothing
We are soon brought right into this episode by witnessing an amazing view of the sunrise in New York City. However, it is from there that we are actually made to descend directly down into the Hudson River and are shown what looks like a mysterious submarine of some kind that was cruising right through the choppy water. It was a very menacing-looking aquatic vehicle, in terms of design, to be perfectly honest, particularly because of all of the red and black that was so plainly visible on it. But what really proved it to be a sign of trouble was the fact that the people who were found on the inside of it were none other than the D.O.R.C.S. themselves. For, you see, this new menacing and advanced-looking vehicle was, in fact, their new mobile base of operations, regardless of the fact that not all of them were all too thrilled about this particular new arrangement.
"I don't know about the rest of you guys, but, being all of the way down here, in the middle of the Hudson River, in this overgrown sinking tin can, it just-it-it-it just gives me all sorts of the creeps, you know...?" Said Vicki Fickling after shuddering a little bit beforehand "...and, considering the fact that I'm a Siren who just spent weeks trapped behind bars in an underwater prison, that's definitely saying something about our current living conditions, to be honest..."
It is there that we see that the current leader of the D.O.R.C.S., the mysterious Ekaj Gnol, was suddenly arriving onto the scene and once he was there; he soon looked directly towards Vicki Fickling and said-
"Just try and live with it for a little while, huh, Vicki, old girl? I mean, you might just be surprised, you might end up getting used to it sooner than you initially thought, or not, whatever..."
-in his usual, distorted voice heard from underneath his face-covering mask
"All I know is that; as long as I am near my elemento nativo de agua pura (native element of pure water), I'm always one happy Shark-man, to decir la absoluta menos (say the absolute least)…" said Tiburon right after he gave out a brief strained yawning noise while he was currently stretching himself out on an interior couch of some kind and right before he chuckled a bit and said- "…and that's probably because being near the water always keeps me at my estado mejor absoluto, my absolute best state. Why, in fact, I dare say that I practically never lose or have a bad day whenever I am near the beauty and the wonderment of the glorioso y magnífica agua (glorious and magnificent water)…"
It was during this particular time that we see that Eli Excelsior Panderus himself was taking the opportunity to look outside the submarine's porthole window. And when he did, he was able to see just how 'magnificent', 'glorious', 'wonderful' and 'beautiful' the Hudson river really was, which prompted him to say-
"Yes,' magnificent', that's the proper word to describe the waters of this river alright. Tiburon…"
-to himself in a very sarcastic tone
"Huh, ya know, it, like probably wouldn't have actually hurt if we, like, actually had some water with us the other day, you know, girls...?" Said Euryale while she was sitting with her two Gorgon sisters
"Oh, yeah, I agree with you, Euryale..." said Medusa
"Yeah, cause then, maybe, Tiburon's master of attack would have actually succeeded back then and we wouldn't have had to run like cowards like we ended doing back then" said Fury, chiming in at the end, her words clearly being meant to strike out at Tiburon for what happened way back in episode 3.
Tiburon, of course, knew this, and he gave Fury and her sisters a really nasty look with his one good eye as an instant response. However, it was, ultimately, Shackles Jack who gave the three gorgon sisters a verbal response, as the next thing to come out of his mouth was-
"Oh, for the love of-are you and your two snake-haired siblings still going on and on about what happened yesterday, Fury? Because, I'm too thrilled about it either, you know, but, the sooner that you and your sisters all start forget about it, the better that things start to be for all of us, you know?"
"Hey, this was our first time to strike back since we got back, ghost boy..." said Medusa rather defensively
"Yeah, and we, like, don't appreciate being made to run like scared rabbits following the attack that was supposed to be, like, our big comeback and everything..." Euryale added after chiming herself into the conversation
"Especially not when it was the result of someone else's bone-headed, fish-brained plan..." said Fury, also adding in her own two cents on the matter
Now, once again, Tiburon knew all too well that the comment that was just spoken was directed specifically at him. But, before he could do anything more than just snarl at the three Gorgon sisters, Ekaj swiftly decided to immediately chime in himself and say-
"Well then, I guess you'll all just have to try harder during your next two free-reign attempts. Because, as you all probably know by now already; you still all only have two more chances left to use before..."
"Yes-yes-yes, we're all still quite aware of our current rules and conditions, my mysteriously armored 'friend'..." Pandarus chimed in all of a sudden "But, there's no need to worry, for you see; this time, we have a plan that cannot possibly fail and that's because this plan is, of course...my plan"
This is, of course, when Pandarus starts to chuckle in a very clichéd villainous fashion, and while he was doing this, we then cut to the opening intro and credits (none too soon, I'm inclined add, quite frankly).
(New Opening Sequence)
It is from there that we are then given a very slow close-up shot and, ultimately, interior view of the building: Canal Street Electronics, and it is from that point that we learn that our dear old friend, Fu Dog, was actually chatting it up with someone whilst using the telephone. Now, granted; it was, of course, left completely mysterious as to whom the talking Shar-Pei dog was speaking to. But, nevertheless, though, it was, apparently, clear that they were speaking about something that was of apparently great interest. Although, that soon became a bit of a moot point, quite frankly, seeing Fu-Dog was very quick to notice that Jake and his friends were all starting to enter the electronics shop at this particular moment. This prompted the magical Shar-Pei dog to immediately tell his phone contact that he was going to have to call them back later on, for, you see, he knew exactly why these 4 kids were stopping by Canal Street Electronics in the first place and he intended to get this whole 'procedure' over and done with just as soon as possible.
Fu-Dog then ran almost immediately towards where Jake and the others were all currently standing at by this point and, when the young dragon actually brought up the topic verbally, the subject of who Fu-Dog was seen talking on the phone to just now was set up to be briefly discussed. Apparently, it was none other than the dragon master, Lao-Shi himself, that Fu-Dog was just seen talking to and they were just conversing about how things were going specifically on Lao-Shi's end. What's even more so is the fact that, apparently, according by Fu-Dog, dear old Lao-Shi and sweet Sun Park were both going to be gone for another day or so, as opposed to returning home that very afternoon as was initially anticipated. Evidently, something else had just come up and it too, apparently, required both of their collective presence and attentions. And so, with all of that finally made completely known to the group consisting of young Jake Long, his two friends and his girlfriend, it was, at last, time for them all to actually get to the main reason why their group was gathered there to begin with; to retrieve their own personal pixie planner, George Flutteringson.
For you see; it was, apparently, here that George was currently staying, ever since he was first hired by Spud for his proficient prioritizing services, and George will continue to live down at Canal Street Electronics up until it is time for him to officially leave New York City. And the reasoning behind all of this was because of the simple fact that, for obvious reasons, George could not stay with Trixie, Spud or Rose at any of their three respective houses. This was, of course, because of the fact that their respective families were not all in on the whole 'magical world' secret and as far as Jake's house went, well; apparently, his mother, Susan Long, has had made it a very strict rule that pixies are never allowed to be anywhere near the premises of the Long household (one can only guess why that's the case, quite frankly). And so, with all of that being taken into serious account, it was soon made perfectly clear that the only place that George could stay was at Canal Street Electronics, with good old Fu-Dog acting as his only roommate and his current supervisor the entire time that he was there. However, though, Fu-Dog showed no real pleasure in being given this 'assignment' as it were, and that was because living with a pixie was most definitely a very stressful lifestyle, due their initial perfectionist attitudes in regards to almost everything (and Fu-Dog had only been living with George for no longer than a single day).
But, regardless of all of that, though, it was still, once again, time for little George Flutteringson to start doing his job for the rest of the day and, so, Spud started to call out to him inside of the electronics store, specifically by his full complete name. And then, in practically no time at all, George immediately made his presence known to the rest of the group and, what's even more so, was the fact that he even had both his trusty pen and handy clipboard right at the ready, just like he did when he first appeared in episode 3. So, suffice it to say; it was quite clear that little George the pixie was indeed ready to help Spud out in terms of keeping the rest of the group on track with the latter's schedule for the rest of the day. And this was (apparently) a good thing to know too, because Spud had quite the full day planned out for everyone already and it all involved one place in particular; Coney Island itself. Apparently, the group was going to spend the entire day down there until it was time for them to go home and that is why they had to get there early; so that they could milk the place for about as much fun as they could get in just one, single, solitary day.
Anyways, it was pretty soon that the group was about ready to start heading off on their own way, which allowed Fu-Dog the chance to contemplate on just what George's pixie perfectionism had done to shop. And, apparently, it made the shop seem a bit more organized and cleaner of all things, if you can believe that. But, in any event, though, we are soon brought right back to Jake and others, where we see that Spud was telling George that he was expecting him to make absolutely certain that nothing interfered with this day of fun, much like he appeared to do yesterday, the initial attacks from Tiburon, Shackles Jack and the Gorgon sisters all notwithstanding. Now George assured Spud that he would have nothing to worry about in that regard, but, talk of yesterday did make Rose start wonder if they should be a bit more concerned about the possibility of another attack from their would-be assailants from way back then. I mean, after all; their group might have emerged victorious from that whole ordeal at the mall, but their enemies were still all out there and they were all still free to try their luck against our group of teenagers again a second time around.
Now, it was, apparently, Rose's turn to be reassured about things this time around and that's exactly what Jake attempted to do by telling her that, while Tiburon, Shackles Jack and the three Gorgon sisters were all known to be the most vengeful of types, they were all also not stupid enough to blow their respective covers in a place that was as crowded with non-magical people as Coney Island and the surrounding areas. This was, apparently, something that Rose could not find a reason to disagree with and so, she and the others just kept on moving, with her actually saying that 'things were going to be just fine, today' as they all proceeded to do so. And then, almost as if it was all just something that was actually waiting on cue, we then cut right back to the D.O.R.C.S. and their mysterious submarine deep underneath the Hudson River, where we see that old Eli Pandarus had just, apparently, finished up telling two of his fellow villains of an apparent plan that he had come up with. Those very same two fellow villains in question were actually the little Pooka and the fugitive Kelpie, to be exact, and they were both very eager to play a part in this apparent concocted by the Dark Wizard, Pandarus. However, the rest of the group was not as easily taken in by the evil (and a bit theatrical) sorcerer's plan, and that was because the gorgon sisters did not want to be talked into yet another ridiculous scheme, Shackles Jack and Tiburon did not want to be taking orders from any wizards and Vicki Fickling simply wanted to wait for her own opportunity to pull off her own personal plan of attack.
However, none of this was of any real consequence to old Eli Excelsior Pandarus, though, seeing as, according to him; he only really needed the likes of the Kelpie and Pooka to make his plan succeed. And, with all that finally said and done, he then used his dark magical powers to make himself and his 2 fellow co-conspirators disappear in the blink of an eye in a very theatrical flash of bright, yellow light, coupled with the appearance of a very showy puff of purple, glittering smoke. Now, this left the rest of D.O.R.C.S. completely free to their own devices, but then, Ekaj decided to give them all a very interesting alternative way to spending all of their free time. For, you see, he, apparently, still had, at least, one very important and special errand left to run for personal reasons and it was an errand that involved a great deal of brute strength and a whole lot vengeance being wreaked upon someone else as well too. This, eventually, led to the mysterious Ekaj simply just coming right out and asking the rest of the group if they were all interested in helping him take care of this little minor chore of sorts.
We are then, suddenly, brought right back to our group of young teenaged protagonists; Jake Long and his small group of friends, who were all, currently, riding the subway as a means to get them all to their main destination of Coney Island. And, what was even more so was the fact that they were all even doing some sort of strange procedure of some kind at this particular moment.
"Alright, you guys, this is it; the final rundown of all the important stuff that we're gonna need to have for our fun day at Coney Island today" said Jake to the rest of the group as he got his own personal backpack at the apparent ready for something not yet known as of yet "Are you ready…?"
"Ready…" said Rose, Trixie and Spud in complete unison as they all got their respective backpacks at the apparent ready
Jake then began to unzip his backpack wide open at this particular time and then, followed it up by saying-
"Alright-y then, if we go to the beach part of the island or any one of its nice cool pools, what should we have with us then…?"
"Bathing suit, beach towel, sunscreen and sunglasses…" said Rose, while looking on the inside of knapsack, in a way that seemed very similar in tone to a contestant answering a question on a game show as well
"Check…!" said Jake, Trixie and Spud in unison as a response, all of them also looking on the inside of their respective knapsacks
"If we go to sample any one of their tasty, delicious food stands and/or snack machines, what should we have with us then…?" Jake asked once again, still looking on the inside of his backpack
"Enough green money and shiny coins crammed on the inside of our wallets and purses to be able to buy all of the corn dogs, chocolate bars and tasty soda that we can handle at whatever time, but, also a little bag lunch-y packed along with us, just to make that sure we don't overdue a bit too much today…" said Trixie, who was also answering in way that seemed somewhat reminiscent of a game show contestant
"Check…!" said Jake, Rose and Spud, all in unison, as a response, all of them still looking on the inside of their respective backpacks
"And finally, last but not least; when we start to head over towards all of the rides and the games that are all found there on Coney, what should we have with us to enjoy them all, hmm…?" said Jake one more time
"Well, once again or is it 'once more'; we'll need some extra money with us to pay for all of the tickets that we'll need and… a few barf bags with us, for, ya know, just in case…" said Spud, right before he brought out a few empty brown bags to showcase as an example for his final point
"Check, check and check!" said Jake, Rose and Trixie in complete unison, while they were all still looking on the inside of their own respective backpacks
It was now, apparently, quite clear that the group had just about everything that they were going to need for their fun day at Coney Island today and that was when George the pixie started to subtly come out from under his hiding place within Spud's green hat in order for him to speak to Arthur P. Spudinski directly. For you see; there was, apparently, something of the very important type that George had been meaning to speak to Spud about and that was definitely saying something, considering the fact that Spud had only just recently hired him about yesterday around this time. But, in any event, though, it was, apparently, an 'important' subject that required Spud to look over some small pixie papers, which he was, somehow, able to read, just a little bit. And while all of that was going down with them, we are then shown that something else was happening, way out at the place known as Coney Island itself. For you see, while there were, indeed, quite a few of the usual normal human workers doing their jobs today, there was also a trio of suspicious looking ones around there as well.
One of them was none other than the evil wizard, ol' Eli Excelsior Pandarus himself, and it was soon made clear that the other two were actually his two co-conspirators, the Kelpie and the Pooka. They were both in disguise as well, but, while all Pandarus might have needed was a mere change of clothes, the Pooka and the Kelpie both needed a complete makeover, which they apparently got, courtesy of Pandarus' evil magic. But, in any event, though, they were all ready and set to put Eli Pandarus' evil plan into action and with their respective disguises, they were all able blend in rather nicely with the Coney island work staff. Now, all they had to do was wait for Jake and his friends to arrive, because they had a big surprise just waiting for all of them to see. And Pandarus himself was just itching to put it all into effect.
(Commercial Break)
It was only within a mere few seconds of opening up this act that we are shown that Jake and his friends were, at last, all entering the Coney Island area, backpacks in tow. They were all quite quick to begin looking all around them, in order to get their bearings of this entertaining fun place, and once they were all quite content with what they had seen so far, Jake decided to finally start speaking again after taking a quick deep breath and said-
"Okay then, you guys, does everybody here know what they're going to be doing first, now that we're all here and all, hmm?"
"Well, I, for one, am going to be heading right over to those fancy games way over there, baby Jakey" said Trixie, pointing towards where the games were located "Mama Trixie is feeling pretty lucky today, all of a sudden, let me tell you, ho-ho baby, yeah..."
"George and I intend to begin by partaking in the activity of thrilling our taste buds with the usual Coney Island cuisine, such as; hamburgers, hot dogs, pizza and cotton candy, you know the works..." said Spud, as he comically attempted to sound a bit more elegant than he really was in tone at first
"And as per your schedule for today; you are all expected to meet up with him later for the proper lunching hour, before heading off and doing your own things again..." said George, peeking out from under Spud's green cap, in an attempt to help his employer finish up with his particular sentence
"I figure that by then, I'll have already upchucked all of the junk food and stuff from my system and everything..."said Spud, adding more on to his initial original sentence and point
"Charming…" said Rose in a sarcastic tone "Well, as for me; I'm going to go give those weird Coney Island funhouses that I've heard so much about a quick look-see and then, head over to the beach area for some 'final fun in the sun' time, if you will…"
"Really…?" said Jake, with a slightly mischievous grin on his face, as he slunk right over to where Rose was currently standing, the latter giving him a smile right back "Well then, I guess I know where I'm going next, after I go check of the Freak show tent found around here, to make sure that there aren't any more magical creatures being held captive. I'm pretty sure that I don't need to remind you guys of what happened the last time that was case, right…?"
Now, of course, that last question was directed specifically at Trixie and Spud, respectively, who were both indeed still able to remember what happened the last time that they found magical creature locked up in a Coney Island Freak show (watch the episode "Flight of the Unicorn" for more details). But, in any event, though, the group then began to start separating, in order for them all to see to their own personal agendas. However, this was not before Spud was able to remind them all to remember the established lunch meeting hour, lest they all suffer the wrath of Spud, with him personally sending out George to hunt them all down like a pack of wild dogs (his words not mine). And then, once all of that was finally said and heard, and the group was, at last, able to begin separating one more time, we are then shown that, that they were all being watched by none other than old Eli Pandarus himself and his two fellow co-conspirators from afar. They were all quite anxious to begin putting their plan into action, and once Pandarus finally gave him the word to go, the still disguised Kelpie was quite eager to run off and fulfill his part of the whole entire scheme.
This left Pandarus alone, with only the still disguised Pooka at his side, and the latter was actually starting to wonder out loud if this plan was really going go to down the way that Pandarus initially wanted it to. Now, of course, the evil wizard was able to hear every single word of that very same question and as a result of that; he actually grabbed the still disguised Pooka and then began to shake him around in anger for his questioning of his plans. And then, as if that wasn't enough of a spectacle to look at, the disguised Pooka then began to grovel shamelessly to Pandarus in a manner that implied that he was now within the evil wizard's employ for some strange reason. This was when we, the audience, not NNNonly get to hear the still angry Eli Pandarus actually start to reprimand the still disguised Pooka one more time, but also when his particular choice of words actually start to lead us into yet another flashback sequence. And not just any flashback sequence either, it was one that actually starts to reveal to us, the audience, just how he and the Pooka first came to meet each other in the first place.
Apparently, as the flashback soon began to show us with its visual aids; the two of them first became acquainted with one another when the Pooka was found by old Eli Pandarus, specifically while the former was living out on the streets like a rat or a mouse. This was, apparently, because he had chosen to go into hiding, following his past violent encounter with both Jake and Haley Long (see the episode "Haley Gone Wild" for more details), and upon actually meeting Eli Pandarus, the Pooka soon made it his next decision to start serving Eli as his own personal servant, in return for the evil wizard's magical protection, of course. For you see, Pooka was quite desperate for any type of protection at all from the dragons, after the major stunt that he pulled, and Pandarus was far from being the type willing to turn down anyone's willful choice of servitude to him, regardless of what their reasons for are. However, while all of this might have seemed like an excellent deal for them both at first, the still lingering question of why old Pandarus himself was actually out on the streets, instead of on the inside of his fancy tower, was still quite the topic for one to consider. Not that old Eli Pandarus was actually willing to discuss such a subject, mind you, but it was still something that the Pooka had found himself constantly asking himself repeatedly, it just didn't make any sense to him.
But, in any event, though, it was still only matter of time before something else finally came the duo's way, and that something else was the two of them actually getting discovered by the more mysterious duo of Professor Sigmund Brock and Ekaj Gnol. For you see, as it would happen to turn out; the mysterious figure that the latter two: Ekaj and Brock, both found and then followed, way back in episode 2, was actually the unaware Pooka who then, subsequently, led them both right to old Pandarus himself, much to their collective delight, seeing as they both saw it as a 'two for the price of one' type of situation. It is from there that we are then made hear about Pandarus' life in recent days, as well as his apparent downfall, which was caused by a few decisions made by him, way back in the day, when he was still living the high life. For you see, way back in the old days, back when old Eli Pandarus tried to use an ancient marriage-related prophecy, involving the 'fairest in the land' to gain unlimited magical power (watch "Eye of the Beholder" for more details), his plan not only ended up failing miserably, but, it also caused him to have something of a falling out with his once powerful dark wizard allies. This ultimately came to a head when he tried to use the dark and evil powers of the legendary Pandora's box in an attempt to take over the magical world (watch "A Befuddled Mind"); for you see, not only did that plan end up falling flat on its face as well, it also convinced the rest of the great and powerful Dark Witch and Wizard community that Eli Excelsior Pandarus was far too dangerous for them to have around for any amount of time longer...at least alive, at any rate.
From that moment forward, old Eli Excelsior Pandarus was made a marked man (err, wizard), and he soon began to run and hide himself in just about anywhere that he could, in order to stay alive, with him always having his head looking over shoulders and all around himself to make sure that he was safe. And in order to make certain that his chances of escape were limited; his fellow wizards actually began to do whatever they could to freeze assets, cut off his transportation and relieve him of all help from any his numerous minions. Pretty soon, Pandarus' massive and wealthy empire was made to, ultimately, collapse and he was soon left to wander around in the streets in order stay hidden from those who would do him harm, this was actually how he wound up first meeting up with the Pooka on the streets, to be perfectly honest. But, when Ekaj and Brock both offered the two of them, not only the chance to get their revenge upon those who led them into poverty, but to also leave their squalor behind as an added bonus, Pandarus and the Pooka could not have said yes faster than they already did. Pandarus, especially, was keen on getting his revenge on his enemies and when the flashback sequence finally its ultimate end, he made that very clear to the still disguised Pooka, whom he then ordered to get into his own planned out position.
Meanwhile, though, we are then made cut right back to Spud and his personal Pixie planner, George, who were both taking a brief moment to enjoy the taste of Spud's previously purchased double-decker, double pickled hamburger. This was intended to be the very first of the various Coney Island foods that they were both planning on gorging themselves with, but, in the midst of the two of them attempting to do just that, George decided to take this as an opportunity to start talking to Spud again. For you see, there was still the matter of what those papers that he had Spud look at were for, which was, apparently, for Spud to make a recommendation to George's superiors, in order for him to continue serving, indefinitely, as the personal pixie assistant to Spud and the rest of his group of friends. Now, Spud remembered having this very same discussion with George way back on the subway earlier and, once again, he felt the need to ask the latter if this was what he really wanted him to do in the absolute long run. George then insisted that this was indeed what he really wanted Spud to do, seeing as he had always sought to be much more than just a 'temp agency pixie', if you will.
For you see, as George himself would then begin to lament about towards Spud, he has spent a great deal time in the past just simply playing the temporary assistant pixie who would then be bounced around and about between one client to the next. This has given George a real sense of true irrelevance that he truly could not shake off of himself. I mean, so what if he would be called in to help someone for about a week at the longest, big deal. He wanted to actually serve as someone's one true assistant, someone who's life he could actually help make better by helping them to manage it. In short; what George Flutteringson truly wanted was to have the chance to have a job where he was actually made to feel like he was important in some way, and, to him, there was no better way for him to accomplish that goal than to serve as the personal assistant of a local dragon and his own personal entourage.
However, while all of that was being said verbally, we are actually treated to some well-placed voice-over scenes, with George's words being the voice that we are intended to hear all throughout it. But as for what we were being shown, well, that would be of what was going on at three different locations, where we see that Eli Pandarus, the Kelpie and the Pooka, the latter two still in disguise, were all doing rather unusual things in regards to what Jake, Trixie and Rose were all doing, individually, at this particular time themselves. Now, for our young, spiky-haired, red dragon-in-disguise, Jake Long; he was, pretty much, doing what he said he was going to do; he was checking to make sure that there were no magical creatures being put on display in the freak show and, near as he could tell, there were no magical creatures in need of his aid there at all, least of all a unicorn. What's even more so is the fact that the 'talented performers' of this particular freak show, who were, in fact, the exact same ones that Jake and company had to deal with back in the "Flight of the Unicorn" episode, did not appear to recognize him, which was also rather good news to learn, at least from Jake was standing. However, just as soon as he began to leave, the still disguised Kelpie snuck right into the Freak Show, and then began to approach its 'performers', while carrying a strange little bottle of mysteriously colorful liquid, which he even unsealed as he continued to slowly approach the 'talented performers'. All of this was being shown to us while we hear George explaining why he generally disliked being only a temporary assistant pixie.
And then, when George first started to reach the part about wanting to be more significant in another person's life, we are then shown what Trixie was doing at this time, which was surveying most of the games that were found within the inside of a video arcade. This time, while George was speaking, we are shown that the Pooka, who was also still in disguise, was also carrying a mysterious bottle of colored liquid, and was also gently unsealing it as he was slowly approaching a certain amount of video games that Trixie was not really paying attention to at this particular time. That was when we were suddenly brought straight to what Rose was doing at this point, which was observing a Coney Island funhouse or, more specifically the 'room of weird mirrors' part of the aforementioned entertainment structure. George the pixie was just starting to reach the part about how being with the American Dragon and his personal entourage was the opportunity of a lifetime while this was being shown to us, and while Rose was taking a mild amount of playful amusement from everything that she was seeing within this room of mirrors, she was, somehow, unable to see that there was a magical green orb that fluttering just up above her very own head. And, what's even more so is the fact that this very same mystical, green-colored, orb-like object soon began to transform itself into yet another bottle of a mysterious, yet colorful type of liquid, just like the ones that the Kelpie and the Pooka were both seen carrying with themselves earlier. However, the main difference that is involved this time around is the fact that this bottle was actually able to open itself up, by magic; of course, I can assure you of that.
Then, once George was, at last, finished with everything that he needed to say to Spud, and the scene had finally returned to focusing on the two of them, specifically, the only thing that Spud could find himself able to give as a response to the tiny, little pixie was that, while it would be okay with him, personally, if the pixie stayed, this basic topic was still something that the entire group would have to come to a consensus on. However, while all of that was being discussed between the two of them, they were both unable to notice that they were both being (once again) watched from afar, by Eli Excelsior Pandarus of all people, no less, as well. This was, mainly, because of the fact that Pandarus was especially determined to get his revenge upon Arthur P. Spudinski, due to the fact that he was the main reason why his plans with Pandora's Box did not work out the way that he wanted. And, what's even more so, is the fact that Pandarus actually had a very special type of revenge planned out for our dear Arthur P. Spudinski. A type of revenge that involved him bringing along a very nasty sounding beast-like creature via a very long iron-chain leash, a creature that, at this point, was still hidden from us, the viewing audience, save only for a very scary looking silhouette, and a brief look at one of its monstrous looking eyeballs, pupil and all.
(Commercial Break)
Now then, at this particular moment in time, Jake was left completely undecided about what he was going to be doing next, seeing as his first initial plan for starting out this day at Coney Island was actually finished a lot more quickly than he originally anticipated it to be. He, of course, was able to realize that it was still far too early in the day for him to start heading right over to the beach area to try and meet up with Rose, seeing as she was most likely still in one of the many fun houses to be found around here and all and everything. And so, Jake decided that he was going to go along with the most simple of solutions that he could think of at this time and place; he was going to go over and join Rose on the inside one of the local fun houses and then start heading over to the initial beach area right along with her, much later on. However, just before Jake was getting ready to do just that, there was a sudden blast of fire that just barely flew over his spiky, green-outlined hair. It wasn't as powerful as, say, Jake's very own dragon fire breath, of course, but, it was still strong enough to cause an explosion that was large enough to send anybody who was able to see it running and hiding within a mere few seconds of time, and to cause Jake himself to try and look and see where it came from in the first place.
That was when Jake was first able to discover that it was none other than the exact same fire-blowing, Firefighter helmet wearing 'performer' that he saw from before within the freak show tent earlier, only this time around, he was considerably more 'different' than he was before. The same of which could be said about the other two 'performers' of the freak show; the proper mannered bearded lady and the bald, mustache-sporting strong-man. They were all changed in a very unique and different way, a very mystical and monstrously different to be precise. For, you see, at this exact same moment, the bearded lady was now a dark shade of green and had scaly-skin with dark black hair and blood-red eyes, in the same vein as, say, a nix, and her world-famous beard was now twice as long as it was before and it was acting almost exactly like the green snakes that occupied the Gorgon sisters' world-infamous style of reptilian type hair. So, at this point, it was quite accurate for one to say that she was like a gorgon mixed between a soul-sucking nix and the world famous bearded lady type of sideshow attraction and she was angry at this moment.
As for the strong-man, well; he was now looking more akin to a mustache-sporting ogre, only this ogre had eyes that were colored a nice thick blood-red as well, and he had six strong arms to show off his large green biceps this time around, not just two. And then, there was the earlier mentioned fire-blowing guy, the guy who uses a firefighter helmet as a hat and who once used and relied on a torch for his initial fire-blowing sideshow shtick. But now, the guy looked like he was a mix between a dragon and an ogre, with the ogre side being the most dominant of his features and now, rather than relying on a torch to breathe fire, he was, at last, able to produce flames of his own, that might not have been as powerful as Jake's, but were still plenty as lethal. Now, suffice it to say; this was more than enough to leave Jake feeling completely taken back by what he was currently seeing, and that left him open long enough for the bearded lady to actually grab a hold of him, using nothing but her new longer, much darker and more monstrous beard, of course. At that point; all Jake could really do as a response to all this was say-
"Um-uh, hey, um-uh, l-l-look, uh, if-if this about that whole, uh, unicorn incident from way back when, uh..."
It was at that very same moment when our young teenager, Jake Long, was suddenly able to hear what sounded like a very raspy sounding voice chuckling very evilly, although, he was not able to tell which direction that it was coming from until its source actually decided to show himself. It was, of course, the Kelpie who was doing all of the wicked laughter at this time and once he finally made himself known to the young ensnared disguised dragon at this particular moment, he immediately dropped his own human disguise and revealed himself to be the fish-humanoid Kelpie that he really was, which was all done while he was responding to Jake's earlier words by saying-
"Oh-ho-ho, no, nope-nope-nope, this goes way beyond that, my dear American Dragon, much-much-much far beyond that, indeed"
-right before he started chuckle rather evilly yet again and we get a quick close-up shot of Jake's both worried yet surprised face
However, it is at this very same moment that we are suddenly treated to yet another quick scene transition, and this one actually ends up bringing us straight back to where Rose was, which was still touring her chosen out Funhouse, all of the way up until she finally spotted what looked like yet another possible Funhouse mirror. She began to inspect it a little bit for a few seconds or so, and when it seemed like just another mirror from her point of view, she dismissingly said to herself-
"Huh, funny, I-I never would have thought that this part of the Funhouse would have had any of its own fancy mirrors hanging around…"
-all while, somehow, failing to notice that, while she was talking, her, apparent, reflection within the mirror was, actually, not following her every movement any more, as one would expect a normal mirror to do. However, just when she was about ready to walk off and be on her own merry way, she heard a very familiar voice tell her that-
"Oh, it doesn't, you foolish little girl you…"
And then, upon realizing that the very same voice that she had just heard was remarkably similar to her very own, the lovely young Rose was very quick to turn herself right around in order to see where it was initially coming from. That was when she was able to see that the very same 'mirror' that she had just recently passed by was actually not a mirror in the slightest and the initial mirror 'reflection' of herself that was in it was actually no mirror reflection, to be certain. For, you see, as it would happen to turn out, what Rose had actually just passed by was, in fact, another doorway to be found within this particular Funhouse and what she had originally thought was just a simple reflection of herself was actually a perfect looking doppelganger of herself, right down to her fair and soft feeling skin, her bright blue eyes and her wavy, golden-yellow colored hair. However, shortly right after this very same aforementioned doppelganger had just started to move and then had placed herself in a position where she could then look at the real Rose face-to-face, something soon began to change rather drastically about this mysterious twin duplicate of Rose's, in a very monstrous type of way, no less, as well. For you see, in almost a complete and total instant; her bright yellow hair and soft pale skin both changed colors and became two different shades of blue, her hair becoming the darker shade of blue at this time. And, what's even more so is the fact that her aforementioned hairdo was actually made to suddenly begin flowing just like a ghostly woman's crazy hairdo would be made to do in some kind of old horror movie classic and her facial expression was made to look like that of an angry Nix, complete with her bright, yellow glowing eyes and her snarling mouth filled with rows of razor sharp animal-looking teeth.
Now then, needless to say, this was all, most definitely, more than enough to leave Rose completely and utterly flabbergasted as a result, and it most certainly did not help move things along when this mysterious and monstrous looking doppelganger of Rose's actually began to multiply itself, causing there to become exactly seven of the monstrously ugly versions of Rose at that exact same moment and right after they had all started to snarl and hiss at the real Rose, they soon all began to attack her in a very vicious manner. This is where we are, once again, made to have yet another immediate scene transition, which then takes us straight back to the where we last saw our young and sassy other lovely lady friend, Miss Trixie Carter herself. Now, as one would expect it to be the case; she was still playing quite a few video games while she was still with the arcade of her choosing, all of the way up until she was, at last, made to turn herself around, after something was thrown right near her in that general area within the video game arcade itself. It was much to Trixie's considerable, and understandable, horror to see that it was actually a trio of very odd looking monsters that were the ones responsible for that aforementioned projectile, and as they were all beginning to advance upon her at this exact same moment, which caused the rest of the video game arcade patrons to run away screaming, Trixie was also able see that these monsters all looked remarkably similar to the ones that were, apparently, a part of a nearby video game, much to both her equal amount of shock and of confusion. However, it was only within the next few seconds or so that Trixie's main emotion became fear once again, as the three monsters all began to continue their advance against her, with the clear intention of trying to do her harm.
We are then brought right back to the duo consisting of both Arthur P. Spudinski and his pixie assistant, George, who were both now preparing themselves to start thrilling their respective taste buds with the well known delicacy of Nacho chips covered with exactly two layers of melted up cheese. However, what the two of them were both still woefully unaware of at this point was the fact that old Eli Excelsior Pandarus himself was still lurking and sneaking all around and about in the background at this time, with his mysterious and still chained-up pet monster still being made to move ever so closely right behind him. In fact, the two nacho cheese-eating protagonists were both so ever so certain of their apparent sense of complete and total safety at this point that they both soon got back to talking amongst themselves, mostly about George's proposal to be made a permanent assistant to the group once again. And while the two of them were both talking with each other about that very same topic yet again, old Eli Pandarus and his unseen monster were both getting themselves ready and into position, with the specific intent of them both doing our young, unsuspecting Spud an extremely dangerous amount of bodily harm. Not that he or his pixie were able to really notice it, mind you, due them both being so wrapped up within their own conversation mind you. In fact, they were both so very much focused upon their own specific discussion that they didn't hear Pandarus tell his pet that it was 'show time'.
It is from that point forward that we are, at last, able to see the true nature of Pandarus' mysterious and beastly creature, which, at this point, has been revealed to be none other than an incredibly three-headed Chimera, the exact same type of creature that Jake and his 3 friends had all encountered and fought during their adventurous trip within the dream corridor (see the episode "Dreamscape" for more details in regards to that encounter). Now, the beast was most definitely bound and tied by Pandarus' magical chains, which were wrapped around both his two massive monster paws and his three multi-animal heads, up until Pandarus decided to finally release the three headed, snarling beastie and sick him on Spud without the latter ever even realizing it, not even for a slight, single moment of his time at the very, absolute least. This was actually just the thing to make Old Eli Pandarus feel all the more confident about his plan succeeding in full, however, what he did not expect to happen was what occurred during the conversation between Spud and George the pixie. For you see; while George and his enormous human employer were both talking about George's desire to be made a permanent assistant to Spud and his friends, George decided to demonstrate a very special ability of his which he believed would help to strengthen his case about why he would make an excellent and ideal assistant for both Spud and the rest of the main group. It was a 'pixie-dust' related move, of all things, if you can believe that and it was considered to be a very powerful technique amongst pixies and other various fair-folk.
But, before he would even begin to practice this very interesting technique, George had first decided to take a quick look around in order to make doubly certain that he and Spud were both, relatively, alone free from on-lookers at this current time. And, upon taking such a quick look around and, apparently, finding no trace of anyone who was close enough to catch a glimpse of any of George's special performance, somehow even missing the Chimera that was slowly approaching them with dark intentions in the process, the pixie then began to perform his pixie-dust-related trick. It, apparently, involved him extending out his arms, which he did during this demonstration, and then, letting out a puff of his own personal kind of pixie produced dust. Now, this would have then been the point where, once the enemy of the pixie had, at least, part of their body covered by the previously mentioned dust, the pixie would have then been able to magically deliver any type of attack or blow to the aforementioned foe, without even having to get up all that close to them. George would then proceed to moderately demonstrate this technique to Spud, but, what he did not know, however, was the fact that, right after he actually managed to release some of his pixie dust out when he first extended his arms, the Chimera that Pandarus had just recently sent right after them had actually managed to walk right into it and got it on most of its middle, lion-themed head and, subsequently, its general main face out the three different ones that it had.
This allowed George to, essentially, pummel the Chimera while he was still demonstrating his technique to Spud and he was, basically, doing it all without ever even realizing what was currently happening at this time. And then, finally, once our little George's pixie-dust-related demonstration was nearly at its total and complete end, the tiny pixie then decided to finally finish it all up by giving it a hypothetical finishing move, which, of course, was translated directly towards Pandarus' own pet Chimera and even sent it flying right back to the evil wizard, and even caused it to land directly on top of him, much to the evil Pandarus' anger and annoyance. But, before we are actually allowed to see what was made to happen right after that, we are then made to come right back to where both George and Spud were still sitting and eating, and, what's even more so is the fact that the two of them were both still completely oblivious about the apparent attack that they were just narrowly able to avoid. But, regardless of all that, however, the two of them both continued to have their discussion about whether or not George would make a good permanent assistant or rather Spud just continued to sit there and listen to George while he explained thoroughly why he was exactly what Spud and the others needed for an assistant, all while he was still eating his cheesy nachos, of course. This was the point where we are suddenly treated to yet another voice-over sequence, and this one showed us just what was going on between Jake, Rose and Trixie and their respective attacking foes.
Now, for all intents and purposes; this voice-over that was currently being heard at this particular time was, basically, just George explaining why he would make a great assistance to Jake in terms of his duties as the American Dragon, be it as an advisor during his many battles, a personal confidant for all of the stress that it would likely bring or even as stress reliever who would simply keep a list of all of the things that can help calm him down. It was during the point where George was at the part about being an "advisor during his many battles" that we are shown exactly just how Jake was handling things on his end. And suffice it to say; he was actually dealing with the 'enhanced' Freak show performers rather nicely; he was outmaneuvering them, we was turning their own powers against one another, he was even able to take care of the Kelpie himself once the opportunity was, at last, open to him, regardless of what previously acquired forms that the latter tried to use against him. Then, about the same time where that part about being "a personal confidant to Jake for all of the stress that his job would likely bring" was verbally brought up, we are then suddenly shown just how Rose herself was dealing with her numerous doppelgangers while she was deep within funhouse of her choosing, and, much like how Jake was with his problem, Rose was actually handling things rather well, to be perfectly frank. She was fighting off the duplicate horde with a great amount of style and panache and was even able to destroy each and every single one of them, once she found out what type of physical force was right amount needed to shatter them like glass (hehe, get it?)
And then, once we are, at last, able to, finally, return to our young, sassy, female friend, Miss Trixie Carter, we are shown that she too was actually holding her own up quite nicely whilst being pitted up against the video game monsters that had come to life, who were all currently attacking her at this point. She was using nothing more than a simple mop as her weapon of choice at this time and, while her skills were nowhere near as strong as, say, Jake or Rose's, she was still managing to keep herself safe from her attackers. This was also the point where we, the audience, could actually hear George the Pixie explaining to Spud that he could also be of some use as a "stress reliever who would simply keep a list of all of the things that can help calm him (Jake) down". And it was during this particularly interesting part of the voice-over sequence that we, the audience, are, at last, able to see that the Pooka was rather quick to make his initial presence known to young teenage girl by jumping right on top of her head. This, of course, turned out to be an incredibly stupid idea on his part, though, naturally, seeing as all Trixie really had to do was simply toss him aside and then, she was free to continue defeating the video game monsters, using nothing more than her simple mop as a weapon, no less, as well.
It was at this point that the scene then, at last, came right back to both George and Spud at their position, where the former tried to conclude his argument with the latter by saying that, when he is around to help the group, they'll never have to worry about any more unpleasant surprises ever again. And then, almost as if it was on the exact cue of what George had just said, Eli Excelsior Pandarus himself suddenly made an appearance right onto the scene and his Chimera was standing right there, next to him, like a common, well-trained poodle. Now then, as one would expect it to be the case, Pandarus had just made a 'witty' comment about 'no more unpleasant surprises' as his opening line and, as he proceeded to explain about his own 'devious' desire for sweet revenge in a very hamming-it-up-type of way, he also began to gloat about how, even as they all spoke right now, his associates were all taking care of Jake Long and his two lady friends, which left Spud himself (and his pixie by extension) completely at the mercy of the "incredible wizard, Eli Excelsior Pandarus" and his pet vicious monster, the blood-thirsty Chimera. Or, at least, that was the way that the old, wicked Eli Excelsior Pandarus was, initially, expecting the situation to be like, at first, but, then, just as soon as he heard what sounded like a person whistling directly at him, he turned around and saw that it was none other than Jake Long who was responsible for that very same noise, all while he was floating right there, in midair, in his full red and yellow American dragon form. And what's even more so is the fact that both Trixie and Rose were both actually standing right there next to him at this particular moment in time and they were both also holding the unconscious forms of the two associates that Pandarus was just speaking of; the Pooka and the Kelpie, both of whom were, undoubtedly, taken straight out of the game during the initial fight sequences that were shown to us a little while earlier.
Now then, as one would most likely expect it be the case; this was more than enough to cause our dear old friend, Eli Pandarus, to actually start losing some of his confidence about his revenge schemes at this moment and it showed in the way that he made a somewhat angry and somewhat sheepish looking face, as did his pet Chimera, although to a somewhat lesser extent. However, this did not stop what was to come right next afterwards, for you see; while George and Spud would both just continue to eat their cheesy nachos, they were both, apparently, treated to a little show of some kind, which consisted of both Pandarus and his pet Chimera being viciously pummeled by both Jake and his lovely girlfriend, Rose, in a way that was so, apparently, violent that we, the audience, are not even allowed to actually see it. In fact, the only thing that we really are allowed to see at this point is what looked like the satisfied smirk of both Trixie and Spud during all of this and the indifferent and neutral looking-type face of George the pixie, who was still chewing on a single nacho cheese chip at this particular time, by the way. Then, all of a sudden, we are soon brought, immediately, right back to the D.O.R.C.S.' submarine, deep underneath the Hudson River, and once we are finally brought right back to the interior of the aforementioned submarine, we are then shown that, not only was the Siren, Vicki Fickling, was still aboard, reading her own magazine all by her own lonesome self, but we are also shown what looked like a magical portal of some kind actually opening up right on the submarine's essential bridge. Now, admittedly, this was hardly even enough to attract the attention of the young Miss Vicki Fickling at this time, but she soon took an 'active' interest into it all when she actually saw the sight of both Eli Pandarus and his pet Chimera actually running right through it, the latter of whom was currently carrying within his arms the unconscious forms of both the Kelpie and the Pooka.
This, of course, resulted in some playful minor teasing from Vicki Fickling right after the portal finally started to close right behind the two of them, seeing as she could quite easily tell that this, of course, the result of Pandarus' plan falling flat on its face. However, this pretty little moment of banter between both Eli Pandarus and Miss Vicki Fickling soon came to an abrupt end when yet another portal actually started to open right up on the Submarine's essential bridge and this time around, it was actually the type of portal that a Krylock would be able to make all on its own and, what's more so; it was none other than the mysterious Ekaj Gnol who was the one to exit it. And he wasn't all on his lonesome at this point in time either, for you see; coming right out of the portal right alongside him was none other than the three Gorgon sisters, along with the Shark-man, Tiburon, and the Ghostly soldier, Shackles Jack. Apparently, it seems that all did indeed decide to actually take him up on his offer to accompany him on his little 'errand' and they all appeared to be quite happy that they did agree to do such a thing, which they were all being very vocal about to be sure. This was when they all noticed what was clearly the only real proof that they all were all going need to know that the old wizard, Eli Excelsior Pandarus' plan had failed dismally without question, not that it was of much concern to old Ekaj Gnol, that is, seeing as, when he came over to comfort the Chimera that Pandarus had apparently acquired with his assistance, he simply stated that, now, the group was just one attempt away from complete success as members of the D.O.R.C.S.
Meanwhile, though, way back within the main, general area of Coney Island itself, we are shown that, once again, our dear young friends; Jake Long, Rose, Trixie, Spud and George the pixie were all back onto their initial schedule for this particular day, with a few tweaks having been made to it, in light of the recent encounter with both Eli Pandarus and his three 'friends'. For one thing, they had to move around their originally planned out lunch period in order to make it so that it would coincide with a full group activity, due to the fact that they were all back together ahead of schedule. And, in light of the more recent tiring out events that had just transpired for exactly three out of five of the group's main members, it was decided that their first full group activity of the day was going to be some time spent on the general beach area of Coney Island. This actually turned out to be a pretty good idea, to be perfectly honest, seeing as both Jake and Rose were already planning on heading over towards this area anyways, prior their two respective attacks and all, and since they were all in desperate need of some good resting time, which was needed before they could go into the water after eating anyways. But, in any event, though, they were still all able to debate on whether or not they all wanted to keep George on as a full-time assistant and after much thought and discussion amongst themselves, they all decided that they were all going to need a little bit more time to debate on this particular subject before they could make a unanimous decision. Now, George was actually quite capable of accepting this as an answer to his initial proposal, but, once he was finally able to start talking underneath his breath without being noticed or heard, he vowed to himself that, one way or another, he was going to be the permanent assistant of this group, no matter what.
(Episode Ends)
Author's Notes: If I may reiterate; Not exactly how intended this episode to be written down, but, I still hope that it was still a good read. This is proving to be more difficult than originally thought.