Tesseract Goop had been expecting Claire's arrival for quite some time, but she was not prepared for the grandeur of her entrance. The metal humanoid she was driving started by tailing the train from the sky, then landed near the caboose and ran alongside it until it was ahead of the locomotive. When the machine's hand blocked the track ahead, the already obvious intentions of its drivers was confirmed without a doubt. Tesseract Goop could see Claire and her husband through the window located on the "head" of the machine. They shut down their metal man and exited through the ear, lowering themselves to the shoulder. The arm led to the front part of the train where Tesseract Goop was waiting, but there was a massive drop on either side. The robot was standing in a body of water, in fact, since the train had been in the process of crossing a bridge that ran between two mountains. For this reason, Claire had to cross the manufactured limb carefully, followed by a group of humans (most of them female). Tesseract Goop stepped down onto the track and smiled warmly.

"Welcome! What can I do for you?"

One of the men gave her a look of disbelief.

"She doesn't seem surprised by the giant robot."

Claire hobbled up to her frantically, trying not to get her heels caught in the gaps between the bridge's planks.

"I'm sorry for forcing you to stop, but I have reason to believe that my daughter is on this train."

Tesseract Goop lifted her eyebrows.

"Oh, you mean Lily!" she chirped as though it was a surprise.

"You've seen her?" Claire asked with a trace of worry.

"Of course. She's working for me."

Claire narrowed her eyes.

"Well, she can't stay. We need her to come home with us."

Tesseract Goop clicked her tongue and leaned against the train's body.

"That's unfortunate. She just signed a contract that binds her to my circus for life. I can't let her go."

Claire gulped.

"You . . . No, that can't be right. She's only fifteen. She can't make that kind of decision."

Tesseract Goop shrugged and examined her nails.

"Sorry, but that's the way the cookie crumbles. She signed herself over to me, and now I own her. If you want to discuss the legalities of her situation, why don't you step inside my office?"

Claire seemed unhappy with this arrangement (to put it mildly), but she followed the circus woman into the train. The others formed a line behind her, noticeably on edge.

"Your daughter exchanged her freedom for a wish, and that can't be undone," Lily's captor said as she made her way to her private box car, "You're no stranger to magic, I presume, but in case you're unfamiliar with the details surrounding my personal brand, here's a quick run-down: I can only cast complicated spells in exchange for some form of payment, specifically a segment of some sentient spirit. Other than that, I can pull off a few minor tricks, but the kind of wish that Lily asked for can only be undone with another spell of equal magnitude. That means she'd have to sign another contract. I reserve the right to accept or decline one such request, but it's unlikely that she has anything more to offer me."

Claire felt sick to her stomach.

"Look, we'll pay you anything you want, but please let our daughter go."

"I'm not interested in money. I currently own one of the rarest animals alive. If I keep her, I'll be rich and famous."

Claire's lip quivered.

"Please. She's my daughter. I need her."

"You should have thought of that before you scared her away."

Claire closed her eyes, sending two tears racing down her cheeks.

"What will it take to set her free?"

"Nothing you can offer me, I assure you," Tesseract Goop scoffed, "Unless you can produce a stegoceratops from thin air, I won't let her go."

Claire fell silent. She looked down at her hands, then took a deep breath.

"Take me instead."

Owen grabbed her arm.

"Claire, no!"

She pushed him away gently.

"I have to, Owen."

"I won't let you. We can hire lawyers-"

Claire shook her head.

"I have to pay for my mistake."

He shook his head firmly.

"This isn't your fault."

Claire touched his cheek and took a trembling breath.

"Owen, our baby girl is in trouble. This is the only way to make sure she's safe."

Tesseract Goop rubbed her chin.

"So you're saying that you'd change into a stegoceratops to free Lily? That seems like a fair trade. Why don't I get started on the contract . . ."

Claire sat down weakly as she pulled out a scroll. Owen put his hand on her shoulder and knelt beside her.

"Claire, don't do this. We'll find another way."

She stared ahead vacantly.

"Lily is more important than me. I won't let her stay here for one more minute. Bring her home. Make sure she's safe."

Owen shook his head.

"The forcefield is down, Claire."

Tesseract Goop raised her eyebrows.

"I might be able to do something about that too, if you hand over your ability to speak."

Claire nodded, tears dropping into her lap. Owen glared at the circus master with unbridled hatred.

"This isn't right."

She flicked her head to the side dismissively.

"A lot of things aren't right in this world. Life's not fair. You have to take what you can get and pray that it's enough to keep you going."

She slapped the contract down in front of Claire.

"There you go. You'll notice that the conditions are as follows: you will renounce your voice and humanity in exchange for Lily's freedom and safety. Oh, and you're never allowed to see her again."

Claire was weeping. Owen couldn't bear to see her so miserable. He took a step towards the villainous woman, but she lifted her finger.

"Ah, ah, ah! Don't try anything. I still own your daughter, remember?"

Owen whipped around furiously and stood in the corner of the room, barely containing his anger. Claire reached out weakly and took the quill in her trembling hand.

"That's it . . ." Tesseract Goop cooed, "Set your daughter free. She deserves it, after everything you've done to her. Do you know why she sold me her soul? She wanted to make you happy. She thought that if you were human, all of your problems would just disappear. I wonder where she got that idea . . ."

Owen cringed as Claire pressed the tip of the quill against the page. She began to draw the graceful curve of a capital C, then a tall loop, and-

"Stop!" Charlie cried, "I can't take this anymore! Claire, let me sign the contract instead. I'll change into a raptor, and Lily can stay with you. I'm her sister. She needs my help."

Tesseract Goop sneered.

"Hush! I don't need a raptor!"

"What about two raptors?" Echo offered, stepping forward, "I'd gladly give up my freedom for Claire."

"Me too!" Foxtrot asserted, "She's the best Alpha I've ever had."

Delta gave Barry a kiss on the cheek, then let go of his hand with regret.

"Take me as well. Four raptors is more than enough. Send Lily home."

Tesseract Goop gnashed her teeth.

"No . . . It has to be her."

Foxtrot puffed out her chest.

"Says who? Why don't you change us all into stegoceratopses if that's so important?"

"Yeah, why not?" Charlie agreed.

Tesseract Goop slammed her fist on the table, making everyone jump.

"NO! IT HAS TO BE CLAIRE! IT HAS TO BE THE QUEEN!"

Owen's eyes went wide.

"Queen? How did you-"

Suddenly, Tesseract Goop grabbed a black cane from the corner of the room and pointed it at him. A beam of magic shot out of its tip, but Charlie jumped in front of Owen before it could reach him. She landed on the carpet as a raptor, holding her claws in front of her face with tears in her eyes.

"No . . ."

"Don't you dare touch her!" Echo snarled.

She made a lunge for the evil woman, but was changed too. Delta tried to escape, but she was struck with a third beam of light. She fell into Barry's arms, sobbing in shame when she saw her old body. He held her close, but she refused to look at him.

Tesseract Goop brandished her cane like a sword.

"And you . . ." she snarled, pointing it at Blue.

"Hey, I don't care about the girl, okay?" she admitted, "All I want is for things to go back to the way they were."

Tesseract Goop changed her too.

"That should help."

The raptors writhed around in agony, all displeased with their transformations, though by all accounts, they should have been happy to return to their original forms. Even Foxtrot, it seemed, was upset.

"She made me human! She made me human!"

Of course, her shape had not been altered, but Claire pitied her anyway.

"Change them back!" she pleaded, "And let Lily go. If I'm the one you want, take me, but don't make them suffer any longer."

Tesseract Goop was about to accept her offer, it seemed, but in a fit of rage, Blue pounced upon her. With a wave of her wand, she sent them flying out the back door. They landed behind the train, all tangled up in a confused pile. There was a loud creaking sound, and the robot's hand was lifted off the track by magic. Once the train had cleared the obstacle, it fell back down.

"NO! LILY!" Claire screamed.

She dashed into the armored machine while the raptors pursued the train on foot, sprinting down the track as fast as they could. Owen joined his wife, and Barry struggled to keep up with the raptor who had once been his fiancée. Together, they pursued the locomotive, driven by the fact that if it escaped them, Lily would be lost forever.