So as a reminder, our OC contests are still up. We're looking for MLP-expies, Descendant OCs, and HR counterparts of the Boiling Isles characters. Submit your OCs to either in your reviews, PMs, or DMs.

So this is pretty much an OC-centric fic. However, existent canon characters, seen or mentioned, still belong to their creators.

Chapter 2: Big Top Heist

Years ago…

A young Emily Tricks rode behind Sonya on her staff, spotting the tent in the distance growing bigger and bigger the closer they got.

"This is where you grew up?" Emily asked her older sister.

"Yes," Sonya confirmed. "Before I lived in Scooter's and was found by the Boss, this was my home," she said while levitating her staff down so they were in front of the staff. "Come on," she said with a smile as she took Emily's hand. "Let's go in."

Sonya led the little Emily through the opening in the tent. Once inside, the little Emily looked around in awe. While a show was not happening at the moment, the rings were still full of activity since there were many performers practicing their acts. She saw a man engulfing a sword down into his throat. She saw a woman blowing fire spells to form into shapes. She saw a strongman lifting ten tons of dumbbells while a demon jester juggled some balls while on stilts. She saw acrobats balancing on tightropes over her head and a demon who was in charge of a petting zoo. Emily also spotted some bards practicing some music, along with some clowns practicing some tricks.

"Wow…" Emily said as she spun around, trying to see everything. "This place… it's amazing, Sonya."

"I know," Sonya replied with a proud smile, glad to see Emily loving it here. "It's good to be back. Come on, let me introduce you to the one in charge."

Sonya led Emily over to the side of the ring, where Emily saw the goat-demon Ringmaster conversing with the clowns.

"And then I say 'what? I thought you want some ghoul-ashes!'" the Ringmaster said as the clowns laughed at his joke. He laughed as well before he noticed Sonya and Emily heading in his direction, surprising him. "Um, excuse, gentlemen," he told the clowns before walking over to meet Sonya and Emily. "Do my eyes deceive me, or is that you, Sonya Mera?"

"Hello, sir," Sonya replied with a smile as she and the Ringmaster hugged. "It's good to see you again."

"Likewise, little Mera, or is it Big Mera now?" he asked as he looked her over. "I mean, look at you! You're all grown up! You're even taller than I am! I can hardly recognize you!"

"Thank you, sir," Sonya said, slightly bashful. "When I heard you were on the Isles, I knew I had to come see you."

"Of course you did!" the Ringmaster shouted excitedly. "We've missed you!" He then noticed Emily. "And I see you've brought this little one along."

"This is my sister, Emily Tricks," Sonya introduced. "Emily, I'd like for you to meet Mr. Pryce D. Riveteer, the ringmaster of this circus."

"During the show, I am referred to as 'Dr. Dark'… but you can call me Pryce," he said with a happy expression and a twinkle in his eye. "Nice to meet you, Ms. Tricks."

"Nice to meet you too, sir," Emily replied politely as she shook his hand.

"Do you like the circus, Ms. Tricks?" Pryce asked with a wink.

"I think it's incredible, sir," Emily said while looking around again, causing Pryce to laugh.

"Oh, I like her already, Sonya!" Pryce said. "So, Ms. Tricks, did Sonya tell you that me and her go way back?" Emily nodded. "Yes, I knew her parents. They were the best Beast Tamers I could ask for… up to the end." He looked saddened at that and he sighed before looking over at Sonya. "I'm still sorry for what happened to them, Sonya."

"It's… alright, sir," Sonya said. "It happened so long ago."

"It did, it did," Pryce acknowledged with a nod. "I was really worried when you left us, Sonya. But I can see that my worries were unfounded. You have done well for yourself, haven't you?"

Sonya nodded. "I have, sir."

"Good, good," Pryce said, nodding quickly. "I'm happy for you, Sonya. Really, I am. But just so you know, even though you left the circus years ago, well, I still consider you a part of our family."

This made Sonya smile warmly. "Thank you, sir. You're too generous…"

"Generous isn't enough, my dear, and I extend that to your sister," he said while kneeling down in front of Emily. "You mean a lot to Sonya and that makes you a part of this family as well."

"It… does?" Emily asked in awe while Pryce smiled at her.

"Yes, indeed! And I promise you that if there's anything you need from us, well, all you have to do is ask," he told the young witch. "Anything you ever want…"

In the present, the lights in the tent went out suddenly as the spotlight focused on the ringmaster.

"Whoa!"

Stomp… stomp-stomp…

"Whoa!"

Stomp… stomp-stomp…

Emily and Zee focused on the Ringmaster while they heard an ensemble chorus, followed by foot stomping from the audience.

"Whoa!"

"Ladies and gents, this is the moment you've waited for…" Dr. Dark sang in a hush tone.

"Whoa!"

"Been searching in the dark, your sweat soakin' through the floor."

"Whoa!"

Cups and Mugs, who were on their seats, looked at each other and noticed they were sweating just as the Ringmaster said.

"And buried in your bones, there's an ache that you can't ignore," Dr. Dark sang as he tipped his top hat while hiding his eyes. "Takin' your breath, stealing your mind, and all that was real is left behind."

The spotlights shot up around the inside of the tent, showing the stage. Dr. Dark kept singing while Emily, Zee, and their friends watched with anticipation.

"Don't fight it, it's coming for you, running at ya. It's only this moment, don't care what comes after." He raised his cane up while marching up, then back. "Your fever dream, can't you see it getting closer? Just surrender, 'cause you feel the feeling takin' over(Oh)!"

Unicorns suddenly trotted into the ring along with the pegasi.

"It's fire, it's freedom, it's floodin' open(Oh!) It's the preacher in the pulpit and your blind devotion(Oh)!" he sang while behind him the performers came onto the ring. "There's something breaking at the brick of every wall that's holdin'(Oh)! All that you know, so tell me, do you wanna go?"

Flames burst from behind him as he kept singing along with his performers. "Where it's covered in all the colored lights, where the runaways are running the night! Impossible comes true, it's taking over you!" they sang while Dr. Dark stepped past a knife-thrower and through the legs of a stilt-man clown while colorful ghosts flew over to the crowd.

"This is the greatest show!" one ghost sang to Rebecca and Whitney.

"We light it up, we won't come down!" Dr. Dark sang before he gestured to the acrobats, who were given the spotlight.

"And the sun can't stop us now!" the acrobats sang as they did flips.

"Watching it come true, it's taking over you!" Dr. Dark sang as he lifted up by the hands of his acrobatics, who threw him up in the air. His cane transformed into an umbrella and he floated up, landing on a tightrope. "Oh!"

"This is the greatest show!" they all sang. "Whoa~!"

Coming through the smoke were the animals with their tamers. The menagerie included griffins, sphynxes, and manticores as more performers came out as well, doing flips and tricks.

"Colossal we come, these renegades in the ring!" Dr. Dark sang as he reappeared on the floor of the ring, seemingly materializing out of thin air.

"Whoa!"

"Where the lost get found, and we crown them the circus kings!" he sang while surrounded by his performers as the tent seemed to expand by itself.

"Don't fight it, it's coming for you, running at ya(Don't fight it, it's comin'), It's only this moment, don't care what comes after(It's only this moment)."

The performers kept singing while putting on a spectacle, oracles were levitating themselves while some flew around with magic carpets, throwing out sparks of light around which wowed the audience

"It's blinding, outshinin', anything that you know(Shining, shining), Just surrender, cause you're comin' and you wanna go!"

"Where it's covered in all the colored lights! Where the runaways are running the night!" everyone sang as Imagino showed up. He appeared to be floating, with Zara behind him along with the other starring performers. They also sang. "Impossible comes true, intoxicating you… Oh! This is the greatest show!"

Some of the performers were levitated up and they began swimming around in the air, which enticed the audience. They waved around at the audience and Emily noticed Zara waving at her while smiling. Emily waved back at her, also smiling..

"We light it up, we won't come down! And the sun can't stop us now!" the performers sang while two witches were shot out of cannons, Dr. Dark rushing past them as he drew the attention of the audience again.

"Watching it come true, it's taking over you. Oh! This is the greatest show!" he and the performers sang.

The crowd cheered and applauded at the spectacle they were being shown. Emily, Zee, and their friends all looked very impressed. However, Zee remembered what Emily had said and she leaned over to her.

"Say, you said this was Sonya's old circus, right?" Zee pointed out in a whisper.

"Yeah, that's the same Ringmaster," Emily said as he pointed to him while he performed. "We go way back."

"Huh… though, should we be worried about this?" Zee asked her. "I mean, if this is your sister's circus…"

"Oh don't worry, this circus isn't tied to any crimes or is a front for the Tarot Guild or anything," Emily reassured her. "Sonya left the circus before she joined the Tarot Guild, so I don't think we should be worried. Besides, I know Pryce, he's nice."

"And now, my beloved audience," Dr. Dark spoke up once the opening musical number was done. "It's time for the real show to begin!"

For the first act, there was one jester riding on a unicycle. He levitated a griffin, a unicorn, and three heads. He then starts to juggle each of them while riding around the ring. The audience watched this impressive juggler in amazement.

The next act showed a biped snake woman, who had tamed two ratworms and got them to perform some tricks. The two ratworms started to dance around with the snake woman, who jumped on top of one to do a hand-stand while the ratworm was moving. She jumped over to the other ratworm and started doing dance moves on both of them.

"Whoa," Zee said, looking impressed by how they got the beasts to perform. Emily smiled at Zee's enjoyment of the circus, Zee reminding her of herself when Sonya first brought her to the circus. And for once, she didn't mind being reminded of her past.

Later in the show, the ring was filled with smoke. The audience saw Imagino appear from the cloud of smoke. With him was Zara.

"I, the Mysterious Imagino, shall amaze this audience with my grand illusions of wonders!" Imagino declared while lifting his crystal ball helmet and rolling it around his arms while appearing headless. He spun the crystal ball with his finger and coming out of it was a blue, whale-like creature that began to fly around the ring, followed by transparent birds.

The crowd were in awe at his tricks, at least until they looked back at the then headless Imagino. There was a poof of smoke and in a moment they saw that in place of his head... was a donkey's head. This caused the audience to laugh. Even Emily burst into laughter upon seeing Imagino as an ass.

"What? What's so funny?" he asked while his crystal ball suddenly slipped from his hand and bounced off the ground. "Shit! Um…" He looked nervous before he circled an illusion around him to poof up a replacement crystal ball. "Sorry folks, looks like I almost lost a head. Let me and my lovely assistant show you more of my fantastic, mysterious, ruses!"

Zara gave a smirk, having used her spell to make Imagino drop his helmet and make his head look like a donkey. Imagino started to perform his tricks, Zara assisting him as they made a large serpent appear, seemingly summoned out of nowhere. This made the audience gasp as the serpent swirled around before going toward Zara and opening its jaws.

"Do not worry, Zara, I shall stop this serpent!" Imagino declared while shooting a rope to trap the serpent. He put on a strain, but then his hand slipped. "Oh no!" he shouted as the serpent went for Zara… only for its head to stop and turn towards him. "Uh… wait!" he shouted while the serpent opened its jaws and lunged at him, making him flinch.

"Vanishioso!" Zara declared with a wave of her own spell circle, causing the serpent to turn into a cloud of smoke. When the smoke cleared, all that was left were butterflies, which wowed the audience more. Imagino heard the audience clap, but not for him, for his assistant.

"Whoo! Go Zara!" Emily shouted as she clapped her hands along with the rest of the crowd.

"Zara, that's a… nice save," Imagino said, forcing a grin. "But you remember who's the real star here?"

"I know, sir," Zara replied while forming a smile. "I just feel like this show needs a little… spice!" She swirled her finger to shoot a spell, causing a ring of fire to form around Imagino.

"Gah!" he shouted, stepping away from the illusion of flames. "Now Zara, you remember who's the main attraction of this show…"

"Yeah… me," Zara declared while snapping her fingers and disappearing. She reappeared behind Imagino and used a spell to levitate Imagino's cape, pulling it over his head.

"Hey!" he shouted while the audience laughed as Zara hip-bumped him away and to the floor. Once he managed to get his cape out of his face, he glared at Zara. "Why you little…!"

"I think it's time to show the audience who's the real illusionist," Zara declared while forming a giant, grotesque head that resembled Presto. She sent it after Imagino and it opened its jaws.

"Wait! Zara, stop!" Imagino shouted as he used his magic to zap at the large head. When that didn't work, he actually ran away from it, forgetting that it was just an illusion. "Yaaaah!" he screamed while running towards the exit.

Zara then turned to the crowd, took off her hat, and took a bow as they clapped for her. Emily, Zee and their friends clapped for her as well.

"Thank you all, for witnessing the introduction of… the Great and Majestic Zara!" she introduced herself as the audience clapped even harder.

"Wow, she's pretty good, isn't she?" Zee asked as Emily nodded.

"Yeah," Emily agreed with a smile. "I'm happy that she stood up for herself too."

"Oh, you know her?" Zee asked in surprise.

"Met her before the show," Emily explained. "We hit it off."

"You better not be trying to make me jealous," Zee teased.

"With another illusionist?" Emily asked with a playful smile. "Please."

"And now, my patrons, be prepared for the clowns!" Dr. Dark announced.

Whitney's eyes widened while dropping her popcorn. "Clowns?!"

"It's okay, Whitney, they're not going to hurt you," Rebecca reassured her sister.

Whitney said nothing, she just watched the ring in silent dread as one clown came out while carrying a small box. After putting down the box, he attempted to open it. Having no luck, he lifted his hand up to indicate that he had an idea before he pulled a crowbar out of nowhere. Using the crowbar, he managed to open the box and a bunch of clowns exploded from it, like fake snakes in a can of cashews. As they fell all over, the audience laughed.

"Well, this outta be entertaining," Darcilia said with a smirk.

"Yeah, you know what you're getting with clowns," Zee replied while leaning back.

As the clowns picked themselves up, one looked angry at the other. He raised a bat and swung it towards the other clown's head, bashing him hard enough to send him towards a post. The clown hit the post, causing his limbs to fly away in a bloody fashion.

Suddenly, the laughing crowd fell silent.

"What the fuck…" Zee whispered as she leaned forward. This was not what she was expecting. "This… this is part of the show, right?"

"Pogo, no!" one clown cried while glaring at the clown with the bat. He picked up the crowbar, yelled and charged at the bat wielding clown, stabbing him through the cranium and causing the audience to gasp.

"Oh my Titan," Rebecca said while covering her mouth in horror.

This resulted in an all out clown brawl. The crowd watched in horror, occasionally shrieking, as the clowns beat each other up in the most bloody and gory fashion. One clown got his arms pulled out of his body, blood spraying out from his stubbed arms. Another held up a lawn mower to chop up and splatter the clowns in his wake before one clown stopped him with a spiked club bashed into his skull, bursting blood all over.

The Holder Brothers and Team WZRD, along with the rest of the crowd, watched the show in shock, unable to look away as the clowns violently killed each other. Emily, however, looked completely unfazed by this, which Darcilia noticed.

"How are you not affected by this?" Darcilia asked Emily.

"Honestly, between being from Glandus and raised under the criminal underworld… along with going through the actual Underworld, I'm pretty sanitized to violence," she answered with a casual shrug.

"WAAAAH!" one clown screamed as he stomped on another to bite a concrete block, shattering his jaw from his head. Another chopped off that clown's head with an axe, the body running around in a circle before falling over. Then a larger clown grabbed the ax-wielding clown up, lifted him up in the air, and then brought him down on his knee, breaking him into two. The large clown laughed triumphantly, but then felt something in his chest. He screamed as bursting out of his chest in a bloody fashion was a shorter clown who jumped out of the big clown and landed perfectly on a barrel, covered in blood.

"Ta-da!" the clown shouted, though nobody laughed. Instead, a horrified silence fell over the crowd, since nobody was sure what to do.

The silence was broken by the sound of a siren as an ambulance ratworm sped into the ring, dropping off some clown healers. The two clown healers walked over to help out the seemingly murdered clowns. They picked up the body parts, placed them on the stretcher, and brought out their medical bags. They used their tools, like a large container of super-glue and a roll of tape, to put each of the clowns back together. The audience watched them in anticipation.

"You think they're okay?" one clown healer asked.

"I think they're a-okay!" her partner asked after duct taping the clown's head back on before revealing that all the clowns were okay, smiling and waving at the audience. After a moment of confusion, the audience started to clap and laugh as well, realizing that it was part of the act. Once the clapping had died down, the clowns were placed back in their box. The clown healers then put the box on the stretcher and the stretcher on a ratwom which they rode out of the arena.

"Well that was… brutal," Rebecca said while the audience clapped and cheered again.

"How do you think they did that?" Darcilia asked while looking over at Emily. "Do you think it was illusions?"

"It looked… pretty convincing to me," Emily admitted.

"Let's just hope that the next act is not as gruesome," Zee responded while looking over at Whitney, who had not spoken once during the show. "Hey, you alright there, Whitty?"

"I'm fine, just… this was surprisingly cathartic," Whitney mentioned with a smile.

"And now for our next act!" Dr. Dark declared. "He comes from parts of the Demon Realm unknown to even me! And from the unknown, he has gathered beasts unlike any you have ever seen! Some of these beasts are so rare, not a single witch has laid eyes on them before tonight! Give it up, for the ultimate hunter… Zaraff the Tamer!"

Coming onto the ring was a witch man on a cauldron-bike. He drove around several large crates that had been placed around the ring before coming to a stop. The man then stepped off of his bike and removed his helmet, greeting the audience.

"I, Zaraff the Tamer, am here to entertain you for the night!" he declared. The witch man appeared to have a long, black mane of hair with chalk-like skin. He had red eyes with thick black eyebrows and a twirled mustache and goatee combo. His outfit consisted of a sleeveless, leather jacket, his muscular, hairy arms having black spots up on his upper arms, and black stripes on his shoulders and forearms. He wore an orange sash around his abdomen, with black leather pants with orange fur trims, with black boots that formed into claws. He also wore a skull necklace and he replaced his helmet with a black cowboy hat.

"Well this outta be interesting," Zee said, leaning forward in anticipation. She was curious about this Zaraff guy and so was Emily. After all, this guy replaced Sonya's family as the circus's Beast Tamers.

"I've traveled across the Realm to search for these creatures! From the treacherous jungles of Blazil to the desert planes of the Dried Bones Valley!" Zaraff boasted. "I only collect the rarest of creatures in my travels, and now I have brought them here, not just to show you these beasts but also to show you my skills of taming them!"

He went to unlock the crates, opening them up one by one. The audience gasped in amazement when they saw the beasts that came out.

"Whoa…" Zee said in awe. They were indeed beasts she had never seen before. Heck, beasts that she never knew even existed.

"Behold, Othra the Orsoleo!" Zaraff announced as he showed a large, bear-like creature with a lion's mane and bird-like wings. It let out a roar. "This creature can be only found in a specific Titan of the North Boiling Seas! And this one," he said as he pointed to a large, pterodactyl-like creature. It had large, triangular wings and a bat's head with a beak. "Gorna the Baterrosaur, which resides on a Titan untouched by witchkind! And finally," he said as he gestured to a large, blue furred wolf with six legs, a long neck, and horns. It has twin tails as well. "Jenga the Long-Neck Dire Wolf! She has mighty jaws that can break bones and metal! The best hunters in the wild!"

Zaraff demonstrated his skills by calling out to his beast. "Othra! Come at me!" he declared as the Orsoleo roared and went to pounce on Zaraff. The audience gasped as the large bear-lion tackled Zaraff, but he managed to dig his way out from underneath the animal and hold him in a choke hold. Othra roared as Zaraff pinned him, just as Jenga marched over to attack Zaraff, who jumped off of the bear-lion and flipped over his wolf-beast and landed on Gorma. The Baterrosaur roared as it flapped its wings up in the air, Zaraff holding onto its long ears.

"This guy's nuts," Cups commented as they watched the tamer riding on the Baterrosaur.

"You can say that again," Whitney said.

"This guy's nuts," Cups said again, causing Whitney to give him a look. "What?"

Emily noticed Zee's awe-struck look. "Amazed by this?"

"I only recognized one of these creatures and I'm amazed that he managed to find a Baterrosaur," Zee responded while in shock. "I mean, those guys were supposed to be extinct! What Titan did he find him on…?"

Zaraff continued to fly around with his Baterrosaur until he jumped off of it and held onto some rope, swinging around while his other beasts, Othra and Jenga, went to double-team him. He jumped to pounce on Jenga, putting her on a choke hold as he wrestled the six-legged wolf. It tried to buck off her tamer, but Zaraff persisted. It snarled and growled while Othra backed away from the struggling deer-wolf demon.

The bear-lion attempted to confront this, until he was tackled by Gorna. The Baterrosaur fought the Orsoleo and the beasts wrestled with each other, which caught Zaraff's attention.

"Hey, hey!" he shouted, letting go of Jenga as he went to put a stop to the two beasts fighting each other. "No fighting each other! This is a show we're doing!" he declared, flicking them on the nose and the beak. This immediately got the two beasts to stop and become submissive. "Why don't you two sit down?"

Gorna and Othra sat down, doing as they were told while Jenga walked over to Zaraff, giving him a lick on the face.

"Hehe, good girl," Zaraff said in a friendly tone, scratching under Jenga's chin. "You know you're ruining my show, right?"

Indeed, the 'wild' creatures that he seemed to be locked in a death struggle with moments earlier were now completely tame and peaceful, revealing that there was no real danger, although the audience didn't seem to mind.

"Aww, they're ferociously cute," Rebecca said in awe.

"I'll admit, he does have a good way with animals," Emily said, thinking about how compared to how Sonya treated her creatures, Zaraff looked to actually care for them.

After Zaraff left with his beasts, Dr. Dark showed up back in the ring. "Splendid work, Zaraff! Isn't he great, folks? Now then, the moment we've all been waiting for! The final act for the show tonight!"

The lights flared up from below, the spotlights showing that above the audience were two groups who stood on two platforms, each suspended high above the ground. "They're the shining stars of our acrobatic troupe. Started as just two brothers, but now they have their own families who are also part of their acrobatic tradition! They are… the Flying Birmans!"

"Lars Birman!" Dr. Dark introduced as the spotlight showed a witch man with gray hair, black eyes, and tanned skin. He was wearing a blue sleeveless shirt with yellow wings and black tight pants.

"His wife, Pala Joy Birman!" Dr. Dark shouted as appearing next to Lars was a dark-skinned witch woman with short pink hair, and green eyes. She wore the same sleeveless shirt but with black tight bottoms and blue leggings.

"And their son, Ren Birman!" Dr. Dark shouted as with them was a black-haired, dark-skinned witch boy in a uniform similar to his dad's. He had green eyes as well. All three acrobats were smiling and waving as their names were called.

"And on the other side," Dr. Dark said as the spotlight went to the other platform. "Lars's brother, Brod Birman!" he shouted as the spotlight revealed a gray-haired tanned witch man with a beard and blue eyes. He wore a similar outfit to his brother's, but with a red sleeveless shirt with black wings and green tight pants.

"His husband, Rodney Birman!" Dr. Dark shouted as Brod was shown with a male witch with white complexion, blonde long hair, and gray eyes. He wore the same sleeveless shirt but with blue tight pants.

"And their teenage daughter, Billie Birman!" Dr. Dark shouted as standing with her fathers was a teenage witch girl with blond hair, monochromatic eyes with gray on the left and blue on the right, and tanned skin. She wore a red sleeveless shirt with yellow wings, red skirt and yellow leggings. She waved and blew a kiss at the audience.

"The Birmans have been a staple of this circus for years! As they perform the most dangerous acts! Using the trapeze to fly up in the air… without nets or any magical assistance!"

The audience watched in anticipation, seeing the ground having no nets. They fell silent as they watched the Birmans begin their act.

It started with Lars, who held onto the trapeze swing and swung down to the other side. Brod did the same, flying over to the other side as well. The two brothers let go of the swing and swirled up in the air. They finished swinging over to the other side of the post, landing on the platforms. Rodney and Paula Joy were next, swinging over from the trapeze and hovering over the air.

The crowd was in awe while seeing them flying up in the air. Despite lacking the assistance of magic, they still seemed to be flying. The kids went next and they saw Billie grabbing onto her cousin, Ren. They swung back as she dropped him off with his parents while she swung back over to rejoin her fathers.

For the next part of the act, Ren swung up on the trapeze, letting it go as he flipped up in the air. However, the audience noticed that he was not attempting to grab the bar, rather, he was letting himself fall, causing them to gasp.

"Oh no!" Rebecca gasped.

"Wait," Emily said, noticing the boy landing on a tightrope… with his feet.

The audience gasped as the spotlight showed Ren giving a smile as his pointed ears became furry and a tail appeared from behind him. They see him now covered in gray fur… and with visible cat ears.

Ren Birman was a werecat, much to the surprise of the audience.

"A werecat…" Darcilia said, just as shocked as the rest of her friends.

"Whoa…" Zee said. "So does that mean…?"

The Birmans swung up from their trapeze, all five letting go, transforming mid-air, and landing on the tightrope next to Ren.

The audience gasped in amazement, seeing the entire family having transformed into werecats.

Lars had black fur while his wife, Pala Joy, had gray fur. Brod had black fur with gray spots on his eyes and arms while his husband Rodney had beige fur, with more fluff of fur than his husband. Their daughter Billie had gold fur with orange stripes. They waved their arms while tip-toeing on the tightrope, amazing the crowd by dancing on the rope.

"Wait… if they're werecats, how can they have a witch form?" Zee asked in confusion.

"That's because… they're not from the Boiling Isles," Emily realized as they all turned to her. "Nina once explained to me that the werecats back in the Isles are descendants of werecats that came to the Boiling Isles long ago and were trapped in their lycan forms, which their descendants inherited. Those acrobatics aren't from the Isles… so they must be from another…"

Darcilia chose not to say anything, though she did look visibly nervous as she glanced up at the werecat family, silently praying they didn't see her.

For the rest of the act, the Birmans started to show off their tricks to amaze the crowd. Brod stood on the tightrope while holding his husband up in the air, who spread his arms as if he was flying.

Next was Pala Joy, who fell down but used her tail to swing back up to grab the trapeze swing while Lars juggled some balls as he swung from his feet.

Billie swung around while doing some balance tricks along with Ren, who did a handstand to walk over the tightrope while his cat-like feet and tail twirled some plates with sticks. However, as Billie looked around at the crowd, she noticed that amongst them was Darcilia. The two made eye contact and Billie's eyes widened in recognition.

Realizing that Billie saw her, Darcilia quickly shifted her eyes away. But it was too late. Billie had seen her, but decided not to say anything, instead choosing to continue performing as she swung around.

The werecat family continued to perform their tricks, from walking on the tightrope to jumping around in the air while putting on a spectacle. Finally, they each grabbed trapeze swings and landed one-by-one on the tightrope, forming a pyramid. Brod, Lars, and Rodney stand on the bottom while Billie and Pala Joy stand on their shoulders. Ren landed last on his cousin and his mother's shoulders before holding up the plates to twirl them with his hands.

The crowd lost it at this point, cheering and hollering for the Birmans. Emily, Zee, and their friends eagerly joined in on the cheering, which lasted for several minutes before it completely died down.

"Thank you, thank you all for coming to see this magnificent show!" Dr. Dark declared. "I am afraid that we must bring it to a close, but we'll be here for more nights to come!"

Once the show was over and everyone began to flow out of the tent, the girls walked out while talking amongst themselves.

"That was the greatest show I've ever seen in my life!" Rebecca declared in awe. "The beasts, the acrobats, that lady with the illusions…!"

"I'll admit, I've never seen a spectacle like that before," Whitney commented.

"Yeah, a lot of interesting stuff happened there, huh Mily?" Zee asked her. "Was it always like this when you visited here?"

"Um, well…"

But before Emily could answer, someone popped up in front of her.

"Excuse me, are you Ms. Emily Tricks?" asked a short biped goat demon.

"Yes, I am," Emily responded, looking down at the short demon.

"The Ringmaster wishes to see you," he revealed. "He says that he saw you among the audience and that you know him."

"Dr. Dark? Oh, well… I do know him," Emily said, the rest of the girls besides Zee looking surprised by this.

"Wait, Emily was raised in the circus?" Whitney asked Zee.

"Her sister was," Zee replied.

Emily considered her options for a moment before looking back at the girls. "I'll meet up with you girls later, I should go see the Ringmaster. Say hi and all that."

"Alright, we'll still be around waiting for you," Zee told her while seeing Emily follow the goat assistant. She turned to her friends. "So, what do you guys want to do?"

"There's still food we can try out," Rebecca pointed out. "Not to mention the games."

"I could use something to eat," Whitney said.

"I… think I'm gonna turn in for the night," Darcilia said as she started to walk away.

"What? You're leaving?" Rebecca asked, looking surprised and saddened. "Come on, we've got the rest of the night to ourselves."

"Yeah, at least stay until Emily comes back," Whitney said while Darcilia just looked down.

"I… can't. Not tonight," Darcilia said while looking uncomfortable, something which Zee took notice of. "I'll see you guys later…"

"D.B…" Zee said with a concerned look, not that it stopped Darcilia from slipping away into the crowd, leaving Zee and her friends wondering what was eating her up this time.

Emily followed the assistant as she led her to a wagon that served as Dr. Dark's 'office'. She was about to knock on the door, but she stopped to ask the assistant something… only to see that the assistant was gone, having seemingly vanished into thin air. Though she found it weird, she brushed it off and knocked on the door.

"Come in," his voice answered from inside.

Emily opened the door and stepped into the Ringmaster's office, looking around. While the walls were covered in posters for the circus and pictures of various old performers, including Sonya and her family, what stood out to Emily the most was that the room was also decorated with… ducks. There was a duck couch and a shelf full of duck knick-knacks that reminded her of her own collection. There was also a duck lamp and the main desk was plastered with duck stickers and figures. Emily wasn't surprised by this at all, since none of this was new to her. She turned her attention to Dr. Dark himself, who sat behind his desk and greeted Emily with a smile.

"Emily! So glad to see you, old girl!" he warmly greeted her as he jumped onto his desk and hopped down so that he landed in front of Emily, who walked up to him to give him a hug.

"Hi, Mr. Pryce," Emily replied with a smile as the two hugged.

"My, you have grown up so much since the last time I saw you," he said, looking at Emily in surprise. "How many birthdays did I miss? You must be sixteen, seventeen…"

"Actually, I'm eighteen now, sir," Emily answered. "I became an adult not that long ago."

"Really? You're an adult now?!" Pryce asked in shock. "Why, now you're old enough to do your taxes then," he joked and the two shared a laugh. "But seriously, how have you been?"

"I've been doing good and it's really nice to see you after so long, sir," Emily told the old goat demon. "I'm glad that you're still doing well, along with your circus. Didn't this used to be called 'The Horror Emporium'?"

"Yes, but every few years I like to rebrand my show, to keep things fresh," he explained. "We are doing well now, but this circus has seen some dark times since the last time we met. I've been having some trouble finding acts until I stumbled across some new hires. But how about you? Last I recall, you lived in the Boiling Isles."

"Well, I did, but I'm living on the Inwell Isles now," Emily explained. "It was a recent move."

"Ah, that explains it," he said with a nod. "Turned eighteen, became an adult, and you wanted some independence, am I right?"

"Something like that," Emily said.

"I imagine Sonya was supportive," Pryce said, making Emily freeze up. "Speaking of, what about Sonya? How is she doing?"

"Oh… um," Emily said as she looked down sadly, trying to find her words. "I'm sorry, Mr. Pryce, but… she died."

"She… is?" he asked, shocked by the news and becoming distraught. "Oh my… oh poor Sonya," he said as he sat down on his desk, trying to process this bombshell. "I… can't believe it. First her parents, and now her…"

"I know, I'm terribly sorry," Emily said to him.

"Emily, Emily, you have nothing to apologize for," he told her as he sat up and patted her shoulder. "Just… tell me how it happened?"

Emily took a deep breath. "A lot has happened since you last saw her…"

Meanwhile, the trio of Zee, Rebecca, and Whitney were looking around at the smaller gathering of tents set up outside the main tent. There were food stands, game stands, and performers.

"It's sad that Darci's not with us to look around," Rebecca pouted.

"Well, it's her loss," Whitney said with a huff of annoyance. "I honestly don't understand her being so aloof at times. She doesn't contact any of us for months and she slips off with no explanation? This is starting to get annoying."

"Look, maybe there's something on her mind right now," Zee tried to defend before she spotted some beasts in cages nearby, with Zaraff standing next to them. "Hey, it's that Zaraff guy."

"Looks like he's setting up his animals for the night," Whitney said before she saw Zee start to walk over. "Zee, what are you-?"

"I want to meet him, but you two can go ahead without me," she told them. "I'm going to personally talk with a fellow Beast-Keeper."

"Uh, okay, we'll be around," Rebecca said while turning to her sister. "So, what's there to eat?"

Zee walked over to Zaraff, who was locking up his beasts while petting Othra. "There there, you have been a good girl, Othra. Yes you are, yes you are," he said while nuzzling the bear-lion's nose.

"Ahem," Zee spoke up, getting Zaraff to turn to her. "Hi, Zaraff, right? Name's Zee. I saw your show today."

"Oh, a fan, I see?" Zaraff asked with a smile. "Nice to meet ya. From the sigil you have, you must be from the Boiling Isles, am I right?"

"Oh, yeah," Zee nodded as she tried to hide her sigil. "You know about those, huh?"

Zaraff nodded. "I visited the Boiling Isles many years ago. I was there to look for rare bounties… with poor results, unfortunately," he said with a tone of disappointment. "Luckily I was just a visitor, so I didn't get branded."

"Well, lucky you, since I didn't have a choice about it," Zee said with a bitter tone.

"Oh, sorry about that, young miss," Zaraff apologized, sounding sympathetic.

Zee sighed. "Thanks," she replied. "The only good thing out of this was that those responsible are dead."

"And did that make you feel better?" Zaraff asked her.

"Yeah," Zee claimed. "I mean, a little. At the time. Afterward… not really."

Zaraff nodded and decided to change the subject. "So what brings you here to see me, Zee? Is it, my ferocious ingenuity in taming my beasts? My charisma that is said to be infectious? Or would you like to purchase a copy of my travel log book?"

"Actually, I wanted to ask you for an input on something." Zee explains to him "See, since I got this sigil, my only career choices are beast-keeping. I was wondering what your job is like, being a beast tamer and all? I mean, traveling all around the realm for these guys is impressive."

"Why thank you," he replied, feeling proud. "And I wouldn't choose to do anything else. This is my calling, traveling to the many Titans in search of creatures like Othra, Jenga, and Gorna! I would recommend it, if you feel like you're up to the task. It will lead to a lot of unforgettable experiences, like that time I thought I saw Twigfeet in the forest of one Titan and the time I was almost eaten by Leprerats."

"Leprerats?" Zee asked, curious.

"They're like half-leprechauns, half-rats. Horrible-looking creatures," he said with a shiver. "But not as horrible as the Leprecorns." He shivered again. "But other than that, I've seen so many strange things that no witch could ever have imagined. Like a five-headed sphinx, a porcupine-ogre, and a flying giant tortoise…"

"Whoa…" Zee said while Zaraff handed her a sketchbook.

"Here are some sketches of what I've seen so far," Zaraff told her as Zee looked through them. "Pretty neat, eh? I've taken some art classes when I'm not out bounty hunting. They weren't free art classes, but I do consider them a well paid-off trade."

Zee looked impressed by the sketches, which included some written info and details about the creatures as well. "Amazing, I wish I could see creatures like these back in the Isles. Say, have you ever… seen a dragon before?"

"A dragon…" Zaraff paused as he looked up in the sky with a day-dreamy look. "I have, actually," he said, which shocked Zee. "A long time ago… a very, majestic, and impressive creature…"

Darcilia was walking behind the tents and the stands, trying to avoid the crowd. She was trying to leave the circus grounds, but she stopped when she heard someone calling out to her.

"It is you… Blackpaws."

Darcilia stopped and sighed, slowly turning around to see Ren and Billie standing there while in their witch forms.

"So it is you," Ren said.

"And you're the Birman kids," Darcilia mentioned while looking down, avoiding eye contact. "What do you want from me?"

"We just want to get a good look at you," Billie said. "After all, it's a surprise to see you're showing your face here of all Titans. Especially since we've heard a lot of contradicting things about you."

"Yeah, like we all thought you died," Ren said.

"Or were good as dead," Billie added with a smirk. "But since you're here and clearly not a ghost, it must be the latter."

Darcilia almost panicked for a moment before she calmed herself down.. "Um… yeah, I mean, I guess I'm not dead. Just hanging around, you know? Gotta say, you guys put on a wonderful show back there."

"Thanks," Ren replied.

"So you're just a drifter or something?" Billie asked her.

"Eh, more or less, but I just like to keep my privacy, you know," Darcilia said

"Hmm… does Hayden know you're here?" Billie asked her. Darcilia immediately flinched at the name, which Billie noticed. "Ooh, he doesn't, does he?"

"Um… so what if he doesn't?" she asked them. "What are you going to do about it?"

"Well… nothing," Billie decided after a moment. "Our folks just want to put on a show, the last thing we want is trouble. So for now, we'll just forget that we saw you here and we won't say anything about you."

"But you should still watch your back," Ren advised with a wink.

"Thanks," Darcilia muttered under her breath.

Meanwhile, Cups and Mugs were at the games, such as a game of throwing horseshoes.

"Almost got it…" Cups said as he eyed the stake. He threw the horseshoe, which swirled around the stake. "Ha! Got a perfect aim!"

"Oh yer just got lucky, brother," Mugs said as he went to throw his horseshoe, which he ended up throwing too far. It hit the back of a winged-monkey, who was drinking. "Whoops."

"Hey! Who threw that?!" shouted Franky, who turned around, but Cups and Mugs quickly used an invisibility spell to keep out of sight. Franky just grumbled as he turned back around. "Lousy kids…"

After getting away, they disperse their illusions. "Man, that was a close one!" Cups declared while turning to his brother. "You threw way too hard, Mugs."

"Yeah, I know," Mugs replied, looking down. "I was so desperate to beat'ya, that I ended up beat someone else."

"Ah it's alright, I think you just needed more practice," Cups reassured his brother.

"Oh man, my snails!" someone shouted.

The two brothers turned to see someone looking for his snails.

"What happened?" his friend asked him.

"I was gonna get me some not dogs until I realized my bag of snails went missing," he complained.

"Oh man, must be that pickpocket going around here," his friend responded. "I overheard some other witches complaining about their snails going missing and they think that there's a pickpocket in the area, so we have to watch our belongings."

"Now you tell me?!" the first witch complained.

"You hear that? There's a pickpocketer on the loose," Cups said to his brother after they overheard this.

"Think we should steer clear?" Mugs asked him. "The last thing we should do is get involved."

"Actually… maybe we should," Cups suggested. "I mean, since we're tryin' to go straight and all just like Emily, we should make an effort to find this pickpocketer and catch them in the act."

"Well… I don't know…" Mugs said while Cups patted his brother's shoulder.

"Think about it, bro. We could be heroes in taking down that pickpocketer," Cups said. "Don't you want to work on a chance at redemption? To do the right thing?"

"Yeah… yeah, yer right," Mugs replied in agreement. "We should do the right thing."

Cups smiled. "Then let's get that pickpocketer."

Emily and Pryce had gone for a walk while they had their talk and they were now alone in the main tent, which was empty besides the two of them as they continued to talk. Emily had just finished getting the Ringmaster up to speed on everything that happened to her over the last few months. Everything from the Glandus War to the Underworld to Sonya's death to Graye being her dad to the Day of Unity.

"My word, Emily," Pryce said with a gasp, looking at her sympathetically. "I'm so sorry that you were put through all of that. It… it must've been hard."

"It has been," she admitted with a sigh. "But right now I'm in a better place. Leaving the Boiling Isles and being here has helped."

"Still, it is terrible that you went through all of that," he said while looking concerned. "But you are feeling well, right?"

"Of course, sir," she reassured him.

"That's good, good," he said while giving a sigh. "So… do you have any future plans, Emily? Like, what are you going to do now?"

"Well… I don't really know, sir," she admitted. "I'm just taking it simply day by day."

Pryce nodded. "Fair, fair. But perhaps… there is something I can do for you?" he asked her.

"Oh, that won't be necessary, sir," Emily said. "I appreciate the offer, but I am doing fine by myself and I don't need you to waste-"

"Oh, that won't do at all, Emily," Pryce interrupted as he stood in front of her. "And I simply won't accept it. May I remind you that you are still considered part of the family, and because of that, I'm willing to do anything for you. All you have to do is ask."

He snapped his fingers and suddenly the whole tent flared up with red light, Pryce and Emily at the spotlight. Emily then heard drums playing suddenly, followed by the sound of trumpets and saxophones. She looked around and saw the instruments playing by themselves as Pryce stood before her while tipping his hat, giving a smile, and starting to sing.

"Now I know you're used to running with thieves, I'm sure you have a lot of tales," he sang as he summoned warriors in armor who held up their weapons at him and Emily. "But Emily, you're in luck cause up your sleeves, you got a brand of magic that never fails!"

Pryce shot some spells at the warriors, making them disappear.

"You got some power in your corner now, some heavy ammunition up to task!" Pryce sang while he and a confused Emily were in a tank that appeared suddenly and fired a fist. "You got the punch! Shazam! Kablam! And kapow!" He and Emily fought illusions of Terra, Mel, Belos, and the Grim Goblin. "See, all you gotta do is just ask, and I'll say-"

They were suddenly in a restaurant, Emily found herself sitting at a table while Pryce stood next to her while dressed as a waiter. "Madam Emily Tricks, what will your pleasure be?" he asked as he showed her a menu, while duplicates of himself served her all kinds of cuisines. "Let me take your order, jot it down, you ain't never had a friend like me."

"Life is your restaurant, and I'm your maitre d'," he sang while pouring her champagne before shrinking down to her shoulder. "Come, whisper to me whatever it is you want…"

"You ain't never had a friend like me!" the multiple Pryces declared, which surprised Emily, before she found herself in a salon, getting pampered by the female acrobats.

"We pride ourselves on service, you're the boss, the queen, the shah!" Pryce declared while handing her a platter of food. "Say what you wish, it's yours! True dish, how about a little more caviar?"

Emily took a bite of some shrimp, before finding herself on her feet again while standing next to Pryce. "Have some of column A," he said while pointing to a champagne foundation that materialized out of nowhere. "Try all of column B." He pointed to a caviar mountain, amazing her. "I'm in the mood to help you, dude, you ain't never had a friend like me!"

Pryce spun Emily around like a tornado and when she stopped, she found herself in a fancy red one-strap dress with black tap shoes and a flowery boa.

"(Do-do-doo!) Oh my!" pink Muppets known as Snowths sang as Pryce sang to Emily's left while she and Pryce danced.

"(Do-do-doo!) Oh no!" more Snowths sang to the right of Emily and Pryce as they continued to tap dance.

"(Do-do-doo!) My, oh my!" Pryce and the Snooths sang while he and Emily danced as the floor raised up beneath them. "Yachachachachachchacha-cha!"

"Can your friends give you this?" Pryce asked as he pulled a lever, causing fireworks that spelled out her name. "Can your friends do that?" he asked as he pulled another lever, this time for a slot machine matched Emily's face and spit out gold coins. "Can your friends pull this?" He jumped up and punched a brick while dressed as a plumber, causing coins to pop out of the brick, much to Emily's confusion. "Out their little hat?" He threw his hat around and zapped it. "Can your friends go poof?"

After a puff of smoke, Emily suddenly found herself surrounded by a harem of girls, who were dancing around while in scantily clad outfits, which made her blush. "Hey looky here, ha-ha!" Pryce asked as he appeared next to her and nudged her before snapping his fingers again. "Can your friends go 'Abracadabra, let 'er rip' and then make the sucker disappear?"

Pryce and Emily were suddenly on a couch, Emily getting whiplash as Pryce sang. "So don't sit back, slack-jawed and buggy-eyed, I'm here to answer all your midday prayers," he said while a bunch of duplicates appeared behind him with angel wings and halos as they sang a choir. "You got me bona fide, certified, you got a devil for your charge d'affaires!" he sang as he showed her a certification before rolling it up as they stood up from the couch, which vanished.

"I got a powerful urge to help you out, so what's your wish? I really wanna know," he sang while pulling out a long list from her ear. "You got a list that's three miles long, no doubt! All you gotta do is ask and so!" he sang as Emily was even more confused.

"Ms. Emily Tricks, ma'am! One favor or two or three," he said while he and Emily danced around the ring. "Well I'm at the curb, just say the word, you ain't never had a friend, never had a friend, you ain't-"

He pointed his finger and zapped the empty space, summoning griffins that danced the Charleston.

"You ain't never had a friend, never had a friend, you ain't-!"

He summoned unicorns who were doing the swing.

"Never(Never)!" he sang as he stomped on the ground, Emily doing the same. "Had a(Had a)!" He stomped again and so did Emily, this time sparks burst behind them. "Friend… like… ME!" He held Emily's hand while they raised up their arms as fireworks went off and the menagerie of animals danced to the spectacle.

"Do-Do-Doo(Wa-ha-ah!)" the Snowths sang out while Pryce and Emily danced.

"Do-Do-Doo(Yo-ho-ho)!" they all sang as they danced around to the spectacle, the music blaring. Emily may be confused, but she appeared to be enjoying this a lot. "You ain't never had a friend like me!"

And then after a snap from Pryce's fingers, everything disappeared, leaving Emily and Pryce in an empty and normal-looking ring.

"What… I… what…" Emily said as she looked around in confusion before turning to the Ringmaster. "How did you do that, Mr. Pryce?"

Pryce gave a smile. "Oh, just a little showmanship. Did you like it?"

Back outside, Cups and Mugs were looking around for the pickpocket.

"Remember Mugs, the best way to look for dat pickpocketer is to think like a pickpocketer," Cups suggested to his brother. "So we gotta look for the best marks."

"If I were a pickpocketer, who would I hit?" Mugs asked as the two brothers looked around until they spotted one person. "Hey bro, what about that guy?"

"Oh yes! I would like to throw away my money to you, clowns!" spoke a elephant demon in a lederhosen. He had pockets filled with snails and he started to throw money at the clowns. "Here! Take them all! I like having them out like this!"

Cups and Mugs turned to each other, giving each other nods. The two decide to tail the elephant demon, who went around with his cash sticking out from his pockets. They watched as the elephant demon went to a food stand to buy some of the fried food there while leaving a big tip of snails to the server.

"Mmm-mmm, these are delicious!" the elephant demon said while engulfing some fried food. He was so busy indulging in the food that he didn't notice a long-coat-wearing stranger sneakily walking up behind him. They looked at the snails sticking out from his back pocket and used the opportunity to quietly attempt to grab them…

"Ah-Ha!" Cups shouted as he pointed at them. "Caught you in the act, pickpocketer!"

The stranger turned to look at the Holder Brothers in a panic while the elephant turned around. "Nein? A pickpocket-er?!" he shouted as he pointed at the pickpocketer, who backed away and then started to run.

"Come back here, criminal!" Cups and Mugs shouted as they gave chase while pickpocketer ran through the carnival.

The two shot their spells at the pickpocketer in an attempt to stop them, but the pickpocketer dodged the spells before knocking over some barrels in an attempt to slow their pursuers down, but the brothers jumped up over the barrels and continued to chase after them.

The pickpocketer made a turn, trying to get out from the crowd and go between some tents to an area where nobody would be. They looked around and were unable to see the Holder Brothers. They sighed… until they got blasted in the back by a spell, knocking them over.

"Gotcha!" Cups declared while blowing smoke from his finger.

"Now to see who you really are!" Mugs said while drawing a spell circle to bind the pickpocketer. The two brothers grabbed them and pulled off the coat, causing the brothers to both gasp. "You?!" Mugs exclaimed.

"Cups… Mugs, my friends," Eustace said with a smile. He was wearing a green and white striped shirt and trousers with black boots. "Long time, no see…"

"What are you's doing here?!" Cups demanded while looking around in a panic. "Don't tell us Mel is here too?!"

"Like hell she is," said a voice.

Suddenly, the two brothers were grabbed from behind by a tentacle and were pulled away from Eustace. They were turned around and their eyes widened as they saw who it was.

"Serpy?!" Cups and Mugs exclaimed.

"Hello, boys," Serpentina declared while wearing a new outfit. It was a blue strapless top with a black corset, a shell-shoulder pad on her left shoulder, black short-shorts with black boots with skull and crossbones buckles. In her hand was a new grimoire with a blue cover. "Well isn't this a lovely reunion…"

Back in the main area, witches were coming and going, enjoying their time at the carnival and the circus… until an explosion went off and a fire broke out, quickly spreading to several stands, wagons, and a few of the smaller tents.

Screams and panic filled the air just as quickly as the flames and the smoke as all hell broke out. As soon as the explosion was heard, people started to run, though since they didn't know what had happened, they ran in all directions and even startled to trample over each other in their panic to escape. And as several other explosions went off and the fire got worse, so did the panic.

"What the hell was that?!" Zee asked as she met up with Rebecca and Whitney.

"A fire broke out!" Rebecca exclaimed, looking around in shock at the panic.

"Don't tell me we're under an attack?!" Whitney asked while looking around. "Where's Darcilia and Emily?!"

"Right here," Darcilia said as she ran over to her friends. She looked around at the fire, her face distraught. "I don't know where Emily is, but we need to get everyone to safety and put out the fires before it continues to spread!"

"Right, this is a job for Team WZRD!" Rebecca declared as the four girls split up to help get everyone to safety.

Whitney spotted a tent with its roof on fire and she used a blizzard spell to put out the flames. She then put out some flames that were blocking the path to the exit and she turned to some nearby patrons. "Go! Get out of here!" she shouted as she helped guide them to the exit.

Rebecca used her scythe and stood on top of a panel it brought out, using the blade to form a handle as she flew over the ground. She grabbed one witch who was looking for a way out and tried to reassure them. "Don't worry, I'll get you out of here!" she shouted as she drew a spell to shoot wind spells to blow out the flames from her path.

Zee brought out her wings while using them to put out the flames, going full dragon mode. Darcilia joined her side, attempting to use water spells to put out the flames. While they worked together to put out the flames, helping some of the circus performers get clear, Zee noticed somebody trapped inside a burning tent.

"Hey, there's someone trapped in there!" Zee pointed out as she and Darcilia rushed over to and inside the tent.

Inside, they found Billie and Ren. The two were together in a huddle, surrounded by flames. Zee flew through the flames, unhurt due to her dragon form, and grabbed the werecat cousins, Darcilia helping to clear a path for them.

"Are you two alright?" Zee asked them once they were out.

"Our parents… we can't find them!" Billie informed her.

"They're somewhere around here!" Ren cried out.

"Come on," Darcilia told them. "Let's go find them."

Back in the main tent, Emily was still with Pryce, who kept offering her his stuff.

"Come on, you have to take one of these home with you," Pryce said as he handed her a rubber duck with horns. "This one can spit out fire, good for defense."

"Um… I don't think rubber ducks are as much of my thing as they are yours, sir," Emily responded respectfully. "I'm more into knick-knacks."

"Of course! I got dozens of these, knick-knack, paddy wacks," Pryce said before they both heard a scream.

"AAAAAAH!"

"What the…?" Emily and Pryce both asked as they rushed for the exit.

"What was that?!" Emily asked.

"I don't know, but-" When they got outside, Pryce's eyes widened. "Egad! The carnival's on fire!"

Despite the best efforts of WZRD, the fire had continued to spread to more of the carnival. And while Pryce was shocked to see the flames, he was not as shocked as Emily. She stared at the flames while freezing up in place, remembering the Torsa Villa fire…

And suddenly she was back in that forest, surrounded by burning tree houses and corpses of werecats, the smell of smoke and burnt flesh filling her nostrils. This made Emily's heart beat faster with fear and anxiety…

"Emily? Emily!"

She snapped out of it after hearing Pryce's voice. He was shaking her. "Emily, are you alright, my child?" he asked her.

"I…" Emily said as she looked at the flames while hearing the people screaming. She realized what she had to do. "I have to help. You get to safety, Mr. Pryce," she declared before she teleported away through a cloud of red smoke, much to the Ringmaster's surprise.

"Well, that's… new," Pryce admitted.

Emily reappeared in front of a visitor who was trapped by the flames and was coughing from the smoke. They nearly fell unconscious from the smoke inhalation, but Emily grabbed onto the visitor and lifted them up as they looked up at her.

"What are you-?!"

"Here to help," Emily said before teleporting herself and the visitor away from the flames. They suddenly appeared outside of the circus and before the visitor could respond, Emily placed them down and was gone in a swirl of red smoke, teleporting away. The confused visitor looked around, realizing where they were.

"Uh… thanks," they said in confusion.

A couple of kids who were separated from their parents were trying to find a way to avoid the flames. Suddenly, Emily teleported in front of them and grabbed them.

"Hang on," she told them as they teleported away. She dropped them in the field outside of the carnival, where there was a bunch of people that Emily had teleported here. Before the kids even got a chance to thank Emily, she had teleported away again.

"Kids!" their mother shouted as she ran up to hug her children. "Are you alright?"

"We're fine mom, thanks to that teleporting girl," the daughter said.

"Yeah, right over there now!" the son shouted as he pointed to Emily, who reappeared, this time with a coughing circus performer. After dropping the performer off, she teleported back toward the fire once more.

A lone clown was running away until he tripped. He saw a burning pole fall and was about to land on him, but then Emily teleported in and grabbed the clown out of the way, teleporting him away from the spot just as the pole landed on the ground.

Emily teleported again, seeing a couple running up to her. She called out to them before she grabbed the couple and teleported away from the heat.

After teleporting back, Emily looked around. "Hello? Anyone need any help?" she called out.

"Emily…"

Emily turned to see someone who had fallen over. It was Zara, whose whole body was trapped under a collapsed stand. "Help…"

"Hang on, Zara!" Emily said as she ran over to help Zara out. She grabbed the debris and started to lift it, ignoring the pain in the process. "Can you pull your arm out?"

"Y-Yeah," Zara said while managing to get her arm freed, which Emily grabbed onto.

Emily then pulled Zara out of the debris, pulling her whole body free. Once she managed to get her out, Emily helped her up to her feet. "Are you alright?"

"I'll live…" Zara said while Emily grabbed her hand.

"Don't worry, I'm getting us out of here," she said before she teleported herself and Zara out of the spot.

In a moment, Zara found herself in the field with the other people Emily had saved. She turned to thank Emily, but Emily was already gone.

Emily teleported back to the fire, looking around until she spotted Rebecca and Whitney, who saw her and came over.

"Emily!" Rebecca called out to her. "You're okay?"

"Where's Zee? And Darcilia?" Emily asked them.

"Right here!" Zee responded while flying over with some more civilians in her arms. She was with Darcilia, who helped up a clown. "Are you alright, Emily?"

"I'm fine, just… we need to save as many lives as we can," Emily said, looking determined.

"She's right," Rebecca said. "Let's do this."

The group of five nodded and split into groups, Darcilia joining with Emily and Rebecca on the search and rescue, while Whitney and Zee tried to put out the flames.

Darcilia and Rebecca managed to find some people trapped or struggling to escape, with Emily helping to teleport them out of the circus. Whitney and Zee put out the fire using the wind and ice magic, Zee uses her wings to create large winds that she mixed with Whitney's snow magic to create blizzards that smothered the flames. And yet, the flames seemed to continue to grow, which upset Emily more.

"Is everyone out?" Whitney asked as they searched the area.

"I don't see or hear anyone else, so I think that's about everybody," Zee responded.

"But the fire isn't out," Emily pointed out.

"We just put that out a moment ago!" Whitney shouted while pointing out one part of the area that was now in flames.

"It's like for every fire we put out, a new one starts," Darcilia said, causing Emily's eyes to widen as she realized that there was something… familiar about this.

"This… was no accident," Emily said, realizing this was just like with the Torsa Villa fire, where Firebees started new fires every time one of his was put out. "Someone is behind this, doing this intentionally! This is the Torsa Villa all over again!"

Emily summoned Pretty to be turned into a staff before she flew off. "Emily, wait!" Zee cried out, trying to stop her, but Emily was already off.

She flew around, trying to find the source of the fire. She heard a nearby explosion and she turned to see one tent that had just burst into flames. And she spotted someone fleeing from the crime scene. It was Eustace.

"You!" Emily shouted as she flew over to stop him, until she was slapped across the ground by a watery whip. She fell off along with her staff before she got up and saw who hit her. "What the hell…"

"You must be this Emily Tricks that I've heard so much about," Serpentina said as she revealed herself while walking next to Eustace. "I must say, I was expecting more from you…"

"Serpy! Thanks for the save," Eustace told her.

"Just move on to phase two of our plan," Serpentina said while rolling her eyes, Eustace nodding and running away.

"Come back here!" Emily shouted as she attempted to chase Eustace, but she was blocked by an ice wall that burst out of nowhere "What?!"

"Like my new spells?" Serpentina asked while holding her grimoire. "Actually, I think this is our first meeting, so you wouldn't know this grimoire is new. But you'll still see what it can do…"

Meanwhile, Eustace had made it over to the beast cages, where the animals inside were already startled by the flames.

"Alright, time for a jail break!" Eustace declared as he drew a spell circle and shot flames at the locks. This opened the doors to the cages and released the animals. "Now then… go wild!" he declared, sparking flames to scare them.

The animals all roared and screeched as they panicked and ran out of their cages, trying to avoid the flames by running towards where the people were, all the while Eustace smiled at his handiwork.

"Holy shit!" one witch shouted as they saw the scared animals coming toward them.

Emily noticed the beasts running loose while fighting Serpentina.

"Why are you doing this?!" Emily demanded to know while shooting fireballs at Serpentina, who used her water magic to form a shield, causing the flames to evaporate. "Don't you care that people will get killed?!"

"Uh, no, I obviously don't," Serpentina said while drawing three spell circles and shooting out blades made out of coral, targeting Emily. She teleported away along with her staff as the blades stabbed the ground where she had been standing. Emily reappeared behind Serpentina and swung her leg at her, the sea-witch sliding back away to dodge the blow. "This is all just a distraction for the real goal."

"What real goal?!" Emily demanded to know. "What are you planning?"

"Simple, steal the money from the circus's box-office," she explained. "Me and Eustace have planned to create as much chaos as possible so while everyone is distracted, we claim the booty."

"So you started all of this… just to rob this circus?!" Emily shouted. Enraged, her eyes glowed as her hands burst into flames. "Now I'm very angry…"

Meanwhile, the other girls spotted the animals fleeing the flaming circus and heading for the field where the rescued people had been dropped off. Team WZRD rushed to intercept these animals before they could hurt themselves or anyone else, Zee managing to grab hold of some griffins with her Beast-Keeping spells, using her own wings to bring them down.

While Zee was in the air, Rebecca, Whitney, and Darcilia were on the ground, protecting the citizens and stopping the animals. Whitney heard screams and she turned around to see some devilphants running amok, chasing down some clowns that were unfortunately stomped on.

"GAAAH!" the clowns screamed as they got smashed by the stumps of the devilphants.

"YAAH!" another clown cried as it got stabbed by a unicorn's horn.

"Dear Titan…" Whitney said as she looked in horror at the gory sight, right as Darcilia grabbed her to pull her out of the way of another rampaging beast.

"Don't get distracted, focus on saving as many as you can," Darcilia declared while bringing out her crossbows, shooting out arrows that exploded out into nets which trapped the rampaging devilphants and unicorns. She noticed a unicorn coming from the side and wasn't able to turn in time, but fortunately that unicorn was tackled by Rodney and Brod, who grabbed the unicorn and kept it in place.

"Need help?" Billie asked, as she, Ren, and his parents, along with the other performers, joined in to help keep the beasts at bay and away from civilians. The Flying Birmans used their werecat forms to grab hold and pin the animals down, while Darcilia used a sleep spell on each of the beasts, making them calm down before passing out.

The snake biped used her ratworms to surround the smaller animals to keep them in place, just as Rebecca used a spell circle and brought out a net to tie them up.

Zara was also among the performers, using her illusions to trick the animals into stopping before they hit a fake wall, keeping them separated from the civilians. While the animals were confused by the illusions, Zaraff showed up, summoning ropes to bind the animals by their necks and limbs. Zee also flew over, picking up some of the animals and bringing them over to Zaraff.

"Here," she said.

"By the Titan's eye," Zaraff said, his eyes widening when he saw Zee's dragon form. "You… a dragon!"

"Yeah, that's me," Zee admitted. "I'm a dragon."

"Incredible…" Zaraff declared in awe. "You are the first I've ever met!"

"Wait, I thought you said you met a dragon before," Zee said.

Zaraff smiled sheepishly. "I told a lie," he admitted.

"Well, we can chat later about this," Zee said as she looked around. "Hey, has anyone seen Emily?" she asked her friends, who were busy helping to round up the animals.

Before they could answer, Zee spotted someone intentionally scaring the animals with his flame magic.

"Come on! Run!" Eustace shouted while bursting his flames at them, scaring them into running.

"Hey!" Zee shouted as she flew over to blow steam at him, scalding at his face.

"AAAH!" Eustace shouted before Zee punched him across the face, sending him down to the ground before Zee went to pin him underneath her by standing on his chest.

"So you're the one who started all of this!" Zee shouted at him.

"That is correct," Eustace admitted while looking up at the blue dragon. "Huh, a dragon? My first time meeting one…"

"Yeah, and it'll be your last," Zee said as she glared down at him before she noticed him growing reptilian skin. "What the hell?!" she shouted while she was swatted away by Eustace. When she fell over, she looked up and saw him transforming. "You… you're…"

"A werecroc," Eustace said with a grin while changing into his werecroc form. He let out a roar while charging at Zee. "Let's see how you fair against me!" he shouted while slamming his fist down towards Zee, who flew up to dodge them.

She flew up to blow steam at him, which Eustace blocked with his arms. It didn't affect him due to his impenetrable skin and he jumped up, grabbing Zee by her legs and pulling her out of the air, slamming her into the ground.

Zee may have fallen, but she wasn't down. She glared at the werecroc. "Bring it on!"

Meanwhile, Serpentina summoned more spells against Emily, who was having a hard time battling against the sea-witch.

"Hmhmhm, you could use a little splash!" Serpentina laughed while summoning a wave of water. Emily's flames did nothing before Emily herself was hit by the wave, which slammed into her and knocked her back while also putting out the flames in the area.

Emily coughed up water before noticing a large water spiral coming at her. She teleported away and appeared up in the sky. Serpentina looked up and performed another spell.

"Rain Dance!" she shouted before Emily felt water pouring down at her. She tensed slightly, but then realized that it wasn't burning her at all and she looked down at Serpentina.

"Really? Is that the best you got?" she asked.

But then she got hit by one of the rain drops… and it hurt. Looking up, she realized that these were not small rain drops. They were huge, meaning they packed a bigger punch. Before she could get out of the way, she was hit by a few more of these giant rain drops, which pushed Emily down towards the ground.

"AAH!" she cried out as she tried to get up, but the pouring rain hit her like bullets. She teleported away and reappeared behind Serpentina, but when she tried to hit her, Serpentina dipped down to the ground into a puddle. Emily looked down at the puddle in confusion, but was then surprised when a tendril launched itself out of the puddle and grabbed Emily. "Shit!" she cried out as the tendril threw her into the air and into a burnt stand, which she crashed through.

"I thought you were full of tricks," Serpentina taunted after appearing from another puddle.

Meanwhile, Zee was fighting against Eustace, the two pummeling each other with their fists, although their hides were too tough for either of them to make a dent. Eustace decided to change it up by casting flames from his hands, shooting them at Zee. However, the flames proved to be ineffective and Zee looked almost offended.

"Really?" she asked him. "You didn't think that a creature that could breathe fire was fire-proof?"

"Uh…" Eustace said before Zee saw her opening and punched him across the jaw. Eustace backed away, but when she went for another attack he lunged at her. She side-stepped, but then gasped as she felt him grab her tail and pull her to the ground.

"But are you teeth-proof?" he asked before opening his jaw at her. Zee kicked his chomps away from her while drawing a spell circle that bound his mouth with rope. But Eustace quickly bit through rope before backhanding Zee.

Back with Emily, she was having a hard time countering Serpentina and her spells. Her flame magic was effectively useless against Serpentina, so Emily resorted to using her illusions, creating a kaleidoscope world around them to confuse Serpentina while Emily sneaked around. While Serpentina had her back turned, Emily went in for the strike. But before she could do so, she was struck by another water tendril, sending her crashing through a tent.

"What…" Emily said in surprise as her kaleidoscope illusion faded away.

"Seriously, is this all you got?" Serpentina taunted. "By the serpent, you are so overrated." She turned water around her into blades, launching them towards Emily, who turned herself invisible as she avoided them. "Turning invisible? You can't run away from me, Tricks!" she declared, listening to the wet ground, signaling Emily's location. She sent a heavy amount of water at her and when she heard Emily crash through a boof, she smiled. "Is this what the Head of Illusions is made out of? How the fuck did you managed to join up the ranks of the Emperor's Coven?!"

"Easy," Emily said from behind Serpentina, surprising her. Serpentina turned around and lashed out with her water tendrils, destroying a stand. But Emily wasn't there.

Then a pair of hands went over her eyes.

"Guess who?" Emily asked before blue flames came from her hands, burning Serpentina's face.

"GAAAH!" Serpentina shouted while sending a water tendril at Emily, slapping her across the ground. "How in the hell?!" she shouted while feeling the burned marks on her face.

"It's called misdirection and throwing my voice, idiot," Emily said with a smile as she got up from the ground. "Want to know how I got where I did? Because I let people underestimate me, just like you did."

Serpentina tried to find Emily, but her eyes were glowing blue. "W-what did you do to me?"

"Well, normal fire wasn't working," Emily said as she watched Serpentina panic. "So I thought I would change things up…"

Eustace swatted his tail at Zee, who was sent back again. She looked up and saw him jumping up, trying once again to slam her with his fists. She flew back and breathed flames at the werecroc, but he just brushed it off.

"Come on, is that the best you can do?!" he declared, laughing.

"Oh, you haven't faced me at my worst," Zee said. Realizing that just going full dragon wasn't working out for her, she summoned her staff and drew a spell circle, summoning a swarm of demon squirrels that came flying out to antagonize the werecroc.

"Gah! Stop! Quit it!" he shouted while trying to swat the squirrels away. While he was distracted, Zee sent a clawed foot to his face, kicking him back.

Emily and Serpentina continued to face off with each other, the flames around them starting to die out thanks to the battle. Serpentina glared at Emily. Or, she glared at where she thought Emily was. Emily started to teleport all around Serpentina, using her voice to taunt her. When Serpentina reacted, her water just ended up putting out more of the flames.

"Like hell I'm gonna lose to an illusionist like you!" Serpentina declared. She pulled out her grimoire, thumbed through the pages until she felt the one she was looking for. She may not see the words, but she was able to feel them and she smiled as she spoke an incantation. "Giant Serpent!"

Emily saw a large spell circle that summoned a large, watery cobra that came straight towards her. Emily backed away and got out her staff, using it to fly around while the water serpent chased after her. However, another spell circle appeared in front of Emily, the water serpent herding Emily right into a large, watery hand that swatted her out of the air.

"Oof!" Emily shouted while seeing the water around her close in. Before she could react, she got trapped in a watery sphere, depriving her of air. Serpentina smirked as she listened to Emily struggle in the watery sphere.

"Yes, die," Serpentina declared. "You lose…"

"Not yet."

Suddenly, Serpentina was blasted away by a red spell that knocked her back. "AAH!" she screamed, losing her concentration.

Emily was released from the sphere, coughing up water. She looked up to see who had attacked her opponent and she saw that it was a witch man wearing a cloak. Under the hood of his cloak, she saw two red eyes while the rest of their face was hidden in the shadow of the hood.

"Who… who are you?" Emily asked the hooded figure.

"Someone who is here to help you, obviously," he responded and although Emily didn't know who this witch was, she knew that he sounded… familiar. "What we need is that grimoire away from the sea-witch."

Serpentina got up, rubbing her eyes and glaring at the hooded witch. "Like hell you will!" she shouted while shooting watery tendrils towards him and Emily.

Zee was throwing punches at Eustace, who was blocking them with his arms. However, while he was blocking her punches, she was building up the saliva in her mouth. When there was enough, she produced a bit of flame, evaporating the saliva and turning it into steam, which she blew right into the face of Eustace, blinding him.

"Gah!" he shouted while throwing a punch at Zee.

Zee easily dodged the blind punch, wrapped her tail around his arm, and spun him around. She shot more steam at him, hitting his back as he cried out.

Serpentina summoned more large watery tendrils and serpents to launch against Emily and the hooded witch. The two dodged the attacks as Serpentina tried to hose them down.

"Stand still!" she shouted while trying to hose on Emily.

Emily used her illusions to cause confusion, duplicating herself as the tendrils and water hoses targeted her. She even made duplicates of the hooded witch to create more confusion for the sea-witch. Serpentina snarled as she shot water at the illusion clones, each of them disappearing once they were hit. The hooded witch drew a spell circle to shoot beams of magic at her, but Serpentina blocked it with a shield of ice.

However, while she was distracted, Emily summoned a fireball and threw it at Serpentina's back, causing her to wince in pain. "YAAH!"

Zee continued her fight with Eustace, which was an all-out were-brawl.

"Please, I can do anything you can do," Eustace shouted, proving his point by casting flames from his hand, burning the ground in front of him.

"Oh, is that right?" Zee asked as she flew through the flames and tackled him. She managed to grab him around his waist before she flew up in the air with him.

"W-what are you doing?" Eustace asked.

"What's wrong?" Zee asked with a smirk. "Can't fly?"

"Obviously not!" Eustace shouted.

"Oops," Zee said as she 'accidentally' dropped Eustace, causing him to fall back toward the ground while screaming.

"Oof!" he cried out as he landed on the ground head-first. He winced in pain before Zee landed on him. "Ow! That hurt!"

"That's for starting the fires, asshole," she told him as Eustace snarled, showing Zee off of him and snapping his chops at her. However, Zee just pointed her finger, drew a spell, and shot a fireball into his open mouth, making him swallow the flame.

"GAAAH! HOT!" he cried out before Zee punched him in the snout.

Serpentina was then kicked across her face by Emily, sending her over to the hooded witch, who punched her in the face. The sea-witch hit the ground, tasting blood in her mouth. However, she quickly got up, glaring at the two before spamming her spells with water tendrils at them.

"Get away from me!" she shouted.

Emily and the hooded witch split off from each other, Emily pelting Serpentina with fireballs while the hooded witch cast his own spells at her. The sea-witch was hit by each attack, making her even more desperate. When she saw Emily coming towards her, she summoned a geyser which went off beneath Emily, blasting her into the air.

Eustace was looking tired as he tried to hit Zee, who easily dodged his swings. She flew behind him, grabbed his tail, and started to fly up, taking Eustace with her.

"Hey!" he shouted at her. "What do you think you're doing now?!"

"Finishing move," Zee declared as she flew up. Once she was high enough, she started to spin around while holding on to Eustace's tail.

"WHOOOOAAAA!" he cried out while being spun around and around in the air. Once he was spinning fast enough, Zee decided to let go of him. "YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!"

Zee stopped spinning and watched him fly into the distance. She saw him going, and going, and going… and gone.

"And that's how you get rid of werecrocs… or obsessive exes," she declared.

Serpentina watched Emily fly up in the air and she sent several water spikes up, hoping to skewer her. But before the spikes could hit, Emily vanished in a cloud of red smoke.

"What?!" Serpentina exclaimed before feeling her grimoire get snatched from her hand by Emily, who kicked her in the face again. "GAH!" Serpentina cried out.

"Got your grimoire," Emily taunted as she held it up.

"You… give it back!" Serpentina demanded, reaching for her grimoire… before Emily teleported away while holding it.

Serpentina looked panicked as she heard Emily whistle. She turned around and saw Emily standing behind her while holding the book. Emily stared at the sea-witch stoically before setting the grimoire aflame right in front of her. Serpentina's eyes widened upon seeing her grimoire burst into flames.

"NOOOOOO!" she cried out as Emily threw down the burning grimoire, which exploded into ash when it hit the ground. "You… you bitch!"

"What are you going to do about it?" Emily asked with a smirk.

Serpentina knew she couldn't win this, not without her grimoire, so she just glared hatefully at Emily. "Forget this!" she shouted as she threw down a smoke bomb and used her magic to create a mist, hiding her from Emily's sight. When Emily swiped away the mist, she saw that Serpentina was gone, the sea-witch having made a hasty escape.

"Something tells me this won't be the last time I see her," Emily said with a sigh before turning to the hooded witch "Now what are you-"

But the hooded witch was nowhere to be seen.

"What…?" Emily asked as looked back and forth, but she was unable to find the hooded witch. He was just… gone.

"And something tells me this won't be the last time I see you either," Emily added with another sigh.

The fire has completely died out thanks to Serpentina's earlier water attacks and Whitney's snow spells. The animals were all safely contained and now the area was swarming with the local authorities and healers.

"Alright, no serious injuries or deaths, other than the clowns but they're all better," spoke one paramedic healer as the clowns in question were revealed to be alright, having been put back together with super glue and tape.

"Those are some unusual clowns…" another healer admitted.

Zee was wrapping some bandage tape around her knuckles, which were bruised up. As she looked at her hand, her gaze went down to her sigil. She gave an expression before she heard someone call out to her.

"Zee!" Zaraff spoke up, earning her attention. "I wanted to speak to you! I must say, seeing you in action and facing the werecroc with your dragon form… mighty impressive."

"Oh, thanks Raff," Zee responded.

"Raff?" he asked her.

"Oh, it's something I tend to do. Giving nicknames and shortening the names of folks… I hope you don't mind," she said.

"Oh, I don't mind," he assured her. "Raff does sound like a good nickname."

"Well I'm glad you like it, Raff," Zee told him.

"So… you're a dragon?" Zaraff asked as he sat beside her. "And you said you're from the Boiling Isles? I thought that-"

"Belos killed all the dragons from there?" Zee asked and Zaraff nodded. "Well, he didn't kill all of us."

"How many are left?" Zaraff asked and Zee sighed.

"Not many," she admitted. "Besides the ones in my family, I've only met one other Boiling Isles dragon, but I don't even know if he's still alive or not. We may be the last dragons in the Demon Realm…"

Zaraff sighed. "That would be a tragedy," he admitted. "So… will I see you around more?"

Zee looked up at him in surprise. "What?"

"I thought you might like to learn more about my travels and my experiences as a Beast Keeper, especially if that's your future career," Zaraff pointed out. "And I wouldn't mind spending more time with you either."

Zee considered it. "I'll think about it," she told him.

"Good," Zaraff said with a nod. "I do hope to see you around more, Zee," he said as he got up. As he walked away, Zee watched him and gave a little smile.

Meanwhile, Darcilia was meeting up with Billie and Ren, who were thanking her.

"Thanks for helping us out back there, Darcilia," Billie told her.

"Yeah! You were a real hero!" Ren declared.

"It's nothing guys, really," she insists, but then she felt Billie patting her shoulder.

"I think to make this even, we promise to not say anything about you to anyone," she told her. "We'll act like we didn't see you, like you were just some goth girl we came across."

This made Darcilia smile. "I appreciate that, you two."

"Hey, look!" Rebecca shouted, getting everyone's attention as she pointed to Emily, who teleported to near them.

"Emily!" Zee shouted as she and the others ran up to her. "Thank Titan you're alright!"

"Yeah, you had us worried," Whitney told her.

"Sorry about that, I ended up fighting this sea-witch who was with the arsonist," Emily explained.

"Yeah, the werecroc that started the fires," Zee responded.

"Werecroc?" Emily asked.

"Yep, just another normal day for us," Zee answered. "But why did they cause this much chaos? What were they trying to achieve?"

"They were planning to rob the circus's box office," Emily revealed.

"What?" Zee asked in surprise. "All of this was just a distraction for petty robbery?"

"Hey, Emily!" shouted a familiar voice.

Everyone turned to see Cups and Mugs showing up, both of them covered in soot.

"Cups? Mugs? Where did you guys go?" Emily asked them.

"Well, you see, we were trying to catch a pickpocket, but that pickpocket turned out to be Eustace, and then we got caught by Serpy!" Cups explained.

"Eustace and Serpentina had us stashed in a potato sack so we wouldn't cause any trouble," Mugs added.

"That explains your appearances," Zee said before she noticed the Ringmaster coming over to them.

"Emily!" Pryce shouted as he walked over to Emily. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, sir. Thank you for the concern," she replied to him. "What about your performers?"

"Well, it's thanks to you and your friends that nobody was seriously hurt by the fire!" he answered, sounding relieved. He looked around at the burnt tents and stands. "Though that fire still did a lot of damage…"

"I'm just glad nobody was hurt," Emily said, sounding relieved.

Pryce nodded in agreement. "But how did you-"

"Teleport?" Emily asked. "It's, uh, something I can do. I'm not sure why, but I've been able to do it since Sonya… since she died."

Pryce nodded solemnly. "Still, I'm grateful for what you and your friends did tonight."

"It was nothing, sir," Emily told him before seeing him offer a small box. "What's this?"

"Well, consider this a late birthday present, my jaded star," Pryce said with a smile.

Emily hesitated. "I really shouldn't…"

"Please, take this one small token of my gratitude," Pryce insisted. "You've earned it."

After a moment, Emily smiled and took the gift. "Thank you, Mr. Pryce. I appreciate this so much…"

"You're very welcome," Pryce said with a smile. "And you know, we're going to be in Inwell Isles for a while," he told her. "And it would mean so much if you decided to stop by again."

"I will, sir," Emily promised as she and Pryce hugged.

After they broke their hug and said their goodbyes for now, Emily started to leave with her friends. As they walked together, Zee leaned over to Emily.

"You know, the Ringmaster looks shorter up close than he did during the show," Zee whispered.

Before Emily could answer, she heard a commotion. She turned and saw Zara and Imagino shouting at each other while in the middle of an argument.

"You can't do this to me, intern!" Imagino declared.

"It's Zara, and yes, I just did," Zara declared while giving him a look. "Find yourself a new intern, cause I'm a solo act now."

"You think you can just leave me?!" Imagino declared.

"Yeah, cause people actually love my performance, and unlike you, who cowered when all the chaos was going on, I helped," she said while forming a smirk. "Goodbye Presto, I quit," she declared while walking out from her now former boss.

"Zara!" Imagino shouted, raising his fist up. "Fine! I'll find an intern that would be loyal to me!"

Emily smiled and waved at Zara as she came over to her and the others. "Now that was perfect," she said.

"Thanks, Emily," Zara replied with a sigh of relief. "That felt so good, you know. Thanks to your advice, I've decided to stand up for myself and start off on my own."

And so she walked away from the circus with Emily and the others, all of them ready to call it a day.

Somewhere on the Inwell Isles, two witches hid in a cave to lick their wounds and recover from their injuries. These witches were, of course, Eustace and Serpentina. While Eustace sat back and bandaged himself, Serpentina was ranting at someone.

"Your stupid grimoire didn't work!" she yelled at them. "It didn't help me defeat that illusionist! She just managed to grab it from me and burned it!"

"The problem isn't the grimoire, child… it's the user," said the voice of an older woman.

Serpentina glared at the person she was speaking to. "Me? You think that the loss is on-"

"That grimoire was a gift. A gift shouldn't be squandered, little sea-witch."

The stern voice silenced Serpentina, but Eustace didn't get the memo and he spoke up. "You know, despite all of that, at least we made a few snails."

"A few snails?" the voice from the shadows said while chastising him. "Young man, you have a lack of vision. This was never about the snails…"

The older woman came out of the shadows, looking disappointed in the two. She shook her head. "You know, I expected… more from the two of you. Especially you, Serpentina."

The sea-witch stepped up. "Look, why don't you just give us another chance to prove ourselves, Maleficent," she told the Mistress of Evil. "Give me another spellbook, and I can-"

"Absolutely not," Maleficent told her. "This time, I will not be so hasty with my gifts to you. I suggest you prove yourself with what you have before receiving another gift from me. Can you even do that?"

Serpentina looked mad. "Of course I can. Don't underestimate me, I am not someone to be-"

"Trifled with?" Maleficent asked as she looked down at Serpentina. The sea-witch glared up at Maleficent, challenging her. This seemed to amuse Maleficent, who stared back down at Serpentina. This contest lasted only for a few moments before Serpentina flinched, causing Maleficent to laugh. "Please, you're nothing but a child who wants to mess with powers you can barely understand. A child who doesn't understand that respect isn't given, it's earned. And you haven't earned my respect, nor my gifts…"

Maleficent then tapped the ground with her staff and was gone in a burst of flames, leaving Serpentina and Eustace alone.

"That… could have gone better," Eustace admitted, though Serpentina didn't say a word. Instead, she glared at the spot Maleficent had stood moments earlier, still thinking of her loss…

A loss she would make sure to never suffer again.

Later, as the day started to come to a close, Emily returned to her apartment with her friends.

"Well, that was a night," Zee commented as they stood outside.

"You said it, sistah," Cups responded. "And I thought the Boiling Isles could be chaotic."

Emily turned to the others. "Well, at the very least, it's a day we won't forget. So we'll be seeing each other tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah, me, Rebecca, and Darcilia will be spending our nights at a hotel I've checked us into," Whitney told them before turning to Darcilia. "Unless you have other plans…"

"Nah, I'll be staying with you girls," Darcilia said before addressing Emily. "It was very nice to meet you, Emily."

"Yeah, you too," Emily said as she shook hands with the girls. "It was really nice meeting all of you."

"Yeah! And I can't wait for us to hang out more," Rebecca said before turning to Zara. "Wait, do you have a place to stay, Zara?"

"Oh, don't worry about me, I'll find somewhere to sleep," Zara assured them. "There's bound to be some cheap motel I can afford to check out."

"Well, I'll see you all tomorrow then," Emily said with a nod. "Goodnight."

"Yeah, goodnight Mily," Zee told her. The two shared a hug before she watched Emily, Cups, and Mugs head inside. Then she turned to everyone else. "And goodnight everyone…"

"Goodnight/See ya/Yawn…" everyone said to each other as they got ready to turn themselves in for the night.

Back in her own apartment, Emily changed into a black top and bell-bottom pajama pants after she brushed her teeth. She walked out of the bathroom, thinking about her day. She met Zee's friends, reunited with Mr. Pryce, and dealt with Serpentina and Eustace. She gave a tired sigh as she sat down on her bed. She then thought of something to help get her through the night…

She dug around one of her bags before she pulled out a mix-tape. It was the one that Luz gave to her before she left the Boiling Isles. She then pulled up an audio player to put the mix-tape in. Next she put on the headphones and let the music play…

"When are you gonna come down?

When are you going to land?

I should have stayed on the farm,

I should have listened to my old man…"

In the hotel where Darcilia, Rebecca, and Whitney were staying, Darcilia had shut herself in the bathroom so that she wouldn't be disturbed. She looked at herself in the mirror, staring at her reflection. She was only in her black sports bra and short-shorts. She closed her eyes and reopened them, showing her cat-like eyes as her body began to transform. She now had white fur with a black underbelly, black cat ears, black paws, and a black tail.

Darcilia Blackpaws sighed as she looked at her true self in the mirror… her werecat self.

You know you can't hold me forever,

I didn't sign up with you…

In her shop, Lucille was also getting ready to turn in for the night. She unraveled her scarf and took her hood off as she prepared to turn herself in. She looked at herself in the mirror and smiled, grateful to see her own face looking back at her.

"To new beginnings," said Grimhilde, who formed a smile.

I'm not a preset for your friends to openings

This boy's too young to be singing…

In a secluded location, Vinny had finished setting up a revenge board that was filled with pictures of witches he wanted revenge on. He brought out a knife and stabbed it into one of the pictures, which was of Emily Tricks.

"You… will be the first to pay, Tricks!" declared Vinny, whose disguise is removed to reveal that he was actually… Vitimir.

The Blues,

Ah…! Ah…, AHHH!

Goodbye, yellow brick road!

Where the dogs of society howl!

In another secluded area, the cultists that Emily, Zee, and friends had met earlier that day, including the preacher, gathered around in their hidden base, discussing with each other.

"That girl used her magic to hurt us," the preacher informed the others. "We were lucky to escape with our lives…"

"This is exactly what I've been talking about," said the hooded leader of the cult. "All of our problems that we've all faced can be traced back to magic. Too often magic has been abused, especially against those with less talent or those who simply can't keep up. Even those among Belos's inner circle like Terra Snapdragon abused magic. We'd all be better off without it."

(You can't plant me in your penthouse,

I'm going back to my plough!)

She removed her hood, revealing herself to be a pale-skinned witch woman who looked a few older than Emily. She has long, dark violet hair with mint-stripes all over her hair. She also had violet eyes. She had a serious look as she spoke to the followers of her cult. "A world without magic… is a better world."

Back to the howling old owl in the woods,

Hunting the horny back toad,

Oh, I've finally decided my future lies,

Beyond the yellow brick road…!

On the shores of the Inwell Isles, Serpentna and Eustace were currently waiting for someone.

"I-I don't know about this, Serpy," Eustace said nervously. "Do you really think this is a good idea?"

Serpentina just sighed. "You heard, Maleficent. We'll have to make due with what we have available to us," she said as she noticed something rising from the waters. She smiled. "And here they come…"

Rising from the waters were three sea-witches. But they were not just any sea-witches… they were sirens.

"Serpy… long time, no see," spoke the leader. She had puffy, orange hair with yellow streaks, gray skin with magenta eyes, was wearing a ruby necklace and a purple top, and had an orange-scaled mermaid tail.

"Can't believe you summoned us… hehehehe, you must be desperate," said another siren with a bubbly tone. She had aquamarine hair with dark blue streaks tied in a ponytail, magenta eyes, black skin with pink pigments, a red ruby necklace, a purple sweater with overly-long sleeves, and an aquamarine-scaled mermaid tail.

"And I see you're still with that land-lubber," said the third siren, getting Eustace to gulp. This siren had purple ponytail-style hair with green streaks, magenta eyes, and darker-skin. She also wore a ruby necklace while wearing a green tank-top and having a purple-scaled mermaid tail. "So what do you want from us?"

(Maybe you'll get a replacement

There's plenty like me to be found)

Serpentina looked at the three and sighed, swallowing up her pride. "I'm in need of your… assistance."

Mongrels who ain't got a penny,

Sniffing for tidbits like you,

On the ground… Ah!

"Ah~!" Emily sang along as she listened to the song, really getting into it. "Goodbye, yellow brick road! Where the dogs of society howl~!"

She danced and did a twirl, waving her hair. "You can't plant me in your penthouse! I'm going back to my plough!"

Standing outside of her apartment, watching Emily through her window, was the hooded witch with red eyes from before. While he watched her, he removed his hood, revealing the face with pale skin, pitch black hair, a beard… and a golden tooth. He smiled.

"I'll be seeing you around, Emily," Lupe said as he turned around and walked away, vanishing into the night without Emily having a clue that he was watching her.

"Back to the howling old owl in the woods, hunting the horny back toad!" Emily sang along with the lyrics, smiling to herself as she looked into her mirror. "Oh, I've finally decided my future lies beyond the yellow brick road~!"

After she finished, she glanced over at the box that Pryce gave to her. She set her headphones down and grabbed the box. Deciding to open it up, she pulled out the present she was given… and looked at it in confusion.

"A bedknob?" she asked as she held the shiny, golden bedknob in her hand.

So a bit of trivia to list off:

-The beginning song "The Greatest Show" is from The Greatest Showman movie.

-Pryce, aka Dr. Dark, is a homage to Mr. Dark from "Something Wicked This May Come" along with Dr. Screweye from "We're Back! A Dinosaur Story". He also sang his own rendition of "Friend Like Me." With the Snowths as our guest performers.

-Zaraff is basically an expy of Kraven the Hunter, with his name coming from the character of The Most Dangerous Game. He's also got a bit of Jack Sinclair from the Knuckles Mini-Series.

-The Flying Birmans, a werecat acrobatic troupe, are basically expies of the Flying Graysons, especially the Young Justice versions of them.

-The sirens introduced for the chapter are pretty much expies to The Dazzlings.

-"Goodbye, Yellow Brick Road" by Elton John is used as the closing song.

Not much else to say, but expect the next chapter to be out by the end of the month. Cause we got one thing special to release for this occasion…

Review Section:

Crash X Fusion:

Matteso585: 1) Nothing changes. 2) Just thought of Dr. Gerbil from Courage. 3) Obviously no, she meant throughout Books 1 and 2. Such as the muggings, the disappearances, the Coachman, the school war, Mel, Terra, the Day of Unity, etc. It's been a chaotic last few months for the Isles. 4) He's not a Tarot Guild member if that's what you're thinking. He and Quackus just happens to be in the body cleaning business.

Cooki15xd: As an old acquaintance to Emily.

Shuffollower: You're right on Adrian.

Spantidem7: 1) Yes. 2) That's nothing new to the LCU. 3) Um, actually that would be… 4) Well, she does have a complicated relationship with her parents. She does care about them, and some of her friends. 5) As a nod to Bedknobs and Broomsticks, hence the chapter's ending…

Secondary questions: 4) No. 5) Cain does not appear in this fic, and she didn't have much time with Abel… 6) Ares simps for Aphrodite, who is married to Hephaestus. 7) I have.