"Not everything."

"Wait, what?"

"Ducktales will be right shhhhhhh… enough time shhhhhhh… chores. Please, somebody shhhhhhh."

"No! No, no, no, no, no!" Finley stood up and stepped towards the TV, but their head started pounding, and the room spun, so they stopped. They closed their eyes tightly until the headache subsided and opened their eyes again.

They weren't in their living room anymore.

"The fuck?" Finley said, looking around.

They were standing on a pier in front of a building with a blue door and a giant walrus face framing it. Behind them was a city with tall buildings, one with a large bunnet hat on top of it. To their left was a large hill with a road leading to a mansion. More accurately, a manor. McDuck Manor.

Time stood still. Finley turned back to the building with the walrus in shock.

"Funzo's Funzone," they whispered. They let out a breathy laugh that got louder as they processed where they were. They were in Duckburg. They were in the Ducktales universe. How were they gonna get home? Did they even want to get home? Don't get them wrong; they loved their friends. But they were actually in the Ducktales universe. This was a dream come true.

They were pulled out of their thoughts by a young-looking pig asking if they were ok. They assured him they were and left so they wouldn't look suspicious.

Finley didn't know what to do. They were excited, but they didn't know anything. They needed to find out when in the timeline they were. They couldn't just go to McDuck Manor and be like, 'Yeah, I'm from another dimension or something, and this whole universe is a collection of TV shows that I've watched, and I might know the future depending on when it is right now,' could they?

They decided against it, at the very least, until they could figure out when in the timeline they were. Finley walked along the beach with nowhere else to go, hoping they'd come across the amphitheatre Lena had stayed in during season one.

They couldn't decide if they wanted Lena to be there or not. On the one hand, if she were there, that would narrow the timeframe to before the season one finale. On the other hand, they would have to explain things to her if they wanted to stay there.

Before Finley could decide, they turned around a corner, and the broken pillars came into view. Leaning against one of the pillars, occasionally throwing a bottle into the ocean, was Lena. Shit.

Ok. They could use this. It was definitely before The Other Bin of Scrooge McDuck and definitely after Scrooge trapped Magica in the dime. That narrowed it down to a fifteen-year timespan. Maybe they could mention Webby; see if Lena knows her yet.

Their train of thought was interrupted when a voice said, "It's rude to stare, you know."

Lena was still facing away from them, writing on the pieces of paper, but there was no one else around that she could've been talking to.

"I, uh… Sorry. I zoned out." Finn smiled and walked over to her. "Whatcha doing?"

She handed them the paper she had just been writing on and started on another one. Shipwrecked raider crew surrounded by dolphins who are tearing us limb from limb. That was one of the ones Webby found, wasn't it? Unless they're just stupid. That would be too crazy of a coincidence if they found Lena the same day Webby did.

No. Stop. Don't overthink it. Get on Lena's good side, and you'll have an in to the plot.

They smiled. "Fun. Can I join you?"

Lena looked at them briefly, then returned to what they were doing.

"Sure, if you want," she said. "I'm almost out of paper, though."

Finley grabbed one of the papers and started sketching a fake map. They wrote on the back, 'To whoever may find this, I have been shipwrecked for days. I don't know if I'll make it off this island alive. There is an abundance of treasure on this island, for those who wish to find it.' They handed it to Lena, who read it and laughed.

"Nice. Someone's gonna spend forever trying to find this island." She put it in a bottle, tossed it into the bay, and then turned to face Finley. "Lena," she said.

"Finley," they said, smiling.

They had to ask something. Something about Webby or what's been happening with Scrooge; something to figure out when it was.

"So, uh… Have you-"

"I'm here to save either a sailor, group of sailors, or a shark from a sea serpent, pirate invasion, and/or scurvy, then to get a treasure from a dying adventurer."

Finley looked over Lena's shoulder, smiling, and Lena turned to Webby, confused. After a moment, she processed what Webby had said and waved her hand dismissively.

"What? No, no, those are from us." She gestured to Finley. "We're just messing around. You know, like a game?"

Webby dropped all her glass bottles and jumped onto the amphitheatre floor.

"Fun! Let me try." She grabbed a paper and pencil and wrote something before putting the paper in a bottle. Lena took the bottle and read it out loud ("Please recycle this bottle."), then handed it back to Webby, who threw it in the bay.

"Ok, I don't think you get this game," she said, turning back to Finley. "What were you saying?"

"Hi, I'm Webby," Webby interrupted.

Lena glanced back over her shoulder. "Mmm, hey," she said sarcastically.

Webby didn't seem to understand and kept asking the two of them a series of questions.

"What does your pin mean?"

"It's the enby flag."

"Is that a vintage Sumerian talisman?"

"Dunno, found it in a thrift shop."

"I like your glasses."

"Thanks."

"You've got some pink in your hair. I think someone pranked you."

"It's supposed to look this way."

"Oh."

In the few moments Webby was quiet, Finley caught Lena's eye. She had a strained smile, but Finley could tell she was trying not to laugh.

"I like your shirt."

Lena's expression returned to one of not caring, and she turned to face Webby.

"Not my shirt. Actually got it off the lead singer of the Featherweights after a gig in Paris."

"YOU'VE BEEN TO PARIS?!"

Lena looked a little shocked at Webby's reaction (and even Finley was caught off guard) but quickly recovered.

"You haven't? Oh, you've got to go. It's like here, only fancier," she said.

Webby started pacing and flapping her arms. "I've always wanted to go to Paris, crawl around in the catacombs, maybe touch a skull." She suddenly realised what she had said and stopped, laughing nervously and kicking her leg a little.

"Paris is cool," Finley said. "I've never been, but I hear they have free water fountains all over the city. I like that. And French is a funny language, they love their vowels."

Webby swung her leg a little quicker and accidentally kicked the last bottle off the deck. Lena sat up on her knees and watched the bottle float away for a second, then stood all the way up.

"Welp, game over," she said.

"I got it!" Webby said. She flipped across the rocks until she got in front of the bottle, hooked it with her foot, and flipped back, handing it to Lena.

"That was actually pretty cool. Are you, like, in the circus?" Lena said, her eyes wide.

"Circus acrobats keep elephant hairs in their pockets for good luck. I don't know why I just told you that, or why I'm still talking, or why I pointed out the fact that I'm still talking, or–"

"Woah. Easy, Flippy."

"Webby."

"Lena." Lena stood up, put a paper in the bottle, and tossed it back into the bay. "Thanks for the bottle."

She started to walk away, then turned back to Finley and Webby. "Hey, do you guys want to come with me to this blowout on the edge of town?" she said. "Should be cool."

Finley immediately answered with "Yes!" and Webby gasped.

"I've never actually seen a proper explosion," she said excitedly.

"It's another name for 'party.'"

"Yep, totally knew that." Webby nodded, and Finley rolled their eyes affectionately.

Lena started to walk away, and Webby glanced at the setting sun. "Could we just wait for my friends so I can let them know where I'm going?" she asked.

"But the party could be over by then. Come on." Lena waved Webby over. "It'll be an adventure."

Webby's face lit up at the word' adventure,' and she ran after Lena. Finley followed a bit slower, trying to plan what they would do during the episode.

By the time the three had reached the junkyard, Finley had settled on a plan: they would get on Lena's good side and, after Webby and the triplets went home, tell her they knew everything and wanted to help her and Magica. They could figure out what to do next after they got that far.

First things first, what to do in the junkyard. Webby would get caught by the Beagle Boys, and Lena would save her, but how could Finley help that? Webby needed to be captured and saved; otherwise, the rest of the episode wouldn't happen. Lena and Webby would never bond. If they gave the idea to shove the cake in Ma Beagle's face, that might be sufficient for now.

They were pulled back to reality when Lena suddenly stopped before them, making them almost bump into her. Finley looked up to see they were in front of a large double doorway. Walls extended from either side, and a sign above the doors said "Junkyard."

The sun had gone down, and the moon was high in the sky. Finley could hear loud chatter from the other side of the doors. They noted that either their hearing was much better or the Beagles didn't know how to be quiet. Maybe both.

Lena turned to look at Finley and Webby and made a little "tada" motion with her hands.

Webby, confused, said, "This is a party?"

"All the best parties are at burnt-out junkyards," Lena said as if it was something everyone should know. "So, I'm gonna need you to do your whole pom-pom parkour thing up the wall, drop down, and open the door for me? Cool?"

"Cool!" Webby ran to the wall, started climbing it, then paused and turned around. "Wait, aren't you invited?"

"It's not an adventure if you're invited."

Satisfied, Webby jumped from tower of cars to tower of cars until she reached the top of the wall and pulled herself over. There was a series of clicks before the gates swung open to reveal a smiling Webby.

"Got it!"

"Nice." Lena held her hand out for a fist bump, and Webby's smile grew. She slowly reciprocated, squealing. Lena rolled her eyes and smiled. "You want to blow it up, don't you?"

Webby slowly nodded, and Lena exploded her fist. Webby squealed again and did the same more elaborately, and Lena moved past her into the junkyard. Finley grabbed Webby's hand as they followed Lena in.

The junkyard was full of beagles, each wearing matching black masks. As the trio pushed through the crowd, Webby said, "Wow, my first costume party!"

Lena scoffed. "This isn't a costume party," she said.

"Huh." Webby seemed to get smaller and smaller as she looked around at all the Beagle Boys. Her gaze landed on the Original Classics, and she gasped. "What are the Beagle Boys doing here?" She grabbed Lena's sleeve to stop her from running, and Finley almost bumped into the two of them.

Lena turned back and scoffed. "Everyone here is a Beagle." She pulled her arm away from Webby. "It's a Beagle Boy party!"

Before Webby could say anything else, a trailer door slammed open, and Ma Beagle walked out. The trailer was sitting on top of a pile of half-smushed cars, providing a perfect stage for her.

Ma raised her hands and shouted, "My boys!" The Beagles cheered, and Finley had to cover their ears. Ma gestured for quiet and continued her speech. "Look around! You can see the future of Duckburg is ours. It warms my heart to see all of you here together as a family. The Original Classics–" she gestured to each trio as she named them – "The Glam Yankees, the Deja Vus, the Sixth Avenue Meanies, the Sixth Avenue Friendlies, the Long Board Taquitos, the Deja Vus, the Tumblebums, the Ugly Failures, and the Deja Vus." Finley laughed when she said 'the Deja Vus' for the third time. "What do you all have in common? You love your Ma!"

The Beagles cheered again, louder this time, and started singing 'Happy Birthday.' Finley covered their ears again, trying desperately to block out the noise. They almost missed Webby and Lena running towards the exit, but Lena grabbed their arm at the last second, pulling them along. They bumped into Bouncer, and Webby's breath hitched. Bouncer turned around just as slowly as he did in the episode and did a double take when his eyes landed on Webby.

"You're the brat that got Ma busted," he growled.

"Say what now?"

Bouncer grabbed Webby, and Finley pulled Lena back. They slipped into the crowd and pushed towards the car stage.

"What do we do?" Lena whisper-yelled.

"Distract them, grab Webby, and run," Finley said.

"Well, obviously. Give me a boost." Lena motioned to the car stage, and Finley cupped their hands to give her a place to stand. Lena looked around the stage and said, "When I give you the signal, run and make sure Webby follows us.

"What's the signal?"

"You'll see." With that, Lena pulled herself onto the stage.

Finley didn't have to wait long. Bouncer brought Webby up to Ma Beagle, and Lena dropped the cake on her. Finley sprinted towards them, grabbed Webby's hand, and ran. They heard Ma call after them and the Beagles following, but they ignored it, focusing on following Lena.

The three managed to get out of the junkyard with no sign of any beagles. Lena immediately veered to the right, and Webby and Finley followed. They ran through the streets of Duckburg and eventually turned into an alleyway and stopped.

Between breaths, Finley managed to say, "Dude. That was crazy."

Webby put a hand on her chest. "We almost died," she said.

"We almost died." Lena emphasised the 'almost' and did finger guns. Finley chuckled and took a deep breath.

The trio looked up as a truck blinded bathed the alleyway in light. The original classics stuck their heads out the windows, shouting and waving their arms.

"We're gonna die!" Lena and Webby screamed.

Finley turned around and pushed them further into the alleyway until they started running. The Original Classics followed in the truck, forced to slow down and eventually stop as the alleyway narrowed.

The trio scrambled off the ground as Big Time tried to open his door. The alleyway was a dead end. They were trapped between a wall too high to climb and three Beagles who wanted to kill them. Big Time switched gears and tried to drive again, actually moving a bit. Webby looked up at the fire escape. She ran to one of the side walls and jumped onto it, pushing herself off to the other wall. She did this until she reached the fire escape ladder, her weight breaky the shitty lock and causing it to drop.

"Hurry!" she shouted.

Finley and Lena climbed the ladder, raising it before the Original Classics could follow.

Once they were on the rooftop, Lena let out a deep breath. "Real smooth moves back there," she said to Webby.

"Hah, thanks." Webby smiled, kicking her legs. "Wait, was that sarcastic?"

"Nope."

"Hah, thanks. Wait, was that?"

Lena rolled her eyes affectionately. "What does Ma Beagle have against you anyway?" she asked.

"Oh nothing. She tried to kidnap me so I ensnared her in an improvised ball pit man trap," Webby said as if that was a regular Tuesday for her, which, to be fair, it was. Or at least it would be eventually.

Lena raised an eyebrow but moved on. "Alright," she said, "where to now?"

"That's my house," Webby said, pointing to McDuck Manor. "If we can make it there, we'll be safe."

"Woah. You fight mob bosses and you live in a mansion? You're kind of something else, aren't you, Pink?" Webby smiled proudly.

Finley walked over to the skylight and pried it open. "Let's go, then," they said, smiling. Webby ran over and started down the chain, Lena following. Finley closed the skylight behind them so that the Longboard Taquitos wouldn't know where they had gone and follow them.

At the bottom of the chain, the three rushed behind a pillar. Blocking the door were three beagles who just looked like knock-offs of the original: the Ugly Failures.

"They're blocking the exit," Webby whispered. "Plan A: we survey the area, find another exit…."

A crackly voice came from the radio that the big Beagle was holding. "This is Ma Beagle with a very special birthday request. Get those brats for me before they make it to McDuck Manor. That would be the best gift a mother could get."

"Who needs a plan?" Finley said, walking out from behind the pillar. "Follow my lead."

"No, wait."

"'Ello, mates. No, that's Australian," they muttered. "Wingardium leviosa. Good." They looked back at the ugly failures. "What are you doing here?"

"Um, who are you?" the tall one said.

"'Oo are we?" Lena said, walking up and resting an arm across Finley's shoulders. "We're the Beagle Birds. Ma's adopted kids from across the pond, like."

"Did Ma ever mention a pond to you?"

"I don't think she can swim."

"That one's not even a bird. I smell a rat."

"We're from England, gov," Lena said, backing up. "Just a little cockney innit? Eh, meat pies, bangers' n mash…."

Webby ran up from behind the pillars and grabbed Lena's and Finley's arms. "Britty, Donnie, darlings, oh, there you are. Thank you, gents; my siblings and I will be certain to tell our dearest Mama Beagle of the gracious hospitality we received here in the colonies. This is Britannia and London, and I am, um, Englabeth?

Silence, then, "She talks fancy. I trust her."

Finley let out a breath they didn't realise they were holding.

"Well, they are family. I mean, Why would they lie?"

"Marvellous," Webby said, ushering Lena and Finley out the door, "well it was wonderful to meet you."

"I'm taking this." Lena grabbed the radio.

"A keepsake of our serendipitous meeting," Webby said. "Stupendous." Webby bowed, and Lena and Finley quickly copied her. The Ugly failures reciprocated, and Webby closed the doors with a "Ta-ta."

The three ran toward McDuck Manor, stopping once they reached a playground about halfway there. Lena leapt onto a roundabout, laughing. Webby joined her, and Finley spun it a couple times before jumping on, too.

"You totally clowned those jokers," Lena said to Webby, "and we got a radio so we can track them." She held up the radio, almost fell off, and quickly grabbed back onto the roundabout. "Where did you get that tea and crumpets talk?"

"I live with my British granny in a Scottish mansion," Webby said. "I didn't hear an American accent until I was like, seven."

"I wish I could do accents," Finley said, stopping the carousel. "You think I'd be better at a British one considering how often I do it," they laughed.

"Eh, better than mine." Lena put her arms around Webby and Finley and turned them towards the playground.

"Thanks." Finley smiled. "I spend about ninety percent of my time in my room watching British Youtubers, sooo…"

"British what?"

"Nevermind," they laughed.

The three climbed up the slides, sliding down all together.

"With my brains, your really obscure brains, and your weirdly specific super brains," Lena said, "we could run this town. Innit that right, Englabeth?"

"Most indubitably, Britannia." Webby chuckled. "Wait till the guys hear my new nickname," she said.

"You mean those three nerds who ditched you on the beach?" Lena scoffed. "Yeah, they sound real fun."

"Oh, no, no. There were only three spots on the boat, so I let them go. we're cool like that. It's a family thing."

"Family, huh. Not really my thing," Lena said.

"But family is the best," Webby said as she did the monkey bars. "You go on adventures together, make inside jokes. Like there was this hilarious joke where they went out boating and Louie got them lost, and since then they call him 'Captain Lost.'" She laughed, but it was high-pitched and forced. Lena looked at her with raised eyebrows, and Finley gave her a sympathetic look. Webby sighed.

"Yeah, I don't get it either," she said. "Sometimes it seems like they have their own secret language. It's just… I don't know, they have so much history together."

"Well, now we have history," Lena said, and Finley grabbed Webby's hand, who smiled.

A bush near the road shook, and Finley's head shot up, holding onto Webby's hand tighter. After a second, the triplets fell out one by one. Finley let out a breath they didn't realise they were holding as Lena ran forward and pounced on Louie.

"Lena, no!" Webby shouted, "These are the guys I was telling you about!"

"Oh." Lena shrugged and dropped Louie, moving back to stand with Webby and Finley.

"Lena, Finley, this is Huey, Dewey, and Louie." Webby introduced them as Louie crawled back to Huey and Dewey, who comforted him.

"Webby, we've been looking for you everywhere." Dewey said.

"Cute," Lena said sarcastically, side-eyeing the boys, "with the names and the colour-coded outfits. Is that like your thing? You're all exactly the same?"

"No way! We're all unique snowflakes," the boys said simultaneously, and then they looked at each other. "Well, this usually never happens. This is really weird. Ok, stop talking! Antidisestablishmentarianism! Seriously?" They collectively groaned, and Lena just raised an eyebrow.

Huey shook his hands and turned back to Webby. "Seriously, Webby," he said, "where have you been? We've been worried out of our minds."

"Well, uh" —Webby rubbed the back of her head— "Lena, Finley, and I–"

"Right," Lena interrupted. "You were so worried that you left her on a beach and didn't show up for four hours?"

"We got lost," Huey defended.

"Yeah," Dewey pointed at Lewey, "thanks to Captain Lost."

"Why would you put me in charge of the map again?" Louie said. "This is not on me."

"Captain Lost! Captain Lost!"

"Oh, you change the tone of that chant!"

Huey put his head in his hand in exasperation but ran to the other two when Louie pounced on Dewey, trying to pull them apart.

"Yeah, they seem like a real tight crew," Lena muttered, and Webby looked back at her, then to the boys.

"Guys, easy," she said, stepping forward. "We were just having a little adventure."

Everyone stopped and looked up when an eerie whistle came from down the road.

"What was that?" Hewey whispered.

Lena shushed him and motioned to the playground. Everyone climbed up the slide and hid in the structure at the top.

A crackle came from Lena's stolen radio, and Ma's voice came through. "Ma to the Tumblebums," she said, "the rugrats have been spotted in your turf. Make them sorry they crashed our party."

"The Tumblebums?" Huey said. "They sound adorable."

An eerie cackling came from outside, and they all looked to see the Tumblebums, who looked like three murderous circus performers.

"Nevermind." Huey gulped.

Finley turned Huey around and rummaged through his bag, pulling out the three bananas.

"What are you doing?" he asked, which they ignored, instead unpeeling all three and handing the berry parts to Louie, who ate them.

"How do you get rid of clowns?" Finley asked rhetorically, holding up the peels. "With banana peels. Follow my lead.

They handed a peel each to Huey and Webby, then pushed Louie down the slide to other boys' and Webby's protest. "Trust me," they said.

They looked back at the Tumblebums, who had all seen Louie and were "running" towards him in various creepy ways. Finley threw their peel into the path of the one crab walking, and Huey, catching on, threw his in the path of the one backflipping. They both tripped and fell over each other. Webby slid down the slide and threw hers in front of the tall one on stilts, and he, too, fell, landing on top of the other two.

Huey and Dewey slid down, and the four cheered. Finley smiled at Lena and was about to jump down, too, when they felt a blow to the back of their head and blacked out.

When Finley came to, they were tied to one of the pillars at the amphitheatre, surrounded by Beagle Boys and with Lena tied up next to them, both with a piece of cloth tied over their mouths (which weren't very effective and muffled sound at most).

"Lena," Finley whispered. "Can you reach the paper and bottles?"

Lena nodded and dragged a paper into Finley's reach with her foot, then did the same with a bottle. Finley slowly pulled the paper up the pillar and into their hand, then dug through their pocket, hoping desperately to have a pen or pencil, which they did.

They quickly wrote a note saying that they were captured by the Beagle Boys and that it wasn't a prank, then handed it to Lena, who stuffed it into the bottle and dropped it, kicking it into the ocean.

The two looked up as the radio crackled.

"I'm on my way, boys," Ma said. "I may not have gotten to eat my birthday cake, but at least I'll get a little slice of revenge."

They glanced at each other, and Finley looked where they remembered Webby coming from.

It was fully dark now. The skinny Ugly Failure had gotten bottles stuck on every finger on his left hand. One of the Sixth Avenue Friendlies offered them some water, but one of the Sixth Avenue Meanies knocked it out of his hand, and they both walked away.

Finley heard something moving through the water behind them and turned around as Webby ran up, saying, "Psst, over here."

She pulled the cloths from both their faces and started to untie the ropes, and Lena whispered, "Webby, you came!"

"Like I would ditch you," Webby said. "We're the Beagle Birds."

She tugged at the ropes but lost her grip and fell into the lighting panel, turning on all the lights and getting all the Beagles' attention.

Bouncer tied Webby's arms around the other pillar, and Big Time tied a ribbon around both.

"You three kids have given us a lot of trouble tonight," he said, "but it'll be worth it when Ma sees her birthday gift."

"And we got some early Mother's Day shopping out of the way, too," Bouncer said, holding up the triplets, as Burger laughed.

The Beagle Boys walked away as Big Time talked into his radio, and Lena turned to Webby.

"Seriously?" she said. "Your rescue plan was to throw yourself blindly into the middle of the entire Beagle Family?"

"How is that any different than what you did at the junkyard?" Webby retorted.

"I wasn't tied up at the junkyard!" She sighed and turned away. "Now I remember why I avoid family. All they do is–"

"Fight?" Finley said, smirking, and Lena and Webby turned to them. "What if we use that to our advantage?"

"Ok." Big Time returned to the rest of the Beagles, putting his radio away. "Ma should be here any second," he said. "When Botched job gives the signal, we all leap out and yell 'surprise.' Any questions?"

"Yeah, I got one," Lena said. "Which one of you gets to hand us over?"

"Say what now?"

"I mean, you could all hand us over and share the credit, or…." She trailed off.

"Well, obviously we should do it," Big Time said, gesturing to the Original Classics. "I mean, we're like the main guys, right?"

"Give someone else a chance!" the big Ugly Failure said.

"We're, like, anti-authority, brah," the Taquito with long bangs said. "We don't believe in following.

"Yeah," the main Sixth Avenue Meanie said, pointing to the Tumblebums and Sixth Avenue Friendlies.

"Now that was uncalled for, Mister," the main Sixth Avenue Friendly said. "Even if I have heard the same rumour. The Tumblebums all whistled in response.

The Ugly Failure with the bottles on his fingers finally managed to get the last one off, and it flew and hit Big Time in the head. The amphitheatre erupted into chaos. Someone activated the smoke machine. Webby climbed up the broken pillar Mulan style and pulled the rope over the top. She bit it in half and untied Lena and Finley before going to free the triplets. Lena followed her, and Finley ran to the boat to flip it right side. They were rowing away right as Ma arrived.

"That was awesome," Webby said when they finally got to the gates of McDuck Manor, "how you made the Beagle Boys fight each other so we could escape!"

"Well you shimmied up that pillar like a pro," Lena said.

"Mulan style, baby!" Finley said, and Lena rolled her eyes affectionately.

"You turned the entire Beagle family against each other with a question," Huey said.

"You are my new favourite," Louie said in awe.

"No big," Lena said, then in a cockney accent, "That's what family's about, eh, Elizabeth?"

"We knew you'd come through in a spot, eh, Britannia," Webby said.

"A lil penny-come-quick to get ya yet to be."

"Fluff and nonsense," Finlay said, and the three laughed.

"You kind of had to be there," Webby said to the boys, seeing their confused faces.

They waved goodbye and went through the gate, and Lena turned to Finley.

"So," she said, "where are you going?"

Finley's breath hitched, not having thought about a cover story. They sighed and said all in one breath, "I'm from another dimension where this is a TV show, and I know the future, and I want to help you and Magica."

A shocked expression crossed her face, but it left as quickly as it appeared. She just nodded and motioned for Finley to follow her. They made their way back to the amphitheatre in silence, where Lena pulled out her amulet and held it up.

"Summon spirit from the dark," she said, "show thyself before this arc. Free thy dread soul from its prison. Once more shall thee be risen!"

Her shadow morphed into the silhouette of Magica with red eyes and mouth, and Lena kneeled down.

"Aunt Magica?" she said. "I'm in" —she gestured to Finley with her head— "and I've got help."

Magica's mouth spread into a vicious smile.