I've found the tear, and better yet, I think I know how to fix it. I'm on my way to the Club... I'm about two minutes away. Is Dream there?

Yeah, replies Mari, But if you're looking for psychic help, she might not be much at all. She's shut off all communications except with her tree. Don't know why, she just did.

Oh, I think I know why. Okay, is Pollythene around?

My daughter?! Yeah, but... she's not psychic.

Marianna, she didn't tell you? Hold on, I'm almost there- At that moment, Dava walks through the door, holding a long stick with a hand-held television attached precariously to its top. "Mari, she's enrolled in Wizard school."

"Why am I always the last to know these things?" Marianna rolls her eyes melodramatically. "Alright, let's get moving already. How can we fix the tear?"

"I'm... not sure."

Marianna looks exasperatedly at Dava. "I gave you a few hours, hon. You still have no idea how to fix the damn thing?"

"With all due respect, Sorceress, I still have a law firm to run, clients to defend, et cetera. I spent the past three hours not only finding the source of the time tear, but helping a couple draw up a prenuptial agreement. Luckily, they argued a lot, giving me time to concentrate on the tear." Dava seethes, but still manages to ooze charm from every pore.

"Wonderful. Delightful. And, dear Wizard, we still can't fix this thing! Wait a sec- prenup? Who...??" Marianna raises her eyebrow at the thought of Dream and UPChuck having a contract for their relationship-- then she raises the other eyebrow at the thought of the two arguing.

"No, not them."

"Fine, shoot down my weird twisted daydreams... look, buddy-boy, we have to fix this, like, now!"

"Ma, calm down," Pollythene says incredulously, watching the scene between Marianna and Dava. "I know how to fix it."

Marianna hits her head- hard. "Ow." She shakes her head, clearing the cobwebs. "Uh... I was going to say... duh. Of course she knows how to fix it. When in doubt, ask my kid. She can hack into FBI files, find information on distant Frog-dominated planets, mix an amazingly intoxicating virgin drink, and still get to bed by ten on a school night." She drops to a couch. "And, apparently, she now is studying to be a Sorceress."

"I meant to tell you, Mum, really I did, but I was busy."

"Sure, whatever. Just let's fix the tear already! Where's it located, Wizard?" And with that, they are out the door, and the Club is left in the capable hands of... um... wait a sec! Who's running the Club?!

"Marie, could you take the tables along the back wall tonight, Lisa cover the stage area... I'll take the front, if no one minds-" The waitresses grin at Doreen- sure, they all desperately wanted the roughest tables in the house!- "And if the rest of you could just... wander the floors. Keep glasses filled and tabs running."

"And taps running," says Marie. "Dori, still no word from Marianna?"

"Nothing, and nothing from UPChuck, Dream, Dava, Pollythene... Daniela hasn't been terrorizing the dance floor... I don't have any idea where they disappeared to. And no one's heard from Priscilla since she left town. And, to add to the mystery, Nicolas disappeared from Memphis about a week and a half ago. I got a call here from Natan last night, asking if we'd seen him."

"Huh. I'm going to work my tables now... and I'll think about where everyone might have disappeared to." Marie turns on her heel optimistically and is swallowed by the growing crowd.

Doreen glides to the other end of the bar, where Neil is filling drink orders rapidly, barely keeping up with the demand. "You're all set for the night, right?" she asks.

"If you're referring to drinks, yeah." He winks slyly at her. "I already asked Marina if she needed anything- she says that she'll need more coconut milk, bananas, and maybe strawberries tomorrow night, but she's set for tonight till ten." Neil brushes a long strand of blond hair out of his eyes with the back of his hand, but it falls into place again. "Dori, should I use gel or something? This is ridiculous."

"You're asking me? You have longer hair than I do!"

"But yours doesn't keep falling in your face."

"Still no word from Daniela?" she says, changing the subject abruptly.

"No," he says, "and quite frankly, I don't care. I'm sick of being controlled by the DeSka sisters. I'd love to be in a relationship where I'm in control... better yet, in a mutual... I don't know. To be on equal footing with... her."

"I feel exactly the same way!" cries Doreen. "I finally got out of that awful relationship with Frogman, then I became dependent on UPChuck... they've been missing, what, a week and a half? Two weeks? That's called freedom, Neil, amazing freedom... I miss everyone, and it gets a little hectic at times, but... I'm free." She shrugs. "I have to deal with my customers now. Be back in a minute."

"Okay, see ya." Neil watches Doreen's retreating form. He wonders, momentarily, if they might make a good couple. And while he then decides to concentrate on the task before him- running a bar- the thought of Dori doesn't leave the back of his mind.

Suki, dancing in her giant birdcage above the stage, watches the various events around Club Calypso wide-eyed, but hardly innocent. Presently, she notices a video camera trained on her. Her instinctual reaction- to run away and hide- is foiled by her current position in the cage. Instead, she hams it up for the camera. Then- she notices the man behind the camera, or more accurately, the men.

"She isn't liking it, Otto."

"It doesn't matter," says Otto, steadying the camera. "The camera loves her."

"I don't care if the camera loves her. It's an intrusion."

"Shut up, Brian."

Suki watches the exchange, although she can't hear their words, and wonders what they are up to. Otto has been an aspiring director for at least ten years, in and out of film school for that time, making low-budget educational films and porn flicks in the frequent interims. Suki quite basically does not like the dwarfish creature, and had been hoping he'd left Layla:) for good the last time he went to Brasilia ("I swear," he'd said, "it's the new Hollywood!").

Brian, on the other hand... Suki has dated Brian. She broke up with him over the stupidest little thing- something that has been forgotten by both of them in the five years since they were last together. Suki doesn't know why Brian has returned to Calypso Beach, since the last she heard of him was that he'd built a considerable business detailing cars in Surf Strip. Why return to the scene of a crushing romantic encounter, when you've got money further south? Well, thinks Suki, I think I'll have to find out why he's here. She motions to a girl on the dance floor: the Club grapevine must know something about Brian and Otto's latest scheme...

"Quite interesting, actually. According to what Captain Rando told me, this is where he, Counselor Kassal, and Ms. McGowan landed... um... appeared, during the Crossover." Dava looks smug, even though there isn't really any reason for it.

"Stop looking so smug. So you found the tear. Right in front of Doreen's old apartment." Marianna frowns. "I wonder why they weren't transported into the apartment itself, because Dream, UPChuck, and Doreen weren't spit into random space."

"Planets rotate."

"Good reason. And if you'd given me five seconds, I'd have remembered that."

"And if you'd given me five seconds, I might have figured out how to fix the tear."

"We always seem to miss things by five seconds, don't we?"

"This conversation..." Dava scratches his head. "I think you've had it before. I don't know why I remember it, though."

"Because I'm remembering having it, and you're hearing my thoughts."

"Oh." He wipes the confused look off of his face and replaces it with a face that radiates leadership. "Polly, how do we fix the tear?"

The five-year-old looks up at her mother and "uncle" and smiles charmingly. "Quite simple, really. All we have to do is transport this entire 'parallel' universe back to the moment of the tear, prevent the tear with a spell, and rejoin the rest of the world further back in June." Seeing the looks on their faces, she adds, "Or, we could just fix the tear here and enjoy a lovely time-leap into July."

"Easy, right... okay, what's the spell?" Marianna asks. I can't believe I'm asking my daughter to fix this... I should be able to do it myself.

I should be able to do it, too, Marianna, relays Dava.

"The spell... we need a few supplies," says Pollythene. "A crab. A set of twins, any species. And a lion."

"Crab. We can get that at the beach," says Mari.

"Twins... the Zarqon twins, Jean and Pierre," contributes Dava.

"A lion... geez, Polly, you've gotta be kidding. A lion?"

"See, this is the way it works," she explains. "We need the twins to represent Gemini- the first part of June. The crab is for Cancer, the link between June and July. The lion is for Leo, the latter part of July. Then we have to say a spell, and Dava's gonna have to use the staff... um, Mum, do you have your scepter?"

"I can get it, it's at the apartment under the Club. I'll pick up a crab from the Club, actually, easier than catching one at the beach."

"I'll track down the Zarqons," offers Dava. "Pierre owes me a favor anyway, and Jean is stupid enough to go along with what Pierre wants."

"I'll get a lion," grins Polly.

"Just don't let me know where you get it from, okay?" Marianna tosses her hair behind her and takes the bus back to the Club. Dava hails a taxi and rides to Newshregsburg, hoping to find the Zarqons in their mirror image homes. Pollythene mutters a brief incantation, and a winged unicorn suddenly appears, looking mildly surprised.

"C'mon, Alicorn, we're gonna find a lion." She mounts the creature by climbing its leg, and it soars into the air above Layla:) proper.

Neil is shoving drinks across the bar at customers at an alarming rate when Doreen puts a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, St. James. I figured out why nobody's been around. They got stuck back in time."

"Excuse me?" Neil looks disbelievingly at Doreen while continuing to serve up drinks. "How could they 'get stuck back in time'?"

"Beats me. But, do you remember that day a few weeks ago, when we had that freak storm? And a lightning bolt hit the clock tower at Town Hall? And the clock hasn't worked since?"

"So? There was a freak storm. With lightning. And the repair crews are slow."

"Neil, the last time I saw Mari was right before the lightning hit. I was standing right next to her, watching the storm. After that flash, I turned to her, y'know, to talk about how amazing it was. And she wasn't there."

"So maybe she went to get a drink."

"And disappeared for two weeks?"

"I don't know, Dori. It sounds a little far-fetched to me." He turns from her to serve more drinks, and on second thought, turns back. "Don't tell anyone else, okay? Not to shoot down your idea or anything, but I don't want people thinking you're crazy."

"Fine," she sniffs. "I need as many beers as you can pack onto this tray." She turns around to send a few orders for nachos to the kitchen, and doesn't say another word to Neil.

Cripes, he thinks, I thought she wanted an honest relationship!

"You might have to work on the 'tact' thing, Neil." Marina puts in her two bits, then grabs the maraschino cherries she'd come to the bar for. "Good luck, buddy."

"Thanks, I think."

Priscilla lies on a couch in her hotel room, surrounded by bags upon boxes upon loose piles of purchases. "This has been the greatest vacation!" she sighs happily.

"I'm broke. I haven't been able to find the rest of Shoebox. And I'm still happy!" Nicolas says in amazement. "Oh, yeah. I'd planned on returning to Layla:) sometime soon. Since I can't find the other guys to tell them, why don't we just leave, and tell them when we come back here?"

"Returning to Layla:)?!" cries Priscilla. "But, we're happy here! Why bother with going back there?" If you go back, you might remember Coli!

"I have some unfinished business- selling my house there, so I have enough to buy a new one here. And that's where my agent is. He likes to re-audition me occasionally, to make sure I'm still good," Nic grins.

"I'll tell him how good you are," Priscilla says. "I'm your number one fan!"

"I thought you were Elvis' number one fan?"

"Keep doing Elvis impressions, and I can be both!" She digs through a bag on the floor, and finds a t-shirt. "Look what I had made!" The black shirt reads "#1 Nicolas Fan!" in glittery red printing.

"Gorgeous!" says Nic. "You gotta wear that to my show every night now!"

"Okay," she laughs.

"Aaaaugh!" The alley echoes with the scream. A lion emits a low, growling roar, just enough to warn Marianna to keep quiet. "Sorry. I didn't expect to see a lion sitting in the alley."

"Well, I told you I was going to get a lion," Polly says, rolling her eyes.

"What's going on in here?" asks Jean Zarqon.

"Why is there a lion and a... unicorn?" his brother Pierre says, backing out of the alley.

"We're casting a spell," says Dava, "Just like I told you." He moves to block Pierre's exit. "Now, be quiet and stand by the lion."

"And one of you can hold the crab," Marianna says, offering the squirming crustacean to the twins. Jean takes it and lets it cling to his ear. Marianna looks at him, slightly frightened, but letting it pass for the sake of Time.

"Now, we have to have them all together- like they are- and I'll stand to the north," Pollythene says, moving into place, "and Wizard, you take the southwest, and Sorceress, the southeast." They quickly orient themselves and move to their spots. "Now... the spell."

Dava stands with his feet spread, his staff held upright before him. The screen on the portable television glows with the image of a clock, ticking the seconds away. They will use this to know the appropriate hour and minute to stop.

Marianna stands in a more casual position, hands on hips expectantly, and her scepter in one hand, pointing toward the center of the triangle. The scepter itself is made of pure silver, an ornate rod with a crescent moon on top, set with emeralds and sapphires. Runic inscriptions spell out 'Faith,' 'Love,' and 'Destiny.' The moon-shape of the scepter defines the month-jump they will be taking.

Pollythene stands, empty-handed, the Alicorn behind her. The powerful triangle shape formed by the trio of Wizards will help her to grasp the entire Universe within her hands, so that all will be taken to the Future with them. A light wind stirs the random loose papers and other trash in the alley as Polly begins the incantation.

"Time, time, time, is on our side," intones Polly.

"Yes it is," chime in Marianna and Dava. Marianna bites her cheek to keep from laughing.

"Time, time, time, is on our side."

"Yes it is." Marianna bites her tongue, her lip, and the roof of her mouth in the effort to keep her composure.

Several minutes and one very sore mouth later, space begins to warp as time moves rapidly forward. As they near the correct time, Pollythene slows the movement, and Dava watches his TV-clock carefully. Finally, together, they give the word as Marianna watches. "Normal."

The world around them settles, and Mari breathes again. Somehow, after the first few choruses, she lost the desire to burst into laughter. Maybe it happened when she saw the spell working. She shrugs, looks around, and says, "This is July? It looks just like June, but with more humidity."

"We're back where we belong," says Polly witheringly. "It's no reason to complain."

"But it's so humid! Come on, let's go to the Club. Thank the gods we've got air conditioning!" She turns and heads out of the alley, but remembers something and turns back. "Polly, please put the lion and Alicorn where they belong. I'll take the crab." She looks at the crab, now dangling from Jean's nose. "On second thought... you keep it, Jean." She leaves again, in search of air conditioning, friends to catch up with, and a good pasta salad.

"Hey, Dori. Doreen!" shouts Neil as she ignores him yet again. "Look, I'm sorry I didn't believe you. But you've got to admit, a time-tear sounds sorta weird."

"Frog-people from another planet sounds weird, too, but it happened!"

"True, very true. Hey, if it makes you feel better, I'll believe you."

"Neil, that's not the important thing. Here, seven more beers, 'kay? The important thing is not whether you believe me, it's whether you'd trust me enough to simply consider my idea."

"I don't get it," he says, filling mugs.

"Neither do I." She sighs heavily. "Still friends?"

"Sure," says Neil, and grabs her into a bear hug.

"Um, Neil?" she gasps. "Air?"

"Oh, sorry," he cringes, releasing her. "Hey, isn't that..."

"Marianna!" Doreen cries.

Marianna, entering the Club, looks around wide-eyed. She hadn't expected business to be so wildly successful in her absence. Yet, it looks like they'd be better off without her... or maybe just without Daniela. Speaking of whom... where could she be?

"Doreen. You would not believe what happened to me. Or anyone else that got stuck in the time-tear with us."

"You mean I was right?" A smile slowly spreads across Doreen's face, and it looks like the euphoric kind that won't go away any time soon. Neil's jaw drops to the floor.

"You figured it out?"

"Yeah, just about three hours ago. Nobody believed me."

"Polly figured out how to fix it. So, how has July been? Hey, have you seen Daniela yet? I know I left her dancing at the Club in June, so she must've shown up here in July, right?"

Doreen shrugs. "Haven't seen Her Highness yet. Maybe she's in the ladies' room. Mari, this place has been unbelievable since you guys disappeared. Thank the gods that Neil and most of the waitresses were here!"

"Hmph. I had to run the June Club all by myself. I had Coli to wait tables, that's it."

"Oh, you poor kid!"

"Yeah, well, business sucked anyway... looks like only a few of us got stuck in June."

"I guess I have to catch you up on a lot, huh?"

"I've got amazing news for you- Priscilla and Nicolas got married in Graceland, and Dream proposed to UPChuck!"

"What?! Girl, we gotta talk!" Doreen's eyes gleam with the prospect of months' worth of gossip.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" asks Mari, a mildly evil look creeping into her face. The next word is shouted in unison by the two.

"SLEEPOVER!"