Drake, Martin, Steve, and Melody stood upon the same carpet with the season’s logo on it that had already been used multiple times that season. Martin, Steve, and Melody were having a conversation about something, Martin standing so that he was purposefully facing away from the tablet that Drake held in his hands displaying the ever rising vote tallies.

     The camera panned out, revealing that they were once again standing on the tarmac at Dulles International Airport. The profile of the curved building could be seen behind the wand-like AFT-1. As the camera reached the center of the shot, it started the process of zooming in on the contestants, who each had their luggage with them and were standing nervously, watching Drake’s face with anticipation for any signs of how exactly the vote was going.

     With their numbers having been dwindled to just three, their line-up was considerably smaller, and the increased chance of being voted out was visibly stressing the girls out more than usual. Paxton and Dahlia had abandoned their bags, standing and holding hands with Kacie all doing their best to calm the others down with their solidarity.

     Drake looked over at Martin, who refused to look at him. He sighed and shook his head, stopping the votes by clicking on the tablet. The mood of the tarmac instantly soured, as Martin visibly bristled, his conversation cut dead as the girls gave one last group hug of support before scurrying to their luggage again.

     Drake stepped forwards, holding the tablet under his arm as he gave a deep sigh. “Girls… Next to the finale… This is going to be the hardest elimination ceremony that I’m going to have to give…”

     “All three of you have proven, by virtue of making it this far, that you have what it takes to be a truly amazing assistant. Unfortunately, we can only bring two of you into the final round of the show,” Drake paused, looking at all three girls in turn, “So… It’s with a heavy heart… that I must announce… that the contestant the will be leaving… is…”

     “Dahlia”

     Kacie and Paxton let out a sigh of both relief and sadness, as they quickly rushed over to comfort Dahlia and give her a hug. Dahlia, for her part, approached the news with the same odd mix of stoicism and devastation that she had used to face other setbacks in the competition thus far: her body locked up as she lost her breath for a brief moment, her face becoming crestfallen for a brief moment as she closed her eyes, wrapping her hair around her fingers and taking deep breaths.

     “I’m really sorry, Dahlia,” Drake said sincerely, watching as despite how upset the merged girl seemed, she never let herself actually shed a tear. “Again, do not consider this a mark a quality against how you performed last night. All three of you did an amazing job, it appears that you simply got the short end of the stick.”

     “It’s alright,” Dahlia said, her voice wavering as she did her best to smile, opening her eyes, which seemed slick but did not let any moisture truly escape, “It- It was a privilege to get to perform at all. After all, We are nobody. Simply a combination of Dawn and Julia. We should be sorry-“

     Martin had heard enough, walking over and giving Dahlia a serious look, one more serious than he had the entire season, holding her at arms length, “Do not even think for a moment that you are nobody, Dahlia.,” Martin gave Dahlia a hug, surprising her “You have been one of the most innovative, out-of-the-box assistants I have ever had the pleasure of working with. Just because you are a merged person does not mean you are not an original. I know, regardless if you stay yourself or return to being Dawn and Julia, You, Dahlia, have left your mark on this show, and the magic world as a whole. And I have been lucky to get the opportunity to meet you.”

     Dahlia, who had been doing her best to maintain her aura of aloofness despite the support of everyone, quivered her lip. Her face grew red, and tears finally escaped, as she sobbed into Martin’s shoulder. “T-Thank you,” She cried, she seemed to have been fully broken, as all she could repeat was, “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you,” over and over again, her voice getting progressively more hoarse and filled with sobs.

     Drake waited patiently for the two of them to finish their exchange, Dahlia clearly coming out of it still shaken up, her shell of reservedness clearly gone, as her breath still came out shaky, and she hugged herself to try and find some comfort, until Paxton and Kacie hugged her to support her. “Dahlia,” Drake tried his best to keep a somewhat happy and professional face, “This may be goodbye, but there’s not a chance in Hell we would let you leave empty handed.”

     Steve and Melody (who’s normal street clothes weren’t all that different from the sort of clothes they had worn to their performance) nodded before walking over and standing before her. “Dahlia,” Melody smiled, pulling out a folded slip of paper, which she left folded as she continued, “Now, as you already know I’m not a member of the ISAG. But they thankfully deputized me so that I could give you this present. Of course, since these were all drafted up before everyone found out you were a merged person, this slips not that helpful.” Melody smiled, as she ripped up the slip of paper, the various bits falling to the floor and scattering to the wind.

     From her pocket, Melody pulled out three envelopes. Each of the envelopes had a separate wax seal, one in red, one in blue, and the final in purple. “These,” She smiled, waving them in the air, “Are the new contracts that the ISAG wrote up especially for you. This way, regardless of if you decide to keep performing as Dahlia, or decided to return to being Dawn and Julia, the ISAG will cover you.” Dahlia began to sob again, as she accepted the letters.

     It was then Steve’s turn, as he pulled out a three ring binder similar to others before him. The binder was significantly less packed than binders previously. “According to Martin, you’re apparently a very difficult woman to shop for,” Steve smiled handing her the binder, “So, we’ve booked you up for a three month tour of Europe for being on the show!” Dahlia looked grateful, but also puzzled, as she began leafing through the binder. Steve seemed slightly embarrassed as he said, “Yeah… Sorry it’s not as grand or spectacular as everyone else’s… But on the plus side, you’ll be able to head back home to your luxury studio apartment on the Vegas strip when everything’s said and done.”

     Dahlia’s confusion only worsened, “W-What?… But We don’t live on the Vegas Strip?”

     “You do now,” Steve smiled, from his pocket, he pulled out a slip of paper, unfolding it and revealing a lease agreement and a picture of the luxury studio apartments that Dahlia presumably had just won. “The lease is already paid in full for the next three years to help you get your footing in one of the most magic packed places on Earth, with free wifi, cable, and more importantly, parking!” He grinned, “And of course, the location’s workable, if you’d feel better off working someplace else, the production team’s willing to do whatever it takes to find you a place to live where you can focus on your magic.”

     Dahlia’s lip quivered once more as she accepted the lease. Holding her various gifts in her hands, she started crying again. “We-… We really don’t deserve all this-“

     “Of course you do, Dahlia,” Kacie said.

     “You’ve more than earned it for everything you’ve done,” Paxton agreed. Their kind words only causing Dahlia to cry even more.

     Having placed her gifts into her luggage, Martin came over once more, giving her a hug. “Are you ready for your farewell trick?”

     “Actually… Martin…” Dahlia seemed pensive… “You remember our wish?”

     “Yes, I remember it well,” Martin smiled, “To see Dawn and Julia perform on stage together.”

     “Well…” Dahlia looked nervously, “A-Actually… M-My dream’s changed.” Martin looked a little shocked at Dahlia’s choice of pronouns, “You see I want to-“ She whispered the rest of her request into Martin’s ear. Martin nodded along, his smile growing larger and larger.

     “We’re going to have to tap into my magic reserves a little bit… but I think we can manage to make that work,” Martin smiled, as the two of them prepared Dahlia’s final trick.

~~~

Farewell Dahlia

     The very first thing Dahlia did was split herself into Dawn and Julia. The two of them were wearing a similar outfit to what Dahlia was wearing, except that Dawn was wearing a red t-shirt, while Julia was wearing a blue one. The two of them looked around, momentarily dazed, however as soon as Julia recognized that they were on an airstrip, she immediately began crying, sobbing her head into Dawn, who did her best to look stoic as she asked Martin, “I’m guessing Dahlia got eliminated.”
    “Unfortunately so,” Martin said, causing Julia’s grip to tighten against Dawn as she cried even harder into her shirt. “And she came up with a special trick just for the two of you… So that you can finally fulfill your dream of performing together with a World Class Magician. Well, at least one who’s going to be one in a week anyways,” Martin flashed them his famous smile.

     A PA quickly wheeled out an empty cement mixer, Martin explaining, “Back when she was pretending to be a singular person, her farewell trick was going to be turning herself into a copy of the Venus de Milo… But it should still also work well for what we’re going to do now,” He grinned, Julia peeking up from Dawn’s shirt for a moment.

     Martin saw Julia look, and bent down slightly to look at her more on eye level, and stretching his hand out, “Now Julia… Would you be so kind as to go first?” Julia looked up to Dawn, who gave her a reassuring nod. Julia detached herself form Dawn, lightly stretching out her hand to accept Martin’s hand.

     “Now, this might tickle a little bit,” Martin smiled, as he instructed Juila to stand perfectly still, pulling her arm, a seam forming around the top of her head, splitting her eyes in half. This seam continued to travel down her body, and with the sound of tearing velcro, Julia was pulled into two separate halves, each half giving a little squeak as she found herself looking at herself, trying desperately to stay upright despite the disorientation. Martin helped her out a little, some glitter appearing to indicate that he had created some phantom limbs to help stabilize her.

     Martin smiled as he walked back to Dawn, “Your turn, my dear,” Dawn gave a smoky look as she gingerly placed her hand into Martin, roughly the same process occurring, although Dawn found herself much easier to balance on her own.

     Martin smiled, examining his four half assistants, “Now girls, I’m afraid I’ve performed a little bit under false pretense. You see… Dahlia still designed this trick for you two… But she also designed it to fulfill a wish of hers.” Dawn and Julia looked confused, as Martin walked over to the cement mixer turning it on, with only some minor difficulties, he managed to lead Julia’s right half and Dawn’s left half to the open end of the mixer, and with some minor difficulties in getting a good grip, fed them into the open whole, their bodies liquidating as they hit the inside, becoming a more putty like consistency.

     “You see…” Martin smiled, as he let the cement mixer run for a while, “Dahlia realized that she never got the chance to thank you two properly for letting her compete… So… Well… There’s someone I’d like to introduce to you two,” Martin grinned, the cement mixer slowing down, as he slowly tipped it over, the purple putty like substance slowly dripping out onto the tarmac.

     The blob wiggled, then, ever so slowly, it began to stretch upwards, gaining definition and a more definite shape. Soon enough, a half-sized Dahlia nervously smiled up at half-Dawn and half-Julia. “Hello… I-Its so nice to finally meet you two,” She seemed petrified, staring up at the women who were practically twice her height.

     Dawn and Julia looked on in amazement at this women whom they only had ever met through videos. Their faces gave a look of disbelief, until Juila’s left half acted first, walking over to the half-sized Dahlia, and with her one limb, lifting her up and giving her a massive hug. “You’re even more perfect than I could have ever imagined,” Julia said calm and confidently, giving Dahlia a kiss on the cheek.

     Dawn wasn’t far behind her, wrapping her own arm around the two, “Beautiful and Thoughtful? I must agree Sweetie~” Dawn gave Dahlia her own kiss, the merged girl beginning to cry at the validation from the two people she had never been able to meet on her own.

     Dawn, Dahlia, and Julia after a few more minutes of hugging and kissing, looked over to Martin. “Thank you,” Julia said, her voice still remaining confident, as she smiled at Martin, “From the bottom of our hearts… This- This is beyond what we could have ever expected from signing up.”

     Martin smiles back warmly, “Don’t worry about it. You three can stay that way until you feel it’s time to join back up again with Dahlia. Take as long as you three need to do what you need to.”

     Julia nodded, the three girls soon breaking into tears smiling and laughing and enjoying being in each other’s company.

     After a few minutes, and only after Kacie and Paxton had ample time to say goodbye to each of the their three friends, Martin and the two finalists were shepherded onto the AFT-1 by Drake, who when pressed where they were going to be going, responded by saying, “It’s a surprise."

     As the plane took off, Dawn, Dahlia, and Julia waved at them from the ground, remaining there long after their friends would no longer be able to see them, all of them having rivers of tears wash down their face.

~~~

LAX

     As the plane touched down on the tarmac, the girls are met with a rather jarring site. Typically, their entrances had been rather quiet, allowing for a relaxed moment of getting off the plane and stretching from the long flights. This was not the case, as the girls were immediately bombarded with fans cheering their arrival, a red carpet already rolled out leading to an awaiting limousine. Various reporters were trying their best to bark questions over the crowd, many with large obnoxious cameras that flashed in their faces.

     Paxton and Kacie froze up, Martin appearing behind them whispering, “Don’t worry girls. This is just something Drake planned for our big return to LA. Don’t forget, you two are the finalists. You deserve to be celebrated for making it this far.” Paxton and Kacie visibly relaxed, as they were led down the carpet by Martin, who held a reassuring hand on their shoulder the entire way down. Behind them, Drake was absolutely eating up the attention, smiling and posing for photos with the crowd.

     The two girls were more than relieved as they climbed into the limousine, a large crowd the last thing on their minds after a grueling four hour flight. Drake wasn’t that far behind them, seemingly in good spirits as the limousine drove off down the LA strip.

     They passed by multiple famous landmark locations in LA, but ultimately, as the limousine pulled into a rather shady looking alleyway, they knew exactly where they were being brought to, each of the girls looking on with excitement.

     The limousine stopped, allowing them to finally stretch their legs. Once they had done so, Drake excitedly pressed against the brick wall, “Welcome girls, to the LA Wellspring!” The walls parted like a doorway, a large sign overhead welcoming them to ‘Movie Magic Square’ as stepped onto the familiar, boardwalk from Season 2.

     Not much had changed in the year since the location had been last filmed. There was still a gorgeous white sand beach, the neon sign that replaced the sun still shined just as brightly, and the stalls that composed the large marketplace seemed to still all be in business (although, one noticeable difference was the multitude of unlicensed ANGA merch being hocked by shady looking vendors).

     As they stared in awe, a familiar face immediately came up to them, “Drake!” Howard Weiss bellowed, “Long time no see, my friend!” He looked relatively the same as when the girls had ran into him earlier in the season, down to the clothes he was wearing. The skip in his step was admirable, and made him look even younger despite his aged appearance.

     Drake rolled his eyes, sarcastically saying, “Hello Howard, fancy seeing you here, of all places.”

     “Well, I just so happened to be in the neighborhood,” Howard smiled, “So I thought I’d come see how the girls were doing.” He walked up to Paxton and Kacie, the two of them nervously looking at him. He first looked at Paxton, “How are you Paxton? Feeling better? I know we didn’t exactly meet under ideal circumstances, but you seemed to be going through some other things at the time.”

     “Y-Yes,” Paxton nodded, “I’ve been doing much better. Martin’s been really great in helping me out.”

     “As I knew he would,” Howard grinned, before turning to Kacie, “And might I say Kacie, An excellent performance last night. You really put your heart and soul into it.”

     “T-Thanks,” Kacie blushed.

     “And Martin! My boy!” Howard walked over, offering him a firm and rigorous handshake, “Great to have you back on board! I’m glad to see you come back swinging.”

     Martin smiled, blushing a little as he said, “It was definitely a short-sighted move of mine… But these girls deserved the chance to really shine.”

     Howard nodded, “And you definitely were the only one who could do it,” he chuckled heartily.

     “So then,” Howard looked at Drake, “Have you guys figured out who you’re going to have as your guest host for this week? I’ve heard there’s never a drought for talent here in LA.”

     Drake continued sarcastically, “Why no Howard… We had absolutely no one planned for this week. Would you know of-“

     Howard interrupted, smiling wildly, “Oh Drake! I thought you would never ask! Of course I’ll come back as a guest host,” he wiped a mock tear from his eye, “After all, is it really a season of ANGA without yours truly?”

     Under his breath Drake muttered, “It is if it’s the first Season.”

     Howard clearly didn’t pick up on that comment though, as he excited turned towards Martin and the finalists. “Well… I’ve hardly planned anything… Well… First and foremost, you three will not be spending the night here. After all, what’s the purpose in owning your own hotel if you don’t allow guests to stay there?”

     Drake continued in his monotone voice, reciting the lines he had been fed from Howard with no attempt to even hide their insincerity, “Why thank you Howard, You truly are a generous man.”

     “Thanks Drake,” Howard grinned, “And you can quit with the bit now. I’m pretty sure everyone’s got it. So girls,” Howard clapped his hands, looking down at the two assistants, “Why don’t we go to my old busking spot? And I’ll perform an exclusive little show for you all? Then Drake can sour the mood again with his normal administrative stuff,” He chuckled, earning a smile from the girls and a scowl from Drake. “Onwards!” Howard shouted, leading the charge down the pier to the small stage at the very end. After pulling out a couple of chairs for the group, he quickly headed backstage.

~~~

Howard’s Performance

     Moments after Howard had left to go backstage, the curtains rose on his rooftop stage, Howard quickly walking across and standing in the center of the stage. He was wearing his normal performance outfit, but had clearly shaken things up a little bit, because he was was also wearing a black top hat and carrying a black cane. He smiled at the tiny crowd, which was relatively quickly growing in size as more Boardwalk goers crowded around. He boisterously announced “Good evening everyone. Unfortunately, I’ll be performing a quick set for you today… Drake said the whole hour long version might be a bit much for a thirty minute program. Of course though, for a magic trick I’m going to need my lovely assistants! Now… Where did I put them?”

     Howard began rifling through his pockets, pulling out various magic related knick-knacks, such as loss bits of strings, a couple of juggling balls, an endless rope of rainbow colored handkerchiefs tied together. Try as he might, he couldn’t seem to find his assistants though.

     To the astute viewer though, they would have notices as Howard moved around, his top hat begin to wiggle a little bit. On the front of it, two bright yellow eyes opened up sideways, looking at the audience with a look of joy on them. A small black tendril grew out from the side of the creature’s hat like form, waving at the crowd.

     Howard finished turning his pockets inside out. “Well… I’m stumped,” He reached up, pulling off his top hat and scratching his head. It was only when he took a good look at his hat that he realized it had a face on it. He smiled, saying, “Rocky! There you are!” The brim of the hat moved a bit like a mouth, eliciting an adorable bark sound.

     Howard placed Rocky on the floor, the shape-shifting ball of black fur turning into the canine-like form that most people were familiar with if they had watched the previous season of ANGA. “Rocky, do you happen to know where Annette or Sable are? We’re supposed to be put on a show to impress the newbies.” Howard gestured towards the crowd, Rocky closing his eyes and barking happily.

     Rocky walked around in a circle, before laying flat against the ground, his body taking a rectangular shape that slowly rose upwards. Soon enough, a black, furry door stood on stage, Rocky’s eyes having morphed together to form one, bright yellow star shaped eye on the center of the door. His handle jiggled, and sure enough, the little shapeshifter opened up like a door.

     Annette walked out from the black void contained in Rocky’s body to thunderous applause. the former winner waving at the crowd. She was wearing a red button down t-shirt, blue jeans, and black cowboy boots and cowboy hat. She yawned, “Hey Howard, When’s the next-“ She paused, looking at the audience of people. “Howard! You didn’t tell me there was a show today!” Her voice did a pretty good job at sounding genuinely concerned, but her face gave away that she was just as excited as Rocky and Howard were to be performing on ANGA again.

     “Yes,” Howard smiled, pointing towards the front row of the audience where Paxton and Kacie watched on in awe,” We’re the opening act for these girls’ last week of competition. Do you have any clue where I might have left Sable?” Rocky had shrunk back down to his more canine form and was currently playing around with Annette on the stage.

     “Did you check your cane?” Annette asked, letting Rocky jump up into her arms and giving him many belly rubs, his body melting in her arms as she continued. Black, furry drops falling to the floor in clumps, but Annette remained vigilant, squatting down and continuing to rub his body.

     “My cane?” Howard asked, examining it, before finding a big red switch along the side he had kept hidden from the audience. He pressed it, and suddenly the tip of the can glowed a bright white. As he swung it around in shock, the light left a little trail behind.

     “Ah yes!” Howard smiled, “I remember now! Thanks Annette! I swear,” he said in an aside to the audience, “I’m so glad she agreed to remain my assistant after the year long contract expired. She’s really helped me keep my head on straight,” He grinned, his head doing a full rotation before he got back to the next part of his act.

     Using the tip of the cane, Howard drew a rather crude looking stick person. Frankly, his art skills were so bad, even a third grader would be embarrassed by them, but as he turned the cane off, the stick figure drawing began to straighten out, the lines becoming more akin to what you may expect to see on a bathroom at a restaurant. The drawing didn’t stop there, however.

     Gradually, more details began to fill in. They started simple, like dots for eyes, or maybe the arms being represented by rectangular shapes as opposed to singular lines. All the while, the light the drawing was made of was getting more and more intense.

 When it seemed the drawing practically looked like an oversaturated picture of a woman, the light suddenly let off a massive flash. Everyone averted their eyes, and when the pulse had died down, there was now a short girl wearing a black dinner dress smiling at the audience, “Hello Howard!”

     Howard chuckled, “Sable! It’s great to have you join us!”

     Sable walked over to Annette giving her a hug before Rocky jumped up into her arms, allowing her to give him some loving head pats. “Well, sorry to keep you waiting! I’m glad to finally be here too!”

     Howard grinned as he turned towards the audience, “Ladies and Gentlemen, please give a round of applause to my amazing, Assistants, Annette, Sable, and Rocky!” The girls hooked their arms together, taking a bow at the same time.

     “Now then, girls,” Howard grinned, “How about we do a quick trick for the audience, and then we can let Drake do what he normally does.”

     “Well, which one do you want to do?” Sable asked.

     “Seeing as how we’ve got a master of music in the audience,” Howard grinned, “How about we do the old, Disco Slicer?”

     “Okay,” Annette smiled, already taking off her cowboy hat and placing it on the stage, “But please, no Disco Duck this time. I can’t stand that song.”

     Howard grinned, “I make no promises,” Howard walked offstage as his assistants began setting up the trick. Rocky’s body rolled up into a ball, his body slowly gaining a metallic sheen as his body shifted into a disco ball. Sable meanwhile, was experimenting with the laser beam she had shooting out from her index finger’s fingertip. She would twist her finger around impossibly, the beam’s color shifting from white to red, to orange, to yellow, to green. Eventually, she settled on a dark purple color.

     Howard walked back on stage, the disco groove for ‘Disco Inferno’ playing over the loudspeaker, him shimmying along to the beat as he approached Annette, who couldn’t help but laugh along with Sable at the sight of Howard stiffly trying to dance along to the music.

     Howard then shifted into performing the trick, he helped Annette impossibly lie flat in the air, having her spread her body out in an X-shaped position. He slowly raised both her and Rocky into the air, Rocky hovering several feet below the top of the stage, while Annette more so hovered at about head level to Howard.

     He nodded to Sable, who using her laser finger, pointed it upwards at the disco ball form of Rocky, the laser shooting off wildly in every direction, and doing absolutely nothing until Sable managed to fine just the sweet spot, producing four lasers that shot through the space to either side of Annette, and between her legs and arms, just barely missing her head.

     Howard grinned, announcing to the audience, “And now, we just giver her a quick spin~” he lightly held onto to Annette’s left arm, giving her the slightest bit of a push, her body rotating similarly to how a disco ball would normally. As her arms and legs ever so slowly came into contact with the laser, the beams cut through her like a knife, her flesh separating like butter. Within a quarter of a rotation, her arms and legs lightly fell to the ground, the skin left behind the same shiny metal that Rocky was made out of..

     Taking her cue, Sable refocused the beam, the laser drilling down a hole right through where Annette’s belly button would normally be. As the laser pass through her, it was also reflected outwards thanks to her exposed cuts. Sable continuously twisted her finger around, the color changing multiple times, as their makeshift Annette Disco ball lit up the pier, everyone dancing around to the disco beat.

     Aa the song died down, Rocky’s disco ball form opened up like a giant maw, swallowing Annette whole as he plummeted. When he hit the ground, he cracked like an egg, splitting open and revealing the fully restored Annette, who stood up. As the Rocky halves reformed, taking their more dog like appearance, Howard shouted, “Please give it up one more time for my amazing assistants!” The last couple of bars of the song playing them out as they took a bow.

     As the audience cheered, Drake climbed up on stage, “An excellent performance, Annette and Sable!” Drake said with sincerity, bending down and giving Rocky a little ruffle, “And you too, Rocky!”

     “Why thank you Drake,” Howard beamed, “We worked hard on it!”

     “Yeah,” Drake dismissively said, “Here. Why don’t you read out the final task of the show to everyone?” He handed Drake a letter with the show’s wax seal on it.

     “But of course,” Howard grinned, cracking it open and then throwing the letter away as he looked at the girls.

     “Kacie, Paxton. To get here, you’ve had to fight tooth and nail through five grueling weeks of competition. Along the way, you’ve had to face hardships unlike any contestants prior, and just like how I’m not the same magician I was when I first performed at this stage so many years ago, I’m certain that you two have grown considerably as assistants.

     For your final task, I want you to show off that growth. Show the audience at home the hard work and effort you’ve put in to get this far. There’s no special themes, and no special gimmicks. Just be yourself, and prove that you deserve to be called America’s Next Great Assistant.”

     The audience cheered wildly. Drake appreciation for Howard’s announcement fell on deaf ears, as Howard stepped down off the stage, Sable, Rocky, and Annette not far behind him as he lead the group back towards the entrance of the Wellspring.

     They were all loaded up into yet another limousine, and soon enough, they were on their way heading towards Henderson, Nevada.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

& Question Corner &

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To Paxton: “A wonderful performance, You rocked with two of you on the stage, WOW! I knew you could do it. Kisses and hugs Paxton, I'll see you at the afterparty. And maybe, later on here in Mageria.” -James Schutter (@@James-MacCloude)

 Paxton: Paxton blushes, “Thanks James! I’m excited to see you at the afterparty too! Although I may have to take a rain check on Mageria depending on how this last competition goes,” She winks, blowing a kiss at the camera.

To Kacie: “A wonderful show, I knew you could do it without Tetra. You are going places Kacie.” -Genie Schutter (@@James-MacCloude)

 Kacie: Kacie blushes, “Thanks Genie. I’m glad you enjoyed it. Hopefully I’ll be able to use this momentum for this week’s challenge!”

To Dahlia: “Good job being the prop, I like how you think. I hope you make it though to the finals.” -Jacob Schutter (@@James-MacCloude)

 Dahlia: The smaller Dahlia sits in the Julia’s lap. “We’re glad you enjoyed it Jake… Sorry that we couldn’t make it through to the finals though…”

 Dawn: “It’s okay, dear,” She lightly rubs her hand through Dahlia’s hair, “You did the best you could do.” Julia nodded along to Dawn’s words, wrapping her from behind in a one armed hug.

To Martin and the Girls: “Good performances all of you! You have really come a long way from week one when you started. To whom ever wins congratulations, you deserve it. And to who is departing, well you did your best so be very proud of what you've done.

Martin you did terrific work with them you should be proud too.

Of course you are all invited to come to Mageria after the afterparty.” -Jacob Schutter (@@James-MacCloude)

 Martin: “I’m glad you enjoyed the show Jake! Everyone put in a lot of work to make sure that it turned out great. I could not be any more proud of my assistants if I tried.”

 Dahlia: Dahlia sighed, “Thanks Jake. We’re still immensely proud of my time on the show. Hopefully things are looking up for us in the future.”

 Dawn: “The free housing will be especially nice to help us get a new foothold with the momentum we should have from the show!” Julia nods along.

 Paxton: “Thanks Jake! I’m sad to see Dahlia go… But getting to see her finally meet Dawn and Julia was probably one of the most precious things I’ve ever seen. I’m really rooting for her.”

 Kacie: Kacie blushes, “I’m glad you enjoyed it Jake. I tried my hardest, and it seems that everyone’s been really supportive. Hopefully I’ll be able to continue to impress in the finals.”

To Kacie: “No words can describe how amazing your performance was! You definitely knocked it out of the park in my opinion. You and Martin are surprisingly good singers. I wouldn’t be surprised if there wasn’t a single member of the audience that shed a few tears upon being blessed by your angelic voices. I’m looking forward to seeing more of you in the future and I wish you the best of luck in The Final Act.” -@@Gwiber49

 Kacie: Kacie blushes. “T-Thanks. I’m glad to see you enjoyed it. Martin and I put a lot of work into making sure it sounded at least okay. Although saying everyone teared up may be a bit of a stretch,” She blushes even harder. “Thanks for the good luck. Here’s hoping that everything goes well on Saturday!”