Derby watched as Brie and CC looked over a pamphlet, one titled "THE DO'S AND DON'TS OF THE STABLE WORLD WHEN YOU'RE FROM THE VOID: 1,253 THINGS TO DO AND 3,257 THINGS TO DON'T."

"They should put that in bigger print," CC said. "No explosions allowed. Like, big letters."

They mercifully hadn't been kicked out for exploding a lawn mower game, but they did get scolded and asked to go elsewhere.

"As a rule of thumb, don't explode things in this world," Derby said.

"Well, I understand that now," CC said. "But c'mon, that lawn mower was asking for it."

"We should've said our future sight showed it was due to 'plode soon," Brie said. "Then they would have thanked us for our heroism."

"You have future sight?" Derby asked. She gasped. "Can you see if I ever get a good fountain mod for Fantastical Fantasy MMO?"

"We don't, but it's an excuse that has gotten us out of many a situation," Brie said.

"Do you two hang out a lot back in your world?" Derby asked.

"Not willingly," Brie said.

"Brie de Meaux and I get up to all sorts of trouble!" CC said.

"We're forced to associate due to dark lord status," Brie said. "But both of us flee from boring dark lord events, so I suppose we are companions in that manner."

"Wait, if you're close...how did you not notice CC's disguise then? What was her disguise?" Derby asked.

Brie waved her hand and chuckled, as if that explained anything.

"You suppose we're companions of that manner?" CC asked. "What about the time we had to pretend we were lovers so the guards thought we were just commoners?"

"You...had to what?" Derby asked.

"Fret not, Derby of Hope, nothing supremely salacious occurred," Brie said. "We merely used the false romantic gestures as a distraction so we could cast our thrall spell. Much like we did so that rude lawn mowing lady would leave us alone."

"Er...you what?" Derby asked.

"It was barely more than a kiss," CC said.

"Not that, I mean, well, wait," Derby said. "What's the thrall spell?"

"Ohohoho," Brie said. "Notice how we're being followed?"

"Huh?" Derby turned to see the worker that had told Brie to put her sword away was following them like an extraordinarily happy zombie.

"Instead of kicking us out of this festivity, now she is our thrall!" Brie said.

"I did think she gave up on that suspiciously fast, even with the pamphlet business," Derby said. "Wait! That's like really bad, isn't it? You made her your servant!"

"It's a common dark lord spell, Derby of Hope," Brie said.

"Yeah, c'mon Derby, it's super common," CC said. "Like, get real. Come on."

"Come on!" Brie said.

"Wh—it is?! Did you use it on me? Is that why I like you so much?" Derby asked.

"I would never use the thrall spell on someone I didn't want to be my minion," Brie said.

"You...don't want me to be your minion?" Derby asked.

"I'm getting mixed messages here and I'm not sure what you want me to say," Brie said. "Shall I make more thralls so you can see how simple it is? Here!"

"Hold on, I need more thralls too!" CC said.

Brie and CC both snapped their fingers, sending waves of energy around them. Within moments, groups of people were following them. Ones for CC had a yellowish magic hue to them while Brie's had a more pinkish shade. The thralls close enough to reach out for Brie and CC pawed at the air beside them.

"It's quite humorous," Brie said. "I thought with all the still image photography taking earlier that I'd somehow accidentally cast the spell! But they tend to throw up when that happens. And the visual is always present, as well."

"That's...really bad!" Derby said. "Wait! What if you got Sheli Calli? Not that she's like a better person for being famous, but! What the heck!"

"Message received, we won't make the Deb lady a thrall," Brie said. "Got it, CC?"

"I don't know who that is, but yeah!" CC said.

"Can you make them stop?" Derby said.

"It wears off after a while," Brie said.

"How long is a while?" Derby asked.

"Unattended, it's perhaps...a few years," Brie said.

"A few years?" Derby asked.

"In my realm, we do thrall contract negotiations just a bit before the spell wears off so they accept any payment plan we want for em." CC said.

"That...sounds really evil," Derby said.

"Why thank you!" CC said.

"But you shouldn't do evil things!" Derby said. "I bet if you looked in that pamphlet, it'd say not to possess people!"

"They're not possessed, they're merely thralls," Brie said.

"That's like, exactly the same thing!" Derby said. "If you look in a thesaurus, thrall and possession would probably be like right by each other!"

Brie squinted, then her expression softened. "Derby of Hope is correct, we should let them go."

"Ugh, but it takes so much more magic to shut it off!" CC said.

"For a weakling like you perhaps!" Brie said. "It is also possible to shut off the spell by kissing the caster on the cheeks or forehead."

"W-wow," Derby said.

"You want to test it out?" Brie asked.

"I...heh...wh...what happens if it's on the lips?" Derby asked.

"For some reason it doesn't work! Overloads the caster, perhaps." Brie said. "I suppose I can just cast the spell..."

Just as Brie readied the spell to release her thralls, one grabbed her wrist. It was the girl in the mummy costume again, who shook her head, pointing forward.

"Huh?" Derby noticed the magic hue ahead of them first. While Brie and CC had the pink and yellow hues for their thralls, the crowd approaching had a more dark purple hue surrounding them, a cloud that carried a sinister presence to it.

"Wait, who is...?" Derby asked as Brie and CC got ready for combat.

The group of thralls approaching carried someone in shiny armor on a throne. The armored person had a mask with a dome like shape over their head, with two spikes that looked somewhat like rabbit ears or antennae. The group set the throne down, and the figure rose, approaching with menace.

"Brie...?" Derby asked. "Who is...?"

"I mentioned this person before," Brie said. "Dark Lord of the Realm of Not the First Nor the Third, But Between Those Two. The masked dark lord, one whose name, gender and truly most information are unknown."

"Is...this bad?" Derby asked.

"It's a good thing Brie didn't finish casting that undo spell," CC said. "One of the Masked Dark Lord's specialties is the thrall spell."

"But! You said information was unknown about them!" Derby said.

"She said most information is unknown," CC said. "Everyone knows the thrall thing, though."

"Hm," Brie squinted. "It's awfully convenient they show up right after we used the thrall spell. Did you have an inkling the Masked Dark Lord would be here?"

CC grinned. "Why would I?"

"Because you suggested the thrall spell, then I had to show you that I do it better!" Brie asked.

"Is no one going to greet me?" The Masked Dark Lord said. Their voice was masked, sounding like it was being filtered through a frozen computer. Derby would have found this very cool if it wasn't so scary. "The Realm of Not the First Nor the Third, But Between Those Two receives so little respect."

"Yeah, hi," Brie said.

"CC," The Masked Dark Lord said. "You were more difficult to track than you promised."

"Yeah, well, Brie threw out my tracking flowers and my tracking fruits!" CC said. She crossed her arms and pouted. "And they took my swords."

"You freaking little traitor!" Brie asked.

"How can I be a traitor if we were never allies to begin with?" CC asked.

"Well, I figured those gifts were some kind of trap, but the Masked Dark Lord? Are you serious?" Brie said.

"What's wrong with the Masked Dark Lord?" CC asked. "They're so mysterious I'm actually unaware if this is a horrendous move on my part."

"Er...can I...?" Derby said. "Say...something?"

"Huh?" CC said. As she talked, she gestured wildly, and her thralls all moved in unison, mimicking each motion. "I mean, I guess. Do you know anything about the Masked Dark Lord? I'm realizing I kind of rushed into this partnership, and now I'm really worrying it's a horrendous strategic move, like horrendous because of info I didn't get before I rushed into—"

"By Mount Skarlax, will you shut the hell up?" Brie asked. "When someone asks to speak, that isn't an invitation to blabber on endlessly. Also, you did your thrall spell wrong, you added a mild puppet threads into the mix."

"I did?" CC looked at her thralls and waved, and they all waved back. "Dang it, that is embarrassing."

"Now, Derby of Hope, speak, before the Masked Dark Lord decides they want to chime in with a long, idiotic rant," Brie said.

"Thanks Brie," Derby said. "I, um..." She trailed off, her voice getting weak, her legs shaky. She was sinking again, into more insanity, and there was nowhere to run, there were people all around.

What can I say here? They're all gonna fight, and they're going to get these poor people hurt, and I'm in the middle of it, and I'll get banned, and... She looked at Brie, who in spite of Derby hating the idea of the thrall spell and the fact that Brie could use it easily...she was still a nice person, Derby could feel it.

Thinking about Brie's kinder side, Derby took her advice, and screamed louder than she'd ever screamed before.

"I...!" Derby said, catching her breath after her shriek. All eyes were on her now. Even the Masked Dark Lord was clearly intently waiting to hear what Derby had to say. "I...think it'd be bad if we fought! There are a lot of people around! I don't want anyone to get hurt! Can't we come to an agreement instead of just arguing with each other for a long while before fighting? What are we even doing here? This was supposed to be fun! And even if it was, I didn't even want to go out today! Going out is scary! So if I go out and I don't even get to do fun convention stuff...what's the point! Why'd I even go outside! That sucks! I don't...even have a point anymore, heh...that's..." Her confidence waned at the stares of at least a hundred people.

"Derby of Hope, another brilliant statement!" Brie said. "Tis true, today was supposed to be one of fun and games, not combat! But can we truly come to a resolution with such differing views?"

The Masked Dark Lord raised their hand. "No one's even asked why I'm here, yet, so..."

"Why are you here?" Derby asked.

"To fight Brie de Meaux," The Masked Dark Lord said.

"Well! That's what I'm saying not to do!" Derby said.

"There's a hefty bounty on her to bring her home," The Masked Dark Lord said. "Magie de Madawaska herself requested I come get you."

Brie clenched her fists. "That damned Darkliest and Lordiest Dark Lord..."

"She also plans on sending many monsters in my wake if I fail," The Masked Dark Lord said. "And I don't plan on losing."

"Listen, you're really really cool," Derby said, marveling at the Masked Dark Lord casually taking a combat stance. "But...I really don't want us to fight...so..."

"Derby of Hope, was it?" The Masked Dark Lord said. "You must understand that it is in our nature to fight. The Skarlax realm is one filled with combat."

"Then...let the thralls go!" Derby said. "Just have us fight!"

"Oh? You can fight, too?" CC asked.

"Not...like you all!" Derby said. The very idea of fighting like Brie and the others did was mortifying. But Derby saw something on the website when she got her tickets that might work. She got out her phone, which still had the site up and scrolled through it. "Just wait one second."

"Is this...Derby fighting?" CC asked as Derby kept scrolling.

"No, let's see where this goes," Brie said.

"I know I just saw it...yes! Here!" Derby held up her phone, showing off a picture of a big event center floor with squares on the ground and inflatable structures around it. "The convention does a life size board game! You can do two versus two! Brie and me against you two! And if we win, we all have to just have fun at the convention!"

Brie nodded. "While I would love to defeat you in combat, the idea of defeating you in a game with Derby at my side sounds even sweeter."

CC and the Masked Dark Lord looked at each other.

"Hm," CC asked. "I guess that could work."

"What do we get if we win?" The Masked Dark Lord asked.

"If you win, then we'll take this outside and really let loose in battle," Brie said. "But Derby of Hope doesn't want to fight, so we won't lose."

The rival dark lords thought it over.

"Sure, that works," The Masked Dark Lord said.