Lou was going to check The Gauntlet the week before it was happening. He went down. Everything inside The Gauntlet was fine. He tried to turn on to see if it would work. It worked. Then, he started it. The door wouldn't open. He called the Institute engineers, but they couldn't fix it. For days he tried everything, but the day before it still wouldn't work. The next day, he called a urgent town meeting. "unfortunately, The Gauntlet won't open. In that case, we are canceling tomorrow's Gauntlet. Until further notice, we won't be able to have The Gauntlet at all." He announced. Everyone in the crowd gasped. Most girls fainted.
Clair and Sasha looked at each other. Clair leaned over to Sasha and whispered, "Do you think we have to live here forever?!" Sasha nodded. Lou went back to the mansion to tell Luca and Leroy the news. Luca and Leroy just stood there with their mouths open. Lou explained why he had been away from the mansion so long. "Well, they need entertainment, because dolls can't die." said Luca. "And nicer houses," Leroy added. Lou sighed. "All we need is careers for them. Like Luca said, for entertainment." he said.
Just then, Sasha burst in the door, her clothes with burnt holes in them. "Sasha?! What happened?!" Leroy asked. Sasha leaned on the door frame and gasped for breath. "My house *pant* is burning down *pant*!" she said, out of breath. The brothers rushed over to her house to look. It was already gone when they got there. Lou looked at her and said, "We have a few guest rooms in the mansion. You can stay with us." Sasha went into her room. She fell fast asleep. The brothers stayed up worrying about the next day.
Since training was canceled, all of the dolls stayed home. Clair went to the beach early in the morning. Sasha caught up to Clair after Clair sat on a beach towel. They chatted about what to do now that they couldn't go to the Big World. Soon, they saw signs for dance, sports, more dance, and... A circus?! Clair rushed up to the Circus signup paper. She scribbled her name across it to be interviewed. The sign read: LOOKING FOR INNORMAL PERSONS WILLING TO DO DARING THINGS!!
Soon, almost everyone had signed up for something.