"What do you mean, 'look rich?'" was the first question that came out of Tamara's mouth. Max turned to face them. "Oh, you'll see," he said, then turned and began to walk away. He gestured for the Destined to follow. They obeyed his gesture, walking closely behind him.
"What I mean is that you need to have some fancy clothes. Joshua won't even notice you unless your pants are solid gold." Max's tone was both joking and serious, making Belle worry about if she really needed solid gold pants. "What about gold plated?" August asked their new guide. Max laughed. "I'm sure he won't notice. Here, this is where the shop is."
Max turned a corner. The Destined followed. In front of them was a shop. The outside was in a bright golden hue, and above the door, it said Glamorous! in fancy letters with curly sarifs. "You can get all your rich clothes here. Pay with this." Max handed them a thick envelope. Belle opened it. The envelope was filled with one-hundred-dollar bills. After a moment of shock, Belle turned to Max. "If you have all this money, why are you a street performer?"
"Because I'm a good street performer," Max responded, as if that was obvious. He then gestured for them to go in the shop and left the vicinity. The Destined looked between each other, then agreed to enter, at least to see what it was like.
For any teenage girl, it was heaven. The store was wall-to-wall with fancy clothes, from gangster garb to fancy fashion. Sunglasses, flat-brim hats, EVERYTHING. It didn't hurt that Fergie's "Glamorous" was playing over the intercom while you shopped. Belle grabbed the envelope of money and ran off with it.
Thirty minutes later, August, Tamara, and Belle were decked out in full glamour gear.
August had a glistening golden top hat, and a sport coat and dress pants that matched. Under it, he wore a royal purple dress shirt. He had also decided to grab some red-rimmed sunglasses.
Belle had gotten an elegant dress that would make any of her friends at school burst into flames with jealousy. Along with that, she had added some high-heeled sandals. It was California, so Belle didn't have to worry about her toes getting cold.
Tamara had gone for more of a bodyguard-slash-secretary look, wearing a long skirt that reached her knees. Along with that, she had a buttoned-up jacket and a pair of dark glasses. Since this was the store Glamorous!, her entire getup was golden.
"Well," August said after he paid the cashier for all their clothes,"Where's Max?"
"Right here," a voice said from behind them. The three spun around, seeing their California guide leaning against a brick wall. He smirked. "Nice top hat," he commented, pointing vaguely at August's hat. August flashed him a thumbs-up. Max, after an awkward moment, grunted and stood up. "I'll bring you to Joshua. I scheduled a meeting and told him about you guys. At six o'clock, you'll be needing to head to the Orpheum Theatre to watch some classic Broadway show. Until then, you have some time to kill."
August looked at his watch. It was nearly one. "Let's go get something to eat, then kill time until five forty-five or so." The two girls agreed.
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As it turned out, Jeremiah was horrible at driving trains.
Jeremiah and his three companions barely escaped with their lives from the crash. "I sure hope Caroline's still intact, or else we'll be in some deep--" Heather said, finishing the sentence with some French word. Jeremiah didn't have to speak the language to understand what she was saying. Suddenly, he heard the sound of a freight train.
"Does anyone else hear that?" Jeremiah began as he turned around. That's when he saw it. "Oh," he managed. In front of him was a giant cyclone of a tornado, sucking in buildings and spitting out their remains. Jeremiah looked with uncertainty at his friends. No one really wanted to do this, but they had to if they were going to save the world. Jeremiah combined with Marionette and called shadows to propel him and his friends towards the twister.
Once the three entered into the tornado, they were met with a strange surprise. All around them was junk from around the area, whether it be building wreckage or bicycles or a falafel stand. In the middle of it all, gladly, was Castle. The metal beast did a villainous dramatic turn. "Well," he rumbled with his terrifyingly awesome voice,"Hello, Destined. Welcome to the party."
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It was now five forty-five. Belle, Tamara, and August had done absolutely nothing productive for a whole four hours and forty-five minutes. August looked at his watch. "We better be heading to Orpheum Theatre," he realized.
With that, the three walked to the theatre. August and Belle walked arm-in-arm, and Tamara followed slightly behind, as if she were their real secretary-slash-bodyguard. The sunglasses really pushed the effect.
Soon enough, the teens reached the theatre. It was a grand old building, but that was enough to say. Belle didn't know much about exterior decoration, so she couldn't really say anything about it. That was a shame, as the theatre really was grand.
August showed the person in the booth the tickets that Max had given them, and the person allowed them inside. Max, generous, helpful stranger that he is, had bought them balcony seats. The three teens found said seats and sat down. After about five minutes, just a few moments before the show started, the teens were joined by a rich-looking young man, who must have been Joshua. His golden clothes really gave his wealth away.
"Beautiful lady you've got there," Joshua said to August, gesturing to Belle. August nodded with a smile. "Gracias," he answered, then gave a smile to Belle. Belle felt her cheeks get warm, but the moment was ruined with the show starting.
It so turned out that the "Broadway classic" that Max had mentioned was Fiddler on the Roof, one of Belle's favorites. She enjoyed the show while Joshua whispered to August. August nodded, frowning a few times, then making expressions of realization.
After the wonderful show, August pulled Tamara and Belle aside. "Alright," he began. "We now know that Carnifex is hidden in a cave along the coast. Joshua also thinks that the pylon is with him, but we won't know until we try."
"Do we head there now?" Belle asked.
"No, we'll stay at a hotel for the night, then find the cave in the morning." With that, the three headed off to find a hotel, anticipating Belle's fight with Carnifex.