Dr. Disaster rushes up and hands Jones a large bouquet of flowers and a box of chocolates. He apologizes profusely for the apparent glitch in the simulation, and asks Jones how he could ever repay her, suggesting dinner or a movie. Jones tells him not to worry about it, as it was just another display of Andrew's ability. Dr. Disaster is flattered. Jones announces that the next simulation, which she thinks Renard may find interesting, will be ready as soon as they're done changing. Annie notes that Rey seemed to be getting along well with Jones, and Rey, back in stuffed toy form, smugly asks if he detects a hint of jealousy. Annie retorts, "I think you detect a hint of shut your face," and Rey notes that Kat must be helping her with her comebacks. Parley stops Rey from entering the female changing room, and Rey notes that it was worth a try.
After getting changed, Annie comes across Smitty using his powers to assemble a wooden puzzle, and asks him why he lets Parley talk down to him like that. He admits that it's mostly because he thinks Parley is "hotter than hell". Laughing, Rey compliments him on his "good eye", and Annie notes that Smitty is more forward when Parley isn't around. Rey then states that Parley was most likely so upset about the simulation ending prematurely because she couldn't show off in front of Smitty in her jumpsuit. Smitty is skeptical, believing that Parley just likes teasing him, and Annie responds, "Andrew, she's all over you all the time." Smitty awkwardly responds that Parley treats him like a kid, and Annie says that she'll just have to keep her distance, if Parley treats everyone younger than her that way, to which Rey laughs. He wonders if anyone has ever been as good at denial as humans, and bets that once Parley comes out of the changing room, "her hands will soon find [Smitty's] body". Smitty thinks that's crazy, only for Parley to come out and seconds later have her arms wrapped around his neck with one hand in his hair, which Annie finds vaild. Parley asks what Annie and Rey are laughing about.
Back in the simulator, Parley wonders what the point of their lessons are, since it's obvious Annie will be the next medium. Jones replies that the decision is ultimately up to the Court, but any of them are free to quit medium training whenever they like. Parley thinks for a moment, then decides that the training "gets [her] out of class." Jones asks Dr. Disaster to begin the simulation, which drops Jones, Annie, Parley, Smitty and Rey on a pathway in the middle of a forest. As they walk towards a distant light, Annie notices that Rey is looking uncomfortable, and she pops into the ether with her blinker stone, which she's wearing at her neck, to ask him if he's alright. He responds that the "trickery" of the hologram simulation makes him a little uncomfortable.
When they arrive at the light, Renard, now in his wolf form, is surprised. Around the eerie white light stands a mixture of humans and forest creatures, and Jones explains that it is a depiction of how the Court began, before Coyote's division. They walk around looking at the figures, and Annie and Rey are surprised to see Diego among them. Smitty, pointing to the mysterious light in the centre, asks what went there.
As she hands Smitty a flower from the bouquet Dr. Disaster gave her, Jones goes on to say that there is no record of what it was, so the white light is an artistic representation. Annie asks why humans came to Gillitie Wood, and what they were fleeing from, and Jones responds that some say they were escaping a war, but others say they were fleeing humanity itself. As she hands Annie a flower, Jones says that there is no record of the exact cause. Parley, eating a chocolate, asks Rey, "Hey, teddy, weren't you here for all this?" Renard responds that the founding of the Court happened before his time:
Annie asks if there's any information about the founders, and Jones responds that there's a fair amount. She points out Diego, describing him as the inventor credited with the creation of the Court's robots. Annie asks if there was a woman named Jeanne among the founders, and Jones replies, "Not that I am aware of. Why do you ask?" Instead of responding, Annie points to a tall man and asks who he was. Jones explains that he was Sir Young, and that his role as protector of the Court was passed down to Sir Eglamore over the generations. Annie wonders if the giant robot in the S1 play may have represented him. As she goes on to describe Steadman, the Archer, a close friend of the Artilleryman, she hands another rose to Smitty and pushes him in Parley's direction. Parley and Smitty are both flustered, and the group suddenly vanishes from the simulator.
They land in Parley's bedroom, standing on her bed. Jones coolly notes that Parley seems to possess the rare power to distort space, and Rey, back in stuffed animal form, points out that Parley brought them all to her bed. Jones responds that some supernatural abilities can be triggered by heightened emotions, and that Smitty's ability may have been involved as well, as Parley flushes bright red. As Rey continues to laugh, Parley throws the others out of her room, keeping the remaining chocolates for herself, before slamming the door. She opens it again to grab the flower from Smitty before slamming the door again. Smitty asks what just happened, and Jones tells him that class is dismissed.
Annie asks Jones if she doesn't think that that was a little cruel, and Jones responds that Parley and Smitty will get over it. She says she'll talk to Parley after she's calmed down, since her power is a very useful skill. Annie asks her if she got Dr. Disaster to give her flowers so she could test Parley's skill, and Jones replies that he got her the flowers because he's infatuated with her. Rey sarcastically notes that she's as modest as ever. Jones asks Annie why she asked about someone named Jeanne, and Annie replies that she just heard the name somewhere.
Annie: Um ... well, it's really nothi–
Jones: However, such information is useless until properly investigated. When you feel you have uncovered the whole story, please tell me about it. See you next week.
Annie asks Rey if he had fun tormenting Parley and Smitty, and he responds that there's nothing wrong with enjoying the sight of a young couple. Annie retorts "How sentimental." Rey asks her if she has someone she's thinking about, and she replies that that kind of thing is of no concern to her. He responds that that doesn't explain Annie's outburst about her "little ghost friend", and Annie notes that she still feels terrible about how she treated Mort. Rey says that Annie may have everyone fooled with her stoic facade, but not him.
Annie winces, and Rey is about to tell Annie about Surma when she asks him how long he's known Jones. When he responds "a while", Annie asks Rey if she's a robot. Rey considers the idea preposterous, remarking that the Court is beginning to colour Annie's mind. Annie asks what Jones is, and Rey responds that she'd have to ask her, as he doesn't think even Coyote could answer that question. Another student, Jack, seeing Annie walk by, tells his friends that he'll catch up, and approaches her to say hello. She greets him, and after some pleasantries, asks him if everything's okay. Jack claims that everything is, and asks Annie if she knows what class Zimmy is in. He asks Annie if she knows what happened with Zimmy's mental city, how she did it, and insistently asks where she is right now. Renard shifts to wolf form and growls at Jack, causing him to swiftly depart.
Tropes:
- All Love Is Unrequited: Dr. Disaster is "infatuated" with Jones, but she doesn't return his affections.
- Arc Words: The first mention of the "seed bismuth".
- Batman Can Breathe in Space: Just like in "Doctor Disaster Versus the Creepy Space Aliens from Outer Space", no one has or needs space helmets in the space sim.
- Big "NO!": Parley does this when Smitty's powers prematurely end the quest simulation.
- Brick Joke: On the bonus page, Dr. Disaster is seen panicking over Annie, Rey, Parley, Smitty and Jones' disappearance from the simulation, only for Jones to arrive and state that she'll explain everything — over a viewing of The Tingle, "one of Mr. Price's finest moments."
- The Bus Came Back: Dr. Disaster and Jack Hyland.
- Call-Back:
- Dr. Disaster, as well as his simulator, return from Chapter 10. The trainee mediums get a history lesson in it.
- Parley finally discovers what her power is, after saying that she didn't know back in "The Medium Beginning".
- Diego, the mysterious robot builder from "S1", turns out to have been one of the founders of the Court. Annie suspects that S1 represented him, and the giant robot it fought represented Sir Young, another one of the founders.
- Annie asks Jones about Jeanne.
- Annie still feels guilty about how she treated Mort.
- Jack returns, asking after Zimmy and what happened in her Mental World.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Remember Sir Young and Steadman. They're not important just for being founders of the Court.
- Continuity Nod:
- Jones tells Renard she's not beholden to anyone, much like how she takes care in her speech to make it clear she's not on either side.
- Rey speculates that Kat has been helping Annie with her comebacks.
- Parley, while stating that she thinks Annie is a shoo-in to be the next medium, mentions Annie's trip to the Forest and that she controls Renard.
- Annie uses her blinker stone.
- The simulation is of how the Court began, before Coyote divided it from the Forest.
- Annie asks Rey if Jones is a robot.
- Deliberately Monochrome: Dr. Disaster's sci-fi simulation, as before. The simulation of the founders of the Court, on the other hand, is not.
- Descriptively-Named Species: The Jupiter Moon Martians are natives of the planet Mars who moved to Ganymede, Jupiter's largest moon.
- Dungeon Bypass: Smitty's powers do this accidentally in the sci-fi simulation.
- Everyone Can See It: Annie, Renard and Jones can all tell that Parley and Smitty are very much attracted to each other.
- Failed Dramatic Exit: Parley shooing the others out of her room provides the trope image.
- Fake-Out Opening: The title, title page, and first page of the chapter proper make it seem that the chapter will be about another sci-fi adventure in one of Dr. Disaster's simulations. Smitty's order powers solve the quest for the artifact in two pages, and the plot moves on to other matters.
- Foreshadowing:
- When Parley teleports herself, Annie, Rey, Smitty and Jones to her bedroom, take note of how far everyone's feet sinks into the mattress.
- Jones hasn't heard of Jeanne, but suspects that information about the Court's founding has been deliberately hidden.
- Rey says this to Annie:"You have a fire in you, child, a fire that belonged to your mother!"
- On the topic of Jones, Rey says that only she can answer the question of what she is, as not even Coyote can.
- Jack insists on knowing Zimmy's whereabouts, and Annie asks him if he's okay.
- Insistent Terminology: Jones refers to Parley's teleportation ability as "distortion of space".
- Intelligent Gerbil: The Jupiter Moon Martians look like frogs.
- Legacy Character: It turns out that the role of Dragon Slayer and protector of the Court, currently held by Mr. Eglamore, was originated by Sir Young, one of the founders.
- Power Incontinence: Smitty's order-bringing powers make the ancient artifact appear at his feet in the simulation, meaning they couldn't even do the mission. Judging by his reaction, this isn't the first time.
- Precision F-Strike: Smitty goes "Dammit!" when his order-causing powers bring the simulator mission to a premature end.
- The Reveal: Coyote, Ysengrin and Renard didn't come to Gillitie Wood until after the Court was founded.
- Shipper on Deck: Jones arranges for Smitty to offer Parley a flower, instead of giving her one herself as she had done with the others.
- Shout-Out: Parley has a poster of Samus Aran on her wall.
- Something-Nauts: The Gunnerkrigg Spacemonauts, just like last time.
- Special Edition Title: Since the chapter begins in another one of Dr. Disaster's sci-fi simulations, the title page is another retro sci-fi style poster.
- Teleportation: Parley discovers — in a rather embarrassing manner — that this is her special power.
- Trivial Title: The title makes it seem as though the entire chapter will be about another one of Dr. Disaster's sci-fi simulations. That gets wrapped up in three pages, as the rest of the chapter focuses on Annie, Parley and Smitty's medium training.
- Unresolved Sexual Tension: Smitty admits that he lets Parley insult him because "she is hotter than hell", and Annie and Rey point out that Parley seems to reciprocate those feelings. And Parley's powers activate when Jones arranges for Smitty to hand her a flower, causing Parley to teleport everyone into her bedroom.
- Unsound Effect: When Parley slams her door a second time after opening it to take a flower from Smitty, the onomatopoeia is "SLAM AGAIN".
- White Void Room: The simulator looks like this before the second simulation, about the founders of the Court, begins.
- The X of Y: "Terror Castle of the Jupiter Moon Martians".
