Finally free of his keepers, but still unable to do any real work, Zahnrad limps into town to talk to Harriet Potter about making some of the parts for the ancient engine out of ceramics.

After taking care of that, he passes the fountain square, where Clover Chalk is holding court with the teenaged girls of the town, all dressed in black lace now and with her hair dyed black. Zahn interrupts to warn Clover about dealing with dark forces, as he suspects she has been. This draws the ire of the girls and Zahn moves on.

Just outside the Tavern, Axel and Kalvin are sitting, and Zahn goes over to them, asking the bird-man if he can help with the pain and stiffness in his knee. Axel uses his healing-heat magic on Zahn, while Gunther attacks the gaggle of girls, accusing Clover of harboring evil plans. The girls pile on Gunther, until a side-effect of Axel's magic makes all of their clothes spontaneously combust.

Nobody is hurt, but Zahn goes over to chide Gunther about causing trouble, while naked girls run all over the place in a panic. Axel gets up and follows Clover, who seems upset. When he approaches her, she tells him to stay away and runs off in tears, which hurts Axel.

To make things worse, Dierdra shows up to impose some order again. She gets distracted by Kalvin though, allowing Zahn to sneak off and join Axel, now with Parsley. After confirming that he likes Axel, the bird man cheers back up.