Donut and Mongo's pet-show turn begins with far more spectacle than Carl wanted. Louis uses Carl's trap modules to power a boombox, smoke bombs, and pyrotechnics, blasting "Anaconda" through the ballroom while Mongo bursts through the smoke and Donut rides him onto the stage in a tiara and headset. Louis delivers an exaggerated introduction, several female velociraptors appear as part of the bit, and Mongo caps the routine by moonwalking across the stage while Donut poses in sunglasses, impressing even some of the hunters.

After the act, Donut excitedly tells Carl that the routine almost went perfectly, though Louis flubbed some lines and Mongo missed one planned leap. Carl reminds Donut that he had asked for something lower-key, but Donut insists this already was the toned-down version. The final pet-show entrant, Garret with Tserendolgor, finishes the event after the smoke finally clears, and Donut hints that an even bigger dance performance is still coming later.

Carl then turns back to the crisis outside the ballroom. Imani is near a breakdown because multiple plans are going wrong at once, and reports say crawlers are fighting mobs as they move into elf territory. Carl checks with Bomo in Zockau and confirms that the hunters who had stayed behind to defend the saferoom from the brambles were teleported away when the Butcher's Masquerade began, leaving the town mostly empty. Because abandoned saferoom property becomes fair game once its owners leave, Carl orders Bomo to keep hauling back every leftover weapon, armor piece, and useful item.

Carl also checks on Sledge, who is handling the more dangerous job of bringing changelings into the castle through the lower tunnels. Sledge reports that large numbers of fast, level-20 mantis nymphs are swarming the stairwell routes and forcing constant fights, making the tunnel approach untenable. Carl tells Sledge to avoid unnecessary combat, then accepts a revised plan to use an airship approach from above instead, warning the team to watch for still-active sentinel towers and to avoid damaging the main castle.

When Carl notices Vrah watching the now-disabled warning light, he realizes the mantis outbreak likely means Diwata never truly left the floor. Carl concludes that Diwata first turned into a male mantis to cure Vrah, then switched to a female mantis and began giving birth, using that ongoing spell to remain active past her normal limit. Samantha confirms Diwata can keep producing babies indefinitely, and Mordecai explains that this loophole should also leave Diwata trapped in a weak, painful female mantis form without access to other spells. Elle and Donut react with horror and disgust to the implications for Vrah and Diwata's offspring, Carl sends Donut to Chaco's counter to buy planned upgrades, and Firas abruptly reminds the group that they were also supposed to keep Florin away from Lucia.