+There's, like, this restaurant, and there's this guy in it, who's like Brilliance's alternate universe twin, except kind of very alternate? And there's lots of you, too, only they weren't there, so I brought this one back, and he has magic, too.+

+What the fuck,+ says Brilliance.

+I know, right, I keep finding this stuff, Bella should find this stuff, but, like, at least I could bring him here? He's invisible. Come on, let's go tell the gym teacher that, like, you're dizzy and I have to take you home early.+

"Not far," says the Joker, appearing close to Bella's side of the car.

He gets in the car.

Lexi drives, singing tunelessly, "Iiii found more magic for Bella and I didn't even have to get possessssed."

"So," Bella says, "executive summary of who you are and where you came from and what you can do and what you want, please?"

"I'm from another universe, no magic there but I met one'a the Bells at Milliways and she gave me some eventually. I grant wishes." He passes a triangle forward, in his own clear-glass-with-hints-of-colour. "That'll do a little one. And I've got a few other neat tricks, but the minting's the biggest deal. A mint's a person who makes wishcoins."

Bella takes the triangle. She looks at it. "This does a wish? How does it go about doing a wish?"

"You wish on it," says the Joker.

"How little is little?"

"Exceedingly. It'll just about brush your hair or turn your nose blue."

"Okay. And I also wanted to know what you wanted? Because this is twice now my sister here has invited powerful magical entities to do things without finding that out first."

"I was trying to get you limitless power, Bella, God."

"I don't really want things," he says. "Not from you, anyway. Insofar as I have a plan, I plan to meet the native me, probably make out with him a bunch 'cause that's what my crowd tends to get up to when we meet each other, hand you some nifty magic, and then wait until Milliways shows up again and introduce you to the rest of ya."

"Yeah, about the rest of me, what are they up to, why haven't they come to visit too?" asks Bella skeptically.

"Oh, I could've gone home and fetched Golden, I guess," he says with a shrug, "but you seem pretty together, it wasn't urgent, and I thought this way might be more fun."

"I didn't tell him what you looked like and he did an illusion trick thing with, like, a bunch of yous," says Lexi. "Except one was a boy - and one of them had wings - and none of them have Lexis."

"...They're only children?" Bella asks slowly.

"All ten of 'em."

"...That is strange and disturbing."

"Three in nine of me have brothers," he offers. "I'm not one'a the lucky few."