Kalim’s family is organizing a local fireworks festival, and he decides to invite other members of NRC to join him and Jamil on their visit home.
Kalim invites the pop music club, Cater and Lilia. Cater invites Trey and but Lilia has a stomach ache on the day of the event, sending Malleus alone in his place, for Malleus’ first trip without an escort. Jamil reluctantly concedes and the group travels to Silk City, where he and Kalim were born and raised.
They take a 15-meter long, custom-made vehicle—owned by Kalim’s parents—to Kalim’s house, which is a tourist attraction known to locals as “Asim Palace.”
It is Malleus’ first time riding in a car.
The group dresses in local attire and visits the Camel Bazaar for shawarma, where they meet with Jamil’s younger sister Najma, who was sent by their father to tell Jamil about a change to visitor seating.
Cater invites Najma to join the group. They wander the marketplace eating dragon fruit with honey, melon with ice cream, baguettes with jam, coconut water and dates.
Najma then leaves, and the group realizes that Malleus has disappeared.
Malleus has coincidentally met up with Kalim, and Jamil locates them via GPS decides on Malleus’ clothes.
They watch street performances, including a performing monkey, and shop for souvenirs.
In the evening they meet with a pyrotechnician for the event who has lost his USB stick loaded with the program to run the fireworks show. Surrounding tourists exclaim that their wallets and jewelry are missing and a pickpocket almost steals the prefect’s smartphone: the performing monkey.
Jamil catches the monkey’s thieving owner, who is then arrested, and returns the USB stick to the pyrotechnician.
In order to repay Jamil for his efforts the pyrotechnician offers him the role of giving the launch cue for the show’s finale, the most critical part of the show.
The pyrotechnician says it is the highest honor someone can receive at the festival and Jamil initially refuses, saying that the honor should go to Kalim as he only works for Kalim’s family, but the group encourages him to accept it and he acquiesces.
The students dance together under the fireworks and Jamil gives the cue without incident, saying that he has never been in such a good mood at the festival before and that it was fun.
Twisted Wonderland Reference Note 