Indira turned back to help Ledge.
But the window was closed. She frowned. Ledge Woods was grinning out at her.
That was her only warning.
A pair of boats floated into sight at the back end of the alleyway, cutting them off. Phoenix reached for the controller and started up the engine, but a third boat appeared on the main street. It was a superior model to the one they’d commandeered, and captained by a very familiar figure.
Joey had found them.
The rogue Author’s clothing had changed.
Gone were the navy-blue jersey and shorts, replaced by some kind of military battle armor. Indira thought he looked a little ridiculous, like a toddler trying to walk around in his parent’s shoes. Even with the wardrobe change, he was still wielding the lacrosse stick from their first meeting. Indira’s eyes narrowed on it. That had to be the source of his power.
Joey laughed obnoxiously. “Told you, Ledge!” he called. “This is way more fun than facing them head-on. The story is always better when the heroes have hope. Nothing like an unexpected betrayal!”
Indira glanced back. Ledge offered a proud salute before disappearing down the stairs. Indira’s eyes swung back to Joey. Up close, the features she’d noticed during their first encounter were even more intense now. His eyes were shockingly blue. His blond hair was so bright it stung to look at it for too long.
“You have to stop this!” Indira shouted. “You don’t belong in this world.”
Joey frowned at her. “You can’t tell me what to do!”
It was such a surprisingly bratty thing to say that Indira almost didn’t notice him thrusting his lacrosse stick into the air. Indira flinched, but no cannons fired. Nothing exploded. Instead, magic swirled around them. She blinked a few times before looking down.
Her clothing had changed. The light pink tunic was gone. She looked at Phoenix and Cavern. All of them were wearing pirate clothing now.
“A shame you had to join the losing team,” Joey said in a mocking voice. Indira was still trying to process the fact that he’d changed her clothes in less than a thought. She felt paralyzed by fear. This kind of power was unlike anything she’d ever seen.
Phoenix came to his senses far faster than she did. He summoned a fireball into the air. His eyes glowed bright as he shoved the spinning flames in Joey’s direction. Indira’s heart leaped hopefully as the flames darted over the water, casting out shadows in every direction.
But the Author just smiled at them.
He lifted his lacrosse stick. The fireball halted in midair, hanging between both boats like a miniature sun. Another flick of Joey’s wrist drowned the flames. Indira’s jaw dropped as the deadly fireball transformed into hundreds of bubbles floating harmlessly into the air.
Joey laughed again. “Surrender your boat, pirate scum!”
Phoenix looked helpless. Indira still couldn’t move. Even Cavern stared in awe. All three of them saw the truth. There was no beating someone this powerful. Joey’s boat started closing the distance between them. Indira knew they’d lost.
Until an unexpected hero took flight.
Little Peck had been strutting back and forth in front of her. She watched as he fluttered onto their boat’s front railing. The rooster took a running start, angled in Joey’s direction, and leaped off the prow of the boat. Indira hadn’t known chickens could fly.
Maybe they couldn’t.
But Peck soared through the air like a superhero. Joey’s expression twisted, almost in slow motion. Cruel grin transformed into pure shock. Peck made contact, driving his beak right into Joey’s face and forcing the rogue Author to stumble back. Feathers puffed into the air. The chicken and the Author went down together.
Indira shouted, “Let’s go!”
Phoenix had already lunged for the controller. He jammed a finger down on the right button and their boat shot forward, barely scraping against Joey’s before getting clear. Indira caught a brief glimpse of the Author rolling around, shouting wildly, as Peck continued his assault. She was briefly tempted to join the fight, thinking for a fraction of a second that this might be Joey’s only moment of weakness. But the moment passed like a strike of lightning.
As their boat roared out of the alleyway, Indira saw a new threat approaching. Ledge Woods had climbed into his own boat. He took in the sight of their escape with wide eyes.
And Indira had the drop on him. She threw her hammer.
Magic tugged her through the air. Her feet landed hard in the back of Ledge’s boat. He was still staring at the place where she’d been when she caught the spinning weapon. Before he could turn, Indira brought her foot up and kicked his backside. The traitor went sprawling into the water.
Her eyes darted up as Phoenix and Cavern passed.
“Don’t stop!” she shouted. “I’m coming!”
Another throw. The hammer arched out over the water and Indira found herself shoulder to shoulder with Phoenix, facing the way they’d come. She caught the hammer a second time, grinning back at the damage she’d caused. She felt bad for abandoning Peck, but as they rounded the corner, she knew he was the only reason they were still alive.
“Back to the tunnel!” she ordered.
Phoenix was already whipping around the turn. There was cannon fire behind them. Engines revved and echoed over the water. Indira thought she even heard Joey’s furious shouts chasing them. Clearly, he wasn’t used to losing. The thought had her smiling as Phoenix rammed the boat up against her house’s front stoop. They disembarked quickly.
Her eyes flicked back. The water behind them churned with movement, but no one saw them slipping inside the house. She closed the door carefully behind them and began the descent. No one spoke as they crawled back through the pipes. Beginning was waiting anxiously at the bottom. She saw their weary faces and made a quick but necessary decision.
“I’m shutting down this tunnel,” she said. “We can’t risk him following you.”
Indira watched the land’s representative set a hand against the tunnel. Magic shivered up its length and the tunnel became just another part of the wall itself. Indira knew they’d need to get back into the town, but she guessed that Beginning had other ways in. The emissary was right. They couldn’t risk Joey finding the underground factories. There was no telling how much he’d destroy.
By the time they’d navigated the underground and reached the exit tunnel, it was nearly dark outside. Phoenix summoned a flame into his hand, allowing it to flash in the air and flicker. After a moment, he extinguished it. That was the signal. Indira saw a matching flame appear in the forest off to their right. It glowed for only a few seconds before gasping out.
“That way,” she said.
They crossed the distance to find the rest of their crew. Cavern was still clutching the briefcase with the device to his chest. She was honestly just thankful they’d all survived, even if she felt guilty for leaving Peck behind. The others stood at the shadowed edge of a forest.
Gadget looked thrilled. “You got it. This is huge.”
“That’s the good news,” Indira replied. “The bad news is that Joey is even more powerful than we thought. And he’s going to be really mad that we beat him. He’ll be looking for us now. No more element of surprise.”
“We know,” Minerva replied. “Look.”
Her pretend mother pointed toward Ordinary. The town’s massive walls loomed in the distance, but now massive banners were unfurled over the sides. It took a second for Indira to realize they were wanted posters. Joey had used his powers to produce house-size images of each of them, dressed in their pirate gear. Underneath, he’d attached absurd rewards for anyone who assisted in their capture. Her first thought was that other characters would never dream of helping someone like Joey, but Ledge was living proof that some of them would.
Sighing, she turned ba
ck to the others.
“At least we look cool,” she said. “Time to go check in with Maxi.”
“I’ve got so much juicy info for you guys, it’s not even funny.”
Maxi’s voice had more energy in it than the rest of their crew combined. Indira glanced around at the others. Phoenix and Squalls were running through a few magical practice exercises. Gadget had finished programming her bees and was leaning over the computer, analyzing incoming intel with bloodshot eyes. Minerva and Cavern leaned on opposite sides of the call desk, looking like a pair of mismatched bookends. Indira answered when no one else spoke.
“Let’s hear it.”
“Well,” Maxi went on excitedly. “First, I think I know how Joey got here. There was a brief opening in the dimensions between the Real World and Imagination. I’m talking less time than it would take to snap your fingers. Your team took Group Port B Thirty-Three. Did you experience any issues?”
Gadget looked up sharply. Indira saw horror written on the girl’s face.
“We teleported to the wrong location,” Indira answered. She didn’t want to make Gadget feel bad. It had been an accident. “The machine was missing one of its location sensors.”
“Which created a tiny crack in space and time,” Maxi replied, as if that were an everyday event or something. “It just so happened that Joey fell asleep at the exact moment the gap opened. His subconscious slipped through the opening. He basically dreamed his way into our world. It had like a .00004 percent chance of happening.”
“Great,” Indira said. “How he got here doesn’t matter. Let’s focus on how to stop him.”
“I’m two steps ahead of you,” Maxi continued. “Let’s start with other examples of Authors entering our world. It’s happened three times before in the written history of Imagination. I researched all three—and let me tell you, I’m still coughing up dust from those books. Someone needs to copy those over to digital files like yesterday—”
Indira cleared her throat. “Focus, Maxi.”
“Right, of course. All three Authors dreamed their way into our world. It always happened that way. An accidental crossing of the borders, so to speak. All three of them were slightly more…mature than our current opponent. The method for returning the Authors was always the same. You have to scare them awake. It’s kind of like any dream, right? If you fall off a cliff or something super spooky jumps out, it startles you awake.”
The rest of the crew was paying more attention now. It was the first time they’d been offered a direct strategy for fighting someone like Joey. Phoenix was nodding.
“So we have to scare him,” he said. “Easy enough.”
“Pretty much,” Maxi answered. “But there are other factors involved. The longer they’ve been in this world, the harder it is to frighten them. I mean, one Author was in the imaginary world for about fifty-three years….”
Indira’s heart skipped a few beats. “Did you say fifty-three years?”
“Right? That’s like forever,” Maxi replied. “Anyway, let’s talk about Joey. It took some digging, but I located his file. He’s super new to writing. Our profile doesn’t have a ton on him. He’s eleven years old. He’s been writing for the past few months. He writes fan fiction based on video games that he’s playing. His current favorite is this battle thingy called Pirates versus Marines.”
Indira felt like she’d been hit in the head. Understanding echoed through their group. All the signs made sense. “That explains so much!” she said. “The pirate ship. The city’s streets being canals. That bunker. The parrot! Everything he’s summoned so far is either a pirate or marine theme.”
Maxi squealed with excitement. “Wait! Did you say canals?”
“Yes,” Phoenix answered. “Every street in Ordinary is a waterway now.”
There was a flurry of movement on the other end of the line. Indira imagined Maxi flipping through a messy desk of papers before surfacing victoriously.
“There’s a stage like that in the video game. It’s called Not Your Mother’s Venice. I’ll see if I can send over the schematics. According to the file, Joey spends hours playing this game. If he knows the maps, you’ll need to know them as well as he does….”
“Maxi,” Phoenix jumped in. “What’s the point of the game? Like, how do you win?”
“It’s a battle zone,” she replied. “Here’s the description: ‘Contestants are sorted into two teams: pirates or marines. Both teams start at a home-base location. When the game begins, players are able to travel throughout the map, with the goal being to eliminate the other team. Points and power-ups are awarded for sinking opponents’ boats, taking over key bases, or eliminating opponents. Each round ends when all members of the opposing team have been defeated.’ ”
Indira’s stomach sank. “That’s what Ledge told us. He said that Joey was making them play the same game over and over again.”
“He could have been lying,” Cavern pointed out. “He lied about helping us.”
Indira shook her head. “Maybe, but I’m pretty sure he thought we were walking into Joey’s trap. He didn’t actually think we’d escape with any information. I’d bet that Joey is playing this game over and over with the citizens of Ordinary. Forcing the townspeople to fight each other.”
“And I’ll bet he never loses,” Phoenix said. “Not with his powers.”
Minerva asked the one question Indira hadn’t thought to ask. “Have any of Ordinary’s citizens appeared at the Ninth Hearth?”
Indira knew that at least death in their world wasn’t permanent. She’d been through the process once herself. After tackling Brainstorm Ketty off the highest ledge of a tower, she had appeared at the Ninth Hearth and had been slowly restored back to life by that magic. It wasn’t an experience she wished on anyone, but at least the citizens might escape from Joey that way.
“We’ve seen fluctuations,” Maxi said. “But instead of appearing in the Ninth Hearth, they’re returning to a starting point in Ordinary. It looks like Joey set up his own regeneration center. There’s a respawn zone. It must be a part of the video game he plays. And as an Author in our world, he’s powerful enough to do something like that.”
Indira grimaced. “So he really can make them fight over and over.”
“He’s basically torturing them,” Phoenix whispered. “We have to stop him.”
Before Maxi could relay her own advice, another sound echoed. Indira looked across the clearing and saw Beginning sitting by the fire. “It isn’t me this time!” Beginning announced.
Leaves crunched underfoot and twigs snapped.
A figure approached from the road. All of them turned as the kingswolf they’d left back at the memorial appeared. She was slightly out of breath. Indira guessed she’d run the whole way there in wolf form.
Half gasping, she said, “We’ve got a problem.”
Joey’s powers were making things worse.
“All the waiting characters transformed,” the kingswolf explained. “At the exact same time. We were all hanging out, trying to stay positive, when their clothing changed. About half of them are wearing pirate outfits. The other half have some kind of military armor. I wasn’t sure what was going on, so I wanted to come update you.”
“Pirates versus Marines,” Minerva said. “His game.”
The kingswolf frowned. “What game?”
“That’s not even the most important part,” Phoenix pointed out. “He’s breaking another step in the Hero’s Journey. Ordinary is supposed to represent the starting point, right? It can be anything. Authors can start their story in a city or on a farm or under the ocean. It can be wherever! Joey’s magic is forcing this theme to be the start of every story. Everything is Pirates versus Marines now.”
Beginning’s voice was a whisper. “So not only do the stories stop for no reason, but now they all start in the exact sa
me place. If this magic holds, it will make for very boring stories. It won’t take long for the readers to abandon us entirely.”
“Unless they’re really into pirates,” Gadget noted. “Or marines.”
Indira considered her own attire. She wasn’t sure anyone could deal with a world that was only pirates all the time. “Maxi. What happens next? If we keep him distracted until the Editors can take action against him? What will the consequences be?”
“Well, I was running through some scenarios earlier,” she replied. “And—not to freak you out—but there’s a possibility he destroys all of Plot. The effects would echo into every story that’s ever existed….” She paused. “But that’s like worst-case scenario. The Editors will arrive and perform a reset. All the new stories will be fine after that.”
Indira’s stomach dropped. “But every story that existed before now?”
“Would be broken, yeah.”
“Thanks, Maxi.”
Indira hung up the phone. Her mind was racing. Every story that existed before now included her story. It was bad enough to think of all that Joey had already ruined, but now his presence in their world was personal. Indira looked around at the others.
“We need to get some sleep. In the morning, we can take a look at Gadget’s intel, make a plan, and wake Joey up before he can do more damage.”
Cavern nodded. “What’s the scariest thing we can show him?”
The others looked around, deep in thought. Indira’s eyes settled on Phoenix. An idea had been forming slowly over the last few hours. “I’m sure we’ll come up with something.”
If they had not been so exhausted, it would have been very difficult to sleep. Indira’s dreams were a mixture of cannon fire, pirate attacks, and howling. It helped that she was curled up, back to back, with Phoenix and the others. That source of warmth was the only thing that kept her comfortable enough to actually doze off.
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