“Out of the way!” Yi cried. He was a fire elemental, and his body was shrouded in flames. He burst through the doorway and leaped over their heads, knocking Ernie and Robert to the ground. The fire singed Ernie’s helmet, but Robert’s back smoked as flames erupted across his jacket.
“Get away!” Robert shouted to the others.
“What’s happening?” Ernie called. He wanted to help, but the air around Robert already felt like a furnace.
“I must have absorbed Yi’s power, but I can’t control it!” Robert shouted. “I can’t hold myself together…”
“Emergency, evacuate!” came Wolfhelm’s voice over the intercom. The holographic world disappeared, and the sprinkler system opened up a torrent of water.
“That’s not going to help!” Yi shouted as he leaped on top of Robert. “I have to suffocate the fire.”
Smoke rolled out from Robert’s mouth as his veins lit with volcanic fire. Ernie watched in horror as the flames grew stronger. He wanted to help, but there was nothing he could do. Just as Ernie reached the exit, Robert exploded.
21
POPPING IN
The blast of heat that shot from Robert’s body had rocked the SIM Chamber, scorching the walls and melting the glass in the observation deck. Luckily most of the changelings were able to get out in time.
“Everyone is saying that Yi saved your lives,” Natalia mentioned as they rode home in the Zephyr. “He could have been killed.”
“I was there, Natalia. I know,” Ernie replied tersely. “Everybody thinks he’s a hero, but Yi is the one who scorched Robert with his flame. It caused a chain reaction that Robert couldn’t control. What was he supposed to do?”
“Don’t worry, Doc Trimble will fix them up,” Harley said. “They’re in good hands.”
“That’s not the point,” Ernie lamented. “People already think we’re freaks, and now they’re going to be scared of us, too. It’s not fair.”
With that, Ernie reached into his backpack and pulled out a sketchbook, signaling that he wasn’t in the mood to talk about it anymore. At the same time, a spark of light flashed, and suddenly Sprig popped into Max’s lap. She was wincing in pain. Her spiked fur was damp, and her paws were slick with mud. She looked exhausted.
“What happened to you?” Max asked.
“Iron…” she hissed. “The machines have returned, and they are hunting faeries. Collecting them and…” Her gaze roved to Ernie.
“What?” he asked. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“The faeries are afraid, but changelings should be as well,” Sprig replied. “You must get away…. Not safe!”
“What do you mean?” Ernie shouted, his skin alive with goose bumps. “Who is looking for me? You have to…”
There was a sudden commotion in the back of the subway car.
“I’m talking to you, freak!” someone shouted.
The Griffins turned around to see Angus McCutcheon standing in the aisle, glowering at Smoke. The changeling seemed unperturbed as he sat by himself in the back of the subway car. His goggles were flipped up on his forehead, and he was staring straight ahead.
“Everybody knows this is my bench,” Angus barked.
Smoke didn’t even bother to blink as Angus’s face turned red. The bully reached out to grab the changeling by the arm, but all he got was a fistful of air. An instant later, Smoke reappeared, locking his arm around Angus’s neck.
“I wonder how tough you’d be if I teleported you out the window right now? Or better yet, maybe I’ll just take your head with me instead.”
Angus’s shoulders slumped, but his eyes continued to burn.
“That’s what I thought,” Smoke said. Then he pushed Angus into the bench and disappeared.
“Does anyone else think that Smoke kid is a little extreme?” Natalia ventured.
When the Griffins turned back around, Sprig was nowhere to be seen.
22
MAX GOES ON A DATE
Logan dropped Max off at Grandma Caliburn’s house an hour later. The bodyguard hadn’t said much after hearing the news about Sprig, but he didn’t look very happy. As soon as Max had jumped out of the car, he started hunting for the Bounder. She wasn’t in his bedroom, the barn loft, or even the greenhouse where she liked to sleep now and again. He decided to distract himself with homework, but he couldn’t stop looking out his bedroom window, hoping that the spriggan would show up.
She never did.
When Grandma Caliburn came home from the market, she decided to treat Max to a night on the town. So they got in the car and headed to the Prairie House Café down on Main Street. Max wanted to wait at home for Sprig, but he couldn’t turn down his grandmother’s invitation. It was a quiet night, and most of the tables were empty when they got there.
“I haven’t been on a date in I don’t know how long,” Grace Caliburn said with a smile. “What looks good?”
“I hear they’ve got great apple cobbler.”
“They better! It’s my recipe.” She laughed before turning back to the menu.
Down the street, a crew hammered away, boarding up the broken window above the Shoppe of Antiquities. Max had seen the police tape stretched across the back door in the alley, but the investigation had already been closed. The local paper had reported that the sheriff’s office was out of leads. There weren’t any eyewitnesses, and with so many customers over the years, dusting for prints had been useless.
“I don’t understand why someone would break in to Iver’s shop,” Grandma Caliburn remarked. “I remember a day when we didn’t even have to lock our front doors. What is this town coming to?”
Max cleared his throat uncomfortably. “Do you ever wonder if Iver is still alive?” he asked. “I mean, he packed up his whole store before he left. It was almost like he expected not to come back. And they never found his body.”
Grandma paused a moment, her eyes sad. “Max, I know it’s been hard, but you need to let this go.”
Max looked down at his menu.
“You know,” Grandma Caliburn continued after a few uncomfortable moments, “not a day goes by when I don’t wish your grandfather was still here. He was such a teaser, and the stories he could tell? Oh my.” She laughed to herself. “Yes, I miss him very much. I understand what you’re going through.”
The restaurant was starting to fill up when the waitress returned to take their orders. Max went with the meatloaf, and Grandma Caliburn selected the chicken pot pie with a side of green bean casserole.
“So tell me,” Grandma Caliburn said. “How is everything going for you and your friends at Iron Bridge?”
“It’s okay.”
“Just okay?”
Max sighed. “It’s just that there’s a kid named Angus. The Black Wolves killed his brother, and he’s blaming me for it.” Max paused before taking another sip of milk.
Grandma Caliburn placed her hand on Max’s arm. “Honey, you are not your father.”
“But he’s half of who I am,” Max countered. “I doubt he woke up one morning and decided he was going to destroy the world. How do I know I won’t turn out like him?”
“You have a lot to learn about your father. He wasn’t always the way you see him now.” She sipped her tea thoughtfully. “You’re handsome and charming, like he is. And both of you are very giving. I couldn’t tell you how much money your parents have donated to charities, or how many children’s hospitals your father has commissioned in third-world countries.”
“He also divorced Mom and betrayed the Templar.”
“Before his fall, your father was the best sort of man,” she replied. “Yes, he has certainly committed some terrible acts, but I know there is good inside his heart. It might be hidden away, but it’s in there somewhere.”
“What if I make the same mistakes he made?”
“Nonsense. You might have your father’s blood flowing through your veins, but there’s more than a little bit of your grandfather in there as well. Every
time I hear your laughter, I can see his face. Oh, Max, he would be so proud of you.”
Max played with his straw, too uncomfortable with his feelings to reply. The adventures of William Caliburn were legendary, and living up to them wouldn’t be easy.
“Children can be cruel,” Grace continued. “Trust me, in time Iron Bridge will be everything you dreamed that it could be.”
23
CIRCLE OF CONFUSION
The Transformation Sciences classroom in Sendak Hall was unusually somber when Ernie entered. Laini, the girl with the pink hair and wings, was crying—and she wasn’t the only one.
Confused, Ernie took his usual seat next to Robert. They sat alone in the back of the room like lepers. Since the accident in the SIM Chamber, the only person who would talk to Robert was Ernie, and that made him a social outcast, too. Denton wouldn’t even talk to them, and he was friends with everybody.
“Did you hear the news?” Robert whispered. “They found what happened to Stephen.”
“The kid who ran away?”
“He didn’t run away,” Robert corrected. “He was kidnapped… or at least, that’s what the other kids are saying. The teachers won’t tell us anything, but apparently THOR agents found a rift echo in his dorm room.”
“A what?”
“You know, the signature that’s left behind when a portal is opened? Somebody teleported into his room and grabbed him.”
Ernie paused. “I thought portals didn’t work here?”
“Except for Smoke, they aren’t supposed to. That’s what has everyone worried.”
As the warning bell rang, Raven Lugosi ducked into the room. As usual, she was dressed like a vampire, with lug boots and a black trench coat. She didn’t talk to anyone, and no one talked to her.
Ernie found himself staring at her hypnotic violet eyes, but when she caught him, he turned away with a blush.
“Are you crazy?” Robert whispered, pulling Ernie away. “Don’t even look at her, okay? I told you what she could do.”
“No, you told me she knows everyone’s secrets. You never told me how.”
Robert shook his head. “Look, you need to forget about her. Besides, I’ve been thinking about what we talked about the other day… you know, about forming a superhero team. Even if Denton doesn’t want to join, I’m in.”
“Seriously?” Ernie asked, beaming. “That’s so supersonic! Now all we need is an arch-villain…” Ernie pulled out a sketchbook that contained illustrations of superhero costumes that he had drawn.
“You’re kidding, right?” Smoke asked as he teleported into his desk. “Do you have a thing for leotards or something?”
“This is a private conversation,” Ernie announced, closing his sketchbook.
“Then don’t talk about it in public, dork,” Smoke replied, and pushed his goggles up on his forehead. “I bet you’ve got superhero underwear, too. Pathetic. You know, life isn’t like a comic book. In the real world, people die.”
“All I know is that we were given powers for a reason,” Ernie said. “We can make a difference!”
“So what are you going to do when you catch up to some guy with a gun? Run around in circles until he gets dizzy? Your power is worthless.”
“And yours is better?” Ernie glared.
Smoke disappeared in a burst of black vapor, only to reappear next to Ernie, who nearly fell out of his chair in surprise. “I can go anywhere I want, anytime I want. I could even teleport you a mile into the sky where all of the super speed in the universe wouldn’t do you much good. Nobody can stop me. They can’t even touch me, and that goes for the teachers, too.”
Smoke teleported back to his desk. The door opened and a round woman with a cheerful smile entered.
“Please, everyone, come sit on the pillows at the front of the room,” she invited warmly, motioning to a collection of overstuffed cushions that were arranged in a circle. She was the first to take a seat, right smack in the middle of the circle. The students soon took their seats in orbit around her. Without another word, she snapped her eyes shut. She took in a series of deep breaths, and a euphoric smile painted her face. Then, just as suddenly, her eyes shot open again.
“My name is Frances Burrows, though you can simply call me Fanny. I am going to be your Transformation Psychology coach. After the accident in the SIM Chamber, Dean Nipkin thought it would be a nice idea if we got to know one another.”
There was a smattering of uncomfortable laughs.
“Today we’re going to discuss some of the worries that a changeling can experience. It can be about anything: the day you first discovered you were different… what happened with Yi… or, if you like, we can just talk about the weather. We’re going to explore our thoughts as a group.”
“I don’t need a shrink,” Smoke grumbled.
A small-framed Finnish girl named Astrid was the first to speak. “Sometimes I can hear what people are thinking, and I can’t shut it off.”
“How does that make you feel?” the psychology coach coaxed.
Astrid looked around at her fellow students, who were looking back at her with curiosity. “It’s not a very useful talent. And sometimes, when I’m around lots of people, it can hurt. I just wish I could shut it off.”
“You can hear what I’m thinking?” asked Ernie.
The girl nodded as Ernie’s eyes shot wide. “That’s why my parents sent me to Iron Bridge. I just want to be normal. At least for a while.”
Fanny nodded before turning to Denton. “How about you? Is there anything that you would like to share, Shannon?”
“Well, I don’t know if anyone has noticed,” he began with a wry smile as his tail swished back and forth on the ground, “but I seem to get better looking every day. I just feel bad for all the girls around here. It can’t be easy having a guy like me around.”
Most everyone laughed. Except Raven.
Robert raised a shaky hand. “I can’t control my power very well.”
“That’s the understatement of the year.” Smoke laughed. “Hothead Hernandez nearly fries us. And that’s all he has to say about it? How about ‘I’m sorry’?”
Robert’s lips began to shake. Whether it was in sadness or anger, Ernie couldn’t tell. He just hoped Robert wouldn’t do anything rash.
“That will be enough, Aidan,” Fanny instructed softly. “You don’t know what it’s like to be Robert. None of you do. Transmutation is one of the most difficult changeling powers to control.”
“There are other people like me?” Robert asked.
Fanny smiled. “I’ve worked with several, Robert. And I think you’ll be just fine. You just need a little practice, which is exactly why you are here. We want to protect you.”
“What about Stephen?” Becca Paulson, the changeling who could walk through walls, asked. “You guys didn’t do a very good job protecting him. What’s going to happen to us?”
Everyone grew quiet. Even Raven’s eyes were locked on Fanny.
“What I can tell you is that there is nothing for you to worry about,” the transformation psychology coach said after a deep breath. “We’ve found little evidence to form any conclusions. If anything, it is still very likely Stephen ran away. We can only hope that he will miss his friends and come back soon.”
“What friends?” Smoke snorted. “That kid was a freak.”
“Have you looked in the mirror much?” Raven said in a dark voice. Her eyes cut right through Smoke, and he shut his mouth. Then Raven looked around at the others. “We’re all freaks.”
With that, she stood up and left the room.
There was a long stretch of quiet before anyone dared to talk.
The final changeling to participate was Tejan Chandra, who came from the ruling class in Bengal. He was intensely brilliant, with a hawkish nose and a playful smile, and his English was absolutely flawless. Every vowel. Every syllable. It was so perfect that Ernie had the sense Tejan hadn’t so much learned the language, as he had downloaded an Engli
sh translation program into his head.
“…and I daresay it was a bit of a tricky situation for my family,” Tejan concluded. “Me, being a changeling with the ability to cause others to forget. My parents would constantly misplace me, or worse, forget that I was their son. That changed once I enrolled at Carthage Academy, of course. They trained me to control my abilities. In fact, I can even reverse the memory loss in others. It really is a gift, just as Ernest Tweeny believes so passionately. We were given this power to help others. I, for one, am looking forward to a wonderful future.”
“A future where the teachers keep us incarcerated like convicts?” Smoke mocked. “If you think there’s a happy ending for any of us, you’re deluding yourself. Have you ever seen an adult changeling?”
No one answered.
“It’s because we all die young. That’s what Sendak Hall is… a place where kids like us go to die.”
PART TWO
THE CLOCKWORK CONNECTION
24
CAUGHT IN THE SPIDER’S WEB
The Spider’s Web was the only comic-book store in Avalon, Minnesota. After the Shoppe of Antiquities closed, it also became the local place where the Grey Griffins could buy Round Table cards. With Iron Bridge finally opening its doors, there was a whole new crop of customers waiting to buy Round Table expansion packs and custom knucklebones. The owner, Montifer McGuiness, had never been busier.
Like Olaf Iverson, Monti was more than a simple shop proprietor. He was also part of the secret Templar society. Though Max and the Grey Griffins knew Monti’s role had something to do with technology, they weren’t exactly clear on his specific function.
Many of the Templar who lived among the civilian population had covers to hid their true identities. Since Monti had been a fan of comic books as long as he could remember, he decided to open his own shop. His personal favorites were the classics—Golden and Silver Age superhero comics. Behind his cash register hung an original Fantastic Four page drawn by Jack Kirby.
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