The Paragon Prison, page 4
Max had been especially excited to see one particular guest: the Griffins’ mentor and adopted grandfather, Olaf Iverson. In their world, Iver had been killed by Max’s father. In this world, however, he was still very much alive. Unfortunately, he couldn’t make it to the party.
“He’s on some sort of Templar mission,” Natalia whispered to Max after an hour of plying her new girlfriends for information. She seemed to have a core of three or four best friends and at least a dozen admirers. “No one knows when Iver will be back. But he still runs the Shoppe of Antiquities, and he’s still our mentor—I think. The Baron never was…” Before she could finish, a crush of boys swarmed them, patting their backs and hooting and howling. Ross and Todd Toad were there, grinning like gophers, along with Kenji Sato, a friend from Max’s Bounder Care class. All around, some even flying overhead, were the changelings: Denton the lion boy, Yi Lu the fire elemental, Laini the pink-haired pixie girl, and many others. Then Max caught sight of some of the changelings who had been kidnapped by Von Strife, including Hale and Becca. Max felt chills when he shook their hands. He wanted to be happy. And on the surface, he was. He’d missed them, and their captures had horrified the Griffins. But these weren’t the same kids Max had known. They might have looked the same, but they were nothing more than copies. Then again, maybe Max’s world was the copy, and this was the real one.
Ernie, however, was an unstoppable hand-shaking machine. He’d missed his friends. Some of these kids had been members of his superhero team, the Agents of Justice. Of course, they didn’t know anything about the team and its failed mission to take down Von Strife’s forces, but Ernie was just happy to see them, especially those who had gone missing. He felt like his family was back from the dead.
“Whoa, take it easy with the hugs,” complained Hale, pushing Ernie away. “I’m glad to see you, but let’s not get carried away.”
Everyone was dressed in the industrial Victorian way that the Griffins had become used to at Iron Bridge. It wasn’t just the students, though. The men from Avalon wore top hats and monocles as they escorted ladies dressed in velvet corsets with elegant cameo jewelry. There were handlebar mustaches, brassy bits of gadgetry on belts, and leather—lots of leather.
“Man, what a party, Maxie,” said Todd Toad, adjusting his polarized goggles as he stood next to his fluffy-haired brother. Todd pulled on his suspenders proudly. “Totally awesome. Great food, too. Glad to have you back. How about you? Feeling the rush? Of course you are. Bet you miss Round Table, because Round Table misses you. Did you kill any cool monsters—maybe a Bull Troll or a sixty-foot squid? Knew you would. Knew you would, killer. Didn’t I tell you he’s a killer, Ross?” Ross Toad bobbed his head in agreement. “Maxie is the man! The man! Back from the dead. You don’t look dead. Are you sure you were? Hey, is that chocolate pudding over there? Excuse me.” The Toads headed quickly to the buffet. Max watched them go with a breathless smile. At least the Toad brothers hadn’t changed.
“So what was it like being trapped inside a portal for so long?” asked Denton. While Agent Thunderbolt’s superpower didn’t make him look any different, Denton was known as the lion boy, with his sharp teeth, swishing tail, and manelike hair, which was gelled into a great pompadour.
Ernie crossed his arms smugly. “Dude. A portal? That’s so last year. I’m talking the king of all portals. A Paragon En—hey!”
Harley cut Ernie off by putting him in a headlock. “Hey, Denton! How’s the mane?” Ernie talked way too much.
Denton grinned and slicked back his hair. “It’s hard to be this handsome. But you know how it is. Hey, have you seen Raven yet?”
Ernie squirmed out of Harley’s hold and zoomed to the other side of Denton. “Raven’s coming?”
“Of course. But I got to tell you. She was pretty messed up about you.”
“Messed up? About me?”
Denton grinned. “You’re such a clown, Thunderbolt. Messing with Harley like that…”
“Harley?”
Denton put his paw on Harley’s shoulder. “Raven hasn’t been the same since you disappeared.” His face grew serious. “Have you seen her yet? No? Well, you better get on that. She was pretty torn up about you dying and stuff.”
“What? Harley?” Ernie nearly fell over. What was wrong with this world? He was the one who liked Raven, not Harley!
Meanwhile, Harley choked on the news. A girlfriend hadn’t exactly been part of his plan. Especially not one whom Ernie had had his eye on. He watched his friend sulk back toward the buffet. There’d be a very uncomfortable conversation later.
Max saw his father approaching with a broad smile. “Hey, Max. Your grandma just arrived. And you-know-who is with her.”
“Hannah?”
“Your sister is dying to see you, Max.”
“Max!” called Grandma Caliburn as he arrived at the front door. She was dressed in all black, from her high-buttoned shoes to her broad-brimmed hat. She grabbed him in a tight embrace. “I knew you’d be back. You’re too much like your grandfather to let anything like this stop you.” If she was crying, Max couldn’t tell. She was the sort of person who cried only when no one was around.
“Now, Max, there is someone who has been waiting to say hello to you….” She slowly let him go and stepped aside to reveal a young girl, in spiraling curls, wringing her hands and squirming in her shoes. His sister, Hannah.
Max knelt down. He smiled gently as he reached out to her. “Hey, there. Thanks for coming to see me.”
She looked at him closely and then stepped back, horrified. Her eyes began to water. “You’re not my brother!” she cried, and ran into the kitchen. Max felt like he’d been kicked in the gut.
“Give her some time, Max,” his grandmother said soothingly. “She’s been through a lot.”
First Logan. Now his sister. Who else knew Max was a fraud?
When the party ended, the four Griffins sat on the back patio under the stars. It had been an exhausting day. So far, no earth-shattering mistakes had been made.
“You should have seen the way Hannah looked at me,” Max said.
“I wish my sister was afraid of me,” replied Natalia tersely. “Kat’s even more annoying than before. While she thought I was dead, she took almost all my stuff. My unicorn collection! And I found one of my diaries in her room this morning! I am so going to kill her.”
“You mean the other’s Natalia’s diary?” asked Max.
“What’s the difference? Private is private.”
“Anything interesting in the diary?” asked Harley.
“I’m a detective, not a snoop. What kind of creep reads another person’s diary? Honestly. Even if she is me and I’m her. I can’t believe you’d even think that.” Natalia paused. A guilty blush rose in her cheeks. She cleared her throat and moved on to another topic. “So, Ernie, how different is your house?”
“Same house. Which is good. But not so good for the neighbors. Apparently the other Ernie was running some laps around the house when he accidentally created a tornado. There’s not much left of the block except a couple of trees. No one seems to want to move back.”
“Go figure. So how about your changeling buddies? What did you think when you saw Hale and the others? Make you want to put the Agents of Justice back together?”
Ernie sighed, recalling the superhero changeling team with mixed emotions. He missed the team, but he didn’t miss the arguing and stupid decisions that had nearly gotten all of them killed. “And make a mess of things again? Maybe I’m not cut out for leading a superhero team. I don’t know. But even if I did, what’s the use? Who would we fight if Von Strife is a good guy these days?”
“You could start with bad breath,” said Harley. Ernie rolled his eyes.
Natalia turned to Harley. “And what about you? How’s the new dad? I heard you don’t live in a trailer anymore.”
Harley shrugged. “I hate the house. Too clean. I’m constantly afraid of breaking something. Man, Max, how do you do it?” Instead of a dented trailer near the swamp, the Eisensteins’ home was now a glass-and-steel, zero-energy marvel on the top of a hill. Harley’s father, Henry Eisenstein, had designed some of the most famous houses in the world. Mostly for the Templar rich and famous.
“Well, at least you know where you got your brains.”
“Maybe. I don’t really talk to Henry, or Candi. It’s too creepy.”
“Creepy? But you’ve always wanted to know who your dad was.”
“He isn’t my dad,” Harley snapped. “And the people you’re living with aren’t your parents. Wake up! We’re trapped in some creepy mirror world. We don’t belong. Don’t you get it?”
“Geez, fine.” Natalia shook her head. “Be that way. But I say, if we’re stuck here, we might as well enjoy ourselves. Speaking of enjoying ourselves… when were you going to tell me about Raven? I didn’t know you liked her.”
“What?” Harley snorted. “Come on.”
“I wonder why she didn’t show. I mean, if you guys are such an item.”
“We are not an item,” Harley said. “Anyway, knowing her, she’ll probably pop out of thin air and scare the bejesus out of us. She’s a lurker.”
“What are you saying?” said Ernie.
“She lurks. She just hides in the shadows and eavesdrops. Then she appears and drops a bomb on everyone, walking off like she’s Queen High and Mighty. Come on. You know it’s true.”
“We need to be careful, though,” said Natalia. “If Max’s sister knows Max isn’t the real Max, then there are others out there who probably can figure it out, too. Like that yellow-eyed thing following Max. The one Sprig warned him about. Do you think it’s some sort of faerie assassin?”
Max’s shoulders slumped. He’d been hunted by assassins before. If Yellow Eyes was an assassin, Sprig was in over her head. And Max was in deep trouble.
“Maybe it works for Von Strife,” said Harley. “I mean, he has to know the truth about us, right?”
“The question is,” said Max, “is he the Von Strife from our world, or from this one?”
Natalia pulled out her Book of Clues and flipped through the pages thoughtfully. “It’s a good question. But maybe it doesn’t matter. I’ve been thinking. Von Strife’s evilness was always about doing whatever it took to save his daughter’s life. But if she’s alive in this world, then maybe he’s not so evil anymore.”
“She’s alive?” asked Ernie.
“According to the school computers, she’s a student at Iron Bridge.”
Max turned at the sound of a thud and a flutter of wings. “What was that?”
“Just a crow,” Harley replied, picking up a stone and taking aim. “He keeps coming back, though. Or maybe there’s more than one.”
Max hated crows, ever since a flock of them attacked the school last year and nearly tore everything and everyone apart. Freakish things with beady eyes. “Let’s be more careful about what we say and where we say it—you never know who’s listening.”
“Yeah,” replied Ernie. “Like Harley’s lurking girlfriend.”
“Keep it up, Agent Thunderbutt,” warned Harley hotly. “I’m going to say this once. Loud and clear. Raven is a weirdo. She’s a freak. I wouldn’t be caught dead with her.”
As the Griffins went back into the house and turned off the lights outside, the figure of a girl emerged from the bushes. Her dark hair shone silver in the moonlight, and black mascara ran down her face. She sniffed, wiped away a tear, and glared so violently at the Sumner mansion that it might have burst into flames. She stalked away, her black nails pressing sharply into her closed fists.
BACK TO SCHOOL
On Monday morning, ready for school, the Griffins boarded the Zephyr, an enchanted underwater subway. Like the bridge Max had seen earlier, the Zephyr connected Avalon with New Victoria island. But no kid in his right mind would take the bridge. Hungry dragons above and slithering tentacles from the deep weren’t ideal conditions for walking to school.
Besides, unlike the dilapidated train they’d known in their world, this Zephyr was a work of art. Leaded glass windows were etched with flowers. Brass poles gleamed. The leather seats smelled terrific. There were even bookshelves lined with volumes of poetry, Templar history, and MERLIN Tech. All that was missing from the Zephyr’s Victorian finery was a marble fireplace.
Natalia fit right in with the dated style in her tan cargo pants, high buckle boots, canvas corset, and red leather trench coat. “The other Natalia happens to be just my size,” she said with a smile. “I’d say that’s just a little bit of fabulous.”
Natalia regarded the Zephyr’s posh interior with a hopeful smile. So far, the moody machine hadn’t paid her any attention, and that suited her just fine. Back in their world, Natalia and the Zephyr were mortal enemies. Their animosity had been Natalia’s fault, and she’d tried to make up with it. But the Zephyr wasn’t interested in apologies. Instead, it toyed with her. Doing nothing for weeks at a time, then suddenly dumping a bucket of rotten fish heads onto her lap.
Max glanced out the window as the Zephyr passed beneath the shimmering green waters of Lake Avalon. The Templar’s use of MERLIN Tech—a way of hot-wiring machinery with faerie magic—made the impossible possible: hidden cities, flying cars, talking clockworks, and even this train. At the moment, the Zephyr was whizzing along a completely transparent underwater tunnel, which kept the ride dry and sea-monster-free. As for the lake itself, it wasn’t exactly a swimmer’s paradise. In those fathomless depths lurked creatures of such terrifying vastness that any ship less than a hundred feet long was considered bait.
Safe and dry inside, the Griffins were planning out their day when the Toad brothers burst into their car.
“Wow, your folks sure know how to throw a party, Max!” Todd said as he patted his belly, his two rabbit teeth gleaming as he stared at them with an expectant smile. His polarized goggles still hadn’t shifted from dark to light yet, and he was wearing a Round Table jersey. Max spotted his own name on it.
SUMNER CHEATS DEATH
“Nice shirt,” Natalia said.
“Good eye, good eye. The detective hath returned! Everyone’s gonna be wearing them today. Not a detective. A shirt. These shirts. Well, not everyone. All the Round Table players. Ross designed them. You like it? Out of respect to the Maxter. The man is back. The fox is in the henhouse. The shark is in the water. A giant is in the… oh, you know what I mean. Right? Of course you do, Maxie. Not like the other card jocks. There’s no duelist like you. Man, we missed you. Round Table hasn’t been the same. Am I right or am I right?” He punched his brother in the arm enthusiastically. “Man, coming back from the dead? How many people have done that? You guys are legend, and you’re not even in high school yet.”
“Totally legend!” echoed Ross Toad. His bushy hair was extra fluffy today. As he launched into a dizzying gush of admiration, he and his brother abruptly disappeared in a swirl of mist. A moment later, they were replaced by Aidan Thorne, aka Smoke, a teleporter and a primo jerk back in the Griffins’ world.
Smoke folded his arms, his eyes scanning the Griffins from under a set of amber-lensed goggles. “Welcome back.” His voice dripped with sarcasm as he swept his trench coat out of the way and plopped down beside them. “Sorry I couldn’t make it to your big party. You guys really pulled it off. Hey, did I tell you that you look pretty good for being corpses?”
“You’re such a ray of sunshine,” said Natalia with a frown. “I don’t suppose you’d mind telling us what you did with Todd and Ross.”
“They’re at school. In a Dumpster with the other garbage.”
Agent Thunderbolt quietly watched the changeling. Ernie had had more than his fair share of bullying before he discovered his superpowers. But here was a bully who could teleport his victim over the side of a cliff. Ernie wondered about his newly enhanced super speed. Would he finally be a match for Smoke?
“What do you want?” Max growled.
“Stop playing stupid. I want to know what your game is.” The blond thirteen-year-old took off his goggles and began to clean an oil smear on a lens. “So what’s your angle? Playing it low-key? Expect me to just play along? You can forget it.”
“We have no idea what you are talking about,” Natalia responded. “Please leave.”
Smoke’s glaring eyes fell on Max. His devilish smile gleamed. “So, I bet you’re glad to be back. Thinking about looking up anyone in particular? Maybe Brooke? Then again, maybe not. She’d see through this lie of yours in a second. Face it, Sumner, she’s too good for you.”
Max’s mouth slammed shut. Harley moved toward Smoke. “Natalia asked you to bug out. You gonna vamoose or is this gonna get ugly?”
Smoke smirked, thumbing toward Natalia. “Your new girlfriend, Eisenstein? When Raven finds out, you’re dead.” As Harley lunged for the boy, Smoke disappeared with a laugh.
“Geez, I hate that kid,” Natalia said, seething.
“Do you think he knows something?” asked Ernie. “Man, why does this place have to have a Smoke? Wasn’t one enough?”
“Relax,” said Harley, sitting down next to Max, who was distracted. “Smoke might be playing us. He’s a liar. It’s what he does best.”
“That doesn’t make him any less dangerous,” said Natalia. “The last thing we needed on our first day of school is an enemy.” She paused thoughtfully. “Then again, this might just be the lead we’ve been looking for. There’s no one I can think of who would want to see the Griffins disappear more than Smoke. Griffins, we may have our first suspect!”
As they ascended the wood and leather escalator from the subway platform, the high gates of Iron Bridge loomed before them. The school was identical to the Griffins’ Iron Bridge. However, this one hadn’t been blown up by Von Strife a century ago. The arched windows, flying buttresses, marble halls, pedestals with illustrious busts—those were all the same, except they were the originals, rather than restorations. To Max, it was like looking back in time—to a time he never knew. In this world, Iron Bridge, not Stirling Academy, was the big cheese among the Templar schools. And it liked to show off with hallways packed with trophy cases, ribbons, championship rings, and pictures of past stars.
