Following Minerva proved difficult. She was almost too weak to walk. Indira roped one arm around the woman and they made their way together. Minerva directed them to an abandoned barn at the southeastern end of the valley. There were massive gaps in the siding, and the paint was peeling from every surface. Minerva led them up to the front door—which barely hung on its hinges—and knocked a distinct pattern.

Her touch rippled along the very fabric of the building. Indira stared as the wooden panels warped and twisted. The entire building shrank down, kicking up great puffs of dust, and reshaped itself into a polished wooden desk. Minerva sat down in the lone chair that appeared. Indira thought it was an odd sight, an office desk like this out in the middle of a cow pasture.

Minerva picked up a phone and dialed. She tapped a button to switch the setting to speaker, and all of them listened as the call went through. There was a brief click, then the sound of someone rummaging in the faraway background, followed by an incredibly bored voice.

“This is the Editor Hotline. How may I direct your call?”

Minerva spoke. “Hi. I’m out here with the Hero’s Journey tutorial in the southern province located in Plot. Identification number is 91719. We’re encountering some outside interference from an individual known to us as Joey. He is not assigned to our scenario. We are requesting assistance. The unwelcome party has taken over the starting town.”

There was a loud thump. Indira thought she heard a trace of excitement in the voice now.

“I’m sorry, but did you say someone took over the starting town?”

“Yes,” Minerva answered. “Our scenario does have a climactic scene involving the starting town, but this individual is from outside the scenario. I repeat: we require assistance.”

The person on the other end of the line squealed. “That’s a Plot Twist violation! This is seriously the best thing that’s happened all day. What is your location?”

Minerva frowned at the idea that this could be the best part of anyone’s day.

“Sorry, but is there a supervisor we could talk to?”

“I mean, sure, if you want some big shot to put your request on a stack of other files they might not get to right away,” the voice answered. “But if you want results, you’re talking to the right girl. Coordinates, please.”

Minerva sighed. “We’re just to the east of Ordinary.”

Their assisting Editor couldn’t keep the excitement out of her voice now.

“And that’s the town in question?”

“Yes,” Minerva answered. “He’s taken it captive.”

Indira couldn’t help thinking there was something familiar about the conversation. There was the slightest touch of déjà vu about it. “I’m scanning your area now,” the voice said. “And…”

There was another loud squeal of delight. Indira startled. She knew that noise.

“I’m seeing some serious fluctuations,” the voice said giddily. “The first spike was recorded two days ago, with steady growth since then. Definitely an imminent threat. This is so legit….”

Indira couldn’t stay quiet. She knew the voice, the mannerisms, everything.

“Maxi?”

There was a brief pause. “Sorry? What was that? I don’t think I ever identified myself—”

“Maxi? Is that you?!”

There was another explosive squeal. “Indira? What in the worlds? Are you—oh! You got assigned to a tutorial. You were telling me about it before you left! Is Phoenix there too?”

He sighed. “Hi, Maxi.”

Maxi burst into laughter. “Best. Day. Ever!”

“Um, excuse me,” Minerva cut back in. “You used the phrase imminent threat. As in we’re all in danger. Right now. Is that correct?”

Indira could imagine Maxi with a headset on, one eyebrow raised.

“Imminent threat,” she repeated. “Right. I’ll report this straight to the higher-ups. Could you do me a favor and describe what’s happened so far? I’ll need everything documented.”

The group patiently filled Maxi in on the last few days. Minerva—who’d only seen a brief glimpse of Joey—was shocked as Indira recounted their own introduction. When she added her educated guess that Joey was a rogue Author, her pretend mother shook her head in disbelief.

Maxi finished her notes before replying. “Got it,” she said. “Hmm. Now, we might have a teensy problem. Let me look something up right quick. It’ll be just a second.” Indira heard her rummaging through her desk space. “This department still hasn’t heard of databases, apparently. So I’ve gotta search through this massive law book with its dusty pages. The worst.”

Phoenix and Indira exchanged a glance, half smiling. She hadn’t realized how much she’d missed Maxi.

“Okay,” Maxi said, thinking out loud. “So we want to look at intervention policies. Hmm. This falls under the category of in-world heroes. And here we go….” Maxi made a thoughtful noise, and Indira could almost see her tracing a finger down the length of the page. “Ah. I hate when I’m right. So here’s the sitch, Indira. You are known as an in-world hero. That means you’re not just a protagonist in a story. You’ve actually taken on heroic status here, in the world of Imagination.”

Indira’s cheeks went bright red. She avoided the stares she was getting from the others.

“Sure, so what?”

“So that changes the rules,” Maxi replied. “Do you remember last year?”

Indira almost laughed. “Do I remember last year? Maxi. We were involved in a dark plot that almost destroyed the entire city of Fable. Of course I remember last year!”

“Sass!” Maxi exclaimed. “I love you with a little bit of attitude. Keep that going, girl! But that’s not what I meant. Last year, we called the Editors, right? Remember they gave us a full day to figure it out ourselves? That protocol is built into the way Imagination works. The whole goal is to give characters a chance to learn how to be heroes, blah blah blah….”

Indira nodded. “Got it. So we just have to survive for one day. That shouldn’t be a problem. We’ll do what we can to contain Joey until you get here. Is that all?”

“See, that’s the thing,” Maxi answered. “It’s a week now. You have to survive for a week.”

Indira’s mouth opened, but no words formed. Her brain felt scrambled. An entire week? That didn’t make any sense. The others were looking nervously between her and the phone.

“Hello?” Maxi asked. “You still there? These hotline phones are the worst….”

Minerva jumped in. “Still here. Sorry. I think we’re all a little shocked. Why would it take the Editors a week to get here? I thought you just said the rule was one day.”

“That’s the catch,” Maxi said. “It’s a one-day protocol for first-time heroes. Indira’s already done this before. That extends the policy to seven days. She’s proven herself, or whatever, so the world of Imagination trusts her enough to give her even more time to solve things this round.”

Indira finally found her voice. “Seven days is forever, Maxi. This is a serious situation. We’ve got an Author wreaking havoc. He already destroyed a crucial part of the Hero’s Journey. Characters are literally being pulled out of their Story Houses. There has to be some way to get around the policy.”

“Girl, I got you,” Maxi replied. “I’m going to fast-track all the paperwork. And we’ll keep an open line of communication. But for right now? That’s our policy. I’ve been with the Editors for a few months now. It’s all rules all the times, girl. Trust me. They’re not going to override their precious policies, but there are a few ways I can help.”

Indira sagged until she was leaning fully against the desk to stay upright. This was unthinkable. Joey was out there ruining Plot. He’d already disrupted one of the most famous story styles in history. If he did more damage now, it would all be her fault.

Seven full days.

How bad could things get before the Editors showed up?

“First, I’m going to run a comprehensive check,” Maxi was saying. “I’ll search the database for Authors named Joey, narrow it down with his general age, narrow that down with kids who play lacrosse, and then with kids who are number twenty-three. If you can get any more specifics, that’d be great. For now, I’ll work with that and get as much dirt on him as possible.”

Maxi took a deep breath before forging on.

“While I do that, you can do some reconnaissance. I’m going to need an exact location, a report of what he’s been doing, and a report on current damage levels. Oh, and Indira, I know you. You’re going to want to take this guy head-on, but it makes the most sense to combine what we all find out and then form a plan of attack. Got it?”

Indira felt the slightest annoyance at how right Maxi was. She had definitely been planning on rushing into battle at the first chance. She took a deep breath. It was a good reminder of why Underglass had assigned her this tutorial in the first place. Learning to trust her team. She looked around at her crew before nodding.

“Got it,” she replied. “We’ll start our investigation.”

“This is so fun,” Maxi squealed. “I’ve been dealing with boring stuff all day.”

Phoenix shook his head. “The world of Imagination is in danger, Maxi.”

“It is! And here we are to save it again. No big deal. Go, us.”

He couldn’t help grinning at Indira. Clearly they’d both missed Maxi.

Minerva—the only adult in the group—did her best to follow up on details and logistics. Maxi gave her the number for her direct line, assured their group that the case would be given a high-priority status, and even put in some requests for extra resources.

“We can’t intervene,” Maxi was saying. “But I’ll see if some of the other organizations in Fable can send anything helpful your way. It might take me some time, though.”

“Thanks, Maxi,” Indira said. “We’re going to get to work over here.”

There was an excited hoot and then the phone went dead. Indira smiled. It was classic Maxi. Indira knew from experience that her friend would do everything in her power. But an uncomfortable feeling still sat in Indira’s gut. Even with Maxi’s help, seven days was a long time. It would be hard to contain someone as powerful as Joey for that long.

If only there were some way to distract him….

“Minerva.” Phoenix’s voice interrupted her thoughts. “What can you tell us about Ordinary? Are there any secret ways into the town?”

Indira’s fake mother offered a smile. “I’ve been running this tutorial for years. I know every inch of Ordinary, including what’s beneath it. How do you think I got out?”

The rest of the crew grinned back.

It was time for some spying.