Yi fell back. He was fighting against the sand, but it was sucking him under. Ernie knelt on a stone, which wasn't a stone at all. As it rose out of the ground, like all the others, he saw that the stones were actually the tops of pillars that stood over twenty feet tall.

As Ernie reached for Yi, he had to pull his hand back. Yi's entire body had erupted into fire. The more frightened he got, the higher the flames grew, and the sand around Yi started turning into glass.

Sprig morphed into a winged monkey with bright blue fur. Nearby, Max had latched onto one of the stone pillars. He was hanging over the pit of falling sand by his fingertips while Natalia scrambled to the top of a pillar a few feet away.

"Sprig!" Max called out as his fingers slipped. She pinned her wings back before diving. Then, as Max fell, she grabbed his wrists with her monkey hands, but Max was too heavy. Now, instead of Max falling to his death, they both were.

The spriggan morphed into a griffin with fur the color of honey. She beat her wings, fighting against gravity as she tried to fly to safety. It wasn't working, but Sprig strained, her wings pounding as she started to climb. Then she flew to a pillar, where she dropped Max before morphing back into a winged monkey.

Max breathed heavily as he wiped the sweat from his brow. "Thanks," he said, patting Sprig on the head. She jumped in place, clapping her hands, and did a backflip.

Nearby, Yi had managed to scramble across the slick glass to join Ernie on his pillar. Natalia stood alone on another.

"Now what?" she asked.

Ernie turned to Max, his face a mask of confusion.

"It's your call," Max said, trying to reassure him.

There was a grinding sound before the entire room started to shake. Then the pillars started to drop. It was slow at first, but it didn't take long before they picked up speed.

The ground trembled, and Yi fell. He screamed, and Ernie tried to reach for him, but it was too late. Yi was gone. "Somebody do something!" Ernie shouted.

"Go get the box," Max said to his Bounder Faerie. Sprig nodded and took flight. The ceiling started to crumble. Some of the debris was large enough to crush the pillars, which crumbled under the weight.

Sprig zigged and zagged as she flew. Then, just as her fingertips touched the box, there was an explosion of light. The remaining pillars disintegrated into dust, sending Max, Natalia, and Ernie falling into the depths of the pit.

As the temple disappeared and the SIM Chamber came back into focus, Max was on his hands and knees. His breathing was shallow and his eyes wide as Sprig shuddered next to him.

"If I were grading you on effort, I might give you all passing grades," Strange said. "However, effort isn't enough. If this were a real expedition, we'd be attending your funerals tomorrow."

He looked at his pocket watch before shaking his head. "I'd like to run the simulation again, but I'm afraid we don't have time. I'll expect a marked improvement tomorrow."

The next two groups didn't do much better than the first. Catalina's Bounder imp ended up getting trapped in a hunter's snare. He started screeching as he reached for Catalina, who was sobbing. Between the two of them, they attracted some kind of monster that looked like a panther with a serpent's tail.

While the class wound down, Strange massaged his forehead. "We're not as far along as I'd hoped, but there were some promising moments," he said. Then he sighed. "Since we only have a few minutes, I believe Miss Romanov has something that she'd like to discuss. Is that correct?"

Natalia looked over to Brooke and then to Raven before taking a deep breath. "Have you ever heard of Walter Windham?"

"I knew him well," Strange said. "Why do you ask?"

"It's just that, well... I found some old articles that he had written on time travel, and I wanted to know what you thought about it."

Strange frowned. He turned to Raven, who looked away. "You realize he wasn't referring to time travel per se," Strange finally said. "Rather, it involves traveling to an alternate reality."

"Using a Paragon Engine, right?" Natalia asked.

"Yes, that's right."

"Could a Paragon Engine open up a gateway to the Shadowlands?"

"It's certainly an interesting thought," Strange said. "You're referring to Otto Von Strife, of course."

Natalia nodded.

"I can tell you with confidence that Von Strife does not have the components required to build a Paragon Engine, if that's where this is leading," Strange said. "But we fear he may be close. In fact, the business of Paragon Engines is why this class was formed to begin with."

"Do we get to jump through one?" Todd asked.

"I'm afraid not," Strange said. "However, we've been given a mission of utmost importance. For our field test, we will be taking an expedition to find the Schrodinger Box."

Strange paused, looking around the room as he waited for a reaction that didn't come. "Am I to understand that none of you have heard of the Schrodinger Box?"

His question was met with silence.

"Very well." Strange sighed. "The box is a critical component of any device that allows you to travel between worlds. Without it, you would be pulled into a million fragments the moment you stepped through the portal."

"That's wicked," Ross said.

"Yeah," Todd said. "Wicked awesome."

Strange frowned, as though gauging the sincerity of the comment. "From this point forward everything we do in this class will be in preparation to procure that box. If Von Strife finds it before we do, all hope for mankind may be lost."

The bell rang, but the students sat in their seats.

"Well?" Strange said. "What are you just sitting there for?"

"We want you to tell us more about the box," Ross said. "Especially the part where it keeps you from being torn apart."

There was a general murmur of agreement from the other students.

"It will have to wait until tomorrow," Strange said. "Now get going before your parents blame me for keeping you here too long."

SORRY, WE'RE CLOSED A week had passed, and all discussion of Paragon Engines and Otto Von Strife had given way to the excitement of the upcoming Round Table tournament.

Max and the other Griffins had grown up thinking Round Table was just another game. They had no idea that in Templar culture, it was a phenomenon.

Top players were treated like rock stars, which explained-at least in part-why Xander Swift was so popular. Before he transferred to Iron Bridge, he had won the Merlin Cup. That was the trophy given to the best amateur player in the world. At only fourteen years and three months, he had been the youngest person ever to win.

Along with Xander, Max was one of sixteen students left in the school tournament, but there were only eight spots on the varsity team. Harley, who had been eliminated, wanted to get Max a gift for good luck.

"I don't really need a new pair of knucklebones," Max said.

"People don't give you gifts because you need something," Harley said. "Otherwise all you'd get for Christmas is underwear and socks."

"It's your money."

"Exactly, so stop complaining."

As the boys walked down Avalon's Main Street, Sprig skittered across the awnings overhead as a rambunctious raccoon.

Max looked up at the clock tower. "We better hurry," he said. "The Spider's Web is supposed to close in five minutes. Besides, it's freezing out here."

"You live in Minnesota-it's supposed to be cold," Harley said.

In order to reach the Spider's Web, they had to walk past the Shoppe of Antiquities. It was an odd little store that offered everything from antique lamps to knight's armor, but it closed when the proprietor, Olaf Iverson, went missing. Now the windows were boarded up, and there was police tape across the door.

Max could feel his chest tighten as the powerful feeling of loss became unbearable. Iver, as that's what everyone had called him, was more than a simple shop owner. Like Monti, he had also been a part of the secret Templar society. More important, Iver had become a surrogate grandfather to Max and his friends, and there wasn't a day when Max didn't think about him.

Iver had been the one who'd introduced the Grey Griffins to Round Table. All the while, he was teaching them how to protect themselves against goblins, werewolves, and trolls without any of them realizing it.

"I was wondering," Harley said. "Maybe we should go back in there. You know, to see if we can find what that clockwork was looking for."

Before the winter break, Max and Harley had ventured into the Shoppe of Antiquities, hoping to find clues that would tell them Iver was still alive. After all, there were strange circumstances surrounding his death. Most notably, that Max's father supposedly killed Iver, and the body was never found.

Once inside the store, the boys had found a clockwork rummaging through Iver's belongings. They chased it off, but the commotion attracted the sheriff, and they had to leave before they became suspects. Neither one had been back since.

"Not tonight," Max said.

Harley looked at him. Then he patted Max on the back. "Yeah, maybe another time."

When the boys reached the comic shop, Ken was already locking the front door. Monti had hired him to help out until things slowed down in the workshop, but it was starting to look permanent, which Max found depressing.

The store wasn't the same without Monti. Ken was the kind of employee who liked to show up late, and he wasn't afraid to leave early.

He usually sat behind the counter reading comic books or surfing the Internet, and when someone had a question, all Ken would do was grunt. Business had suffered, but Monti couldn't find it in his heart to fire Ken. After all, Ken had been out of work for three months before Monti hired him. Max was starting to see why Ken couldn't get a job.

Harley grabbed the handle just as the bolt clicked. He jiggled the door a few times, but Ken simply pointed at his wristwatch. "Sorry, we're closed."

"Come on," Harley said. "All I need is a pair of knucklebones."

Ken brushed a long strand of black hair out of his face and scratched his straggly beard. "Come back tomorrow. We open at ten."

"I can't. We have school."

"That's not my problem." With that, Ken flipped off the lights before disappearing into the back of the shop.

"What a jerk," Harley said as he leaned against the door with his arms crossed.

Max was about to suggest that they head over to the arcade to wait for their ride when he saw someone with a cane limping down the sidewalk. "Is that Monti?"

"Where?"

"What are you troublemakers up to?" Monti asked when he saw the boys standing under the awning of his comic shop.

"Aren't you supposed to be resting?" Harley asked.

"I was craving Leonardo's bow tie pasta with the garlic cream sauce," Monti said, holding up the white paper bag in his hand. When he saw that the lights were off inside the store, he frowned. "Have you seen Ken?"

"Yeah, he slammed the door in my face before he went home," Harley said.

Monti raised his eyebrows.

"It wasn't that bad," Max said, "but he did close a few minutes early."

"Were you going to pick up your subscriptions?"

"No, we got those on Wednesday," Harley said. "The Round Table qualifying tournament starts back up tomorrow, and I wanted to grab a new pair of knucklebones for Max. I was even thinking about getting some for Ernie, but I'm not sure. He's still acting like a jerk."

"You're a good man, Harley," Monti said before turning to Max. "So who are you going to be dueling against?"

"Catalina Mendez."

Monti narrowed his eyes as he tried to put a face with the name.

"She's the one with the Digger imp."

"Ah, yes," Monti said. "The last time she was in the store, her Bounder had... well, let's call it an accident."

"What kind of accident?" Harley asked.

"It wouldn't have been so bad if it hadn't come out of both ends," Monti said. "I replaced the carpet, but on a hot day, I can still smell it."

"I wonder how Catalina got stuck with that thing," Harley said.

"She's never talked about it," Max said.

"Speaking of Bounders, where's yours?" Monti asked.

A cat screeched as they heard a trash can being tipped over. Its lid clanked on the ground, followed by the sound of glass breaking. Then something howled.

"I'd say she's torturing the strays that live in the alley."

"Let's get inside," Monti said. He placed his cane between his knees so he had a free hand to fish for his keys. As Monti pulled out a thick ring, he started to cough.

"I hate traditional keys. They're so last century," he said as he fumbled to find the right one. "Come on in."

"Are you sure?" Max asked as Monti flipped on the lights.

"Of course," Monti said. "I'd love the company."

The Spider's Web wasn't a big store, but it still held over 250,000 comic books, not to mention vintage toys and action figures and an impressive collection of Round Table trading cards that he kept in the glass case next to the cash register.

"Is it just me, or does it smell like a dog in here?" Monti asked. He set his food on the counter before he had another coughing fit.

"No, it definitely smells like a dog," Max said. "I think Ken's German shepherd has a gas problem. Why do you let him bring that thing in here?"

"I don't know," Monti said as he knelt down to check what was left in the minifridge behind the counter. He took out three bottles of root beer and set them on the display case. "Well, then," he said. "Did you have some knucklebones in mind?"