" 'Vigilante Crime Fighters Strike Again,' " Max read aloud.

"So?" Harley asked before he yawned.

"Keep reading," Natalia said.

Max sighed. He wasn't in the mood to read the newspaper, but he didn't feel like arguing.

A masked vigilante group calling itself the Agents of Justice continues its fight against alleged members of a human-trafficking cartel. This marks the third time in less than two weeks that suspected kidnappers have been found tied to gas lamps in an area that locals refer to as Bludgeon Town.

There are some who believe these vigilantes are students from the changeling program at Iron Bridge Academy lashing out in response to the disappearance of two classmates, Becca Paulson and Robert Hernandez, both presumed dead.

"It's preposterous," Connie Nipkin, dean of the changeling program at Iron Bridge Academy, said. "The changelings are carefully monitored for their own safety, and I can assure you that none of our students have been wandering around the streets alone."

When Max finished reading, he folded the paper, handed it to Natalia, and then sat back against the bench.

"There's no way Ernie could pull off something like that," Harley said. "I mean, come on. We're talking about the same kid who refuses to water-ski because he thinks a giant snapping turtle is going to swallow him."

"Who else would dress up in a costume to fight crime?" Natalia asked.

"Look, I know that's Ernie's fantasy," Harley said, "but I'm telling you, there is no way he's wandering around New Victoria looking for a fight. Did you see the picture of the guy they caught? He had a tattoo on his neck, and it looked like he could bench-press a car."

"I'm more worried about Smoke," Natalia said. "What's going to happen when Ernie bumps into him?"

"Yeah, well, Smoke is definitely looking for him," Harley said.

Natalia frowned.

"Monti and I saw him in New Victoria last night. He wanted us to give Ernie a message."

"What?"

"I'm not sure," Harley said. "I told him to bug off."

Natalia bit her lower lip. "What are we going to do?"

"I wouldn't worry too much," Max said. "Ernie's fast enough that he should be able to get away from just about anything."

"Not if he's asleep," Natalia said.

"The Templar placed nullifiers around his house," Max said. "Smoke can't get in or out-at least not when he's using his power. He'll have to walk in like everyone else, and since it's under twenty-four-hour surveillance, I doubt he'll show up anytime soon."

"All it takes is one mistake, and we could lose him forever," Natalia said.

Max sighed. "Why didn't he come to us?"

Before anyone could answer, the students heard the brakes screech. The passenger car lurched, and sparks flew outside the window as the lights flickered overhead. Moments later the Zephyr came to a stop.

Ross fell from his seat and tumbled down the aisle. The flap of his backpack flew open, spilling the contents across the floor of the subway car.

"What are these?" Natalia asked, reaching down to pick up a mask and a black driving cap from under a stack of comic books.

Ross regained his balance and snatched the mask out of Natalia's hand. "Those are expensive collectibles, thank you very much."

"You don't even want to know how much they cost," Todd said.

"Try me."

"Never mind," Ross said, placing them back in his bag.

"If they're so expensive, what are you doing carrying them around in your backpack?" Harley asked.

Ross looked like he'd just gotten caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

"Are you two part of that Agents for Justice nonsense?" Natalia asked.

Ross looked to Todd for help, but Todd was watching the commotion outside.

"This isn't good," Todd said over the murmurs of the other students. His head was craned out the open window.

"What?" Natalia asked, forgetting about the mask and the hat.

"I heard the conductor talking about shield failure this morning."

"What?"

"Here's the deal," Todd said. "To move between dimensions, you need a powerful shield, or you get pulled apart like quantum spaghetti."

"That's disgusting," Natalia said.

Max could see small clockworks on wheels through his window. They were heading toward the engine as the tunnel echoed with the sound of air wrenches, welding torches, and clanging metal.

"Assembler bots," Todd said.

"Technically they're Assembler clockworks," Ross said.

"You're right," Todd said. "If they were robots, they'd have wires and silicon chips."

"Let's just hope they can get that shield repaired," Ross said.

"Wait," Natalia said. "They're going to test it first, right?"

"That's a good one," Ross said.

"Then how are they going to know if the shield is working?"

Lightning raced along the underside of the subway train before slamming into one of the clockworks. With a yelp, it flew backward.

The Zephyr flared back to life.

"It looks like we're about to find out," Ross said.

THE MASK.

"You can open your eyes now," Harley said once the Zephyr crossed safely into the Land of Mist. "The shield held."

Natalia lowered her hands and blinked. When she looked out the window, she saw that they were speeding through a glass tunnel beneath the enchanted waters of Lake Avalon. Exotic fish swam through a kelp forest as iridescent crabs the size of small cars crept along the bottom.

"Look at that," Ross said. He was pointing out the window as a shadowy form approached the Zephyr.

"What is it?" Natalia asked with a wrinkled nose.

"I have no idea," Ross said.

The creature looked like a science experiment gone wrong. Its head and torso were vaguely human, with spikes protruding from its shoulders and back. However, from its waist down it was a fish.

"We really need to start carrying a camera," Todd said.

"I saw one that I liked at Mad Meriwether's," Ross said. "Maybe we can stop by after school and pick it up."

"Don't forget, we have that" Ross stopped and looked at Natalia out of the corner of his eye. Then he lowered his voice to a whisper. "You know, the m-e-e-t-i-n-g."

Natalia rolled her eyes.

The Toad brothers settled back into their bench, content to listen to music as the Zephyr trundled along its path. Meanwhile, Max shuffled through a stack of his new Round Table cards, trying to memorize the strengths and weaknesses of each clockwork so he'd be ready when Logan quizzed him.

Soon, the Zephyr pulled up to the subway stop at Iron Bridge Academy. There was a cloud of steam. The doors slid open, and the students filed onto the platform. Chatter echoed off the brick walls as everyone got in line to take the escalator up to the campus.

Max still wasn't used to the clothing of the Templar society. Like Harley, he stuck with blue jeans while the rest of the boys dressed in waistcoats and vests, with bow ties, ascots, derbies, and sporting caps. Frock coats were common, as were pocket watches and canes. None of it looked very comfortable as far as Max was concerned.

Natalia, however, loved the fashion. She wore an army green military cap with a high-collared shirt, a matching vest and hose, a camel-colored skirt, and brown boots. There were plenty of girls dressed in ruffled skirts and ankle boots, corsets and camisoles. Wide hats with plumage were the rage, as were gloves and shawls.

The critical accessory worn by everyone was a pair of goggles. The brand, style, and the way a person wore his or her goggles said a lot about the individual. Some wore them over their eyes indoors or out, rain or shine. Others pushed the goggles up to their foreheads. There were ornate riding goggles, gunnery goggles, and aviator goggles from wars long past.

"I don't see Ernie anywhere. Are you sure he didn't miss the train?" Natalia said as she pulled her goggles up over the bill of her cap. Then she followed the Toad brothers onto the escalator.

"Of course we're sure," Todd said.

"He's right there with Catalina," Ross said, pointing back to the crowd below.

Ernie was leaning against a pillar as he talked to Catalina Mendez. Unlike Scuttlebutt, her lumpy Bounder imp, Catalina was actually pretty. She was tall and slender, with dark eyes, long lashes, and black hair that she had pulled back in a ponytail.

"Watch your step, please," a service clockwork wrapped in polished brass said from the top of the escalator.

Max walked out of the depot and into the cold morning air. It was a dreary morning, and the entire campus was shrouded in fog. Like the rest of New Victoria, Iron Bridge Academy didn't appear to belong in the modern world. Some of the buildings looked like warehouses, others like apartments.

The faculty housing had steeply pitched roofs, dormers, and wraparound porches. Buildings such as the menagerie were constructed entirely of steel girders and large panes of glass. At the heart of it all stood a massive structure made of grey brick with white trim. It housed a research facility, dormitories for the few students whose parents didn't relocate to the area, offices, and most of the classrooms.

"I don't know what's worse," Natalia said as she opened her parasol to keep the drizzle from spotting her clothes, "the rain in New Victoria or the snow back in Avalon."

"Should we wait for Ernie?" Max asked as Sprig shifted into a pigeon before flying off to the rooftop of the school.

"Do whatever you want," Harley said. "I have to finish a report on Lord Merlin Silverthorne before homeroom starts."

"Wait, do you hear that?" Natalia asked.

Max strained his ears. After a few moments he heard an angry voice carry across the school yard. A thin woman was arguing with someone beneath a gas lamp near the front entry. "Is that Dean Nipkin?" he asked. There was too much fog to be sure, but the rectangular glasses perched on the end of her sharp nose were hard to miss.

"I think so," Natalia said, "but who's she screaming at?"

"That's Chief Constable Oxley," Ross said.

"Who?" Harley asked.

"You know, as in the highest-ranking officer of the law in New Victoria?" Todd said.

"I heard he has a clockwork arm, just like Doc Trimble," Todd said. "They say his first arm got gnawed off by a horde of Vampire Pixies."

"Give it a rest already," Natalia said.

The chief constable was a large man, with broad shoulders, an ample belly, and a handlebar mustache. His size, however, didn't appear to intimidate Dean Nipkin in the slightest. He stood quietly with his hands tucked behind his back as she berated him.

"I wonder what they're arguing about," Ross said.

"You know perfectly well what they're arguing about," Natalia said. "If I were you, I'd start talking before it's too late. Then again, I bet the sentence for obstruction of justice is only four or five years, tops."

"Yeah, well... we gotta go," Ross said before running off.

"We'll see you in homeroom," Todd said over his shoulder.

RESCHEDULED.

Ernie managed to ignore the other three Grey Griffins for the entire morning, despite sharing three classes together. Max tried to make eye contact with him, but every time he did, Ernie turned the other way.

"Don't forget to save a chair for Ernie," Max said as the Griffins sat down at their usual table in the dining hall.

"Why?" Harley asked. "He's sitting over there with the Toad brothers."

Max turned to see Ernie and the Toad brothers talking, laughing, and eating in the back of the room. He shook his head before slumping into his chair. It hurt to be rejected-especially by one of his best friends.

"I'm telling you," Harley said between mouthfuls of stuffing with cranberries, "you have to let it go."

"He's right," Natalia said. "If Ernie wants to be a jerk, that's his problem. But you can't let it get to you like this."

Max swirled his mashed potatoes with his fork. "I know. It's just that I keep thinking Ernie was right about Robert. Maybe I should have done something."

"Like what?" Harley said. "You were following orders. Period."

"I guess."