THE PRICE OF FAME

After the incident, Max had to endure two hours of monotonous questioning from Chief Constable Oxley. When it was over, Max wasn’t sure if he was a suspect or if he was going to get the key to the city. Either way, it was better than what he had to deal with the next morning. A picture of Max flying the aerocar had made the front page of the Chronicle.

From the moment he stepped foot into the subway depot, Max was the center of attention. He was peppered with an endless string of questions, most notably from the Toad brothers.

At school, people pointed and whispered as he walked down the halls. Then, in class, a boy named Winston Ainsworth asked Max for an autograph.

“Go on,” Harley said. “You’re a celebrity now.”

“You don’t have to make it out to anybody,” Winston said, holding out a piece of paper. “Just sign your name.”

Max was blushing as he signed his name. Then Winston went back to his desk and folded it carefully before sliding the autograph into a protective sheet of plastic.

When Max went to grab his DE Tablet from under his desk, he caught Ernie glowering at him. They locked eyes for a moment, but Max turned away, wondering what he’d done this time.

Max felt anger starting to rise in him. He wanted to ask Ernie what his problem was. After all, Max thought, he’d risked his life to help save Ernie’s friends. He didn’t ask for the attention. If anything, Max hated it.

By lunch, Max had signed more than twenty autographs. One of the maintenance clockworks had even asked for a signature, so Max decided to eat lunch in the courtyard to avoid further embarrassment.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Harley said as Max walked down the hallway with his tray. Sprig was padding next to him as a white tiger.

“Out.”

“If you want to be a hero, you’re going to have to get used to the fans.”

“I never wanted to be a hero.”

“Stop being so sensitive,” Harley said.

Sprig growled as they walked out the door and into the courtyard.

“Save it,” Harley said.

“Why aren’t you sitting with Natalia?” Max asked.

Harley shrugged. “A bunch of girls took over our table.”

“Was Brooke there?”

“Does it matter?”

“I guess not.”

“Yes.”

“Yes, what?”

“Brooke was there.”

“I figured.”

Harley sat down on the ledge of a fountain filled with sparkling fish. Max took the stone bench across from him. The seat was damp from the morning rain. It was chilly out, but the sky had cleared up enough to make it tolerable.

“So Logan isn’t going to tell Nipkin about the inhibitors?” Harley asked before taking a bite of his turkey sandwich.

“Not yet.”

“Did you recognize any of the kids in the masks?”

“I don’t think so.”

“What did you tell Oxley?”

“He had a book filled with pictures of all the changelings, but I couldn’t identify anybody. I told him they were all wearing masks.”

“Do you think he believed you?”

“It’s hard to say,” Max said as he poked at the noodles in his chicken soup.

“The article in the Chronicle mentioned they’d caught seven of the slavers, but none of them are talking. They wouldn’t even tell the constables their names.”

“They’re probably scared of Von Strife.”

“I can’t blame ’em,” Harley said. “By the way, we fixed the jam in that plasma gun. Monti let me shoot a few rounds. You should see what it did to that mannequin.”

“I bet,” Max said, not hiding his sullen tone.

“What’s wrong?” Harley said. “You just saved the lives of six changelings. You should be on top of the world.”

“Tell that to Ernie.”

“You can’t do anything about the way he’s acting, so you might as well get over it.”

“I guess.” Max slurped down a few spoonfuls of soup before pushing his tray aside. The wind picked up, shaking the shrubs as spray from the fountain splashed against his cheek.

Natalia and Brooke were already at their desk by the time Max walked into Obadiah Strange’s class with Sprig in tow. They didn’t notice Max as he slid into his desk, but Honeysuckle did. She had been tending to a plant that hung next to the window. When she saw Max, she zipped down to whisper something in Brooke’s ear.

“When did you get here?” Natalia asked.

“A couple of minutes ago.”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“We missed you at lunch.”

Max felt his eyes roam to Brooke before turning back to Natalia. “I ate in the courtyard.”

“In this weather?”

Max shrugged. “It wasn’t that bad.”

Water was dripping from Harley’s long bangs as he took a seat next to Max. Then Ernie and the Toad brothers walked in, but Obadiah Strange and the other changelings were nowhere to be found.

“I don’t know if it’s such a good idea,” Todd said.

“Yeah, you guys really messed up.”

Ernie shot his hand over Ross’s mouth. “Not here,” Ernie said as his eyes darted across the room.

“Are you three talking about the Agents of Justice?” Natalia asked.

“No,” Ernie said.

“Oh, really, then what were you talking about?”

“That’s confidential,” Todd said.

“Yeah,” Ross said. “Confidential.”

“It’s kind of hard to keep a secret when you’re on the front page every morning.”

“I wouldn’t know,” Ernie said. “Maybe you should talk to Max about that. Or has he been too busy signing autographs?”

“Why are you acting like such a brat?” Natalia asked.

Obadiah Strange walked through the door with three of the missing changelings.

“Sorry we’re late,” he said. “We had a little matter to clear up.”

Hale, Yi, and Raven took their seats as Strange placed his briefcase on his desk.

“Where were you?” Natalia asked Raven.

“Dean Nipkin wouldn’t let us go to class, so Strange came to get us.”

“What did Nipkin do?”

Raven shrugged. “What could she do?”

“Before we begin today,” Strange said before turning to Max, “it appears as though congratulations are in order.”

“Oh… um, thanks.” Max could feel his ears turning red as he lowered his eyes.

“You’re far too modest,” Strange said. “In fact, I hear the mayor has decided to give you the key to the city. That’s quite an accomplishment for someone your age.”

“Nice work, Sumner,” Xander said.

“Wow, the key to the city?” Todd said.

“That’s like…” Ross said, trying to think of an appropriate phrase. “I don’t know, it’s—”

“Impressive?” Kenji said as his drake eyed a mouse skittering across the floor.

“Yeah, it’s impressive,” Ross said.

“All right,” Strange said. “I think we’ve embarrassed the young man enough. Now I’ve put this off long enough, but it’s time to collect your accidental death and dismemberment clauses. Would you mind gathering them for me, Miss Lugosi?”

Raven didn’t move. It was as though she was locked in a staring contest with Strange, but just when it was about to get uncomfortable, she got out of her desk to collect the forms.

“Thank you,” Strange said before walking over to open one of his desk drawers, where he pulled out a small metal box connected to a wand by a spiraling cord. “Now, who can tell me what this is?”

“That’s the scanner Saxon used to find all his treasures,” Todd said.

“Yeah,” Ross said. “A Vibration Frequency Detector, right?”

“Very good,” Strange said. He spent the rest of the class talking about the first expedition he went on with Lord Saxon.

Strange and Lord Saxon had traveled to Jerusalem to find the Seal of Solomon, a signet ring that was thought to give the wearer control over demons and genies called Djinns. When he got to the part of the story where they had fallen down what they thought was a bottomless pit, the bell rang. Nobody moved.

“You’re going to finish the story, right?” Ernie asked. “I mean, you can’t just leave us hanging like that again.”

The rest of the students murmured in agreement.

“I’m afraid we’re out of time,” Strange said. “Now over the next few days, we’ll be going through some exercises in the simulation chamber.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Ross said. He was looking at Yi.

“Yeah, somebody almost blew that place up last semester,” Todd said.

“That wasn’t my fault,” Yi said.

“Well, it wasn’t a band of leprechauns,” Ross said.

Yi stood up. His fingertips started to spark, and his hands burst into flames.