OUT IN THE OPEN

Sensing a threat, Sprig popped up to see what was happening. When she spotted Yi, she pinned her ears back and lowered her head, growling as she bared her teeth.

“See what I mean?” Ross said. “The guy is a maniac.”

Strange walked over and placed his hands on Yi’s shoulder. “That’s enough, Mr. Lu. We must defeat ignorance with education, not with might.”

The entire class watched as Yi struggled to calm down.

“Relax,” Max said as he reached out to stroke Sprig. Her eyes didn’t leave Yi, but she stopped growling.

“Breathe slowly,” Strange said as he guided Yi back to his desk. “Now take your seat.”

“Think what would have happened if you weren’t here,” Todd said. “He probably would have—”

“That’s enough,” Strange said. His voice was calm, but his eyes were filled with anger. “These poor students are already dealing with the irrational fears of the people who should be protecting them. I will not tolerate bigotry in my classroom. Is that understood?”

Todd and Ross nodded.

“That will be all,” Strange said, dismissing the class.

“Nice one,” Ernie said as he put his DE Tablet in his backpack.

“I didn’t know that stating facts was a crime,” Ross said.

“That’s not the point.”

As Yi stormed down the aisle, Todd caught him by the arm. “Look, we’re sorry.”

“Save it,” Yi said. His hand was glowing like an ember as he grabbed Todd’s wrist.

“Let go!” Todd said. “That really burns.”

“Knock it off,” Ernie said.

Yi let go. Todd’s wrist had turned bright red, and blisters had begun to form.

“Come on,” Hale said. She placed her hand on Yi’s shoulder. “He’s not worth it.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ross asked.

“Let it go,” Todd said as he watched the two changelings walk out the door.

“He just burned you with his powers,” Ross said. “A real superhero wouldn’t do that.”

“Do you know how hard it was to get the other changelings to accept you two?” Ernie asked. “They don’t trust anyone, and to tell you the truth, neither do I.”

“You can trust us,” Ross said.

“Not if you make comments like that.”

“We’re going over to the tree house to finish our homework, and my mom is going to order pizza from Leonardo’s,” Max said. He was talking to Natalia, but his eyes were on Brooke as she walked past them without saying a word. She was lost in a conversation with Raven while Honeysuckle chased after a hummingbird.

“I can’t,” Natalia said. “Maybe tomorrow?”

“When have you ever had plans?” Harley asked.

“I’m studying with Brooke and Raven,” Natalia said. Then she turned to Max, who was kicking at a clump of grass. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

Natalia hesitated as she looked at him. “Okay,” she finally said. “I have to get going.”

Max turned to walk to the subway depot with Harley as Natalia went to catch up with the girls.

“Hey! Wait up!” Max heard someone call. He turned around to see the Toad brothers struggling to catch their breaths. Their faces were red, and sweat was pouring down their cheeks.

“Look, we don’t have a lot of time,” Ross said once they caught up, “but if you have plans tomorrow night, break them.”

“Do I even want to know why?”

“Round Table practice,” Todd said.

“I don’t know,” Max said. “I’m thinking about dropping out.”

“Sorry,” Todd said. “You’re contractually obligated.”

“What are you talking about?”

“It’s part of our contract. You know, the one where we gave you free Toad Reports,” Ross said. “You need to read the fine print.”

“Don’t look at me,” Harley said after Max gave him a pleading look.

Max turned back to the Toad brothers. “Who am I supposed to practice against?”

“We don’t want to ruin the surprise,” Todd said.

“Can you at least tell me where we’re supposed to meet?”

Todd and Ross looked at each other. “You know that house where you found all the changelings? Be there at seven o’clock.”

“You want me to play Round Table outside in the middle of winter?” Max asked. “It’s going to be ten below.”

“Don’t worry,” Ross said. “We took care of everything.”

Friday was remarkably quiet. People had stopped asking Max for his autograph, and there were no more Agents of Justice sightings. By the time night rolled around, Max was actually looking forward to playing Round Table, even if it was outside in the dead of winter. If nothing else, it was going to give him a chance to break in some of his new clockwork cards.

“You’re sure you want to do this?” Harley asked as they headed toward the house.

“I could use the practice,” Max said. Wisps of vapor escaped from his mouth each time he exhaled, and his footfalls crunched through the snow as he walked. Sprig pranced next to them as an arctic fox.

“You realize we’re being watched, right?” Harley asked.

“I saw the one in the upstairs window.”

“There’re two more in the trees, and another one behind the thicket on the side of the house.”

“Do you think this is a setup?” Max asked as Sprig bounded up the steps.

“I guess we’re going to find out,” Harley said. He was about to knock on the door when it swung open.

“You made it,” Ross said.

There was a fire burning in the hearth inside. Ernie was there, locked in a Round Table duel with Yi in the front room. A small crowd had gathered to watch them, and from the sound of things, Ernie was ahead.

“We have everything set up,” Todd said, leading them into the house.

“It’s actually warm in here,” Harley said as he pulled off his ski mask.

“Everything’s been sealed up tight,” Todd said. “We brought in some generators, got the fireplaces cleaned out, and we even have some portable gas stoves that we bought at a sporting goods store in Bloomington. You want some hot chocolate or something?”

“Maybe later,” Max said as he removed his gloves.

There were candles everywhere, from the mantle to the stairs and just about anywhere there was a flat surface. The wooden floors had been swept clean of debris, and sheets of plywood now covered the broken windows.

“We tried to get Catalina to come tonight, but she wouldn’t do it,” Todd said. “I guess I can’t blame her. I mean, you guys don’t want to give away all your secrets before the big match, right?”

“I suppose,” Max said.

“So we got the next best thing,” Todd said. “Now look, I don’t want you to be intimidated just because she beat Xander.”

“I thought he was undefeated,” Max said.

“When it comes to sanctioned duels, he is,” Todd said. “She beat him in a street match. Twice.”

“Who is she?”

“Hale,” Todd said, in a tone that suggested Max should have already known that.

There was a group of at least a dozen changelings standing in the room, but Todd was pointing at Hale. Max watched her take a sip of hot chocolate before sitting down at a gigantic wooden spool that used to hold electrical cable. It was set on its end to make a table. Her trading cards and knucklebones were already set up and ready to go.

“Here I figured you’d be out on a date with your girlfriend,” Hale said after she saw Max. “You know, dinner and a movie. Isn’t that what normal people do on a Friday night?”

The air started to shimmer around her, and Max watched as Hale’s skin bubbled. It looked painful, but she kept smiling. Then she was gone, replaced by Brooke. She winked at Max, who just stood there looking confused. He could vaguely hear everyone’s laughter as he struggled for something to say.

“Ignore her,” Todd said. “She’s trying to get in your head. You know, to psych you out.”

“Did I do a good job?” Hale asked after she had turned back to her original form.

“I’ve seen shape-shifters before,” Max said. He was trying to sound confident, but he wasn’t sure it was convincing. Max pulled out his knucklebones and his new deck and sat down in his chair.

“Not like me,” Hale said.

“Okay,” Todd said. “This might not be an officially sanctioned duel, but we’re still going to play by the King’s Rules. That means the first person to strike his or her opponent seven times will be the winner, but if neither one of you can—”

“Yeah, we got it,” Hale said. “If we can’t get seven hits after an hour, whoever has the most points wins.”

“Exactly,” Ross said.

“Let’s roll to see who goes first,” Hale said as she shook a pair of knucklebones in her cupped hand. Max grabbed his as well, and after Hale counted down from three, they both cast their roll.