Justin checked out of the hotel, believing he wouldn't be staying in this city for much longer, at least if all went according to plan. In preparation for his inevitable defeat of Max and Alex he was searching for a particular ancient grimoire, or rather its translation. It was a well-known occult book, even among the mortals, yet in the hands of a wizard it would be extraordinarily powerful. The book for which he searched was none other than the fabled Necronomicon, a vile book filled with the most distasteful of rituals for invoking the Great Old Ones. It included the nastiest spells, and was possibly considered one of the most evil books ever written. The Mad Arab Alhazred was called mad for a reason, after all, there's mad, and then there's invoking beings insane beyond that which man can even begin to imagine fathoming. Even reading from that book was an insanely bad idea for normal mortals. Justin hoped that wizards would be able to read it and retain their mental capacities. There was only one way to find out, and that was to obtain a copy for himself.

Of course, the best extant translation was locked up in the Miskatonic University archives. It had not been released for public viewing since the 1920s, and Justin was certainly not going to pass for an important researcher. But he was a wizard – he could surely get by any security they had it under.

At a public library he did research on the Miskatonic University – this in itself wasn't suspicious. He needed a target to teleport to, though, so he looked at pictures of its grounds. Although it was much less accurate to teleport someplace with a mere picture, he would make do with what he had. One could teleport to a very general location without even a picture; he could probably get to Massachusetts without seeing the location, simply by focusing on where he knew the state was. It's why the spell to transport to Mars worked the way it did. Mars was a big target, and where you ended up was more or less random.

But that was off topic. On topic right now was finding a place to which to teleport. He wanted to choose an out-of-the-way location, but such places were never shown in brochures. His best bet was to choose an out-of-the-way time. He'd go around 3AM when no one would notice if someone suddenly appeared. This gave him about a day to prepare for his assault on the library. Fortunately, public maps of their libraries were available. The tricky part would be figuring out which private collection it would be held in. He browsed internet forums all day, looking for rumors about which locked room he might find it in. Rumors were often at least partially true, and he would start looking where the majority of the rumors said it lied. He studied the maps carefully, looking for ways into the locked rooms. Unfortunately, they seemed to be well protected. One door in, always locked, under electronic locks. He wasn't sure what to expect when he got in there, either, but he imagined a glass case, also locked with electronic locks, possibly with infrared beams across the artifact. His heart rate quickened at the thought of pulling a heist, and in some ways he longed for a companion to commit it with, possibly even his sister. If only she weren't his primary competitor, she was perfect for this sort of caper. But no, was she really his primary competitor? After all, the psychic battle he had with Max had taught him that his little brother was capable of literally killing someone by thinking too hard. He would even consider a temporary alliance against him, except that he didn't trust Alex. Ah how he actually missed their battles of wits, despite the fact that she usually won, even he would admit this. Well this is one battle she wouldn't win, if he had anything to do with it!

His plan was to first teleport there, and then scour the building. He would either have to work quickly, or spread his assault out over a few days. Since his obscuring ward held up, at least as far as he knew, he didn't feel like he was in danger of being located. Plus, he was about to move. Although his energy signature would be traceable from Anchorage to Boston for a while, he didn't think that either of his siblings had been able to get past his defenses, especially without him knowing. So this meant that he was going to take his time, at the very least. He would perform reconnaissance when he teleported there, then check into a hotel somewhere again. The next day, he would go to the library and look around. That night, hopefully, he would pull it off.

Gaining access to the library would be a trick in itself. Normally, it was only open to researchers, faculty and students. His plan here was to pose as a student. Again, this would require some trickery. He figured his best bet would be to fabricate a student ID, though they had no samples of them on the internet. Besides which, he wasn't going to commit forgery in the middle of a public library in Anchorage. He would have to think something up when he got there. The worst case scenario would have him charming someone into giving over their student ID, which was actually a plan that was growing on him. He wished he could practice the charm spell, but there was no good way to do that. Charming someone was best done when said victim was alone, so as not to raise suspicion among others that may be around.

He stayed in the Anchorage public library until closing time, at which point he went for a walk. He still had about five to six hours to kill until he would make the move to Boston. He carried his bag into an all-night diner and ordered a coffee, hoping that they would let him stay there as long as he kept ordering something, so he would keep the coffees coming. In many places, coffee refills were free, and it would annoy them to give him free coffee for six hours. Then again, this might be a perfect time for him to practice the charm spell. After all, it would really just be him and the waitress bringing the coffee. He decided to risk it.

After a few hours, the waitress came over to him, full of intent. Justin thought that this was it, she was going to ask him to leave. What surprised him was that she sat down across from him.

"You've been here a while, kid. You OK?"

"Yeah, kinda. It's been a long couple of days."

"What's going on?"

"I'm kind of fighting with my younger brother and sister."

"I see. Over what?"

That was a hard question to answer. He would have to lie, of course, so he said the first thing that came to mind.

"An uncle's estate. He passed away without a clear will."

"Ah, I see... well I wouldn't let it get between you too much. I mean, they're still your siblings, right?"

"I guess so... I just need some time to think."

"That's fine, honey," she said, filling his coffee. "You just take your time, we're open all night."

As she left, he thought about the irony of her fulfilling a diner stereotype.

He stayed there for a few more hours, paid his bill, and then left with his bag in tow. He walked down the street, out of sight of anyone, and then teleported away.