As Izzy ran out the theatre, Fred charged up to the stage. "Hey, man! You went too far!"

Mysterio sneered down at him. "I did no such thing, boy. All I did was relay information. How she handled it is her own business."

Joe and Sam stood with Fred. Joe couldn't image what Mysterio could've said to Izzy that made her freak out so much. Fake mediums— and Mysterio definitely was one— relied on vague details anyone could relate to in order to convince an audience of their abilities. No, what he said to her had to be something specific, otherwise, she wouldn't have reacted like, like that.

"What did you say to her?"

The corners of Mysterio's lips twitched, eager to form an arrogant smirk. "Ask her yourself after my security throws you all out."

"Uh, say what now?"

Fred crossed his arms. "Yeah, right. We're not leaving here without some answers, Lauren."

"Gentlemen. Escort these three ruffians out! They are no longer welcomed to breath my air."

Mysterio snapped his fingers. Two big burly men with batons approached the three of them from the sides of the stage. They brandished their weapons and glowered at them.

Sam smiled nervously and backed up, his hands raised in front of him defensively. "You know what? This isn't really necessary. W-we can escort ourselves out."

Mysterio grinned without an ounce of kindness. "Oh, but I insist."

Houdini—who'd been observing their situation—stood. "Lauren, please reconsider. My friends—"

"I suggest you follow your friends out the door, Houdini." Mysterio's voice lowered to a deadly octave. "I would hate for you to be thrown out, as well."

Houdini clenched his fist.

Mysterio spun back to his stool, his oversized cape flowing and revealing his body for the first time. Joe caught a glimpse of something blue and box-shaped under his arm, and everything clicked.

He stormed the stage, ignoring the gasps from the audience. "You have The Book!"

Mysterio took a half-step back. Shock flashed across his face for a second before he settled back into his usual smug expression. "What Book?"

"My Book. You got your hands on it somehow. That's why you're able to predict—"

He snapped his fingers again. "Gentlemen. Now."

Joe was dragged off stage and his feet along with Fred and Sam by the men, carried away like kittens by the back of their collars. They wiggled and squirmed to get free to no avail as Houdini tried to reason with Mysterio one last time.

"Lauren, this is not—"

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Mysterio shouted. "I must recollect myself. We will be back with more momentarily."

The crowd chittered away as the boys were tossed onto the sidewalk and ate a fistful of snow.

Fred jumped up and marched back to the door now guarded by Mysterio's henchmen. "Hey! Let us back in. Your boss has something that belongs to us."

They didn't budge.

Sam stood, brushing flecks of snow off his khakis. "Come on, Fred. You're better off arguing with a brick wall."

The two minions shot Sam a death glare.

Sam hopped back. "Eep."

Fred blew a raspberry at them before the two returned to Joe. They walked down the side of the building, out of earshot of Mysterio's men.

"We gotta figure out a way back in there, pronto," Fred said.

"No kidding," Joe said. "Who knows how that creep will rewrite history."

"Is now a good time to sneak in Ninja-Style?"

Joe was more than on board with that plan. "But first we need to find—"

Sam stopped in his tracks. "Isadora?"

Joe followed Sam's eyes. Sure enough, Izzy was leaning against the side of the building. She hugged herself and shivered, her pigtails damp from snow. She didn't budge when Joe, Sam, and Fred approached her.

Joe went to touch Izzy's shoulder but hesitated. That probably would've been a little awkward considering he barely knew her.

Fred pulled off his letter jacket and handed it to her. "Here, so you don't freeze to death."

She looked at him with glistening and confused green eyes. "What about you?"

He puffed out his chest. "I'm tough."

Sam smirked. "Oh, yeah. Hypothermia's not even an issue."

"Exactly. Take it."

Izzy chuckled and pulled it on. "Thank you."

"Are you…" Joe trailed off. Stupid question. She clearly wasn't fine.

But to his surprise, she nodded and smiled weakly at him. "I'm fine. He just said some things I..." She shook her head. "It doesn't matter. I don't know how he could've known about that."

Joe scratched the back of his head. "Well, we do. That jerk has The Book. He must've found things about you and read them back as if… as if he was possessed by your mom. I'm sorry."

Izzy's face went from despondent to horrified to raging mad, and he couldn't fault her. What Mysterio did was beyond messed up. Joe could only begin to understand how that made Izzy feel.

She locked her jaw. "How could someone do that—"

"Your Book has records on people?" Houdini approached them, the sour look fading from his face.

Joe scratched the back of his head. "I guess you could call it that."

He expected Houdini to ask why a fifteen-year-old kid would own a record book on other people, but instead, Houdini harrumphed and shrugged his shoulders dismissively.

"I'll admit, he almost convinced even me. But your Book can't possibly have records on everyone in history. His deceitfulness will be revealed soon enough."

The boys looked at each other and a silent conversation took place. It was almost laughable how wrong he was.

"We still need to get our Book back," Joe said. "It's a family heirloom."

"Very well," Houdini said. "I understand your sentiment, but Lauren won't let you in with his guards on duty, and I'm afraid I won't be much help to you four as I'll be of performing a show later this evening."

The boys groaned.

"There might be one way in," Joe mused. "Sure, we might not be able to get anywhere near Mysterio with his guards around, but I'm sure that we can rely on—"

Eugene popped up from behind the building, his face unusually red. He panted like he ran five miles.

"Thank goodness I found you all." He brushed past them and grabbed Izzy's hand. "I'm so sorry. I knew what he was planning and I should've warned you, all of you."

"It's fine, Eugene," Izzy said. "But I still don't get why he singled me out."

"I think he wanted to get back at you for standing up to him. Believe me, he's not used to that."

Fred narrowed his eyes at Eugene. "If you knew Lauren had The Book, why didn't you tell your mom? I'm sure she would've beaten it out of him."

"I did," Eugene rubbed his arm. "She gave him the what for … right before she was arrested."

Joe winced. "Ouch."

"She can handle herself just fine. They'll go easy on her for being a woman and all, but for the moment I'm afraid we're on our own."

"But you work for him. Can't you sneak back in and grab it?"

"I… can't."

"Why not?"

Eugene looked at the sidewalk. "Master Mysterio terminated me. I'm afraid I'm in the same boat as the rest of you."

Joe sagged his shoulder. "Whelp, there goes that plan."

"You had a plan?" Sam asked him.

"More like… half a plan?"

"Half of a plan isn't a plan."

Joe was about to retort back with something equally sarcastic when a gust a wind blew, nearly knocking them all off their feet.

Houdini shoved his hands in his pockets. "Perhaps we should discuss further plans somewhere more agreeable. Come now, children. Let's go back to my home."

Back at Houdini's place, the five of them assessed the situation while Mrs. Bess passed out them cookies and Houdini prepared for his show. Mrs. Bess was so riled up and annoyed at their predicament, Joe thought she was about to crush the plate with her bare hands. He was pretty sure that between her and Eugene's mom, they could get The Book back in an instant (after they were done beating Mysterio to a pulp, that is).

Eugene informed them that Master Mysterio was heading to Yonkers that day on the way to another show in Connecticut. Before he was fired, Mysterio had him write his schedule and he stilled had it on a piece of scratch paper.

"We need to get The Book back before his next show," Joe said, staring at the paper. "We can cut him off at his layover at the hotel."

Izzy fidgeted with a napkin in her hands. "What do we do once we get there?"

"Easy." Fred dust cookie crumbs off his hands. "We sneak in Ninja-Style, find The Book, grab it, and get out ASAP."

Sam slow clapped. "Brilliant plan, Eisenhower. Why didn't anyone else think of that?"

"Alright, Einstein. What do you suggest?"

Sam rubbed his chin. "Eugene said that Mysterio ordered his men that, if they see us, that'll we'll be 'dealt with,' right?"

Eugene gulped. "He'll send us up the river."

Izzy's face went pale. She dropped the napkin in her lap, and Joe noticed that she'd made a flower. "You think he'll try to drown us?"

"Yeah," Fred laughed. "And maybe he'll give us the ole twenty-three skidoo."

Joe shook his head, but couldn't help but snicker.

Sam rolled his eyes. "'Up the river,' Izzy, is a phrase that means being sent to jail. What Fred said didn't even make sense. Anyway, we need to find a way to sneak in, and for that, we need some sort of disguise."

"I am not wearing another dress," Fred complained.

"You wanna take this seriously?"

"I am. I already told you my plan."

Joe drowned out their squabbling as a plan formed in his mind. Sam's idea was good, but no disguise they came up with would be completely believable. Besides, even if they got past his men, Joe doubted they'd be able to fool Mysterio into handing them The Book or letting his guard down with a bunch of strangers.

But if Mysterio didn't know that they were around…

Joe's eyes drifted to Houdini's memorabilia lingering on the one he was most interested in yesterday.

He turned to Houdini, a grin on his face. "How many escape boxes do you have? Preferably ones with air holes in them."

Izzy thought Joe's idea was great. Sure, they had to spend a forty-minute trip to Yonkers trapped in dark, cramped boxes, cans, and crates in Houdini's limo when there was a draft and also she couldn't scratch her back… but it was a good plan nonetheless.

Unfortunately, Izzy discovered that being trapped in a milk can gave her time to think. She couldn't forget about Master Mysterio and how pretended to be her mother. It made her stomach ache with anger, disgust, and embarrassment. She wished she could've handled that situation better instead of running out and causing a scene like she was in a melodramatic soap opera.

Remembering it made Izzy's face flush. Thankfully her new friends didn't tease her about it like she feared they would.

Izzy also thought about the Monocled Man, but thinking of him made her think of her mother, so she pushed those thoughts way, way back into the least visited corners of her mind…

…but not before she thought about her dad, the memory of his disappearance far too fresh to be ignored. Her heart tightened with worry. She was anxious to get back to her own timeline so she could focus on finding out what happened. Maybe, with Joe's Book, she could—

"Hey, Izzy?"

Izzy jumped and banged her head on the roof of the milk can. "Uwah!"

"Sorry!" Joe said. "Did I scare you?"

"Uh, dude?" It was Fred. "Pretty obvious that you scared her."

"I-I'm okay," Izzy whimpered. Her head throbbed. "What's u-up?"

Joe was quiet for a moment before speaking again. "I'm sorry about all this. Again. I know this isn't what you signed up for when you went to see my audition."

Izzy nearly forgot about the talent show. So much has happened since then, it felt like it happened a week ago instead of a day or two. With the exception of every single encounter with Master Mysterio, Izzy wasn't having too bad a time. Hey, she learned that time travel exists, got to meet Harry Houdini, and even got to spend time with kids her own age who were nice and didn't treat her like a complete weirdo. Overall, this experience was a net positive.

She shrugged, even though Joe couldn't see her. "Not like you put us in this situation on purpose. It could be worse. Someone could be trying to kill us."

Sam sighed, his voice more distant. "Day's not over yet."

The trip was mercifully short.

Houdini's chauffeur was a buff man in a spiffy suit named Charles. With Eugene's help, the two manage to load all four of their escape boxes onto a platform truck.

Izzy couldn't help but lift the lid partially off her to peek at where they were going. A gust us frigid air whooshed in, and she was grateful for Fred's letter jacket.

A three-story building with muddy red bricks and white trim leaned slightly to the left in front of them. Black regal looking gates encircled the hotel; a dead oak tree sat in front of the estate on a small hill. A muscular man in a pinstriped suit and hat stood in front of the door, his arms crossed—one of Mysterio's henchmen.

"Izzy, get down!" Eugene hissed.

Izzy scrambled down, careful not to make the lid slam shut and raise suspicion. They rolled for a moment before stopping abruptly.

"Hey, hey." The man at the door had a thick New York accent. "Sorry, Ellis, but you're not allowed back here."
"Good afternoon, Mr. Jackson," Eugene chirped. He sounded surprisingly calm and confident. "I know Master Mysterio told you not to let me in, but I got something that he'll want to see. Something that belonged to a certain Harry Houdini."

A pause.

"Seriously?"

"You bet."

Another pause, followed by a hearty laugh from Mr. Jackson. "Wow, kid! Didn't know you even had it in ya!"

A slapping sound like Mr. Jackson smacked Eugene on the back.

"R-right," Eugene said, pain seeping into his voice. "So, are my associate and I free to go in?"

"Sure thing, kid. Just don't do anything else that'll out you on Boss's bad side. He's on the top floor, room sixty-eight. You two need any help with those—"

"No thanks," Eugene said, rolling them inside. "We are perfectly capable."

They were rolled across a smooth linoleum floor before being trudged up bumpy stairs that rattled Izzy in her container. She bit her lip to stop from crying out. They came across two more of Mysterio's men who were gossiping at the top of the second flight of stairs. Eugene fed them the same story and they let him go on before going back to their conversation.

The ride was once again smooth before they came to a complete stopped. Someone knocked on a door.

"I think I can take it from, Charles," Eugene said. "We'll need to be able to leave immediately if things go south."

Charles agreed and retreated, his footsteps echoing down the hall.

A moment of quiet. Eugene knocked again.

A click and a whoosh as the door swung open. "What is—" Mysterio paused. "You." Mysterio said "you" with the intensity of a slur. "How did you get past— no. Let me guess. Ralph and Ashleigh were gossiping again, those worthless—"

Eugene cleared his throat. "Sir. I want to severely apologize for my earlier behavior. My attitude was unforgivable."

Mysterio sighed, like Eugene's apology was an inconvenience. "Go on."

"I should have trusted your superior judgement. I want to beg for your forgiveness. And to facilitate my groveling, I brought you these gifts, straight from Houdini's private collection."

A SMASH from a shattering of glass. Izzy imagined Mysterio dropped a glass in shock.

"I-It's seems like I misjudged you, b— Eugene." Mysterio said "Eugene" the way Izzy would read a Spanish word she didn't quite know. "Please, come in where we can discuss. You can fix me a new drink."

A fading pattering of footsteps, Mysterio retreating. With a strained groan, Eugene shoved the platform truck through the door.

"It's quite obvious you're here trying to get your old job back. However, I cannot allow it." The bed creaking; Mysterio sitting.

"H-how come, sir?" Eugene's voice sounded deflated and hurt. Izzy couldn't figure out why Eugene was so hung up on working for a jerk like him.

"Because I am a man of my word, and I never go back on my word."

Izzy shivered at his words. She rubbed the goosebumps forming on her arms.

"But I do have another position open." The opening and shutting of a drawer. "It seems that I've hit a speed bump of sorts when handling this Book."

Izzy heard a soft gasp from Joe's container.
Mysterio continued, "I've mastered the basics, of course, and even manage to find a setting to read it in Braille, but I need you to be my guide until I can get a better handle on controlling it. Since you are its previous owner, you are perfect for the role."

"Um…" Eugene shifted, the floor squeaking beneath him. "Honestly, sir. I don't know much about The Book."

A pause before Master Mysertio said, "I beg your pardon?"

"By tradition, the oldest child in my family doesn't get to use The Book until we're sixteen. I've only managed to sneak it away from my mother a couple times in order to read it. But I can still be useful and tell you what I do know—"

"Because you're a wealth of information." A sharp SNAP of Mysterio closing The Book. "What a waste of my time. Why did I think you'd be of use to me?"

Eugene was silent.

Izzy clenched her fist. How could someone be so callous and cold-hearted? For all he knew, Eugene bent over backward to gain back his favor and had committed a crime in order to do so. And Mysterio acted like he was nothing but a problem.

She felt for Eugene. Izzy had her fair share of "friends" using her, treating her badly, and throwing her away like nothing. No one came to her defense and she'd never stood up for herself. It was simpler to shy away from others, even if that meant she'd be lonelier. Despite that, she found it easier to stick up for others than stick up for herself.

…which would be her reasoning for when she did the absolute dumbest thing imaginable at that moment.

Izzy shoved the lid off. It crashed on the floor hard enough to qualify as an earthquake. "Just where do you get off, you son of a—"

"A trick!" Mysterio shot up, Book still in hand.

"You bet!" She shimmied out the can and stumbled, managing to not fall over on her face.

Her eyes were still adjusting to the light, but she could make out the sparsely decorated room they were in. It was smaller than she imagined with plain white walls and a twin bed with blood red sheets. The boxes and crates were pushed to the side, so they'd be able to make a quick escape, which they definitely needed to do now.

Mysterio glowered down at her. He wore his mask and a velvet blue robe. "Who else is hiding in here?"

"Uh, no one?" a muffled voice from a can.

A groan from Sam. "Seriously, Fred?"

The boys revealed themselves, removing their various covers and lids and exiting out of them.

Fred shot her a pointed look. "I'm not the one who lost her cool."
Izzy opened her mouth to apologize to them when Mysterio put his fingers in his mouth and let out an ear-piercing whistle. The five of them winced and covered their ears.
The doors behind them burst open as two guards barreled into the room, one grabbing Sam and Joe, the other grabbing Izzy and Fred. Only Eugene was free. He stood there, frozen, his eyes darting from them to Mysterio.

"M-M-Master Mysterio," Eugene said. "Please, let my friends go. There's no need for—"

"Quiet boy, and maybe you won't share their fate. These four little miscreants will be carted off to jail."

"What for?" Joe said, struggling to free himself. "Trying to get back my property?"

"For attempted theft." He glared at Izzy. "In your case, dear, it would be that on top of eluding arrest."

Izzy barely heard him over the buzzing sound of her frantic thoughts. Her eyes were trained on a spot on a floor.

"You can't steal what belongs to you!" Joe protested.

"Oh, but it belongs to me. Besides, who would believe you, a child, over me? Soon to be the most famous and profitable spiritualist in all of history. With this Book, I can become the single most important person in history. Why, I even read it in this Book."

"Master Mysterio," Eugene's voice was calmer than before. "You're messing with something you clearly don't understand. You can't go around changing history—or the future— all willy-nilly. The consequences—"

"I can do whatever I please."

"Wow," Fred said, turning to Eugene. "Is he naturally this full of himself, or is it an acquired skill?"

"You don't know the half of it," Eugene muttered.

Mysterio looked down at Eugene in shock and rage, but Eugene didn't shrink back. "You have the gall to—"

"Stand up for myself?" Eugene squared his shoulders. "Is that also a crime?"

The room divulged into bickering, their arguments blurring together until it became white noise nestled in the back of Izzy's skull. She thought about how, if they were unable to get the The Book back, they would be stuck in the past and sent to jail. Lauren wielded his power over them and there was nothing she could do. She scrambled mentally for ideas, for any way for her to get her friends out of there with The Book, but every idea that came to her was discarded just as quickly.

Well, except for one thing…

Izzy took a deep breath. "Opstay! Everybodyay ustjay opstay ightingfay."

The room quieted and everyone turned to her, looking at her like she burst out yodeling.

He sneered. "I beg your pardon."

She concentrated on forcing a spell onto him so hard, sweat dripped down her face. "Aughlay ownay."

Nothing. Her stomach churned, and when she was nervous, her magic short-circuited.

"Have you completely lost your damn mind?"

"Uhhh." She glanced at Mysterio and his men. "Oday youay appenhay ootay avehay theyay igglesgay?

"Girl!" Fred hissed at her. "Now's not the time to practice your pig Latin!"

Izzy stomped her foot. "Ohnay! Eythay ereway upposedsay otay aughlay. Aughlay!"

Mysterios face twist like he smelled something foul. Joe cocked his head in confusion.

Sam shook his head. "She's lost it."

"Yeah," Fred sighed. "Good news, guys. We broke a girl."

"No!" Eugene said. "She's trying to cast—"

The goon holding her and Fred snorted. He steeled himself, his entire body trembling until he could no longer hold it in and erupted into laughter. His buddy followed suit and soon, their laughs became a hardy roar that could probably be heard from downstairs.

Izzy jumped, excited. "Yes!"

Mysterio glowered at them. "Gentlemen, control yourse-se—"

He tried to cover his mouth to stop bubbling laughter, before doubling over in a hysterical fit.

"Eugene!" Izzy motioned for him to grab The Book without giving away what she meant. "Ookbay? Get it!"

Eugene stared at her until realization dawn on him. "Oh!" In a swift motion, he grabbed The Book from Mysterio's hands.

Mysterio's glared was almost tempered by his giggling. He pointed a shaky hand at one of his goons. "G-g-get that Book from them, you ninnies!"

The room divulged into chaos that Izzy could barely keep track off.

The man holding Fred and Izzy pushed them to the floor and barreled straight towards Eugene like a linebacker.

Eugene squeaked. "Fred!" He tossed The Book between the man legs and it flew into Fred's lap.

The man holding onto Sam and Joe tossed them aside and both men blocked off Fred from the rest of the group.

Fred grinned, his eyes twinkling with mischief. "Oh, you want this ol' thing? Then here it is!" He chucked The Book passed the goons heads towards Sam. He fumbled it between his hands like a bar of wet soap.

Sam looked at The Book in his hands in relief before his face morphed into panic. "Me? Why me? Why not—AAAH!"

The two men dove towards Sam, who dropped like a lead weight. The two sailed out the door and hit the wall across the hall, laughing as they slid down. The Book sprung out of Sam's hands and skidded next to Mysterio's feet.

Joe dove towards The Book just as Mysterio grabbed it. The two found themselves in a game of Tug o' War, ending when Joe kicked Mysterio in his shin. Mysterio reeled back, hopping on one foot and cradling his leg, muttering some expletives and some very creative, old-timey slurs.

"I got The Book!" Joe shouted. "C'mon!"

The five of them rushed towards the door, Izzy taking up the rear. They got to the door—

BANG!

The wall next to Izzy's head exploded, a plume of dust and gravel raining down. The five of them stopped dead in their tracks.

"Enough is enough." Mysterio's voice was low and controlled by him holding in laughter.

Something cold and rigid pushed hard into the back of Izzy's head. She trembled, her heart going into overtime.

All color drained from Sam's face. "A gun! He has a gun."

"Thanks, Sam," Fred said. "We see that."

A low, deep chuckled from Mysterio slithered its way into her ears. "I don't know what kind of witchcraft spell you placed on me, girl, but you're going to undo it, then we're all going to have a nice. Long. Chat. "

"I'm hoping this chat is friendly," Joe said, "and the gun to her head is a conversation piece."

"Shut. Up. You miserable, miserable brats have been nothing but a thorn at my side since I've met you, but it ends right now."

"We wouldn't have bothered you if you just gave us The Book back!"

"Possession is nine-tenths of the law, and I possess The Book."

"Uh, are you blind?" Fred said. "We have The Book."

"Yes, but I have your little friend's life in my hands, so—"

He cocked the gun.

Izzy shut her eyes and balled her hands into a fist to keep from shaking. The lump in her throat was growing by the second. She mentally prepared herself to do something reckless. Something she didn't have much practice in.

Eugene held up his hands and took a step forward. "Master Mysterio. Don't hurt her."

"I won't harm her." Mysterio dug the barrel of the gun harder into her skull. "As long as you all play nice, I won't have to do anything unsavor—"

Izzy spun on Mysterio, grabbing his gun arm and twisting it behind him. She kicked him in the rear so hard he crashed onto the floor. His cape fluttered over him like a blanket as he lied still, a crumpled heap on the floor.

Izzy reel the boys, who all recoiled in shock. The look in her eyes was probably wild, and the crazed smile on her face (that was from relief, not from lunacy) didn't help.

She swallowed the golf ball that was in her throat. "Let's run."