Joe faced his uncle Jack many times over the last five years and he always appeared the same, aging along with him and the others as time went on. Despite hearing stories about Mad Jack from his uncle Joe about when they were younger, Joe could never picture him as anything but a middle-aged man with an unruly mustache and an unpopped monocle. Seeing him in person, only a couple years older than Joe was now, was jarring, to say the least.
The Book laid about five feet away from the statue's feet. Despite the crowd in the room, there was a clear path from it to Mad Jack, so there was no hope he might not have seen it.
Joe and Anna stared in silent horror as Mad Jack stalked over to The Book. He knelt, and picked up The Book with shaky hands. "I can't believe…" His trademark demented grin spread across his face.
His boss strolled over and peered at The Book over Mad Jack's shoulder. "Oh. It's a… book." He said 'book' the way Joe said a French word he didn't understand. "Woefully archaic things."
"This isn't just any book, Bonefat." Mad Jack stood, staring at The Book like it was a glass of water in the middle of the Sahara. "It's The Book."
His boss was clearly not impressed by the distinction. "Right, my mistake. Now, put down that silly thing and let's get to work on finding—"
"What an utter ignoramus you are. This is the most powerful item in the entire space-time continuum!"
"Is it now?" Bonefat quirked a brow. "You're certain?"
"Of course, I'm certain!"
The two men went back and forth, drowning out Joe and Anna's whispered conversation.
"We need a plan," Joe said.
Anna rolled her eyes. "Right, because your last plan went sooo well—"
"You can snark at me all you want later. We gotta distract them." Joe rubbed his chin in thought. "If I can get The Bookaway from them, you think you could get it and call the time agents?"
Anna nodded. "Just tell me the plan."
Joe looked back over the railing at Mad Jack and Bonefat, looked at the statue, and got an idea. He briefed Anna on his plan.
She glanced from him to the statue, a frown on her face. "Are you sure?"
"If it means getting The Book back. Ready?"
Anna nodded, and snuck down the stairs as Joe got into position above the statue of the Egyptian goddess. He inwardly apologized to it for what he was about to do.
Joe had never done what he was about to do before, but he assumed the process was similar enough to levitation. He remembered what Izzy said about channeling the tiggly-wiggly feeling into exerting her will over the world. He raised his hand towards the statue and tried to do the same.
A green aura slowly enclosed around the head of the statue. It flickered a few times but Joe made it stay in place. A bead of sweat dripped down his temple.
Below him, Mad Jack and Bonefat continued to talk, not even noticing Anna at the bottom of the steps.
Bonefat rubbed his chin and regarded The Book with newfound interest. "If it's really as powerful as you say, Jackie boy, then it should be in the hands of someone who deserves it. Someone like, well, me obviously."
Mad Jack laughed as he flipped through the pages of The Book. "Do you really think someone like you could ever— hey! Let go!"
Bonefat grabbed The Book and tried to take it out of Mad Jack's hands. Mad Jack held on fast, his knuckles pale from the vice grip.
The green aura surrounded the entire statue. Joe moved his arms forwards and back, and the statue followed his movements, rocking side to side.
"Stop pulling on The Book!" Mad Jack shouted. "You don't—"
With a final shove, the statue toppled forward, set to fall on top of them. As Joe had hoped, the two men noticed in time and leapt out of the way. The Book was thrown aside in their panic and slid to a stop at the bottom of the stairs.
The statue smashed onto the ground, wood splintering in several directions.
Anna took her chance. She snuck out and scooped up The Bookwhile the two men where dazed. She was three steps up when Bonefat grabbed her by the shoulders and spun her around. Anna yelped.
"Little girl," he chided, "it's not polite to steal from me."
Anna tried to pry herself from his grasp "It doesn't belong to you!"
Joe ran down the stairs to help her.
A blast of green light launched Bonefat into the air. He crashed into the gift shop, taking down a rack of t-shirts with him on his way to the ground.
"Nor to you, little girl." Mad Jack brandished the amulet from the statue's neck like a weapon. Smoke curled off the gold symbol. "Give me my Book!"
They amulet glowed bright green, magical energy sparking around it like a Tesla coil.
"Anna!" Joe cried.
"Joe!"
She hurled The Book as hard as she could to him. He caught it easily with the use of magic.
Mad Jack's head snapped towards Joe, Anna no longer in his sights now that he had The Book.
Joe barely noticed Mad Jack's look of utter befuddlement as he fled up the stairs. He furiously flipped through The Book, finding pages for time acrobats and time antagonists, but no time agents.
He reached the third floor with a heavy step and nearly tripped on his own momentum. Joe paced through the room, weaving through the frozen crowd and practically tearing through The Book for any sign of time agents. He noticed Izzy up ahead of him when a ding from the elevator made Joe jump out of his skin.
Mad Jack sauntered out of the hallway, gripping Anna by the back of her sweater. He pushed her forward, earning a grunt from her. He smiled sardonically.
"Look who I got," he said in a sing-song voice.
"Anna!" Joe race towards them.
Mad Jack raised the glowing amulet to Anna's head. "Not another step, boy."
Joe slid to a stop. He glared at Mad Jack to no effect.
"I don't know who you brats are," Mad Jack said. "Maybe you're medaling relatives, maybe your annoying time warpers. I don't exactly know or particularly care. But what I do know is that you have something that belongs to me. Now hand it over before I vaporize her into a million little particles!"
He shoved amulet in Anna's temple. She whimpered.
Joe's throat tightened, helplessness washing over him. He could kick himself for leaving her alone with him. "Don't hurt her."
"I won't. As long as you do as you're told."
Joe mind spun frantically as he tried to come up with another idea. Nothing came. There was no way he could save Anna and keep The Book out of Mad Jack's hands. It came down to saving his annoying kid sister or protecting the space-time continuum from a madman who wanted to control it.
"Here. Take it." Joe tossed The Book to the side. It skidded on the tile until it hit Izzy's foot and bounced a couple feet away.
Mad Jack smirked triumphantly. He shoved Anna to the floor and went over to The Book.
Joe ran to Anna and helped her up. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," she said, "but…"
She didn't need to finish her sentence for Joe to get what she meant. They were fine for the moment, but the second Mad Jack got his hands on The Book… well, they'd be a little less than fine.
Mad Jack trembled with excitement as he bent down to pick The Book up. "At long last I—"
Green lighting arced from Izzy's head and Mad Jack flew backwards a couple feet, crying out in pain.
Joe and Anna stood there, equally stunned. Green electricity buzzed around Izzy's head, or more specifically, her hourglass earrings.
Mad Jack paid no attention to her, however, his attention solely focused on The Book. He gaped in confusion. "Wha… what's going on—AH!"
He reached for it again. Green bolts of pure magic zapped him. He tried again, another painful shock. Joe was watching the definition of insanity play out in front of him in real time and it was pretty… insane.
Mad Jack stood and shot daggers at the two of them. Smoke curled off his janitor's uniform. "What did you do?"
Joe stepped in front of Anna. "We didn't do anything!"
Mad Jack pointed the amulet at them. A blast of energy annihilated the wall behind them. Plaster and debris rained down.
"My patience has reached its end!" he spat.
He pointed at them again. They dove out of the way in opposite directions just as another shot of magic scorched the spot where they previously stood.
Anna ran to the fishbowl of marbles and knocked it over, spilling them all over the floor to create a sea separating them from Mad Jack.
Mad Jack's laugh was punctuated by the fishbowl bouncing along the ground. "Really child? You think a juvenile prank can stop me from—"
He stepped towards them and slipped. He landed on his back with a thud.
Anna raced towards The Book. Mad Jack let loose a bolt of magic at her. She smacked into a wall and crumpled in a heap on the floor.
Joe's heart sunk. "Anna!"
Fear and rage bubbled in his body. He levitated the fishbowl onto Mad Jacks head. With a flourish of his arms, it spun around like a spinning top. Joe smirked as Mad Jack yelped and fell on his butt.
Behind Mad Jack, Anna crawled towards The Book. Joe breathed a sigh of relief.
Mad Jack shouted. The fishbowl glowed bright green and shattered into a hundred shards flying in every direction. Joe shielded his face with his arms, flinching when glass stung at him.
Mad Jack's monocle popped out of place and dangled against his face. He fixed a glare on Joe. "Do you think you're clever, boy?"
"Oh, you know," Joe said, "only on days that end in 'y'"
Mad Jack got madder. Good. Joe had to keep Mad Jack away from Anna, buy her time to get The Book and get help.
Joe ducked under another blast aimed at his face and ran. He zigzagged through frozen people and towards less populated sections of the room. He didn't want Mad Jack to hurt any innocent bystander when he was his target.
He threw more taunts Mad Jack's way and dodged spell after spell meant to hit him. With each blast, Mad Jack lost accuracy and became more irate.
The amulet Mad Jack was using finally melted into a congealed lump. He threw it to the side. "Enough!"
Joe froze, but not voluntarily. Green energy pulsed around his body. A thousand tiny needles pricked at his skin. He tried to move an arm. A leg. Nothing. He was paralyzed. The only thing he could manage to move was his eyes.
Mad Jack walked into his line a vision. He raised his hand and Joe went weightless, hovering over the ground until he was suspended over the railing. His head spun. Best-case scenario, dropping from that height would break all his bones.
Mad Jack grinned at him, wide and manic like he was going to enjoy making a Joe pancake on the floor. "I cannot begin to tell you how much I hate having my time wasted, but since I'm about to acquire, well, all of it, I'll let you go with a warning." He laughed. "No, I think I'll just jet you g—"
He stiffened and tensed up, his eyes bulging and tongue lolling out of his mouth. He collapsed, and the spell on Joe flickered and died. He caught a glimpse of a man standing behind Mad Jack before plummeting towards the first floor.
Joe screamed. The room whipped past him like a film on fast forward. Wind whooshed in his ears. A blur of black and gold rushed past him on the way to the ground. Joe shut his eyes and hoped that breaking his bones would be that bad.
Suddenly, his descent slowed. He opened one eye. A purple aura surrounded him as he gently floated to the floor.
He stood and patted himself down, brushing off bits of glass in the process. He was a little cut up, but otherwise he was fine, and not a Joecake on the floor.
"You okay there, Joe?"
An Asian woman with short cropped hair and a stern, no-nonsense expression stood in front of him. She wore black cargo pants, military boots, and a mustard-colored turtleneck. A duty belt hung around her hips, slim and functional, unlike the bulky ones he'd seen on cops.
But the most surprising thing about her, other than her sudden appearance, was the silver gauntlet on her right hand. In the middle of the palm, a purple circle of light buzzed with electricity.
"How did you know my name?" Joe asked her.
She bristled, eyes narrowing in irritation. The purple light flared and she shot at Joe. He screamed, and shielded himself with his arms, waiting for his molecules to turn to dust.
But it didn't happen. Behind him, there was a grunt followed by a thud. Joe lowered his arms.
Bonefat laid on the ground, his body rigid, drool in the corner of his mouth. It was like what happened with Mad Jack right before he dropped him.
Joe stared at the woman. "Did you just Tase him?"
She chuckled at Joe and walked past him, patting him on the head on the way to Bonefat.
"Moià Bonefat," she said, pulling out a pair of handcuffs from her duty belt. "You have the right to travel through time, space, and history without conducting unscrupulous activities that would lead to its demise and/or destruction. You will be given a fair trial and be properly judged. Eragopay."
She cuffed him, reciting the speech like she'd done it a billion time before.
"E-excuse me, Madame," Bonefat said. Joe could hear him grit his teeth. "I assure you that this is one big misunderstanding."
"Is it now?" There was dry amusement in her raspy voice.
"Yes! You see, it's all that Jack's fault. I told him time and time again that stealing was wrong, but he just never listens. I was here to put an end to his wicked ways."
"Oh, how noble of you."
"Why, thank you, Madame. So, if you could kindly remove my cuffs and I'll be on my way."
She twisted a band on her gauntlet and the purple light turned yellow. "I think Em would want to hear your story."
Bonefat's eyes went wide in fear, like she just suggested he should swim in a leech-infested lake. "No, that's quite alright."
"I insist."
She held up her hand and the yellow glow covered Bonefat. In a flash, he disappeared.
Joe stared at the spot where Bonefat was, then looked at the woman. "What happened to him? Did you send him somewhere?"
She stood. "I sent him… to be dealt with."
"Dealt with?"
A smirk played on her lips. "There an echo in here?" She twisted a band on her gauntlet. The circle in her palm glowed pure green, the color of magic. "Now to deal with this."
She pointed at the destroyed statue. It vibrated, then went into reverse, like a video on rewind. The splintered and detached pieces shot back into to the statue and it stood back up to before Joe ever toppled it. She did the same to the gift shop, reversing the damage Bonefat caused.
When she was done, she turned him. "Let's go join your sister."
Joe felt like he spent all day going up and down the floors.
The woman led him up the stairs, and he couldn't shake the feeling that he met her before. He could probably chalk it up to time travel shenanigans, but it still bothered him.
He caught a glimpse of her silver and copper wedding band. Gears whirled silently around the middle like a perpetually moving kinetic ring.
"Thanks for saving me back there," Joe said.
She nodded. "Don't mention it."
"So… do I know you?"
"That depends. What's the date in your own time?"
"January twenty-ninth, two thousand eleven."
She pursed her lips, and glanced up in thought. "Kinda? Not really." She smacked her hand into the gauntlet like she just figured it out. "Sorta. You sorta know me."
"Sorta? That's not at all ambiguous."
To his surprise, she laughed. "Sorry. Can't give out too many future spoilers. It's against union rules."
"So no asking for your name, then?"
"I'm forty percent sure that's fine. Call me Arkay."
They reached the third floor. Joe was barely off the stairs when he was tackled in a hug.
"Joe!" Anna cried.
A weight he didn't realize he was shouldering lifted, and he hugged her back. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine." She let him go. The Book was in her arms. "Will fixed me up."
"Will?"
"Present!"
A familiar looking brown hair man waved at them. He stood next to a handcuffed Mad Jack who squirmed on the ground like a fish on dry land in a desperate attempt to break free.
"I'll get The Book eventually!" Mad Jack shouted at them. "You all hear me? It's mine! Mine!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Will muttered. He held up his hand; it was a similar silver gauntlet to Arkay's. The yellow light blanketed Mad Jack and he was gone in a blink.
Arkay patted Will on the shoulder. "Good job. Heal Joe's wounds. I got the collateral damage."
"On it, Missus Kay!"
Joe nearly forgot about the cuts on his arm. They weren't bad, but he defiantly needed about a dozen Band-Aids.
Will held up his gauntleted hand. The palm glowed green. "This might tingle."
And it did. In the green light, all of Joe's little cuts scabbed over and vanished, his skin good as new.
As amazing as that was, Joe couldn't help but be distracted by the man's face. He knew he saw him somewhere before, but he couldn't figure out where. Finally, it dawned on him.
Joe snapped his fingers. "You're that guy!"
"What guy?" Will asked.
"From the falafel stand! I saw you a few weeks ago. You're a time cop?"
Will shook his head and pressed a button on his gauntlet. It folded in on itself, becoming a silver cuff around his wrist. "No idea what you're talking about."
Was it Joe's imagination, or was Will sweating?
"A-anyway…" Will said. "Thanks for the call. We've been tracking Bonefat for a while now. He's been stealing valuable art for years to sell on the black market. He managed to elude us by always framing an underling."
"That's pretty cruel," Anna said.
"Most time criminals are," Will sighed. "Thankfully we got one more off the streets."
Joe couldn't help but snicker. "The time streets?"
"You said you got one more off the streets," Anna said. "So you know Mad Jack doesn't stay away for long?"
"We're time agents," Arkay said coming over to them. The room was just as it was before with everything fixed and put back in place. "We're always dealing with crooks out of chronological order. It's annoying, but can't be helped."
She turned her gauntlet into a cuff and smiled at them. "You two did a good job keeping them busy. Be proud."
Arkay's smile falters as her eyes spotted something behind them. She brushed past them and walked up to Izzy. She placed a hand on the top of her head and spun her around so she could see her face.
Will swore, a faint accent slipping through in the cuss.
Arkay's eyebrows shot up before going back to an emotionless expression. She looked at Joe. "You said this was twenty eleven, yeah?"
"Yeah," he said.
"And you're sure?"
"How would I not be sure?"
Anna elbowed him.
Arkay stared at Izzy for a couple seconds longer before speaking to Will. "We need to tell Em and… them."
"They're on leave in Rome," Will said. "Let's not ruin their fun."
"I know, but remember what Em said? Besides, they'll want to know about this."
Anna and Joe glanced at each other. Anna looked about as confused as Joe felt.
"You two wanna explain what you're talking about?" Anna asked.
Will and Arkay flinched as if they forgotten Joe and Anna were in the room. Arkay cleared her throat.
"It's classified," she said. "Nothing you two need to worry about now."
"I feel like we should," Joe said.
Arkay grabbed Izzy by her outstretched hand and dragged her over to Anna and Joe. Izzy wobbled a few times before regaining her balanced and settled.
Joe remembered when Mad Jack went near her, how he got shocked by her earrings. He guessed he shouldn't have been too surprised she would have magical earrings that acted like bug zappers when bad guys were around. She and her dad were magic after all.
But if that were the case, then why didn't they go off when Mysterio was after them? Was he never close enough? Or maybe they weren't charged? She spun them all the time, maybe that's how she charged them, like a crank flashlight.
He shook the thoughts out of his head and refocused. He'll have time to ask her later.
"Will Izzy be okay?" Joe asked. "The freeze spell will wear off, right?"
Arkay's face softened. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a playing card. "She'll be fine. The time-freezing spell Jack put on everyone in the building should wear off in a couple minutes. I suggest you two leave before then."
She ripped the card in half. From the torn halves, green light pooled out and formed a swirling portal in front of them.
"See you guys around," Arkay said. "Ready, Will?"
Will smirked. "Right behind you."
They stepped through the portal and vanished in a flash along with the portal.
Anna sighed dreamily and hugged The Book to her chest. "How cool are they?"
"Pretty cool," Joe agreed. "How'd you find out about them?"
"I read it in The Book once when I… took it without permission."
They fell into an awkward silence, not looking at each other. Anna taking The Book got them into this mess in the first place, but it also saved them in the end.
Maybe if Joe loosened his grip on The Book, she wouldn't have felt like she needed to prove a point. Maybe she wouldn't have tried to sneak it away from him.
Anna flipped open The Book and turned to the transporter page. "We should head back before everyone unfreezes and we warp in front of them."
"Wait." Joe put his hand on The Book. "Before we do…"
She frowned but closed The Book, looking at him apprehensively.
Joe thought about what to say and how to say it before giving up and deciding to go for the direct approach. "You know… I don't hate you, right?"
She focused on a spot on the floor. "I guess so, but you sure do act like it sometimes."
Guilt stabbed Joe in the chest. "I know, and I'm really sorry."
"I guess I do kinda make you mad." Anna fidgeted with The Book. "I spy on you a lot, I take The Book without asking."
"Yeah, but that's not an excuse for making you feel bad." He placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'll try not to treat you like a nuisance whenever you want to hang out with my friends around, alright? And I'll let you look at The Book once in a while if you ask first. Deal?"
She nodded. "Deal, and I'll try to keep out your business."
They hugged. It was a little awkward, but at least they were moving in the right direction.
They pulled apart and Anna handed him The Book.
Joe shook his head. "Do the honors."
She smiled. Anna typed in the coordinates, and The Book warped them home.
They landed with a thump on Joe's bed.
Sam and Fred yelped and jumped back, Fred tossing the controller out of his hand. It bonked Sam on the head.
Joe waved. "Hey, guys."
Izzy rolled off the bed and smacked face first on the floor. They all winced. That was gonna hurt when she unfroze.
"We're back," he said.
Fred folded his arms, his face incredulous. "You guys went on an adventure without us?"
"It wasn't exactly planned," Anna said, standing Izzy back up. After making sure Izzy wouldn't fall, she said, "I'll be right back."
She put The Book back in the box and left the room.
Sam looked at Izzy and frowned. "Uh, Joe? Is she okay?"
"Her time is frozen" Joe said. "It should wear off—"
"Wait a minute." Fred interrupted. "She's frozen? Seriously?"
He waved a hand in front of her face and laughed when he got no reaction. He started to move her arms and legs in place, like a kid posing an action figure.
"What are you doing?" Joe asked.
Fred said, "I think I saw it in a meme once," like that answered his question.
When he was done, he presented his handiwork to them. Izzy stood in a ridiculous pose, her legs bent like she was in mid-sprint, her arms to the side like she was flapping her hands in a bizarre attempt to fly.
Joe couldn't help it. He laughed out loud.
Sam just shook his head. "Fred, don't mess with her."
Fred wrapped an arm around Izzy's shoulders. "C'mon, she doesn't mind. Right, Izzy?" He moved her lips to match his word, doing his best impression of her: "No I don't mind at all Fred! You're so awesome and cool and funny. Ha ha ha ha ha."
"That's how you get your validation?" Joe quipped, his laugh dying out.
Fred rolled his eyes, about to retort back when Izzy shuddered. She inhaled so deeply, it came out more like a strangled cry, as if she hadn't breathed oxygen in a thousand years. She wobbled and pitched forward. Joe caught her before she hit the ground.
"Joe?" Her eyes shot open and jumped up. "He's here! We gotta—! Waaaaaait, this is your room. What's going on? And why does my face hurt?"
He explained to them what happened on their warp right up to the point where Izzy shielded him and Anna from the time-freezing spell.
"Hold on," Sam interjected. "You can do a shield spell?"
"Where was that when we were being chased by a nutjob with a gun?" Fred asked.
"The same reason I wasted energy making him and his henchmen laugh," Izzy said. "I don't think well under pressure."
"Well, I'm glad you did today." Joe patted her on the shoulder. "You saved us."
Izzy blushed and looked away with a small smile. "I-it was nothing."
Joe told them about him distracting Mad Jack, Anna calling the time agents, and them subduing Mad Jack and his time thief boss.
Every time he mentioned Mad Jack, Izzy cringed like she was about to be sick. He must have really spooked her.
Joe wasn't expecting Fred and Sam's to not be surprised by the mention of time agents. When he brought it up, Fred admitted they knew about time agents years back when Jodie warped them away on a mission to Istanbul. Joe knew about the trip, but that itty-bittydetail about time agent must have slipped their minds.
"You two knew about time agents and you never told me about it?"
"You were at the dentist," Fred said.
"I wasn't there for five years! Does everyone know but me?"
Izzy raised her hand. "I-I didn't know."
Fred hung upside down from Joe's bed and pawed for the game controller. "What's the big deal? With all the times we've messed with history and never got arrested, I figured why worry?"
Joe shot Sam a look. "What's your excuse?"
"Uh…" He smiled nervously. "You were at the dentist?"
Joe groaned and facepalmed. Let it go, he thought. Let it go.
"So, the Monocle man," Izzy said, spinning an earring. "I mean Mad Jack. He was arrested, right? So he's gone for good?"
Joe scoffed. "Pfft, I wish. He was like twenty or something when we saw him at the museum. We've run into him plenty of time when he was older."
Fred laughed. "Much older."
"You guys know that man?" Izzy asked.
"Yeah." Joe shifted on his feet. "He's kind of my uncle."
Izzy's went from confused to stunned in a half a second, her jaw dropping. She leaned away from him, her arms coming in front of her, and when she looked at him… she was scared.
"He's your uncle. How… what…"
Joe was about to ask her what was wrong when Anna burst through the door, grinning and holding a CD case.
"Hey, Izzy! I got the…"
She trailed off when she noticed Izzy's expression. "You alright?"
"I'm… I…" Izzy looked around at everyone staring at her with concern. She clenched her fist and exhaled. "I should go."
She grabbed her stuff and practically ran out of the room, not even bothering to say goodbye or grab the CD Anna got for her.
Anna watched her leave, confused and a little hurt. "Did you guys say something to her?"
"Why are you blaming us?" Fred asked.
"She was fine when I left the room."
Sam folded his arms. "She was frozen when you left the room."
"It's Mad Jack," Joe said. "She got that way when I brought him up."
Anna put a hand on her hip. "Let me get this straight: So you told her our uncle is a psychotic, criminal, time-traveling wizard who threatened to kill us on several occasions and wants to conquer all of space and time? I'd leave too if you dumped all of that on me."
"I didn't even mention that stuff. She was spooked long before I said he was our uncle."
Fred went back to video games. "She'll be fine. It's been a long day, she just needs time to absorb it all."
Joe wasn't so sure. The only other time she acted like this was the time when Mysterio whispered something to her that made her run out of the theater. Did that have anything to do with Mad Jack, too? Did Izzy somehow know about him?
He ditched this idea as soon as it entered his mind. He couldn't imagine how she would. Before they met, Izzy didn't even know about time travel. From what his uncle Joe told him, Mad Jack lived in an untraceable pocket dimension, so it's unlikely that he and Izzy ever crossed paths before.
But then he remembered how her earrings shocked Mad Jack, and wondered why they never attacked any threat before him.
On top of that, there was also how those time agents reacted to seeing Izzy. For the life of him, he couldn't figure out why. A couple ideas came to his mind, but she scrapped them all. Was Izzy hiding something from him?
Of course not, he thought. Izzy had to be the most innocent person he knew. This girl never swore, didn't get most sarcasms and innuendos, and once told him that she bites the heads off her gummy bears and animal crackers before she ate the rest of them because she didn't want them to suffer. He doubted she had anything to hide. Still, the thought nagged at him.
Later that night while he worked on homework, he shot her a text, asking if she was alright. She texted back, saying she was fine. He started to type his next message, asking about her earrings and what bothered her so much earlier that day, but stopped. Would asking her be prying? He wondered if Izzy felt similar confliction when she tried to mediate between him and Anna.
He deleted the text and settled on sending her a meme he thought was kinda lame, but knew she'd laugh at before asking if they were still on for tomorrow for their trip to the Craft Shack. She sent back an affirmation. along with a couple smiling and thumbs up emojis. Izzy liked her emojis.
Joe smiled and went back to his homework, glad he didn't scare her off.
A/N: Hey, all! I got this one out pretty fast. For NaNoWriMo, I've been writing 715 words or more every day. I figured that way I'd have a rough draft of a chapter done in a week. I don't usually ask for reviews, but I wanna know people's thoughts on this chapter. I didn't spend as much time polishing this chapter as I normally do, so if it showed please let me know. I'm trying something new so I can get more chapters done faster but I don't want to sacrifice quality.
With that said, I hope you enjoyed this chapter :)