Inside of the Spittoon, more than a dozen students anxiously milled about and waited for news that their school could be saved.

Ike and Meagan stood behind the bar crafting a fresh batch of mocktails.

Ethan sat at one of the tables and nursed a root beer while studying his sister's injuries. She rolled her eyes while he scolded her for facing the Maroon Molecule alone. Angie brought her partner a fresh ice pack and tried to redirect Ethan's anger her way.

Standing nearby, Courtney gulped her neat Motts. She lamented to her boyfriend how her role in stopping the Maroon Molecule had been reading and pointing a camera. Nick countered that she was the one who came up with the plan to stop the masked wedgier. Courtney ceded his point, then he suggested that she enjoy the rare adventure without injuries.

Carl and Butch sat at the left end of the bar counter and regaled each other with stories of their morning. Butch admitted that robbing Snake Eyes made him feel like he was in a movie. Carl sipped his red 'juice' and argued that being a TV star was more fun - it told just as good of a story without all the haughty prestige.

Sheen sat atop the other end of the bar, once more practicing his juggling.

Seated near Sheen and staunchly ignoring him, Betty quietly sipped her virgin martini.

Cindy, Libby, and Jimmy sat at the bar's other table, poring over a list with every item save one crossed out.

Libby asked, "So the only thing we have left to do is clean up the cooking lab?"

Jimmy nodded. "The Retroville Middle School Janitor Apprenticeship Program is sending a team to take care of that. Everything else about the school is back to normal." He began counting items off on his fingers. "All of the rioters are busy watching Holt Memorial, the food fight is over, the kids involved are cleaning up the docks, and the Maroon Molecule is caught."

Cindy chimed in, "Butch organized a group to clean up the casino, the Dark Brotherhood's defeated, Nurse Holt is clearing out her last patients, and Bennett radioed to say the Candy Cartel has all been captured."

Libby whistled and sipped her goblet full of Welch's. "Busy morning." She glanced around and asked, "So where are Bennett and Yen?"

"We're here," Yen gasped while they burst through the saloon's batwings.

"Finally!" Sheen screeched while hurling his juggling balls their way. "What took you so long?"

"Right in my ear," Betty snarled while inching away from the teenager.

Bennett glowered at the boy while smacking one of the balls aside. "Taking down the entire Candy Cartel wasn't easy."

Cindy repeatedly pounded her fist against the table to gather everyone's attention. "Let's stay focused, people. It's already," she snapped her fingers and pointed at Jimmy.

He sighed and glanced at his wrist. "11:25 a.m. Why don't you just get a watch?"

Cindy ignored him. "We've got thirty-five minutes to catch the hacker and get our grades back." She faced Bennett and Yen. "Where are they?"

Bennett told the group, "We learned that they used an accomplice to upload a virus into a computer upstairs."

Ike asked, "Who helped the Grade Snatcher?"

Butch said, "A girl named Raven. She, uh, was kind of tricked by them. But now she's helping clean the school"

Yen explained, "The Grade Snatcher used the actual post office to mail two packages to the R.M.S.P.O.L.A.R.P. We have the shipping numbers, so hopefully we can just call the post office and they can tell us who sent them."

"Great," Cindy said. "Libby, dial them. This should only take a minute."

All sixteen kids formed a wide circle around the table on which sat Libby's cell phone. They all anxiously swayed on their feet, chewed their nails, or clutched at their hair.

A cheery voice said, "To make an appointment for concierge bubble wrapping, press 9. For details on a delivered package, press 10."

"That's it!" Meagan shouted. "Who has the steadiest fingers?"

Cindy stared at her palms, then turned to Ike. "Maybe you should."

"Come on. You've got this," Ike assured her.

Cindy nodded and sucked in a deep breath. She cracked her knuckles while Carl shouted, "You can do it!"

Cindy stepped towards the table, gulped, and tapped 1 followed by 0.

The crowd erupted into cheers until the staticky voice said, "You have selected one - purchase stamps. Quantity of zero. Goodbye."

"What?!" Cindy screamed. "Wait," she pleaded.

"If you would take a brief a survey-"

Ethan shouted, "This place is run by stupid adults. Try to think like them!"

Cindy closed her eyes and considered how her parents would deal with this idiocy.

"Representative!" Cindy shouted while madly hitting the 0 button over and over. "I need to speak to a representative!" She leaned over the table and screamed at the top of her lungs, "Representative representative I NEED A REPRESENTATIVE!"

In between button presses, the voice said, "The survey… five questions…chance to…gift card."

She craned her neck and shot Sheen a feral glance. "Sheen, I need your help!"

"On it!" Sheen shouted while cartwheeling towards Cindy. "REPRESENTATIVE!" he screamed with a shriek that could shatter glass.

While Sheen and Cindy took turns screaming, Bennett grabbed Jimmy's arm and pulled him aside. He calmly told the genius, "This is not going well."

"I'm aware, Bennett."

The hall monitor narrowed his eyes and said, "Perhaps you could fly to the mail depot-"

Yen asked, "Why do you speak so wrongly?"

Bennett grit his teeth and went on, "And talk to someone there."

Aashna and Ethan sidled over. "That won't work," Aashna told them. "The post office sucks."

Ethan admitted, "She's right. We went there with our parents once to mail a package. It took an hour to talk to somebody."

Aashna added, "And we were the only ones in line."

"Hello?" a woman's voice blared from Libby's phone.

Cindy frantically spun on her friends and motioned for silence. "Shut up, guys, shut up." She cleared her throat, plastered on a smile, and turned back to the call. "Hello, we have a bit of an emergency and really need help. We have to know who sent two packages that were delivered to Retroville Middle School last Thursday."

The woman said, "Okay. Do you have the package numbers?"

Yen strode forwards while opening her notebook. "Yes. They're TT0320808 and TT0268397."

"One moment please," the postal worker answered.

The group held their breath until she said, "These packages were picked up from a collection box last Monday. There wasn't a return address, so we can't tell you who sent them."

Cindy's jaw fell. "But…but," she racked her brain and asked, "Where were they picked up?"

"We don't have that information," the woman answered. "We only know it was from a pick up site, not which one. There are several across Retroville. I'm sorry, but there's nothing more I can do."

Cindy turned to Jimmy, whose face was scrunched in thought.

It wasn't until after the woman hung up that he had an idea. "Maybe we could look up how many collection boxes there are in Retroville, then see if any security cameras are trained on them?"

Courtney asked, "Even if they do, it's going to take a while to get the footage. How much time is left?"

Jimmy glanced at his wrist. "Twenty minutes."

Angie said, "There's no way we can figure this out that fast."

Cindy spun on her friend and snapped, "So what? We give up because we have to hustle a bit? We can do this."

Jimmy gulped and solemnly said, "Cindy."

She glared at Jimmy and repeated more sternly, "We can do this."

Nick hopped over the bar counter and said. "Let's use the computers in headquarters and look up the collection boxes."

Voice shaking, Cindy said, "Thank you."

Nick nodded while flipping open the hatch in the floor and sliding down the ladder.

Courtney said, "We should all go. Half look up nearby businesses and the rest call them."

Jimmy gulped but told Cindy, "We'll do our best. But we need you to get Clarke to stall the auditors."

Cindy nodded, watched Jimmy follow the group down the ladder, then made a beeline for the administration wing.

Cindy shoved Principal Clarke's door open to find her office empty. Cindy looked around in confusion, checked the clock hanging over the door, and approached the intercom system. She hesitated the briefest of moments, then activated the microphone. "Attention, this is President Vortex. Could Principal Clarke please come back to her office?" She hung up, gulped, and reactivated the receiver. "And, uh, sorry about using this."

Five minutes later, Principal Clarke stepped inside the room. She found her protégé anxiously waiting in one of the two chairs resting in front of her desk.

"Sorry again," Cindy apologized. "It's just-"

"Please," Ms. Clark gently waved away her apology and offered a gentle smile. She took her seat behind the desk and asked, "Have you found the grades?

Cindy's gaze drifted down to the lacquered mahogany between them. "No. We've figured out that the Grade Snatcher mailed a zip drive to the school. They were able to trick someone into uploading the computer virus inside it. We called the post office to figure out who sent it, but there wasn't a return address. They can't help us."

Principal Clarke began to wring her hands. "I see. Do you have a plan?"

"The zip drive was picked up from a collection box, but we don't know which one. Everyone is figuring out how many there are in Retroville, then calling to see if there are security cameras pointed at them. After that we'll have to go and review the footage."

Voice grave, the principal said, "We don't have time for that."

"I know," Cindy answered. "We need you to stall the auditors as long as you can. Isn't there some way you can get them to come another day?"

"I called first thing this morning, but a fired superintendent of a struggling school doesn't have much sway with the board. I was just with Nurse Holt. I thought that us both calling to say that students were having panic attacks about the audit might convince them to move it until tomorrow."

"Did it work?"

"I'm afraid not. There is no way they are postponing this audit."

Cindy clasped her hands and rested them on the desk."Ma'am, I'm begging you. Find a way to slow them down."

"I can buy you an hour. Maybe two," Principal Clarke offered. "But that's only if the inquisitors agree to make reviewing the grades the final part of their audit."

"Okay," Cindy managed a cautious smile. "We'll-"

Cindy's walkie-talkie crackled. Cindy ripped the radio free and asked, "Did you all find something?"

It took Jimmy frighteningly long to answer. "There are three collection boxes in the city. We split up and just called the only businesses that face them. None have cameras pointed in their direction."

Cindy's jaw tightened and her neck twitched. She stared blankly ahead and said, "Okay. I…uh…I'll think of something. You brainstorm too."

"Cindy-"

Cindy turned off the radio and set it down on the desk. She stared at the wall behind her principal, opened her mouth, but couldn't figure out what to say. "I, uh…" Cindy croaked. Her face broke and tears welled in her eyes. "What do I do, ma'am? I don't know what to do."

Principal Clarke's heart shattered as she said, "It's okay."

"No it's not," Cindy shook her head, faster and faster. "It's not okay it's not okay. I'm the president. I have to keep this school safe it's my only job and I'm failing, ma'am."

Cindy's breaths came painfully fast, her chest tightened, and her head grew fuzzy. She squeezed herself, rocked in place, and slowed her breathing enough to desperately say, "It can't end like this not like this it can't not after everything it can't be because of me because I couldn't do it I can't fail please ma'am not because of me-"

"Cynthia," Ms. Clarke rose from her seat and quickly walked around the desk. She knelt beside the girl and clasped her clammy palms in her own. "Remember the breathing. Deep in, very deep."

Ms. Clarke sucked in a slow exhalation which Cindy shakily repeated.

"Hold it. Hold it so long the pain draws your focus."

Cindy nodded as tears ran down her cheeks. Ms. Clarke kept staring into the girl's frightened eyes until the right moment came. "Now. Exhale as long as you can."

Ms. Clarke and Cindy both let out an enormous breath.

Principal Clarke nodded. "Focus on me. On this." She squeezed Cindy's hands tighter than her mother ever had.

Cindy collapsed against her mentor. Head resting against her shoulder, Cindy whispered, "It's over, isn't it?"

Ms. Clarke hugged her and admitted, "Yes, dear. I'm afraid it is."

Voice devoid of all emotion, Cindy said, "So that's it. After everything…every foam war, every villain, every broken rib and black eye…it ends like this. It was all for nothing and all because of me."

"No," Principal Clarke pulled back from Cindy and gripped the girl's shoulders a touch too roughly. "Look at me."

Cindy's gaze dropped, so Principal Clarke moved one hand and used it to tip the girl's chin back up. "Cynthia, not one bit of this is your fault."

Cindy scoffed. "How? I'm the president. It's my job to keep this place safe."

Principal Clarke told her, "Saving this school from destruction is not your job. A leader cannot protect their people all the time. Their duty is to try their best, put the needs of their others above their own, and be honest with them. You have always done those things.

"And it wasn't for nothing. I hate how this is ending, but it doesn't ruin everything that led to this moment. From the day we met, you were incredible. But still, you grew this year. All of your friends did. Even if you all go elsewhere, even if you end up at different places, you will still have what you gained. And if you put the work in, you will still have each other. Losing this building isn't the end."

"It won't be the same," Cindy lamented. "A normal school with only half my friends. Not seeing the rest every single day. Not having you there. It sucks, ma'am."

"It does indeed suck," Principal Clarke agreed. "But you're a strong, brave girl. That means you can hear the truth us adults try to keep from kids as long as possible. Life sucks a lot of the time. But those moments it doesn't, the ones you share with those you love? They make it worth it."

Cindy considered that for a long moment, then said, "Maybe I was a good president. But you were a better principal. You respected us. You kept your word. You were fair and kind and the person I want to be. And I'm always going to miss you."

Principal Clarke's face twitched. She swallowed hard, closed her glistening eyes, then whispered, "I was wondering if you would do me one last favor. Could you keep a secret?"

Cindy sniffled and muttered, "Sure."

"I mean it. You can't tell anyone. No students, no teachers, not even Mr. Neutron."

Cindy wiped her eyes and studied her mentor's grave expression. She nodded and swore, "I won't tell anyone. I promise."

Ms. Clarke sighed in relief. "Excellent. Now, you surely know that a principal must be fair. That's why we do not allow ourselves to have a favorite student. But after reading that letter you strapped to a raven, after parlaying in Minerva, after watching you become the leader this school needed, how could I not?"

She offered Cindy her hand which the girl squeezed.

"I love the brightness inside of you…I love all of you. So please, promise me that you will grieve the loss of this place. But don't let it break you. You're strong enough to weather this."

Cindy watched as her principal took a business card out of the wallet in her pocket. She hastily wrote down her personal phone number, then offered it to Cindy. "It doesn't matter who your new principal will be. If you ever need me, I will be there for you."

Cindy accepted the card and asked, "Do you really mean it?"

"Every word," Clarke assured her.

Cindy ran her thumb over the card, managed a tiny smile, then asked, "What should I do now?"

Principal stood up with a groan and said, "I suggest you join your friends at the Spittoon, have a few mocktails, and enjoy the last day of school. You've all earned it."

Cindy waited a few feet away from the Spittoon's batwings and closed her eyes. Across three foam wars and her tenure as president, she had never shied away from a fight. But letting her friends know that R.M.S. was truly lost? That gave her pause.

Cindy sucked in a deep breath, held it to five, and then let out a long exhale while walking inside. While Ike and Meagan worked behind the bar, the rest of her friends sat at tables and barstools.

Nick was the only one who looked like he still harbored hope. He desperately asked, "Can Clarke stall them until we come up with a new plan?"

Cindy couldn't stomach his anguished gaze. She looked away and said, "Maybe for an hour or two. If we're lucky."

Jimmy gently said, "That's not enough."

"I know," Cindy agreed.

Nick said, "I don't get it. What are we supposed to do?"

"This," Cindy said while taking the empty seat near Jimmy. She sat down and rested her head on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Nick, but it's over. Let's all just have one last drink."

Everyone stayed silent. Cindy shifted her gaze towards Ike and said, "Can you make me a-"

She didn't see the glass hit the wall but heard its impact. Everyone flinched as a mist of shrapnel shot across the room.

Courtney instinctively backed away from Nick. Libby grabbed her hand and pulled her close.

"Hey!" Meagan roared. "That's my thing."

"Shut up!" Nick yelled.

Meagan shrunk into herself. Ike wrapped an arm around her and warned, "Dude, stop."

"No," Nick snarled. He jabbed a finger towards Cindy and growled, "We are not giving up. No more wasting time having drinks. We need to come up with a plan. Come on, we have three freaking geniuses in here! We can fix this."

He desperately looked around the room. All he saw was pity and fear. "Guys," his voice broke. "Come on. We're supposed to stay together. All of us through middle school, high school, forever. That was the whole point of this year."

Bennett strode forward and stared Nick down. Nick puffed his chest, then faltered when Bennett placed a hand on his shoulder. "You're close. The point wasn't that we have to stay glued together forever. It's that no matter what happens, no matter where we go, we'll still care about each other. Even the jerks like Neutron."

While Jimmy splayed his hands, Yen nodded. "Being in the same place all day is great. But eventually we all have to drift apart. That's life. But as long as you put in the effort, we can always stay friends."

Cindy stood up and joined her friend. "They're right. I don't want to lose R.M.S. But going to a different school doesn't mean we're going to forget everything this place gave us. Or all that that everyone here taught us. Nothing can take that from us." She placed a hand on Nick's shoulder. "Like you. You showed me how incredible it is to have someone who will always have my back."

She motioned at Carl, Meagan, Courtney, and Sheen. "That even the weirdest kids I know can do more than I could have imagined."

Cindy grabbed her sister's hand. "That I could be selfish, and I had to work on that so I could appreciate how amazing you are."

She nodded towards Aashna and Butch. "That we can all change. Doing bad things doesn't make us bad people."

Cindy smiled at Ethan and Angie. "That if I was going to be a good president, I had to always be honest and my peoples' needs first.

She turned to the hall monitors and smiled. "That growing up means it's okay to still be a kid sometimes."

Cindy told Ike, "That being enemies doesn't mean you can't ever become friends."

Cindy turned towards Jimmy and Betty. "And you both taught me how much better it is to love than to hate."

Ike faced Nick. "I know right now things look terrible. But think of everything we've been through to get here. If you could go through this year again, knowing how it ends, would you?"

Nick looked at all of his friends, then into Courtney's kind eyes. She offered her hand which Nick greedily clasped. "Yes. Every damn time."

Meagan raised her class. "I say we drink to that. Then smash every glass in this place."

"Oh heck yeah!" Sheen exclaimed while grabbing Betty's full martini glass and hurling it to the floor.

Libby raised her goblet and said. "To all that we went through."

Jimmy lifted his Purple Flurp and said, "To what we'll never forget."

Cindy beamed while adding. "And to still being there for each other, no matter what comes next."

The group clinked their glasses and took a sip just as the batwings violently flew open.

"I implore your forgiveness for my innate dilatoriness," Evan White said as one of the saloon's doors fell off its hinges and exploded. "But this job was quite the doozy." He strolled towards Cindy and thrust a manila envelope towards her. "As requested, here is a complete psychological profile of the Grade Snatcher."

Butch scoffed and said, "Ain't gonna do much good unless it includes a name."

"Oh dear," Evan shook his head in pitiful disdain. "You know nothing of the art of the mind. A psychological profile is merely a collection of character traits used to narrow down a list of suspects. Deducing the name is your job."

Jimmy said, "We're past that. The auditors will be here any minute."

The group fell solemn at the reminder that R.M.S. would soon be shuttered. Evan cocked his head and looked around. "Come now, everyone. What good is a band of heroes if we don't rally together at the eleventh hour?"

The room stayed quiet, so Evan once more proffered the folder towards Cindy. "Please, Madame President."

Cindy sighed but accepted the folder. She opened to the lone page of paper, shook her head, and skeptically began to read it aloud. "Based on the voice disguiser's modulation patterns and the subject's underserved self-righteousness, we can deduce with high certainty that the hacker is male."

Nick said, "Great. Narrows it down to a mere three billion people."

Cindy went on, "Their ability to concoct such a sophisticated computer program likely puts them in the top percentile of intelligence."

Sheen scoffed. "I could have told you that if I knew what it meant."

Cindy kept reading. "The hacker considers himself a superior specimen, above his peers in both wit and maturity."

Bennett huffed and said, "So it's Jimmy?"

Jimmy narrowed his eyes while Cindy kept going. "His use of the word faffing outs him as a Brit." Cindy's eyebrows rose and she asked. "They're British?"

Jimmy countered, "They could be using atypical language to throw us off their tracks."

Evan shook his head. "I listened to that section of the broadcast several times. The ease in which they use the word seems completely genuine."

Cindy slowly said to herself, "A haughty-taughty British boy." She turned to Jimmy and asked, "Charles?"

Jimmy considered the question before shaking his head. "It can't be."

Ike asked, "Wait, the guy who we took out at the end of the Secret Foam War?" When Jimmy nodded, Ike added, "Come on, Neutron.. He's sadistic. It has to be him."

"I did consider him as a suspect," Jimmy assured Ike. "But he's genuinely changed after he was a Striker. None of the Neutronauts thought he had been acting suspicious the past few weeks. And the information he gave us today did help."

Evan cleared his throat and dramatically flapped the tails of his white coat. "Charles is an intriguing deduction, one which I also considered. But note this. The hacker placed undue emphasis on the word we during his speech. Contrary to the ease with which he used faffing, he seemed to be drawing attention to the idea that he was one of us. I firmly believe that this was misdirection. The fact that he then said he would push you over the edge appeared to be a slip-up at the end of a passionate diatribe."

Courtney asked, "Are you saying that he isn't a student here?"

"Precisely," Evan agreed. "Based on his venomous disdain for this place, he is an outsider. But this fury must come from somewhere. I fear he has tousled with people in this school before. Surely such a diabolical plan isn't this person's first foray into villainy."

The gears in the Neutron gang's heads began to spin.

A boy our age.

A genius.

A condescendingly superior attitude.

He's British.

He doesn't go to school here.

We've fought him before.

Jimmy, Libby, and Cindy shouted, "It's Eustace!"

Sheen cried, "Zix!" He stared at his friends and moaned, "Oh, man."

Carl lifted his head off the table and asked, "What?"

The rest of the students watched Cindy grab Jimmy by the shoulders and violently shake him. "What time is it, Jimmy, WHAT TIME IS IT?"

Jimmy struggled to angle his flapping wrist towards Cindy. Libby stabilized it while Cindy kept shaking. She made out 11:55 a.m. and shouted, "We have five minutes!"

Nick asked, "Guys?"

Jimmy fought off a wave of vertigo after Cindy released him. He asked, "Clarke can stall them, right?"

"Not for long," Cindy answered. "We have to leave right now. Hover car?"

"Guys?" Nick asked even louder.

Jimmy said, "We don't have time for Goddard to bring it. Let's-"

"GUYS!" Nick finally managed to draw Jimmy and Cindy's focus. He locked eyes with both of them and firmly asked, "What do you need?"

Cindy looked around at her friends and Evan. "Principal Clarke said she might be able to convince the inquisitors to make checking the grades the last part of their audit. I need you all to make sure that happens. Slow them down and buy us all the time you can."

Jimmy added, "While you do that, Cindy and I will use H.A.L.L.P.A.S.S.'s emergency jetpack to go after Eustace. I'll go get it." He sprinted around the bar and disappeared down the hatch that led to H.A.L.L.P.A.S.S. headquarters.

Sheen asked, "How the heck are we supposed to stall bureaucrats with hearts made of unyielding stone?"

Cindy narrowed her eyes in resolution and pointed at the array of glasses atop the nearest table. "Meagan, smash all of those on the floor."

"On it!" Meagan agreed.

As soon as glass stopped flying, Cindy hopped atop the cleared table and looked at her friends. "You are all the most committed, bravest, and weirdest freaking people I have ever met. A few crabby government officials don't stand a chance against all of you. You can do this."

Jimmy emerged from the hatch with a jetpack in hand. He sprinted by Cindy, grabbed her hand, and the two dashed out the door with wishes of good luck.

Their friends blinked in shock. Nick rubbed the back of his neck. "So, we have to come up with crazy ways to slow down the auditors. Any ideas?"

Everyone turned to Ike and Meagan. Ike smiled, grabbed a backup pair of sunglasses from his rear pocket, and placed them over his aviators. "Meagan and I have a few shenanigans we haven't had the chance to do yet. Buckle up, because it's about to get crazy."

A fistful of glitter exploded against his face while Meagan shouted, "Ba dum pow!"

Wind lashed Jimmy and Cindy's face while they blasted through the air and raced across Retroville. Cindy clutched Jimmy as tightly as she could and shouted, "We'll have to get inside his mansion and try to find his lab."

Jimmy stared at his watch, which displayed an infrared map of the Strych property. "Maybe not. There's a lot of energy being used in a small thicket of trees a half mile from the mansion."

Cindy asked, "You think he moved his lab there?"

"Maybe, or it could be a satellite facility. Given the location, it's likely a treehouse."

"Okay," Cindy offered. "We'll start there and infiltrate the main building if it doesn't pan out. How far are we?"

"Ninety seconds," he told her just as his watch buzzed.

Both kids stared at the device as a computerized voice spoke above the roar of the wind. "Attention, traveler. Your flight path suggests that you will cross Strych property. Be aware that if you enter this forbidden airspace, anti-aircraft missiles will stop you."

Cindy asked, "Should we go in on foot?"

"No," Jimmy said while narrowing his eyes and changing his flight path. He climbed higher into the sky as the Strych resident came into clear view. "I can get us there."

Cindy's eyes tripled in size as a dozen streaks of steam shot out of the distant ground and blasted towards them. "Jimmy!"

"Activating decoy flares," Jimmy calmly said while flipping a switch on his jetpack. While he kept ascending, ten sizzling flares rocketed away from him and drew most of the incoming missiles' attention. "Performing evasive maneuvers."

Cindy narrowed her eyes against the rapidly freezing wind and disappearing ground. "Can I help?"

"No. Just hang on tight."

Jimmy began to randomly adjust his yaw, instigated a barrel roll, and then rapidly dropped his altitude. Streams of steam raced past him while a half dozen other missiles collided with the flares. Jimmy saw one impact out of the corner of his eye and noted the odd lack of an explosion.

"They're not combustible." Jimmy's voice held equal measures of relief and confusion.

Cindy craned her neck and saw a missile heading straight for them.

"Jimmy!"

Jimmy and Cindy shuddered as the weapon impacted with the jetpack. The twin flames propelling them through the air instantly shut off as the entire system spewed sparks.

Cindy gulped as she realized what was happening. "They're EMPs!"

"Dang it," Jimmy groaned. He stared at his watch's altimeter and realized they were two thousand feet above the ground. "Increasing drag," Jimmy said while spreading his legs as wide as we could. "Activating analog backburn."

Jimmy flipped a switch on the left side of his jetpack, then grabbed Cindy's left hand. He placed it on a now-exposed crank beneath the switch.

"What are you doing?!" Cindy screamed while clenching her three other limbs around him.

"Spin this crank as hard as you can," Jimmy said as his altimeter fell to 1,000 feet. "Now, Cindy!"

While Jimmy focused on steering, Cindy did as she was told. Inside the jetpack, each revolution of the wheel released hydrogen peroxide. The blue liquid gushed towards the fun fuel's holding tank. Once it contacted the container's silver lining, the peroxide erupted into superheated steam which sparked the fuel.

"It's working!" Cindy shouted as thin streaks of fire erupted from the thrusters.

"We're on target." Jimmy shouted while the thicket came into view. He spotted glints of light reflecting off of something in the middle of the copse. "Okay, cut the thrusters!"

Cindy did as he said, the fire ceased, and they both gilded towards their target.

An enormous glass treehouse encasing a massive oak tree loomed towards them.

"Brace for impact!" Jimmy shouted.

Cindy covered her eyes with one arm.

Jimmy wrapped his arms over her head, then tucked his face over the top of her skull.

Leafy branches painfully slowed their advance, but the duo still carried enough thrust to plow through the nearest wall. A thousand shards of glass exploded and filled the air with deadly debris. Jimmy slammed into a flabbergasted Eustace, lost his grip on Cindy, and rolled across the ground before slamming into the opposite wall.

"Aargghh," Cindy moaned as every one of her bones screamed in agony. She stared at the innumerable superficial lacerations across her arms. "Ji-Jimmy?"

"Alive," the boy groaned. "Eustace broke my fall."

From underneath Jimmy, Eustace growled, "You insane, worthless interlopers. Get off of me."

Cindy carefully swiped away the glass around her, shoved herself up, and looked at her surroundings. The treehouse was large; double the size of her bedroom. Three floor-to-ceiling glass walls were left, though the one Jimmy and Eustace had spiraled into now featured a hefty crack. The pane to her left led to a porch which housed an elevator. The center of the room was taken up by the thick tree trunk. Strewn throughout the space were workstations sporting laptops, diagnostic equipment, and tool kits.

Cindy knelt over the entangled boys and offered Jimmy a hand. A quick lift got him to his feet, then they both leered over a slowly rising Eustace.

"Hello, Beaver Boy," Cindy snarled. "Long time no see."

"Yes, and what a fabulous year it's been," Eustace growled while dusting himself off. "Now I suggest you leave before I throw you out."

Cindy scoffed. "You really think you can take me?"

Eustace answered with a grimy smirk. "And do you really think missiles are the only defenses I have? With one codeword I-"

Cindy interrupted him by kicking his left kneecap. Eustace stumbled forwards and fell right into her waiting hand. She squeezed his neck and dragged him towards the obliterated wall.

She ignored his frantic attempts to claw her wrist away. Voice shaking in fury, Cindy snarled, "And do you really think that whatever robots, guns, or weapons you have can stop me before I throw you out of here?"

Eustace glanced at the ground twenty-five feet below and began to tremble.

"Cindy," Jimmy nervously said.

Eustace stared back at her with eyes full of terror. She loosened her grip enough to let him speak, then asked, "Where are the grades?"

Eustace gasped, glanced back at the dirt far below, and then glowered at her. "Or what? You'll shove me down there?"

Cindy met his gaze for a long moment, then let him go.

"No," she calmly said while taking a step back. "No matter what happens, we're done hurting you."

While Eustace rubbed his aching throat, Jimmy said, "Eustace, it's over. Just give us the grades back."

The boy shook his head. "Sorry, old bean. That's not going to happen."

"I don't get this," Cindy snarled. "You helped us on Mars. You haven't attacked us for a year. Why now?"

"You're the ones assaulting me."

"Because you stole our school's grades!"

Eustace rolled his eyes. "That has nothing to do with you two. It's not personal."

Jimmy said, "I find that hard to believe."

"It doesn't particularly matter if you believe it."

"Then why did you do it?" Cindy asked. "What possible reason could you have for destroying our school?"

Eustace shifted his gaze between their two furious faces, then sighed. "If it will end this debacle, then fine, I'll tell you. Father recently made the absurd decision that I have become too elitist, despite being part of the literal elite. As such, he told me that next year I shall no longer attend private school. But if the only public middle school in our district were to be shut down, well…"

Jimmy cocked his head in disbelief. "You really did all of this just so you wouldn't have to go to school with regular kids?"

Eustace scoffed. "It wasn't about spending time with the riff-raff. I've actually quite enjoyed the past year at my school. I've met people there who…they mean a great deal to me. I'd prefer not to leave them."

Cindy asked, "You really don't care that you're putting hundreds of kids through the same thing you're worried about? How could you be so selfish?"

"Please," Eustace waved her words away. "If your school gets shut down, you'll all just go to a new place together. It's hardly the same."

"You're wrong," Jimmy argued. "If we fail the audit, the students will be split up. Half will go to school in Metroville and the others will go to Contempoville."

Eustace tried to hide his surprise. "Surely that's not how it would work."

"Yes it is," Cindy snarled. "Plus everyone who works in that building is going to lose their job."

Eustace stayed quiet, then admitted, "Well, that wasn't part of the plan."

"Well, it's happening," Jimmy said. "But it doesn't have to. Just give us back the grades and we can stop it."

Eustace let out a nervous laugh. "Oh, is that all, Neutron? What happens after I let you save the day? Father's not going to give me what I want. Your school will expel me. What's left? I'm not going to end up in some juvenile delinquent facility, I'll tell you that much. I'm sorry, but I have to see this through. I don't have a choice."

"There's always a choice," Cindy told Eustace. "We each have to make one here, about what we're willing to sacrifice to get what we want. Me? I'd like to see you suffer for what you put me through today. But I can let that go to save our school. I'll give you amnesty."

Eustace tilted his head and asked, "What are you talking about?"

"If you give us the grades, we'll let you go. No strings attached. You'll go to R.M.S. next year and no one will know what you did. Jimmy and I will even help you settle in there. And whoever it is at your school that you don't want to leave? You can still be friends with them and see them all the time. Switching schools doesn't mean you have to lose the people you care about - that's something you taught us today."

Jimmy added, "And we'll try to expand the Interschool Outreach Program to include private schools. Every other week your friends could come to R.M.S. or you could go back to your old school."

Cindy nodded. "So that's one choice. Or, you finish what you started. Make hundreds of kids suffer what you're afraid of. Make good people lose their jobs and ruin their lives."

Eustace silently pondered her offer.

Cindy said, "You helped us on Mars. You kept your word and haven't attacked us since we made that truce. And as selfish as you were today, you weren't trying to hurt people. You're not a villain anymore, Eustace. So please, prove to me, to yourself, and to the people that you care about that you've changed."

Eustace shifted his gaze between the two of them, closed his eyes, and stood in silence for an eternity. After a minute, Jimmy nervously glanced at Cindy, who flashed a palm. He gulped but agreed to wait. At long last, Eustace opened his eyes and sighed.

He walked towards an enormous cabinet in one corner of the room and opened one of its doors to reveal a safe. He placed his palm on a nearby bioscanner and clearly enunciated, "Amor et melle et felle est fecundissimus."

The safe's door popped open. Eustace reached inside, grabbed a zip drive, and strode back to his former nemeses.

He handed them the device and said, "Here. The passcode is-"

"No," Jimmy shook his head while Cindy greedily snatched the memory stick. "You have to come with us. We don't have any time to waste, so we need you there in case there's trouble accessing the files."

Cindy realized Jimmy had a point and eagerly nodded. "We all need to get there fast and you ruined Jimmy's jetpack. Do you have a spare?"

Eustace grumbled, "Obviously." He opened the cabinet's other door to reveal five jetpacks resting on hooks.

Cindy immediately began strapping one on while asking, "Why do you have so many?"

"Because I'm rich, Cynthia," Eustace said while he and Jimmy snapped theirs on. "And…I have people who like to fly with me."

Jimmy led the group towards the broken wall. "Come on, guys. There's no time to waste." He held his finger over the thruster's controls, smiled, and said, "Gotta blast," before rocketing into the sky.