Chapter 1: Showtime 1 Showtime The roof of the Majestic Theatre was Joey''s "go-to" spot when he needed a quiet place to think. He had a bit more on his mind than the average fourteen-year-old boy, so he needed a place like that pretty often. Joey spent a lot of time up there with a foot on the ledge, staring out at the city in silence. In that one respect, the night was no different from any other, but the night was still young. The theater was not as tall as Joey''s apartment building across the river in Hoboken. At home, he had a clear view of Manhattan''s iconic skyline, but he preferred to be on top of the Majestic. The city had grown on Joey. The neighboring buildings towered over the theater like an urban forest, and Joey liked being in the thick of it.
He liked the city''s energy. Tonight, however, that energy was noticeably absent. It was eleven o''clock on a warm October evening, and New York was eerily quiet. The streets should have been bustling with activity as the nearby theaters released their audiences and the sidewalks filled with people, but that wasn''t going to happen. The lights had all gone out, and not just on Broadway. An invisible enemy had swept across the globe, shuttering businesses, taking lives, and forcing everyone into isolation. It wasn''t an evil scheme by dark magicians that had done it, but a virus. The latest crisis in a world filled with problems that were spinning out of control.
For Joey, it was the final straw. People everywhere were desperate for the pandemic to end and life to return to normal, but Joey took a different view. In his mind, normal life wasn''t enough. Normal didn''t work, and the truth was, it never had. Joey was after something better. "You finished brooding up here, Dark Knight?" Janelle asked him. Janelle liked to tease Joey for spending so much time up on the roof looking serious. She was convinced that he secretly wanted to be Batman, but really, he was more of a Spider-Man/Winston Churchill type.
"I''m not brooding," Joey said. "I''m thinking. You hear that?" Janelle paused a moment to listen. "I don''t hear anything." "Exactly. It''s like some kind of post-apocalyptic disaster movie out there. Only it''s real." "I know," Janelle agreed.
"It''s scary how fast everything changed." "You know what''s scary? How much I miss going to school. I never thought I''d say that ." Exemplar Academy, the school for gifted students that Joey and Janelle both attended, had switched to all-virtual classes when the pandemic began. Only the students who were working on a vaccine were allowed back in the building. Joey and Janelle were not part of that effort, but they had their own plan to make good on the school motto and change the world for the better. "Are you ready?" Janelle asked Joey. "I''ll be down in a second.
I''m just taking one last look." "At what?" "A world without magic." Janelle joined Joey at the edge of the roof. She nudged him with her elbow. "Was that your Batman voice? Because if it was, it needs work." "Stop it," Joey complained. "I wasn''t doing a Batman voice." He narrowed his eyes, trying to look tough.
" This. is my Batman voice ," he rasped in a gravelly tone. Janelle laughed. "That was even worse." "No way. That was quality. I stand by it." "Can we stand somewhere besides the roof? Shazad and Leanora are downstairs in the Map Room.
Their parents just got here." "They''re here? Why didn''t you say so?" "I just did." Janelle gave Joey''s arm a tug. "Let''s go, Boy Wonder." "Did you just demote me from Batman to Robin?" Joey winced, stung by the comment. "That''s cold." Joey followed Janelle down to Redondo''s old office. Having never met Redondo, she always called it the Map Room, which made sense because one of its walls was covered with a giant interactive map.
It was a mural of the Secret Map of the World. Leanora and Shazad had painted it using magic brushes, and the map moved just like the original had done, allowing them to zoom in on lost realms and magic gateways that led all over the planet. This was the room where Joey, Shazad, Leanora, and Janelle made all their big plans. A year of talking, researching, plotting, and scheming--not to mention a whole lot of rooftop thinking--had finally led to a breakthrough. The Order of the Majestic was ready for action. "You found him," Leanora said to Janelle as they entered. "Where was he?" "In his office." Janelle smirked.
"The roof again?" Leanora asked. "Pretending to be the DarkBat?" Joey snorted, trying to keep a straight face. "Exactly. That''s one hundred percent right. How''s it going down here?" "Everything''s fine," Leanora''s mother said, smiling warmly at Joey. "We''re just mapping out our plans for the evening." "For the hundredth time," Shazad''s mother added. "How are you, Joey?" "I''m good, thanks," Joey replied.
"I''m ready." "Hello, Joey," Shazad''s father said from a few feet away, where he stood studying the map alongside Leanora''s father. Both men waved to Joey and went back to strategizing. "I think we need more people at Stonehenge," Shazad''s father said. " Da ," Leanora''s father agreed. "My cousins can join you there. The rest of our family will be here, here, and here," he added, tapping spots on the map. Shazad''s father rubbed his chin, staring at the map.
"Yes, this is good. This can work." "How is everyone else doing?" Joey asked. "All set?" "Just about," Shazad said. He spun the Staff of Sorcero around in one direction, extending it to the size of a bo staff, then twirled it back the other way to shrink it down to the length of a ruler. He handed it to Janelle, who thanked him. "Are you sure you don''t want to take anything else with you?" "I''m sure," Janelle said. "I like this one.
It makes sense to me. Somewhat." "Good thing Hypnova brought it back to us," Shazad said. "It was the least she could do," Shazad''s mother said. "After keeping the Caliburn Shield for herself." "She needed it more than we did," Shazad told his mother. "I know. And you left it in good hands--that''s the important thing.
But I would have liked you to have it tonight. For protection." "I''ll be fine," Shazad reassured his mother. "I''m ready for tonight." "Are you ready?" Leanora asked Joey. "Everything taken care of at home? Your parents all tucked in, safe and sound?" Joey nodded. "That tea you gave me worked like a charm." "That''s because it was one.
" Leanora grinned. Leanora''s mother said something in Russian. Joey didn''t understand the words, but he knew a reprimand when he heard one. From the way the grin slipped off Leanora''s face, Joey knew he was right. "What?" Leanora said. "Dreamleaf is a natural sleep aid. It''s harmless." She had given Joey and Janelle a special blend of enchanted tea leaves that her family kept in their pantry.
It was amazing stuff, guaranteed to put anyone who drank it to sleep within minutes, but only if they were in a safe place. Also, they would wake up immediately if they were in danger. "My parents had two cups each, they liked it so much," Janelle said. "They should be out for the next forty-eight hours at least." "Same here," Joey said. "And while they sleep, everything''s going to change," Leanora''s mother said. "They''re going to wake up in a whole new world." Joey shrugged.
"More like the old world back again, but yeah. That''s the plan." "You''re not concerned about what they''re going to say?" Leanora''s mother asked. "It''s going to be quite the rude awakening. And then, when they find out you are responsible?" " Mamushka ," Leanora said. "If Joey has to explain himself to his parents when this is over, that would be a very good thing." "I''m just worried about all of you," Leanora''s mother said. "Our plans tonight are dangerous.
Joey''s and Janelle''s parents deserve to know the truth of what you are doing." "They can''t handle the truth," Joey said, making a rare, non-comic-book movie reference. "You never know," Leanora''s mother said. "They might surprise you. We''ve faced our share of difficult audiences over the years, and always, we''ve been able to reach them. My daughter might disagree, but not everything has to be a fight." "We''ve been through this," Leanora said. "And tonight does.
" Onstage, Leanora''s family was known as the Nomadiks. They performed all over the world, hiding magic in plain sight and inspiring a belief in the impossible. Their shows helped keep magic alive in people''s hearts, but their influence was always limited to a single town or village at a time. The act had never been enough for Leanora. She wanted to take on the forces that held magic back directly. Getting her parents to come around to her way of thinking had not been easy, but she had done it. Convincing Joey''s parents to do the same was out of the question. "Mrs.
Valkov, my mom and dad would never let me go ahead with this," Joey explained. "They wouldn''t understand. They can''t understand. Not yet." "They will. in time," Shazad''s mother said. "It''s all right," she added to Leanora''s mother. "Sometimes people need to be shocked into seeing things differently.
Look at us. Before Camelot, we never would have approved of this crusade. Now we''re lending the children magic.