The Hyena had ridden many horses in her day; equestrian talents were a major plus in the world of beauty pageants. But a camel is only similar to a horse in that it has hair and four legs. Riding a horse is like floating on smooth waves. Riding a camel is like riding a barrel over a waterfall: bouncy, uncomfortable, and, factoring in camel saliva, very wet. Still, the Hyena would rather face camel spit than go back to Jigsaw empty-handed. She was not going into the fire pit like Dr. Lunich!

They raced down back alleys, weaving through hidden neighborhoods and causing panicked people to leap out of their way. An old woman tossed a pail of brown water out of her window right on the Hyena’s head. A man dragged a cart with a broken wheel across her path. After much shouting, she got around him and continued her pursuit. Her target made a left turn onto a long stretch of lonely road that crossed over an empty riverbed. The Hyena dug her heels into the camel again and soon the distance between her and the sticky boy had shortened.

She was seconds away when the odd boy with the mechanical mouth came stomping past her. He sidled up to the chubby boy, then a fifth limb crept out of his mouth and pulled Dr. Badawi away from Glueboy. Glueboy shouted angrily at Metalmouth, but in the process, he fell off his camel and tumbled end over end down the embankment to the dry riverbed below. Metalmouth, however, just kept running. If he noticed that his companion had taken a nosedive into the dust, he didn’t seem concerned.

The Hyena raced after him, but his machine legs outpaced the camel two steps to one, and in no time he was out of the city proper and into the hot, brutal desert. As he slipped farther and farther away, the Hyena began to feel Dr. Jigsaw’s trap door sliding out from under her. She was nearly resigned to a fiery death when a miracle occurred. As she chased the boy up a sandy embankment, she saw an army of men on horseback approach. Each was brandishing a huge sword and screaming angry threats into the air. The men surrounded them all.

The leader of the militia pointed his sword at the boy’s neck and shouted angrily.

“Friends of yours?” the Hyena asked him.

“A few of them had me surrounded this afternoon. I think he’s still angry about the beating I gave him,” the boy replied.

“You’ve disgraced his manhood,” she said. “You should apologize before he chops off your head.”

“I don’t speak Arabic,” the boy said.

“I do,” the Hyena said. “Give me the doctor and I’ll get you out of this.”

The boy frowned, but a moment later his tentacles were easing the poor doctor onto the back of the Hyena’s camel.

“Thanks,” she said, as she turned the camel in the opposite direction.

“Hey! I thought you were going to help me!”

“Yeah, about that. I don’t really speak their language. But good luck,” she said, then clomped off into the night. She heard an enormous roar from the crowd and the sound of swords clanging.

“I’M sensing that you’re angry,” Jackson said as Agent Brand paced back and forth. The spy said nothing. Neither did the scientists hovering about in the Playground. Jackson had never heard headquarters so still.

“I think it’s clear that he’s not cut out for this,” Ruby said before Brand could answer.

Flinch turned the knob on his harness. “He really blew it.”

Jackson was livid. “What did you think—I was going to be some superspy right out of the box?”

“What I thought was you could follow simple orders!” Agent Brand shouted. His words were so loud, Ms. Holiday yelped. “I told you to observe, not get involved.”

“The team needed my help!”

“That’s ridiculous,” Heathcliff muttered. “We had the situation under control. We’ve faced bigger problems than a dozen armed goons.”

“Heathcliff is right,” Brand said. “Your teammates are more than capable. You, however, are not. You are responsible for Dr. Badawi’s kidnapping.”

“Technically, she was supposed to get kidnapped,” Jackson said.

“By us!” Heathcliff cried.

“Plus, you let the enemy know that we are onto them. We’ve lost the element of surprise,” Matilda said.

Jackson shook his head. Badawi would have been snatched by the girl and her goons whether he had tried to help or not. Wasn’t anyone going to point out that little nugget of information?

“We should wipe his mind and send him back to class,” Heathcliff said.

Jackson turned to Duncan. The boy had shown signs of sympathy toward him. Maybe he’d speak up, but Duncan was silently rubbing a bruise on his behind and scowling angrily.

“I agree,” Flinch said.

“So do I,” Ruby said. “As team leader, I’m calling for a vote. All those in favor of expelling Joe Quarterback here, say—”

Brand slammed his hand on the table. Somewhere a guinea pig camera squeaked in fright. “You’re as stubborn as Jackson!” Brand cried.

Ruby started furiously scratching her legs.

“What’s wrong with you?” Brand asked the girl.

“She’s allergic to criticism,” Matilda said.

Brand groaned. “What has happened to my career! I used to drive an Aston Martin. I used to play high-stakes card games for the fate of the world. I used to date beautiful women.”

“Gross!” Flinch said.

“Now look at me.” The spy threw up his hands in exasperation and stormed out of the room.

Ms. Holiday brushed the wrinkles from her skirt and stepped forward. “Pufferfish, I’m very disappointed.”

“What did I do?”

“That man is one of the greatest secret agents this country has ever seen,” Ms. Holiday said. “He lost part of his leg trying to save the world. The Powers That Be have put him in charge of this group. Perhaps they know something about him that you don’t?”

“I don’t need to know anything about him,” Ruby muttered.

“I want all of you to get to work now with Benjamin. Load any information about this mysterious girl you encountered and try to build a three-dimensional model of her so we can search for face matches,” Ms. Holiday said.

“What about me?” Jackson asked.

“I said all of you, Braceface,” the librarian replied.

“So you’re not firing me?”

“Not today.”

“Why not?” Heathcliff begged.

Ms. Holiday flashed Jackson a sympathetic smile as she walked off in the direction of Agent Brand.

“You’re running out of chances,” Heathcliff said to Jackson.

“It’s just a matter of time before you’re gone,” Matilda added.

Jackson was about to argue, but something dawned on him. “Time! What time is it?”

Duncan looked at his watch. Apparently it did more than shoot lasers. “It’s four thirty.”

“Four thirty!” Jackson cried. “I’m late for detention!” Dehaven was going to kill him!

Jackson raced toward the secret entrance that led him out of the lockers. When he was back in the school hallway, he took off at a sprint toward the detention room. He rounded the corner and threw the door open, but the room was empty. There wasn’t a soul waiting inside, only a note written on the chalkboard. It read:

YOU MESSED WITH THE BULL, JACKSON. NOW IT’S TIME FOR THE HORNS.

LEVEL 7 CLEARANCE IS

NEXT, AND YOU’VE EXCEEDED

EVERYONE’S EXPECTATIONS.

STILL, FURTHER DNA SAMPLING

IS REQUIRED. DON’T COMPLAIN.

I HAD TO GO THROUGH THE

SAME PROCESS WHEN I BECAME