Donald Cornwell walked into the AVMO wing of the Fourside Observatory. He smiled.
Jonathan Falken had gotten as many members as he could of the AVMO back from their houses. Some had gone on weekend vacations, so they were unreachable; but others could return to the Observatory to monitor this strange situation.
"Jonathan," one of the AVMO members, Ken Tremblay, complained, "I don't understand why you had to interrupt my supper. My wife prepared pheasant for us. Pheasant."
"Ken's right," Patricia Fitzroy spoke up. "Our shifts for the week ended at 8:00, but your shift ends at 10:00. Couldn't you have at least given us a break?"
"Yes, Jonathan is the AVMO head," Donald Cornwell reminded the workers, "however, he got you to return to the Observatory on my request."
"The reason we called you back here is to monitor for relapses of the strange new V-flux that Mr. Cornwell alerted me to."
"V-flux?" Linda Williams asked. "I thought we'd catalogued all the V-fluxes that we knew of. For there to be a V-flux we haven't found before, there would have to be a new V-star."
"It's not a new V-star," Cornwell observed. "In fact, it's not even an old star whose V-flux was just noticed. It's an entire constellation that just V-fluxed." The absurdity of this statement struck Linda, Ken and Patricia very quickly.
"There can't be a constellation V-fluxing!" Ken objected. "We've catalogued all the V-stars there are, and none are close enough to even be considered to be a constellation."
Donald Cornwell pressed a button on his Observatory Master Control, or OMC. Ken turned towards one of the Observatory's television screens as it turned on. His eyes opened wide in surprise as he saw Cygnus' stars' intensity flux.
"This was an hour ago," Cornwell said. "And, on reviewing the previous day, Jonathan observed this." He pressed another button. Another constellation was shown, and began to glow in a pulse-like fashion. "And this, not long after that." The same constellation reappeared, and once more began to flux.
"That could have been faked," Linda offered, believing yet not believing at the same time. "The only constants there are that Cygnus and Draco have supposedly begun a V-flux; and you could have engineered those V-fluxes yourself. Or it could be a flaw in the software causing the appearance of V-flux."
Cornwell smiled again. "That is true, Linda; however, the V-fluxes are limited to those constellations: that eliminates the argument of a software flaw. And I would have no interest in bringing you in for more work, especially for this, if I had engineered the fraud myself: I myself had to sacrifice a short vacation for this. You'll just have to trust me. Now, back to work."
Grumbling, the AVMO workers returned to their computers, watching for any more V-fluxes amongst the constellations. Cornwell headed out, slipping the OMC into his pocket. Perhaps he could make his plane to Summers.

The stalwart four wandered south through Winters, eventually jumping over a small cliff.
"Why did I never jump over that hole when I first came down this way?" Jeff wondered out loud. "It would have been quicker than going through Brick Road's maze..."
"Don't get down on yourself, Jeff," Tony said consolingly. "I don't think jumping would have occurred to any of us."
"I know, Tony. And that's the problem: I'm said to have a super-genius' IQ, but if I can't even think of that, it doesn't suit my reputation."
"Just forget about it," Paula mused. "It's nothing major, unlike this situation."
"I agree with Paula," Ness said. "Let's just get going. We've got the Pond Cave to go through, and then we have to talk with Jeff's father, Dr. Andonuts." He began to walk towards a cave. As he disappeared into the darkness, the other three shrugged their shoulders and ran after him.
As they struggled through the cave, strangely lit by a species of lichen, the discussion once more drifted to the strange disappearance of Tony's painting, as well as Maxwell's likely hunger to find and reprimand them.
"I wonder who stole the painting," Tony muttered. "Because when I find out who did steal the painting, they'll have to answer to me!"
"Be quiet," hissed Jeff. "This cave's ceiling is very fragile."
Paula opened up her umbrella, diverting the rock chips from their head. "I say you take Jeff's advice, Tony."
"There could be as many suspects as we can think of," Ness observed, "or there could be more; or there could be less. We can't really tell who did it. Except for the fact that they've got some dastardly plans."
"Ness?" Paula asked.
"Paula?" Ness answered.
"You've been watching a lot of old cowboy movies, haven't you?"
"Uh, yeah."
"And what of Maxwell?" Tony mused. "He's out for our heads. You would think he'd be after us by now."
"He should be," Jeff said, concurring, "but I'm surprised that I haven't heard him yet." He pressed a button. "That just locked down my lab for entry."

Maxwell finished his roast beef sandwich and watercress salad and threw his tray into the cafeteria To Wash bin. He put the paper plates into the To Recycle bin. He walked to the door. They still hadn't returned, he guessed, and checked their room. No, they hadn't been there either.
So where are they? he thought. Maybe they're in his lab. He walked down, only to find that the door refused to open. He stomped his foot, his frown inverting itself.
"They must be in the lab!" he exclaimed. He inserted his skeleton key into the lock and turned.
A hollow click, one that indicated the door had been unlocked, met Maxwell. His smile opened, showing the lettuce leaves caught in his teeth. He twisted the knob, expecting to see the door open onto a frightened Jeff, Tony, Ness and Paula.
...only to see nothing happen.

"Dr. Andonuts, I mean Dad, are you there?" Jeff called out from outside the lab. The loud clanging from within the lab indicated that his father, the good doctor, was working on one of his many projects. The clanging continued.
"Your father's a workaholic, Jeff?" Tony wondered.
"Not that I know of," he answered. "He's just senile and easily caught up in his work; I wouldn't call that workaholism." He opened the door.
He laughed as he saw his father, doughnut stuffed in his mouth, attack what resembled a very beat up Sky Runner with a hammer, pounding the mental into the shape that reminded everyone of an unidentified flying object.
"DAD!" Jeff cried, the alien nature of referring to his father by the name 'Dad' clearly unsettling him.
"I'll talk to you in ten years, Jeff," the absent-minded scientist said, continuing to pound the metal. The clanging resonated in everyone's heads. Tony covered his ears with his hands to escape the deafening sound.
About one minute later, Dr. Andonuts dropped the hammer, which just missed hitting his slipper-clad right foot. He turned around, his left food impacting the hammer hard.
"Jef--OUCH!" he exclaimed.
"Dad, are you all right?" Jeff ran over and helped his father, who was favouring his left foot, limp over to a chair. "Ness, do you have an extra bat?"
"But won't my bat make a bad cane?" Ness asked, all the while rummaging through his yellow backpack -- a shade of yellow he called cute yellow -- for his old Tee-ball bat. He handed it to Jeff.
"As it is, yes," Jeff replied. "But once I use my Gaia beam to cut it up a bit, it'll be effective." He pulled out his pistolet ray weapon and fired it, cutting off the rounded end, flattening the body of the bat, and creating a grip at the holding end. He gave it to his father, who stood up, testing out the cane.
"Oh, this is perfect. Thank you, Jeff."
"No problem, Dad. Can we borrow this new Sky Runner?"
"Go ahead. I can control it from here, if you want."
"That would be perfect!" Jeff exclaimed. He led his friends into the Sky Runner.
Dr. Andonuts hobbled over to the Sky Runner control mechanism and activated it. He waved to his son as he flew up, in the Sky Runner, into the sky.

In a plane that overlapped the real world, and which was overlapped itself by the real world, and yet itself was not subject to any of the real world's laws, such as gravity, lay Tony's Jubilee project; as did its thief; and as did that which had told the thief to steal the painting in the first place.
The Thief moved about tentatively. This was unsettling to him. "Shouldn't they have come by now?" asked the Thief.
"Perhaps they should have, perhaps they shouldn't have," answered the Master. "Perhaps we should aid them; perhaps we shouldn't aid them." The painting lay innocently on the ground before him. "This is why they have come; this is why they will fail. It has been prophesied. And yet the way the prophecies have fallen out seem somewhat different than what I have expected."
"What do you mean?" queried The Thief.
"It is as if something ... if someone," mused the Master, perhaps realising what had happened to his plans, "has interfered with the prophecies. Ensured that it will not be as was said." He frowned. "Yes, that must be it."
The Thief jumped up. "The Four have ascended to the sky, Master. They are nearing one of the portals to the Dark Zone. Shall I open it up?" He jumped about, giggling strangely.
"Yes, please do," answered the Master. "Open the Hibernos Portal now!"