Within a few hours after the witches occupied Central Park, the number of US Marines under General Wilson’s command had doubled, and more were on their way from military bases around the country. The soldiers formed a line that stretched along Central Park’s six-mile perimeter, and snipers were repositioned on the balconies of penthouse apartments facing the park. There was no possible way anything could escape the park without going through the Marines—not that anything could get through Alex’s magic shield. They had only seen the shield disappear once all night, but it had been reinstated so quickly, the Marines thought it was wisest to keep their distance.

Unfortunately, General Wilson had positioned his soldiers in the wrong location. The witches still had several hours before their gingerbread army was finished baking. The real threat was approaching from behind the Marines—but by the time they saw it coming, it was already too late.

“Sir, I have good news!” a soldier reported to General Wilson.

“What is it?” the general asked.

“We’ve located Cornelia Grimm,” the soldier replied. “She should be here within the hour.”

“Thank you, Sergeant,” General Wilson said. “I want to be notified the minute she arrives.”

Suddenly, Fifth Avenue started to rumble with the power of an earthquake. The Marines searched the street to see what was causing the commotion but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. However, the soldiers felt the tremor grow stronger and stronger the closer they walked to the New York Public Library.

As they approached the library’s front steps, a thunderous explosion prompted all the Marines to dive to the ground. They looked up and saw a massive pirate ship burst out of the library’s roof and soar into the air. The ship was followed by swarms of winged creatures—monkeys, as far as they could tell. Once the sky was filled with the mysterious beasts, fleets of strangely shaped soldiers charged out of the library’s damaged entrance with their swords and staffs raised above their heads.

“General, we’re under attack—again!” shouted a Marine. “What are your orders, sir?”

General Wilson watched in total shock as the literary characters emerged from the library. Apparently the witches were just the prelude of a painfully long performance, and for the first time all night, the general doubted they’d make it to the curtain call.

“Sir, your orders?” the Marine asked again.

“Pray, Sergeant,” the general ordered. “At this point, it’s all we can do.”

As the sun rose over New York City, a floating procession of fictional proportions flew over northern New Jersey. An enormous spacecraft, a large blimp, a colorful jet, and a flying pirate ship transported Conner’s family, friends, and characters toward the Empire State.

“We should start looking for a place to land,” Charlotte said from inside the blimp. “Look over there—it’s Liberty Island! That’s perfect!”

Emgee gave her a thumbs-up and gradually steered the blimp toward the lawns behind the Statue of Liberty. Once the Charlie Chaplin landed safely, the BASK-8, the Dolly Llama, and the Ziblings’ jet joined it on the island.

Charlotte, Bob, Trollbella, the Tin Woodman, and Lester rode aboard the blimp with Beau Rogers and Emgee. Unfortunately, they also had to share it with Bones and all the mummies from the Pyramid of Anesthesia. After traveling across the country with the undead in a tight space, the smell was almost unbearable. Trollbella yanked opened the door and jumped out of the blimp before it came to a complete stop.

“Thank the Troblin Heavens—fresh air!” she gasped. “I don’t think I’ll ever get the stench of death out of my clothes! I smell like the Breemonster’s breath!”

The BASK-8 lowered its ramp and the Cyborg Queen rolled out of the spacecraft with Commander Newters and the Cyborg soldiers following behind her. Captain Auburn Sally kicked down her ship’s gangplank and she, Admiral Jacobson, their crew, the Merry Men, and the Rosary Chicken exited the Dolly Llama. The Blissworm’s cocoon had been hung at the top of the mast beside the ship’s flag.

The Ziblings lowered the steps of their jet, and the superheroes climbed down with Professor Wallet, Blubo, Peter Pan, and the Lost Boys.

“That! Was! AWESOME!” Tootles cheered. “Can we ride the jet again?”

“If you think that was fast, you should see the Ziblings’ rocket our dad is building!” Bolt bragged.

Riding the Ziblings’ jet made the Lost Boys euphoric, but Peter Pan looked like the saddest boy in the world.

“Peter, what’s wrong?” Professor Wallet asked.

“Oh, it’s nothing,” Peter said with a sigh. “I just never thought people would invent machines that could fly. I mean, it sort of defeats the purpose of me if everyone can do it.”

“My dear boy, who do you think the rest of the world has been trying to catch up with all these years?” Professor Wallet said with a twinkle in his eye.

Once everyone had exited their various methods of transportation, Charlotte gathered Conner’s binder of short stories, the emerald-green treasury, and the Portal Potion, and led the characters to the grassy field directly below the Statue of Liberty. They looked across the Hudson River at the island of Manhattan and could see smoke bellowing from somewhere in Midtown. After closer inspection, they could see the Jolly Roger and flying monkeys snaking through the city’s skyscrapers.

“Oh no!” Charlotte gasped. “The Literary Army is already here!”

“What should we do now?” Bob asked.

“I’m trying to think,” Charlotte said. “Call me crazy, but I’ve never orchestrated a war before.”

The emerald-green storybook suddenly started to glow in her hands. Charlotte dropped the book on the grass and it opened, shining a beam of light toward the sky. Froggy hopped out of the beam and looked around Liberty Island. His mouth dropped open at the sight of the New York skyline across the river and the Statue of Liberty towering above him.

“So this is the Otherworld,” he said in amazement. “I can’t imagine why the twins would ever leave a place like this.”

“Froggy, how did you get here?” Charlotte asked. “The twins told me you were trapped in a magic mirror!”

“Hello, Mrs. Gordon,” he said. “I’d love to stay and catch up, but it’s urgent I speak with the twins! Where might they be?”

Charlotte pointed to the New York skyline. “They’re in there somewhere.”

Froggy looked toward Manhattan and noticed the smoke, the flying monkeys, and the Jolly Roger hovering above Midtown.

“The army’s already arrived!” he said. “We’re too late!”

“You mean, you’re not alone?” Charlotte asked.

As soon as she asked the question, Charlotte had the answer. Mother Goose, Merlin, Arthur, and the Knights of the Round Table emerged from the beam of light in a straight line. Cornelius galloped out of the beam next with Rook on his back, followed by the seven members of the Fairy Council.

“Well, take a look at all these theatrics,” Mother Goose said as she scanned the island. “Are these the characters from Conner’s short stories or am I back at Burning Man?”

Lester was overjoyed to see Mother Goose. He wrapped his wings around her and the two embraced.

“Squawk!” the gander said as he nuzzled his beak under her chin.

“I’ve missed you, too, Lester,” Mother Goose said. “Gosh, I leave you alone for a couple of weeks and the whole universe starts falling apart!”

“You guys sure are a sight for sore eyes,” Charlotte said. “We could really use your help. New York City is under attack! The witches and the Literary Army have crossed into the Otherworld!”

“The witches?” Emerelda asked. “What on earth are they doing in the Otherworld?”

“I imagine the same thing as the Literary Army,” Mother Goose said. “Come on, Emerelda, you can’t be that surprised. It’s just like the kids say: Witches be witches.”

“They kidnapped Alex a week ago and have put her under some sort of spell,” Charlotte informed them. “Conner and his friends came to the city yesterday to find her, but now we’re not certain where any of them are. Before she was kidnapped, Alex helped Conner assemble an army from his short stories to fight the Literary Army, but I’m not exactly qualified to lead them.”

If there was ever a moment where someone with natural leadership skills would be of use, this was it. Arthur looked at Merlin and the wizard nodded—it was the young king’s time to shine. Arthur scaled the side of the Statue of Liberty’s platform and whistled down to get everyone’s attention.

“Everyone listen up,” he said. “We’ve got people to find and an army to defeat. We’ll accomplish neither of these things if we just stand around scratching our heads. So first things first—Lester, I want you to do a lap around the city and see if you can spot either Alex or her brother. Come back to us the moment you see something.”

Lester saluted the young king and took off at once.

“As for the rest of you, we’ll need to split up into four teams,” Arthur instructed. “Team one will go after the witches, team two will face Captain Hook and his pirates, team three will confront the Wicked Witch, the Winkies, and the flying monkeys, and team four will track down the Queen of Hearts and her card soldiers.”

All the characters were confused. None of them had the slightest clue who this bossy young man was.

“EXCUSE ME, BUT WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? THE KING OF ENGLAND?” Robin Hood asked.

“That’s exactly who he is,” Mother Goose announced. “Everyone, meet King Arthur! He just pulled the sword out of the stone back in Camelot!”

“OH,” Robin Hood said. “IN THAT CASE, CARRY ON!”

Arthur let the disrespect roll off his back and dived into planning mode.

“Before we storm the city, it’s crucial we know how to defeat the villains we’re up against,” he said. “Does anyone know how to defeat Captain Hook or the Queen of Hearts or the Wicked Witch?”

Liberty Island went completely silent as everyone thought about it. The Lost Boys, Blubo, and the Tin Woodman had always dreamed about destroying the villains from their home worlds, but none of them knew how to actually go about it.

“Gosh, it’s been so long since I read those books,” Charlotte said.

“Oh, I know!” Bob announced. “Wait—never mind, that was how they did it in the movie, not the book.”

“Oh come now,” Arthur said encouragingly. “There’s got to be someone who knows about their weaknesses!”

To the rest of the crew’s surprise, Catfish Kate raised a hand. “Master Bailey knew how to defeat Smoky-Sails Sam,” the pirate said. “I bet he would know exactly how to defeat Captain Hook, the Queen of Hearts, and the Wicked Witch!”

“You idiot,” High-Tide Tabitha said. “That was because Smoky-Sails Sam was Master Bailey’s character—the captain, the queen, and the witch aren’t his creations.”

“Then who is their creator?” Arthur asked. “We must speak to him immediately!”

“You can’t,” Bob said. “James M. Barrie, Lewis Carroll, and L. Frank Baum have all been dead for decades.”

Charlotte didn’t want to give up just yet, so she imagined what Alex or Conner would do to get the answers they needed. Her eyes were drawn to the binder of short stories and the flask of Portal Potion in her hands.

“Wait a second,” she said. “Maybe it is possible to speak to them. If we wrote a story where the authors came back to life, we could use the Portal Potion to enter the story and ask them how to defeat their characters!”

“Holy Mary Shelley,” Mother Goose said. “It’s both brilliant and immoral—just like me!”

“I’m more than willing to break some morality clauses if it means saving the world,” Charlotte said. “Who’s got a pen?”

Beau Rogers handed Charlotte a pen from inside his leather jacket. She sat on the ground and quickly jotted down the short story she had in mind on a blank page in Conner’s binder. Once she was finished, Charlotte poured a few drops of the Portal Potion on the story, and a beam of light shot out from it.

“Here goes nothing,” she said.

Charlotte stepped through the beam and entered a bright and endless space. The words from her story floated in the air all around her. She watched in wonder as the words started to stretch and gain color and texture. Soon Charlotte found herself in a dark room with three empty chairs. The words James M. Barrie, Lewis Carroll, and L. Frank Baum slowly transformed into the men they described, and the authors materialized before her eyes.

“Hello, gentlemen,” Charlotte said. “We need to talk.”