“I have a question, no TWO questions,” typed Alex’s internet friend.

“Okay, go ahead!”

“First, why is today’s called Part Twenty Four when there wasn’t a Part Twenty Three?”

“That’s a good question!,” typed Alex. “I actually originally intended to name the chapters based on what was happening in them, and then I decided that I would just name then based on what day I actually wrote them.”

“Ah, so this is the part you wrote on November 24th!”

“I’m not sure how you actually know that since you’re a fictional character within this story, but yes, yes it is.”

“Okay!,” typed Alex’s friend. “My other question then! Will we ever get to see the rest of Kiss Me, You Fiend?”

“No Comment.”

—

“We have a problem,” said Lego Galadriel. “We appear to be stuck inside of a clear cube of some sort, inside of a retail establishment for…humans.”

The Viking Chieftain walked over and patted Galadriel on the back. “Ah, we know this well. This was our lot in life before you came and got us out of the box,” he said. “We know just what to do! We’ll begin the establishment of an advanced Viking Society that will take several years to reach its peak.”

Galadriel twisted her face into a look of scorn and bewilderment. “We will absolutely not be doing that, Master Viking. We are going to get out of here.”

Catwoman stepped confidently forward. “I’ll handle this,” she said. She pulled out her Space Laser Gun and fired several blasts at the cube, but they bounced harmlessly away.

“It’s no use,” said the Viking Chieftain. “It cannot be pierced buy any weapon known to us.”

Galadriel regarded the thin wall with a look of respect. “That is…impressive. Yet we must still find a way out of here, so I cannot let it impose its will upon me.”

The lights in the store switched on, and all of the Vikings let out a huge gasp and looked to each other with murmurs of “the light.” They all ran and got into stereotypical Viking poses. After a few moments passed, Galadriel walked over to the Chieftain and tapped him on the shoulder.

“Excuse me, but what are you all doing? We cannot stand idly by if we are to find a way out of this terrible prison.”

The Viking Chieftain moved his eyes to the side to look at Galadriel. “It’s the light,” he whispered. “It freezes us into place and we cannot move until next eve!”

Galadriel looked herself up and down. She looked over to Catwoman, who shrugged. Galadriel jumped around several times. She danced a little jig. Then she laughed. “Hahaha, master Viking, that’s a good one, you almost had me.”

“I swear, it be true!,” said the Viking. Though he did notice that his mouth was still working. “This…it’s actually never happened like this before.”

“Those giant humans out there are the key to us getting out. All we have to do is set this entire country side on fire, and I know just the way to do it,” said Galadriel. “Humans are terrified of fire, they cannot help but respond to it.”

—

“Frank!,” shouted Chase. “What are you doing? If you rip all the pages out of that book, we won’t be able to take it back to the library!”

“Whoa!,” shouted Frank. “A moment ago I was back in my cool new office, but now I’m back here ripping these pages out again! I really can time travel! Maybe I swallowed the orb of time!”

Chase grabbed the book away from Frank. “I can’t let you do this.”

A giant Frank Honey head appeared over everyone in the sky. “I don’t think you can stop me! It’s my world now! I broke the compupers at the police station and now I can break the entire world!”

—

Frank woke up in a cold sweat, screaming. “Whoa! What a weird dream? What time is it?” He turned over and tapped the button on his official Lego Lamp. “Ah, it’s 6:42 in the morning?”

“What’s the matter partner?,” asked Robin. He was hanging upside down from the ceiling.

“Oh not much Robin,” said Frank. “Did…did you spend the whole night here?”

Robin nodded. “You said you wanted to get a good night’s rest, and I don’t really have anywhere else to go after you destroyed most of the Lego worlds. And also, Legos don’t need to sleep. So I’ve been practicing my hanging upside-down skills all night.”

“Legos don’t need to sleep!,” shouted Frank Honey. “That’s right! You know, my mom and dad tried to teach me that while I was growing up but I just wouldn’t listen.”

“That’s the funny thing,” said Robin, hanging upside down, “Legos don’t grow up either. I’ve always been like this!”

“Okay, we need to get out there and solve that lady’s case,” said Frank. “Do you know anything about being a detective?”

Robin twirled down off of the ceiling. “Nope! But you used to be a police officer so I think this is all going to work out great. I’m pretty good at flipping around and saying cool stuff, so whenever you need me to do those things just let me know.”

“I have to be honest with you, second-favorite fictional character of mine,” said Frank. “I was only a police officer because my parents are rich and they own the biggest hotel in town.”

Robin put his hand on Frank’s shoulder. “That makes no sense at all, but I appreciate that you would confide that in me.”

—

Cordelia started getting everything set up for another fun day of work at the Lego store. It was Black Friday, and they were running a big discount on all Marvel and Lego City toys, so she had to be there at four in the morning. The Lego Store also had some exclusive blind bag mini figures to give away to the first 1000 people in line. Cordelia knew that half of these would end up selling for exorbitant prices online instead of going to kids who wanted them, but her boss didn’t like it if she asked too many questions of the people picking up their free prizes.

Dave sauntered in a couple of minutes late. “Hey Dave,” said Cordelia, “you ready to get this done?”

“I guess so. I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t getting time and a half. I’d rather be playing with my new drone.”

Cordelia rolled her eyes. “We sell toys to kids her Dave, try to at least look like you enjoy it.”

“Black Friday is everything that’s wrong with the universe,” said Dave. “I mean, I’ve got some buddies at home who are gonna help me get a sweet deal on a TV since I have to work, but it’s still totally the worst.”

“Uh huh,” said Cordelia. “Just go out and check all the displays while I get the registers turned on and unpack the exclusive minifigs. We’ve only got an hour till the stampede begins.”

“Yeah yeah,” said Dave. He grabbed the clipboard off the wall that had the checklist for the store displays. “I don’t know why we have to check these every day,” he said. “Most of them are underneath big plastic cubes. It’s not like they’re gonna be screwed up.”

Cordelia shrugged. “Sometimes things fall down. Sometimes kids bump something. Corporate wants everything to look good. We represent a lot of different companies out there. Plus if you don’t do it I’ll have to fire you.”

“I’m going,” said Dave. “Don’t expect me to stay on after the holidays.”

“Oh don’t worry, I wasn’t thinking about it,” said Cordelia.

Dave started slowly walking around the store. “Star Wars? Check. Marvel? Check. Lord of the Rings? Check. Knights? Ch….hmm. Uh.”

The fantasy setting inside the cube was on fire. Catwoman was flipping around firing laser blasts everywhere. Vikings were digging huge holes with swords and burying gold in them. At the top of it all, Galadriel stood on top of what looked like a dog, cackling.

Dave rubbed his eyes. He rubbed them again. He ran into the back room. “We have a big problem with the Knights display.”

“I don’t want to hear about it Dave, just take the cube off and fix it.”

“But I think…I think it’s on fire!”

Cordelia looked at Dave and sighed. “I can’t believe you’re doing this to me right now. Let’s go see what the big problem is.”

Cordelia walked over to the Knights display, and discovered that it was on fire and the characters were moving around. She blinked a couple of times. “Okay, here’s what we’re going to do. Go grab the fire extinguisher. We’re gonna put this fire out, and we’re going to round up these characters and throw them away.”

“But the characters are moving around and—“

Cordelia held up her hand. “Not a word Dave, not a word.”