The Librarians: The Next Chapter

What?

No, I didn't steal anything from you or your stupid shop.

You're mixing me up with someone else.

I don't want any of your dumb stuff.

Leave me alone!

Leave me alone!

Leave me alone!

What news do you bring me, soldier?

I found her, Master,

and just in time for Melpomene's moon.

Then the hour is soon mine, and even the Librarian

will be unable to prevent the return of Gregor.

Uh, sir, I'm gonna need you to sign here,

here, here, fingerprint here, and drop of blood there.

-And this is? -A sworn and binding contract

stating that you will not attempt to travel through time again

without the Library's express permission.

Now, here's your pen, your ink pad,

piercing needle for the drop of blood.

Now, get bleeding, sir.

Mrs. A wants those in triplicate.

Ooh!

Okay, where does the Reliquary Of Urd go?

Over there next to Arca of Skuld and the Feretory of Vahoosh.

-What? -Green box and the red box.

Okay. It's amazing that this pile of time travel-tat could cause so many problems.

Indeed, but it was still no match for my extraordinary team.

-Extraordinary? -Do you mean us?

Well, of course, I do.

You are magnificent. You are superb.

You are the best of the best of the best of the best

of the best of the best.

Maybe when he traveled back through time,

he hit his head on the 1920s?

I am clear in my own mind. Avowedly so.

-This... this is a new me. -I like Cheerleader Vikram.

He's going to make missions more fun.

Ah, yes, missions.

I'm afraid, Connor, there will be no more of those.

-What? -What?

Missions, no more of. And there won't be a problem.

Ow! Ow! This is alarmingly sharp.

Can I do the bleeding bit later on?

Vikram, you literally just said that we were the greatest team.

And you are. Not only great, but greatly precious to me.

Which is why I have decided that from now on I'll be performing all missions alone,

thus removing any risk of danger to your persons.

Sir, we have more than proven that we can look after ourselves.

And I have more than proven that I am a danger to be around.

Have you forgotten our first meeting when you were nearly devoured by a Drekavac?

Have you forgotten her? Or the ballet witch into whose cruel clutches

I entwined you the very next week?

Or the ghost train which nearly killed Connor?

Or have you forgotten Paris, where under the influence

of one of Cupid's arrows, I betrayed my entire team?

And then finally, worst of all,

stranding you centuries away from your own time.

So I've come to realize that standing by my side

is an extremely perilous place to be.

-Incoming. -Buh-buh-buh-buh!

Pay no attention to the pendulum.

I shall attend the call alone.

Hands up. Who's going with Vik?

Hmm. That 's one thing that' s changed since your day, Vikram.

Democracy.

It appears that magic is afoot in the arts district.

Also known as the other side of the tracks.

-Gran? Gran? -Hermione? Are you hungry?

Hermione? What has happened?

-Oh, nothing, Gran. I'm okay. -No, you are not okay.

Your hands are trembling. Tell me, please.

-You won't believe me. -I know you are a good girl. I know you won't lie.

I saw some graffiti move.

Hermione, when did this start?

Have you seen art move before today?

No. I don't think so. Why?

Stay down. Hermione, stay down.

Hermione, get down.

That's right. Run, you scoundrels.

Hello. Has anyone been having any trouble with their art?

I think, maybe, the graffiti around town is coming to life.

-I know how crazy that sounds, but... -Here you go.

That actually doesn't sound crazy at all.

For us, that just sounds like a Tuesday.

And then the art attacked you inside your home?

The art clambered out and they massed together in the hall over there.

But before they could come back and find us, you all...

But how did you get here and who are you?

Well, I am the Librarian.

That's not an answer to the question I asked.

Oh, well, uh, we have a sort of a danger detector

and, uh, it led us here.

We arrived through a, uh

space-bending, distance-compressing portal.

-She means a magic door. -Yeah, magic door. That's what I mean.

Wow. She finally said it.

And when we arrived through it,

we saw this small army of hoodies.

All this insane art stuff that was about to attack.

And so we finished the fight. Librarians, one. Art, zero.

Wait. You came through a magic door?

Impossible, I know.

But such things are quite commonplace

when you are in the company of the Librarian.

Why does he keep saying it like that?

Okay, so I see the armor. The storm cloud.

-So where are the hoodies? -I saw them running down the alley.

You must have scared them off.

I could show you where they 're painted if you' d like.

Something my gran doesn't know, I painted the hoodies.

Ah, you were the graffiti artist.

I was just angry.

Living around here, everything's falling apart.

I wanted to make a point, I guess.

But it never moved before.

I was running from this horrible man

when I saw the graffiti look at me.

The man, can you describe what he looks like?

Um, yeah, he looked like

like... like that!

Mrs. A, I need a door.

Wait, we're going back to the Library?

No, you are. Stakes are now too high.

I will handle the situation on my own.

-But, Vik... -But nothing.

You could get stuck in the art,

just like that poor, paint-stricken shopkeeper did.

And if you stay, you could get stuck in the...

That will not happen to me, for I am the Librarian.

Yeah. No, that doesn't work on us either, Vik.

-Mrs. A, stand down the magic door. -That's a point.

Why didn't that work on Hermione's grandmother either?

Maybe you're losing your edge, sir.

This glitch has blighted me before,

but only when facing powerful adversaries.

She's not an adversary. She's just Hermione's grandma.

-Well, did you find anything? -Many hooded people.

-Hoodies. -Ah, more hooded hoodies. They were all static.

Hermione's grandmother, tell me, have you ever seen

-I have a name. Katherine. -Forgive me.

Katherine, have you ever seen the art move before?

-No, never. -Maybe Hermione used magic paint for the hoodies?

Hermione, you painted them?

It's just... I wanted to say something

about what it's like living here.

I want to have a voice.

You vandalized public property.

What have I told you about taking risks?

If you were caught, you could have gone to prison. Or worse.

A gift like yours, people would notice.

-Bad people. -It's just paint, Gran.

Like all the walls in here, it's all just paint.

You did all the art in this flat?

Yeah, to cheer it up a bit.

It's quite a talent you got.

Wait, so it's only Hermione's art coming alive, no one else's?

Suggesting something in the paint, like I said, or the brush.

-Or the walls. -But why would the art attack its artist?

Hermione, can we see your art supplies?

Sure. I've got a studio upstairs.

-Come on. -It's a bit of a squeeze.

I've been in tighter spots, believe me.

This is my studio. It used to be a storage unit for the building.

But then a few years ago, everyone started to move out.

No one was using it anymore, so...

These paintings are exquisite.

Such color, such life.

They really seem as if they could step out of their frame at any moment.

-Which they might at any moment. -Indeed.

Which is why I suggest we create a safe space in this painted house.

Connor, Lysa, Charlie, take a room and clear it of art.

-Mm, good idea. -And then lock yourselves inside it.

Ooh, bad idea.

You're giving us a fake job to keep us away from the real mission.

Not at all. If anything, yours is the more dangerous task.

Despite the fact that it is painfully transparent

what Vikram is up to, he does make a good point.

Creating a safe room could be useful if we're spending some time here.

If you two want to get on with that, I'll stay up here with him.

-Charlie, no. -As is a Guardian's duty to our Librarian.

-Isn't that right, sir? -Fine.

We will get on with the art-free safe space.

You guys have got the weirdest work dynamic.

-What is that? -This is a magic-sensitive liquid derived

from the saliva of a minotaur.

In the presence of magical artifacts, it glistens.

Did you take that from the Library?

I borrowed it from the Library.

You're supposed to borrow things from a library.

-Did you get permission? -Yes.

I distinctly remember telling myself that it's all right.

Oh, come now, Charlie.

Let's uncover which artistic apparatus is our magical art artifact, hmm?

-Ugh. -Ouch!

This flat used to be three flats.

Originally, I just lived in one.

But as people started to move out, we knocked through.

Once Hermione came to live with me, we needed extra space.

It's a bit of a maze.

Please don't blink.