Mirror Mirror

by Barry Hutchison

  Rex smirked. ‘Chicken,’ he said.

  ‘Buck, buck, buck,’ Noah replied. ‘If you get into trouble, shout me.’

  ‘What’ll you do, lay an egg?’ Rex teased.

  Noah laughed nervously, then held up the handles of the plastic boxes. Rex took them, gave his friend a brief nod, then stepped into the Hall of Mirrors behind Dan Nice and Seal.

  The room Rex entered was dimly lit, and he could only just make out the closest mirror. The person looking back at him was short and stocky, with a head that looked completely flat on top. Was it a reflection, or was that person really in there somewhere, trapped forever behind the glass?

  With a shudder, Rex stepped further into the room. The mirrors had been moved around since they’d last been here. Row after row of them were laid out in circles, every one pointing towards the centre of the hall.

  The boxes Rex carried both began to shake as Biowoof and the now-visible Mandy hurled themselves against the ceilings and walls. ‘Calm down, guys,’ Rex said. ‘It’s just your reflection.’ But the animals kept thrashing around, and Rex was forced to sit the boxes on the floor in case he dropped them.

  It took him a few moments to find Seal and Dan Nice. They were standing between two rows of mirrors, holding onto one another, their eyes screwed tightly shut.

  ‘Are you sure about this?’ Rex asked. ‘Isn’t there some other way we can help you?’

  ‘No, there is no other way,’ Dan said. ‘Even now, I can feel the darkness corrupting me, chewing through my insides. I can sense your nanites, and it is taking all of my will to resist trying to absorb them all.’

  ‘He’s right,’ Seal said. ‘Your world is beautiful, but it isn’t ours. We need to go back to our world, or there’s no saying what we’ll do.’

  Rex nodded. ‘OK,’ he said. ‘What do you need me to do?’

  ‘Help us find the mirror we came through,’ Seal said. ‘I … I think I can open the portal again.’

  ‘Um, that might be tricky,’ Rex said, looking around at the mirrors. ‘It looks like someone’s been busy reorganising.’

  ‘Then we must look for ourselves,’ Dan said, grimly. ‘It is the only way.’

  ‘Won’t that make you, you know, go crazy?’ Rex asked.

  ‘There is a very good chance that it will,’ Dan told him, ‘so we must move quickly. Lead us to the centre of the room.’

  Rex took hold of their arms and guided them right into the middle of the circle. Fifty or sixty distorted versions of them appeared inside every mirror. Rex took a step back.

  ‘OK,’ he said. ‘You can look now.’

  Dan hissed and Seal sobbed as they flicked open their eyes. They spun on the spot, back to back, wilting beneath the accusing stares of their own twisted reflections.

  ‘N-no,’ Dan yelped. ‘Too much. T-too much. Can’t contain it.’

  ‘Hold it together,’ Rex urged. ‘You can do it. Find the mirror.’

  ‘C-can’t,’ Seal whispered. The muscles on her forearms began to bulge like blisters on her skin. ‘Must … smash …’

  ‘No smashing,’ Rex said. ‘You’re meant to be looking now. Look for the mirror you came through. You said you could find it.’

  A shriek of rage burst from Seal’s lips. She made a move towards Rex, her hands balled into fists. Before she took more than a single step, though, she stopped. A sweat broke out across her forehead as she raised an arm and pointed to one of the mirrors at the edge of the first circle.

  ‘Th-there,’ she said through gritted teeth. ‘The portal’s in there!’

  CHAPTER 17

  ‘DO IT, SEAL,’ Rex said. Beside the girl, Dan Nice was thrashing around, gripped by an overwhelming rage. From somewhere in the shadows, Rex heard the snapping of plastic, as Biowoof and Mandy tore free of their boxes. ‘Do it now!’

  Seal raised two shaky arms and tried to push back the fury flooding through her veins. A small red dot appeared in the centre of the mirror. In a second it had doubled in size. It kept doubling with every second that passed, until it filled the whole mirror from top to bottom.

  ‘You did it,’ Rex cheered, before being interrupted by a loud growl from behind him.

  Spinning around, Rex found himself staring at a large brown dog. Patches of purple metal shone through its short fur, and long black claws sprouted from each of its four paws. Biowoof opened his mouth, revealing two rows of razor-sharp fangs.

  Rex gulped. ‘Grandma, what big teeth you have.’

  Something large and scaly and semi-transparent crawled across the floor beside the dog. Mandy had grown to the size of a crocodile. Her jaws opened and snapped shut, sending a ripple of visibility along her entire body.

  ‘And as for that?’ Rex said. ‘That’s just plain terrifying.’

  Rex didn’t dare take his eyes off the mutated animals. He turned his head slightly and whispered to Seal, ‘You know you guys are free to leave any time you like, right? Any time you want to take these things away, just go right ahead.’

  ‘Oh, I don’t think so,’ Dan Nice growled back at him.

  The foam finger struck Rex on the side of the head. It was one of the hardest blows he’d ever felt. He stumbled forwards, directly towards the gaping jaws of Biowoof.

  Rex’s Boogie Pack extended from his shoulders. The turbines fired, giving him just enough lift to leap over the heads of the two animals. But the room was too tight to fly around, and Rex had no choice but to cut the power and drop back to the ground.

  He turned to find all four of the Mirror Pack looking back at him. Dan Nice stood at the front, with Biowoof crouched down low by his side. Seal’s blonde hair hung down over her face, and her arms looked more muscular than ever.

  Mandy was completely visible now, but Rex really wished she wasn’t. She looked like a fight between a crocodile and a dinosaur, with teeth and scales and claws jutting out in every direction.

  ‘Four against one?’ Rex muttered. ‘Shouldn’t be too difficult.’

  A movement through the mirror portal made Rex think again. He groaned loudly, knowing all too well what was coming next.

  ‘Well, well, well,’ said Van Kleiss, as he and the real Pack slid out from within the mirror. ‘Isn’t this cosy?’

  ‘Hey, I have an idea,’ Rex said, cheerfully. ‘How about you guys just fight it out amongst yourselves and leave me out of this?’

  As one, both Packs lunged for him. Rex leapt backwards, barely avoiding the outstretched hands of Van Kleiss and his mirror counterpart.

  ‘No?’ Rex said. ‘Well, trust me …’ he began. With a clank, the Big Freakin’ Sword appeared in his hand. ‘… you’re not going to like the alternative, either.’

  CHAPTER 18

  REX SWUNG WITH THE SWORD, only to find it blocked by Skalamander’s diamond-hard club hand. Mandy’s tail whipped out, knocking Rex’s feet away. He retracted the sword and rolled clumsily on the ground, just as hot, sticky saliva began to pour down around him.

  Rex twisted, firing a kick against the side of Biowoof’s head. ‘Down, boy,’ he said, but the dog barely flinched. Rex gritted his teeth. He knew what he had to do. There was nothing else for it.

  ‘Heeeeeeelp!’ he cried. ‘Noooooah!’

  Van Kleiss dragged Rex to his feet. He and Dan Nice spoke at exactly the same time.

  ‘You think your little friend can help you now?’ they said, in perfect unison.

  ‘Jinx, can’t speak until I say your name,’ Rex told them.

  ‘What are you talking about?’ they both muttered. Rex punched them both hard on the arm. ‘You broke the jinx,’ he said. ‘You have to take the punishment. I don’t make the rules.’

  All eight of Rex’s opponents made a move towards him. ‘Wait, wait!’ he cried. ‘You asked me if I thought Noah could help me. Well, no, I don’t.’ He pointed behind the Packs. ‘But I bet those guys can.’

  The villains turned to find eight Providence Agents standing in the doorway, all dressed in identical uniforms. As the Agents m
arched in, their reflections filled the mirrors, making the room appear full of them.

  ‘Looks like the cavalry has arrived,’ Rex smiled, before he brought out the Smackhands and knocked all eight Pack members backwards towards the centre of the room.

  ‘Split up,’ Van Kleiss spat. ‘Take out the Agents, I’ll deal with Rex.’

  Skalamander raised his club arm and sprayed deadly diamond shards towards an Agent’s back. There was a tinkling of breaking glass and the Agent shattered into pieces.

  ‘That was a mirror, you idiot,’ Biowulf snarled. ‘Attack the real Agents. Like this!’

  He hurled himself at another of the Agents, his claws fully outstretched. His arm came down sharply, cutting through the Agent’s chest.

  CRACK.

  ‘Another mirror?’ Biowulf spluttered, barely able to believe he’d made the same mistake as Skalamander.

  One of the real Agents opened fire with his machine-gun. The bullets narrowly missed Biowulf and turned three more mirrors into shards of glass.

  Rex saw Biowoof stagger sideways, suddenly disorientated. More gunshots rang out, another mirror exploded, and the mutant dog let out a yelp of shock.

  ‘The mirrors,’ Rex realised. ‘Take out the mirrors!’

  ‘What? No!’ Dan snarled. He threw himself at Rex, attacking him with the rock-hard foam finger. ‘That’s not nice, and I should know,’ he hissed, right up close in Rex’s face. ‘Because Dan Nice knows nice!’

  ‘And Rex knows kicking butt,’ Rex replied. He shoved Dan backwards. The mirror-man stumbled across the room, before crashing into a mirror. It toppled slowly and knocked into the next mirror. They fell like dominoes, taking half a dozen more mirrors with them.

  ‘No!’ Dan wailed. ‘No, no, n–’

  And then, with a faint pop, Dan disappeared.

  The sound of machine-gun fire ripped around the room, forcing Rex to cover his ears. Glass sprayed in every direction, like a deadly downpour of rain.

  POP!

  Mandy disappeared next, not gradually, like when she turned invisible, but suddenly, and all at once.

  POP!

  Biowoof gave a puzzled yap before he vanished completely.

  Van Kleiss could see which way that battle was turning. ‘Breach!’ he yelled. ‘Get us out of here!’

  Before Rex could stop her, Breach summoned another portal. There was only one mirror left intact in the room, and it didn’t interfere with the portal this time.

  ‘Until we meet again,’ Van Kleiss growled, as he and his Pack leapt through the swirling red hole and back to Abysus.

  Rex turned and looked at the last remaining member of the Mirror Pack. She was standing before the last remaining mirror, inside which Rex could see the swirling portal she had created earlier.

  ‘Seven down,’ Rex sighed. ‘One to go.’

  CHAPTER 19

  REX STOOD FACING SEAL, a few metres away. The girl’s arms were still bulging, and her hair was still hanging down over her face, but she wasn’t showing any sign that she was about to attack.

  ‘I’m sorry this happened to you,’ Rex told her.

  ‘N-not your fault,’ Seal hissed. Even the effort of speaking seemed to be taking its toll on her.

  ‘The others. What happened to them when the mirrors broke?’ asked Rex.

  ‘Back to Mirror World,’ Seal said, hoarsely. ‘Trapped down there in the cold and in the dark.’

  ‘I’m sorry,’ Rex said again.

  ‘Not your fault, either.’ There was a long pause before Seal spoke again. ‘There is a R-Rex in my world, too,’ she said.

  Rex felt his eyebrows raise in surprise. ‘There is? What’s he like?’

  Seal shrugged her skinny shoulders. ‘Not nearly as much fun as you are.’

  ‘That’s good to know,’ Rex smiled.

  It was Seal’s turn to apologise. ‘S-sorry for the trouble we caused,’ she said. ‘We never m-meant to hurt anyone.’

  ‘Forget it,’ Rex said. ‘Like, totally.’

  A brief flicker of a smile passed across Seal’s face. ‘I’m ready to go home now,’ she wheezed. She held up a hand. ‘Goodbye, Rex.’

  ‘Goodbye, Seal,’ Rex said. He watched as she turned and walked towards the mirror. For a moment it looked like she was going to bump into the glass surface, but then she was stepping through it and vanishing into the portal.

  Rex waited for a few seconds, in case she came back. She didn’t. He turned to the three Agents standing on his left. ‘Shoot it,’ he said, his throat tight. ‘Destroy the mirror so they don’t come back.’

  ‘Yes, sir,’ barked one of the Agents. All three of them raised their weapons.

  Deep in the portal, Rex saw something move. He peered into its swirling dark heart and there, looking back at him, was someone who looked almost exactly like himself. There were three figures standing around him, but they weren’t Agents. They were a man and a woman, and a boy a little older than he was. The way they stood around the mirror Rex made them look almost like … family?

  ‘Wait!’ Rex cried, but he gave the order too late. Three fingers twitched on three triggers and a hail of bullets turned the glass in the mirror to fragments. Rex dropped to his knees and picked at the shards, staring into them, hoping to see his mirror-self looking back.

  But all he saw was his own warped reflection. He let the glass pieces fall to the floor. Silently, he turned and left the Hall of Mirrors behind.

  ‘Hey, you OK?’ Noah asked, as Rex passed him.

  Rex paused at the door to the tank. He looked back at the mirror house and finally shook his head. ‘I don’t know,’ he admitted. ‘I really don’t know.’

  The two friends climbed back into the tank, neither one saying any more. The door closed over with a loud clang, the engines growled, and they began the long, bumpy ride back to Providence Base.

  CHAPTER 20

  WHEN REX SHUFFLED OUT of the elevator, Dr Holiday put her arms around him and pulled him into a hug.

  ‘What was that for?’ he asked, when she’d let go.

  ‘You looked like you need it,’ she replied. ‘Rough night, huh?’

  ‘Yeah,’ Rex admitted. ‘You could say that. The Mirror Pack’s back where they belong.’

  Holiday smiled, encouragingly. ‘You did well, Rex.’

  ‘Did I?’ he frowned. ‘Then why do I feel so bad about it?’

  ‘Because you’re a nice guy,’ she told him.

  Rex shuddered. ‘Nice? Please, can we not use that word from now on?’

  Holiday nodded. ‘Deal,’ she said. ‘Now, Bobo’s in his room. He ordered Chinese food for you guys. My treat.’

  ‘Thanks, Doc,’ Rex said. ‘But I think I’m just going to bed. Like you say, it’s been a rough night, and I could do with putting it all behind me.’

  Dr Holiday looked concerned. ‘Are you sure?’ she asked. ‘Maybe company’s the best thing for you. It’s probably not a good idea to be alone right now.’

  ‘It’s OK,’ Rex told her. ‘I won’t be alone.’

  Rex sat on the end of his bed, staring straight ahead. Another Rex looked back, identical in every way. Rex raised his arm. The other Rex raised his at exactly the same time.

  A reflection. Just a reflection.

  ‘Hello?’ he said, feeling stupid. ‘I, uh, I don’t know if you can hear me in there. I saw you earlier, but then the mirror broke and …’ His voice trailed off.

  ‘I wish I knew who those people I saw you with were. They looked like they cared about you. That must be n–’ He stopped himself before he said the word. ‘Awesome. That must be awesome.’ Rex chuckled, sadly. ‘Like, OMG, totally.’

  ‘Talking to yourself again?’

  Rex stared into the mirror, before realising that the voice had come from over by the door. Agent Six stood there in his immaculate green suit, his eyes hidden beneath mirrored sunglasses.

  ‘Uh, yeah, I guess I must’ve been,’ Rex said.

  ‘Just wanted to tell you I think you
did a good job out there,’ Six said. ‘It couldn’t have been easy. You handled it well.’

  ‘Hey, that’s two compliments in one night, Six. Are you sure you’re not a mirror alter-ego?’

  ‘Pretty sure,’ Six said. ‘But if I am, I know I can count on you to do the right thing.’

  Rex nodded gratefully. ‘Thanks, Six,’ he said.

  ‘Don’t mention it.’ The Agent walked on, leaving Rex alone with the mirror. A moment later, Six’s head appeared around the doorframe again. ‘And, Rex?’ he said. ‘Don’t sit staring at your own reflection all night. People will start to think you’re vain.’

  ‘I was just … looking for something,’ Rex told him.

  ‘Well, whatever it is, I’m sure you’ll find it eventually,’ Six replied.

  Rex looked into the mirror. ‘Yeah,’ he said, at long last. ‘I really hope I will.’

  ‘Goodnight, Rex.’

  Rex stood up. ‘Goodnight, Six,’ he said. Then, with a final longing look at his reflection, Rex pulled back his covers, slipped into bed, and drifted off into a deep, dreamless sleep.

  TOTAL RECALL

  Test your memory of ‘Mirror Mirror’ with these eight tricky questions. Remember: no checking back!

  1 The Wheel of Terror is what kind of fairground ride?

  a. Spinning teacups

  b. Merry-go-round

  c. Big Wheel

  2 What is the golden prize on the test-your-strength machine?

  a. A bar of gold

  b. A goldfish

  c. A gold watch

  3 Which member of The Pack is pulled first into the mirror portal?

  a. Biowulf

  b. Breach

  c. Van Kleiss

  4 What breed of dog is Biowoof?

  a. Great Dane

  b. Alsatian

  c. Labrador

  5 Who does Six send to Chicago on a mission with Rex?

  a. Dan Nice

  b. Seal

  c. Dr Holiday

  6 What is the name of the reflective sculpture that Rex sees in Chicago?

  a. The Moon Gate

  b. The Cloud Gate