by Adam Frost
He stared darkly at Danny, looking older than ever. Danny wanted to reach for his Time Tablet, but his hands refused to move.
The Space Twister turned round and faced the four thugs. “Kill his sister first. Then his best friend. Bring me their heads on spikes.”
“N-no,” mumbled Danny.
At that precise moment, two heads popped out of the mirror on the back wall of the lift. One was Eric’s and one was Mia’s.
“If he comes near my head, I’ll nut him,” said Mia.
The lift doors began to close. The Space Twister saw Eric and Mia and wedged his foot in the lift doors.
“Damnation!” he exclaimed. He jammed his finger on the Pause button of the remote.
Eric and Mia grabbed Danny by the shoulders and dragged him into the mirror. Mia locked the mirror behind them and looked down at Danny. “This is positively the last time we rescue you,” she said. “Ever.”
Danny looked up and around at the small grey room. He was behind the mirror in the lift, safe from the Space Twister.
He stood up and hugged Mia. He was about to hug Eric then he stopped.
“All right, mate?” said Eric.
“All right, mate?” Danny replied.
“What are you both doing here?” asked Danny.
“We couldn’t leave you in there, could we?” said Mia. “We came through the mirror in Eric’s downstairs toilet.”
“Listen, listen,” said Danny, suddenly remembering, “I’ve worked out how he’s twisting space. It’s the jewels in his teeth. I saw it. I saw it!”
“Saw what?” asked Mia.
“One of them is an amber crystal,” said Danny.
“What?” said Eric.
“He’s got an amber crystal in his teeth,” said Danny. “He can’t twist space. He doesn’t even want to, because it doesn’t stop you ageing. So he’s doing something else. With the crystal.”
“You mean, like he’s become a remote himself?” asked Eric.
“He can’t have done, or he wouldn’t need Danny’s, would he?” said Mia.
“All right, it was just a theory,” said Eric.
“I’ve got a theory,” said Mia. “You and Danny are doing my head in.”
“Be quiet for a minute, I’m trying to think,” said Danny.
He opened his Time Tablet and typed in “BARRY MCINTYRE”. It was the name of one of the Space Twister’s thugs.
“We’ve got to find out what’s going on,” said Danny.
They all read the end of Barry McIntyre’s file.
The Space Twister and Barry were standing in the lift with the doors wedged open.
“I don’t understand it,” the Space Twister exclaimed. “I pressed Rewind and they didn’t come back out of the mirror.”
“If you say so, boss,” replied Barry.
“Wherever they’ve gone, they must be outside of time. Not in range.” The Space Twister looked down at the remote.
“So do you still want me to chase them or not, boss?” asked Barry.
“Yes, yes,” said the Space Twister. “Actually, no, it doesn’t matter. The amulet is more important. This must be the wrong one. If only I could find out who wrote that riddle. Maybe the author was also the inventor.”
“Wow, so we’re immune from the remote in here,” said Eric.
“That is pretty handy,” said Mia.
“Yeah,” said Danny, nodding. “Let’s keep reading. And start writing.”
He selected Edit and typed,
“So what happened back there, boss? Did the kid take your remote?”
There was a pause and then a sentence scrambled across the Time Tablet.
“Not that it’s any of your business, Barry,” replied the Space Twister, “but yes.”
Danny typed,
“So how did you get it back, boss?”
There was another pause and then the following words appeared.
The Space Twister looked at Barry suspiciously and said, “It’s not like you to exhibit curiosity, Barry. But, since you ask, I’m immune from the gadget’s powers because of this crystal in my front tooth.”
Danny continued to type, making the thug ask more and more questions.
Mia and Eric read:
“Good one, boss,” laughed Barry. “But, seriously, how did you do it?”
“I’m quite serious,” replied the Space Twister. “This crystal is the same as the one used by the gadget.” He held up the cosmic remote. “It tricks the remote into thinking that I am also a cosmic remote.”
“So why do you need the gadget, boss?”
“Because I am a cosmic remote without controls,” said the Space Twister. “The crystal in my teeth means that if someone else uses the remote, I do not get paused or rewound or fast forwarded. But if I want to control when time pauses or gets rewound, I can’t. Hence needing the remote too.”
“Blimey, boss, how did you work that out?”
The Space Twister narrowed his eyes and looked at Barry. “I must admit, it’s quite nice to talk to someone about all of this. But you don’t seem yourself, Barry. Are you sure you’re ALL THERE?”
Danny stopped typing and looked at Eric and Mia.
“He’s twigged,” whispered Eric.
Danny, Eric and Mia watched more words appeared on the Time Tablet. Danny wasn’t controlling Barry any more.
“Eh, boss?” said Barry.
“Those questions you asked,” said the Space Twister.
“What questions would they be, boss?” asked Barry.
“Just as I suspected,” said the Space Twister. He looked up at the ceiling. “I don’t know how you’re doing this, EUREKA! But the fun’s over.”
He pulled out the cosmic remote.
“I’ve just had an idea,” said Eric. “Danny, keep him talking.”
Danny nodded and started to type into Barry’s file, taking over his body again.
“The fun’s just started,” said Barry. “You’re finished, Space Twister. Or whatever your name is. It’s hardly right to call you the Space Twister when you can’t even twist space.”
The Space Twister’s reply appeared on the Time Tablet.
“I’m not saying another word,” said the Space Twister. “I’m pausing time. Good day.”
While Danny had been typing, Eric had been talking to Mia. “Very quietly, open the mirror at the back of the lift again. Just for a few seconds.”
“Why?” Mia replied.
“Just do it,” said Eric.
Mia unlocked the mirror and Eric took out his Truth Spray. He put the nozzle through the mirror and very gently squirted it for about twenty seconds.
“Close it, close it!” said Eric.
Mia locked the mirror.
Eric leapt over to where Danny was standing and said, “That room will be full of Truth Spray now. They can’t lie.”
“Cool,” said Danny. “Let’s work out the whole story.”
He started to type again, continuing to use Barry as a puppet.
“So how did you find the crystal?” Barry asked.
The Space Twister clamped his lips together but the words came tumbling out. “It was a stroke of luck, really. After I visited Grace Bingley, I gave up twisting space. I looked into other ways of controlling time. I found an article about time travel in an obscure scientific journal called FAST FORWARD. The writer was Herbert Perkins or, if you prefer, the Night Scientist. He’d been eighteen or nineteen when he wrote it, but twenty years had passed. So what had happened to him? It took me two days and two nights to track him down. When I arrived at his laboratory complex, it was empty except for a broken cosmic remote on the floor of an abandoned warehouse. There was an amber crystal next to it. I had no idea what it was, but I put the crystal in my teeth for safekeeping. Shortly afterwards, I noticed time stopping and going backwards.”
“What do you mean, boss?”
Again, the Space Twister tried not to speak and again, the words came out in a torrent. “Well, the boy Danny
Danger was clearly using his remote. The crystal in my tooth meant that I wasn’t affected by it. The first time it happened, I had no idea what was going on. I thought I was space-twisting without realising it. But then time resumed again in the normal way. After a few weeks of research, I worked out why.”
“So now you’ve got the remote, why are you still wearing the crystal?” asked Barry.
“Because of what just happened in here,” the Space Twister replied. “The boy took the remote back. For a few seconds only. But it meant that, when he pressed Pause, I was immune from it. So I could take it back.”
“So without the crystal, you can be paused as well,” said Barry.
“Yes,” replied the Space Twister. “I’ll be just as… What am I saying? Why have I said all this?”
He was staring at his mouth angrily.
“It’s run out,” said Eric.
“Open the mirror again, Mia,” said Danny. “I’ve worked out how to finish this.”
“What do you mean?” said Mia, running back to the mirror and unlocking it.
“We’ll get the crystal out of his teeth first,” said Danny. “Then the remote. Then we can all go home.”
“You’re not going out there,” said Mia, standing in front of the mirror.
Danny shook his head. “No, it’s coming in here.”
He typed as quickly as he could:
Barry held the Space Twister down and pulled the amber crystal out of his teeth. Then he threw the crystal into the mirror at the back of the lift.
A split second later, an amber crystal flew into the small grey room.
Danny typed:
Barry took the cosmic remote from the Space Twister.
He was about to type “Barry threw the remote into the mirror”, when a message appeared on the screen: “New folder has appeared in Grapeshot Hall. Do you want to view?”
Without thinking, Danny clicked Yes.
And there, next to Barry McIntyre’s file, was the new addition. He saw a picture of the Space Twister on top of a small yellow folder icon.
Of course, thought Danny. Without the crystal in his teeth, he’s just like anybody else. He’s in the Time Tablet. I can do whatever I want to him.
“Danny,” exclaimed Mia. “Why hasn’t the remote come through the mirror?”
Danny had clicked on the Space Twister’s folder. He looked at the options. Cut, Paste, Edit, Delete. For the first time, he stared at the Delete option.
Delete. Destroy. Remove forever.
He could delete the Space Twister.
“Danny, why aren’t you typing?” asked Eric.
Danny selected Delete. A message appeared on screen.
Deleting will remove this person from time forever. Are you sure?
“Danny, I’m not keeping this mirror unlocked for much longer!” cried Mia.
Danny stared at the two options. Delete or Cancel. It would all be over. He just had to delete the Space Twister.
A few seconds passed.
He couldn’t do it. He just couldn’t. He was about to click Cancel when the Space Twister’s file vanished. He quickly clicked into the first thug’s file again and read:
“Give that back, Barry!” shouted the Space Twister.
Barry looked lost. “Give what back, boss?”
“The remote in your hand,” said the Space Twister.
Barry glanced down at his hand. “Oh, right. Sorry, boss.”
The Space Twister snatched the remote and pressed Pause. He vanished from the room.
Mia had locked the mirror and was standing in front of Danny. “What happened?” she said.
“He got away,” said Danny.
“How come?” said Eric.
“H-his folder appeared and I thought I c-could delete him and—” Danny mumbled.
“Delete him – woah,” said Mia, taking a step backwards.
“It just appeared as one of the options and I thought – it’ll solve everything. He’ll be gone for good. But I didn’t. I couldn’t.”
“Thank goodness for that,” said Mia. “If you’d killed him, I’d have – er – well – killed you.”
“But his folder was in there, right?” said Eric. “So that means we can find him again. We can still stop him. You just have to type in his name.”
Danny looked ahead blankly. “I didn’t really take in his name,” he said quietly.
“What?” cried Mia.
“I just saw his folder and clicked on it, I didn’t really notice what it was called,” said Danny.
“You … didn’t … notice…?” said Mia. “Danny, how could you be so daft!”
“Hey, calm down,” said Eric. “It’ll still be OK. After all, we got the amber crystal. Which means that, you know, if we had the remote, the Space Twister wouldn’t be immune from it any more. But since we haven’t got the remote, the crystal’s, er, a bit rubbish really.”
Danny stared at his feet. It was the third time in a single day that he had failed to get his remote back. Maybe he should just find his own file and delete himself. Do everyone a favour.
“Hang on a sec,” said Eric. “Last time we checked, wasn’t your uncle flying through the air, looking for a crystal? Didn’t he say he could build another remote with it?”
Mia stopped frowning and said, “Actually, yeah, he did say that.”
“So that’s what we should do,” said Eric. “Find your uncle.”
There were a few moments of silence.
Mia looked at the crystal and then looked at her brother. She nudged Danny and said, “Forget the Space Twister. Let’s find Uncle Charlie and give him an early birthday present. Even though I’m still waiting for MY present from him.”
Danny was still looking at the floor, but managed the smallest of smiles.
Mia, Danny and Eric were in the small grey room, staring at the Time Tablet’s screen. Danny had opened up his uncle’s file and they were all reading it.
zbc
bimpoopbim
…” have to look for the crystal later…”
“OK, let’s spilt up, then,” said Uncle Charlie, firing a sky rope into a thick bank of cumulus clouds.
“Where do you think they are?” asked Jasper.
“I don’t know,” said Uncle Charlie, “but I told them to meet me at Bambridge House. You know, where we’ve hidden before. Danny would have read it on his Time Tablet. And they weren’t there. So something’s happened.”
Danny winced. He’d completely forgotten about his uncle’s instructions. Danny read on, praying that his actions hadn’t brought about more disaster.
“OK, well, I’m going to Germany first,” said Jasper, taking a small black phone out of his pocket. “I just got a missed call from a phone box in Hamburg. Answer phone message is Y.O.U. S.U.C.K., tapped out on the receiver in Morse Code. Can only be Roxie, right?”
“I’m going to find the Space Twister’s headquarters,” said Uncle Charlie. “He might have captured Danny. Or Danny might have gone there himself. Hunting for his remote.”
“Really? You think he’d be that reckless?”
Uncle Charlie nodded. “I’d have done the same.”
Uncle Charlie and Jasper swooped down and, when Uncle Charlie got close to a row of skyscrapers, he said, “The outskirts of Hamburg. Shall I drop you on the top of one of those buildings?”
Jasper nodded. “See you back at the skylab.”
“If you see the Space Twister,” said Uncle Charlie, “run or hide. Until we’ve found a crystal.”
Uncle Charlie swung close to the skyscraper and dropped Jasper down a giant air-conditioning chute. Then he swung round and headed north. He pulled a notepad out of his pocket.
“Space Twister has three known hideouts. Let’s start with Grapeshot Hall.”
Charlie raced through the sky at huge speed, shooting one sky rope after another. Within five minutes, he was lowering himself on to the roof of Grapeshot Hall and flipping open a skylight.
He went from
room to room, looking for Danny, Eric or Mia, but found no trace of them. Then he heard raised voices coming from behind a small door at the end of the library. He ran across to open it, but time was suddenly paused and he froze.
Danny was the first to finish reading it. “Oh no! Uncle Charlie’s out there!” he exclaimed.
Mia and Eric finished and looked up.
“Do you think the Space Twister saw him?” asked Mia.
“It doesn’t look like it,” said Eric. “I mean, your uncle’s still in the Time Tablet, isn’t he? Just paused.”
“But we’re not leaving him out there,” said Danny. “What if the Space Twister comes back? Or presses Play and all those thugs come back to life?”
“So what are you saying?” asked Eric.
“I’m going out there to get him!”
“Right, and what about if the Space Twister presses Play and the thugs come back to life and you’re out there,” said Eric.
“Mia, unlock the mirror, please,” said Danny.
“Or what if he presses Play and Pause and then you’re frozen too,” said Eric.
“Mia, please, it’s my fault Uncle Charlie’s out there,” said Danny. “Unlock the mirror.”
“Or what if he presses Rewind and you’re out there and we’re in here,” said Eric. “Who knows where you’ll end up?”
“Mia, I’ve got the Time Tablet,” said Danny. “If anything happens, I can cut and paste people. I can even … delete them, remember.”
Mia was listening to all this, holding the Mirror Key in her right hand and patting her left hand with it.
“You’ll never be able to carry him through here on your own,” said Mia.
“I can,” said Danny. “I will.”
“Either we all go or none of us goes,” said Mia. “We are sticking together from now on.”
