by RL Stine
Quick! Make a decision. Time is running out!
If you pocket the turtles and make a break for it, turn to PAGE 133.
If you go on with your polishing, turn to PAGE 30.
You bite your lip. “All right,” you say. “I’ll trust you.”
Pulling out the remote, you hand it to Deep Voice. You hope you did the right thing.
Deep Voice whips out a walkie-talkie. “We’re secure!” he barks into it.
The next instant, banks of headlights flash on, blinding you. Dozens of men in suits pour out of parked cars.
“What’s going on?” Stacey cries.
“Who are you guys?” Jason demands.
“I’m Agent Jones. We’re with the government,” Deep Voice replies. “Professor Shock is our top weapons designer.” He waves the remote in the air. “You kids have been playing with a very dangerous toy here! All I can say is, thank goodness we got it back before you pushed the red button.”
Your heart thuds. “Uh, well, actually …” you mumble.
Agent Jones stares at you in horror. “You mean you did press the red button? Oh, no! When?”
“About an hour ago.” You gulp. “Wh-what does it do?”
Agent Jones shakes his head solemnly. “You don’t want to know. Let’s just say, we’re all doomed. We have only a few seconds left before
THE END.”
In the center of the parking lot, the monster robot’s TV-screen eyes blink on.
It’s ready. Ready to crush you!
“What happens now?” Stacey gasps.
“Professor Shock, tell us what to do!” you cry.
“Help us!” Jason begs, grabbing the old man’s arm.
“Stop that!” Professor Shock snaps. “I’m trying to think.” Closing his eyes, he begins to mumble to himself.
And then he starts to snore.
You can’t believe it! You feel like screaming. What a time for the professor to take a nap!
Jason tugs your sleeve. “The professor’s too old for this. Let’s go get Uncle Jack,” he whispers. “He’ll know what to do.”
You hesitate. You have to admit, it’s a bad sign that Professor Shock fell asleep. But still, you believe he’s a genius. Maybe this is the way he gets all his ideas.
Maybe you should wait for him to wake up.
If you want to wait for Professor Shock to wake up, turn to PAGE 84.
If you’d rather get Uncle Jack, do it on PAGE 10.
“Run!” you shout. You and the twins take off.
“Stop!” The policeman pounds after you.
The lake is just ahead. A blue rowboat bobs at a small dock. “Head for the boat!” you call.
You reach the dock and jump into the boat. A moment later, Stacey jumps in after you.
But where is Jason?
“Help!” Jason shouts. You and Stacey glance back.
Jason has tripped on a rock! The policeman aims a long tube at him. There’s a pop. Then a net sails through the air and drops over Jason.
“I’ve got you now!” the policeman yells.
“Untie the boat!” you instruct Stacey. “I’ll help Jason.”
You run back to your friend. He’s struggling against the net. “Hold still!” you command. Grasping the net, you wrap it more tightly around Jason’s body.
“Stop it!” Jason shrieks. “You’re making it tighter!”
“Don’t squirm,” you tell him. Tightening the net is the only way you can think of to make it loose. You pull it even tighter.
The net falls off!
You help Jason up and start running. The policeman is right behind you. You jump into the boat. “Row!” you shout.
Row to PAGE 55.
“Get into the bumper cars!” you order the twins.
Jason stares at you. “Are you crazy? We’re being chased by a maniac! This is no time for games!” he snaps.
“I know that,” you answer impatiently. “Just get in. I have a plan.”
Grumbling, Jason climbs into a green bumper car. You help Stacey into a blue one, then you jump into a red one. You pull out Professor Shock’s remote and start punching buttons.
When you hit the sixth black button, the bumper cars start to move. It works! You can control them with the remote!
“See? We can ride these out of the mall,” you explain.
“Cool!” Stacey says enthusiastically.
“Nice thinking,” Jason admits. He starts to steer his car out of the ring.
“Wait a minute,” you call. You peer through the gloom to the stairwell. No sign of Red yet.
You know it’s crazy. But you’re just dying to play bumper cars one more time. Just once, before the mall is torn down and the Kiddie Karnival is gone forever.
The question is, who should you ram?
If you’d rather bump Jason, go to PAGE 99.
If you decide to bump Stacey, turn to PAGE 18.
“It’s obvious,” you declare. “We’ll go through the mirror that shows our own reflections. That’ll take us back to the real world.”
“Are you sure?” Jason asks anxiously.
You stand in front of the mirror and gaze in. Behind your three reflections is a familiar scene.
“Look!” Stacey exclaims. “It’s Miller’s.”
When you see the ice-cream store, your last doubts vanish. Miller’s is in your neighborhood. When you step through this mirror, you’ll practically be home!
“Let’s go!” you urge and step forward.
But as your foot moves toward the mirror, your reflected face twists in terror. Your reflected mouth opens as if you’re screaming.
You feel your real face. It seems normal. Your mouth is closed. What’s going on?
“Our reflections! They’re going crazy!” Jason declares.
“Something is scaring them,” Stacey adds. Then she gasps. “Hey, look! They’re running away! Quick! Let’s go after them!”
“And get caught by whatever is scaring them?” Jason scoffs. “No way! I say we stay right here. They’ll come back.”
What do you think?
If you go after your reflections, turn to PAGE 9.
If you’d rather wait and see what happens, turn to PAGE 42.
Thinking fast, you reach into your pocket.
“Smart choice, kid,” Deep Voice tells you.
“I know,” you answer — and hurl a handful of crunched-up cookie crumbs at his face.
Remember? You took the cookies with you when you left your house. In Scout camp, they taught you that it’s always a good idea to carry a snack.
Good thing you were paying attention that day!
“Aaaagh! I can’t see!” Deep Voice bellows. He stumbles backward, rubbing his eyes.
“Run!” you shout to Jason and Stacey.
The three of you pelt through the garage. Enough light shines from the elevator to show you a staircase ahead.
You don’t hesitate. You take off up the stairs.
Speed on to PAGE 127.
“We’ll wait for the Loreo,” you decide. You remember what happened last time you stepped through a mirror. It’s too risky to try without knowing what you’re doing!
You and Jason seat yourselves. Stacey, of course, has too much energy to stay in one place. She wanders around the tent, peering into all the other mirrors.
“Hey! Look at this, guys,” she calls suddenly.
You and Jason cross to where she’s staring into a big, strange-looking mirror with a red frame. You peek in.
“Cool!” you exclaim when you glimpse your reflections.
Stacey’s head is tiny. Your head is as big as a watermelon, while your body is wide, fat, and very short. Jason is incredibly tall and skinny and crimped like a crinkle-cut french fry.
“It’s a fun house mirror!” Jason cries.
“Maybe we could step through it,” Stacey says, her eyes sparkling. “That could be really fun!”
Before you can answer, a loud roar splits the air. It sounds as if
a whole pride of lions is approaching!
Go on to PAGE 130.
The Queen leads you to another, smaller room. It’s piled high with little stone statues. But these aren’t shiny and bright, like the ones in the big cave. These simply look like carved rocks.
“These are my new carvings,” the Queen tells you. “Polish them! If you finish them in two hours, I’ll return your friends to their true forms. I’ll also let you use my mirror. But if you fail — look out!”
You gaze at the piles of carvings in panic. There are thousands of them!
The Queen hands you a rag and a can of wax. “Better get started,” she tells you, cackling. Then she leaves.
You grab the nearest carving and start rubbing wax over it. Gradually it becomes a deep, glowing blue. You set it aside and grab another.
As quickly as you can, you polish carving after carving. You rub wax on a stone apple, a little house, a woodpecker. All of them grow shiny and beautiful.
But after an hour, you’ve barely even made a dent in the pile. Biting your lip, you pick up another carving.
You start polishing grimly. Then you notice something very odd about the little statue.
Find out what’s so odd on PAGE 118.
You and the twins race up to the third level of the mall. You glance over your shoulder. Whew! No sign of Deep Voice.
You push through the fire door at the top and stop to rest.
“Who was that guy?” Stacey pants.
“Somebody bad,” Jason retorts.
You stare down at the remote in your hand. Whoever Deep Voice was, he was desperate to get the gadget from you. Why? you wonder. All it does is turn things on and off.
Or is there something else you haven’t found out?
The twins lead you through the empty, echoing mall to a small store labeled JACK’S ELECTRONICS — REPAIRS AND SALES. It’s the only store you’ve seen so far that isn’t boarded up.
“This is Uncle Jack’s store,” Stacey announces.
You walk in. The store is filled with televisions, telephones, amplifiers, and dozens of other machines. But there’s no one behind the counter. The silence is eerie.
“Uncle Jack!” Jason calls. He ducks under the counter and vanishes into the back room.
A moment later you hear a yell.
Go to PAGE 29.
You decide to finish investigating the entrance hall before you try any doors. You’re turning back to rejoin the twins when someone calls your name.
That’s funny. The voice is familiar, but it doesn’t belong to either of the twins. And it’s coming from nearby!
You glance around. At first you don’t see anything. Then you spot an old, cracked mirror hanging by itself in a dark corner of the doorway. You peer into it.
And gasp.
A hideous, withered old face stares back at you! It’s so wrinkled you can hardly see its eyes.
Your heart thunders. There’s something familiar about the face. You’ve seen it before. It reminds you of …
Could it be — you? As an old person?
You scream.
Go on to PAGE 114.
The spray of water hits the robot squarely in its TV-screen eyes.
FZZZTT! The giant screens explode. Bits of glass rain down on the pavement.
“All right!” You, Jason, and Stacey cheer like idiots.
But you forgot about Red. Water won’t stop him. And you’ve just made him very, very angry.
“You kids are really starting to bug me!” the cyborg bellows. “Time to deal with you once and for all!”
He jabs another button on the remote control.
And the monster robot turns toward you.
“Help!” Jason shrieks.
“No!” Stacey cries.
“Spray!” you yell at the top of your lungs.
You aim the water at the robot’s legs. Its arms. You soak every part of its metal body.
But bulldozers and steamrollers aren’t like TVs. They’re built to work in the rain. The monster robot keeps coming.
One huge bulldozer shovel looms over your head. The other is poised over Stacey and Jason. You know you’re doomed.
“Crush them!” Red cries.
And then —
Then WHAT?? Turn to PAGE 113 to find out.
Your stomach knots. “Wh-what’s that?” you stammer.
“I bet it’s the Loreo,” Jason predicts glumly.
“RRROWWWWWRRRR!” A huge, tan beast bounds into the tent. It’s built like a lion, only bigger. Its toes are tipped with knifelike claws. But the thing’s claws aren’t nearly as scary as its face. It looks like a furry crocodile, with a pointed snout and sharp, jagged teeth. Hundreds of them. And they’re snapping at you.
The ticket man pops his head through the doorway. “Here’s the Loreo,” he announces cheerfully. “Tah-dah!”
“We’ve seen enough!” you shout. “Take it away!”
“Sorry,” he replies. “It’s time for the Loreo’s dinner.”
“What does it eat?” Stacey asks.
The ticket man smiles. “Kids!” he replies.
Stacey gulps. “Could we forget I asked?” she mutters.
The Loreo ambles toward you, drooling. You glance around desperately. There’s a gap between the tent and the grass outside. Can you squeeze through before the Loreo pounces? Or should you try to step through the fun house mirror?
Duck through the gap on PAGE 111.
Try the fun house mirror on PAGE 92.
The corridor opens into a big cave. Hanging from the ceiling are hundreds of tiny objects. All are made of carved, polished stones. They twist and turn on their chains, and rainbows of colored light bounce through the huge room.
“Cool!” Stacey cries. She rushes in. The stone objects tinkle as she passes. You glance up to see a tiny horse hanging on a slender silver chain. It looks just like a real horse. But it’s made of polished rock.
“Look at this!” Jason shouts. He points to a tiny blue motorcycle hanging just inside the entrance.
“What a beautiful flower!” Stacey gushes, pointing to a red rose. “It looks so real! I’m going to pick it!”
Did you just get a piece of advice from Professor Shock? If you did, turn to PAGE 65.
If you didn’t, turn to PAGE 106.
The sign is as far away as it ever was. But now you know how to get to it. “All we have to do is walk in the wrong direction,” you point out.
“Cool! Let’s go,” Stacey says.
In a few minutes, you reach the sign. It says:
THE PALACE HOLDS THE KEY.
DISCOVER THE QUEEN’S MIRROR
AND YOU’LL SOON BE HOME FREE.
An arrow points ahead into a thick, dark forest.
“The Palace?” Stacey exclaims. “The Queen?”
“Who wrote this?” you ask. “What does it mean?”
“I think it’s for us,” Jason announces. “I think it means that the way home is through this Palace place.”
Jason may be kind of timid, but he’s pretty smart. “Sounds good to me,” you declare. “Let’s go.”
By walking in the opposite direction, you and the twins are soon in the forest. It’s a gloomy place. The trees are so thick that hardly any light can get through. Long, slimy, purple-leafed vines choke the path. You hear things moving in the bushes.
“AROOOO!” A loud, deep sound booms somewhere up ahead. It’s a cross between a howl and a growl.
Turn to PAGE 117.
Quickly, you slip the turtle carving into your pocket. You glance around. The room is empty — who could be watching you? Still, you can’t help feeling as though there are eyes on you. Hidden eyes.
Nervously, you reach for another carving and start polishing. Better keep busy in case anyone comes in while you’re planning your escape.
Then the door slams open.
“HOW DARE YOU TRY TO STEAL MY CARVING?” the Queen rages. She towers over you. Her blotchy face is twisted in fury.
&n
bsp; “I — I didn’t mean —” you stammer. “It was just —”
“SILENCE!” the Queen orders. “I thought you were honest. But you betrayed my trust!” She grabs you by the arm. “Now you’ll have to be punished!”
Take your punishment on PAGE 25.
Maybe you can turn on all the appliances in the store and distract Red! You pull the remote out of your pocket.
Bad move.
“I’ll take that!” Red says.
Moving unbelievably quickly, he lunges at you. The remote flies out of your hand and skids under the counter.
You and the twins leap toward the counter.
Red is faster.
He dives under the counter. A moment later he bobs to his feet. The remote is clutched in his hand.
“Thanks, kids! And good-bye,” Red calls. Laughing nastily, he points the remote at the floor beneath your feet.
A trap door opens up.
You and the twins hurtle into the darkness below.
Plunge to PAGE 27.
You press a button with your right thumb. Nothing happens.
For a moment, that is.
Then a dim, blue glow fills the elevator. As it touches you, you start to tingle all over.
“What’s going on?” Stacey cries. “This feels so weird!”
“I don’t know,” you admit nervously.
The blue light suddenly winks out. The next thing you know, the elevator leaps into motion.
Sideways.
The sudden movement knocks you off your feet. The remote flies out of your hand.
“Whoa!” you yell. The elevator is traveling so fast that you’re plastered against the wall. You can’t move!
“Where are we going?” Stacey cries.
“Make it stop!” Jason screams. “Use the remote!”
