Chapter Twelve Winners

Ciao, Fabo-istas! Such a shame that holidays have to end – we all hope you had a great one. But maybe without quite the same amount of drama as those of you who managed to keep writing during your break put your characters through. Blimey, what inventive minds you have! I reckon if we run out of ideas, we’ll bring you lot in as consultants.

Right, this week’s winners. As with last week, entries were down because you were all off swanning around enjoying yourselves (not that we’re jealous!), but some of you still managed to send in your entries. Well done, and congratulations for keeping on writing despite holiday temptations.

Some excellent dialogue again this week. I liked how it was in character and sounded like real (well, real for this story!) people talking. Not always easy to master the art of good dialogue so well done.

Caroline whipped up an entry just before she went on holiday. Her description of the earthquake felt real, which isn’t surprising because she based it on her experience in the Christchurch quake.

Hayley added to the cast of characters with her Goth girl Summer who insists on being called Janice.

This week’s winners are Andy Xie and Aidan Berkahn – great plots, fabo dialogue and well plotted with action that builds up to a finish that makes me want to turn the page to find out what happens next. The Time Entity Andy introduced was done very skillfully and I liked the way it was woven into the story so that it becomes important because of the effect it has on Remy. Aidan made me laugh with his idea about Giles’s translator breaking so that all he can say now is Jolly good show, old chap.

So who wrote the Fabo chapter this week?

Me! Fleur Beale.

Chapter 12

By Aidan Berkahn, Parkland School, Palmerston North

"Uh huh. An earthquake. Like that's going to happen", muttered Too Cool sarcastically.

"No, the boys are right, if this is Napier on the 3rd of February 1931, which it is, and if it's before 10:47 AM, which we're not sure about, then hey, unless someone's cancelled the well known Napier earthquake, which I doubt, we are dead," said Ummm. The earth began to shake.

"No doubt you're right, fairy", snarled Jones. Just at that moment an explosion shook the earth even more than the quake itself, and a little green furry guy with spots, a monkey face and way more than two eyes popped out.

"Hello," he said, consulting a small, pink, oversized pocket watch. "I am Dr Xargle, as in Dr Xargle's Book of Earthhounds etc, and the shaking you're experiencing is not the Napier earthquake ..." Sighs of relief followed these words. "... It is a slightly more powerful aftershock." Screams of terror followed these words.[1] Ummm and Eyepod were the only ones that remained calm.

"According to my earth studies, Dr Xargle hasn't been invented yet, so you can't exist, and you're a fictional character, which also stops you from existing. And what the heck is that?!" Ummm said.

"That, my dear friend, is a D.R.I.D.," replied Dr Xargle. This remark was followed by looks of confusion.

"A drid? What on earth is a drid?" asked Lewis. Dr Xargle sighed.

"Not a drid, a D.R.I.D, you ghjmghuio![2] D.R.I.D! D-R-I-D! Date Reader In Disguise! That's how I knew to describe my book to you!" he yelled. Then, in a quieter voice, "By the way, would you mind refilling my Kissyzap(tm)?"[3] He held out a soft, pink, floppy shell, with a hole in it, several black exploding stars all over it, and a little fire still crackling. Ummm said yes, then Remy asked, "How come the aftershock has stopped? And why does this place look like hyperspace? And why are you nothing like the Dr Xargle from the books?" Ummm, instead of Dr Xargle, answered.

"Question one: because it hasn't. Question two: because it is. Question three: because the books are fiction. Got it?" Remy nodded, but Dr Xargle shouted, "No, you ftyhdftyu! It's because I'm a teenager with attitude problems!" Just then, Eyepod called out in a loud, mermaidish[4] voice, "I think the shaking from the earthquake outside hyperspace is what put us into hyperspace, and probably what can get us out. On the downside, the quake has stopped. On the even downer side, the quake also let that thing into hyperspace." Everyone looked. Miranda and Giles stood on top of a humungous cat with horns and a set of glowing spikes at the end of its tail.

"Just marvellous! We've got you chappies just where you should be!" chuckled Miranda.

"But we don't have any rubies!" yelled Remy and Lewis simultaneously.

"Who cares about rubies, you ghfuyoims?! A pair of mad gorillas are trying to kill us!" yelled Dr Xargle.

"Back in our time ..." began Too Cool.

"Enough!" yelled Miranda. "You may not have any rubies, but we two shall wish to have our revenge! Chuffing, isn't it?"

"Jolly good show, old chap! Jolly good show!" added Giles.

"His translator's broken. That's the only thing he can say, poor thing. Now, ATTACK!!!" yelled Miranda.

"JOLLY GOOD SHOW, OLD CHAP!!!" shouted Giles. And the cat monster swung its crackling tail forward, Dr Xargle threw his Kissypow(tm), and Ummm and Too Cool arranged themselves into some sort of battle formation. The "Hyperspace War"[5] had begun.

NOTES:

[1] Notice the difference?

[2] No need to translate that.

[3] Exploding lipstick. Otherwise known as Kissyboom(tm), Kissypow(tm) or Kissybang(tm).

[4] Think rusty bells.

[5] Obvious why it got called that, really.

Chapter 12

By Andy Xie, Auckland Normal Intermediate

"The Time Entity"

Remy swallowed deeply as a hologram flickered into life, hovering above Too Cool’s palm.

February 3rd, 1931.

The date of the Napier Earthquake.

And although he didn’t know it, it would be the day time changed speed for Remy.

“Too Cool,” Remy rasped, his throat dry with fear, “What’s the time?”

It was such a casual question, but the usually rowdy crowd of five humans, two fairies, and one mermaid was utterly silent. The answer, they knew, was a matter of 256 deaths and 256 lives.

Remy didn’t know if his group was part of the 256, but his heart sank when Too Cool opened his mouth to break the silence, like a judge giving a death sentence.

“10;46.”

They were a minute away from catastrophe, and there was nothing they could do to stop Mother Nature’s wrath. Remy didn’t know what to say, so Lewis said it for him.

“Aw, shucks.”

The clock on the hologram suddenly, yet slowly as well, flicked to a new number, 10:47, and Remy came the closest to a girl’s whelp in his life. He would have screamed too.

That is, if the earth didn’t start shaking first.

Ummm’s “Uh-oh,” was the last thing Remy heard before the earth’s mighty roar forced itself into Remy’s ears, throwing violent punches into his eardrums.

***

Remy woke to Lewis’s sleep talking.

“Miriama...” Lewis whispered gently in his sleep.

Remy chuckled softly, so he wouldn’t wake his friend up. The others were also unconscious, but seemed unharmed, much to Remy’s satisfaction – and surprise.

He got up, scanning his surroundings.

What he saw was totally unexpected.

Yeah, he had expected cracks and fissures, which were certainly there, but he certainly hadn’t hadn’t anticipated the fire.

Lava flowed in the cracks in the earth, casting a glow on everything, which would have been soothing, if it hadn’t been so unnatural.

From the hill, Remy could see the ruins of houses that had sunk into the jaws of the land, in the process of cremation as lava ate away at them. The photos hadn’t done the disaster justice. It was like the apocalypse.

“Hmm.”

Remy jumped, startled by the sudden sound.

“It seems our cool little trip in time infused some extra energy into the timeline, and it chose to displace that energy in the earthquake, resulting in the awesome flames.”

“Wha..?” Remy turned around to see Ummm. His brain whizzed into action. “Wait a minute. So because of us… the earthquake hit harder than it was supposed to?”

Ummm nodded. “Hence the lava, which obviously flowed onto the land, from the Earth’s core.

“That’s ridiculous!” Remy yelled.

“Shush, man,” Ummm replied coolly, “You’ll wake the others up.”

“Oh, yeah. Well, you stay here to look after the sleepers, and I’ll, um, check out the town.”

Ummm shook his head. “That’s too dangerous, dude.”

But Remy was already gone.

***

Deep in the magma-filled earth, a monster stirred.

It was a being of pure undiluted time essence, and it had long been trapped in the Well of Time, by the powers that be.

But now, due to an unusually high amount of energy being suddenly pumped into time, it had been… freed.

Now, it could have some fun.

***

Remy wandered down the ruined streets, doing his best to avoid the streams of lava.

Ash floated around in the air, making it painful to breathe.

It was an empty and lonely place; the only people Remy had seen were those evacuating the area, and the bulk of them had already gone after twenty minutes.

For the rest, Remy assumed the worst.

Suddenly, he stopped.

Before him stood a glowing, burning, giant, at least 5 metres tall.

The two stared at each for a while, until Remy yelled at the top of his lungs, “Holy crap patties!” and ran for his life.

What the heck is that thing? He thought. Shaking his head, Remy stomped on the imaginary gas pedal. Ten metres in the run, and he was already panting.

The giant seemed to flicker, and Remy almost jumped, as it appeared right in front of him. It reached out to touch Remy, and Remy’s eyes instantly darted to whatever the giant was touching and realized: the ground that the giant touched, it had all turned to dust.

“Argh!” he cried out, tumbling backwards, just in time to “dodge’ the giants death touch.

“Ummm, Too Cool..?!” he shouted in desperation, as the giant took slow, deliberate, steps towards Remy.

The fairies, somehow, were instantly at his side, grabbed him, flew into the ash-ridden air.

“What is that thing?” Ummm asked.

“I dunno,” Remy replied, shocked, “I was just walking and…”

“That’s nice and all, man, but we need to know what it can do.”

Remy nodded. “It’s faster than Jay Garrick, Wally West, and Barry Allen combined. He’s even got this death touch thing going on, everything he touches turns to dust, like Wally West had at one time, or maybe like Black Flash, and, um, Nekrom!”

Too Cool and Ummm, who were huge fans of DC Comics, knew exactly what Remy was rambling on about.

“It sounds like a Time Entity, dude,” Too Cool mumbled. Seeing Remy’s baffled expression, he continued, “A being made of pure time essence.” He sounded more nervous than Remy had ever heard him.

Ummm opened his mouth to speak, but he didn’t have enough time, as the Time Entity appeared in front of them, touched Remy, and as fast as it had appeared, it was gone, with a brilliant explosion of light.

“Aw, man, what happened? Y’alright, Remy?” Ummm sounded more excited than worried.

Remy remained silent, his eyes wide open, yet unseeing.

“Dude,” Too Cool muttered, “I think we should get him back to the gang…”

Ummm nodded, and off the fairies flew.

***

“What?” Mrs Polanik screeched, “So you’re saying my son was touched by a being with powerful god-like abilities over time, and you don’t know what’s going on with him?!”

“Ummm,” Ummm said, somewhat intimidated by Remy’s mother, “Yes..?”

“Oh, I’ll smash you!” And she would have, had not Mrs Jones grabbed her.

“No, I will!” Mrs Jones insisted, looking for someone to abuse.

“No, me!’

Eyepod rolled her eyes. “We’ll let them sort it out,” she declared, “For now, lets focus on Remy.”

“Yeah, but not for long,” Lewis harrumphed, jealous of the attention Eyepod was focusing on the comatose Remy.

“Oh, I think he can speak for himself.” Mr Jones quipped in, as Remy’s eyes regained their focus.

“Wh – where am I?” Remy stuttered.

“Napier,” Eyepod replied gently.

“Yeah!” Lewis added, determined not to lose this battle for Eyepod.

“What are you saying?” Remy asked, scrunching up his nose in confusion.

“He doesn’t seem to be able to understand us…” Mr Jones muttered in fascination.

“It’s like you’re all talking in slow motion!” Remy just about shrieked in frustration.

“Oh my.” Too Cool gasped, “Did the Time Entity, maybe, merge itself with Remy?”

“Dude, is that, like, possible?”

“Um,” Lewis ventured hesitantly, “What are you talking about?”

Too Cool waved his arm around absent-mindedly. “Dude, he may have, like, these super-powers on time.”

Lewis didn’t know how to react.

In the distance, Mrs Jones and Polanik were having an all out brawl, complete with girly taunts and slaps. Mrs Jones gained the upper hand when Mrs Polanik gave a small “Oh,” she lost her balance, falling to the ground below and –

Remy wasn’t even a blur as he instantly vanished and re-appeared behind his mother, catching her before anybody else could have reacted.

“What the heck?” Lewis gaped.

Everybody was deeply shocked: how had Remy moved so fast?

But Too Cool and Ummm were smiling widely.

“I think we’ve found our tickets back to the future.” Too Cool said triumphantly.

Yet Remy stood still, looking more confused than ever. “Guys, can you guys talk faster so I can understand you?!”

“That is, erm, if we can get him to start thinking in our speed.” Ummm added in.

Too Cool nodded. “That might be a problem.”