"Oh boy!" went Mr Mouse again. "THAT'S something I don't wanna go through another time! Never again would be too soon!"

Wizzie grinned. "So... you did get the X Factor treatment at this Rodent Roundup talent show, did you?"

"Talent show?" went Mr Mouse. "These were auditions kiddo - the real thing! We were all going for the big time!"

"So... where did this all happen, Mr M?" asked Dot. She knew 'The X Factor' happened in big TV studios of course - but this had been in cyberspace, so it couldn't have been like that.

"Oh" said Mr Mouse "that was one of the things about it. See, it all happened on this website called crunchkerrycastle.com" He shook his head. "Real spooky it was. See, right after you replied to the advert, you got a URL for where to go - and how to get there. You hadda go down this special fibre optic pathway with all these strange sounds and colours all round you. And when you got there - "

He stopped and shivered.

"What?" said Dot and Wizzy together.

"Well" said Mr Mouse slowly "It was like they were trying to spook you out - see if you had what it takes - even before they started the auditions, the tests to see if you could be the star of the esure.com TV commercials. This place was like a kind of old mansion like you see in those funny old horror films. When you arrived after your net-voyage, there was just this door in the middle of nowhere. It was all kinda black and shiny. And then - "

He stopped again, and took a deep breath.

"And then when you logged on - there was this keypad on the door, and you'd been given a code to get you in - this big deep voice from outta nowhere went: "If you come through this door - you're saying YOU want to be a star. It'll be TOUGH TOUGH TOUGH. Turn back NOW if you can't take it!"

"Who was the voice?" asked Dot. It did sound scary, she had to admit.

"One thing at a time" said Mr Mouse grumpily. "Who's telling this story?"

"OK OK" said Dot, putting her hands up. It was obviously making Mr Mouse nervy just telling his story - bad memories.

"So I wasn't going let that put me off" Mr Mouse went on. He was back in his favourite position leaning on the edge of Dot's laptop, paws behind his head. "So I hit the button and in I go. And I've never seen anything like it!"

He waved his paws about. "There was this big hall, the walls were like curtains of light, blue, green, yellow gold - you name it. And the colours kept changing. And there was this kinda classical music playing. But, the people! There was every kind of mouse, gerbil, rat, hamster - every rodent you can think of. All dressed up, all ready for the auditions. Everyone standing around, talkin' away - it was so noisy you couldn't hear yourself think!"

He stopped again. "That is - till this big voice came over the loudspeakers. It was... BRIAN MALLOW!"