"Brian Mallow??" went Dot. It sounded like somebody she'd heard of - somebody famous - but she couldn't think who, just for the moment.

"Yeah just his voice though this time" said Mr Mouse. "It just said "PREPARE! GET READY! Made us all jump but that was it, till - "

"So who is this Brian Mallow?" went Wiz, yawning so wide you could see his long pink tongue all the way back.

"The big guy, houndfeatures, and you wouldn't yawn if he was takin' care of you!" said Mr Mouse huffily.

"OK OK so... what happened next?" asked Wizzie, after he'd stopped yawning and made that smacking noise with his mouth that dogs do when they've had a really BIG yawn.

"Well everyone waiting there inside Crunchkerry Castle stopped like DEAD STILL for a moment but nothin' else happened... so then I get talking to this gerbil called Gerald... said his act was singing some kinda classical stuff while riding on a one-wheel-bike and juggling peanuts over his head. He was just going to show me when I heard this big shout. It's this mouse coming at me pushing his way through all the crowds and he's going like "Cousin! Cousin!" and just as he - "

"Yes but what about this Mallow bloke!" said Wizard, jumping in impatiently.

Mr Mouse ignored him. "JUST as this mouse was getting near me there was this HUGE bang and a flash of light the size of a street and a kind of fizzing, sparkling hissing noise, very loud, and down the end of this hall the whole thing opened up!"

He threw his arms open wide. "There was a big space, yeah it WAS like the stage for the X-Factor, but it had these GIANT doors at the back. Must have been 20 metres high, no kiddin'! But no-one could see 'em at first, 'cos of all these fireworks going off, blue and green and gold and red, and big big Catherine Wheels going round and round and rockets and it was so BRIGHT! AND smokey, too!"

He shook his head and took off his baseball cap and wiped his forehead.

"THEN" he said "THEN, this thing like a flying saucer with a big throne on it just kind of came out of all the smoke and fireworks. It was nearly as high up as the doors. It had these shiny rings going round and round it and two big arms down the side with these like BIG loudspeakers on. In the middle of it there was a throne just like King Henry VIII's - "

Dot nodded excitedly. She could remember that throne from her adventure with King Henry, when she nearly had to stay behind in the 16th century and be in charge of all the King's music (or 'Musicke', as he called it!)

" - only EVEN BIGGER" Mr Mouse went on. "And it was covered in all this gold and diamond and silvery stuff and sparkling so bright you could hardly look at it. There was this big guy sitting in it in this big red and purple cloak with a huge collar and these big sunglasses with like that mirror stuff in them... the man himself, Brian Mallow!"

"Very bling!" said Dot, trying not to laugh.

Mr Mouse took a quick look at her but she managed not to giggle.

"And then" Canada's finest cheesehunter went on "the MUSIC started - it was like that stuff from that old space movie your Dad likes - what's it called - oh yeah, '2001'. DAN - DAN - DANDANNNNN!!!!!!! And then - he spoke!! So loud the ground shook. He went "THE FIRST CONTESTANT - PLEASE!"

Mr Mouse shuddered and put his hands over his eyes.

"And he looked STRAIGHT - AT - ME!"