BRRRRMMMMMMMMMMMMM! BRRRRRRRRRRRRMMM!!!!
The cyber rats were heading straight for them!
As Dot looked down from their hiding place in the cachou tree, floating high above the black mountain of Phargon, she felt a sick feeling in her stomach.
What on earth could they do?
But Mr Fruity, leading the cyber rats, had at last spotted Cruncher. With a yell of triumph, he pointed his bike straight at him and roared ahead, up and up and up! All the other cyber rats followed him, in a huge pack.
Dot didn’t know whether to close her eyes or watch – as well as the scene before their eyes, she could see just what Cruncher could see, because she was still getting pictures from his camera on the little screen in front of her.
It DID NOT look good!
“He’s had it!” said Mr Mouse loudly. “Finito! The end!”
But it wasn’t – not at all! Time and time again, as the other cyber rats closed in on Cruncher, he twisted and turned roared off to one side, did a somersault on his back – and time and time again, he got away! Just like before, he never fell off – the cyber bikes clearly had their own gravity field, which kept you on the bike no matter what you did.
“Go Cruncher! Go!” said Wizzie, barking his “chase” bark, the one he always uses when he’s trying to get squirrels in the park (never catches any of course. You’d think he’d – oops, yes all right Sharon, I’ll get on!)
It was a brilliant display of cyber-biking – it reminded Dot of an air show she’d been to once with Nan Com and Uncle Ron. That had been one brilliant day!
Aircraft had zoomed straight at each other, then shot up in the sky with blue, white and red smoke coming out behind them; they’d gone straight up and flipped on their backs and then flown along upside down about 10 metres above the crowd; one, a funny old plane with two wings, one on top of the other, had even had two girls with long blonde hair standing on the top wing!
In fact, something just like that was happening right in front of her now!
“By the leaves of my book of days!” said Drindel. “LOOK!”
Dot gasped. It was incredible! Cruncher had turned, just after twisting neatly past a crowd of furious cyber rats – and shouted something to his two passengers, the Children of the Casement, Carvelia and Thoranon. Dot could just see he was grinning from ear to ear, as if he were having the best time ever!
Next moment, Carvelia and Thoranon were STANDING UP, side by side on the back of Cruncher’s bike! UN-believable!!
Carvelia had her right arm stretched out, and Thoranon had his left arm stretched out the same way. As Dot watched, they gripped each other on the shoulder. Then they stretched their other arms out too, so they looked like a big tailplane on the back of the bike.
“Brilliant!” said Drindel, laughing out loud. “BRILLIANT! He’s just made his bike into a super-jet! Just watch what he’ll be able to do now!”
And it was true! Cruncher’s bike was now doing things which seemed impossible – turning right round within one metre, standing on its front wheel in the air, dropping like a stone thrown from a skyscraper and then zooming straight up again – and all with Carvelia and Thoranon still firmly on the back, their shining robes streaming out behind them like giant white flags!
It was clear the cyber rat army was getting nowhere trying to catch Cruncher. And it was clear that Mr Fruity knew it too.
Suddenly, he shouted a command – “Split up! Plague Wing, go and GET Cruncher! The rest of you – Sewer Wing, Rotten Meat Wing, Chip Fat Wing, and Trash Eater Wing, follow me!”
And to her horror, Dot saw the cyber rat army splitting up into groups – with four of them turning and coming straight for the cachou tree.
In desperation, she tried to start the cyber bike to get them all away. As hard as she could, she hit the green button.
Nothing!
It was TOO LATE!!
