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  ‘I want you to go and visit Mathias and find out exactly what he has done with those boys. Find their exact locations so they can be teleported back here. Zen, please make sure that there is no fooling about; this mission is critical.’

  ‘Yes sir, we will exercise the utmost caution sir!’ Zen yelled, like a new recruit to the army obeying orders.

  ‘Good luck Malcos, I will see you later!’

  * * * * * * * *

  The trio shot off like bullets, making their way to Mathias’s den. Shortly, the three silver balls arrived at his gloomy abode. Simultaneously they dulled in colour, until they were sooty black in appearance. Down the ladder they spun, looking out cautiously for the evil wizard. Mathias stood muttering in the corner with his back turned, completely engrossed with the preparation of a nasty mixture. Blending perfectly with the dark surroundings, they quietly zipped off down the passage in search of the boys. It was all very well that they couldn’t be seen, except for the fact that they couldn’t see anything themselves. So very carefully when they were in the clear, Zen started glowing, producing just enough light to guide them through.

  ‘Careful Zen, you’ll have us all caught,’ Zip whispered, panicking a bit.

  ‘We need to see where we are going; don’t worry, we just need to be very careful that’s all.’

  Faint whispers could be heard coming from down the passage. Frank and Philip were complaining bitterly about the ropes cutting into their small hands and feet. They were desperately miserable, ready to give up all hope of coming out alive.

  Zen followed the sounds of misery, spinning up the dark passage to investigate the cage on the left. Philip shook with fright, holding back a blood-curdling yell. Frank twisted his head to face the light; having heard no footsteps, his little heart nearly jumped into his mouth.

  ‘What’s that?’ Philip whispered loudly in panic.

  ‘Don’t worry my friends, we are here to help you,’ Zen squeaked softly.

  Frank and Philip couldn’t believe their ears; this was the first time they had ever heard a talking light bulb before. The Malco trio were even more surprised when they heard the two monkeys talking, knowing that Chimzen was the only wizard capable of such magic.

  ‘We are the Malco trio, sent by Chimzen the great wizard to save two schoolboys.’

  The other two Malcos started glowing to show themselves. The two boys sat in dumbstruck silence with eyes as wide as saucers.

  ‘We are those two schoolboys,’ Frank said after a long pause, ‘Mathias turned us into a pair of talking monkeys.’

  ‘Well, that explains it then! Can you believe such treachery?’ Zen exclaimed, bouncing up and down in anger.

  Mathias turned to face the passage, hearing an unfamiliar sound.

  The Malco trio were starting to get agitated. ‘Listen here, our time is short! I want you monkeys, I mean boys, to remain in the exact positions that you are. Try not to move for a few minutes; we are going to transport you out of here. Don’t ask questions, there isn’ time; just stay dead still.’

  ‘For sure, whatever you say buddy,’ Frank said, shaking his head in disbelief. ‘This must be a dream Philip, it must be.’

  ‘I dunno Frank, I just dunno.’

  The Malcos flew into the cage and spun around the boys for a few seconds, pinning an exact teleport location. Then they promptly disappeared, with Zip and Zet dimming themselves and following after Zen.

  As they spun down the passage, with Zen lighting the way, a large thick glass jar came crashing over the dimly lit ball, leaving him spinning inside like a terrified firefly. Mathias stood triumphant with his foot holding the jar pressed firmly to the ground.

  ‘I’ve caught you, you flaming thunder ball! My goodness I’ve caught you indeed!’ Mathias roared, hardly believing his luck. Zen sat in the jar, not at all impressed with the fool. The other two Malco balls lit up, and spun around Mathias’s head like fireworks from hell. Zen glowed like a fiery coal, and zipped around the inside of the jar at such an incredible speed that it appeared as though an enormous flaming ring was hovering slightly off the ground. The glass went red hot, smouldering from the intense heat. Mathias’s head and foot were straining under the heat, and then his hair caught fire. He jumped up and down in agony, slapping his blazing head to try and extinguish the flames. The jar was a hot melted mess by then and Zen slid through the molten remains like a hot knife slicing through butter. The Malcos reunited and quickly flew home, with Mathias screaming after them in rage, slapping at his smoking mess of black and blue hair. He hurriedly pulled on his flying jeans in a desperate attempt to catch the three balls. He reached for his pistol, loaded with toxic magic goo, and raced after the balls with the outrageous certainty of catching them.

  A man is always considered to be as big as his temper. Maybe things would go better for Mathias if he chose not to blunder in his anger, and stopped to think for a moment.

  Chapter 8

  Chimzen was very pleased to see the trio return from a successful mission. The balls quickly formed a triangle on the big round table, zoning in on the two boys for teleport. Bright colours formed a triangle, reflected upwards to complete the pyramid of light. The boys sat in the dark cage feeling confused and dizzy as parts of their bodies began to fade.

  ‘What’s happening, Frank?’ Philip cried in confusion. ‘I can’t feel you anymore!’

  ‘It must have something to do with those balls; I can’t feel you either.’

  The boys felt like they were spinning around in circles, while the darkness gradually turned to a dazzling white light, reflected by several bright rainbow colours. The surrounding intense brightness faded as the Malcos gradually phased out the pyramid of light. The Malco trio spun off to Chimzen’s desk and lay quietly in the corner like useless marbles. The boys’ mouths hung wide open in amazement; they were unable to grasp the reality of what had just happened to them. They sat on the big round table, gazing at Chimzen in disbelief.

  The wizard stared at the two monkeys while scratching his chin, looking nearly as puzzled as they were.

  ‘So, are you the boys that wandered into the woods?’ Chimzen asked, not quite believing what Mathias had done. The two monkeys nodded their heads simultaneously, shrinking back in fear of this man’s awesome presence.

  ‘There’s nothing to fear boys; I am here to help you,’ Chimzen said. Then he paused, staring at them like he was daydreaming. ‘S-Sorry, I just can’t get over what that dreadful cousin of mine has done to you. I-It’s unspeakable. It’s near impossible to fix up a mess like this.’

  ‘W-Who are you, sir?’ Philip stuttered, nervously nibbling at the end of his tail.

  ‘Yes of course, terribly sorry, my name is Chimzen. I’m a wizard the same as Mathias, the only difference being: I look out for the good of others, while he on the other hand is self-seeking and rotten to the core. And what exactly are your names?’

  ‘My name is Philip and this is my friend Frank, well at least, he’s my friend now,’ Philip replied. Chimzen had a pleasantly warm way about him, and in a very short space of time the boys were feeling quite comfortable in his presence.

  ‘Tell me young fellows, how did the pair of you end up in the woods?’ Chimzen asked, tugging softly at his beard with two fingers, completely absorbed by what the boys had to say. Philip told the story while sitting on the edge of the table with his monkey legs dangling over, starting right from the beginning with the eraser in the classroom. Occasionally Frank would interrupt, explaining his side of the action.

  ‘Tut-tut, you boys had no idea of the trouble you were getting yourselves into, did you?’ Chimzen asked, shaking his head in despair. The boys shrugged their shoulders, shaking their heads in dismay.

  ‘Do you have any idea what Mathias was planning to do with you?’ the wizard asked, handing them each a large juicy banana. Little monkey paws eagerly reached out, thanking him for his kindness; they made short work of the bananas.

  ‘No, not a clue,’ Frank mumbled
, raising his eyebrows as he took an oversized bite.

  Chimzen grabbed one of the large wooden chairs from the round table. Letting out a sigh, he sat himself down and explained Mathias’s cruel experimentation with animals to the boys. They leaned over the table’s edge, faces expressing absolute horror.

  ‘Is that what he wanted to do with us?’ Philip asked, his eyes standing out on stalks. ‘Phew, we are so lucky that you saved us in time!’

  Frank leaned back in shock and nearly choked on a mouthful of banana. ‘That means if we hadn’t escaped when we did, we would have been a pair of puppets by now! Thank goodness we did!’

  * * * * * * * *

  Under the window by the side of the room the fish tank rocked on its springy legs, water splashing over the side. Elvis was dashing up and down over the little bars and shooting through the little hoops. He flew through the hoop in the air once again, having mastered the challenge, and landed back in the tank without a single splash. The two boys turned their heads in astonishment, gazing at the little underwater circus act in surprise. Elvis shot into the air again, this time landing smartly on his little platform in the corner.

  ‘Good afternoon master!’ the little fish bellowed in a deep voice.

  ‘Hello Elvis! I see you are making my floors wet again,’ Chimzen answered, smiling at the comical fish.

  ‘Sorry master,’ the little fish said shyly, ‘I can’t help it, my tank is spring loaded.’

  ‘Just teasing, Elvis, just teasing.’

  The boys couldn’t believe their eyes; this was the first time they had ever seen a talking goldfish, never mind one with such a deep voice.

  ‘Boys, this is Elvis, my pet goldfish,’ Chimzen announced, stepping towards the tank. The boys climbed down the table and edged shyly towards the tank; they were slowly becoming quite accustomed to all the strange things occurring in the woods.

  ‘Why do you call them boys, master? They look like a pair of monkeys to me!’ Elvis asked, prancing from left to right on his tail fin like a ballerina. Chimzen explained the story briefly to Elvis, to stop him asking endless questions.

  ‘So your name is Elvis? And you have a deep voice?’ Frank asked, ‘Does that mean you can sing?’ Elvis leapt into the air, and did a reverse back flip back into the water, disappearing into his little house.

  ‘Yes he can sing, he’s just a little shy.’ Chimzen said, running his middle finger through the water. ‘He just needs a bit of an incentive I think.’

  Walking towards the desk, the wizard took a small bottle of fish crumbles out of the drawer, along with a miniature six string guitar. Returning to the tank he dropped a small pinch of crumbles into the water, and tapped the glass sharply with the back end of the tiny guitar. Within seconds Elvis returned to the water surface, and greedily gobbled down the crumbles. Then Chimzen tapped the platform twice with the little guitar. Once the little fish had had enough to eat, he leaped onto the stage and clutched the little guitar between his fins like an experienced rock star ready to burn some strings. Elvis started strumming at the piece; with an unusual show of talent he projected his deep little voice and broke out in song.

  ‘One for the sardine, two for the sole,

  One for the Salmon, man go fish go,

  We’re going to swim around some sharks tonight,

  We’re going to dodge the jellyfish till broad daylight,

  We’re going to rock around the sea urchin, crab and eel tonight.’

  The two boys broke out into loud applause, clapping their little monkey hands with excitement. They were finding it very hard to believe that such a small creature could possess such a magnificent talent. Chimzen stood there beaming, and stroking the little fish proudly on his head. Elvis did a bow, going from orange to red with all the approval. He placed the little guitar down, flipped back into the tank, did a quick run through the series of bars and hoops, and promptly disappeared into his little house.

  A bit disappointed that Elvis had disappeared so soon, the boys resumed their positions on the end of the table. Chimzen placed the little guitar and the fish crumbles back in the drawer, sat down at his desk and breathed a big sigh. The boys watched him sit down and noticed the worried expression on his face.

  ‘What’s wrong sir? Why do you look so worried?’ Philip asked. Chimzen slowly looked up at him, taking a long while to respond to the question.

  ‘Let me try and explain this rather complicated procedure of magical laws young man. You see, I personally have the ability to transform animals into more intellectual beings, giving them the ability to speak and act more like humans. Mathias, however, does not possess such skills. Instead he acquires human subjects to create the same effect. That way he doesn’t have to create an animal with actual speech ability; he just simply reduces a greater being to a lesser being, maintaining their ability of speech. You see, in the world of magic, to reduce a greater being to a lesser one is a simple procedure. This is known as ‘Fregosism’ which is absolutely forbidden. This is why I am so disgusted with Mathias. His crime is so severe that he deserves to be burnt at the stake for even thinking of committing such a treacherous act.’

  ‘So what exactly does this ‘Freg-os-itis’ mean to us?’ Frank asked, his little monkey face going pale with shock. ‘Surely you have the power to fix things up sir?’

  Chimzen sat back in his chair, reluctant to say anymore. He could see that the boys had already been through a nightmare as it was, and he didn’t wish to make the situation any worse for them.

  ‘Well, you see the problem with Fregosism is… .’ he took a long pause, and stared blankly at the ceiling for what seemed like an eternity. ‘It is a point of no return. Basically, what I am trying to say is, once a human being is converted to an animal, there is no remedy on earth available to undo this process.’ The room was filled with cold silence.

  ‘Does that mean we are going to be monkeys for the rest of our lives?’ Philip cried out in horror.

  ‘Sadly, I’m afraid so,’ Chimzen replied, his head hanging down to his chest in sorrow.

  Silence filled the room once again, and the boys felt trapped in a terrible nightmare.

  ‘So this means we will never see our families again, and everyone will think we are dead,’ Philip whimpered softly, his eyes welling with tears. Frank placed his monkey hand on his friend’s shoulder, at a complete loss for words. Chimzen watched sadly as they sat with heads slumped down in misery. They so desperately wanted to be boys again. The mournful silence was painful, too much for the kind-hearted wizard to bear.

  ‘Okay you two, stop looking so glum, there may be a way out of this.’

  ‘What? You mean we might be boys again!’ Frank cried, smiling from ear to ear. Chimzen stood up and walked towards the big round table. Slowly, he raised his staff and pointed it at one of the rotating planets hovering below the ceiling. One of the spinning planet balls was a bright green colour, considerably smaller than the others.

  ‘Do you see this rotating green ball?’ Chimzen asked. Frank and Philip nodded in reply.

  ‘Well, this green ball is the entrance passage to a planet in another solar system. In fact all of these balls you see spinning here are gateways to other planets in a foreign solar system, unknown to earth.’

  The boys stared in disbelief as the wizard continued with his explanation.

  ‘There is a secret magic herb which is the key to restoring you back to human beings. The only problem is that it can only be found on planet Floran, this small green ball over here. Floran is better known as the great planet of plants. The entire planet flourishes with plants and trees like an enormous greenhouse. Millions of years ago, or so it is told, Floran was inhabited by many other life forms as well. As time went on, the beings that inhabited this planet were annihilated through war and plagues. Eventually the plant life evolved into creeping killing machines, until all the wildlife was either destroyed or eaten by these beastly plants. Soon they dominated Floran, and now not a bird or a bug can be found a
nywhere.’

  The wizard lowered his staff and returned to his desk, feeling half sorry he had even mentioned the place.

  ‘So what exactly does that mean to us?’ Frank asked, scratching his hairy head, a bit confused.

  Chimzen rocked back and forth in his chair looking a bit grim. He was unsure of whether to answer the boy or just tell him to forget about everything he had just said. Finally, after clearing his throat, he reluctantly gave a reply to the pending question.

  ‘On this particular planet lies a very special plant. In fact, it is absolutely unique. It has a flower with silver petals and a golden centre. It is unfortunately very rare, so may take a while to find. It is known as the magic Frego flower, and in its petal lies the secret remedy for restoring animals back to human beings.’

  ‘Oh, so what you are really saying is, that if we want to be people again we are going to have to go there ourselves, and there is a good chance we may never return?’ Philip asked, realizing the seriousness of the situation.

  ‘Precisely! The problem associated with other planets is that I am not able to return to earth with anything. Therefore it is necessary for the two of you to consume the petals on planet Floran first, before I can complete the process of changing the pair of you back to human beings. I am more than capable of taking care of myself, if I travelled there alone, but by taking the pair of you along our lives will be at great risk. That is of course if you are prepared to take a risk of such magnitude.’

  Frank and Philip looked at each other, with a large lump seated at the back of their throats. This was a very scary decision for them to make, but what choice did they really have, unless they wished to be monkeys for the rest of their lives?

  ‘Okay, we’ll do it!’ Frank spoke bravely, not sounding very confident.

  ‘You boys must understand, most of planet Floran is covered with grass, and the dense vegetation may pose a threat. Just make sure that you stay close to me then everything should be okay. I only hope we don’t have too much difficulty in finding the Frego flower.’

  The boys smiled awkwardly, feeling a little comforted by Chimzen’s words.