Chapter 8

Superhero and Motor Mogul were hiding in the shrubbery listening to every word. Superhero was worried. He was afraid of what Studio Head would do if the Scarecrow solved the mystery.

“We must capture them all, Motor Mogul,” he said. “I’ll reprogram you and put you in capture mode.”

He opened the door on the back of Motor Mogul’s head and pressed some buttons. Motor Mogul’s eye-slots lit up bright red and he began to whir and buzz. As soon as he was satisfied with the reprogramming, Superhero stepped out of his hiding place, followed by the metal monster.

Jack was the first to see them - it was Motor Mogul who mainly caught his eye. “Hey,” he said to Oz. “Here’s your Tin Man come to find you, but the other bloke doesn’t look like a Lion or a Dorothy.”

Oz spun round quickly to greet the newcomers, almost losing his balance on his stick-and-straw legs but his happiness was short-lived. “He’s not my Tin Man,” he said. “He’s much too ugly.”

Superhero stood astride the yellow road, hands on his hips. “This is Motor Mogul,” he said grandly. “He’s a mean machine and programmed to do my bidding.”

“And who are you?” asked Oz.

“He’s a superhero by the look of him,” said Julie helpfully, “a cartoon from a comic book.”

“And 1 thought I knew everything,” said a surprised Oz. “What does he do?”

“He has super powers and should be fighting evil,” said Sarah.

Superhero flexed his bulging muscles. “That was before, when I was a cartoon. Now that I’m three-dimensional I can fight who and what I like - and I like fighting fading fairytale people.”

“We’re fading all right,” said Aladdin. “I can almost see through my arm.”

“You should be ashamed of yourself,” Sarah told Superhero. “You should be helping these poor people, not trying to destroy them.”

“Not me,” said Superhero. “I’ve got to like the easy life. Besides, when you work for Studio Head, you do as you’re told, or watch out.”

“What’s a Studio Head?” asked Aladdin.

Superhero laughed so loudly that all the trees shook.

“She is a one-woman destruction squad - and she’s going to make sure that no child ever reads a book again.”

“A Studio Head,” said the wise Oz, his super brain working overtime. “I should have guessed.”

“That’s enough idle chatter,” said Superhero. “You must all come back with me to Studio Nine.”

“What on earth for?” asked Sarah. “We’ve just left it. There’s nothing in there,” “That was then,” said Superhero.

“This is now,” grated the voice of Motor Mogul, “it’s the magic of television.”

“You mean now there’s something in there?” asked Julie.

Superhero rubbed his hands together. “It’s the Superquiz Show, the biggest rating show of all time. Practically every house in the world watches it.”

“What’s on the other channels?” asked Julie. She had never heard of the Superquiz Show.

“Wash your mouth out,” said Superhero. “We never mention ‘other channels’. Now I am about to give Studio Head what she always wants - you will all be a captive audience.”

“I’m not going to be a captive anything,” said Sarah, moving closer to Julie.

“Nor am I,” said Julie, jutting her chin out defiantly. “If you want to capture me you’ll have to fight hard.”

Oz tapped his yellow pumpkin head. “No, children, violence never solved anything. Brain-power, that’s what’s needed. Leave everything to me.”

He turned to Superhero. “Lead the way to this Superwiz show.”

“Quiz,” said Superhero, “Super quiz Show.”

“Whatever,” said Oz.

Julie was puzzled. “Shouldn’t we run away or something? We can’t just give in.”

Superhero burst into laughter. “You can’t run away,” he said. “There’s nowhere for you to run to.”

Sarah looked at him in puzzlement. “Then where are Hansel and Gretel, and Cinderella’s sisters, and Blinky Bill, and...”

Motor Mogul suddenly began whirring and tooting.

“Go to jail, go directly to jail, do not pass go ... “

“They’re in jail?” Julie could hardly believe her ears.

“Come and see,” said Superhero, and he strode with super steps to the studio door on the other side. Sarah and Julie followed him and stared through the door when he opened it.

At first they could hardly see in the dim light, but when their eyes adjusted, they could make out their fairytale friends sitting forlornly in large cages with huge locks on them.

“You can’t put them in cages,” said Sarah. “They haven’t done anything wrong.”

“We can do what we like,” said Superhero. “This is Studio Head’s domain. She can turn any studio into any place she likes. So what is it to be, jail or the Superquiz show?”

“The show, I think,” said Oz, quickly.

At that Motor Mogul whirred into life and began to herd the fairytale people as if he were a mechanical sheepdog. When everyone was inside Studio Nine, he went back to fetch the others from the jail.

Everyone trooped into the studio they’d left a little while before. It was hard to believe it was the same place. It was now buzzing with excitement. There was a long bench covered in red plastic, and a bright blue banner that proclaimed “THE SUPERQUIZ SHOW”. On the bench there were three yellow mounds, like small jellies.

There was a blue carpet on the floor and on the other side of the studio was a desk with another banner behind it, surrounded by flashing lights. The wall at the rear, instead of being grey, was now a bright orange and the remainder of the studio was filled with plastic chairs.

“This is incredible,” whispered Julie. “How did they do it?”

Superhero’s super hearing caught her whisper. “I told you, the magic of television,” he said. “Now,” he added, “I want everybody to sit down on those chairs.”

Obediently, because they didn’t want to be put in cages, the fairytale people sat down. Hansel and Gretel and Cinderella’s sisters were now beginning to fade badly too.

Once everyone was seated, Superhero and Motor Mogul went behind a huge red velvet curtain that shimmered under the lights.

Jack turned to Sarah. “Have they gone for good?” he asked.

“Will we be rescued now?” asked Princess Briar Rose.

“Why don’t we just escape?” said Aladdin.

“Where to?” Hansel wanted to know.

“To town?” asked Blinky Bill.

“There is no town,” said Snugglepot, “just jail. Does anyone know what’s going on?”

Gretel looked at her hands and was suddenly afraid, for she could see the floor through them. “I can see through my hands!” she cried.

“We must do something,” said Julie desperately.

“There’s only one way,” said Oz. “We must find all the missing items.That’s what we must do. Then you can all go back to your stories.”

“And live happily ever after,” said the small voice of Cinderella, who was looking sadly like a ghost.