Chapter 8
Kim, Penfold and Woodruff were unable to take their eyes off the monster invention that Crumhorn had created. Standing next to it, Crumhorn had the controls strapped around his neck. Kim could vaguely see a handle from her position at the window.
"Now what?" asked Penfold. "We can't run for it - that machine is bound to get us".
"Yes. And anyway, we can't leave DM alone", worried Kim. "What if - what if one of us went round to the backyard, escaped, and alerted HQ?"
"The entrance round there is locked", said Woodruff grimly.
"How do you know?" asked Penfold. "You said you didn't remember anything".
"It's all beginning to come back to me now", replied Woodruff. "Little by little, mind you. But I just know that the back is locked. And - uh-oh", he added, blushing as he looked over at Kim. "Did I really try and make a pass at you when you arrived?"
Kim rolled her eyes and smiled a little. "Yes, you did".
"Sorry. I'm not normally like that, honest. Although - you are a bit of a knock-out...DM's one lucky mouse".
Kim went a deep red. Seeing he'd embarrased her, Woodruff changed the subject.
"Well - I guess we'll just have to go and face the music", he said, gesturing to the outside activity.
"Oooh, no", moaned Penfold, going white.
"It's OK, Penfold", said Kim, although she was afraid herself.
"Sssh", suddenly hissed Woodruff. "Crumhorn's seen us - he's saying something".
The three of them fell silent and strained their ears to hear what the rat was saying.
"Come down!" yelled Crumhorn down below. "Come down and fight, you cowards!"
"Cowards? COWARDS!?" cried Penfold. He took off for the stairs for the lower level. "I'll show 'im!"
Kim and Woodruff exchanged a look, and then ran after him. They chased him outside - right in front of DM and Crumhorn.
"Ah, so you came", said Crumhorn. "Ah, Woodruff", he added, "You've come round. Now help us fight off these useless delinquents".
Woodruff gave a fierce growl. "Not likely".
Then without warning, he plunged himself at the rat and knocked him down.
"I'll teach you to mess with my mind, you filthy piece of dirt!" he yelled.
DM came up behind the collie and before Kim or Penfold could shout a warning, he tackled Woodruff and pulled him off Crumhorn. Woodruff struggled, and the mouse and the collie started to fight viciously.
Unable to stand by and watch them pummeling each other, Penfold suddenly got extremely brave and made a dive for DM's legs. He grabbed them in a rugby tackle and Danger Mouse fell to the ground. Woodruff got up, his lip now too bleeding, and pinned the mouse to the ground. Desperate, Kim kneeled beside DM and started to whisper to him.
"DM, you're not evil. You're good. Can't you see what Crumhorn's doing to you?"
For a moment, it seemed Kim's words were getting through, because the fierce look vanished momentarily to be replaced by a look of confusion.
"Come on, boy", urged Kim. "We all miss you. Just - just come back to us, the way you used to be. Please".
DM gave his head a shake, but before he could really do anything more, Crumhorn, who had been standing in a stupified state for a moment, suddenly came to his senses and grabbing the controls around his neck, came up behind them and prepared to crack Kim over the head.
"Watch out!" yelled Woodruff, making another dive at Crumhorn. At the same time, DM gave a sort of strangled cry, pushed Kim away and threw his own head into the path of the heavy controls.
There was a thump, and a cry of pain. Woodruff tackled against the Professor again as DM slumped over, blood starting to flow from a horrible wound in his head.
"DM!" cried Kim, and ran to him. Penfold, his hands across his mouth, gave a cry of "Oh no!" and ran, sobbing, to grab his Chief's arm.
Crumhorn rolled out of a furious Woodruff's path and quickly activated the controls he had used to hit DM with.
Immediately, the huge machine waiting nearby came to life, and the claws on both sides started to grope at the thin air.
Woodruff froze and watched the machine, his fight with Crumhorn completely forgotten.
Crumhorn, a rather sickly-sweet impression on his face, said, "Could you please aim at these people for me?"
He's talking to a machine? thought Kim, frowning. There's something going on here.
The machine seemed to pause. For a moment, the three good guys and the one bad guy thought it wasn't going to work. But then the machine suddenly reached out with its claws, and aimed its fiery blowtorch at Woodruff. Howling, the collie jumped out of the way.
"Hey!" he yelled. "I may eat barbecued chicken, but that doesn't mean I look like one!"
The claws groped around. Penfold, trying to run, suddenly felt cold metal around his waist, and then felt himself being yanked right into the air - the machine had caught him!
"Oh, 'eck, not again!" he wailed, having a sense of deja vu.
Kim gasped as Woodruff ran to her side.
"We've got to get him down!" she cried at the collie.
"I'll try and get those controls off Crumhorn", replied Woodruff. He ran back towards the rat, but before he was even half-way, the machine reached out with a claw, and Woodruff too was yanked off the ground.
Scared, Kim watched as Penfold and Woodruff struggled in the machine's grasp.
"Oh no, oh 'eck, oh crumbs!" cried Penfold.
Kim bowed her head as the machine made a grab for her. She looked back at DM's unconscious body and said a silent prayer for his help. Then she allowed the machine to grab her and soon, all three of them were prisoners in the machine's grasp.
"Oh, geez! Come on", cried Woodruff. "Give us a break - I haven't seen Paris yet!"
The head with the sharp knives pointed upwards. There were three knives in its grasp - and each of them were pointing directly at one of the prisoners. It was obvious - the blades were going to spring out and slice them all through.
"OH MY WORD!" cried Kim, her mouth open with horror. She cast another look at DM - why wouldn't he wake up?
*
DM stirred. He felt a stabbing pain at his temple and tilted his head to the right. What he saw made his one eye wide with horror.
Kim, Penfold and a collie-dog were being hung from a huge machine with three weapon heads. Sharp knives were pointing at them, and all three of them looked terrified. Below, Doctor Crumhorn was standing there. Laughing.
DM shakily got to his feet. He could remember words being whispered to him, and then sharp pain. He groaned, and then gasped as a drop of blood dripped out of nowhere and onto the hard ground. It was coming from his head. DM put a hand to his head and when he took it away, he found it not to be white, but a sticky red. He grimaced - he hated the sight of blood.
But right now, he had to save his friends - and the collie. DM didn't know why, but the collie seemed familiar to him. He would have to talk to him afterwards, and ask if they'd met before.
DM started to run towards Crumhorn, warm blood dripping down from his head all the while. He tried not to wince in pain.
At that moment, the rat turned around on hearing the footsteps. What he saw made him smirk.
"Well, well", he said. "Look who came round".
"Let them go", ordered DM, who was having trouble standing due to his injured head. "Or there'll be trouble".
Crumhon merely chuckled.
"I don't think so. Look at you, Danger Mouse. You're thin. You're injured. You're weak. You can't do anything to stop me".
The rat pushed the mouse back onto the grass, and then ran to him. He put a hand to DM's throat, and gave it a cruel squeeze. As DM choked for air, Crumhorn put his face at least a centimetre from his and whispered to him.
"Wouldn't it be nice if - Damien could see this?" he said. "His 'strong little champion', is that what he called you?"
DM paled.
"You don't like me mentioning him, do you?" asked Crumhorn. "Not after what happened. And you know - you know it was all your fault".
A wave of fury overtook DM.
"DON'T TALK ABOUT HIM THAT WAY!" he bellowed, throwing the Professor off him with sudden strength. He took the rat by the collar, and gave him a glare, holding up his fist.
"You'll never be able to kill me", taunted Crumhorn. "I was Damien's mentor, DM. He wouldn't want you to kill me now. What would he think of you then? If he were here, that is".
DM thought for a moment, and then lowered the rat.
"Alright', he growled. "For old times' sake".
*
"What's he doing?" asked Penfold incredulously as they watched the activity on the ground.
"He's letting him get away!" added Woodruff.
Kim frowned. What was DM playing at? There must have been a reason. And all the time, those threatening knives were waiting to pop out and stab them. The thought of it made Kim shiver in the machine's claw-grasp.
Whatever happens, DM just HAS to save us.
*
"You still can't defeat me", said Crumhorn to DM. "If you don't want to kill me, then what can you do?"
At that moment, a memory struck DM - a memory from not long ago. It was his turn to smirk.
"I'll tell you, Crumhorn", he said. Then he turned to the invention, still holding the hostages. Then he bellowed at the top of his lungs:
"HE'S EVIL! AND SO ARE YOU!"
The machine stopped moving. It seemed to shudder. DM ran towards it, as the claws gave way, dropping Penfold, Kim and Woodruff.
Because Woodruff had been grabbed by one of the two lower claws, he didn't have long to fall, and managed to land on his feet. But Kim and Penfold, who had been grabbed by the higher claws, had a further way to fall.
Immediately, DM situated himself beneath Kim, and caught her swiftly. Woodruff ran around frantically, and just managed to catch a wailing Penfold. He put the hamster on the ground, and DM did the same with Kim.
"Are you OK, DM?" asked Kim. "Oh, no!" she added, seeing the wound on his head.
"I'm fine", said DM weakly. "Is he OK?" he added, looking over at Woodruff in concern when he saw the wound the collie himself had.
"Hi. Name's Woodruff", said the dog.
"Woodruff?" asked DM. He narrowed his eyes. "Weren't we - weren't we both working alongside Crumhorn?"
"You must be getting your memory back", said Kim. "Woodruff was taken over by the ray as well".
DM looked over at Woodruff. The collie shrugged, looking embarrased.
At that point, behind them, Crumhorn took something out of his pocket. It was the small device he'd used on DM, the one that electrocuted him. He pressed the red button.
DM gave a sudden scream of pain, and doubled over.
"DM?" Kim said in terror, as DM started to wither and cry on the floor.
"Danger Mouse - what's wrong with him?" shrieked Penfold, as DM's screams grew louder.
DM felt like he was being tortured with knives over and over. Electricity burned through his body, and DM found himself shuddering, as unmerciful pain lashed at his legs, his arms...and then he realised he was going to die.
"It's Crumhorn!" cried Woodruff, looking around at the rat. "He's using an electronic device on DM!"
"He'll kill him!" sobbed Kim, watching as the person she admired slipped away from her.
Oh, please spare him. Please don't kill him.
At that moment, something weird happened. The controls seemed to leap out of Crumhorn's hands.
DM, the pain fading, looked up weakly.
"DM?" asked Kim, tears of relief running down her face.
"It's alright, Kim. I'm OK", said DM. He sat up with Penfold's help.
Crumhorn made a grab for the controls. But the controls seemed to 'leap' - and hit Crumhorn smack over the head. The rat teetered, then passed out.
"Hey, how did that happen?" asked Woodruff, confused, as the controls fell to the ground and turned perfectly still.
"A ghost, maybe?" asked Penfold nervously.
DM was watching th whole thing. His eye turned wide.
"It can't be", he whispered.
The other three looked over at him.
"What? Can't be what?" asked Penfold.
"No", said DM to himself. "This can't be right - it can't".
"How do you mean?" asked Woodruff.
"I think - I think it's Damien?" said DM.
"Damien?" asked Kim. "Your friend?"
DM turned to her.
"How did you know - ?"
"I found your shoebox, DM", said Kim. "It fell out the wardrobe. But who IS Damien?"
"Was", mumbled DM.
"Was?" repeated Kim. She frowned. How could that be possible? There had been no death-date on that certificate. "You do mean 'is', don't you?"
"No", said DM quietly. "Was".
He looked up at the stricken faces.
"Damien was my brother", he said.
Kim and Penfold exchanged glances with their mouths open. Kim then gave Penfold a look that said 'Are you sure you didn't know about this?'
"You had a brother?" asked Penfold. "Why didn't you tell us about him? And how come we've never met him?"
DM turned to them sharply.
"I didn't introduce you", he said, "Because I couldn't".
Kim and Penfold were all too horribly aware of the reason, and so didn't say anything.
"Damien's dead", choked DM. He suddenly looked grief-stricken. "And the night he died - it was Halloween".
Kim, Penfold and Woodruff were unable to take their eyes off the monster invention that Crumhorn had created. Standing next to it, Crumhorn had the controls strapped around his neck. Kim could vaguely see a handle from her position at the window.
"Now what?" asked Penfold. "We can't run for it - that machine is bound to get us".
"Yes. And anyway, we can't leave DM alone", worried Kim. "What if - what if one of us went round to the backyard, escaped, and alerted HQ?"
"The entrance round there is locked", said Woodruff grimly.
"How do you know?" asked Penfold. "You said you didn't remember anything".
"It's all beginning to come back to me now", replied Woodruff. "Little by little, mind you. But I just know that the back is locked. And - uh-oh", he added, blushing as he looked over at Kim. "Did I really try and make a pass at you when you arrived?"
Kim rolled her eyes and smiled a little. "Yes, you did".
"Sorry. I'm not normally like that, honest. Although - you are a bit of a knock-out...DM's one lucky mouse".
Kim went a deep red. Seeing he'd embarrased her, Woodruff changed the subject.
"Well - I guess we'll just have to go and face the music", he said, gesturing to the outside activity.
"Oooh, no", moaned Penfold, going white.
"It's OK, Penfold", said Kim, although she was afraid herself.
"Sssh", suddenly hissed Woodruff. "Crumhorn's seen us - he's saying something".
The three of them fell silent and strained their ears to hear what the rat was saying.
"Come down!" yelled Crumhorn down below. "Come down and fight, you cowards!"
"Cowards? COWARDS!?" cried Penfold. He took off for the stairs for the lower level. "I'll show 'im!"
Kim and Woodruff exchanged a look, and then ran after him. They chased him outside - right in front of DM and Crumhorn.
"Ah, so you came", said Crumhorn. "Ah, Woodruff", he added, "You've come round. Now help us fight off these useless delinquents".
Woodruff gave a fierce growl. "Not likely".
Then without warning, he plunged himself at the rat and knocked him down.
"I'll teach you to mess with my mind, you filthy piece of dirt!" he yelled.
DM came up behind the collie and before Kim or Penfold could shout a warning, he tackled Woodruff and pulled him off Crumhorn. Woodruff struggled, and the mouse and the collie started to fight viciously.
Unable to stand by and watch them pummeling each other, Penfold suddenly got extremely brave and made a dive for DM's legs. He grabbed them in a rugby tackle and Danger Mouse fell to the ground. Woodruff got up, his lip now too bleeding, and pinned the mouse to the ground. Desperate, Kim kneeled beside DM and started to whisper to him.
"DM, you're not evil. You're good. Can't you see what Crumhorn's doing to you?"
For a moment, it seemed Kim's words were getting through, because the fierce look vanished momentarily to be replaced by a look of confusion.
"Come on, boy", urged Kim. "We all miss you. Just - just come back to us, the way you used to be. Please".
DM gave his head a shake, but before he could really do anything more, Crumhorn, who had been standing in a stupified state for a moment, suddenly came to his senses and grabbing the controls around his neck, came up behind them and prepared to crack Kim over the head.
"Watch out!" yelled Woodruff, making another dive at Crumhorn. At the same time, DM gave a sort of strangled cry, pushed Kim away and threw his own head into the path of the heavy controls.
There was a thump, and a cry of pain. Woodruff tackled against the Professor again as DM slumped over, blood starting to flow from a horrible wound in his head.
"DM!" cried Kim, and ran to him. Penfold, his hands across his mouth, gave a cry of "Oh no!" and ran, sobbing, to grab his Chief's arm.
Crumhorn rolled out of a furious Woodruff's path and quickly activated the controls he had used to hit DM with.
Immediately, the huge machine waiting nearby came to life, and the claws on both sides started to grope at the thin air.
Woodruff froze and watched the machine, his fight with Crumhorn completely forgotten.
Crumhorn, a rather sickly-sweet impression on his face, said, "Could you please aim at these people for me?"
He's talking to a machine? thought Kim, frowning. There's something going on here.
The machine seemed to pause. For a moment, the three good guys and the one bad guy thought it wasn't going to work. But then the machine suddenly reached out with its claws, and aimed its fiery blowtorch at Woodruff. Howling, the collie jumped out of the way.
"Hey!" he yelled. "I may eat barbecued chicken, but that doesn't mean I look like one!"
The claws groped around. Penfold, trying to run, suddenly felt cold metal around his waist, and then felt himself being yanked right into the air - the machine had caught him!
"Oh, 'eck, not again!" he wailed, having a sense of deja vu.
Kim gasped as Woodruff ran to her side.
"We've got to get him down!" she cried at the collie.
"I'll try and get those controls off Crumhorn", replied Woodruff. He ran back towards the rat, but before he was even half-way, the machine reached out with a claw, and Woodruff too was yanked off the ground.
Scared, Kim watched as Penfold and Woodruff struggled in the machine's grasp.
"Oh no, oh 'eck, oh crumbs!" cried Penfold.
Kim bowed her head as the machine made a grab for her. She looked back at DM's unconscious body and said a silent prayer for his help. Then she allowed the machine to grab her and soon, all three of them were prisoners in the machine's grasp.
"Oh, geez! Come on", cried Woodruff. "Give us a break - I haven't seen Paris yet!"
The head with the sharp knives pointed upwards. There were three knives in its grasp - and each of them were pointing directly at one of the prisoners. It was obvious - the blades were going to spring out and slice them all through.
"OH MY WORD!" cried Kim, her mouth open with horror. She cast another look at DM - why wouldn't he wake up?
*
DM stirred. He felt a stabbing pain at his temple and tilted his head to the right. What he saw made his one eye wide with horror.
Kim, Penfold and a collie-dog were being hung from a huge machine with three weapon heads. Sharp knives were pointing at them, and all three of them looked terrified. Below, Doctor Crumhorn was standing there. Laughing.
DM shakily got to his feet. He could remember words being whispered to him, and then sharp pain. He groaned, and then gasped as a drop of blood dripped out of nowhere and onto the hard ground. It was coming from his head. DM put a hand to his head and when he took it away, he found it not to be white, but a sticky red. He grimaced - he hated the sight of blood.
But right now, he had to save his friends - and the collie. DM didn't know why, but the collie seemed familiar to him. He would have to talk to him afterwards, and ask if they'd met before.
DM started to run towards Crumhorn, warm blood dripping down from his head all the while. He tried not to wince in pain.
At that moment, the rat turned around on hearing the footsteps. What he saw made him smirk.
"Well, well", he said. "Look who came round".
"Let them go", ordered DM, who was having trouble standing due to his injured head. "Or there'll be trouble".
Crumhon merely chuckled.
"I don't think so. Look at you, Danger Mouse. You're thin. You're injured. You're weak. You can't do anything to stop me".
The rat pushed the mouse back onto the grass, and then ran to him. He put a hand to DM's throat, and gave it a cruel squeeze. As DM choked for air, Crumhorn put his face at least a centimetre from his and whispered to him.
"Wouldn't it be nice if - Damien could see this?" he said. "His 'strong little champion', is that what he called you?"
DM paled.
"You don't like me mentioning him, do you?" asked Crumhorn. "Not after what happened. And you know - you know it was all your fault".
A wave of fury overtook DM.
"DON'T TALK ABOUT HIM THAT WAY!" he bellowed, throwing the Professor off him with sudden strength. He took the rat by the collar, and gave him a glare, holding up his fist.
"You'll never be able to kill me", taunted Crumhorn. "I was Damien's mentor, DM. He wouldn't want you to kill me now. What would he think of you then? If he were here, that is".
DM thought for a moment, and then lowered the rat.
"Alright', he growled. "For old times' sake".
*
"What's he doing?" asked Penfold incredulously as they watched the activity on the ground.
"He's letting him get away!" added Woodruff.
Kim frowned. What was DM playing at? There must have been a reason. And all the time, those threatening knives were waiting to pop out and stab them. The thought of it made Kim shiver in the machine's claw-grasp.
Whatever happens, DM just HAS to save us.
*
"You still can't defeat me", said Crumhorn to DM. "If you don't want to kill me, then what can you do?"
At that moment, a memory struck DM - a memory from not long ago. It was his turn to smirk.
"I'll tell you, Crumhorn", he said. Then he turned to the invention, still holding the hostages. Then he bellowed at the top of his lungs:
"HE'S EVIL! AND SO ARE YOU!"
The machine stopped moving. It seemed to shudder. DM ran towards it, as the claws gave way, dropping Penfold, Kim and Woodruff.
Because Woodruff had been grabbed by one of the two lower claws, he didn't have long to fall, and managed to land on his feet. But Kim and Penfold, who had been grabbed by the higher claws, had a further way to fall.
Immediately, DM situated himself beneath Kim, and caught her swiftly. Woodruff ran around frantically, and just managed to catch a wailing Penfold. He put the hamster on the ground, and DM did the same with Kim.
"Are you OK, DM?" asked Kim. "Oh, no!" she added, seeing the wound on his head.
"I'm fine", said DM weakly. "Is he OK?" he added, looking over at Woodruff in concern when he saw the wound the collie himself had.
"Hi. Name's Woodruff", said the dog.
"Woodruff?" asked DM. He narrowed his eyes. "Weren't we - weren't we both working alongside Crumhorn?"
"You must be getting your memory back", said Kim. "Woodruff was taken over by the ray as well".
DM looked over at Woodruff. The collie shrugged, looking embarrased.
At that point, behind them, Crumhorn took something out of his pocket. It was the small device he'd used on DM, the one that electrocuted him. He pressed the red button.
DM gave a sudden scream of pain, and doubled over.
"DM?" Kim said in terror, as DM started to wither and cry on the floor.
"Danger Mouse - what's wrong with him?" shrieked Penfold, as DM's screams grew louder.
DM felt like he was being tortured with knives over and over. Electricity burned through his body, and DM found himself shuddering, as unmerciful pain lashed at his legs, his arms...and then he realised he was going to die.
"It's Crumhorn!" cried Woodruff, looking around at the rat. "He's using an electronic device on DM!"
"He'll kill him!" sobbed Kim, watching as the person she admired slipped away from her.
Oh, please spare him. Please don't kill him.
At that moment, something weird happened. The controls seemed to leap out of Crumhorn's hands.
DM, the pain fading, looked up weakly.
"DM?" asked Kim, tears of relief running down her face.
"It's alright, Kim. I'm OK", said DM. He sat up with Penfold's help.
Crumhorn made a grab for the controls. But the controls seemed to 'leap' - and hit Crumhorn smack over the head. The rat teetered, then passed out.
"Hey, how did that happen?" asked Woodruff, confused, as the controls fell to the ground and turned perfectly still.
"A ghost, maybe?" asked Penfold nervously.
DM was watching th whole thing. His eye turned wide.
"It can't be", he whispered.
The other three looked over at him.
"What? Can't be what?" asked Penfold.
"No", said DM to himself. "This can't be right - it can't".
"How do you mean?" asked Woodruff.
"I think - I think it's Damien?" said DM.
"Damien?" asked Kim. "Your friend?"
DM turned to her.
"How did you know - ?"
"I found your shoebox, DM", said Kim. "It fell out the wardrobe. But who IS Damien?"
"Was", mumbled DM.
"Was?" repeated Kim. She frowned. How could that be possible? There had been no death-date on that certificate. "You do mean 'is', don't you?"
"No", said DM quietly. "Was".
He looked up at the stricken faces.
"Damien was my brother", he said.
Kim and Penfold exchanged glances with their mouths open. Kim then gave Penfold a look that said 'Are you sure you didn't know about this?'
"You had a brother?" asked Penfold. "Why didn't you tell us about him? And how come we've never met him?"
DM turned to them sharply.
"I didn't introduce you", he said, "Because I couldn't".
Kim and Penfold were all too horribly aware of the reason, and so didn't say anything.
"Damien's dead", choked DM. He suddenly looked grief-stricken. "And the night he died - it was Halloween".