Danny Flash and the Alien Crash

CHAPTER THIRTY

When all was said and done we had fifteen ships lined up on the side of the hallway.  There were at least thirty aliens, so I wasn't sure how we were going to fit them all in the ships, along with the seeds.  A nervous shock shot through my body.

"The seeds!"  I said aloud, realizing that the seeds were in my backpack, which had been confiscated by Mr. Not-So-Nice when we had arrived.

"Zap zapple," my alien friend said.

"Zap zapple," I said back, "In my bag."

"Bag," my alien friend repeated, scratching his chin.

"This place can't be that large," Andrew said.  "We'll find it."  As he said this, Andrew turned and opened a door leading into a giant room where hallways darted off in all directions, and men and women in black suits and ties walked busily around. One man looked over at us, taking notice of the four kids and thirty or so aliens lining the hall.

"Sorry," Andrew said.  "Wrong room."  Andrew slowly closed the door and locked it.  "I think we've got about 30 seconds or so until we need to get out of here."

The door handle immediately started to rattle.

"Looks like a lot less than 30 seconds," Penny said.  We turned and started to double back down the hallway when the other door opened and out stepped Mr. Not-So-Nice.

"Where do you think you're going?" he asked.  His body wavered a bit, showing signs of having just been hit with the bolt of lightning, even as he tried to stand firm, tall, and in control.

"You don't know when to quit," I said.

"Actually," Mr. Not-So-Nice said, "I know exactly when to quit. Once I've won."  Mr. Not-So-Nice lifted his arms, about to strike.  I could see the blue ball of energy building up within his hands.  I looked down at my little alien friend.

"Now would be a good time to do something,"  My little alien friend already stood with his arms outstretched, his eyes closed and his breathing steady.  "Um, hey buddy..." I said, hoping he would open his eyes and work some magic.  "Now would be as good a time as any."  He didn't budge.  He didn't wake.  He just stood with his arms outstretched.

"What is he doing?" Penny asked.

"I don't know," Annabelle said, "but I think it's going to be good."

"Destroy," Mr. Not-So-Nice said and the ball of energy shot from his hand.  I lifted my own arms instinctively, trying to strike back.  His energy absorbed into something just a few inches from my palm.

"What are you doing?" Annabelle said.

"I don't know," I said.

"Well, it's working." Penny contributed.  She put her arm on my shoulder and I felt a surge of strength, as I pushed back against Mr. Not-So-Nice.

"You're a fast learner," he said, as he inched forward, putting additional pressure on me.  "Let's see how you deal with this one," Mr. Not-So-Nice opened his mouth.

"Kill," he said, or at least that's what I believe he wanted to say, as my backpack came flying through the hallway, connecting directly into the side of his head. What came out was more of a "Ki--" as the backpack hit his head with such force that it toppled him over to the side.  The backpack turned in mid-air and flew towards me.  I ducked, but it had no intention of hitting me.  In fact, it flew around me and over to the locked door.  It banged against the door and banged against the door again, and then the third time, flew through the door with such force that it cracked the wood and hit the person on the other side squarely in the head knocking them over.  I peeked through the broken wood and saw the backpack flying around the room, knocking into people, knocking them over, person by person, clearing a path for us.  The backpack then flew back to us and landed at my feet with a scuffle.

"How did you do that?" Penny asked.

"I didn't," I replied, wishing I could have taken credit for such a cool (and not to mention, life saving) trick.

My little alien friend looked up at me and smiled.  He then unzipped the backpack and handed the seeds to the other aliens.

One by one, they grabbed the seeds and loaded them up into the spaceships.  I saw a few of the aliens take the ones that had gunk on them, left over from the flesh of the fruit, into a corner.  They mumbled "Whom Zam," and suddenly the gunk on the seeds were gone, and just clear, dry seeds remained.

"Huh," I said to myself. "That would have been handy earlier." 

After all the seeds were depleted from the backpack, my alien friend reached in and pulled out my magic box.

"What?" I exclaimed.  "How did that get in there?"

My alien friend smiled at me, opening the Magic Box and presenting to me the Magic Wand.

"Thanks," I said.  "But I realize now that this old thing doesn't have any magic in it."  I placed it back in the box.  My alien friend just looked up at me.  "Believe," my little alien said.  I picked up the magic wand. "Believe," I repeated.  I waved my wand, picturing the spaceships floating up into the air, and as I did, to my surprise, one by one the spaceships lifted.

"Whoa," Penny said. "You're doing real magic."

"That's my brother," said Annabelle. "He's a magician."

Andrew just sat there, staring, slack jawed, trying to speak. "Ha. I—I," he couldn't quite get the words out.  I opened the broken door that my backpack had flown through moments ago, and guided the spaceships down the hall.  As we rounded the corner to what I believed to be the exit, we saw several guards blocking the way.