“You can’t own people!” said Joe.
“Oh yes I can! There’s no one on earth who can’t be bought or bullied or manipulated, and nobody buys, bullies or manipulates more successfully than me!”
“Well, well, well!” exclaimed Mr. Smyle, just as he had done the first time they’d met. Only this time he wasn’t smiling. The man stood for a moment regarding Joe, hitting his gold walking stick against his free hand’s open palm. “I thought I’d seen the last of you, young man.”
“You tried to kill me!” yelled Joe. “And you’ve killed Roots! I hate you! I hate you!”
Smyle merely tutted with annoyance. “You know, you really are an irritating child. Not a bit like your brother and sister. They don’t hate me. In fact, they think I’m rather ‘cool’. After all, I’ve created a whole new world here….can’t you see?! All I wanted was for youngsters like you to have fun? But no, you didn’t want that, did you?”
“Was that why you threw me off the boat? Me and Odi?”
“Come now, Joe, try to see things from my point of view. I couldn’t have one disobedient boy jeopardising my entire operation, now could I? If I let a speck of sewage like you get away with such ingratitude, people might get ideas. I will not be defied, Joe.”
“I never defied you!” cried Joe. “I didn’t do anything! You hated me right from the start!”
“Well, who wouldn’t!? A nasty, sullen little boy like you? You had no respect, in spite of everything I tried to do for you. Never said please or thank you, never so much as a smile or a ‘have a nice day’. Why on earth shouldn’t I have hated you? I expect people to look up to me – yes Joe, that’s what I deserve. After all, I’m the most powerful person in the universe, and I insist on being treated as such. Don’t you understand, I own this planet? I own everything and everyone on it, including you!”
At that moment, an enormous boom of thunder caused the ground to shake.
“You can’t own people!” said Joe.
“Oh yes I can! There’s no one on earth who can’t be bought or bullied or manipulated, and nobody buys, bullies or manipulates more successfully than me!” Smyle chuckled at his own cleverness.
“Take Miles, for example. A prime example – in fact, if you cut off his arm, you’d see my name running right the way through it, right to his marrow, like a stick of Blackpool rock! So, you see, I’m entitled to a little credit, don’t you think? Hmmm?”
He leaned forward, waiting for an answer, but none was forthcoming. For Joe, there was nothing left to say.
“What do you say we call a truce, then you and I can start from scratch. It really will be so much better for you, Joe. I can change how you think, how you feel, how you view the world – and eventually, you’ll learn to do things my way. Just like Miles.” He paused as another bone-shuddering crack of thunder rent the air.
“Still nothing to say for yourself? Well, we’ll see about that!”
Suddenly, Mr. Smyle held up his walking-stick and Joe ducked instinctively, much to the man’s amusement.
“Oh, I’m not going to strike you with it!” he gloated. “I am however, prepared to strike a deal. For my part, I will let you live. In return, you will bow down and make an oath of allegiance.” With a flourish, he pulled off the diamond shaped handle of his walking stick and Joe shuddered with dread.
“This, Joe Hadwin, is the symbol of my Divinity!”
Mr. Smyle took the golden rod in both hands and held it high above his head. On the top, where the handle had been, was an image that struck Joe with horror.
It was the three-horned dragon!
“Kneel, boy!” demanded Smyle.
“Your name’s not Mr. Smyle!” cried Joe. “You’re Elymas!”
“Of course I am!” said Smyle, slightly taken aback. “Did you really not know that until now? I thought you knew it all along.”
“That’s why you threw me and Odi off the boat! Because we’d changed your name around to spell Elymas and you thought we knew…..”
“Which was all your fault. If you and Odi had the decency to tidy up after yourselves, I’d never have seen your letters and we’d all still be friends, wouldn’t we?”
Joe shook his head and cringed away from the awful image, but could step no further back, perched as he was on the treacherous rock.
“You can’t escape, Joe,” said Elymas. “You’ve no choice but to pay me homage!”
“I won’t, I won’t!” yelled Joe, and he closed his eyes and began to murmur desperately. “Please help me, Mr. Big, help, me help me help me……..”
“What are you going to do – fly?” scoffed Elymas. “Do you think one of your hang-glider friends will catch you? Or maybe Mr. Big? Oh yes, I know all about your Mr. Big! How you talk to him every night as though he could do anything to save you! As though he’d even care! Do you think if he existed he’d listen to a whining little nobody like you?”
Elymas’ voice grew high-pitched with fury, and the thunder roared again, ever louder and more frightening. “Well, I’ve got news for you, young Joe. I’M the one you should be begging; I’M the one with the power!”
By now, the thunder was so tremendous, it seemed to rip the skies apart. The mountain trembled as never before.
“It’s time you realised once and for all…I have the power of life and death over you; even nature bends to me! I am the ruler of mankind….! I am the ruler of the World…..!
‘I AM MR. BIG!”
Hoisting the image ever higher, Elymas howled with triumph and laughed fiendishly as the helpless boy cowered before him. Joe’s eyes were tightly shut, and his mouth was working feverishly, begging his invisible friend to make the end come quickly.
“Bow down, you brat!” roared Elymas. “BOW DOWN!”
Just then, Joe found his voice and it shot out of him with such a force, even he was taken by surprise.
“Never!” he shouted “Never! Never! Never!”
Beside himself with fury, Elymas snarled and stepped forward, ready to bring the dragon down upon the young boy’s head. But, as he raised his weapon for maximum impact, a jagged blue light flashed from the sky and hit the metal image right between its ruby red eyes.
There was an enormous spark, followed by a bloodcurdling scream as a thousand volts coursed through the golden rod and into Elymas. The man’s body jerked manically, the earth shivered, and with another crack of lightning the mountain split apart.
And that was it.
Within a fraction of a second, Elymas was gone. Elymas, the most powerful man in the world, along with all his hoards and his tanks and his choppers and his guided missiles, was gone; torn away by the massive weight of rocks, sucked down into the debris; pulled to his finish by one huge avalanche.
Slowly, Joe opened his eyes. On one side, there was nothing. On the other side, nothing. Just an empty space. Only his feet had room to stand on. A narrow column of rock 1,000 metres high was all that remained of Kinder Scout.
Joe stood in silence for some minutes, breathing deeply, savouring the sweet air and wonderful stillness that followed the storm. Vaguely, he began to wonder how he’d ever get down, when a faint voice wafted from some point beneath him.
“Sack this for a fairground full of coconuts!”
Joe peeped over the precipice that remained, and his heart leapt for joy. Just below him was an old tree branch on which an eagle had once nested. There were no longer any eagles in the area, but the abandoned nest had a new inhabitant.
“Roots!” Joe cried. “You’re safe!”
“That rather depends on your point of view!” replied Roots who was perched somewhat precariously. “At least I’m breathing, which has got to be a plus!”