by Jim Eldridge
Taco stared at Jack. ‘This is your plan?’ he echoed. ‘To get locked up in the Dungeon of Doom, so there is no one outside to rescue us?’
‘Yes, I didn’t think much of it, either,’ said Robin.
‘Until Jack explained it to us,’ said Princess Ava.
‘And I still didn’t think much of it,’ snorted Robin.
‘But it’s the only plan we’ve got,’ said Milo. ‘It’s only ten minutes before the Giant Rumble is due to start, and if we’re not in that ring by then … we lose. And that means we have to quit wrestling forever.’
‘If we don’t get out of this dungeon, we’re going to be here forever!’ exploded Taco.
‘What’s your plan, Jack?’ asked Grit.
Jack gestured at Bricks. ‘This is Bricks, who worked on building this stadium. He says that the wrestling ring is directly above this dungeon.’
‘So?’ asked Basil. He pointed up at the ceiling. ‘It’s still solid rock. And it’s got to be very thick.’
‘Lord Veto put a machine under the wrestling ring to make it go round,’ said Bricks. ‘Big orcs have to pull levers to turn the wooden cogs, so we had to dig a big hole for all that.’
‘Which means,’ Jack said, ‘all we have to do is smash our way through the ceiling!’
The prisoners looked doubtful.
‘Smashing our way through a rock ceiling isn’t going to be easy,’ said Basil.
‘I can do it,’ smiled Bricks. ‘That’s how I got my name. Punching my way through brick walls.’
‘And I’m pretty good with rocks,’ said Big Rock, grinning.
‘But that ceiling is high off the ground,’ pointed out Grit.
‘That’s why we all had to get thrown in here,’ said Jack. ‘Together we can lift up the strongest trolls to burst through the ceiling.’
Basil and Green-Taker looked at Jack, astonished. ‘That’s brilliant!’
Milo looked at his watch. ‘Let’s get on with it!’
‘Okay!’ said Big Rock. ‘Trolls, make the bottom!’
Immediately, Taco, Grit, Basil and Green-Taker gripped one another to make a solid platform. Then Robin, Bendy Wendy, Princess Ava, Milo, Jack and George Gnome climbed on top of the trolls and linked arms to make the next level. Carefully, Big Rock and Bricks climbed up the pyramid.
‘Watch out down below!’ called Bricks. Then the two massive trolls began to punch the ceiling. Bits of broken rock began to fall down.
‘Ouch!’ said Robin. ‘Ow!’
‘Not long now!’ said Big Rock, and he punched upwards again, and more stones and bricks tumbled down.
A hole had appeared in the ceiling, but Bricks shook his head. ‘It’s no good!’ he groaned. ‘There’s another layer of bricks and rocks above this one, and it looks even thicker!’
‘I guess I just have to accept that my Wrestling Trolls will never wrestle again,’ said Milo, slumping down onto the ground.
‘GRRAAARRRR!’
The roar filled the dungeon, and the giant figure of Thud reared up from where Jack had been standing on the trolls.
‘Thud!’ cried Princess Ava. ‘Just in time!’
Thud punched both of his giant fists upwards.
‘Look out!’ yelled Robin in alarm. ‘Jump!’
The pyramid suddenly parted down the middle as a massive machine of cogs and pulleys and springs, along with three orcs clinging onto it, came crashing through the ceiling.
As the orcs lay dazed on the ground, Milo pointed upwards at the huge hole that had appeared, from which light and the sound of loud music and shouting was coming. ‘Quick!’ he shouted. ‘Up and out!’
‘How?’ asked Grit.
‘The pyramid!’ shouted Ava. ‘Only this time, Wendy goes on top. Once she’s through, she can haul everyone else up with her arms!’
Once more the trolls linked arms to make the first platform, but this time with Thud and Bricks amongst them. The others clambered onto the trolls, and then pushed Wendy through the large hole. She swung herself up, and then let down her long arms, which the others used as ropes to climb up.
In the stadium, Lord Veto stood smiling smugly at his team of wrestlers standing together in the ring: Spiderella, Mr Belly, Lightning Rawr, Professor Broccoli, Hardcore, Princess Snuggle, Squarehead, the One-Eyed Gangster, Time-Master and Footballio. The audience was going wild, shouting and chanting.
The chants were getting louder.
‘Wrestling Trolls! Wrestling Trolls! We want Wrestling Trolls!’
Lord Veto stepped into the ring with a wide smile, and approached the referee.
‘My esteemed opponents don’t seem to be coming,’ he said. ‘I think you must –’
‘Here we are!’ shouted Milo, shaking the dust out of his hair. He clambered up into the ring.
Lord Veto’s mouth dropped open as Big Rock, Grit, Taco Twister, Bendy Wendy, the Masked Avenger, the gigantic figure of Thud, then Basil, Bricks and Green-Taker climbed out from under the ring. Then came Meenu, Blaze the phoenix – already glowing brightly – and lastly, Robin the old horse, with George Gnome on his back.
‘You lot!’ he hissed, glaring angrily at them all. ‘You’ve ruined my Orc-Driven Ring Rotater!’
‘No time for all that,’ shouted the referee. ‘We have a match to start!’
As Milo, Meenu, Robin, George Gnome and Blaze watched their team of wrestlers pull themselves into the ring to join Lord Veto’s team, they exchanged smiles of relief and pride.
‘We did it!’ said Milo.
He looked around the huge stadium – which was packed with people waving placards and foam fingers – and at the huge screens that were on every wall so that no part of the action could be missed. The atmosphere was added to by the merchandising stalls around the outside advertising and selling headbands, autographs for sale, wrestling masks and everything else to do with wrestling. The air was thick with the sweet smell of food from the concessions, the taco stalls and those selling peanuts and popcorn. Through the loudspeakers blasted the rocking theme tune, ‘A Little More Wrestling’, the words of the song filling the stadium:
A little less calculation, a little more wrestling, please.
All this aspiration is really tiring me.
A little more strength, a little less pie,
A little less love, a little more cry,
Close your eyes and drop your hands, let me hit you …
The crowd fell silent as the referee picked up the microphone and said, ‘Welcome to the greatest Giant Rumble ever!’
At this, the crowd began to yell and shout and the referee continued, ‘The rules are simple. Ten wrestlers from two teams in the ring at the same time. When a wrestler is thrown out of the ring and touches the ground outside the ring, he or she is out. The winner is the last one remaining in the ring!’
The crowd was chanting now, ‘Trolls! Trolls!’ and ‘Veto! Veto!’
‘And now … ’ said the referee, as he prepared to give the word to begin.
‘Stop!’ yelled Lord Veto.
All attention turned to Veto as he climbed into the ring. ‘This contest is over before it has begun, and my team have won!’
There were boos and shouts of ‘Get lost, Lord Veto!’ but Veto stood his ground in the centre of the ring, and the yelling from the audience died down.
Veto smirked. ‘The rules are clear: ten wrestlers from each team. My opponents have only nine!’
The referee frowned, and then began to count: Big Rock, Grit, Taco Twister, Bendy Wendy, the Masked Avenger, Thud, Basil, Bricks and Green-Taker.
‘Nine,’ he nodded.
‘And me!’ shouted Milo desperately. ‘I’ll make ten.’
‘You can’t,’ said Lord Veto smugly. ‘You’re registered as a manager, not a wrestler.’
‘Me!’ yelled Robin. ‘I’ll make ten.’
The referee shook his head. ‘We can’t have horses wrestling,’ he said. ‘Or phoenixes,’ he added quickly as Blaze began to glow.
‘This is discrimina
tion!’ snorted Robin.
Again, the referee shook his head as Lord Veto’s smile grew even bigger.
‘Only recognised wrestlers can compete,’ said the referee.
‘Which means … ’ laughed Lord Veto.
‘Which means I can join in,’ said a voice from the crowd. And a large troll got out of his seat and headed for the ring.
‘Goodie Goodie Gumdrops!’ yelled Grit delightedly. ‘I didn’t know you were here!’
‘I only came to watch,’ smiled Gumdrops. ‘But now I’m here, I might as well join in.’
The referee smiled. ‘We recognise Goodie Goodie Gumdrops, the Wrestling Troll!’ his voice boomed out from the loudspeakers. ‘Let the Giant Rumble begin!’
‘I protest!’ squawked Lord Veto.
‘Protest all you want,’ snapped the Masked Avenger, and she grabbed Lord Veto by the arm and threw him out of the ring. As he hit the ground she added, ‘You’re out!’ and the crowd erupted into laughter.
Then the bell sounded, and the inside of the ring became a heaving mass of bodies as the twenty wrestlers got to grips with one another. They threw; they gripped; they twisted.
Professor Broccoli was the first one to be thrown out of the ring by Taco Twister, who smiled down on his fallen opponent and said, ‘I hate broccoli!’ But barely were the words out of his mouth, when Hardcore and Squarehead, working together, had each grabbed one of Taco’s arms and hurled him out of the ring.
‘Two down!’ yelled the crowd.
The battle raged, and more wrestlers were either thrown out, or fell through the ropes and landed on the ringside to be counted out: Goodie Goodie Gumdrops got the One-Eyed Gangster, but Hardcore shoved Bendy Wendy over the ropes. Mr Belly pushed Goodie while Basil bodyslammed Hardcore outside the ring. Bricks chucked out Lightning Rawr, and then Green-Taker sacrificed himself to drag Squarehead out. The Masked Avenger tossed out the snivelling Princess Snuggle, but then Snuggle cheated and grabbed Grit’s legs, trying to pull her out. Soon it became a tug of war, with Basil and Bricks trying to keep Grit in, and all of Veto’s wrestlers trying to pull her out.
With a great shout from Veto, ‘Destroy them!’ his team yanked all three of the Wrestling Trolls out.
‘We’re counting on you, Thud!’ shouted Meenu.
Thud grunted and threw himself in a flying head-first dive at Footballio and Time-Master. But as he hurled them through the ropes, they hung onto his arms, and managed to haul Thud with them to crash onto the ground outside the ring.
‘Oh no!’ said Blaze the phoenix. ‘Who’s left?’
It all came down to these four wrestlers: Mr Belly, the Masked Avenger, Spiderella and Big Rock.
Remembering what had happened to him the last time he’d come up against Spiderella, Big Rock was wary. Spiderella smiled at him and flicked one of her spiders at the big troll. Big Rock dodged to one side and batted the spider away.
‘Scared of spiders, big boy?’ taunted Spiderella. She was about to throw another spider at Big Rock when the Masked Avenger somersaulted across the ring and grabbed Spiderella in a lock between her feet, and spun her round, then crashed her to the canvas.
‘Hurrah!’ shouted the crowd.
But before the Masked Avenger could push Spiderella through the ropes, Mr Belly reacted. He swung his long moustaches, lopping them round the Masked Avenger like ropes, pinioning her arms to her side.
‘Finish her, Spiderella!’ yelled Mr Belly.
Spiderella scrambled to her feet and threw herself at the Masked Avenger, her hands grabbing at the Avenger’s mask.
‘Now we’ll see who you really are!’ she hissed.
THUMP, THUMP, THUMP!
There was a blur and gasps of astonishment from the crowd as Big Rock slid across the canvas of the ring at a speed that no one expected from the big troll.
BAM!!
His feet smacked into Spiderella and Mr Belly and sent them both tumbling through the ropes. Big Rock reached out to grab the Masked Avenger’s hand to stop her going through as well, but he was too late. As Mr Belly fell, his moustaches curled around the Masked Avenger and pulled her beneath the ropes, and all three fell into a heap outside the ring
.
‘Big Rock!’
The shout went up as the big troll pushed himself to his feet and looked apologetically down at the Masked Avenger.
‘I’m sorry,’ he said.
‘Don’t be!’ smiled the Avenger. ‘We won! You’re the last one standing!’
As the roar shouting Big Rock’s name echoed all the way round the stadium, Milo strode over to Lord Veto.
‘Looks like you lost!’ grinned Milo. ‘That means YOU have to give up wrestling forever.’
Lord Veto scowled, his face going red and then white with anger. ‘You haven’t seen the last of me.’
And he turned on his heel and stomped off to shout at his defeated wrestlers.
‘One to us!’ smiled Jack, who had changed back into his small self again without being seen because everyone’s attention had been on the action in the ring. He and Milo looked up at Big Rock, who was parading around the ring, his fists held above his head, acknowledging the roars of the crowd.
Robin looked at the angry Lord Veto as he pushed his beaten wrestlers aside in his haste to get out of the stadium.
‘He’ll never give up,’ grunted Robin. ‘He’ll just cheat more next time.’
‘I know,’ replied Milo. ‘But in the meantime, we are the Champions! And the Champion of Champions is …
BIG ROCK!!
’
The Story Adventurers
These children and schools all had ideas included in this book, after participating in www.thestoryadventure.com. Jim wrote a new chapter every Monday, then asked for various suggestions and activities. He picked his favourite ideas and included them in the next chapter. Visit www.thestoryadventure.com to see if there is a new adventure that you can help with right now!
Chapter Two
Burnt Chocolate, Fancyfootball, guava6, Isapop, Izthewiz, Jedi 1, Little Boot, London 2012, McCod, Minim, ninja hamster, spacekids, That-Creative-Boy, Twinkle
Chapter Three
Burnt Chocolate, Fancyfootball, Isapop, Izthewiz, Jedi 1, Lapford Writers, Little Boot, London 2012, Twinkle
Chapter Four
CoolCookie, Doodleduck, Fancyfootball, guava6, Isapop, Little Boot, That- Creative-Boy
Chapter Five
Booty, CoolCookie, Doodleduck, Fancyfootball, Guava6, Izthewiz, London 2012, Minim, Sunshine, Twinkle
Chapter Six
Bunny1, Cheesytoes, Doodleduck, Fancyfootball, Jellynose, Lapford Writers, Little Boot, McCod, Space kids, Squgiggly, St Joseph’s Juniors, Strawberry 4, Sunshine, TeenyWeenyHC, Twinkle
Chapter Seven
Booty, Burnt Chocolate, Cool Cookie, Cool Cookie, Fancyfootball, Fancyfootball, Google, Izthewiz, Jellynose, Lapford Writers, Little Boot, London 2012, Miss Funface, Ninja hamster, SausageFingers, St Joseph’s Juniors, Strawberry 4, Sunshine, That-Creative-Boy
Chaper Eight
Cool Cookie, Fancy Football, Google, Izthewiz, Jellynose, Miss Funface, Sourpuss, Strawberry 4, Sunshine, That Creative Boy, Twinkle
Chapter Nine
Booty, Burnt Chocolate, Cool Cookie, Doodleduck, Fancyfootball, guava6, Guava6, Isapop, Izthewiz, Jellynose, Lapford Writers, Little Boot, London2012, spacekids, Strawberry 4, That Creative Boy
Chapter Ten
Burnt Chocolate, Cool Cookie, Doodleduck, Fancyfootball, Google, Guava6, Isapop, Izthewiz, Lapford Writers, Little Boot, Spacekids, Sunshine, That Creative Boy, Twinkle
The Star List
This special list is for those that the Evil Editor deemed worthy of receiving the Star badge, because of particularly good creativity, kindness or thoroughness when participating in www.thestoryadventure.com.
Little Boot and Sunshine, Guava 6, IzTheWiz, That Creative Boy, Burnt Chocolate, Doodleduck, Cool Cookie, Lapford Writers, St Joseph’s Juniors, Miss Funface, Strawbe
rries, Jellynose, FancyFootball, Google
First published in Great Britain in 2014 by Hot Key Books
Northburgh House, 10 Northburgh Street, London EC1V 0AT
Text © Jim Eldridge 2014
Illustration © Jan Bielecki 2014
The moral rights of the author have been asserted.
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
All characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN: 978-1-4714-0264-7
This eBook was produced using Atomik ePublisher
www.hotkeybooks.com
Hot Key Books is part of the Bonnier Publishing Group
www.bonnierpublishing.com