by Monica Lim
“She’s wearing a tiara!” gushed Melody. “And look, there’s President Sheares!”
“Who?” asked Danny.
“President Sheares!” repeated Melody impatiently. “Singapore’s second President!”
Danger Dan watches the royal table very closely. Anytime now, the Sinister Spyder might come to poison Her Royal Highness! Danger Dan must not let his guard down. He surveys the surroundings for any suspicious movement.
A waiter walks over to the royal table. He’s carrying a silver tray with a bottle of wine. He fills Her Royal Highness’s goblet with red wine. Danger Dan jumps up.
“Melody! That waiter is pouring wine into the Queen’s glass. Could it be poisoned? Let’s go stop it!”
Melody pulled Danny down. “Whoa! Wait! Don’t jump the gun!”
“What! He has a gun?” asked Danny, alarmed. “Where? Where?”
“No! I meant don’t rush it!”
“Why didn’t you just say that, then! Scaring me with talk of guns.” Danny paused. “Do you think the Sinister Spyder might have a gun?”
“Ggggnnnhh! No!” said Melody impatiently. “According to my research, it was the glass that was poisoned, not the drink. Otherwise, everyone at that table would also be poisoned.”
Danny glanced back at the royal table and saw that Melody was right. The waiter went around the table, pouring wine into all the other glasses. The Queen made a toast and everyone drank from their glasses without incident.
Danger Dan continues to keep watch. Where is the Sinister Spyder? Will he make a sudden appearance and grab the royal goblet? If only Danger Dan knew the villain’s plan! He eyes the waiters as they serve dessert. He scrutinises them as they refill the drinks.
The Sinister Spyder is still nowhere to be seen. But Danger Dan and Gadget Girl are ready for him. They will catch him red-handed. Danger Dan’s senses are tingling. He is ready to pounce!
After some time, the Queen stood up and all the other guests followed.
Dinner was over!
“What?” asked Danny, confused. “That’s it?”
“They’re coming this way,” hissed Melody. “Let’s get out of here!” The two children beat a hasty retreat to the Istana lawn, where the dragon dance troupe was waiting. The Istana lawn was a vast green carpet that stretched out as far as Danny’s eyes could see. Chairs had been set up for the guests.
Danny grilled Melody, “So did we manage to switch the glasses? Or did you get your facts wrong again? The Sinister Spyder wasn’t even here!” Before Melody could reply, a dragon dancer called out, “Hey, you two! Where were you? We’ve got to get ready. The dance is about to start!”
Being the shortest, Danny was assigned the tail position in the dragon. Melody was directly in front of him. He picked up the stick that was attached to the dragon’s tail and gave it a little experimental wave. It wasn’t too heavy. He was so short he had to lift his hands above his head.
Her Royal Highness and the guests take their seats. Danger Dan will give them a show to remember!
The drumbeat beckons. Danger Dan strides out proudly onto the lawn with the Dragon Heroes. The Dragon Heroes wave their sticks in synchrony. The dragon’s body ripples. It looks like a great beast flying through the air. Danger Dan is the dragon’s tail. Left! Right! Left! Right! This is a piece of cake! He jiggles the stick and waggles his bottom—just a few Danger Dan moves to liven up the performance.
Danny’s pants started to slip. He tried to pull them back up with his left hand. Bend! Hop over the dragon body! He tripped over his own pants and bumped into Melody. “Sorry!” She shot him a backward glare.
Jump! Jump! Double twist! Dip! Danny struggled to keep up. Bend! Turn! Triple skip! He clutched desperately at his pants which had come loose. He noticed with annoyance that Melody executed every move with precision and grace. Nobody liked a Little Miss Perfect. Danny gave her a little prod with his stick. There! She missed a step. Not so perfect now.
The drumbeat grew faster. Danny’s right hand was rapidly growing tired from holding the stick. The dragon was controlling him now. What? Another jump? He leapt around the coiling dragon’s body and almost stumbled. Yikes! Another twist! The dragon formed a spiral and Danny was yanked to the side. His arms ached. His legs ached. His bottom ached.
As Danny frantically hitched up his pants for the 21st time, he noticed a waiter approaching the Queen. The waiter offered her a glass. The dragon dancers marched past the Queen, giving Danny a good view of the waiter. He had a thick black moustache and his silver spider watch glinted as he extended his arm.
The Sinister Spyder!
Danger Dan has to save Her Royal Highness! But the dragon is pulling him away. He turns and yanks the dragon back. The dragon stops in its tracks. Danger Dan is on a mission and no dragon is going to stop him. The dragon tail is taking charge! With all his might, he pulls the dragon towards Her Royal Highness.
For a moment, it seemed like the dragon couldn’t decide which direction to take. It lurched back and forth indecisively. However, the dragon dancers were not professionals for nothing. In an instant, they followed Danny’s lead and danced backwards, making the dragon look like it was doing the moonwalk. Michael Jackson would have been proud.
The Queen had the glass in her hand and was about to drink from it. Throwing all caution to the wind, Danny dropped the stick and dashed towards the Queen. Swiping out at the glass, he knocked it out of her hand.
The drink spilled onto the lawn and made a hissing sound. A foul smell rose up from the liquid. The guests gasped.
Danny pointed at the Sinister Spyder. “He poisoned the glass! He tried to poison the Queen!”
“What? How did you kno—” The Sinister Spyder realised his mistake and covered his mouth. But it was too late. The security officers had heard the Sinister Spyder’s confession. In a flash, they tackled him.
“Get his watch! Get his watch!” screeched Melody. The Sinister Spyder tried to activate his watch (which was really a time machine) but a quick-thinking security officer grabbed his wrists. A couple of other security officers held him down.
Seizing the opportunity, Danny pounced on the Sinister Spyder and tried to pry the watch off his right wrist. The metal watch had eight silvery talons extending from the watch face. The talons clasped tightly onto the Sinister Spyder’s wrist like eight giant spider legs.
Danger Dan tugs on the watch but it refuses to relinquish its grasp. Meanwhile, the Sinister Spyder continues to kick and struggle but can’t break free of the royal guard’s grip. Danger Dan tries giving the watch a few more yanks. It is useless.
Danger Dan doesn’t give up. He takes another good look at the watch and spots a little red button on the side. It says “Release”. Bingo! Danger Dan pushes the button.
The eight metal talons loosen and release their grip. The watch falls to the ground. “NO! Give that back!” screams the Sinister Spyder. Danger Dan quickly picks up the watch and shows his prize to Gadget Girl.
“Melody! Melody!” shouted Danny triumphantly. “I’ve got it! I’ve got the watch!” Finally! They had beaten the Sinister Spyder! For the first time, Danny held the spider watch in his hands. He examined it closely. It looked like something out of a science fiction movie. The watch face displayed a series of flashing blue numbers and every silver talon looked perfectly crafted with well-oiled joints. Blinking buttons and shiny knobs lined the side of the watch.
“Qwintastic!” said Melody. She stalked over to the Sinister Spyder who was grimacing with rage. The security officers pulled him to his feet. “We’ve got you now!” she said. “Now, tell us. Who are you and why were you trying to poison the Queen?”
“Who am I? WHO AM I?” bellowed the Sinister Spyder. “I am the greatest villain in history! I am a cunning evil genius! After I perform these great schemes, Singapore will fail! Everyone will fear me! Everyone throughout history will know my name! Everyone—”
“Excuse me,” interrupted Danny, waving his hand in the air.
He remembered all the different names the Sinister Spyder had used. “What IS your name? Is it John? Johnny? Or Jong? You should really make up your mind. It’s quite hard to keep track!”
“AIYEEEEEEEE!” The veins on the Sinister Spyder’s forehead popped out. His moustache vibrated vigorously. “Nincompoops! Twits! Don’t you get it? I’m going to wipe the Little Red Dot off the map! I will stand on top and watch Singapore fall to ruins! You will all bow before me!”
Melody stared at the Sinister Spyder sternly. “Can’t you see that you have failed? You’ve been caught! We have your watch. You can do all your plotting and name-calling in jail!”
“That’s what YOU think!” The Sinister Spyder gave a menacing sneer that made Danny feel uneasy. “You silly little girl...and boy! You think you can stop me? You don’t know what I’m capable of! I’ll show you! SUCOP SUCOH!”
The moment the last two words were uttered, the watch was wrenched out of Danny’s hands. It happened so quickly that he had no time to react. The watch flew straight back to the Sinister Spyder and clamped onto his right wrist.
The watch had a homing device!
“No…no…wait! Stop!” stammered Danny.
But the Sinister Spyder somehow had the upper hand once again. His rage seemed to have given him supernatural strength. He yanked his left hand free from the security officer’s grip and slammed it down on the watch. Danny and Melody yelled frantically as the scene on the pirate ship in 1819 repeated itself. The Sinister Spyder disappeared, leaving behind only a faint trace of wavy blue streaks.
A whole lot of confusion followed. The security officers who were holding onto the Sinister Spyder looked around bewildered. A few used their walkie talkies to call for backup while others combed the Istana for the escaped villain. Some of the guests looked around anxiously, half expecting the Sinister Spyder to reappear in their midst.
Danny and Melody could only look on in frustration. They knew the search was in vain. The Sinister Spyder was gone.
President Sheares stood up. “This is preposterous!” he said authoritatively. “What’s the meaning of this? Security! Who was that man?”
One of the security officers hurried over to the President. He was clearly shaken by the evening’s turn of events. “Very sorry, Mr President!” he said apologetically. “We’re still trying to investigate the matter. All we know is that his name is Jonah. He’s probably a spy pretending to be one of the waiters. He must have used one of those new espionage inventions from Russia.”
Another security officer whispered in the President’s ear. “Sir, I’ll make sure there’s a media blackout on this. We don’t want to cause an international incident.”
“How extraordinary!” said the Queen. She was remarkably calm and poised for someone who had almost been poisoned. She smiled at Danny. “Well, young man! It seems you have saved me from a rather nasty drink.” She shook Danny’s hand and added, “And you are a most delightful dragon tail. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more entertaining dragon dance!”
Danger Dan is shaking hands with Her Royal Highness! He has foiled the Sinister Spyder’s devious plan. The villain will no longer pose a threat to her. Danger Dan is the Protector of the Throne! The Royal Rescuer! He gives a gallant bow and waggles his bottom for good measure.
God save the Queen!
President Sheares came over to speak to Danny and Melody. “Thank you for what you did back there! It’s getting late though. You should be getting home. Where do you live?”
“Toa Payoh!” chirped Danny.
“That’s a beautiful estate!” said the Queen. “I’m glad I saw it today.”
Her Royal Highness and the President are indebted to Danger Dan! To show their gratitude, they order a royal guard to escort him and Gadget Girl home. Danger Dan is both honoured and pleased. He feels like royalty himself. He retrieves his trusty kit from the mission van and bids the Dragon Heroes farewell. He and Gadget Girl follow the royal guard to a black car. It is time to head home.
Danny and Melody climbed into the back seat of the car. Danny looked back at the brightly lit Istana from the car window. It stood majestically against the backdrop of the black night sky.
“I’d say it was a job well done, even though the Sinister Spyder got away again,” he said to Melody.
“We were so close!” sighed Melody. “I’m beginning to think we’ll never catch him.”
“Don’t be discouraged!” said Danny cheerfully. “We’re getting closer. Danger Dan and Gadget Girl will get him next time!”
They rode the rest of the way in silence. Soon, Danny looked out the window and saw the familiar sight of HDB flats. They had arrived in Toa Payoh.
“Where exactly do you live?” asked the officer who was driving.
“Over there next to the libr—”
Melody clamped her hand over Danny’s mouth to prevent him from mentioning landmarks that hadn’t been built yet. “It’s okay!” she told the security officer. “We live just around the corner. You can drop us here.” The security officer stopped the car by the side of the road. Danny and Melody thanked the officer and got out of the car.
“Well,” said Melody. “Time for me to send you back...HEY!” To Melody’s annoyance, Danny had dashed off again. “He’s like a squirrel on Energy Fizz Wizz!” she grumbled under her breath as she ran after him.
Danny had spotted a hawker centre and decided to have dinner first. The smell of food perked Danny up. He did a quick scan of the stalls. What should he have? Char kway teow! The fried noodles with cockles and bean sprouts were his favourite.
However, there were many people waiting in line at the char kway teow stall and Danny was in no mood to wait. He was as hungry as a hippo. There was no queue at the fish ball noodle stall so he placed an order. He sat at an empty table in front of the stall.
The stallholder brought Danny a steaming bowl of noodles. Finally! Food!
Danny tucked in ravenously. He guzzled the noodles like a vacuum cleaner and wolfed down the fish balls. Hmm…the noodles were alright but were missing a little something. Maybe he should have queued for the char kway teow.
Melody bought a plate of chicken rice and sat next to Danny. Danny glanced at her food. “For someone who’s afraid of chickens, you sure don’t have any problem eating them,” he remarked.
“Dead birds don’t flaff,” said Melody, unperturbed. “This is delicious!”
“Danger Dan outdid himself today!” boasted Danny, in between mouthfuls of noodles. “Did you hear what the Queen said? She said I was a delightful dragon tail! I spiced up a dragon dance with my cool moves!”
Melody rolled her eyes and continued eating her chicken rice daintily.
Danny continued, “Like these noodles! They could do with a little spicing up. Too bad there isn’t a dragon tail!” Suddenly, he realised that the stallholder had been listening to everything he was saying. Oops.
“Don’t you like my noodles?” she asked Danny, who squirmed uncomfortably.
“Er…I didn’t say that…” he mumbled.
The stallholder didn’t look cross at all. In fact, she said thoughtfully, “Actually, that’s quite a good idea. Spicy dragon tail…”
“Spicy dragon tail?” asked Danny curiously. “How are you going to find a dragon? I don’t think dragons exist!”
“Next time, you come back and buy my noodles again!” said the stallholder. “I’m going to try something.”
Danny and Melody finished their food and left the hawker centre. They soon arrived at the bus terminal where Danny had first entered 1972 through the time portal. The bus terminal was a lot quieter in the evening. Even the ice cream man had packed up and gone home.
“You’ll have to bring me back again, right?” said Danny. “We’ll catch the Sinister Spyder next time!”
Melody laughed. “You weren’t too keen on coming back this time, remember?” Danny recalled his earlier tantrum and felt a little embarrassed. “That was silly of me,” he admitted. “
I promise I won’t do that again.”
Just like the previous times, Melody outlined an archway with her finger. A magical blue glow appeared. “See you soon,” she said as she pushed Danny through the portal.
The train doors opened and Danny stepped out onto the Toa Payoh MRT station platform. It was like he had never left. The afternoon sun was still shining brightly. Danny started to head home, then he changed his mind and made his way to the hawker centre. There was something he needed to check out.
The hawker centre was bustling with the lunchtime crowd. Danny walked towards the last row of stalls, recalling that the noodle store had been there. He spotted it at once. It had a bright red sign which said “Dragon Tail Noodles”. A long queue had formed in front of the stall as hungry customers waited eagerly for the special noodles.
Danny was enthralled. He had changed something in history and made it better! This was definitely something he had to try. He joined the queue and finally got to order after a 15-minute wait.
“One bowl of dragon tail noodles, please!” said Danny. The stallholder was a strapping young man and he prepared the noodles with an expert flick of his hand. As he was waiting for his noodles, Danny asked, “How did you get the idea for the dragon tail noodles?”
“Oh, it was my mother’s idea!” replied the man cheerfully. “She said that in 1972, a little dragon dancer told her something about a dragon tail and she tried it out. Our customers love it!”
The man served Danny a hot bowl of noodles. Neatly placed on top was a large prawn. It was covered in a light yellow batter, except for the prawn’s little red tail which peeked out. The entire fried prawn was dusted with fragrant red spices so the whole thing looked like a scarlet tail. A dragon tail! How ingenious!