"It was AWFUL!"

Mr Mouse shook his head. "The kid didn't stand a chance, poor ol' Gerry!"

"I thought you said he could do all this stuff" said Dot "Like, riding a unicycle and juggling and singing."

"Oh yeah, he can" said Mr Mouse. "He's great - seen him on his website since. Only yesterday, in fact. It's so cool - he sits on his unicycle, this kinda one-wheeled bike and he goes round and round in a figure-of-eight pattern, and he's singin' his heart out, like 'O Sole Mio' and 'Nessun Dorma' - you know, that World Cup song - and he has SIXTEEN peanuts all in the air at the same time, juggling away. I tell ya, it's a class act!"

"SO - what happened?" asked Wizard.

"Brian Mallow, that's what happened!" said Mr Mouse. "Shee! First off, all the lights go down and his big boomy voice comes out again - that was kinda creepy, too, 'cos though it was Brian Mallow talking, it was a recording. He didn't say anything out loud. Just sat there on his flying saucer, starin' at us."

Dot could imagine it. It made her shiver.

"Anyways" Mr Mouse went on "This voice goes "GERALD THE GERBIL - GO TO THE STAGE OF STARDOM!" And this big round stage kinda comes up out of the floor with these steps leading up to it, and a load more lights flash on it, kind of all moving up and down and side to side."

"Like in that Busted concert I went to!" said Dot.

"Yeah, right" said Mr Mouse. "Well, poor old Gerry gets so freaked out that first of all he drops his unicycle with a big crash, and then all his peanuts roll all over the floor and he has to pick them up. An' all the time, forgot to say, there's this HEAV-VY music going, dan-dan-dan-dan, DAN-dan-dan-dan, DAN-dan-dan-dan!"

He blew out a big sigh. "I'm just amazed he even made it up there, tell ya the truth. But, he did - the DAN-dan-dan-dan music stops - and then he starts doing his act. An' he's PANTS! He drops his peanuts again - ended up juggling with just two! - he falls off his bike - don't know HOW many times - and the singing!! Classical stuff? So why's he comin' out with 'Merry Christmas Everyone'? An' all the time Brian Mallow just staring at him!"

"So... what happened?" asked Wiz.

"Oh it hadda be!" said Mr Mouse. "He rode RIGHT OFF the stage! CRASH - KER-BANG! But the kid's got guts - he gets straight back up again. He looks terrible - hair standing on end - peanut stuck in his ear - the bike's all messed up, too. He gets on again, though - but it's too late... when he's just about to start off, for about the FIFTIETH time, up comes the voice. It goes "NEXT!" Just like that! And poor old Gerry - there's this big blue flash - and he VANISHES!"

Dot gasped. "You mean - he was just - "

"Yeah, finito! No way back! DELETED!"