P.R.E.S.T.O. SPELLS DISTASTER
SUMMARY
The gang is running from a stegosaur and are forced to hide in a cave. But just when they think they are safe, a group of orcs appears behind them. They’re cornered, and
Presto is the only one still free, so he uses the Hat to cast a spell that will scare the Orcs. He makes a whirlwind and the Orcs run, but he can’t shut it off and it magically transports the others away, all except Uni.
The others have been transported somewhere else, somewhere away from the Orcs. They realise that both Presto and Uni are missing. As they run from some “hungry animal” noises, they hit a transparent wall, and realise they are trapped.
Meantime, Presto and Uni leave the caves, and meet Dungeonmaster, who explains that, while his spell was good, he “put a bit too much twiddle on it”. Dungeonmaster tells Presto that the others are not safe, they are in a far off land where they face enormous danger. Only by “climbing to new heights of courage can you help your companions.” But first he has to meet three strangers and loose something very important.
Trapped, and facing a hungry, nasty creature, the other decide, that since the wall feels like glass, it might actually be glass. Bobby breaks it, letting them escape. When they look round, the room they are in is huge (humungious – according to Bobby), and filled with giant-sized stuff, like forks and glasses.
But they are not alone. A Giant (with a very familiar accent) is there, and is very annoyed. He thinks they were after his golden egg, but the kids have no idea what he’s taking about.
They are introduced to the giant’s Slime Beast – Willy, who is the same creature they met in the glass bowl. The Giant lets them down to the floor, for a game of “Hide and Eat” – they hide, and if Willy finds them, he gets to eat them. They run, and try to get under a door, Eric gets stuck, thanks to the breastplate, but is pulled through by the others. They run again, as Willy is trying to break through.
Presto and Uni have reached an other town, and he doesn’t like the look of the place. There are Orcs and other weird creatures around. Uni jumps in a window, investigating something, and ends up in a tavern, where she is almost carried off by a three-headed man. Presto rushes in to help her, saying that she belongs to him, but he is forced into playing a wager for her. He’s offer three magic marbles, and made to play the Skull Game.
Presto loses as the man cheats. He’s thrown out, without Uni, and the “worthless” marbles are thrown after him. Disillusioned and alone, he walks off, then in a fit of anger, throws the marbles away. They are sucked into the ground and grow into a huge petrified (beanstalk) tree; it’s a mile high, and it has a doorway in the bottom.
Presto realises this must be what Dungeonmaster was meaning by “new heights of courage”. He almost doesn’t go, but there is a noise behind him, and Uni rushes up, being chased by the three-headed man.
In a panic, both Presto and Uni go in and the door closes behind them, stopping the three headed man, but trapping them inside.
There are horrible noises, but there is also a staircase, and they begin to climb, not noticing a shadow on the wall of something watching them.
The others are hiding in a giant broom, still trying to avoid Willy the slimebeast. But it has been waiting for them, and they run, trying to get out of the window. Willy grabs Bobby, but Diana throws the Javelin at it, and Willy drops him into the bucket that Hank cleverly moves to the right position with an arrow.
As Willy lands near Bobby, Hank fires again, getting Bobby out of the way, then Diana throws the Javelin again, this time knocking over a lamp and trapping Willy underneath the shade.
They think they’ve won, but the Giant is still there, and annoyed at what they did to his pet. He is about to do something horrible, when the clock chimes. He tells Willy to go and collect another egg, and puts the kids on the table to entertain him. But the kids have other ideas, and run. Hank covers the Giant with a ripped curtain to buy them some time.
Meantime, Presto and Uni are still climbing. There is a sudden noise from a window, and Presto goes to investigate. Hanging from a branch is a little dragon and he’s stuck. Presto goes to help it, but he falls, and gets stuck too, and the extra weight makes the stone start to crack. Uni comes out and grabs the Hat from Presto, and casts a spell, producing a flying carpet for them to land on, rather than the ground. The baby dragon is very happy, and licks presto in the manner of a dog.
As they get back inside, the mother dragon appears, looking REALLY peeved! Presto encourages the little one back to its mother, then runs.
They reach the top, and the dragon is still after them, in their rush they fall, but instead of incinerating them, the dragon blasts fire over them, at something else. Her nest is being raider by Willy the Slimebeast, who is making off with an egg.
She stomps past Presto, following Willy, and Presto follows her, straight to the Giant’s castle. He hears the others, recognising Eric’s scream of panic.
Willy hands over the egg to the Giant, and as a reward, he can eat the Young Ones! As they are being chased by Willy, Presto sees them, and casts a spell to catch the slimebeast in a cage.
They run from the Giant, but Presto remembers the egg, and when he gets a chance he grabs it. Eric gets to carry it, which he’s not pleased about. He’s even less happy when it hatches as they run, and the little baby takes an immediate liking to Eric.
They reach the tree and head down, but the Giant is to big to follow, so he climbs down the outside. Inside, they meet the mother, who grabs both Eric and the new baby, but there is no time to stop, as the Giant is still after them. When they reach the bottom, Bobby smashes a way out wit the club.
The Giant is almost down too, but a confident Presto uses his hat to zap the Giant and the tree into the ground, leaving only a rocky crater behind. They are safe.
Dungeonmaster appears and tells them, though they were in danger, it was worth it as they have helped the last Golden dragons, one of the few remaining species of good dragon.
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INTERESTING INFORMATION
Scatter Count –
Presto’s Hat produces – A bat instead of an umbrella; a whirlwind of transportation, a magic carpet (by Uni); a magic cage for Willy; negates the magic tree and destroys it and the Giant.
Goodies – the Golden Dragons
Baddies – The Giant
Walk-ons – The Three-headed man
Monsters – the Stegosaur, Willy the Slime Beast
Groovy Objects –
Named Places –
Starwars References –
Other References –
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The gang meets a stegosaur!
When the group is cornered and they are threatened with being to be put in hot lava (why??)
“Oh boy, unicorn stew!!” Random Orc.
How does Eric end up under that net?
Why does her horn go through his chest?
Presto is told he “put a bit too much twiddle on it (the spell)”. That’s the first time Presto has heard “twiddle”, judging by his reaction. And it is also the only time he gets any instruction about the Hat.
I am reliably informed that the Giant has a Brooklyn accent.
The slime beast is the same creature as seen in Servant of Evil (so there are more than one of them ;) ).
Three-headed man thinks Uni will fetch a handsome price at the market.
All ready for some unicorn tormenting!
“Climb to new heights of scared.” Presto.
The gang is a bit of a team as they try to escape from Willy; except Eric who just runs around being useless as usual. Hank and Diana work particularly well together, and Hank uses clever geometry to get his arrow in the right place. Who knew it could bounce off walls!
*clockwork fighting game
Hanks’ energy arrows can rip curtains
Presto swears never to goof of gym class again. Meaning he has done before. Why is that not a surprise!
Presto can’t twiddle his fingers to whip up a spell – is that REALLY an important part of spell casting?
And Uni gets what she wants first time!
Why does the dr send a blast of fire after Presto and Uni?
Mother Dragon takes an immediate liking to Eric. “stop slobbering all over me!” Eric
During Presto’s last spell, the other s are definitely not so sure about the magic
The Dragon can use the crater as a new nest. Which doesn’t seem like a good place for a nest to me.
These are the last of the Golden Dragons, one of the few species of good Dragon in the Realm.
Mother Dragon decides to keep Eric, and pulls him into the nest too, where the babies get to slobber over him some more.
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ALTERNATIVES
What if Presto had won the wager (by sheer chance of course)
What if the egg had broken?
What’s all this about twiddling, anyway!
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FANWORKS
Chib Giant by Tann
Start (photmanip) by Sealgirl
Inside the Glass (photmanip) by Sealgirl
Giant's Castle (photomanip) by Sealgirl
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Previous Episode - The Lost Children
Next Episode - The Girl Who Dreamed Tomorrow
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