There was an enormous crash. A gust of air rushed through the house.
"I think they've kicked down the front door," whispered Shimlara.
There was the sound of heavy boots running through the house. Nicola swallowed a scream as she and the Space Brigade stood up and backed themselves up against a wall, their Micro Missiles held aloft.
Suddenly the room was filled with giant men dressed entirely in black.
CHARTER 5
"Throw your missiles!" shouted Nicola.
Her hands shook as she pulled the wire from her own missile and threw it hard at the intruders. It bounced off one of the men's elbows. He glanced down and frowned.
The rest of the Space Brigade threw their missiles at almost the same time. The missiles didn't explode. They rolled harmlessly around on the floor. There was no smoke. Nicola saw one of the men kick curiously at one of the missiles with the side of his big black boot.
Were they broken? Had they ever worked?
There was silence. It was bizarre. The giant men weren't doing anything. They stood very still, as if at attention, their chests inflated, their faces like granite.
The Space Brigade huddled together, staring up at them.
The men stared back.
And then suddenly, amazingly, Nicola saw their mouths begin to twitch. Broad smiles crept across their faces.
They're making fun of us, thought Nicola.
The men began to choke and sputter, their huge shoulders shaking, as if they were kids trying not to giggle in class. A gale of laughter swept the room. The men were overcome with it. Tears of joy slid down their red, scrunched-up faces. One by one, their knees buckled and they fell to the floor, shaking all over with laughter.
They think we're ridiculous, thought Nicola bitterly.
She watched one of them crawl over to a Mirth Missile, examine it, and then throw back his head and laugh even harder, as if he'd never see anything so funny in his entire life. Suddenly she thought, You fool! They're not laughing at us! They're laughing because the Mirth Missiles have WORKED!
Nicola turned to tell the others that now that the intruders were disabled by laughter, it was time to escape, but before she had a chance to speak, she was struck by just how extremely funny it was that she'd thought the intruders were laughing at them.
She began to giggle helplessly. She saw the rest of the Space Brigade was laughing, too. Shimlara pressed her fists hard into her cheeks.Tyler and Sean seemed to have turned to jelly and were trying to hold each other up. Greta and Katie were pointing at each other and laughing hysterically.
Oh dear, thought Nicola, the Mirth Missiles are affecting us, too. They're useless weapons! Which, when you think about it, is pretty funny.
Nicola found herself lying on the floor, roaring with laughter. Next to her one of the intruders was facedown, hitting the floor with his fist as he cackled.
Suddenly a cranky voice boomed across the room. "WHAT IN THE WORLD IS GOING ON HERE?"
It was a familiar voice.
Nicola lifted her head.
A girl was standing in the middle of the room, her hands on her hips, looking disgusted. She was wearing a beautiful green satin dress with gold embroidery, although Nicola not
iced one of the sleeves was carelessly ripped. A tiara sat lopsided on her curly red hair.
"Princess--" said Nicola. She was laughing so hard she could hardly get the words out. "Princess Petronella."
"What's so funny?" demanded the princess.
The laughing continued.
"Do I have food in my teeth?" The princess pulled off her tiara and held it up to her face, grimacing at her reflection. This caused a fresh gale of laughter.