The Case of the Battling Bots

by Liam O'Donnell

  “We must follow those footsteps!”

  “Follow the footsteps?” I exclaimed. “How about we hide from the footsteps?”

  But it was no use. Tank was already charging into the shadows. She fumbled with her belt pockets as she ran.

  Now I was alone with the goblin-eating, book-smashing whatever-was-out-there.

  I raced after Tank as fast as my claws could take me.

  I caught sight of her at the far end of a row of shelves. She had one foot through a small window leading outside.

  “Hurry, Fizz!” she called when she saw me. “It’s getting away!”

  I hopped through the window in time to see Tank scramble up the fire escape and onto the roof of the library.

  By the time I pulled myself onto the roof, she had yanked a pair of metallic spring contraptions from her belt and strapped them to her feet.

  “Get on my back,” she said. “Aleetha’s already way ahead of us.”

  I threw my arms around Tank’s neck.

  “How did Aleetha get so far ahead?”

  “She’s wearing a pair of my springers.”

  “What are springers?”

  “Hold on. You’re about to find out.”

  We watched the battle bot until it was just a speck in the distance.

  More questions nagged at my detective brain. They spilled out in one frustrated breath.

  “What was that thing? Who was controlling it? Where is it going?” I slumped to the cold rooftop. “Now we’ll never know.”

  Tank’s phone chirped out a single pinging noise. The screen showed a map with a glowing red dot. The dot moved across the map.

  “That tracking bug I tossed at it will keep us up-to-date on where the bot is going.”

  Tank’s phone pinged again.

  “Interesting.” Tank studied the map on her phone. “The bot is heading into the Overlook.”

  “That’s where all the rich monsters live,” Aleetha said. “Why is it going there?”

  From the rooftop, we could see across the city to the large homes perched on the rocky cliff known as the Overlook. The exclusive neighborhood was home to some of the richest and most powerful monsters in Slick City. Business leaders, politicians and celebrities lived there. It was no place for bots on the run.

  “Maybe that’s where the monster controlling the bot is,” I said.

  “I hope you’re wrong, Fizz.” Tank held up her phone for us to see.

  The flashing red light of Tank’s tracker had stopped moving. The bot had arrived at its destination. My heart crawled down to my tail when I read the label identifying the building.

  “Grimlock Manor,” I said.

  “Mayor Grimlock’s home!” Aleetha said. “Mayor Grimlock is controlling that battle bot?”

  The answer to her question lay high on the ledges of the Overlook. If we wanted to stop the Codex and his army, that’s where we would have to go.

  Suddenly, facing demons in a dark library didn’t seem so scary anymore.

  Music blasted from Grimlock Manor.

  The place was lit up brighter than a glowshroom forest. Long limousines drove through the front gates to the mayor’s cliffside home. Kobolds in sleek suits, trolls in tiaras and spider-folk draped in jewelry were all ushered into the mayor’s brightly lit home by wide-shouldered ogres in dark suits. Outside the gates, a pack of reporters snapped photos as the rich and famous monsters arrived.

  None of them noticed the three of us across the road, hiding behind a clump of boulder bushes.

  “Mayor Grimlock sure knows how to throw a party,” Aleetha whispered.

  “And he didn’t invite us?” Tank said. She stood to get a better look. “Even the police got invitations.”

  Four police cars lined the road outside the mansion. Half a dozen cops stood around their cars, chatting and looking bored. My tail twitched at the sight of the officer in charge.

  Detective Hordish wasn’t a bad ogre. He was just a grumpy cop who didn’t like detectives like me and Tank messing up his investigations. And by messing up, I mean solving. Right now, he looked extra grumpy. He probably wasn’t happy to spend his evening babysitting wealthy monsters.

  Aleetha peered over a boulder bush. “The police are just standing around. They’re not checking any of the partygoers. It’s as if they’re waiting for something.”

  “If Hordish sees us, something will happen,” I said. “He’ll send us packing back to our parents.”

  “He won’t have to pack you very far, Fizz.” Tank pointed through the boulder bushes to the reporters. In the scrum of photographers stood a very familiar goblin reporter. “Your mom is here.”

  I curled down even farther. I wished for a whole field of boulder bushes to hide in.

  “I told her I was doing homework at your house, Tank,” I said. “If she catches us here, I won’t be allowed out of our cave for a month!”

  “Let’s make sure she doesn’t see you out here then,” Aleetha said.

  “We can’t stay out here all night,” Tank said. “The bot went into the mayor’s mansion. And that’s where we have to go if we want to find out who is controlling it.”

  “It’s hopeless,” I said. “The only way into the mansion is through those front gates, right past my mom and Detective Hordish.”

  “Good thing I brought along my homework.” Aleetha held up a small glass jar. A bright purple cream glowed inside. “My latest assignment. It should help get us inside that party.”

  “Since when has homework been helpful?” I grumbled.

  Tank held out her phone like a shield to protect her. “It’s magic! I am not touching any magic.”

  “Then have fun out here,” Aleetha said with a shrug. “And keep your voice down. We’re hiding, remember?”

  “What is it?” I said.

  “Mage’s secret.” Aleetha rubbed a bit of the cream on her arm. “Okay, it’s doppelgänger sweat mixed with crushed naggle root and spices to make it smell nice.”

  “Doppelgänger?” I said. “You mean those shape-shifters from the Depths?”

  “Disgusting!” Tank said. “And it’s magic. Two reasons not to touch this stuff.”

  “Relax, Tank,” Aleetha said. “Just put a little on your wrist, like this. And wait.”

  She reached out to dab the purple cream on the troll’s arm.

  Tank pulled her arm back. “No way!”

  “Tank, we need to get inside the party,” I said. “And we’ll need you with us.”

  I took the cream from Aleetha and put some on my arm.

  “All right.” Tank took the jar and rubbed some cream on her wrist. “But how is this stuff going to get us into the party?”

  “Like this,” Aleetha said. The lava elf ’s words rumbled like thunder, and her body sparkled.

  Being an ogre was weird. Everything seemed smaller. My extra height gave me a different view of the world around me. It was like I was standing on a ladder, but I could walk at the same time. Inside I wa
s still a goblin, but to anyone looking at me I was an ogre.

  I wasn’t sure Aleetha’s disguise would work. I held my breath as we walked past my mom and the other reporters. I was sure she would recognize me. But she didn’t look twice at a trio of waiters rushing to the mayor’s party. No one paid any attention to us.

  “They probably think we’re just late for work,” Aleetha whispered as we walked up the driveway and through the front door.

  It was the same inside the party. None of the wealthy monsters even looked at us. We were just hired help. Monsters in the Overlook never paid attention to the hired help. Even though I was double my usual size, I could move through this party as if I were a tiny bug. But we still had to be careful. Bugs can get splattered.

  The mayor’s party was a who’s-who of monster royalty. All the important ogres, goblins and trolls were there. Business tycoons, celebrities and politicians chatted, laughed and danced in Mayor Grimlock’s massive home.

  Aleetha led us to a quiet corner under the stairs leading to the back of the mansion.

  “I do not like being an ogre,” Tank said after she bumped into the corner of the wall. She was clearly having a hard time getting used to her added size. “This will wear off, right?”

  “Sooner than you think,” Aleetha said. “I’m not sure how long it’ll last, but it won’t be long. We’d better keep moving.”

  “Moving where?” I said. Now that we were inside the party with all the well-dressed monsters and fancy food, finding the monster who controlled the battle bot seemed impossible.

  “I got us through the front door,” Aleetha said. “I was hoping you two would come up with a plan.”

  A door along the nearest wall swung open. A troll in the same waiter’s uniform as us stepped into the room. She carried a wide tray heaped with rolled-up pastries and skewers of steaming meat. The waiter strolled around the room, offering the treats to the partygoers.

  The door opened again and another troll appeared. This one was much older, with a face that looked like it was chiseled from old rubble. He snarled when he spotted us.

  “You three! Quit standing around,” Rubble-Face barked. He grabbed me by the sleeve and pulled me back to the door, motioning for Aleetha and Tank to follow. “Get in here! I have a special job for you.”

  The smells and sounds of a busy kitchen wafted over us as we stepped through the doorway. Chefs frantically prepared dishes. Waiters rushed in and out, carrying trays of food for the hungry guests.

  The rubble-faced troll pointed to one of the many platters of pastries and other delicious snacks sitting on the counter.

  “Grab one of those and follow me.”

  I froze. If we did anything other than pretend to be waiters, we would be thrown out on our tails.

  The troll rolled his eyes and took a tray from the counter. He shoved it into my hands.

  “Lazy ogres. Can’t find good help these days.” He glared at the three of us. “Follow me. Think you can handle that?”

  He didn’t wait for an answer and marched to the far side of the kitchen.

  I looked at Tank and Aleetha. Tank shrugged her large ogre shoulders, and she and Aleetha each took a tray. Playing along was the only option.

  The old troll led us out of the kitchen, up some stairs and through another set of doors. The music and laughter of the guests faded as we walked farther into Mayor Grimlock’s mansion.

  We didn’t stop until the troll opened a set of heavy doors and led us into a dimly lit room. This area was set up for another party. A party within a party. A table with bowls of punch stood against one wall. Soft chairs and couches dotted the space. A massive TV glowed down on us from the corner. The far wall was made completely of glass. On the other side of the glass stood a wide balcony with a view of all of Slick City. About a dozen older and fatter monsters lounged in those soft chairs, watching that large tv. In the largest, most comfortable chair sat the mayor of Slick City.

  “Mayor Grimlock,” I said. My voice sounded much deeper in my ogre disguise.

  “That’s right, kid,” Rubble-Face said. “You are his personal waiters for the night, got it? Give them whatever they want. Keep them happy with food. I’ll check back later.”

  The old troll left without another word.

  The mayor and his monster pals kept us busy serving food and fetching drinks. Just when I thought we would have to get more food from the kitchen, a chubby goblin rushed into the room and ran up to the mayor.

  I recognized the goblin from the mayor’s press conference. It was Rufus, the monster who tried to turn off the jumbo screen after the Codex hacked into it. He looked equally flustered now.

  “Mr. Mayor, did you forget about our meeting?”

  “I didn’t forget, Rufus.” Mayor Grimlock looked at the goblin as if he were a bug. “I decided I would rather celebrate the opening of Slurp Stadium than listen to your warnings of doom and gloom.”

  “But you must listen, Mayor Grimlock!” Rufus said. He held up a sheet of vizpaper for the mayor to see. “I have new evidence that proves the Codex’s predictions will come true.”

  Mayor Grimlock jumped to his feet and turned on Rufus. “Do not mention that name!”

  A dark-haired troll moved to the mayor’s side and placed a hand on his shoulder.

  “Don’t get too excited, Mayor Grimlock. Remember to breathe.”

  Calm seemed to wash over the mayor. The troll’s words had soothed his temper. I recognized that troll from the press conference too. My mom had called him Sanzin. He was in charge of SlurpCo Industries and was one of the monsters pressuring the mayor to build the stadium.

  Rufus pushed his vizpaper in front of the mayor again.

  “I have the plans for the stadium here,” he said. “The support pillars for the retractable roof are placed in a way that matches exactly the diagram from the archives I showed you earlier.”

  “That’s enough, Rufus.” Sanzin led the mayor away from his assistant. “Mayor Grimlock has worked hard to get Slurp Stadium built. He deserves a night off from you.”

  Rufus danced around Sanzin to face the mayor again.

  “Just take a closer look at these documents, Mr. Mayor. There are some very odd additions to the structure of the stadium.”

  Sanzin released Rufus from his grip. The purple jewel around the troll's neck glowed, as if powered by his anger. Rufus fell back like he'd seen a demon from the Depths. He scurried out of the room, still clutching his vizpaper.

  The room was silent. No one knew where to look. The mayor’s guests wore smiles that did little to hide their fear and confusion. Sanzin grinned as though nothing had happened. He turned to where we stood near the food table.

  “You three! Don’t just stand there. Bring us some more foo…”

  Sanzin’s voice trailed off. His eyes had become the size of dinner plates. The other monsters looked at us. Their awkward smiles vanished. Their jaws fell open, moving but making no sound.

  Beside me, Tank was melting. Her ogre disguise dripped off her in a wave of sparkly magic.

  Aleetha’s disguise wasn’t doing much be
tter.

  I caught our reflection in a big mirror on the wall. The ogre waiters were gone, replaced by a troll, an elf and a pint-sized goblin. Aleetha’s magic had worn off.

  “Intruders!” Mayor Grimlock barked. “Sanzin, deal with these uninvited guests!”

  Sanzin calmly tapped commands into his phone. “Certainly, Mayor Grimlock. Now we’ll see what a SlurpCo security bot can do.”

  The SlurpCo security bot, under Sanzin’s control, stomped closer. Now I knew who had sent the bot to spy on us at the library. But why? The bot’s massive claws would have me before I had the answer.

  The screen on the wall hanging behind the monsters flashed with a blinding purple light. The battle-bot tournament on the screen buzzed away. It was replaced by a familiar face.

  The Codex’s image loomed over the room. All eyes turned to the screen and the mask staring out at the room. Even the security bot froze in midstep.

  “Greetings, Mayor Grimlock,” the Codex crooned. “Very sorry to crash your party. I have come to give you a final warning. Close Slurp Stadium or the Codex Army will strike!”

  The mayor glared at the face on the screen.

  “I will do what I please, Codex!” he shouted. “Get out of my house!”

  “Very well, little mayor.” The Codex’s laugh rippled through the TV speakers. “Tomorrow you will hail me as a hero.”

  The lock on the balcony doors pulsed with a purple light, then quietly clicked. Tank turned one of the handles. It opened.

  Someone had remotely unlocked the doors.

  We hurried out to the mayor’s balcony.

  Our exit didn’t go unnoticed.

  “Those brats are getting away!” Mayor Grimlock shouted.