Clash of the Worlds

by Chris Columbus

  It didn’t take long to figure out how to operate the robot. There were six levers and a primitive illustration detailing how each worked. Two controlled the feet, two controlled the arms, and the final two operated the pincers on the claw hand. There was a huge green button on the dashboard. Beside it was an illustration of a fireball. Brendan assumed that this was the trigger for the green flames.

  The problem, of course, was that with just two arms, Brendan wouldn’t be able to pilot the robot nearly as seamlessly as the aliens with seven tentacles. But he would do the best he could. Slowly, he maneuvered the massive robot toward the other UWO, which was currently shooting showers of green flames over many of the pier’s restaurants, gift shops, and tourists.

  Brendan managed to stop just short of the other robot. He pulled a lever and raised the green flamethrower arm so it was pointed directly at the robot’s back. Brendan took a deep breath and pressed the button.

  Green flames flowed from his robot’s right arm. They completely engulfed the other robot. At first, nothing happened. Then the other robot slowly turned around, still engulfed in the liquid green flames. Within a few moments, the green flames subsided and the UWO remained standing, unharmed. The alien saw Brendan and screeched, raising its robot’s right arm toward Brendan.

  Obviously the metal exteriors were designed to withstand the power of their own weapons. Brendan breathed a sigh of relief, realizing that he too would be able to withstand a blast of deadly green flame. But then an awful realization hit him.

  His cockpit had a massive hole in it.

  And Brendan was sitting directly in front of it.

  There was nothing to protect him from the green flames!

  Brendan sat there in alien guts and watched in horror as the other UWO took a step toward him, flamethrower raised and poised to melt him into Brendan stew.

  Brendan was sure he was about to die. His only hope was that getting melted by green fire was less painful than it sounded. He hit the red button again in desperation and then something astonishing happened. As the other UWO took a step forward, getting ready to fire, the green flames from Brendan’s robot licked up against its glass dome.

  It melted a huge hole in the side of the glass cockpit. The purple alien squealed in shock and pain and then exploded all over the inside of the glass like a bug the size of a raccoon hitting a car windshield.

  “Ewww,” Brendan said to himself, forgetting momentarily that he was still sitting in a mound of stinking alien guts.

  Brendan pivoted the robot slowly until he was facing the two colossi, still standing inside the remains of AT&T Park. The colossi were taking turns picking up National Guard troops off the ground and flicking them out into McCovey Cove like rolled-up boogers.

  Brendan pushed the levers, forcing his robot into a run. He kept the robot’s right arm raised, ready to fire. But as Brendan neared what was left of the stadium and saw the size of the National Guard force inside, he realized he couldn’t use the green flames. If he did, he’d probably end up melting hundreds of innocent troops in the process.

  And so Brendan kept pushing and pulling the robot’s two leg levers in tandem, increasing his speed. The UWO lumbered toward the two colossi standing inside the half-demolished park. The first one never saw him coming.

  Brendan kept pumping the leg levers as the robot slammed into the colossus’s stomach. The half-naked, balding giant belched in surprise as it went sprawling out into McCovey Cove. It landed headfirst, cracking its skull on the concrete pier across the inlet.

  The colossus did not move or try to get back up. It just lay facedown and motionless in a pile of smashed concrete, its body sprawled out across the cove. Brendan rotated the robot to face the other colossus. This one was slightly younger and far more muscular than Fat Jagger or the giant Brendan had just bodychecked with his robot. It had a square jaw and head and looked remarkably like a young version of Arnold Schwarzenegger.

  Big Arnold let out a yell of rage and slammed the National Guard jeep he’d been holding into the outfield like he was spiking a football. It exploded into a million pieces. Brendan raised the robot’s two arms into a fistfighting stance.

  Arnold charged at him, flailing his massive fists wildly. Brendan waited, knowing he needed to be patient. As soon as Arnold got close enough, he thrust the right-arm lever forward as quickly as he could.

  The robot’s right arm landed squarely inside Big Arnold’s enormous mouth. The colossus’s eyes went wide with surprise as it tried to figure out what had just happened. Brendan knew it was now or never to safely take out the bloodthirsty and brutal colossus with minimal collateral damage.

  He stared right into Big Arnold’s wide and huge eyes and then pressed the button. Flames fired from the end of the robot’s right arm, directly into Big Arnold’s mouth. It was the most disgusting thing Brendan had ever seen, and the past year had been filled with enough horrors to give the entire population of Norway nightmares for life.

  Brendan rotated the robot back toward the huge opening out in the bay, where the two worlds had merged together. It was clear that the battle was far from over. And the Wind Witch and Eleanor had now joined the fight. He saw them engaged with a third flying figure that appeared to be the Storm King.

  And it was clear who was winning that fight. Brendan watched in horror as the Wind Witch and Eleanor hit the old man simultaneously with a blistering column of intensely freezing air containing a battalion of sharp icicles. The old man didn’t stand a chance under their barrage of attacks.

  Brendan watched, stunned, as the dual attacks hit the Storm King with enough force to kill a bear and sent him spiraling toward the ground.

  Cordelia, Adie, and Celene watched from the grounds outside of Castle Corroway as the Storm King plunged down toward the front gate.

  Cordelia still could hardly believe what Eleanor was doing. It was incomprehensible that it was her little sister, flying around and using dark magic to harm other people.

  Adie, Celene, and Cordelia ran toward where the Storm King had fallen. They found his crumpled body lying in the dirt near the castle’s front gate.

  “Oh no,” Cordelia said as she knelt next to the Storm King. Adie and Celene were right behind her.

  She wasn’t sure what was more shocking: the fact that she had just seen her own sister take down the Storm King, or that she was actually saddened by his demise. Cordelia knew that the Storm King had been their only hope to survive the battle. They were no match for the power of the Wind Witch alone, especially now that she had an apprentice by her side.

  The Storm King groaned and rolled over. Dozens of icicles had pierced his ancient, decrepit body. His blood drained onto the ground around him, mixing with the melting icicles.

  “You must go,” he said. “Protect the Worldkeepers. There is still hope.”

  Cordelia didn’t get a chance to reply because a steady rumble under her knees caused her to look up. It was one of the huge robots from The Terror on Planet 5X. At least, she reasoned morbidly as the UWO aimed its flamethrower at them, they wouldn’t be suffering much longer.

  But then her fear faded when she realized the robot was being piloted by her brother!

  Brendan waved at her from the cockpit. Then he looked up toward the Wind Witch and Eleanor hovering above them.

  “I’m going to finish you!” Brendan shouted through the hole in the cockpit glass.

  The Wind Witch laughed in his face.

  “I’m serious,” Brendan shouted. “Release my sister or I’ll melt you like a s’more!”

  “I’m not forcing your little sister to do anything against her will,” the Wind Witch said calmly. “Your family has never treated her with respect. She is by my side because I recognize her intelligence and power.”

  The Wind Witch turned to Eleanor.

  “Go on, granddaughter,” the Wind Witch said. “Show them just how powerful you’ve become.”

  Eleanor smiled as she raised her hands and fired a funneling
burst of wind directly at Brendan’s robot. The miniature tornado impacted the robot’s chest, sending the UWO flying backward. They all watched in horror as it flipped end over end in midair, and then crashed facedown onto the grounds of Castle Corroway.

  Brendan opened his eyes and looked around. Luckily, the inside of the cockpit was equipped with a futuristic version of an air bag. Upon release, it cushioned Brendan’s fall and saved his life. He didn’t get away completely unscathed, however. His bones and joints ached, blood ran down his face from a deep cut on his head, and he was covered in bruises.

  Brendan squeezed his way out of the wreckage. He stumbled outside and saw Cordelia, Adie, and Celene cowering near the lifeless body of the Storm King. The Wind Witch and Eleanor hovered over them menacingly.

  Brendan limped over to rejoin his older sister. The only sister he had left, apparently. They embraced briefly and silently. It was over. Even with the Invictum still clutched in Brendan’s left hand, the battle was lost.

  He knew the Wind Witch’s magic could disarm him easily before he could do much of anything with the powerful weapon. And so, he stood next to Cordelia and Adie and Celene and looked up at the Wind Witch’s smiling face in defeat. He had no more jokes to offer.

  The demolished ruins of San Francisco smoked behind the Wind Witch and Eleanor like a smoldering campfire.

  The Wind Witch smiled and said, “Well, it appears that I have finally won.”

  The Wind Witch could hardly believe it herself. She was finally going to get everything she wanted: to rule over both worlds, to replace all the love and family she had lost in her life with absolute power.

  Even her sorry, pathetic excuse for a father couldn’t stop her now, as he lay dying on the ground beneath her feet.

  “It is time to complete your transformation, my dear granddaughter,” she said, turning to Eleanor.

  “How will I do that?” Eleanor asked.

  “By killing your siblings,” the Wind Witch said.

  Cordelia and Brendan exchanged a shocked glance.

  “You actually want me to kill them?” Eleanor asked.

  “Why not?” the Wind Witch said. “These are the siblings who always held you back, who always thought they were better than you, smarter than you, stronger than you. They could never love you the way I do.”

  Eleanor looked down at Cordelia and Brendan. Adie stood next to them and shook her head slowly in shock—as if what she was about to witness were impossible. For a moment, Eleanor’s intent appeared to waver. Deep down, Cordelia, Adie, and Brendan truly believed Eleanor wouldn’t, couldn’t go through with it.

  But once a soul had been touched by The Book of Doom and Desire, there would be no fighting its deepest wishes. The Wind Witch knew that better than anyone. And Eleanor had used the book twice, more than enough to irreversibly damage the core of whatever it was that made her human. The Wind Witch leaned close to Eleanor and whispered softly into her ear.

  “Do what I cannot,” she prodded. “Finish off your brother and sister. Once and for all.”

  Any doubt that lingered on Eleanor’s face disappeared. She turned and looked at her siblings. Her face was cold. It was as if her eyes were now made of glass.

  The Wind Witch watched with pleasure as Brendan’s and Cordelia’s faces changed from hopeful to a sort of devastated acceptance as they realized that their sweet little sister did have it in her.

  She was going to kill them.

  Eleanor moved in for the kill. Nothing was going to stop her; she could feel that deep down where her healthy soul had once breathed life into her. But that part of her was gone. All that remained was darkness. And anger. And resentment.

  The two people she stared at weren’t her siblings anymore. They were no longer her brother and sister, but just a pair of arrogant brats. They deserved this. They deserved it after the way they’d always treated her—the way they’d held themselves up on a pedestal over her and everyone else around them.

  Eleanor raised her hands and prepared to cast the wicked spell that the Wind Witch had taught her. It would lead to a horrible, painful death.

  “Hostibus meis pessima—” Eleanor began.

  But then suddenly the words caught in her throat as Adie stepped in front of Brendan and Cordelia, attempting to shield them.

  “Stop!” Adie shouted with tears in her eyes. “Or you’ll have to kill me too!”

  Eleanor hesitated as the doubt rushed back all at once.

  “What’s the fuss?” the Wind Witch asked, clearly annoyed at the delay. “Just kill her as well.”

  Eleanor gritted her teeth. “Move aside,” she said.

  “No. You can’t do this,” Adie said softly. “They’re your family. Your bond runs deeper than anything else. Deeper than magic or some ancient book. Family is the only thing of value any of us are born with. I won’t let you destroy your own. They love you too much, Eleanor. Believe me when I tell you . . . they love you more than anything! And I won’t let that kind of love die. You’ll have to kill me first!”

  This simple act of kindness and sacrifice sapped the hatred right out of Eleanor.

  All at once, she saw how petty the quest for power and money and things really was. The very things the Wind Witch had promised her.

  None of those things mattered—not really. Eleanor realized that now. The ten million dollars she had wished for on their first adventure had only brought pain to their family. Eleanor would be happier living in a cardboard box with her family and friends than living without them in a huge mansion filled with everything she’d ever want, including a stable of horses.

  For the first time in Eleanor’s life, she understood the true nature of compassion and love. It required a sacrifice, giving up a piece of your own happiness and well-being in order to improve the lives of others.

  Slowly she flew down to the earth. She landed and dropped to her knees in front of Adie, Brendan, and Cordelia.

  “I’m so sorry,” she said as tears streamed down her face.

  Cordelia rushed forward and wrapped her arms around her little sister. As soon as they embraced, Eleanor felt herself become whole again. They probably would have stayed there and hugged for hours had the Wind Witch not interrupted them with a howl of fury.

  “If I can’t kill you,” the Wind Witch spat, “then I will make you feel the most intense pain of your young lives!”

  Before any of them could respond, she let loose a powerful ball of red fire that slammed into Adie’s chest. The girl flew backward and landed in the dirt with a soft thump. Her eyes were still open, but there was no life left behind them.

  The Walkers stood there and stared at Adie’s lifeless body in shock. They were stunned at how the little girl they’d just met a few days before had sacrificed herself for them. And also at just how easily and carelessly the Wind Witch had disposed of her. But perhaps the most terrifying part of all was the cry of anguish that escaped from the throat of the dying Storm King.

  Even in spite of his fatal injuries, he crawled over toward Adie’s body leaving a trail of blood behind him. His sobbing wails of grief were so shocking that they had even stunned the Wind Witch into silence.

  She watched along with everyone else as the Storm King cradled Adie’s body and wept. She had never seen her father act like this, even before he had corrupted his own soul with The Book of Doom and Desire.

  “Why?” she eventually demanded, floating down toward him. “Why are you mourning a meaningless character from your book?”

  The Storm King shook his head, still crying, unable to speak.

  “You fight me at every turn, working against me to make me unhappy!” she screamed, her anger returning. Except it was different now. The cold, empty fury was gone. “Yet you mourn a character as if she were your own daughter?”

  Finally he looked up, his face streaked with a mixture of tears and his own blood.

  “But she is my daughter,” he said quietly. “Don’t you even recognize yourself? What you us
ed to be?”

  The Wind Witch was standing on the ground now and took a step backward, shaking her head.

  “No,” she whispered.

  “Yes, it’s you,” Denver said, stroking Adie’s hair. “I created this character in one of my books to try and preserve the best of my young daughter, my sweet Dahlia. I wrote her exactly as you were when you were her age, just the way I remembered you before that terrible book stole you away from me. It was the only way to preserve the good in you. You were once so kind, generous, strong, and sweet. And now . . . now you’ve just killed the last bit of good left in you. You’ve become so twisted you didn’t even recognize yourself.”

  The Wind Witch stood there shaking her head. But she looked different somehow. More human. The magical, murderous rage she’d held onto for so many years seemed to have faded.

  Cordelia suddenly saw an opportunity. Maybe she could connect with the old Dahlia, maybe she could somehow reach her, if the old Dahlia was still somewhere inside of the twisted old witch before them.

  “Do you see the power of family love now?” Cordelia asked, stepping forward. “This is why you’ve been so evil and confused ever since we met you. It’s because you lost your father, your true family, at too young an age. Once he started using The Book of Doom and Desire, he ceased to be himself. But now your father is back.

  “You can be with him again. You spend your life searching for power. . . . What has it gotten you so far? Only more misery, pain, and defeat. Even we’re guilty of the same thing to some extent.” She motioned at Brendan. “Brendan has long been obsessed with his own self-image rather than just being the person he truly is. Heroism isn’t something you can try to be. Those are things you just are. And they ultimately don’t even matter as long as you simply stay true to yourself.

  “And I realize now I was guilty of that too. True intelligence is realizing and recognizing not what you know . . . but what you don’t know. That my sister and brother can each have amazing ideas that I could never dream of. We’re all flawed, but together we’re at our best.”