Chapter 6: Magic vs. Machine

The human bystanders peeked out from their hiding places, staring at the robot and the witch on the sidewalk in amazement. Jenny could hardly believe what she was seeing herself. "How . . . how did you do that??" she gasped, blinking in surprise and confusion. "That laser should have totally incinerated you!"

Enchantra twisted the wooden staff in her hands and chuckled, shaking her head. "Foolish metal child. What do they teach in your schools these days? I simply cast a shield spell to protect myself from your little laser cannon."

"A spell, huh?" Jenny said. "I see. And I bet that fireball was a spell, too, huh?"

"You're catching on." the sorceress smirked. "It's magic, and I am a mistress at it. Therefore I call myself 'Enchantra, Mistress of Magic.'"

Jenny rolled her eyes. "Wow, that's clever."

"You don't sound convinced. Ah, I see. You must be one of those skeptics, thinking magic is only an illusion. Believe me, dear, those scorches in your paint are not illusions." A sizzling orange sphere materialized in her palm. "But perhaps you'd like another demonstration!"

The fireball flew straight at Jenny, but she knew better then to let it hit her this time. She dodged to the right and narrowly missed being burned again, but when the fireball struck the ground instead of her it exploded. She was sent sprawling backward from the force, head over heels above the street. As she drew closer to the ground she turned herself upright and landed in a crouch position, skidding backward a few inches. She looked up and glared at her opponent several yards away, the sorceress with the billowing cape and hair. The pale woman had the same cold smirk on her face as before, and it was starting to get on Jenny's nerves. She wasn't taking her seriously at all, and even seemed to be toying with her. And if there was one thing Jenny didn't like, it was being treated like a toy.

Okay, the lasers didn't work, she thought. Maybe I need to try something more direct this time. Clicking and whirring, Jenny's arms extended and unfolded into a pair of large, heavy mallets. She raised the weapons, launched herself at Enchantra, and brought one down heavily over her head. It was only an inch away from cracking the woman's skull before she disappeared. The mallet smashed down on the sidewalk, leaving a series of cracks in the concrete. But there were no 'Enchantra-stains' anywhere. Jenny looked around in confusion, searching for her enemy.

"Yoo-hoo!" a voice sang mockingly from behind her. There was Enchantra, standing in the very spot where Jenny had landed moments before, grinning and waving. "I'm over here robot! Come and get me!" Jenny growled and charged at the sorceress once more. Again the mallet came down on nothing but the ground. In a puff of smoke, Enchantra rematerialized across the street. So that was how she did it! Teleportation! The witch laughed, entertained by her enemy. "Still too slow!"

Jenny's patience was all but worn out by now. Not only would Enchantra not stay put for her to hit, but she would not stop insulting her either. She decided to exchange her mallets for a pair of buzz saws and raised them menacingly. "Lady, you are really overheating my circuits!" she yelled, charging forward blindly. Once again Enchantra teleported away, leaving Jenny's saw to carve through the wooden telephone pole behind her. The top half tipped over as it slid apart from its base, its wires snapping and sizzling with electricity. Suddenly Jenny noticed a small tortoise on the sidewalk, directly in the pole's path. Her pigtails stood on end. That tortoise was one of Enchantra's victims!

Firing her jets, she scooped the shelled reptile up just in time to escape the falling telephone pole. It came down harmlessly on the empty sidewalk. With a sigh of relief, she flew up to the top of a building and placed the creature on top, safe from danger. As it crawled away she looked down at the street below. Strange animals were wandering among the cars and sidewalks, and people were either hiding or trying to chase the beasts off. None of the animals seemed too concerned about the situation as they were all simply eating, sleeping, and generally minding their own business. "Just like dumb animals." Jenny said aloud. "They don't even remember being human. Now I really have to get that staff back!"

"And what good will that do you?" Enchantra was seated on the edge of the same building, the Staff of Circe resting in her lap. She did not look at Jenny as she spoke, as she was calmly filing her fingernails into even sharper points. "I am the only one who knows the way to reverse the staff's spell. Of course, I'm certainly not going to tell you how to do it." She smirked. "Not that you could really do it, mind you. After all, you're only a stupid machine."


"Come on, Brad! It's only five bucks!" Tuck begged, clasping his hands pleadingly. The boy had dragged his brother up to one of the mall's many candy stores, lured by the caramel apples on display in the front window. He bounced up and down eagerly, desperate to have one of the gooey treats. But Brad only folded his arms sternly and shook his head.

"No way, José. I already bought you three lemonades and a bag of chips at the arcade. You're not getting one more cent from me!" Not about to give up so easily, Tuck switched to another method. He brought his fists up to his chin and enlarged his pupils to twice their size, glistening with false tears. Then as a finishing touch, his lower lip quivered pathetically. Brad recognized the expression immediately and looked away, standing firm. "The 'Sad Puppy Face' ain't gonna work this time, bucko."

Tuck's face collapsed into disappointment, his shoulders slumped. Sam regarded the small, moping boy for a moment thoughtfully, then reached into her purse. After poking around inside a bit, she produced a five dollar bill. "Here you go, Tuck." she said, smiling as she handed it to him. "I won't be needing this."

Tuck stared at her in wide-eyed surprise before grabbing her in an enthusiastic hug. "Thanks, Sam! You're the best!" Taking the money he dashed into the store, leaving the two teenagers outside alone.

"You're spoiling him, you know." Brad remarked.

Sam shrugged, still smiling. "He's not nearly as bad as my little brothers."

"Really? How old are they?"

"They're twins, both three, and both completely hyper."

"Twins?? Jeez! I'm glad Tuck's not a twin! I can barely stand one of him!" That got a good laugh out of Sam, and Brad smiled, pleased with himself. His flirting with her was going surprisingly well in spite of Tuck's behavior. But now that the kid was distracted, he was free to hit on Sam to his heart's content. He cleared his throat, preparing to make his next move. "So, Sam, I have to admit I haven't seen you around the mall before. Is this your first time here?"

Sam nodded. "Yeah. My family just moved here today, and I wanted to explore."

"Really? That's cool! Where'd you move from?"

She waited a few moments before answering, debating whether or not she should. "North Korea."

Brad's eyebrows flew up to his hair line in astonishment. "North Korea?!" he repeated several times louder. Sam cringed, embarrassed by his outburst, but Brad was too impressed to notice. "Whoa! That's incredible! How long did you live there?? What was it like? Why did you leave?!"

"Calm down, Brad!" Sam whispered, waving her hands at him frantically. "You're making a scene!" Brad glanced up from her to see several shoppers giving him funny looks. Humbled, he rubbed the back of his head and chuckled nervously. As the shoppers turned away, Sam began to explain, speaking as if she were reciting her words from memory. "My dad's a colonel in the military and he gets reassigned to a new base every year. Sometimes that means we have to move to another state in the U.S., and other times it's in other countries, like North Korea."

Brad was still extremely impressed by all this, but managed to keep himself calm this time. "So you've lived all over the world? Wow! I knew you'd be cool, Sam, but that's just amazing!"

She couldn't help blushing at his comment and smiled. "Thanks, Brad. I'm glad you think so."

"Well, it's true! What other countries have you lived in?"

Sam held up her fingers and counted the names off as she listed them. "Brazil, France, China, Switzerland, and Australia. Do the ones I was too young to remember count? I was born in India."

"Man, you're lucky!" Brad folded his arms and leaned back against the candy store, looking regretful. "I've lived in Tremorton my whole life! The farthest I've ever gone is Wizzly World, and that doesn't count since it's twenty minutes away! It must be really cool to travel around like that."

"Yeah, I guess so." Sam's smile faded, and she looked down at the floor sadly. "But I sort of wish I could live in one place. Just for a few years at least. That way I could make real friends, go to the same school . . . you know, live a normal life."

A knowing smile formed on Brad's face as he placed a comforting hand on Sam's shoulder. "I can see how you'd get along with Jenny. You two are a lot alike."


Angered again, Jenny extended a set of curved knives from her fingertips and flexed them. "I'm sure you'll feel pretty stupid once I rip out your vocal chords!"

Enchantra swept her cape aside she stood up, levitating in midair. "You're starting to annoy me, robot. Haven't you realized yet that you can't defeat me?" The robot ignored the witch's words and charged, swinging a hand full of razor sharp blades at her. Enchantra simply drifted to the right as the blades came down, mere centimeters away from her face. Just as Jenny was prepared to try again, the witch fired a sizzling white and yellow bolt of lightning at her. Instantly she was shuddering in a fit of uncontrollable seizures, every wire in her body pulsing with several thousand volts electricity. She screamed; although she had no nerve endings, she was the closest to being in sheer agony that she had ever been. Finally the convulsions stopped, and she blacked out. The flames of her jets died down, and with nothing else holding her up, she plummeted straight down. She smashed into the street below, forming a deep crater in the ground and sending chunks of asphalt flying everywhere.

As the dust began to settle, Enchantra floated down until she was only a few feet above, smirking wickedly to herself. Then she frowned. There was an odd tickling sensation on her left cheek. Confused, she touched the spot with one long finger. Then she pulled it away quickly and looked at it, eyes widening in shock. There was a tiny drop of blood on the end. Enchantra wiped the drop away and glared down at the crater below her. The robot girl's curved knives had been retracted into her hands, replaced by her fingers. Her limbs and pigtails twitched slightly, still sparking with white bolts of electricity, and her eyes were spinning in their sockets. Enchantra's thin lips curled into an angry snarl. Not only had that pathetic machine actually harmed her, but also she was still in one piece after being struck by lightning and making a crash landing. She could not remember the last time anyone had successfully struck her in the hundreds of years she had lived. How was this possible? Could it be that she had underestimated this robot?

Just then, the robot in question tried to sit up. She groaned and placed a hand on her swimming head. "Now I know what it feels like to be a fly in a bug-zapper." Jenny mumbled to herself. A quick systems check showed her no serious damage had been made, but she felt like her head was caught in hurricane. That was more then she had expected. She forced herself to stand, her legs shuddering slightly under her weight. Come on, girl, she thought. You've gotten worse shocks then that. You can handle this.

Jenny looked up to see Enchantra scowling down at her from the edge of the crater. Her pigtails fired up and lifted her out of the hole, then lowered her a few feet in front of the sorceress. She placed her hands on her hips and glared at her, trying not to give away her growing uncertainty. "Is that the best you can do?" she said, sounding more confident then she felt.

The sorceress's eyes narrowed. "I'm tired of these games, robot." A ball of blue and white light appeared, floating above her open hand. "I have no desire to toy with you any longer. I still want to test the Staff of Circe, and I'm going to make sure you won't stop me."

She lifted the ball over her head as it glowed brighter and brighter, and then flung it at Jenny with all her might. Jenny raised her arms to block it, but it was a useless gesture. The glowing sphere expanded and enveloped her entire body in only seconds, and by then it was too late. Freezing winds and mist wrapped around her until she stood motionless, eyes and mouth wide in shock, sealed in a large chunk of ice.

Enchantra's smirk returned to her face, and she rose into the air once more. Jenny could only watch helplessly from inside her frozen prison. The ice was strong enough to keep her out of the witch's way at least long enough for her to escape. By the time she got out, she would be long gone. Enchantra looked over at the staff in her right hand, topped with a carved ram's skull. So far it had worked wonderfully, but she wanted to try it out some more, someplace where there were plenty of subjects to test it on.

"Goodbye, little robot!" Enchantra called. "The Tremorton mall is waiting for me!" And with that, the sorceress vanished in a puff of purple smoke.


To be continued . . .