The next morning was surprisingly quiet. I was the first one to wake up, so I scanned around at all the others. All of them were asleep peacefully, which made me swell with happiness. As carefully as I could, I rose from my spot and carefully began to make my way to the screens at the other end of the room. I weaved around Ralph's colossal mass, Steve's bed, and Jenny lying face first into the softness. As I kept dodging my sleeping friends, I passed by a sleeping Izzy, who was quietly yipping like a dog while kicking the air. I shook my head, smirking as she rolled over onto her stomach. It wasn't too hard to wiggle past the rest of my friends, and before I knew it I was sitting in that worn out office chair eyeing the screens.
The contestants had already begun the next challenge, which was being held inside another warehouse. From what I could tell, it was just a simple challenge of staying on a surfboard above a tank of water. It made me raise an eyebrow, but thinking back to the first challenge made me realise there had to be something else. And I immediately got my answer when a shark jumped out of the water and ate DJ's swimming trunks off his person. He let out a girlish squeal, grabbing one of the seagulls that were thrown at him and used it to cover his… nether regions. He then ran off, Chef snapping at him as he did so. I let out a quiet chuckle, then began to scan the other screens for any view for Zomboss.
It was just then I heard the door to the warehouse we were in. This made the others stir a bit, and I turned to the entrance to our hideout to see Zomboss walking in, taking his hat off his head and tossing it aside. Alfur, who was on the Zombie overlord's shoulder, hopped off and onto the desk.
"I'm assuming you're done?" I asked him in a whisper.
"Yes", Zomboss snarled, "My patience for Chris has run out."
"He's planning to take the remaining contestants to the previous place they held the show", Alfur explained, "for the rest of the challenge later. So the two of us agreed that we were both just going to wait things out here."
I nodded, but then noticed Zomboss had paused his changing to stare in shock at Izzy. "What is she doing here?" He asked, pointing a finger at the Psycho Hose Beast.
"Oh, yeah, she showed up last night", I explained, "She found out about us pretty quickly. We all talked about it, and she's now part of the crew."
Zomboss let out a sigh. "Of course. But honestly, I should've expected as much. This group will always be growing, and I just got to get used to that." He took off the blue button up and put his white lab coat back on. "Besides, the more meat I can hide behind, the better."
I rolled my eyes as the scientist walked off to continue changing, leaving me and Alfur on our own. It was then Izzy made her presence known by walking up to my side, letting out a yawn.
"Your buddy finally got back?" She asked, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.
"Yep. He can be a bit rough, but he is chill", I said.
"I am not!" I heard him shout back. I rolled my eyes a second time as Izzy let out a snort.
"I don't believe we've been properly acquainted, my dear!" Alfur called up to the redhead. She looked down at the desk, looking around the surface to find the source of the voice.
"Who said that?" She said through squinted eyes. "Did the government bug me in my sleep?"
"No, that was Alfur", I explained. "Here." I showed her the tiny contract she had to sign to see him. She snagged a pen and messily signed, and instantly locked eyes with the tiny elf that stood before her.
"Huh", she said in a surprised tone, "When you said elf, I was thinking something like what Santa has."
"Elves come in all shapes and sizes, miss", Alfur explained.
Izzy bowed, only to burst into a fit of giggles.
I smiled at the two bonding, and noticed the others were all finally waking up. I got out of the chair, Izzy instantly taking my place, and walked over to the robot and wrecker. Ralph was stretching as Jenny shook her head, and I smiled at them.
"So, you two ready to get going?" I asked them.
"Definitely", Ralph said mid stretch, before ceasing and shaking the sleepiness out of him. "Starting to get antsy. Being cooped up in here for so long can really mess with you."
"Same", Jenny agreed, "I need to feel the fresh air passing through my wires and gears. You'd be surprised how much that destresses me."
"Honestly, even though I've been running around with Zomboss", I said, "Same. It's just feels so claustrophobic in this movie lot, with all the cameras." That made me realise something, so I turned and called out to Izzy. "Izzy, what is it like being part of two seasons of this show?"
This got the attention of the others, who all faced the redhead. "Well, it's fun!" She said, spinning in her chair. Built as she slowed, her smile fell into a mixed look. "But, like you said, it's really cramped. Even last season, where we had a whole island to explore, all the cameras made this feel like a cage. And Escope hates being caged!" She jumped up so she was standing in the chair. "That's why I wanted to tag along with you all!"
Majima pulled out a cigarette and his lighter. "Well, I like your attitude, Isabelle-Chan." He took a puff, earning a sound of disgust from Marco, who was next to him.
"I like that!" Vanellope cheered as Star gave her a piggyback ride. "You'll love hanging out with us! Even if Stinkbrain can be a worry wart~" She shot Ralph a smug smile, which just earned her a sigh.
I let out a simple laugh. "You guys are all amazing." I looked up at Gladius. "You ready to get going, too?"
"Most definitely", he said.
"Well, we just got to wait", Zomboss said as he walked out into view. He adjusted his coat's collar and walked to the centre of the group. "This Could be our best chance. Because the contestants will be gone, I'll just deactivate the cameras. All footage that could compromise us has been deleted."
"Well, that's great to hear", Steve mentioned, "I am tired of constantly being watched. Reminds me of whenever an Enderman is nearby while I'm exploring…" He shivered at the thought.
"Well, I suppose there isn't much left for us to do", Galacta Knight brought up, "I suggest we all find something to pass the time."
"Galacta's right", I said with a nod, "Let's get a last bit more R before we jump to the next chaotic world." I turned to Izzy. "And this is the last chance you get to say goodbye for now."
"You got it, chief!" She said, giving me a salute. I beamed at her, and the gang all fanned out to do their own things. I went back to the screens, leaning against the office chair as Izzy scanned the TVs. Maple climbed up onto my shoulder, and I gave the Wasabi Whip a couple of head pats.
"Yo!" Izzy cried. "It's the monster!"
I looked over at the screen she was pointing at, and saw the monster that chased us on the first day was deactivated in an empty warehouse. I hummed in acknowledgement, but I had this weird feeling. I squinted and leaned in a bit, and I noticed the thing was on. It seemed like some crew were running checkups on the thing. Even with that, I couldn't stop this feeling that something was wrong. That's when I noticed it.
The beast's eye was staring right at the camera.
It gave me chills, but I simply choked it up to the maintenance crew probably just testing the eye movements. I just shook my head and went to do something elsewhere. But that uncomfortable feeling wouldn't leave, as my mind kept going to how the eyes were staring at me.
Why did I feel like that robot was alive?
~X~
As it turns out, we didn't need to take too long till the contestants were gone. Not too long after they finished the whole bit with the surfboard, they were all taken to the front entrance of the movie lot, where they boarded a bus with Chris, Chef and some crew, and drove off. Me, Izzy, Maple and Gladius were all partially hidden on the roof of our warehouse, watching as the bus drove away.
The Psycho Hose Beast waved rapidly at the leaving vehicle. I shook my head with a laugh as Maple tilted his forehead in confusion.
"Honestly, I'm so glad I was able to convince the others to let you tag along", I said, "You'll bring your own special brand of chaos that'll help lift our spirits big time."
"Heck yeah!" Izzy cheered. She flailed her arms as she tumbled backwards into the hole we left in the ceiling. Completely by instinct, I reached my hand out and grabbed her.
"Excellent save, my boy!" Gladius cheered. Both he and Maple quickly helped me lift Izzy back up, and both me and her laid on our backs, panting heavily.
"Thanks for the save…" Izzy thanked, a wide smile on her face.
"No problem…" I said back, my expression one of shock.
"Can you two knock it off?!" A new voice hissed. All four of us looked at the hole to see Jenny was hovering in the middle, giving us a scolding look. "There's still interns around! We can't be too loud!" She stretched her arms over to us and wrapped one around each of our waists, making us both cross our arms and pout. "Don't give me that."
Maple hopped onto Gladius' hilt, and the sword glided down after Jenny. When she touched down, she set us on our feet. Maple hopped onto my shoulder, and I shot Jenny an annoyed look. She just shook her head, sighed, and walked away. Because of the lack of much going on, and the lower staff in the movie lot, the whole gang had decided to pack up the base. Ralph was just putting the last of the boxes away, and soon it would have been like we weren't there.
Zomboss, meanwhile, was standing off to the side. He had connected his PDA to the camera system before our setup of screens were all put away. Currently, he was clicking through to make sure we weren't raising any alarms. After I gave up on trying to force Jenny to lose our battle of will, I walked over to him.
"Anything of note, Zomboss?" I asked.
"Well, it seems all the interns are going to take the night out with Chris gone, so we'll be all alone here."
"A perfect chance for us to bid this place farewell", Gladius said, hovering to my side. "I don't like that I can smell the hormones, sweat, and jealousy."
"I'm worried that Heather girl will freeze us solid just by standing nearby", Steve joked. This got a howling laugh out of Majima and Izzy, while everyone else just looked at him weirdly. I snorted at the joke, while Gladius sighed.
"The sooner we get out of here, the better", Zomboss said, "I can tell everyone is getting cabin fever."
"You think?!" Star screeched. I snapped my head at her, only to see her nervously chewing her wand.
"Same here, George", I said, not taking my eyes off of the anxious princess.
Things after that quieted down, and we all went to do our own things. I sat down on a random chair, Maple snuggling up on my lap and Gladius hovering circles around me, as I idly watched the others do their things. It was honestly too quiet for me, to the point I started to get antsy. I let out a harsh breath through my nose, perched Maple onto my shoulder, and began to walk around.
"Something bothering you, Caleb?" Gladius asked.
"I just… hate the silence", I explained, "All my life, I could never handle dead silence. Heck, even in my sleep I would need something constantly sounding off in the background, like a fan."
"And the others with their snoring and stuff is enough for you?"
I nodded. "Yeah. But now, with everything put away, I am about to go crazy."
"Don't you have a music player and headphones?" Hilda asked. It seems my mood was starting to get the attention of the rest of the group.
"This trip wasn't planned, so I couldn't pack, remember?" I sassed back at her. She gave me a raised eyebrow, while some of the others did a double take to make sure I was still the same Caleb. I sighed. "Sorry. Just anxious and stressed."
"Hey, kid, it's all good", Ralph reassured me, "We all have our ways to deal with that."
"I could zap ya' in a boombox", Star offered.
"No, it's cool, gang", I said.
"You sure?" Manolo double checked.
I nodded, not really sure if I was being honest to myself. This made the others all share looks, but they relented and dropped it. I sighed and walked away, heading over to the farthest wall and leaned against it. I looked up at the hole in the roof, and saw that the sky was still a bright blue, but I could feel that it was getting closer to sunset. I sighed once again and just buried my anxieties, letting the time tick by.
~X~
Me, Gladius, Izzy and Majima all watched as the remaining interns all left out the front gates of the movie lot. The moon was rising, and the city was shining bright. As soon as the left one disappeared behind the wall, Izzy jumped out into the open.
"Coast is clear, Team Escope!" She called. The rest of us all walked out next to her, myself taking the lead.
"You know we never agreed on that name…" Majima growled.
"Oh hush you", Izzy playfully dismissed, "You like it, just admit it." The one-eyed Yakuza rolled his visible eye and took out his lighter and box of cigarettes once again.
"I say we head to a more secluded part before we open the portal", Gladius said, "Just so we don't have to worry about any prying eyes."
"Good call", Zomboss agreed, "The city set is the best place. C'mon." Zomboss used his PDA as a map as we all followed him through the dark lot. There were a couple lights on, but it was mainly the moon and Toronto that kept this place from being a black void. I ended up finding myself between Manolo, Maria and Izzy as we walked. Above me was Gladius, who kept constantly looking around as if he was worried something would pounce out of the darkness at any second.
"Everything okay, Gladius?" I asked, looking up at my friend.
"I don't know…" He said, "Maybe I'm just paranoid. But after everything we've been through, you can't be too sure."
"Yeah, I don't know why, but I just feel like something is going to happen…" Hilda said, hugging Twig close to her.
"The more you say it, the more likely it is to happen!" Zomboss hissed, looking over his shoulder with a glare. He faced forward again, eyeing his PDA carefully. "We should be fine here."
I looked around and saw we were in the middle of the fake city set, the flat buildings surrounding us on both sides. I smiled up at Gladius. "Ready to get going?"
"You know it", He answered with a nod. I grabbed a hold of his handle and held him high, ready to open the next portal. However, a loud thump made me freeze.
"What the heck was that?" Marco asked.
"Sounded like it came from over there", Maria said, pointing towards the fake city to our right. I looked over and saw a large shadow moving slowly between the gaps in the mock buildings.
"Kid, I think you should open the portal", Ralph said, nudging me as he kept his eyes locked onto the ambiguous blob. I nodded and was about to swing Gladius…
Only for some black tentacle to launch out from the blob and knock a building down.
"HOLY SHIT!!!" Majima screamed. He wretched me out of the way, forcefully enough that Gladius was knocked out of my grasp and crushed by the set.
"GLADIUS!!!" I screeched, reaching a hand out fruitlessly to my buried friend. I gave a harsh glare up to the cause, only for my whole body to freeze in fear.
It was the monster that Chris had sucked on the contestants on day one. The one that Chef was controlling with the motion capture suit.
I glared down at us with a fury that didn't seem natural for a robot of its design.
"Hey there, babe!" Izzy said, waving up at the robot kaiju, "It's been a while!"
"Isabelle, what the heck?!" Zomboss said in shock.
"Relax you guys", she said nonchalantly, "Me and this guy go way-"
"LOOK OUT!" Star screamed. I quickly grabbed Izzy's hand as the beast brought a clenched fist downward onto us. The ground ripped apart as me, Izzy, Zomboss, Majima, Hilda and Marco were kicked back one way, and the rest of the gang was kicked the other.
"What the heck was that about?!" Izzy cried. "I thought we were cool."
"The stupid butter knife told us about this", Majima groaned as he recovered, "worlds are alive, and if anything that it doesn't recognize is in it, it'll raise all hell to kill it. Which means we are all fucking dead."
Jenny, from her group, shot up so she was eye level with the beast. "That's how you want to do this, huh?!" She transformed her hands into large fists with spikes on the knuckles. "Then bring it-" She was silenced when the monster spun around and slammed her with its tail, launching her elsewhere into the movie lot.
"JENNY!" I yelled. The beast, having taken care of the immediate danger, reached into the rubble of the structure it knocked over, and pulled out Gladius. I tried to rush to his aid, but Majima and Marco held me back. The beast tossed my friend into its mouth, sealing him within.
"NO!!!" I cried. The monster turned to me, its fearsome eyes locked onto me.
"What do we do?!" Hilda asked, frozen in fear.
I was at a loss for words. I opened my mouth to say something, but no sound came out. Majima, Marco and Izzy defensively stood in front of me and Hilda, but even with this act of bravery, I could tell they were terrified. However, Zomboss walked in front of all of us.
"Majima", he started, "Get the others out of here. Find some way to disable this pile of scrap."
"And you'll fucking stay behind to fight this thing!?" The yakuza sapt. "What are you gonna do, bite its toes?"
Zomboss pulled out a small cube that was the same colour as his skin. "I'm going in with some backup." He looked to the others across the way. "You all go and get Jenny!" He dropped the box on the ground, and it began to blink and shake.
Before my eyes I watched as the tiny box opened, creating Zomboss' pod. He casually climbed in and hit a button on the console…
And my eye bulged.
Before all of us, Zomboss' pod grew in size rapidly, metal plates endlessly snapping out as a head began to form. Two antennae jut out of the sides and started to crackle with electricity as a hunched over brown torso expanded out. Two arms burst from the thing's sides then slammed down onto the ground, causing the monster to take a few steps back. Two jean blue legs formed next, followed by black shoes, making the things height on par with the monster. A magenta-purple glass dome quickly covered Zomboss, and the massive robot let out a fierce, deep roar.
The Zombot was at full power, and its misshapen yellow eyes glared at the monster.
"What the actually fuck?!" Majima yelled as we all stared up at the two robots in shock.
"I'll do what I can!" Zomboss' voice sounded off from his mech's mouth. "Just try to help me with this!"
The monster unleashed a furious roar and charged into the Zombot, pushing him backwards. My. Group all yelled in fright, running down another street as the monster slammed the Zombot against a building. The machine grunted and began to slam its fists against the beast's head.
"How are we supposed to help Zomboss?!" Hilda asked as we ran.
"The tent! Chef was controlling the monster with a mocap suit near the contestant trailers!" I yelled. "We have to get there!"
I took the lead of the group as the two titan continued to brawl. The Zombot had finally pushed the beast off of itself, and delivered a fierce left hook that knocked the Bootleg Godzilla back. The mech then ripped one of the mock buildings and slammed it against Chris' Behemoth like how wrestlers use chairs. The beast let out a pained screech and took a few steps back, before quickly recovering and making a mad dash towards us.
"We've got incoming!!!" Marco cried. I felt my heart begin to race as the beast got closer and closer, but the Zombot saved us by tackling it from the side, sending it a good distance away. Any of the lot that were it's path was completely destroyed, fiery debris and charred rubble left in behind. The beast raised its head to stare down the Zombot, which was visible amongst the smoke and fire. The beast slammed its tail into the ground, causing more destruction, while the Zombot responded by stomping its feet.
The monster unleashed its loudest roar yet.
The Zombot shot back its own roar.
Then the two charged at each other.
The clash as they met in the middle shook the ground, nearly knocking me and Hilda off our feet. In response, Majima picked Hilda up and Izzy lifted me over her head.
"I'm not losing you two in such a once in a lifetime moment!" Izzy cheered. She then let out some sort of battle cry as she sped ahead of the others.
"Well, thanks anyway, Izzy!" I said in a stained tone, trying my best to actually be heard over the chaos. I turned back to watch as the movie lot's most expensive prop gained the upper hand, pushing Zomboss' greatest creation against a building. The Zombot responded by elbowing it in the neck, and then attempted to grab the beast's head, but it fought back by shooting out a concentrated beam of flame that left its mark on some of the set. The Zombot and Monster spun around and tossed each other into different buildings, before the robot zombie quickly rushed over and socked the side of its head.
The Zombot tried to grab the monster's head again, only for it to shoot out another beam of fire. In response, the Zombot intertwined both its hands and smashed the monster over the head, then quickly delivered a forward kick that knocked the beast down. The Zombot took a few steps back and roared, only to be pounced on by the monster. It began to charge up its fire breath again, but the Zombot acted quickly and grabbed a telephone pole. Before the fire could be unleashed, the mech stuffed the pole end into the monster's mouth, forcing it to back off.
"Where the heck is the tent, Caleb?!" Marco barked as the Zombot shielded itself from a blast of the monster's fire breath with one of the sets.
"I don't remember!" I admitted in a strained and horrified tone, "The two goddamn kaiju are kind of distracting!"
"It's this way!" Izzy shouted, pointing ahead.
"When in doubt, follow the crazy bitch", Majima shouted.
The Psycho Hose Beast put me down, and we all kept running, none of us stopping even when the roars and explosions neared. But we did stop, however, when we all saw the Zombot get blasted by the beast's fire breath and get hit down. I turned around to see the beast had a sadistic smile on its face, before it turned at us and began to charge at us again. Only this time, it barreled at us on all fours, twisting the surrounding set as it left craters in its wake.
"Guys… PICK UP THE PACE!!!!!" I screamed with all my might as we all turned and began to scream as we ran. The beast was gaining on us, though, and I feared for the worst. But just then, The other group came barreling through on the tram Chris used to give the contestants the tour on the first day.
"You guys better get in now!" Vanellope screamed while she was at the wheel. Ralph, Galacta, Manolo, Maria, Star, Steve, Maple, Twig and Alfur all sat in the seats behind, while Jenny was on top of the main vehicle with her jet boosters active. We did as we were told and all rushed into our seats. "JENNY, PUNCH IT!!!"
The teenage robot kicked on her boosters, and with Vanellope's steering knowledge, we just barely missed the jaws of the towering beast. The Zombot had just recovered and grabbed the beast by the tail, dragging it back into a brawl.
Izzy wiggled her way to the front of the tram. "Vanellope! Head that way!" The redhead cried as we kept gaining distance. "The tent to control that thing is over there!"
The candy president looked over her shoulder briefly and made a sharp turn down a side street. Just when I thought we were out of the frying pan, the beast unleashed another blast of fire, this time it was strong enough to rip the fake buildings apart.
"Oh crap!" I cried.
"Shit!" Swore Majima.
"Sweet Mother Hubbard!" Ralph screamed.
"Vanny!" Hilda cried.
"On it!" The racer dodged the blast, but the whole city facade was crumbling around us.
"Building, building, BUILDING!" Maria shrieked as one of the structures came crashing down on us.
"I KNOW!" Vanellope did a sharp turn and dodged the structure, doing the same for every following one. After that was over, we were out. Vanellope blasted by a set of the moon landing, a Wild West town, and finally the cafeteria tent before we made it to the tent that controlled the monster. As everyone rushed out of the tram, I looked back over to the battling titans. They had ended up apart, and staring each other down once again. The monster let out a roar and charged once again, running right at the mech. In response, the Zombot ran at it, firing a barrage of missiles from its shoulders. The swarm of explosions bombarded the beast, but it kept running, levelling more of the movie lot in its wake. Once they were back together, the monster tackled the robot. But the Zombot kept its balance, and countered with a right hook that knocked the monster down.
"How the heck does this thing work?!" Steve cried as the team looked over the whole system.
Jenny looked over at the fight with me, and we both saw as the monster recovered quickly, tripping the Zombot with its tail so it could begin delivering punch after punch on Zomboss' creation. "Guys, we got to help Zomboss!"
"How are we supposed to do that, jackass?!" Majima spat.
"Majima, cool it!" Manolo fired back. "We can't leave him for dead!"
"Star, can't you use some sort of steel to just blast that thing?" Maria asked in panic.
"Not without destroying half the movie lot!" She shouted. "I don't know if I can control it so there isn't a crater!"
As my friends continued to argue, Maple climbed onto my shoulder, and the two of us watched as the monster grabbed the Zombot by the back of the head and slammed it face first into several of the buildings.
That was when Ralph, Star and Jenny all dashed out of the tent and towards the battle. "What the?! Where are you guys going?!" I yelled.
"Being heroes, Kid!" Ralph called back. "Stay put!"
"Ralph, are you crazy?!" Vanellope screamed, dashing after him. I was quick to grab hold of her and hug her close. "Let go of me, Glasses!"
I didn't respond. I just silently prayed those three would be all right.
~X~
The battle continued to rage on, with both of the titans trading endless blows, neither showing any signs of giving up. The crashes and explosions continued amongst all the fires that swallowed the sky in a dark orange hue. I was honestly shocked it was going on for so long.
I was currently busy with the gang that was at the tent trying to figure how to deal with the monster.
"No matter what I press, it doesn't work!" I complained. "This thing is working on its own. There's nothing we can do!"
"There has to be something", Maria said, leaning in to assist. "Did you try… What did Jenny say it was… Oh, right! Did you try finding any files on the monster?"
"There's nothing", I said with a shake of my head as a fairly loud explosion sounded off.
Maria gave me a look that said it all: We were screwed. I looked back to the battle, just as the both titans fired powerful beams from their mouths. The monster gained the edge, as its beam overpowered the Zombot and knocked it down and back a bit.
"ZOMBOSS!" I cried as the others gasped. The beast quickly walked over and began to stomp on the mech, filling me with. I watched as it grabbed the mech and began to forcefully drag it across the lot, destroying all of the city set in its path. It then tossed the Zombot down, leaving it to groan as the monster walked on top of it, pinning it down with its foot. It grabbed the mech's upper and lower jaw, charging up a devastating blast of fire.
"NO!!!" We all cried.
Just then, right when it seemed like all hope was lost, something hopped onto the back of the monster and forced its head up to the sky, breaking the smoke above. We all cheered as Zomboss just narrowly avoided death thanks to his saviour-
"Wait… IS THAT RALPH?!" Marco screamed. This made us stop cheering, and we all gasped again. Marco was right, the mysterious saviour was none other than Ralph, now super sized to be on par with the beast. He let out a rage fueled war cry as he kept the monster's head craned upwards with one hand. After a minute, the beast used its tail to slam Ralph off onto the ground. But just when it was about to crunch the wrecker's face with a powerful punch, the Zombot quickly recovered and grabbed the arm. Ralph did the same to the other arm, and our two giant allies tag teamed and dragged the monster through some more of the buildings.
The monster was able to free the arm Ralph was holding onto, and was going to slam the Zombot, but Ralph grabbed the arm again. However, this had doomed them both, as the awkward position Ralph was in had his foot force the monster's head towards the mech, allowing it to shoot some fire out to force the Zombot off, then grabbed Ralph and threw him down to the ground. The wrecker recovered quickly, starting an altercation with the monster as the Zombot slowly recovered.
"C'mon you too…" I prayed.
The monster delivered a nasty uppercut to Ralph, then forced him into a building, kneeing him in the stomach. It then readied its tail to pierce through the wrecker, only for the Zombot to save him. It was wielding another telephone pole, this time with several large pieces of metal sticking out to form a rushed, makeshift battle axe. The Zombot kept hitting the monster as Ralph returned to normal size, quickly reduced by Jenny. Star flanked her side, and the three of them flew over to the rest of us. Ralph collapsed onto the ground, exhausted, as Jenny and Star watch the altercation in panic.
The Zombot was winning, to the point he was able to sweep the monster's legs, knocking it onto its back. As the mech raised the makeshift axe over its head, the beast's tail whacked the mech. This allowed it to recover, kick the Zombot away, and force it to keep its tail at bay with a hand. Zomboss was cornered.
"Guys, we got to do something!" Star cried.
"We've been trying!" Hilda cried, tears beginning to form. "But nothing is working!"
"This whole thing is bullshit!" Majima snarled. "I wish I could snap that fucking thing's neck!"
"Oh, the two of us are so over!" Izzy added.
All I could do was remain silent as I looked over the whole system relentlessly, trying to find a solution.
"Well, if this is it", Steve began as he pulled out a water bottle, "It was nice knowing you all."
Realisation. "That's it!" I shouted. Instantly I ripped the water bottle from Steve's hand and began to dump its contents all over the computer system.
"Caleb, what the heck?!" Steve shouted in frustration. That's when the computer system began to spark and go haywire, some of the screen blinking off as the whole system crashed and burned.
My face broke out into a massive smile, and when I turned back to the battle, I could see the beast glitch out for a moment before focusing back onto the Zombot, grabbing its free arm.
"That's all we can do here!" I said.
I saw Jenny's eyes flash for a moment. "No it's not." She ran ahead and forced her hands together, creating a massive magnifying glass above her head. "STAR! BLAST A LIGHTNING SPELL THROUGH HERE!!!"
The princess nodded and aimed her wand at the glass. "ZIP ZAPPY LASER OF LIGHTNING!!!"
A massive blast of electricity came from the wand, and it grew triple its size as it passed through the teenage robot's gadget. When I saw Star was beginning to lose her footing, I rushed to her side and held her in place. The others all joined my side, and we all cried out as the electricity went straight to the makeshift axe, charging it up. Star stopped not a moment later, and once Jenny turned her hands back to normal, we all watched on baited breath for what would happen.
The Zombot, now with a charged axe, let out a fierce roar and wretched its arm free, slicing off the end of the beast's tail. It let out a pained cry as sparks flew and oil erupted from the opening.
We all burst into cheers.
The beast went to deliver a right hook, only for the Zombot to grab the monster's wrist and slice its whole arm off. The monster let out a shriek of pain as more oil erupted out with fire and loose scrap.
The Zombot tossed the arm aside and did the same to the other arm, making the beast stumble back as its pained shrieks grew louder.
The Zombot slashed the thing's chest, ripping off some of its exterior shell, and a chunk of its endoskeleton.
The Zombot then sliced off the beast's left leg, forcing it to the ground.
As the monster roared up at the Zombot, charging up another fire blast, the mech simply roared back. It held the axe high above its head, then brought it down on the monster's neck. Oil, sparks, scrap and fire erupted everywhere as it squirmed in pain. The mech wretched the axe out and tossed it aside, grabbed its rival's head with both hands, and began to pull. There was a sickening sound of cracking metal as the Zombot pulled with as much force as it could.
Then it ripped the head clean off.
Oil spilled everywhere as the Zombot held the decapitated head high above, thick wires limply swaying, roaring into the skies in victory.
The rest of us all exploded into cheers, quickly running to congratulate our friend. It didn't take too long to get there, and when we did, Zomboss had just picked up the storable cube and stuffed it into his pockets. He was panting, his pupils were dilated, and he was shaking. Yet, despite it all, he was smiling.
I dashed right into him and hugged him tight. "Zomboss, that was incredible!!!"
He just wordlessly nodded and hugged back before being scooped up by the other, all of them cheering and giving off words of congratulations.
"I can't believe it", he began, "I actually won something. And it felt… good." The Zombie overlord looked down at the others. "All of you… thank you. Genuinely."
"Don't mention it, Zomboss", I said. Suddenly, I remembered something. My eyes bugged out as I spun around to the decapitated, dead monster. "Gladius!!!"
At the sound of his name, he shot out of where the head was, somehow completely clean, and rushed into a hug. I returned it instantly, tears of joy flowing from my eyes.
"I never want that to happen again", the sword stated. He pulled back, and I beamed up at him.
"Omg, you guys!" Izzy cheered. "That was amazing! Definitely looking forward to this little trip with all of you!"
"I just hope we finally get a break", Ralph said breathlessly, "We seriously need one."
"Agreed", I said, grabbing hold of Gladius. "Let's-" I was cut off when the sound of distant sirens hit my ears.
"FUCK. The cops!" Majima swore.
Zomboss, in a state of panic, frantically flailed his PDA around. "And I forgot to shut the cameras off! They got everything!"
"Can't you delete all the footage?!" Manolo shouted.
"It'll take too long!"
"Then let's just get out of here!" I cried. Maple jumped onto my shoulder as I quickly slashed Gladius at the open air, opening our portal. We all just forgo our pace and all rushed into the hole. Before she jumped in, Izzy bid farewell to her home, then jumped through with me, Maple and Gladius right behind her.
~X~
And so ends the Total Drama Arc, with such a bombastic and epic conclusion.
The main inspiration for the battle between the Zombot and TDA Monster (and Ralph for that little bit) was the two main battles that happened in Hong Kong in Godzilla VS Kong, mainly the final one with Mechagodzilla.
I did this because it felt like, throughout all the TD fanfictions I have read, not one did anything with the TDA Monster. I always wanted to see more, especially since the Monsterverse Godzilla showed how crazy things could get.
I seriously hope you all loved this chapter, this was one I was super excited to get to ever since I ended the Galacta arc.
Also, shoutout to my friend Sheep from the TDWriMonth Discord Server. They left to go and balance out their stuff irl, and did promise to return in the future. They are absolutely incredible, so if you're reading this Sheep, I hope everything is going well for you!
Up next: The gang get their much needed break in a gloomy place home to the happiest girl around.
~Caleb~