Monster War

“And you can add me to that list,” Professor Xix seconded. “I would join them as well, if I didn’t have to stay and care for my beasts.”

“Well, we all have our priorities,” William replied. “For me, it’s the safety of all the human beings on this planet. For you, it’s…well, I guess it’s your beasts.”

Xix’s eyes darkened with anger and he was about to respond when a fiery portal popped open next to William and an adult Facilitator ran through.

“General Dagget?”

“Yes?”

“We need you right away, sir. There’s been a development.” The Facilitator suddenly looked very serious. “The fog over Central Park has lifted, General…and there’s something there.”

CHAPTER FIVE THE CENTRAL MYSTERY OF CENTRAL PARK (#ulink_1da47e5d-09d4-59e8-a020-44a272000803)

A purple portal snapped open on the roof of the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan. Charlie Benjamin stepped through, followed by Violet, Theodore and Brooke. The tall, pretty girl sighed dramatically. “Well, this is typical. We’ve only been exiles a couple of minutes and already we’re in trouble.”

“How do you work that out?” Violet replied, barely even glancing at her.

“You heard General Dagget. He said that exiles aren’t allowed to interfere in Nightmare Division business. Well…here we are. Interfering.”

“We are not interfering!” Theodore said. “We’re just looking. Heck, everyone on the planet is looking.” He gestured to the news helicopters buzzing noisily overhead.

“Well, they’ve definitely got something to look at,” Charlie replied, staring off at something the others couldn’t yet see. “You better come and check this out. You won’t believe it.”

Everyone joined him at the edge of the hotel roof and looked down. A gigantic nautilus shell, easily five storeys high, towered over Central Park - its gleaming, pearly exterior stretched nearly from one end to the other. Thousands of snail-like creatures swarmed across it, secreting a glistening ooze from their bellies. The slime quickly hardened in the afternoon sun, adding yet another layer to the massive spiral. It was as ominous as it was beautiful.

Violet shook her head in amazement. “What is it?”

“Their new lair,” Charlie replied. “At least that’s my guess. But I don’t know what those things are.” He pointed to the snail-like creatures that were now slithering off the side of the shell and heading into the large opening in the end that faced the hotel.

“Shellweavers,” Brooke replied. The rest of the group stared at her blankly. “Don’t worry, there’s no reason you’d know about them. I never saw one until Professor Xix showed them to us in our ‘Building The Nether: Deadly By Design’ class.”

Charlie nodded. “OK. So what do they do?”

“Basically, they build things. Their slime dries as hard as steel. Harder maybe. Apparently, they constructed a couple of the palaces in the Inner Circle.” She shrugged. “They’re not dangerous.”

“Maybe not,” Theodore said. “But there’s definitely something down there that is. Check out the soldiers.”

He pointed to the hundreds of soldiers that ringed the park. Some stood - rifles at the ready - while others kept watch inside their tanks and military vehicles. The entire area was on lockdown. There were no civilians anywhere.

“Wow, they really want to keep people out,” Brooke said.

“Or keep something else in,” Theodore added. “Something like that.”

He pointed to the entrance to the colossal shell. Something walked through the pearly curves, something regal and fierce.

“The Fifth,” Charlie whispered.

Even from this distance, her alien beauty drew all eyes like a magnet. She was tall - nearly two metres - and her great mane of silver hair flashed brilliantly in the afternoon sun, spilling over crimson skin like a rain of steel on an ocean of blood. Her legs were long and strong and she had four arms, each ending in purple talons - the exact colour of her cat-like eyes. The Shellweavers that slithered past her cowered as they tried to escape into the lair to shield their moist bodies from the heat of her ferocious glow.

The soldiers circling the park were instantly aware of her presence and they quickly grew quiet. Even the distant roar of traffic and the drone of the helicopters circling overhead disappeared, as if some giant creature drew in its breath and inhaled all sound and noise and clamour.

All silent. All still.

The Fifth opened her mouth and began to speak.

“Good people of Earth, I bid you welcome.” Without even seeming to strain, her silken voice boomed up the sides of the skyscrapers and down the cavernous arteries of the city. “I have known many names. Some call me the Fifth; to my monstrous babies I am known as Mother; others call me Pearl - in honour of my marvellous new home.” She gestured to the spectacular shell behind her with a flick of her top right hand. “But I invite you to call me by my real name - the Queen of Nightmares.”

She smiled slyly. Charlie knew from grim experience that there was death behind that smile - death and suffering.

“She’s beautiful…” Theodore whispered. Violet stared at him incredulously. “In a totally creepy and evil way, of course,” he quickly corrected himself.

“I understand you’ve all had a…difficult…week,” the Queen of Nightmares continued with mock sympathy. “I’m told my darling babies visited you in the dark of the night with their pointy teeth and sharp stingers and caused you no end of trouble - children screaming, grown-ups carried off into the blackness. Terrible times…”

She shook her head sadly, although Charlie detected more than a hint of amusement.

“I am here today to tell you that the misery you have experienced is only the beginning. You have barely begun to taste the doom that will descend upon you. Today, this minute, things are going to change. And when they do, when you realise the full scope of the horror that is coming to your world, you will scream for the gentle days when all you had to fear were the beasts of your nightmares.”

She raised her four arms. “Good people of Earth, your rule is over. The time of the monsters has come.”

Oh no, Charlie thought. What’s she going to do?

But before anything further could happen, there was a sound. Small at first - a low, dull whine - it soon sharpened and became the bright roar of a fighter jet screaming overhead. As it passed, two long, silver tubes launched from its wings and arrowed down towards Central Park far below, leaving twin trails of smoke.

Missiles! Charlie realised. They’re going to shoot her with—

WHAM! The explosion was so immense that Charlie and his friends were thrown to the ground as a wave of heat blasted them. A ball of fire blossomed out from the front of the enormous nautilus shell and plumed upwards, revealing a scorched crater beneath. As Charlie scrambled to his feet, he saw that the shell itself was untouched - the massive explosion hadn’t seemed to damage or harm it in any way.

“Well, I’m no chef,” Theodore said, shakily standing, “but I’m guessing that four-armed chick’s goose is cooked.” He turned to help Violet and Brooke up, while Charlie peered into the thick black smoke that blanketed the front of the shell, desperately looking for any signs of movement.

Nothing. And then he heard a sound.

Laughter. A female voice - rich and throaty and full of mockery.

As the smoke cleared, he saw the Queen of Nightmares standing exactly where she had been when the missiles first slammed into her: untouched and unharmed. Her purple cat-eyes glittered with dark delight.

“Charming,” she said, and her casual tone of voice chilled Charlie to the core. “What’s next? Poison? Lightning bolts? Asteroids? Please, send me your worst…as long as I get to do the same.” With that, she raised all four arms to the sky. Her silver hair flashed in the sun. “Wonderful people of Earth, it’s time to introduce you to my newest babies…my dark darlings…my Elemental Golems. Say hello to…Fire!”

With a flick of her top right hand, two circles of glowing cinder on the scorched earth beside her erupted into brilliant flames. The fiery pillars raged upwards, growing and expanding, licking at the sky with orange tongues until forming themselves into creatures. They were blazing, brutish things, five storeys high and made entirely of fire. Every step of their thick legs left behind bubbling pools of lava and every touch of their fingers summoned an inferno.

Violet shook her head. “This is bad…”

Then, with a flick of her lower left hand, the Queen of Nightmares made the ground shudder violently. Two huge slabs of rock exploded from the still smoking dirt and then crashed back down with earthquake-like force. Deep cracks spider-webbed across them, causing huge boulders to fall as if chiselled away by some insane, invisible sculptor. Giant stone creatures emerged. They were horrible, blocky things with wide foreheads and fists the size of tanks. Their dull, empty eyes made them look stupid and slow, but Charlie guessed that they were deadly.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” the Queen of Nightmares said pleasantly. “Meet Earth.”

The two Elemental Earth Golems walked to stand beside the two Elemental Fire Golems. With every step they took, the world shook with thunder.

“Um, wow,” Theodore said. Charlie and the others nodded in agreement.