Caitlin looked at Toby in panic. “Now what do we do?”
SMASH! The door shook again, pounded by a powerful blow.
“This is madness”, cried Bubba, “they’re trying to kill us!”
SMASH!
Toby looked around frantically, searching for a weapon. The bathroom was starkly furnished in a minimalist style, containing an ornate ceramic wash basin and toilet and a huge bath tub set on a pedestal in the centre of the room. He saw a set of mahogany shelves that were stacked high with folded white towels and pointed them out to Eve. “Secure the door”, he ordered.
Eve swiped the towels away and then slashed down with both hands, reducing the shelves to timber. She wrenched out the supporting brackets and, using them as make-shift nails, hammered the timber over the door with her fists.
In the hallway, the Tooth Fairy reversed, leaving several teeth embedded in the wooden door. De Coza watched critically as the Tooth Fairy ran at the door again, using her fists like a battering ram. “That thing’s got no muscle”, he complained to the Scannell twins.
“She hasn’t got the room to manoeuvre”, replied Kenneth defensively. He called over to his robot. “Engage drills, root-canal setting.”
Inside the bathroom, everyone’s attention was on the door as the Tooth Fairy’s drills whined into life. Behind them, a black tentacle silently rose up through the toilet bowl; one of the water-seeking hoses belonging to Blast Furnace.
Toby turned to Bubba and Billy-Bob and the tentacle withdrew into the toilet. “What if I just surrendered?” he asked “Would it end all this?”
Bubba shook his head. “You’ll just be putting yourself in even more danger.”
Toby turned back to the door and the tentacle reappeared, now rising up through the overflow pipe in the wash basin. It scanned the room, then ducked out of sight again.
SMASH! The door buckled inwards and Caitlin backed away towards the bath tub. Behind her, four black tentacles slowly rose up out of the bath overflow pipe, rearing up like cobras. They fanned out behind Caitlin’s head, momentarily giving her the appearance of a Gorgon, then struck, wrapping themselves around her arms and throat. Screaming, she was dragged into the bath tub.
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
THE TENTACLE
Toby spun around and stared in horrified disbelief at the black squirming tentacles wrapped around Caitlin.
“Get them off me!” Caitlin screamed and Toby snapped into action. He grabbed the end of the tentacle wrapped around her throat and tried to pull it away. It was wet and clammy, covered in tiny rubber suckers that clung stubbornly to Caitlin’s skin. The tentacle squirmed in his hand then yanked back, slamming Caitlin’s back painfully into the taps. She gasped in pain and the tentacles retracted further tilting up the bath-tub and snapping it from its pedestal. A geyser of water spurted from the broken supply pipe into the tub.
“Help me!” Toby yelled and Bubba and Billy-Bob ran to his assistance. They struggled to free Caitlin from the writhing tentacles, but the harder they tugged, the more tightly they clung to Caitlin’s arms and throat, their suckers digging cruelly into her flesh.
Eve watched dispassionately, as Caitlin thrashed in the filling bath-tub, her legs kicking frantically.
“Eve, assist!” Toby yelled, yanking on the tentacles.
Eve didn’t move.
Caitlin gazed up at the robot imploringly. “Help… me…” she gasped.
The tentacles retracted further, forcing Caitlin under the water. Her kicking legs knocked a bottle of bubble-bath into the water, filling the bath with foam. She writhed in the water, her legs churning the bathwater into froth.
Toby turned to see what was delaying Eve and saw the robot gazing down at Caitlin, watching her drown with an expression of scientific detachment. “Eve assist!” he yelled furiously.
Eve waited for a fraction of a second then came to Caitlin’s aid. Her blade flashed four times and four severed tentacles dropped into the foamy water. There was a distant echoey bellow of pain and the remains of the tentacles withdrew into the drainage system, spurting hydraulic fluid. The end of the bathtub hit the floor with a loud clang and Caitlin sat up, coughing and spluttering.
“Are you alright?” cried Toby.
“Yeah, no thanks to her!” gasped Caitlin, pointing at Eve.
The four severed tentacles suddenly reared up through the foam, and started wriggling towards Caitlin like eels. She shrieked and leaped out of the bath. “Don’t they ever give up?”
“You’d better get over here”, Marty called, “that thing’s nearly through!”
Toby turned and saw that the Tooth Fairy had drilled a series of holes in the door, seriously weakening it. “Get away from the door”, he yelled.
Marty dodged backwards just as the Tooth Fairy’s tooth-studded fist smashed through the door. It whistled past him, a jagged tooth snagging his shirt and grazing his shoulder.
“Eve, defend the doorway!” Toby commanded.
Eve sprang forwards as another fist-sized hole appeared in the door, sending a mahogany shelf spinning towards her.
“We have to get out of here”, yelled Bubba. He ran to the window and pulled it open. The sun had risen, now peeking over the jungle canopy roof. Toby joined him and looked down at the veranda directly below them. It was too far to jump.
“We’ll never make it!” said Bubba in dismay.
The Tooth Fairy’s steel hands emerged through the two holes, clamping onto the door. It pulled back and with a squeal of breaking timber the door was wrenched clean off its hinges. The robot scuttled into the bathroom, hissing in triumph.
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
EVE VS THE TOOTH FAIRY
Eve calmly stepped in front of the Tooth Fairy, blocking its way. The larger robot lunged at Eve, drills, scalpels, scalers and probes unsheathing. Eve launched into the robot like a ninja warrior, dodging back and forth to avoid the flailing appendages.
At the window, Toby looked at the writhing tentacles in the bathtub, his mind working furiously. He pulled one out and tugged it experimentally. It elongated, tripling in length.
Scotty joined in the battle, running at the Tooth Fairy and nipping its heels. A drill-tipped appendage swooped towards the robot dog, stabbing into its hind-quarters. Scotty yelped in pain and ran to Caitlin, its stubby tail clasped between its buttocks.
At the window, Toby lashed the four tentacles together, tying the last to the bath taps. He pushed Caitlin to the window. “Go!” he yelled.
Caitlin distastefully grabbed the still twitching rope and clambered up onto the window ledge. She scooped up Scotty with one hand, tucking the dog into her tracksuit top, then started climbing down. The rope stretched like a bungee cord and she gently descended to the veranda below. She felt her feet touch the wooden decking and let go of the rope. It shot back up, the released tension causing it to ping like an elastic band. Marty pushed past Toby, Bubba and Billy-Bob, making sure he was next in line.
Inside the bathroom, Eve fought like a maniac, trying to inflict damage on one of the Tooth Fairy’s vulnerable spots. Dodging the tooth-encrusted fists, Eve slashed down on one of the jointed appendages. Her blade sliced through the metal casing and green hydraulic fluid spurted from the wound. The Tooth Fairy immediately retreated as the pressure from her hydraulic system began to drop, causing all of her appendages to droop. It backed down the corridor, causing De Coza and the Scannell twins to hastily retreat in order to avoid getting crushed.
Eve ran forwards, slashing mercilessly with her blade and the Tooth Fairy retreated still further to the landing at the top of the stairs. Keeping Eve at bay, the robot tended its injury with an appendage equipped with an amalgam plugger. A quick-drying silver paste squirted out of the plugger, filling the puncture wound with an outsized amalgam filling. The filling immediately hardened, sealing the wound and the robot’s pressure started to rise back to normal.
Back in the bathroom, Toby gestured for Bubba and Billy-Bob to follow Marty. ?
??You go first, you’re the one they want”, said Bubba firmly.
Toby opened his mouth to argue and Billy-Bob pushed him to the window. “Go!” he said impatiently. “We’ll meet in the jungle, near the fortress.”
Toby nodded and clambered out of the window. He grabbed the rope and started lowering himself down towards the ground.
At the top of the stairs, the Tooth Fairy’s hydraulic system normalized. Smashing its brutal tooth-studded fists together in a furious display of aggression, it launched itself at Eve. Eve danced back and forth, feinting and dodging like a boxer, waiting for an opportunity to attack the Tooth Fairy’s hydraulic fluid pipeline that was situated directly under the robot’s head. The larger robot realized that this was Eve’s intention and protected this vulnerable area with its segmented, scorpion-like tail, the barbed spike at the tip slashing at Eve whenever she got too close.
The Tooth Fairy advanced towards Eve, its twin orthodontic lamps flaring. Eve’s optic circuits were temporarily overloaded and the larger robot went on the offensive, smashing Eve with a savage upper-cut. Eve crashed into the wall, knocked senseless and the Tooth Fairy scuttled forwards, sensing victory. Her segmented tail arched up overhead and the robot swung its body, the barbed spike slashing sideways, preparing to sever Eve’s head.
But Eve was ready for her. She suddenly sprung to life, raising her hand and the tail slammed into the razor-sharp blade, the momentum cleanly shearing off the lower section. The Tooth Fairy screamed in pain, the remains of its tail lashing back and forth, spraying green hydraulic fluid everywhere.
Eve leaped to her feet and the Tooth Fairy tried to back away, realizing that it was unable to protect itself properly. Eve somersaulted over the robot’s flailing appendages that were vainly trying to protect its hydraulic supply pipe and landed on the back of the Tooth Fairy, legs astride its arachnid head. With a single decisive slash of her hand she severed the Tooth Fairy’s hydraulic supply pipe. A fountain of thick green fluid spurted from the Tooth Fairy’s throat and the robot let out an unearthly electronic shriek.
Kenneth and Gilbert raced up the stairs in time to see their beloved robot collapse to the floor, twitching and gurgling in a pool of its own slime. “What have you done to her!” Gilbert screeched.
Eve saw the two dentists running towards the stairs and regarded them coolly. Seeing she had an audience she contemptuously booted the dying robot under its mutilated tail and it rolled forwards, cartwheeling down the stairs right into the midst of De Coza’s gang who had been watching the fight. Gilbert, Kenneth, De Coza, Thumper and Coach Kennedy scattered, pushing and shoving in their haste to get away from the massive chunk of scrap iron hurtling down the stairs. It crashed onto the living-room floor, narrowly missing the Scannell twins, and the robot’s fish tank exploded on impact.
Gilbert and Kenneth screamed as shards of glass and snapping piranhas rained down upon them. The panicking fish instinctively latched onto the dentists, sinking their needle-sharp teeth into their skin and clothing. The tantalizing smell of human blood sent the half-starved piranhas wild, their little brown bodies flapping and wriggling furiously. The Scannell twins writhed on the floor, shrieking, desperately trying to wrench off the carnivorous fish. One by one they threw the piranhas away from them then collapsed backward, moaning in pain and shock.
Eve calmly walked down the stairs passing the whimpering dentists. Suddenly after all the fighting it seemed very quiet. De Coza, Thumper and Kennedy saw Eve approaching, her bladed hands dripping green slime and wordlessly stepped aside for her. Dumpmaster growled softly as she passed but didn’t make any move to attack her.
Eve made her way outside, passing McBride who was tending Blast Furnace, staunching the flow of hydraulic fluid that was seeping from its severed tentacles. The android jumped off the veranda and broke into a run, heading for the jungle.
De Coza followed Eve outside and saw her disappear into the dense foliage. He glimpsed movement in the jungle beyond and suddenly felt a deep suspicion. He ran down the side of the villa and saw Bubba waiting for Billy-Bob who was laboriously clambering down the rope leading from the bathroom.
“Where do you think you’re going?” De Coza snarled.
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
RETURN OF THE TOYMAKER
Toby, Caitlin and Marty were hiding in the jungle, not far from Marty’s villa, when Bubba and Billy-Bob were captured. “We’ve got to help them”, Toby whispered stepping towards them.
“Are you crazy?” Marty hissed, hauling him back.
“They risked their lives—”
“So that we could get away! And we’re wasting our head-start.”
There was a sudden rustling from the jungle behind them and Marty turned fearfully. Eve emerged from the undergrowth and he relaxed. “Looks like your robot came out on top”, he commented to Toby, eyeing the green gunk encrusted on Eve’s blades.
Toby looked at Marty with genuine surprise. “Of course.”
Marty tenderly touched his swollen jaw and nodded with satisfaction. He turned and started striding through the jungle towards the trail that led to the fortress. Toby and Caitlin looked at each other uncertainly then started to follow. Caitlin saw Scotty hadn’t moved, still gazing mournfully after Bubba and Billy-Bob who were now being marched into the villa. “Come on, you’d better come along with us”, she said. She started walking and the robot dog trotted after her.
Ten minutes later they emerged from the sweltering jungle and started climbing down the hill towards the fortress.
“So what’s the plan?” Caitlin asked.
“Hide somewhere and wait for the rescue boat, I guess”, said Toby.
“Hang around until that bunch of lunatics catches us?” said Marty incredulously. “I don’t think so.”
“What’s your idea then?” asked Caitlin.
“See that road?” said Marty, pointing to the ribbon of tarmac that curved from the fortress entrance and disappeared into the jungle. “It leads to the north side of the island. There’s a supply ship moored there, I say we should make for that.”
Caitlin looked at Marty suspiciously. Something about his manner seemed unconvincing. “A supply ship? What’s it doing on the other side of the island?”
Marty eyed Toby slyly. “Delivering electronic hardware to our robot-assembly plant”, he said casually.
“You mean you build your robots on this island?” said Toby excitedly.
Marty nodded. “Our robot designer is permanently based here, just like me.” Something occurred to him and he started to smile.
“What’s so funny?” asked Caitlin.
“I was just thinking of the nickname me and the crew gave him. It’s kind of ironic considering the circumstances. We call him the Toymaker.”
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
CAUGHT ON CAMERA
Inside the fortress, the three biker girls were still asleep on the courtyard floor, clutching empty bottles of spirits to their chests like teddy-bears. Toby and the others crept past them and headed towards the fortress buildings. “We’ll rendezvous in five minutes”, whispered Marty.
Inside the robot workshop, Caitlin sifted through the contestant’s backpack she had been issued, keeping only the barest essentials; water, dehydrated survival rations and a lightweight blanket. She strapped it on her back and hefted it; it was heavy but not uncomfortably so. She turned to Toby and watched him as he stuffed tools and electronic spares into his backpack. “I’m still not sure about this”, she said. “That ship… it sounds too good to be true.”
Toby crammed the dismantled Sniper Robot head into his bulging backpack then strapped it on. “We’re just gonna have to risk it”, he said. They made their way outside, passing the blackened robot statue and Caitlin saw several discarded hot dogs on it, swarming with ants. She brushed most of them off then stashed the hot-dogs in her backpack.
Marty was already waiting for them by the fortress gates with Eve and Scotty. “Come on, let’s hit the road!” he called
impatiently,
Typhoid Mary grunted in her sleep and Caitlin looked at Marty in exasperation.
“Sorry”, Marty mouthed.
Toby and Caitlin approached the gatehouse and Toby glanced inside, his attention caught by the bank of security camera monitors. “One minute”, he said, and before Caitlin could object he darted inside.
Caitlin followed Toby into the gatehouse and saw him hunched in front of the computer terminal connected to the security cameras. “Toby, we haven’t got time for this!”
“I won’t be long”, Toby muttered, his hands flicking over the keyboard. “If this is still working I should be able to see…”
The monitors flickered into life, displaying the video feed from cameras around the fortress. Toby selected quarter screen format then scrolled through the different video feeds until he found the ones covering the robot workshop wing.
“Toby we’ve got to go!”
“The only window of opportunity anyone had to tamper with Eve was when everyone was at Marty’s briefing”, said Toby looking up from the keyboard excitedly. “Don’t you see? Whoever sabotaged Eve will have been caught on camera!” He selected the camera that was trained on his workspace then clicked the full screen format. He manipulated the time/date playback control and an image appeared on the screen, the time-code in the corner reading 11.30AM. He pressed fast forward, scanning the footage at high speed.
Marty angrily burst through the door. “What the hell’s going on?” he hissed. “We have to leave NOW!”
“Gotcha!” Toby yelled excitedly, freeze framing the video image.
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
THE CONVOY
A strange-looking convoy rolled through the jungle. Dumpmaster led, smashing a path through the dense foliage. De Coza and his gang followed behind, all of them brooding over their humiliating defeat at Marty’s house. The Scannell twins looked sullen and angry, their formerly pristine dentist smocks now ripped and bloodstained. They each held one of the Tooth Fairy’s shorn off tool-tipped appendages, clutching them like spears. Blast Furnace brought up the rear, its tentacles dragging along Bubba and Billy-Bob like prisoners in a chain-gang.