Chapter Four: Unamusement Park
Dr. October and Dot arrived at the abandoned amusement park at the same time. Midnight Fun Land had been abandoned close to thirty years ago. No one would claim it, and the cost of demolishing it was too costly for the city council, so it stood, slowly decaying.
Dr. October got out of his van and approached Dot's SUV. She stepped out, grimacing. "What happened?" she asked.
"I was too late," Dr. October admitted. "But I don't think it mattered."
"The tracker stopped working for a couple minutes, then when it came back on, the other Breachers had disappeared and another one popped up here."
"This is who they were summoning," Dr. October said. He looked towards the center of Midnight Fun Land and shuddered. "The power of three simultaneous rituals would have brought forth a powerful entity."
"Are we going to be able to defeat it?"
"I don't know," Dr. October said. "We shall see."
He led the way into the park, with Dot right behind him. It didn't take long for them to find the summoned Breacher. Dr. October's Breacher sight had improved the more he worked with it, and practiced it on the drive. Near the rusting Raven Racer roller coaster, a circle of snow had been blasted away. A ten-foot tall monster kneeled in the center of the cleared circle, its head bowed.
"It's still recuperating from being summoned," Dr. October whispered to Dot. "Let's do a quick spell to see if we can send it back before it’s recovered."
He quickly explained three hand motions and the chants to accompany them, made sure she had them correct, then sent her to the other side of the circle. When she was in place, he nodded to her and they began.
As the first words left their mouths, the Breacher's head twitched. Its eyes opened. It began to rise.
Dot and Doctor October continued; the doctor's brow furrowed in worry. As they completed the third and final chant, Dot shot the Breacher with her wrist pistol, and Dr. October shot it with his Vortex Pistol. The Breacher stood to its full height, head thrown back with a deafening howl.
To Dr. October's amazement and horror, the Breacher grew in size and began to change. While it appeared humanoid when they first came upon it--head, torso, two arms, two legs--it now sprouted a tail, the body stretched and grew, the legs longer and more muscled, its head extending forward. It resembled a hideously twisted version of a dinosaur. The head and mouth looked more like a piranha. A piranhasaurus!
It turned towards Dr. October and roared! Its gaping maw was lined with teeth, long and razor-sharp. It ran at the doctor, closing the distance in three strides. The piranhasaurus's mouth snapped on empty air as Dr. October dove to his left, then somersaulted to a standing position. He ran towards Dot, who fired her wrist pistol at the creature, with little or no effect.
"Run!" Dr. October yelled. He grabbed Dot's hand and they ran into the jungle of steel making up the structure of the roller coaster. Fortunately the spaces were too small for the piranhasaurus to get through. He hoped to put some distance between them until he could figure out something else.
"What the heck happened?" Dot asked.
"We rushed the spell," Dr. October said. They stopped in a spot under a low point of the roller coaster where the structure was tighter, the space smaller. "We didn't have time to complete the chants three times. I had hoped that once would be enough, but alas it wasn't."
"Was that because three separate rituals summoned that beast?"
Dr. October gave her an approving look. "It very well could be," he said. "Now we need to figure out how to destroy it."
"I tried shooting it, but the spells kept bouncing off. Its hide is tough."
"There must be a weak spot," the doctor said.
"I have an idea," Dot said. "But it will be dangerous."
"Everything about this situation is. Tell me."
"We combine the power of the two pistols into a single shot right into its mouth."
Dr. October thought a moment. "That could actually work. But how do we get in a single shot?"
"We hold the pistols right next to each other," Dot said. "But that means we have to wait for it to be close enough for it to open its mouth."
The doctor looked towards the piranhasaurus, its head bashing at some of the support struts of the roller coaster. "Maybe we can use the roller coaster against it."
"How?" Dot asked.
"Like this."
Dr. October closed his eyes and slowly raised his hands, palms facing upwards, to about waist high. His hands began to glow with a green light that grew in intensity as he raised them more. He opened his eyes and stared at the piranhasaurus. The doctor moved his hands as if he were bending and twisting something unseen in front of him.
Dot's eyes shot to the piranhasaurus when she heard the screech of rending steel. The support girders wrapped around the creature! Dr. October manipulated the metal to ensnare and bind the monster. When the only thing left uncovered was the creature's head, Dr. October ceased his manipulations. "Now we can approach with little fear of it eating us."
They moved through the tangle of girders until they neared the beast's jaws. Dr. October raised his Vortex Pistol, aiming for the mouth. Dot did the same and stepped backwards so her left arm extended in unison with Dr. October's. Their pistols were as close as they could get, each using their left hands to aim. Dr. October put his right arm around Dot's waist, to hold her close and stabilize them as they prepared to fire.
"Step forward, one step at a time, until it snaps at us," Dr. October said. "And when he roars in frustration, we fire."
"Got it."
They took a step. Another. Another. The creature's head was still twenty feet away, yet they remained cautious. Another step. Another. The creature glared at them. Was that a gleam of intelligence the doctor saw? Another step.
The piranhasaurus's head shot out with incredible speed and clamped on their extended left arms, severing them just below the elbow. It pulled its head back, swallowed its prize and laughed.
The two magicians dropped to their knees, attempting to staunch the flow of blood from their severed stumps, gasping in pain.
"Foolish humans," the creature said, its voice rumbling across the park. "Did you think me some mindless, brutish animal? I am Cazguro, second only to the Astrokraken itself. I will take this realm and all its power and make it my own. And there is nothing you can do to stop me."
It laughed again, and Dr. October shuddered. He realized the creature may be right.