OKAY, BLUE. THIS IS IT.
She saw Robo’s silhouette illuminated by the glow of monitors. Blue narrowed her eyes. Images flashed through her mind: Destiny, Max, Copper, Duncan, and Raven. She snarled, causing Robo to whip around, clearly in shock.
“How on earth did you—?”
Blue smirked. “I’m a hard dog to kill—remember?”
Robo narrowed his eyes. “Well, I guess I’ll have to make sure the job gets done this time.”
“Look, Robo. For the last time, you don’t have to do this,” she said. “Just stop. You still have time to change.”
Robo curled his lips. “And do what? Let humans rule? Put up with more abuse, more death, and more destruction?”
Blue shook her head. “Have you even looked at what you’re doing, Robo?” she said. “You’re causing death, you’re causing abuse. At the rate you’re going, you’ll destroy the world itself. You’ve lost your way, Robo. You’re better than this.”
Robo’s eyes widened in fury. “You think you know what’s going on, you naïve dog? You haven’t even scratched the surface!”
“Maybe,” she said slowly, “but I do know one thing.” She looked him directly in the eye. “Would Becca want this?”
Robo took a step back, avoiding her gaze. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, city mutt.”
Blue had reached into her leather bag, pulling out Becca’s drawing. “I know you loved her with all your heart. Would she really want all this death and destruction? Do you even know if she’s still alive?”
Blue slid the paper toward Robo, his eye wide with sorrow as he stared down at it.
“You still have the power to stop this. Let’s find another way—for both the SAD and the RAD armies.” Blue said in a whisper.
Robo looked at Blue, his eye wet. “I’ve gone too far, Blue.” Then he smiled, tears still streaming down his face. “And now, so have you!”
He sprang at Blue, his jaws snapping. Robo grabbed Blue by the scruff and flung her, causing her to slide against the main control panel and fall to the floor. Before she could try to get up, Robo gripped her again, and threw her hard against the wall. She lay there motionless.
Robo walked toward her. “So weak. It’s amazing how you’ve managed to survive this long.”
Blue slowly got up. She felt her heart pounding. She sprang at him, clawing his ears. He yelped, but quickly bit her paw, crushing it. She howled in pain and used her other paw to kick him in the jaw as he sprang away. Blue followed him, catching his front metal leg. Her powers were as strong as his, and she felt the titanium leg bend and fail. He yelped once again, and tore at her ear. She quickly scrambled up, staring at him. His leg was twisted and crushed, bright green liquid mixing with blood onto the cold gray floor. He unclenched his teeth, and spat out some of her ear.
Blue felt blood stream down her face, but it didn’t stop her. She jumped at him once more. He lowered his head, ready for the impact. This time, she was able to pin him against the floor. He sneered at her.
“Bad move, Blue.”
He used his powerful legs to kick her far into the air, smashing through the control room’s narrow windows.
She heard the sound of glass breaking as she landed in the mud outside. Pouring rain drenched her fur in seconds. She slowly, painfully rose and looked around.
Her vision was blurry, but she saw…humans? Wearing camouflage and carrying rifles, they had detected the battle and found Robo’s hideaway. Helicopters and drones hovered above the mountain.
Suddenly she heard the sound of more breaking glass. Looking up, she saw Robo standing over her. He snarled once, before shoving her toward a rock. Her vision was dimly red and blurred even more. She wobbled around, her mouth gaping— everything seemed unrecognizable. Through the haze, she recognized Robo’s glowing red eye. Blue lunged toward him, and they battled back toward the compound. Further they climbed, until they wrestled on a rock ledge and tumbled back through a window, landing on the hard concrete floor.
Robo had broken her fall. “Get off of me,” he howled, raking his claws down her stomach. He kicked her again onto the floor, leaving a smear of blood.
She didn’t get back up. This is it, she thought. I’m not strong enough.
Still, her mind raced for options, and found none. She tried to get up to no avail.
Robo howled in triumph. “You’re going to die, Blue. You’ve irritated me for too long.”
Robo limped toward her, and put his broken robotic paw on her throat, its sharp claws digging in. Blue wheezed for breath, her eyes blood-shot. She felt her flesh give in to the metal claws, and red flooded her vision. She saw images of her mother, and all the friends she had made during her journey. She was going to fail them all.
No, I refuse. I will not fail. Blue’s eyes snapped open, and she struck Robo right in the robotic eye with her good paw. He jumped away, turning his back toward her. Blue shakily rose to her feet. Looking down at her neck, she could see the deep cut across her chest.
Then she noticed her necklace. Through everything, the necklace and leather pouch had stayed with her. She stared at Robo, who still had his back turned from her. She quickly removed the necklace, and looped it around Robo’s neck. Yanking it hard with her teeth, she tried to choke him.
“Die!” Robo hissed, as he pulled, giving a hard yank back, which snapped the necklace and sent the pendant of the Husky across the floor.
Robo gasped for breath. Liquid streamed from his robotic eye, burning what was left of the fur on his face. He charged forward, and Blue quickly swerved out of the way. She doubled back, and snapped her teeth on his robotic tail. Using his weight against him, she tripped him, causing him to stumble out of the control room and onto the catwalk. The cables rattled as Robo’s weight hit it.
Blue followed him onto the catwalk as Robo got up again, and took a defensive position.
“I ALWAYS WIN!” Robo roared.
He sprang at Blue. The catwalk cables shook again; they both realized they were dangerously suspended over the pool of acid.
At the same time, the mountain rumbled—the humans were starting to attack; small bits of rock started to fall into the pit while they fought.
For one moment, everything was deadly silent. Then there was a crack as one of the catwalk’s cables snapped, the entire metal platform groaning as it shifted and tipped toward the pool of acid below.
Robo slid close to the edge, and used his robotic front leg to hold himself in place. The cable had snapped on Robo’s side, so Blue had an easier time staying on the platform. Blue tried to stay calm and still. Robo could not contain the rage burning in him. Howling and snarling, he accidentally gave a push of his leg and another cable on his side broke. The catwalk shifted again, sending Robo tumbling to the ledge of the acidic pit. Blue yelped in surprise, and dug her claws into the mesh to hold on as she watched Robo slide off. She sprang to the safety on the concrete floor. As she crouched there, her body trembled with the adrenaline.
With his two titanium paws, Robo had managed to hold on to the lip of the pit, hanging a couple of feet above the acid. “Blue, I’m sorry. Please, just help me up,” he said. “I will not win this. I see how pointless all of this is. Let me up so I can call the armies off. I don’t want even more dogs or humans to die.”
Blue thought of leaving him, but she shook her head. Killing him like this will make me no better than he is.
“I’ll try.”
“Please pull me up by the scruff,” he directed. As Blue leaned forward, she saw Robo’s viciousness return.
“You’re such a fool,” he snarled, as he tried to knock her off balance into the pit. “Now witness my superiority, you pup!”
Two metal wings deployed from his shoulders, rising above the pool.
“This is your day to meet death, not mine,” he yelled, as he slowly flew toward the gaping hole where there had been windows. Escape looked easy.
Blue cowered as the complex shook again as explosives hit the side of the mountain. Both Blue and Robo were startled as a chunk of the ceiling fell, smashing into one of Robo’s wings. He started to spiral, descending with the rest of the debris. Robo couldn’t gain control, smashing into the crumbling walls and monitors. His good wing spun him so he landed near Blue, blocking the exit.
He wheezed as he slowly got up from the fall. He was now almost completely blind, his robotic eye broken, and his natural eye filled with blood. Some of his canine teeth were missing. A large splinter of glass was stuck in his hip. For a brief moment, Blue saw him as the old dog he was, skinny and frail, with a white nose and a broken metal tail.
Yet, he was not ready for defeat.
He stood there, mildly confused. “What happened? Becca? Anyone?” Then Robo’s gaze finally landed on Blue, and all of his confusion slowly turned to anger.
“You,” he said. “Always you.”
Blue was backed up against the wall with nowhere to run. As she turned her head to prepare for Robo’s impact, she noticed the spotlights from the humans’ helicopters shining through the broken windows. One of the lights flashed into Blue’s eyes, temporarily blinding her.
With only seconds before Robo would reach her, Blue grabbed a large shard of mirrored glass and angled it toward him, reflecting the spotlight and blinding him. Robo tried to stop running when the light hit him, but his broken leg slid under him, causing him to trip and slide into the pool of acid.
Blue crawled to the edge.
“Enough is enough, Robo,” she said. “Your reign is over.”
This time, there was no remorse, and no games.
Robo snarled at her, and tried to swipe her with his titanium front paw. He missed and slipped under the surface.
Blue looked away in horror.
Robo was gone without a sound.