Imagination Crossing, Chapter 5

In the morning, when Theresa woke to her sweaty bed, she jumped up shivering. Many nightmares from the other night had terrified her. She slowly got dressed in her best work clothes and wrote a note to her parents. She got back on her bed and started jumping. She jumped and jumped, waiting for the transportation to kick in. And then, it did. Theresa saw her surroundings disappear to be replaced by the town in front of her. Theresa stepped off the metal platform and toward the black castle. She sped up, not wanting to delay the inevitable for any longer, and soon was running through the streets. She felt a little disoriented from the transportation, but she was able to run in a straight line to the castle. She stopped just before running into the moat—again—and started looking around for the radio. Her search turned up nothing, and she was forced to wait. She took a look at her surroundings and saw a man approaching her. She got to her feet and backed away a little, but she was put at ease as he spoke, “Theresa? What are you doing here already?”
Theresa ran to the man and hugged him saying, “Why delay the fight with Destructor? I didn't want to give myself time to start worrying. What are you doing here already, Rick?”
Rick grinned and replied, “I was supposed to wait here for you and radio Howard to open the gate when you got here.”
Theresa giggled, “Well, radio him already!”
Rick did, and the gate fell open into the bridge. They walked across together, like they had when she had first entered the castle. Only now, Theresa's hands were not tied. She entered the castle and walked toward the room she had been in before. The walk through the castle seemed shorter now, maybe because she didn't half expect the Enforcers to kill her right in that room. Theresa opened the door and saw the Enforcers sitting in their chairs. They looked groggy, like they had just gotten out of bed. Their suits were rumpled, and they sat awkwardly in their chairs. Theresa felt slightly guilty, and as she took her seat she apologized, “Sorry I'm so early. You three look exhausted.”
Mitchel waved the apology away and yawned, “It's okay. We don't usually get up until noon anyway. We've been wanting to rise earlier, right boys?”
Ernest and Howard nodded sleepily, and Theresa felt a bit better.
“Besides,” Mitchel added seriously, “Destructor rises early, too. And imagines almost as soon as he does.”
Theresa felt a chill go down her spine, and she asked, “Is he already to work?”
Mitchel nodded and Theresa tried not to slump. This was why she had come so early, was it not? To face Destructor as soon as possible? To get it over with? Of course!
“Where is he? I'll go right away,” Theresa said boldly. Mitchel smiled a weak smile and said, “For now, he's in De-Structure, the town his imaginations call home. For the little time they live, anyway. He is fighting with Calvin the Carnivorous, a mighty dinosaur. It may seem alright, but Calvin the Carnivorous is not a bad dinosaur at all. He may be the nicest carnivorous dinosaur ever, and Destructor is fighting him to the death.”
Theresa nodded and said, “Alright. I'll save that dinosaur and stop Destructor.”
Theresa grinned and added, “Oh yeah...do I still have the Power of Imagining here?”
Mitchel nodded, “Yes, you can still imagine yourself powers, as Destructor did.”
Theresa nodded approvingly and went to the window. She saluted her new-found friends and jumped out the window. She spread her arms out and stretched her fingers, and then she was soaring through the sky, whooping with delight. She grinned and blinked, and then suddenly a red light went off into the distance. She followed the light and flew farther and farther from the town. She flew above many towns that she instantly knew, La La Land, for absentminded people. Idea Central, for brainstorming, Booktown, for authors and readers. Moviewood for actors, directors, watchers, and anything relating to movies. And then, the red light led down to De-Structure. Theresa dove down, gliding toward the town. She saw the dinosaur that must be Calvin the Carnivorous. She swooped toward the dinosaur and landed in front of him. She held her hands above her head and flung them down. A purple dome appeared around her and Calvin. She kept her hands like that for a few moments and released. The force-field stayed, and she turned to Calvin, who thanked her with a quiet roar.
“You're welcome, boy,” she replied. A black streak in the air to her right caught her attention, and she turned to where it had been, a space in the air that was now empty. A loud thud against the force-field made her spin farther to her right, where she saw a black-suited figure pounding on the force-field from the outside. Destructor. Theresa frowned at the figure. He looked to be only a bit taller than herself. She held up her fists threateningly and shouted, “Hey Destructor! Think twice about destroying imaginations, for now I protect them!”
Destructor stared at her and asked, “And who might you be, girl? Who might you be, to think you can stand up to me in my own imagination?”
Theresa lifted her head boldly and answered, “Call me Theresa. Theresa the Imaginative.”
Destructor scowled, “Imaginative? Oh, please! More like Theresa the Imagination! Stop acting like you are from my world, you imagination. As soon as I find out how to get in there, you're ending up like all the other imaginations who get in my way!”
Theresa frowned, “Oh, but Destructor! I am real! I have a family. A mom, a dad, a big brother. And I am extremely imaginative. That is the reason the Enforcers chose me to stop you.”
Destructor had stopped listening, though, and he continued to punch at the force-field.
“How do you get in?” he screamed. Theresa stuck her tongue out at him and taunted, “Even if there was a way in—which there isn't—I wouldn't tell you. And I imagined it so that only the maker of the force-field can tear it down or break it. And I'm certainly not doing that.”
Destructor pounded his fist against it again, to no avail. Theresa wrinkled her nose and commented, “You know, that's never going to work.”
Destructor clenched his fists and said, “Well, you don't even exist. I'm going to stop imagining you.”
Theresa stood firm as Destructor clenched his fists, the only sign of frustration or concentration Theresa could see with his black-armored body. Finally, he looked back up expectantly. When he saw Theresa and her force-field still there, he let out a cry of frustration and shouted, “Theresa, you are the most stubborn imagination I have ever encountered! You must be an invasive thought!”
Theresa grinned slightly, “I guess you could call me invasive, like an invasive species, but only because I'm bothering you in your imagination instead of living my own imagination.”
Destructor jabbed a finger at her and ordered, “Stop insisting that you are real! You are an imagination, there is no other way I can see you now!”
Just then, three figures landed behind Destructor. They took a few steps forward and barfed.
“I hate flying,” rasped the boy. The adults nodded in agreement. Theresa recognized them and shouted, “Mom! Dad! Zander! Come here!”
Their gazes went to Theresa, and they ran to her. They stopped at the force-field and dad asked, “How do we get in?”
“Just walk right in. No biggie,” Theresa directed simply. They walked right through the force-field—much to Destructor's surprise and frustration—and mom asked Theresa, “Who is this here? Can he come in?”
Theresa groaned in exasperation and explained, “No mom, he's Destructor. He wants to kill me and Calvin the Carnivorous. And probably you too, now.”
Mom looked disturbed and she asked hopefully, “Are you sure he doesn't just want to take you to his leaders because this was all just a big test?”
Theresa blinked.
“No mom, that was Rick. They were testing me for the purpose of stopping this guy.”
Theresa gestured to Destructor, who snarled, “You're acting like I'm not even here! Real nice quality in an imagination!”
Mom pressed her lips into a straight line and said, “Now, listen here. We are not imaginations. We are as real as I'm pretty sure you are. And if you aren't real, you have no right to be calling us imaginations, you hear?”
Destructor pounded on the force-field and shouted, “Idiotic imaginations! Let me in!”
“No!” Theresa growled, “You said yourself you would kill us, so why should I let you in?”
“Because I want to! You need to obey me, pitiful imaginations!”
Theresa shook her head, signaled for her family to stay put, and took a step out of the force-field.
“Dear! What are you doing?” shrieked mom. Theresa turned to her and whispered, “The Enforcers told me to stop him, not avoid him. I did not come here just to protect Calvin; I came here to stop Destructor once and for all.”
Theresa turned to Destructor—who was both pleased and surprised—and said, “Either surrender, or we fight. Know that I have had years of practice when it comes to fighting. So, which is it?”
A sword appeared in Destructor's hand, and he growled, “Fight!”
So, they charged at each other. A sword appeared in Theresa's hand, and she entered into the battle of her life.