Rivals

by Derek Alan Siddoway

Good. Now, look like you’re more hurt than you are.

  Scrappy squawked in annoyance but started veering on one wing and circling lower. Another blast of gravel shot up from the Moldune. At the last second Jackson commanded Scrappy to release a Mocking Wind. The air hit the tiny pebbles and debris and blasted it back at the Moldune.

  The counterattack did a bit more damage than anticipated, as it was the equivalent of the Earth-Elemental being hit with its own attack, and not a disadvantaged Wind-Elemental attack. While the Moldune struggled to shake off the gravel, Scrappy hit him hard in the back with a diving beak attack, right in the soft spot between the Moldune’s shoulders.

  The Moldune tried its best to recover by swiping back, but Scrappy's’ Speed kept him from the much slower Djinn. Jackson glanced at Appleby, who wore a panicked expression, and an instant later the Moldune disappeared below the ground. Rather than letting him retreat, however, Jackson commanded Scrappy to send a blast of Mocking Wind down the hole.

  Now!

  Scrappy rose just a couple inches off the ground and directed his wind blast straight down the tunnel. Several yards away, the Moldune burst above ground in a spray of dirt, stunned.

  Finish it, Scrappy!

  Scrappy shot across the ring, beak first and struck Appleby’s Djinn hard in the side… and was deflected back like he’d just hit a brick wall. Jackson gritted his teeth and Scrappy flapped on the ground in a daze, its HP dropping to dangerous territory — Appleby had gotten off a Stone Hide move. The result had been half-damage dealt between both Djinn. Scrappy had a tiny sliver left and the Moldune a few points more.

  This time, the Magglecaw wasn’t faking its injury. He hopped across the ground, one wing hanging low as the Moldune dragged itself forward. Without a wing, Jackson wouldn’t be able to have Scrappy use a Mocking Wind. That left only one choice

  Cackle Call!

  Scrappy let loose a raucous sound, and the Moldune wilted away at the annoying cries.

  Now, use your Feather Needle!

  Scrappy pulled his good wing across his body and flung it outward. Several feathers shot forth from his wing and pierced the Moldune. They hardly did any damage but the draining attack whittled away at the Moldune and slowed his Speed even more. The opposing Djinn crawled toward Scrappy, who could barely keep himself upright with nothing left in the tank.

  Its health ticked down to 4 HP. Scrappy hopped backward and then fell in a pile of feathers. There were 3 HP left on the Moldune. Jackson then realized with a smile that his last attack had created a Status effect on the Moldune that was bleeding away its last hit points.

  The Moldune opened its mouth for a final gravel spray. Only 2 HP left. Scrappy held up his good wing to protect itself. Jackson knew it wouldn’t be enough.

  The Moldune coughed up a few tiny rocks and then collapsed. Zero.

  Jackson let out a huge exhale he didn’t know he’d been holding in. He didn’t feel thrilled like after his first victory, instead it was more…relief. And a little regret that he’d had to face Appleby in the tournament. He recalled what Briggs said, and hoped that Akamu might make some type of mistake that would allow Jackson and Appleby to both make the cut.

  “Good match, Jack,” Appleby said. Jackson could tell he was forcing a positive tone but he still smiled and pulled his friend into a hug.

  “You too, man,” Jackson said before they released. “Give the rest of them hell, alright?”

  As they waved to the crowd and walked off together Jackson realized the tournament was almost over. And he’d managed to save the worst for last.

  While Scrappy healed in the recovery tank, Briggs volunteered to go grab them some food. Jackson thought it probably had something to do with the full service bar, too, but wouldn’t complain as long as his coach came back with the promised meal.

  Jackson had the next round off, which left him and his Djinn some time to recuperate. It also left Jackson and Kay alone for the first time in a month. All of a sudden, sitting next to her on the bench, Jackson felt unsure what to say.

  “I…have some news,” Kay said, breaking the silence.

  “What’s that?”

  “I was going to wait until after the tournament but I guess you might as well know now — I made it into Timber Falls Djinn vet program. I start next fall.”

  Jackson jumped out of his seat and yanked Kay up in a tight squeeze. “Kay, that’s awesome news! I knew you could do it! Oh, man, are you excited?”

  He finally let her go and looked at her face. Kay smoothed down her hair and gave her trademark shy smile. “Yeah, it still hardly feels real, though. I mean, I’ve wanted this ever since I can remember, and now it’s actually happening, you know?”

  “Yeah…” The thought sprang to Jackson’s mind that he would suddenly be without his best friend for a large part of every year for the next five years. He’d always known Kay would be accepted to be a Djinn vet, but hadn’t ever stopped to consider what it meant. She’d be leaving home and he’d be flying solo for the first time since he could remember. Kay had always been there — growing up, in school, starting to work at Sato, and then when he began his taming career. And now…

  Kay must have read the look on his face. “ It’s not for several months. And I’ll still be around in the summers and vacations! Remember my internship with Sato? And we’ll talk all the time, just like when you were in camp this past month. I’m sorry — I shouldn’t have said anything until after the tournament. I didn’t mean to be a distraction.”

  Jackson plastered a smile on his face and rolled his eyes. “Oh come on, you know I wanted to know first thing! It’ll be great — I really am pumped for you! Promise.”

  They exchanged a hug just as Briggs returned with two boxes of food. He raised his eyebrows at Jackson while Kay was still facing the other way then gave a loud cough. Kay pulled back, her face flushed.

  “Kay just told me she made it into the Djinn vet program.”

  “Huh, good work. That’s a good fit for you.” Coming from Briggs, that was the equivalent of a bear hug and shouts of exclamation.

  Kay muttered her thanks and the focus switched to the food. Jackson ate about half of his meal and then let out Asena and Scrappy (who had finished healing) one at a time for water and a light snack. He worried that the bye round would cool them down and made a mental note to start warming up an extra fifteen minutes early before his next match.

  The screen throughout the locker room continued displaying the tournament matches and standings. While his Djinn ate, Jackson went over the standings with Briggs, who was an old hand at deciphering the tournament records and figuring out standings. Charles and Appleby were up next in their group:

  Akamu: 2 wins, 0 losses

  Jackson: 2 wins, 1 loss

  Rando: 0 wins, 2 losses

  Appleby: 1 win, 1 loss

  Charles: 1 win, 1 loss

  “We’re not in a bad spot, kid,” Briggs said, running a hand over the three-day-old stubble on his face. “Like I told you before, I think Kaleo’s kid has this thing in the bag. Given Rando’s record, I assume he’ll get the living daylights beat out of him by Akamu, so let’s pretend the record looks like this.”

  Briggs tapped away at his tablet and a holo-projection popped up.

  Akamu: 3 wins, 0 losses

  Jackson: 2 wins, 1 loss

  Rando: 0 wins, 3 losses

  Appleby: 1 win, 1 loss

  Charles: 1 win, 1 loss

  “Assuming this is how things turn out, you’ll be sitting in second, but we’re not going to know much until your friend Appletree —”

  “It’s actually Appleby. C’mon, Briggs, you’ve known him almost as long as —”

  “Like I said, until Snappleby and Charles finish, we don’t really know how things are gonna play out. If Charles wins, things get a little trickier, but definitely not impossible. If Crapplesneeze wins, well, then we’re sitting pretty.”

  Jackson shot Kay a sideways glance. Neither of them attempted
to correct Briggs again. Jackson wasn’t completely sure Briggs wasn’t doing it on purpose, either.

  “Okay…” Jackson played through the scenarios in Briggs’s head, and a sinking feeling came over him. He had the tie-breaker over Appleby, because he beat him. But if Charles won, Jackson would be tied with him. Charles would have the tiebreaker in his favor because he’d beaten Jackson. So if Charles won his last match against Rando, no matter if Jackson won to Akamu…he wouldn’t make it.

  The number of ways a simple five-man round robin match could play out was enough to make Jackson’s head spin, especially when his mind was preoccupied with tackling each fight at a time.

  “Stop thinking about what-ifs,” Briggs said, scowling. “All you can control is whether or not you beat that Kaleo twerp.”

  “But even if I do beat him, if Charles —”

  “What did I just tell you?” Briggs said. “Are you saying that even if you have no chance in making the top two that you’ll just give up, your tail between your legs?”

  Jackson didn’t respond.

  Further conversation ended as the match between Appleby and Charles began — a dual fight. For the first few minutes, the match went back and forth relatively evenly. Charles was a better tamer than Jackson had given him credit for coming into the tournament. While he didn’t have the most complex or nuanced approach to taming, his Djinn were both strong. Soon, Appleby’s strategies and tactics gave way to Charles’s Djinn — they simply outclassed the more common Moldune and Glauco.

  As the fight turned south for Appleby, Jackson felt the tension knotting inside of him. He wanted his friend to win, but it was starting to look like second place in their pool would come down to Jackson and Charles.

  “That’s the thing that bugs me about the lower league,” Briggs growled when Charles finished off Appleby’s Moldune and won the match. “There ought to be some kind of restrictions on the Djinn you can enter in the Bronze. Your friend Appletree is a better tamer than that match showed — he’s just working with what he’s got. Kids like that Charlie guy go out and spend money on a Djinn bred to be a fighter — it’s hard to beat natural advantages in Speed, Strength, and overall power. That’s all the game’s turning into: whoever’s mommy and daddy can pay for the most expensive, genetically enhanced Djinn. And don’t even get me started on the Gold League’s problems.”

  The next fight didn’t boost Jackson’s spirits. While it had turned out exactly as predicted — with Akamu demolishing Rando — a part of him had hoped a come-from-behind victory from Rando would have put his whole body at ease.

  Jackson said nothing.

  What followed was an hour-long break that didn’t do much to ease anyone’s nerves. Interestingly enough, whoever scheduled the fights seemed to have it out for Rando, as he was up next against Charles, directly before what would be the final match of the group — Akamu against Jackson.

  Jackson was terrified of what felt like the inevitable — Charles would beat Rando, thereby automatically kicking Jackson out of the running for second place. Somehow his future hung in the balance — in the hands of a tamer who had yet to win a match this tournament.

  To distract himself in the next hour, Jackson took a look at the other standings: Moto led her pool with three wins and no losses and Fiona had the same record as Jackson at two wins and one loss. Miguel and Adrian Gallo were in the top two of their group, and Danai Azikiwei and Sabina Schmidt led the fourth. Although things were starting to shape out, it would still be too early tell, with at least one match in each pool remaining. It was amazing how much things were still in the air until the very end.

  He tried sitting and clearing his mind through the meditation he learned at camp, but his mind wouldn’t be quiet. When that failed, Jackson paced back and forth in their corner of the locker room, anxiously waiting for Charles and Rando to finish. At this point, Jackson didn’t even care if Charles won and rendered his fight against Akamu pointless. He just wanted to be able to start warming up and get the battle going. The waiting proved to be more nerve-wracking than anything Akamu could have thrown at him.

  The outcome of Charles’ and Rando’s fight caused a huge upset in the stadium. While Charles was seemingly the one with the edge going into the fight, he’d made the mistake of relying heavily on his overpowered Siercle to the point where it grew fatigued. Charles was then left with his Plain-Elemental Buffaroam in the middle of the two-on-two match, which resulted in a narrow win by Rando.

  Jackson’s mouth hung open as he stared at the new record.

  Akamu: 3 wins, 0 losses

  Charles: 2 wins, 2 losses

  Jackson: 2 wins, 1 loss

  Rando: 1 win, 3 losses

  Appleby: 1 win, 3 losses

  Jackson should have felt relief in that moment. This meant that if he beat Akamu he would solidify his spot in second place and in the Bronze League. The down side? He had to beat Akamu. Beat Akamu or finish in third place.

  CHAPTER 31

  Jackson began his warmup in the small fieldhouse adjacent to the locker room they’d been using since the tournament started and the main field was unavailable. He went through the routine with Scrappy and Asena, taking time to also jog a bit himself, mostly to relieve the tension. Once physical warmups were done, Jackson put both Djinn through a series of moves — just basic attacks that didn’t deplete any of their Elemental Power. Last, they worked on telepathic commands, individually and as a duo.

  Asena and Scrappy looked crisp and eager for the final showdown. Jackson knew they understood the importance of the fight — they’d figured out over the course of camp that Akamu was someone their tamer didn’t like and seemed just as ready as Jackson to shut Akamu up. He didn’t spend much time trying to pump them up. Both knew the stakes at hand and, Jackson hoped, the necessity to work together if they wanted to stand a chance of winning.

  “Looking sharp, kid,” Briggs said, slapping Jackson on the shoulder once he’d returned his Djinn to their rings and jogged back to the edge of the warmup turf. “You’re gonna be fine. Let’s go out there and shut that loud Kaleo mouth up, eh?”

  Since it was the final match of Group 1, and given the playoff implications, the crowd was already shouting and cheering when Jackson and Akamu lined up in the tunnel to head out onto the field.

  Jackson looked right past Akamu as he walked up but saw the trademark Kaleo sneer out of the corner of his eye when he approached.

  “I’ve gotta say, you’ve surprised me,” Akamu said. “I’m still going to enjoy knocking you out of the roster, though. Don’t worry — we’ll make it nice and slow to give the crowd some quality entertainment.”

  Jackson said nothing, didn’t even turn to look at Akamu. That didn’t seem to deter his opponent, though.

  “You think just because you made it this far that you belong here?” Akamu said.

  Jackson didn’t respond.

  “You don’t. You’re like most tamers these days. Dabbling in a little bit of everything until you turn sixteen. Then one day you wake up and decide, ‘hey, that’s fun! Why can’t I do that?’”

  Jackson clenched his jaw. “And what makes you any different?”

  “This is my life,” Akamu said. “I can’t remember a day when there was any other possibility. This is all I’ve ever known and all I’ve ever wanted to know. So there’s no way I’m going to lose to someone who decided on a whim less than a year ago that he thought he had what it takes. Djinn taming means too much to me to let that happen.”

  Akamu started talking again but the announcer’s voice cut him off and his coach hissed at him to focus. With one last parting smirk, he jogged down the tunnel.

  “See you on the field, loser!”

  Jackson felt like he’d been struck with one of Asena’s Fire Barks. His commitment to the sport had just been called into question and it infuriated him. His face boiled and his jaw ached from gritting his teeth together.

  “Beat him on the field, beat him on the field.” He
repeated the phrase over and over until he regained focus and almost didn’t realize his name was called until Briggs yelled at him to go.

  The crowd had sounded loud in the tunnel, but when Jackson emerged, the roar was like a blast of wind from Scrappy’s attack. Everyone shouted and cheered. Jackson felt fizzy with adrenaline. His blood pounded in his ears. This was it. He’d dreamed of this moment hundreds of times. It was exhilarating and terrifying all at once. Taking his place on the opposite side of the field from Akamu, he wasn’t sure if he was going to pass out or run into the ring and fight himself.

  Video drones buzzed overhead as the announcer set the stage. It was evening now, but the bright lights of the stadium lit up the arena like midday. Jackson felt the crowd’s attention as much as the heat of the lights.

  “And now, for our final Group 1 battle: Akamu Kaleo vs. Jackson Hunt! Akamu Kaleo is already guaranteed a spot in the Bronze League, but in this match, Jackson Hunt will be fighting for his own spot! Dreams will be made and broken — ladies and gentlemen…are…you…READY?”

  The crowd screamed again and didn’t stop. Jackson could barely hear the ref when he beckoned him and Akamu forward, even though the man shouted at the top of his lungs.

  “All right, you both know the drill by now: this will be a two-on-two battle. It will continue until both Djinn on one team have been knocked out. There is no time limit. At any time, you may recall your Djinn to its ring to withdraw. Understood?”

  Jackson and Akamu nodded.

  “Good! Now, shake hands and best luck to you both!”

  Jackson held out his hand. Akamu looked down at it and frowned before turning and walking away. Jackson stood there, stunned for a moment and then finally let his hand drop. The referee scowled at Akamu and shook his head. A few boos filtered down through the crowd, but Akamu didn’t seem to mind.

  Both tamers took their places. Jackson’s heart pounded so fast now that he felt like he’d just been running stadium stairs. The noise from the crowd started to sound muffled and he focused his attention on the projected numbers that had just popped up in the center of the ring.