by Tom Nicoll
“Final?” whispered Pheasel. “Oh, I don’t think you’re making the final.”
“Whoops!” said Pheasel. “How clumsy of us, walking into you both like that. Oh, I do hope we haven’t accidentally hurt you.”
I charged into Pheasel, knocking him to the ground. Suddenly, the ring filled up with creatures from backstage. Hands grabbed at me, pulling me off Pheasel before I had the chance to get revenge for what they had just done to Hungrabun and Kiwi.
Before I knew what was happening, the four of us were backstage. Kiwi and Hungrabun, motionless after the attack, had been carried off by several creatures – part of the backstage staff by the looks of it. They had struggled with her, which wasn’t surprising given the mountain of items in her stomach.
“Those two are in pretty bad shape,” Shilla said to the staff. “Get them in the van. See that they get the help they need.”
“We’re coming too,” I said as the Super Fluffy Animals were helped into a large red van.
“Of course,” said Shilla.
Moments later we were shooting out of the arena, leaving the volcano behind. Max and I watched our team, lying flat out on a stretcher. Both of them looked rough, but Kiwi looked especially bad. He seemed to be drifting in and out of consciousness.
“Don’t worry, guys,” I said. “It’s going to be OK. Right, Max?”
Max looked at me uncertainly. “Yeah … of course,” he said.
“Can’t … believe … those creeps … sucker-punched … us like that,” wheezed Hungrabun.
“Just take it easy,” I told her, putting a hand on her shoulder. “We’ll be at the hospital soon.”
A few minutes later the van came to a stop and its door swung open. Shilla was just getting off a buggy.
“Here we are then,” she said
Max and I stepped out first, on to a crystal road surrounded by glistening towers made from diamonds, rubies and emeralds. Light seemed to dance through the buildings and fill up the sky with all the colours of the rainbow.
The city was amazing, but there was something missing.
“So where’s the hospital?” I asked.
“A what?” asked Shilla. “A hop-spittal, did you say?”
Max and I smiled, thinking she must be joking. A few seconds passed and Shilla’s blank expression remained.
“It’s a building where you go when you’re not feeling well,” said Max. “They make you better there.”
Shilla still looked clueless. “Hmm. That does sound useful,” she admitted. “I’m afraid there’s nothing like that here.”
“But you said that they were going to get the help they needed,” I said.
“Yes, to get to the next arena,” she said, pointing towards a giant blue structure behind us. I instantly recognized it as the Sapphire Stadium. “I didn’t think it would be a good idea to transport them in the buggies, given their condition.”
“Given their condition?” repeated Max, looking as dumbstruck as I felt. “Surely given their condition, the final can’t go ahead?”
“Or it should be delayed at least, until they’ve healed,” I added. I agreed with Max that the team were too hurt to fight right now, but we couldn’t forget that them winning the tournament was our only shot at getting home.
Shilla looked even more lost. “Delay the final? That’d be … unheard of.”
“Like hospitals, apparently,” I muttered.
“Yeah, like hops-it-alls,” she said. “If you don’t show up for the final, I’m afraid it would be considered a forfeit.”
“What about the two cheats who attacked them?” I said. “Why haven’t they been disqualified?”
“Pheasel and Guggernaut are claiming it was an accident,” she said. “We’ve reviewed the video footage and it really is quite difficult to say definitively, so…” She held up her hands as if there wasn’t anything else she could add.
“That’s ridiculous,” I said. “You’re clearly just too scared to punish them.”
Shilla raised her nose. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“I think … I’m going to … be sick,” said Hungrabun, struggling to sit up.
“My sentiments exactly,” I said, wagging a finger at Shilla.
“No. I mean. I think. I’m actually going. To be sick,” said Hungrabun.
“Come on then. We don’t want a mess out here. I’ll take you to your dressing room,” said Shilla.
Max and I carried the stretcher with the Super Fluffy Animals on it, grumbling the entire way – partly due to the injustice of the situation and partly because of how heavy Hungrabun was. I was surprised to discover our dressing room was still in one piece this time.
Hungrabun’s face was growing greener by the second. All we could hope was that we’d get her to the toilet in time.
“I’ll leave you to it then,” said Shilla, who clearly hoped to make it out of the room before the throwing up started.
Unfortunately, no one got what they hoped for.
Max and I managed to get ourselves and Kiwi behind the couch in time. Shilla wasn’t so lucky.
We peeked out from behind our barricade.
Shilla was drenched and shaking. I thought she might cry but she held herself together, appeared to count to ten, then said through gritted teeth, “I. Will. Come. And. Collect. You. Soon.”
She slammed the door behind her.
“Hungrabun, are you OK?” I said, rushing over to her. Not getting too close though. There was a lot of puke.
“I am,” she said, sounding surprised. “You know what, I actually feel much better. I think my stomach is finally cleared.”
“Flo, have you seen this?” asked Max.
I followed his gaze across the room. There in the corner, dripping wet, were Morpher and Camo, the Shapeshifters. Bizarrely, they were still in their giant hand and arrow forms.
“You’ve really got to learn to digest your food,” came a weak voice.
“Kiwi, you’re awake!” said Hungrabun.
Kiwi flinched, grabbing his head. “Sore though,” he said. “Those two got us pretty good, huh?”
Hungrabun put her paw on his shoulder. “Yeah,” she said.
“We’ll just have to hit them back even harder when we face them,” said Kiwi.
“Face them?” said Hungrabun. “Kiwi, look at you, you’re in no state to go out there.”
Kiwi waved her away. “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine,” he said, sitting up and promptly falling off the stretcher.
As Max and Hungrabun helped Kiwi up, a thought flashed across my mind. “Hungrabun, your health vial!” I said.
“Yes!” shouted Max, making Kiwi flinch. “The one you got after the first match,” he said, softly this time.
Hungrabun looked down at the floor. “I got a red one, remember?” she said. “More health for me, but no one else can use it.”
“Oh,” I said quietly. “I forgot about that.”
Hungrabun looked like she was about to cry. “If I hadn’t been so selfish…”
“Don’t be like that,” said Kiwi. “I mean, I did buy myself a coat after all. I miss that coat.”
Max’s face lit up. “Guys! We still have credits from the last match.”
“Holy Pac-Man, you’re right,” I said. “We can just go get more health vials.”
“You two go,” said Max. “I’ll stay here with Kiwi.”
I looked at Max suspiciously. “You sure you don’t just want to examine those Shapeshifters over there?”
Max grinned at me. “No harm in looking, is there? They’re still in the same shapes they were in when Hungrabun ate them. What’s that all about?”
“Mmm,” I said. “I’ll admit that is a bit weird. See what you can find out then.”
Hungrabun and I left him to it. We quickly found the stall along the corridor.
“Two of your strongest health vials, please,” said Hungrabun to the penguin behind the counter.
“Sorry, we’re fresh out,” she said.
“What? Red and blue?” asked Hungrabun.
“Afraid so,” the penguin replied. “The big fella and the ratty-looking one were just here, grabbed my last two.”
“Guggernaut and Pheasel,” I said. “Those sneaks. They knew we’d be needing them.”
Hungrabun looked up at me. “You know what this means?” she said.
I nodded.
“I’ll have to face them by myself,” she said.
“You sure?” I asked. As much as I wanted to go home, I didn’t want to see Hungrabun hurt.
She nodded. “My entire life everyone told me I was too small to compete in the Battles. But here I am in the final. This is my dream, Flo, and I’ve come too far to let those bullies stop me. Does that make sense?”
“I think so,” I said. “It’s like when I got the number one rank on Last to Leave. Even though it’s like the hardest Battle Royale game on the planet I knew I had it in me to be the best at it, so I didn’t stop until I was.”
“I didn’t really understand any of that,” said Hungrabun.
“It doesn’t matter,” I said. “The point is I know you can do it. And you won’t be by yourself. You’ll have me in your corner.”
“You can’t actually fight though,” she reminded me.
“Yeah, but I can shout insults at the other team,” I said. “I’m really good at it.”
Hungrabun smiled. “Better than nothing,” she said. She looked up at the stand. “I suppose we should get something else then. I’ll take another shield. I lost my last one, and I think I might need one against Guggernaut’s attacks. And for Kiwi…”
She pointed towards an item at the back of the stand. “What do you think?” she grinned.
I laughed. “Yeah, that’s sooo Kiwi.”
“I’ll take it,” she said.
When a now (mostly) clean Shilla came to fetch us for the finals, I told Max to stay behind and make sure Kiwi didn’t come out. Kiwi was furious, but I knew it was the right thing to do.
It was a long march to the ring with Hungrabun. Neither of us said anything. What was there to say? For me and Max, everything was riding on Hungrabun beating an undefeated, ruthless team by herself. I didn’t see any point in telling Hungrabun this though. After our conversation earlier I was in no doubt she’d do everything she could to beat those two.
But it was hard not to think about how small her chances seemed.
As we reached a set of crystal doors leading to the main arena, instead of pushing them open Hungrabun booted them down with her tiny feet.
The place went nuts with chanting.
We walked towards the ring down a (literal) emerald aisle, surrounded by stands made of shimmering blue crystal and overflowing with excited creatures. The Sapphire Stadium was the grandest and most famous of all the Critter Clash arenas, reserved for the biggest matches. It sent shivers down my spine to see it this close up. If Hungrabun was intimidated by it all, it didn’t show.
What did show was her anger when she caught sight of Guggernaut and Pheasel waiting in the ring with the ref and the announcer. She growled, before breaking into a run. I had to chase after her to avoid being left behind.
“Sound the bell,” demanded Hungrabun as she hit the ring.
“I haven’t even introduced you yet,” said the announcer, looking outraged.
Hungrabun snarled at him. “Then make it quick!”
The announcer’s face turned white. “In the red corner, Guggernaut and Pheasel. In the blue corner, Hungrabun and … er…”
“Just me,” said Hungrabun, to smirks from Guggernaut and Pheasel.
“Just Hungrabun,” said the announcer, before getting out of there.
“Hungrabun, what’s your plan?” I asked.
She didn’t reply. Instead she gave me a grin, licking her lips.
I looked over at the giant growling monster that was Guggernaut. Hungrabun was going to have a hard time keeping that meal down.
The bell rang and Guggernaut charged towards us. But Hungrabun charged too, meeting him in the middle. As Guggernaut’s momentum carried him forward, Hungrabun slid right under him, coming to a stop in front of Pheasel. She jumped on to him, grabbing hold of lumps of his brown fur.
“Hey! Get off, get off,” moaned Pheasel. “Guggernaut, help me!”
A confused Guggernaut was at the other end of the ring, right in front of me, wondering where Hungrabun had gone. At Pheasel’s shout he turned, spotted Hungrabun and charged. At the last second, Hungrabun dived out of the way in time to watch Guggernaut smash into Pheasel, sending him flying into the third row.
Guggernaut let out a roar. He marched towards Hungrabun.
“Move!” I yelled at her.
But she didn’t go anywhere, standing her ground instead. Guggernaut raised a giant fist and brought it smashing down. A huge clang echoed around the stadium as Hungrabun brought her shield up in time to catch the blow.
Unfazed, Guggernaut swung one of his other fists at her, but again it was Hungrabun’s shield that took the brunt of the blow. Guggernaut started hammering her, swinging all four arms in rotation, dropping punch after punch. The shield was holding up, but it was clear from the dents that were forming rapidly in its surface that this couldn’t last much longer.
Hungrabun didn’t seem to be panicking though. Her eyes were darting back and forth between the shield above her and Guggernaut’s right leg. She was waiting for something. An opening, maybe.
Seconds later I was proved right. After a barrage of punches, Guggernaut took a breather. As he wiped sweat off his brow, Hungrabun slipped out from underneath her shield and launched herself into the air, feet first, knocking him off balance and dropping him on his butt. It was the …
“I taught her that!” I yelled to the crowd.
But Hungrabun wasn’t finished, taking advantage of the startled Guggernaut by sinking her teeth into his leg.
Guggernaut continued to scream as he tried to shake Hungrabun off, with no success. The crowd was going wild as it seemed the tables had finally turned on Guggernaut and Pheasel.
Pheasel. I realized I’d forgotten about him. I looked over to the stands where he had landed but there was no sign of him. And that’s when a furry arm grabbed me round the neck.
“Hey, Hungrabun,” shouted Pheasel. “Let go or your coach gets it.”
“No, Hungrabun!” I cried, but it was too late. Hungrabun had already released Guggernaut and was heading towards us.
“Pheasel, enough of that! Back in your own corner,” ordered the ref.
I reached up and grabbed hold of Pheasel’s arm, then tossed him over my head.
“Hungrabun, I’m fine,” I yelled. “Watch out!”
My warning came too late as all four of Guggernaut’s arms struck at once, blasting Hungrabun in the back and knocking her to the ground.
Pheasel let out a horrible laugh as Guggernaut began to slowly circle the floored Hungrabun. She managed to raise her head slightly, looking towards me. Her eyes struggled to focus as she mouthed the words ‘I’m sorry’ at me.
No! It couldn’t end like this. Then I remembered Hungrabun’s health potion. I reached into the pockets of my coach jacket and pulled out … nothing. It wasn’t there.
There was a cackle from the other end of the ring. Pheasel was standing there waving a red vial at me. “Looking for something?” He laughed.
He must have picked my pocket when he grabbed me. “Give it back,” I yelled pointlessly. I thought about chasing after him but knew there wasn’t time. Guggernaut was one blow away from winning. It really was over.
A finger tapped me on the shoulder. Instinctively I grabbed it, ready to throw its owner as far as I could.
“Flo, stop! It’s me!”
“Max?” I said, spinning round to find my friend looking terrified. Behind him were the giant arrow and disembodied hand that were the Shapeshifters, both pointing into the ring. “Sorry! I didn’t realize it was you. What are you doing here? Why are they
here? Where’s Kiwi?”
“That’s what I came to tell you,” he said. “I got a bit caught up examining the Shapeshifters. When I remembered to check on Kiwi, I realized he was gone.”
“Gone?” I said. “Gone where?”
“I don’t know,” he said, shrugging. “But Flo, about the Shapeshifters. I think I’ve found something important. Something you need to know. It’s about—”
“Look!” I yelled, pointing to the ring.
The crowd saw it too, and their reaction blew the roof off the place. Or would have done if it had one.
Standing in the middle of the ring, right behind Guggernaut, was a wobbly Kiwi.
Guggernaut and Pheasel glanced at each other then burst out laughing.
“Look who’s showed up to stop you, Guggernaut,” said Pheasel.
“Ha ha!” laughed Guggernaut.
“You’ve got it wrong, Pheasel,” said Kiwi. “I’m not here to stop you. I’m here to be with my friend. If the Super Fluffy Animals are going down, then they’ll go down together. Because we’re a team.”
Hungrabun and Kiwi smiled at each other.
Pheasel looked disgusted. “You mean you’re here knowing you’re going to lose? How honourable. But also sickening. Go on then, Guggernaut. Give him what he wants.”
As Guggernaut cracked his knuckles, Kiwi held up a wing. “Wait one second,” he pleaded. He reached into his feathers and took out a pair of dark sunglasses. Then he grinned at Hungrabun. “A friend got me these. She thought I’d like them. If I’m going to lose, I’m going to lose looking good. Do you mind?”
Guggernaut thought about it then shrugged. “No difference to me,” he said. “You won’t look good after I’ve finished with you.”
“Thanks,” said Kiwi as he slipped the glasses on to his face.
“Got to admit, he does look good in them,” I sighed.
Guggernaut raised his fists and then swung all four of them at Kiwi. Just as they were about to connect, a bright yellow laser fired out of the sunglasses, striking Guggernaut on the chest, sending him flying out of the ring.