by Dayton Grey
“Here’s hoping we get that crazy bird,” Sabien said as the board randomly chose the matchups for the next battle.
“Ugh,” Sabien exclaimed, disappointed by the selection.
“I was hoping for the cassowary too,” Allea said with a shrug. “But the good news is that the grizzly bear has to contend with the lion and not us. So only one of those two beasts is moving on to the next round.”
“Don’t forget that it also means we have to contend with a giant white rhino,” Sabien exclaimed as Kumuki opened his eyes wide in horror.
“Can we handle it, Ally?” Geon asked as she tapped her lips with her fingers and configured their animal.
“I think so, G. The rhino is incredibly strong and fierce with thick skin, but slow, has terrible vision, and cannot maneuver well. Once it gets its momentum moving, it can’t switch directions easily. We can use this to our advantage. I’m going to tweak the leopon to try to avoid the rhino’s charges, but then quickly try to use the rhino’s forward momentum to push it off the platform.”
Geon nodded but was worried about the outcome of the matchup, seeing the rhino’s massive size and strength in the earlier battle. The four of them watched as the second round of battle began with the lion and grizzly bear. It was a monstrous showdown, with the two large, imposing animals trading scratches, bites, and blows. Blood was splattered everywhere. They had the score tied at two points apiece when the lion finally managed to take advantage of the limping and injured bear and knocked it off the platform for the final point and the victory. Soon after, the giant utahraptor easily slayed the cassowary, grabbing its long blue neck and severing its jugular vein with one severe, swift assault.
“Next battle. Leopon 1 versus White Rhino 8!”
“Okay guys, this is it. We get through this round and we’re in the finals,” Geon said. “We can do it. Ally, we’re behind you a hundred percent. We believe in you.”
“Three… two… one… FIGHT!”
The enormous white rhino put its head down and charged straight for the much smaller leopon.
Suddenly, the leopon doesn’t look so large and imposing.
The leopon crouched down and sprung into the air, over the razor-sharp horn of the rhino, scratching the thick skin on the back of the rhino with its claws as it flew over it. The rhino stopped short of the edge of the platform and turned around, just in time to meet the large clawed paw of the leopon, directly in the side of the head. Geon and the others cheered loudly.
We’re off to a good start.
The rhino violently shook its head and put its horn down, thrusting and jabbing toward the leopon. The leopon quickly backed off and then stood still on the other side of the platform, waiting for the rhino.
“What’s it doing?” Kumuki asked.
“I can’t have it going on the offensive when the rhino has its horn down like that,” Allea shouted over the roar of the crowd. “It’s too dangerous. One impact and our leopon would be done. I’ve programmed it to be patient and wait for the rhino’s charge.”
The rhino thrust its rear paws backward and began charging at the leopon again. This time the leopon moved slightly one way, but at the last moment, jumped in the other direction, missing the rhino by just inches. As the rhino passed the leopon, it tried to slow itself down but the leopon took advantage of the momentum and charged at the rhino, hitting it with its shoulder with all its might. The rhino bellowed out as it lost its footing and its stocky body went careening off the platform. The room erupted in a flurry of cheers as Sabien, Kumuki, and Geon all back-fived each other.
The celebration was short-lived, however, as the rhino took a point back when the leopon jumped on top of the rhino and it easily shook it off, throwing it completely off the platform.
“Leopon 1. One point. White Rhino 8. One point!”
The next few minutes were followed by more missed charges and some ferocious scratches and bites to the rhino’s front half. The injuries seemed to be slowing the rhino down as it was losing a substantial amount of blood in the battle. Once again, Allea’s animal waited patiently on the edge of the platform for the rhino to attack. It came charging at it and the leopon jumped straight up into the air and completely over the rhino. The entire room of people gasped, seeing the graceful animal spring up so quickly and high. As the rhino passed under it, the leopon came to a soft landing and attempted to push the rhino off the platform once again, but it was to no avail. The conductor for the rhino had had made some changes of his own and was stabilizing the rhino so that it couldn’t be easily pushed by an animal so much smaller than it.
“Oh no,” Geon said. “Now what do we do?”
“There’s only one thing we can do,” Allea said.
“Slay it,” Sabien said with a nod. “Go for the neck.”
Allea made some quick changes to their strategy and watched as the leopon backed off and then slowly began circling the rhino, looking for the perfect moment to strike. The rhino was turning slowly as well, but could not easily keep up with the leopon’s nimble movements.
C’mon. You can do it. Attack!
Suddenly, the leopon crouched down and thrust itself along the floor at the rhino like a bullet. It turned midway through the jump so that its belly was facing upward, and slid right across the floor of the platform at the rhinos head. By the time the rhino reacted, it was too late. The leopon was already under the massive head of the beast with its sharp teeth and jaws locked down on the softer neck skin of the rhino. Everyone in the room started yelling as the rhino attempted to thrash its head about and release the leopon, but its grip was unshakable. Blood poured out of the rhino’s neck and onto the leopons fur as the giant beast was slowly and shakily brought to its knees. After a few moments, the massive rhino collapsed onto its belly and closed its eyes, the leopon still under its head, wriggling until it was free.
“White Rhino 8 has been slain! Winner… Leopon 1!”
Everyone cheered with delight as the conductor for the rhino slung his head in disgust.
“You did it, Ally! That was incredible.”
“Thanks, Geon. It wasn’t me. We did it!”
“That rhino was HUGE!”
“Yeah, it was a beast, Kuki” Sabien said. “But that was truly amazing, Allea. One more to go right?”
Allea nodded but then stopped, looking up at the board. Geon looked up at the same time and realized what she was probably thinking.
“Wait,” he said. “There are three animals left. How does this work?”
“Exactly what I was thinking,” Allea added with a nod. “Maybe we choose—”
Suddenly the voice from above interrupted them.
“Because of the number of contestants at today’s Jungle Wars, there is an odd number of final animals left. Thus, there is only one way to pick the winner…”
The room went silent and Geon could feel the energy and anticipation flowing through his skin and everyone around him.
“We will have a TRINITY battle. All three finalist battle at once!”
The room exploded with delight as everyone cheered and clapped and began chanting “TRINITY! TRINITY! TRINITY!…”
“OH MY GOD!”
“TRINITY AIIIIIGHH!”
“UNBELIEVABLE!!”
The voice from above continued.
“The final battle will be played in strikes instead of points. Three strikes and the animal is eliminated. If the animal is slain, it’s eliminated. Last animal standing WINS!”
“Three beasts on one stage,” Allea said, deep in thought. “We need a better strategy.”
“Exactly,” Geon said. “Let’s analyze this. We know the lion has a similar set of strengths and tactics as our leopon. So that will be tricky. It’s a little bit stronger than our leopon. But the leopon is also longer than the lion and can jump much higher because of the leopard’s genes, so we should use that to our advantage.”
“Right,” Sabien added. “And the utahraptor is larger than both the leopon and
the lion, with massive rows of teeth in that enormous mouth, but it also has some weaknesses. For one, it relies on only two legs and its tail to hold it up, and its front two arms aren’t really that useful.”
Allea nodded and made some changes to her schematics. “I think we can do this,” she said.
The voice above announced the commencement of the next battle.
“Final battle. Lion 17 versus Leopon 1 versus Utahraptor 6!”
Kumuki yelled incoherently at the top of his lungs as the rest of the room cheered for the final contestants.
“Ally,” Geon said with a smile as she stepped up to the clearboard. “We can do this.”
The platform lit up and all three animals appeared in a triangle at the edges of the stage. The golden lion stood proudly on its four powerful legs. It was shorter than the leopon, but stockier and more muscular as well. Its mane was also longer and its fur was more yellow than the orange-brown hue of the leopon. The utahraptor stood across from it, standing nearly eight feet tall on its enormous, gnarled back legs with giant claws extending from its feet. Its dark green skin was dotted with splotches of red and black. Its front two arms were shorter and smaller, and bent inward toward its body and also had claws extending from them. Its massive mouth had hundreds of pointed teeth and its small beady eyes darted back and forth between the lion and the leopon. The lights in the rest of the room dimmed. Geon could feel his heartbeat racing as he held his breath, waiting for the battle to begin.
“Three… two… one… FIGHT!”
The utahraptor shrieked and charged straight for the leopon. The leopon crouched, trying to jump away, but the utahraptor came at it so fast and was so large that the leopon couldn’t avoid it. Just before the utahraptor reached it, it jumped slightly and raised its legs in the air, extending its large claws right at the leopon.
“Noooooooooooo!” Kumuki screamed out.
It was too late. The claws connected and thrust the leopon off the platform. Geon put his hands on his head in shock and disappointment, and could see that Allea was also taken by surprise.
“Leopon 1. One strike!”
“Oh my God,” Sabien said. “That was only three seconds into the battle.”
“Guys,” Geon said. “It’s just one point. Let’s go, we can do this.” Geon felt shocked and worried but didn’t want the others to know it.
The utahraptor and the lion continued to fight as the leopon appeared back on its own side of the platform. The lion was pacing back and forth, looking for a moment to attack, and the utahraptor was doing the same. Suddenly, the two animals lunged at each other at exactly the same time. There was a tangle of bodies and screeches and roars, when finally the lion was able to grab the hind leg of the larger beast and pull it down to the ground. It tried to go for the utahraptor’s throat, but the animal’s large claws slashed at the lion’s face, making it difficult. The lion changed tactics and grabbed a hold of the utahraptor’s leg again and began dragging it across the platform toward the edge.
“Wow,” Geon said. “Look at its strength.”
The utahraptor fought and struggled to stand up and move in the opposite direction, but it was too late. The lion jerked the utahraptor’s large body as hard as it could off the edge and watched the large animal claw and scrape its way right off the platform.
“Utahraptor 6. One strike!”
“GO FOR IT, ALLY!” Geon screamed. “Now!”
As the lion’s attention was still on the falling utahraptor, the leopon came flying toward it from above, hitting it straight on with its chest, its strong legs and paws extended outward. The lion did not have enough time to react and was thrown over the edge of the platform, only inches from where the utahraptor just fell.
Geon and the others screamed in delight.
“Lion 17. One strike!”
“Okay, we’re all even now,” Sabien said, looking at Kumuki, who seemed to be caught in a flurry of confusion, excitement, and anxiety all at once.
Geon looked at Allea and said, “Be patient. Let them hurt each other. The leopon is good at dodging, so let’s use that.”
For the next minute Allea did just that. The leopon jumped around the platform avoiding slashes, charges, and blows by both the lion and the utahraptor. All three animals were already covered in blood, the utahraptor the most injured of the three. When neither the utahraptor nor the lion could get a solid hold on the leopon, they focused their attention once again on each other. The utahraptor charged the lion again and after a few attempts, finally made one solid contact, knocking the lion off its feet and onto its back. The utahraptor turned and with a sweep of its large tail, pushed the lion just enough that it fell off the edge of the platform.
“Lion 17. Two strikes!”
“Ally! Go for its tail,” Geon yelled over the commotion of the room.
Allea nodded and tapped the clearboard, sending the leopon directly for the utahraptor’s tail. It pounced on it as the utahraptor tried to pull it away, and dug its sharp teeth into the utahraptor’s dark skin. The utahraptor threw its head into the air and screeched as blood came gushing out of it. Finally it was able to pull away from the leopon, but the damage was already done. Geon could see that the tail had been severed nearly halfway through, and the utahraptor was now having difficulty standing and balancing itself.
“Attack!”
Suddenly the lion and leopon both charged at the utahraptor at the same time, knocking it back off its legs and headfirst off the platform.
“Utahraptor 6. Two strikes!”
As soon as the utahraptor fell, the two felines turned to each other, pouncing and getting caught in a ball of claws and fury. The two animals rolled around on the platform, slashing and biting at each other and roaring in anger. They came precariously close to the edge of the platform multiple times as Geon and the others screamed and winced. It was only when the utahraptor appeared back on the platform when the two large cats untangled themselves and separated.
Be patient. Be patient. We can do this.
Geon looked down at his LifeCuff, seeing the few remaining credits that he had left. Don’t worry about the credits. Focus on the battle.
The leopon stood back and waited as the other two animals collided with each other again. The lion was taking advantage of the utahraptor’s injured tail by trying to knock it off balance, but the ferocious utahraptor was trying to bite the lion any place that it could clamp its jaws on. The leopon attacked the utahraptor but it was thrown violently back across the platform by the utahraptor’s powerful hind legs. Geon saw that the utahraptor had severely hurt the leopon, as its rear left leg was bleeding profusely and it could barely walk.
“Oh my god,” Sabien said. “It’s doomed.”
The lion and the utahraptor were battling just on the edge of the platform as the leopon waited and limped on the other side.
Now what.
“The score is two to two to one!” Kumuki screeched.
Sabien nodded and replied, “We just need to knock off each of the other two animals one more time.”
“Or both at the same time.” Allea added.
An epiphany hit Geon. His eyes became wide and he screamed out to Allea.
“OR ALL THREE OF THEM AT THE SAME TIME!”
The other three looked at Geon in confusion and then suddenly Allea smiled, understanding what he meant.
“Wait, what?” Sabien said.
Allea quickly tapped her clearboard and put the leopon in full attack mode.
“THIS IS IT!” she yelled.
The leopon crouched down, using all of its remaining strength and energy and sprinted across the platform at top speed. Its bloodied and muscular body flexed and stretched with each bound as it gained speed, heading straight for the other two beasts. As it approached them, the leopon crouched down and pounced with all its might, growling with its claws extended and its mouth open. It hit both the utahraptor and the lion at the same time, impacting with such force that all three animals went hu
rtling in a conjoined cluster off the edge of the platform simultaneously. The room erupted with screams as the lights in the room suddenly brightened.
“Lion 17. Three strikes. Utahraptor 6. Three strikes. Leopon 1. Two strikes. Winner… Leopon 1!”
A rush of joy and excitement hit Geon so hard he couldn’t contain it. It was as if there was a massive flood of water inside of him that was bursting to get out. The room became distant and the sounds became blurred as he looked at the other three and exploded in a cacophony of laughter and screams.
“WE DID IT! ALLEA, YOU DID IT! OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD!”
Sabien, Kumuki and Allea all joined in the celebration, hugging one another and shouting with joy.
“That was incredible,” Sabien shouted. “Geon, that was genius. GENIUS!”
“Oh my God,” Geon shouted. “It wasn’t me. It was all Allea! Ally, that was amazing!”
“Amazing!” Kumuki yelled. “We did it!”
The organizer of the event made his way over to the foursome as other spectators in the room congratulated them with smiles and pats on the back.
“All right, Team Leopon. Congratulations! That was an impressive battle. I will now transfer your winning credits back to your LifeCuff.”
Geon held out his LifeCuff toward the man as he tapped some buttons on his own cuff. Geon’s cuff began beeping and the credit amount started rapidly increasing.
“Oh my God,” Sabien whispered, looking down at Geon’s LifeCuff. “That’s more credits than we’ve ever seen.”
Geon smiled as the transfer finished and looked over to Allea, who had tears in her eyes. He could tell that she knew it was all for her. They thanked the organizer and headed for the exit.