Zach Varmitech was looking for a reason to be angry. It was one of those mornings, where you open your eyes and they're already furrowed, where the first thought you have is one of madness, for no reason. Maybe he didn't sleep well. Maybe he had bad dreams. Maybe it was what he ate last night. But Zach didn't need a justification, he just needed a target to take it out on.
He clenched his fists upon his breakfast table as the local news spilled from his massive monitor. The broadcast had just finished up covering this and that on politics or world affairs or whatever he didn't care about, when it switched to something that made his blood boil.
"Tomorrow, the Bronx Zoo will be dedicating its new Madagascar pavilion to the Wild Kratts crew, in thanks for all their help with the zoo's conservation efforts, also in partnership with the US Fish and Wildl-"
Zach wasn't paying attention anymore. He was fuming.
Those Wild Rats! What did they do to deserve that, that he didn't? How were they always so lauded, time and time again, when he was the one who had actually made money, made progress, made a corporate empire in his image? Why were they always victorious, why were they always put on this pillar, why had they always come out on top?
They would taunt him as they bested him, telling him to work with nature, and not against it. He didn't get it. Isn't that what he had done? Isn't that what strapping on technological advancements to those dumb vermin was? They had their machines that let them become animals, how was it any different than turning animals into machines?
Of course he ranted all of this out loud, to the vacant, unresponsive Zachbots that waited on him. He paced the floor, throwing his hands in the air in contempt, scoffing and spitting and totally peeved.
"Those awful, useless wild rats! I hate them all, but they always win, and they always act so perfect, it's not fair! Look at them, those high and mighty smiles, thinking they're so great just because they step all over someone else's plans! I'm hardworking, right? And that's gotten me far in life! But all they do is swoop in and stop me, and it's somehow gotten them farther! I have had it!" He sighed and sank back down into his chair. "What am I doing wrong? What are they doing right?"
It dawned on him.
"Wait a minute, I get it! Maybe I rely too much on other animals! I wrangle them up and put them under the control of my awesome machines, but they're still dumb, unruly pests! I need to just rely on myself!" He grinned. "Those Wild Jerks use animal powers, but they're the one's to use it, because even they get how useless animals are! I'll just focus on whipping up my own, cool, new bot that can stand and work on its own, and it'll rain on those dumb brothers' and their annoying friends' parade once and for all!"
He turned his attention back to the TV, which was still reporting on what set him off.
"The ceremony will be held tomorrow at 1:00, with lunch provided beforehand. All are welcome within the park's capacity, and the brothers themselves will be giving two tours of the park, to share with guests their in-depth knowledge of the animal world, as well as show off some of the extraordinary creature powers they use on a daily basis! So, don't forget!"
Zach sneered. "1:00 tomorrow, eh? Well, that gives me plenty of time to pull together my greatest invention yet! Watch out rats, the only thing they'll be dedicating to you will be in memoriam!"
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.
.
"It's too hot," Martin complained. "I'll be surprised if anyone shows up at all."
It was the day of the event, which was starting in a few minutes. Even early in the afternoon the weather was well into the 80s, and looking to get even hotter as time went on. Chris and Martin had endured scorching deserts and humid rainforests, but when they returned home to the Mid Atlantic, they switched their temperature preferences back to default, and that was caught off guard by this blistering heat front.
Of course, Martin was fine where he was at the moment. It was an employee break room that had been set aside for them, though the crew was not shy about sharing it with the zookeepers. It was stocked with plenty of little fans and ice water and stuff like that, but Martin still felt the need to complain once he was out of the way of the actual wrath of the sun.
Aviva rolled her eyes. "Northeasterners," she muttered. "Martin, the park's been open for four hours, and it's already nearly at capacity."
"Yeah, but the day's only gonna get warmer. I'm worried people are gonna go home!"
"People will put up with a lot of bad weather if it means meeting their heroes." Koki pointed out.
Martin blushed a bit. "Really? You think?"
"Or even just stupid stuff they want!" Jimmy said. "I once stood outside in line in the rain for three hours to get my hands on Mortal Fighter Tournament V! I got pneumonia afterwards, but I'd say it was worth it."
Koki chuckled and shook her head.
"But, I don't want anyone getting pneumonia!" Martin pouted. "Or I guess, heat stroke, or dehydrated, or sunburnt, or-"
"Now look what you did, Jimmy, you broke him!" Koki said, patting Martin on the back.
"Oh, come on, Koki, I'm not that freaked out! I just think-"
"I'm sorry, Martin," Jimmy teased, joining Koki in patting Martin. "If you've just got stage fright, I understand."
"I do not!" Martin complained. He grumbled.
Chris, who had been outside conversing with the zoo's director one last time about the game plan, came in.
"It's kinda hot outside," Chris said, wiping thick layers of sweat from his forehead. "Wait, why are you guys patting Martin?"
Martin waved Jimmy and Koki off him. "So, what's the status? Is everything still on as normal?" He asked his brother.
"What? Yeah, we'll be on in a few, why?" Chris asked.
"Martin's worried a little heat's going to drive everyone away." Aviva laughed.
"No, that's not it!" He complained. "Guys, I just said that it was hot out."
"And that you thought everyone would get heat stroke." Koki jeered.
"Whatever." Martin shifted nervously from foot to foot.
"What, you got stage fright or something?" Chris asked, putting a hand on Martin's arm.
"No, no, no, no, no." He said.
"Good, because the luncheon starts in a bit. We should go ahead and head over to the cafe."
Martin nodded, and the crew bounced to life from where they stood, and began to exit the break room.
Martin sighed.
"What is it, Martin?" Chris asked, hoping now that they had the room to themselves, Martin might open up about what was very clearly bothering him.
Martin shook his head. "I dunno. I just don't have a good feeling about today."
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Snnnnip!
The big scissors cut through the ribbon effortlessly. The crowd cheered, the ribbon wavered to the ground through the hot air, Aviva smiled and handed the scissors back to the director.
"Thank you so much for all coming here!" The director beamed. She was a bouncy, hearty, jovial woman who had dressed way too warmly for the day, so she tried her best to let her glowing smile distract from her melting makeup. "Now, our special Wild Kratts zoo tour will begin - families, as you know, you were given colored wristbands that told you which of the groups you'll be in - if it's blue, you're with Martin and Aviva and our very own Zookeeper Nancy, and if it's green, you're with Chris, Koki, our zookeeper Drew and -" she turned away from the microphone, "Jimmy, you're on the green team too, yes?" Jimmy gave a thumbs up, and she returned to the mic. "And Jimmy! Please, stick with the group you've been assigned. I know some of you have a favorite brother, but we want to keep things even."
Chris shot Martin a sarcastic, hmm, gee, I wonder which the more popular one is sort of look. All Martin was thinking was, that comment of her's was pretty unnecessary.
The crowds began to disperse, as some went to the right side towards Martin, the left towards Chris, and others went back towards the exit.
Before the group came up Chris shook the hand of his accompanying zookeeper. He had seen him here or there but hadn't been told he was the one to join them. The young man was no older than Chris, possibly younger.
"You're Drew? Sorry I didn't say hi sooner, this is the first time hearing about this."
"Oh, you're not the only one." Drew said. "I came into work today thinking I was going to be scooping tiger dung, not, well, working with legends."
Chris laughed. "I wouldn't go that far. We just do what we can."
"It's incredible, though! I mean, you guys go places people never get to see."
"Well, that's why we're here today, to try and share a bit of that!"
Drew's smile turned into a sigh. The young Zookeeper had turned to look at Martin, who was evidently already fast friends with the girl he was paired with. But, that was just Martin.
It occurred to Chris, as he watched Drew eye his brother, it looks like Martin is this guy's favorite, too.
Drew realized Chris had noticed the glances, and he turned red. "Sorry, I was -"
"No worries," Chris chuckled. "Come on, let's get the tour started."
Both groups began together, in the new pavilion. Martin, who'd started out anxious, seemed to relax a little, especially after dazzling the audience with various lemur powers. In all the time spent working with just the crew, he'd forgotten how good he was with kids, especially at getting them excited about animals. By the end of the conjoined presentation he'd shed all his trepidation and was back to his usual smiling, carefree self. It was perfect timing, too, as the brothers split up and took their separate tours.
Martin took everyone along the northern paths of the zoo, and Chris along the south. The two groups could have in no way done everything for each of the exhibits, because they spent so long, and went in such detail on each animal that even just a partial coverage of the zoo's specimens were to take multiple hours. Even the creatures they didn't have powers for they took a deep-dive into.
Chris was especially enjoying himself. The hot day should've been oppressive but it just invigorated him. He felt like he was still out in the field, clamoring on about all the things that fascinated him about animals, only this time, he had an audience, who was eager to listen.
I don't know what Martin was thinking, he thought at one point, today's been great!
Now, typically the rule is to not say things like that out loud, otherwise you'll jinx it. But Chris kept that to himself, and still, things went wrong.
It was a kid who noticed it - a large, black square object hurtling at them through the sky. The child pointed at it and cried to its mother, "look mommy, what's that?" But the mother just hushed the frightened child, assuring it that it was a bird, eager to keep her kid from disrupting the tour.
But as it came closer at great speed, more and more noticed it. When it landed ten feet from the group, everyone had seen it, and everyone jumped back in surprise.
It was a box, but not for long. It unfolded itself into a menacing robot, whose brand new, metallic body flashed with near mirror-like intensity in the rays of the unrelenting sun.
Chris' eyes widened. It was a Zachbot, no doubt, its head was identical to all the others. But the rest of it was so drastically different. It had a sleek, quadrupedal body, with long legs and three razor-sharp claws on each foot. It had a long, segmented, prehensile tail with a three-pronged grabber of some kind at the end of it, also razor sharp.
"Rat brother, you will be annihilated."
The crowd didn't really run scared. Some of the kids even cheered, thinking this was going to be a staged fight.
Drew turned to Chris. "You guys didn't say anything about a fight in your show!"
Chris trembled. "This isn't part of the show," he said.
Drew gasped. "Then what-"
With a horrid metallic shriek, the robot leapt at Chris, knocking him to the ground. At this point, the parents at least caught on that they were in real danger, and began grabbing their children by the wrists, running and screaming away. The ensuing pandemonium confused the robot's senses, and it briefly turned its attention away from Chris, focusing on the crowd, trying to analyze and make sense of them.
In that moment, Chris rolled away from the robot. He realized it was eyeing the panicked families, so he turned to Koki and Jimmy. "You guys have to get them to safety!"
"Already on it," Koki said, running after them. "Drew, help us get them in the reptile house!"
Drew, who had been frozen in terror, joined with her, yelling at the people to follow them to cover.
The robot now seemed locked on to Jimmy and Koki, and looked poised to run them down.
I have to draw it away! Chris thought. Knowing Zach, I'm probably its priority target. He looked around desperately to see the nearest exhibit with creature powers he could use. The knock to the ground had stunned him a bit, and his head was spinning, but he managed to recall where they had come from.
The Dholes! He didn't have access to Aviva's duplicator, and he was all on his own, bur still it was better than nothing.
He rose to his feet and began running in that direction, waving his arms in the air. "Hey! Hey, Megatron, over here!" He taunted. At the sound of his voice it whipped its head around, focusing on Chris with its mean, red eyes. Creepily smoothly it turned to be directed towards Chris, then began charging at him.
Good, so it is after me. Seeing how fast it was bearing down, Chris looked where he was going and sprinted in earnest. He wasn't sure he was even going to make it to the Dholes in time.
He almost didn't. He heard the metal beast come up right behind him, its horrid glinting talons clashing against the concrete as it galloped. At the very last second, as the machine bolted forward to grab him, Chris pivoted and darted to the right, sending the robot barreling into an Ice Cream stand that Chris had intentionally lured it towards. That bought him the time he needed to reach the dholes, get into their habitat the way he had for the tour, and activate their powers.
Chris hopped back out of their enclosure. I'm not letting this thing beat up on the animals here! He thought, as the robot, which had regained its standing, stalked towards him. Then again, I guess it's just going to beat up on me instead!
It was evident from the start of the two's clash that Chris was terribly outgunned. Chris had his quick thinking and superior senses, but this robot could turn on a dime, was much faster, much stronger and was equipped with iron-grip, unfathomably sharp claws. It tossed the small, canine-shaped Chris around like a rag doll. No matter how far Chris got flung, the Zachbot was back at his side in an instant, ready to pound him more. Out in the scorching heat, with each bash and bump and bruise it was getting harder and harder for Chris to react. He could hardly even move his head, let alone try to get out of the way or fight.
Chris was on his back, staring into the sky. He didn't know where he was. He couldn't hear anything, his head was ringing so badly. And still, the robot seized him by his chest and lifted him off the ground. Chris thought he was about to be thrown again, or ripped limb from limb, but the robot pinned him against a wall that Chris didn't even know was there.
And then, he was pulled away from the wall.
And then, he was smashed through it.
The burst of cold air as Chris fell into an air conditioned room briefly snapped him back to his senses. He heard distant screams, and looked up. Where am I? He could see glowing glass terrariums, and -
Drew and Koki came around a corner. They gasped in horror at Chris' state.
"Get them out of the reptile house!" Chris screamed, realizing where he was and what was going on.
"Where do we go now?" Drew pleaded.
"Get them out of the zoo!" Chris' last word turned into a startled wail as the Zachbot leapt through its own hole in the wall and grabbed Chris by the leg with its clawed tail. It climbed up onto the top corner where the wall met the ceiling, and jumped towards the opposite wall, spinning around mid-air so Chris was slammed face-first into the glass and plaster. Once again, they broke through that wall and tumbled into the hallway, where some of the frightened families had emerged to see for themselves what was going on. They screamed and ran away.
Chris wheezed and sputtered as the Robot lifted him once more, and flung him, this time through a doorway, and through the glass of a reptile's habitat.
"We have to help him!" Jimmy cried.
"I don't have my power suit!" Said Koki.
"We need to get the families to safety!" Drew reminded them.
"But we can't just leave Chris," Koki said, "he'll be torn to pieces!"
At that moment, everyone's eyes were drawn to a flash of green light, and the once aggressive robot jumping back in surprise. There was a threatening hiss, and with a lightning-fast strike, Chris, with newly acquired Cobra powers, and a reinvigorated cold-blooded body, went on the attack. He forced his fangs into any joint or crack he could in the robot, his muscular body working with all its might to contain the writhing droid. Its claws sunk and slashed into his skin, causing him to hiss in pain, but he stayed on the offensive. Tragic as it may be, it was nearly impossible to keep from crashing into and wrecking nearby reptile habitats, the robot was such a dangerous foe. Chris only knew he couldn't let it go, he couldn't let it get to the families.
"He's doing fine for now," Drew insisted.
Koki and Jimmy were hesitant. They could hear their tussling friend, shrieking in effort and agony. But there were so many people in here who couldn't fight like Chris could, who had to get out of there in one piece.
Reluctantly, Koki and Jimmy helped lead the group out of the reptile house and off to safety. It was a troubling task. Almost all the kids were crying, the parents were locked in cold, determined, fearful silence, and all around them the blows of the fight shook the building. As everyone finally poured out, Koki turned and saw how the reptile house was visibly shaking.
It's not going to stay up for much longer.
"We have to go!" Drew called. Koki nodded. The mass of people moved to run, as collectively and efficiently as they could towards the exit.
Meanwhile, the fight had taken its toll on the building. The ceiling was starting to come down in chunks, glass and wood flew everywhere, but the robot didn't seem to notice or care.
When the whole building roared like a cat, Chris knew what was coming. In a last ditch attempt to get away, he deactivated. The vanishing of his long tail gave him a good ten feet of distance from the robot, and just in time too, as the whole Reptile house collapsed around them.
Chris blacked out for a second or so, and when he came to he was once again on his back, surrounded by sawdust and plaster and wood. He was lucky, so lucky, to have not been as buried as his adversary. But he didn't come off as unscathed. The scratches dealt to his serpent form had been translated onto his human body, but he couldn't make out how, only that his torso and legs hurt like crazy. Trying to move felt like being wrung through a meat grinder, and it somewhat sounded like it too.
Little reptiles were skittering and slithering their way out of the wreckage. Chris was glad that he hadn't killed them all, though it was definitely going to be a pain in the butt for the zoo to catch them. But, Chris had more pressing matters at hand.
He heard a metallic groan from within the rubble. He realized, the Zachbot had survived, and was clawing its way out.
I have to go, Chris thought. It'll kill me if I stay here!
Chris tried to get to his feet, but a jolt of pain paralyzed him. He just twisted awkwardly to another, even less comfortable position of lying down, where the scarred, lower half of his body was facing the sky, while the rest of him looked down. Chris' heart was beating so fast, and his eyesight was swimming. He knew didn't have time to wait for the pain to roll over. He propped himself up on his elbows, and dragged himself away from the wreck. The momentum of sliding down the wood, while it grated against his injuries, somehow got him to his knees. Grimacing, he rose to his feet, though his slashed leg was practically useless beneath him.
Chris couldn't even tell which way he was going. It didn't matter. He had to get away, he had to find a place to hide, he had to stumble into help, he had to, he had to-
Chris fell over. He was only 30 feet away from where his enemy still scrambled for freedom.
He had to get up.
He had to.
He had to.
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"All personnel, please make your ways carefully and calmly to the nearest exit. This is not a drill."
That begun to play and repeat itself over and over on the zoo's intercoms. It unsettled Martin, who was with his group by the wild dogs.
The families began to panic. "What is it?" "What's going on?" They all begged.
"I don't know," Nancy tried to reassure them all, "but let's try and get out of here."
She began to usher them back the way they came.
"What's this all about?" Martin asked Aviva.
"I haven't a clue. I hope Chris' group is okay."
Martin shuddered. This seemed like a big emergency. He'd hate to think that Chris was caught in the middle of it.
"I'll watch the rear." Martin offered. Aviva only nodded. Martin hurried to the back of the group, to make sure there were no stragglers.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a large plume of smoke or dust or something get kicked up into the air, ahead of them and not too far away.
Does that have to do with the warning? Martin thought. All the other chaperones saw and thought this, and hurried the group along to safety. More individual zoo attendees joined their group as they filed out of the buildings and exhibit trails they were in, and quickly decided that there was safety in numbers.
By the time they reached the main exit, Martin could hear sirens in the distance. Zoo employees were urging the great mass of people clustered there to get out of the zoo, but when Martin inquired of them what was going on, they stated that they had no idea either.
Martin saw a group of people with green wristbands - it was Chris' group, and they'd made it to safety. Martin pushed through the crowds to get to them.
Koki grabbed him by the arm before he had spotted her.
"Koki! Hey, what's -"
"You have to get back out there!" Koki pleaded. Her frightened, despairing face shattered all the relief he had.
"What? What's going on?"
"Chris is still out there," she said as Martin listened in horror, "and there's this robot - I think it's one of Zach's, but it's so much stronger than anything he's ever sent after us! Chris tried to hold it back so we could escape, but I don't know how much longer he'll last!"
Martin nodded. Koki didn't need to say anymore. He turned and pushed his way back towards the zoo.
Aviva reunited with him, and asked, "Martin, where are you going?"
"Talk to Koki," he said. "I'm going after Chris." He didn't stay to hear what she shouted after him.
Some of the staff members who were holding up the rear of the fleeing guests tried to stop Martin from reentering the zoo, but one gaze from his angry blue eyes was all it took to silence them. It wasn't just that he was a known superhero, who was quickly conveying to them that he knew what he was doing. It was a look that they knew well, from watching their mother animals protecting their young.
Stay out of my way, it warned.
Martin left the confused clamoring of the crowd behind.
I knew something would go wrong, he thought.
At Martin's pace, it didn't take long to find Chris. He seemed to just be stumbling about, but he wasn't fighting anything anymore, so that was good. What wasn't good was the red trail he was leaving wherever he walked.
"Chris!" Martin bolted at his brother.
Chris didn't really seem to process Martin's approach, he just squinted and stared at him, like Martin was a blurry shape Chris was trying to make out.
"Chris! Chris, I'm here!" Martin panted as he reached Chris. He was aghast at the severity of Chris' injuries. Three long, deep, jagged scratches curved their way along his torso from the middle of his ribcage down onto his right thigh. The power suit had been ripped up, and was throwing out the occasional green spark from the biggest incision, along with here and there, where other slashes had marred him. The few parts of his face that weren't bruised or covered with dark dust were dangerously pale, with his lips even starting to turn blue. He'd lost a lot of blood. He stared at Martin still somewhat blankly, with battered and glassy eyes.
"Chris," Martin said, grabbing Chris' sides.
Chris fell into Martin. It took the older brother by surprise, but he caught his sibling. It wasn't as if Chris was passing out, he was just in so much pain that the second he got support he let all himself into it. Martin hoisted Chris up to lean on his shoulder, wrapping his arm around Chris' scarlet-soaked waist. Having relief from carrying himself seemed to lend Chris the extra strength to speak to Martin.
"Thank god," he muttered. "There was this robot, it's Zach's. I might have stopped it, but I don't know."
"Alright. Come on, we need to get you out of here."
Chris continued to ramble as Martin half-helped, half-dragged him along. "Didn't see Zach, didn't show up to gloat or anything. Smart on his part, this move might've - put him in jail for sure." Chris stuttered over a surge of pain. "You were right we shouldn't have - we shouldn't hold things like this, we have too many enemies. People could get hurt."
"Let's get everyone put of here, then." Martin said. "You included."
The exit area came into sight. He hadn't been gone from it long, so not as many people had cleared as he wanted. Some of the people who were funneling their way out turned and saw Chris' state and screamed, pushing to get out harder and faster as they dreaded whatever had done this to him. Rumors were circulating amongst the masses now that the zoo had been attacked, and once the evidence that was Chris' mangled appearance emerged, that was all they needed to panic. Martin was especially disturbed by the terror that gripped the children. Martin wasn't sure if they were frightened that Chris, one of their heroes, had been defeated, or if they were frightened by the near-inhuman, battered and bloodied sight of Chris himself.
But through all the pandemonium Martin refocused on one thing. At the other side of the gate was an ambulance. Martin knew he had to get Chris there, through all the people.
Thankfully, staff noticed the brothers and rushed to help. Martin looked around for the rest of his crew, but he couldn't see them anywhere.
Martin didn't have much longer to search for them. One of the young zookeepers who was helping Chris looked over her shoulder and gave a shriek.
Martin saw the robot for the first time. It was not as shiny and new as when it first landed, it had been scuffed up and damaged and sullied with dirt and with - blood, his brother's blood. The sight of it made Martin's fists clench in fury.
Martin was about to tell the staff to get Chris to safety, but the machine came at them too quickly. They were all knocked asunder like bowling pins.
The fleeing people went from being alarmed to a full-on stampede. Martin didn't blame them, this robot looked like it could kill any of them in a heartbeat.
Martin saw that the nearest animal was a Komodo dragon. Still, it was too far. The robot's disinterest with the zookeepers let Martin on to the fact that it was only after him and Chris, so maybe Martin could lead it away, unknowingly as Chris had done earlier. But still, this thing could catch him before he got very far.
Martin was about to spend up all his time fruitlessly thinking of a plan, when one Zookeeper didn't run away from fray, but towards it. It was Nancy. She had an animal in his arms.
"Martin! Stick your arm out!" She yelled. Martin obliged. With a raptor cry, a swoop of silver feathers launched itself from Nancy's clutches to perch on Martin's arm. He grimaced as its talons sank into his unguarded skin, but it was still such a welcomed beast. It was a Harpy Eagle.
"A gift from the Birds of Prey pavilion! Kick that thing out of our zoo."
Martin smiled. Just as the robot sprung at Martin, startling the bird into flying away, he grabbed the harpy disc and touched its tail feathers, shaping into the raptor in a shower of blue light. Talon met talon as Martin clashed with the Zachbot.
He had been a harpy earlier in the day, so he felt assured and practiced. He flapped his wings viciously to keep him steady in the air, grappling with the metal monster. It was remarkably strong. For all the power Martin had in him, he was slowly feeling like he was losing control. It didn't strike him completely until the Zachbot readjusted his stance and flipped Martin out of the air and onto the ground. It grabbed his throat with its weird claw-tail and began twisting his wings with its two front legs.
Oh my god, it'll rip my arms off! Martin thought as he screamed. He swiped at the underbelly of the bot, but his talons only scuffed the thick metal armor. He tried grabbing the two back legs with his claws, but they were angled low to the ground, so they were impossible to get a hold of. Finally Martin strained his neck to peck at the tail with his massive beak. The curved tip snagged onto something, and with all the effort he could muster in his neck muscles, the robot twisting his wings all the while, he broke off the tip of the tail, freeing his throat.
The robot recoiled for a bit, finally releasing Martin's terribly bent wings. However, what should have been respite turned into a new nightmare, as the robot just started slashing at him. Instinctively Martin tried to raise his wings to protect himself, but those were mangled, and he couldn't move them. Instead, more awkwardly, he tried to fend off the attacks with his talons, but it was to little avail.
Suddenly, the robot was struck from the side. Martin turned to see what had knocked it off him, and saw, to his disbelief, that it was Chris.
Apparently he'd crawled or insisted on the zookeepers carrying him to that closest enclosure, because now he stared down that robot with his Komodo Dragon powers.
He still looked awful. The drops of blood caught in them green flashes of light from his malfunctioning suit. His face behind the Komodo jaws was pale as ever, though his eyes looked focused and intense.
"Chris, what are you doing?" Martin cried.
"Saving your butt." Chris said, following it with an unsteady cough.
Martin tried to rise to his feet, but winced and stumbled, both from his twisted wings lending him no balance, and from his own gashes he now bore. Martin looked at his wounds. It might not be long before I'm looking as pale as Chris! He thought nervously.
Chris didn't have it in him to charge the robot, he let it come to him. Just as it was at his belly he chomped down on it with his massive jaws. He hoped his toxic saliva would mess up the internal hardware of the robot, but in Chris' bite it thrashed about, alive as ever.
Chris couldn't hold on for long. He and Martin both knew that. More startlingly, the robot seemed to know that too. It bucked and writhed and thrashed about, Chris wavering in his ability to hold it down.
Martin deactivated. The next nearest habitat, on the other side of the Dragons, was the Rhinos. If Martin sprinted, with his own two legs, instead of hobbling on grounded Harpy feet, he might be able to make it.
But as he ran, he heard Chris' strangled cry, and something hit him from behind. Martin was dashed to the ground, and scotched up against the concrete. In no time at all, the Zachbot had freed itself from Chris's grasp, knocked Chris away, noticed Martin's attempt to flee, grabbed an employee golf cart and thrown it at him. Martin gasped beneath the weight of the vehicle. It put an excruciating pressure onto his injuries. He couldn't see anything over or around it, he only heard Chris screaming his name.
"CHRIS!" He called, though it came more as a choking sound than anything. There were just so many noises he couldn't interpret, of robotic clanking and metallic grinding and human grunting effort. Martin tried everything he could to get the cart off him but it just would not move. His vision grew spotty, his movements slowed, for all the internal fighting he was doing to keep himself going.
This is it. This is how I go out, trapped under a damned golf cart.
One noise broke through his foggy senses. It was someone calling his name.
The pressure began to lift. Martin wasn't quite sure what was happening. Part of him feared he really was dying, until he managed to crane his neck to see that the cart had been lifted off of him, and was up above him.
Oh no. Is the robot done with Chris? Is he here to finish me?
The cart was flung aside, and a kind face came up close enough to him so that he could see it. It was Aviva, but she was different. A tall black and purple spire protruded over her head, and her eyes lied behind those familiar round goggles.
She's activated creature powers. She's -
"Martin, pobrecito. I'm sorry it took so long, we had to get our power suits. Thank the zoo for lending us a Hercules beetle, otherwise that bot would've gotten you for sure."
Aviva looked over her shoulder, and Martin followed her gaze. Koki, in the same animal form, was standing over that robot, pinning it down. Martin watched as she ripped its limbs off, leaving it useless in the dust. The robot flailed around as it tried to move with only its severed tail, but Koki swiftly skewered it on her armored arm. It was finished.
"Just stay still, okay?" Aviva said. "You're both gonna be fine, help's coming now that the coast is clear."
.
.
.
Zach cut the transmission. He pressed his hands against his table in fury, staring at his tensing fingertips.
It's not fair.
"It's not fair!" He screamed.
He tried to flip the table, but forgot it was bolted to the floor. All his efforts ended with was his hands rubbing painfully against the edge of the table.
"I put in hard work, create a brilliant bot, and these bozos just, what, get saved by luck? By other bozos swooping in at the last second and undoing everything I did to win? It's not fair!"
He stomped back and forth across the room.
"So, that model doesn't work! Now I'm back to square one!" He huffed. "At least no worse off, seeing how spectacularly that failed."
And it seemed like he would get so close, too.
It's not like he would've felt better if he'd won, though. He was looking for accolades, but all the world would've given was mourning, over the two heroes he'd sought to slaughter. Whether he made a new model, or stuck with what he was familiar with, it would all end the same.
But try telling him that.
It seemed, he'd spend the rest of the day in a bad mood.
Perhaps, the rest of his days as well.